My two centsâfor whatever they are worth. I am a scientist, not a novelist! I really enjoyed Solitaire. It was refreshing to read a scifi novel with all the important elements covered. First, there was actually some science here, not the all-too-frequent drama-in-spaceship that could just as easily be drama-in-hotel or whatever. There was also a real plot with a beginning middle and end, and you succeeded admirably where few authors do — in development of a believable character.
This theme of an exceptional individual overcoming tragedy has also been used in a few other great scifi novels, including Dune, Slow River and Contact. What if any works influenced you, or are personal favorites?
In the end, the final âresolutionâ of Jackalâs personal dilemma was the creation of a web. I was curious about this, since you did not develop this concept as a central theme. Rather, you stressed the search for self and love — could you comment on this? Are you planning a sequel to this novel?
Anonymous
A huge apology to you for taking so long to respond to your question. Bad author. No cookie.
I’m pleased that as a scientist you aren’t rolling on the floor laughing your ass off over Solitaire (which I often refer to as “waving at science on the way past”). Some of the temporal lobe technology does exist, and of course virtual reality is moving so fast that it’s hard to keep up. But part of the reason I don’t think of myself as a science fiction writer is that I have so little intuitive understanding of science as an art, a discipline, and a world view. This is one way in which Nicola and I differ greatly, and it’s not at all unusual for me to respond to an observation of hers with, “That’s physics, right?” Why did I start out in speculative fiction? I don’t know. It’s a mystery.
Drama-in-spaceship science fiction is a nice phrase (made me smile). My next novel is not science fiction for precisely this reason â science just isn’t a key component of the story.
Everything I read influences me on some level (even if only on the level of Yikes, I don’t ever want to publish anything this bad). Part of my challenge is to filter the influence of other books and other writers through my own lens, so as to avoid directly imitating my betters. There are some things I’d love to write but am not sure I’ll ever be able to (I admire anyone who can write Epic Fantasy about Noble People without sounding like lukewarm Tolkien). I’m reluctant to name favorites (although I do have them) because I turn to particular books at different times for different reasons. Some books I love, and some I admire, and they aren’t always the same. But I will tell you that the three earliest “exceptional individual overcomes difficulty” books that grabbed me and still haven’t let go are The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin , and Emergence by David R. Palmer. I’m sure that psychologists and academics can amuse themselves to no end with this bit of information.
It’s true that the web is not an overt central theme of the story, but for me it rings through everything Jackal does. Her web is an essential part of her identity â her early decisions leading to the accident and VC are a direct result of her sense of responsibility to the web. In VC, she breaks herself in part by breaking her connection to the web. Then she returns to the ‘real’ world, and everything she does is (in my opinion) part of a larger quest to understand her identity as a self alone and a self connected. How should she connect now? To whom? Where is her balance? Can she be herself if other people constantly bump up against her emotionally? Can she be herself without it?
Identity fascinates me, as does the balance between self and other. I think that defining this balance is one of the most compelling, complex and fundamental decisions that each of us makes, one that ripples through our entire life in horizontal and vertical ways. By that I mean both along our span of days (the horizontal axis) and throughout our internal layers of psychology, emotion, behavior, response, values, fears, joys (the vertical). This is territory I want to explore as much as I can.
You ask about a sequel. Those who have expressed an opinion seem divided between wanting to know more about what happens, and being concerned that a sequel will be more disappointing than rewarding. That’s a legitimate concern â sequels are hard. I’ve said several times here in the virtual pub that I’m not planning a sequel, and that’s still true. And yet I do think about Jackal and her people, and I am currently interested in exploring new ways of making story, new ways of staying connected with these characters that I love.
So here’s a notion I’m playing with. I’d be interested in comments.