I wrote an update a few months back about the inspiration behind A Spectre in the Stream, the first novel I published. I got some positive feedback from that, so I figured I’d do the same for my upcoming space fantasy book, Verse for the World-Weary (releasing for sale on my website on July 23rd)
Some of these will be obvious for anyone that reads the book and is familiar with these other properties.
Others, maybe, not so much?
Let’s see.
Star Wars
This 800-pound science fantasy gorilla fed a lot of my characters. It also helped me conceptualise my version of the evil Galactic Empire, known colloquially as The Clave.
The main character, Nishin Reed, is the bastard love-child of Han Solo and Malcolm Reynolds (of Firefly fame, below), if they found a way to utilise both of their sperm in Reed’s creation, and pursued joint custody in the inevitable court-based blaster battle.
The series is also a riff on the Chosen One trope, and features a (somewhat dead) character called Jethro Savistor, aka The Dawnstar.
A heroic saviour of the galaxy dude that Reed unfortunately shot to death.
There are other homages to Star Wars in Verse for the World-Weary (like the opening scene for instance), but I’ll leave you to work out what they might be 😉.
Firefly
When I first envisioned the series, it was episodic at it’s heart, and for me, a great example of episodic, found-family style space romps is Firefly.
Like Star Wars, there are plenty of homages to Firefly in Verse for the World-Weary, and a hefty channelling of its overall vibe (minus the Western aesthetic, I never really dug that).
My favourite scene from Verse for the World-Weary that was directly inspired by Firefly is one where Reed gets left on a desert planet, alone, much like Reynolds did in one episode. In Reynolds’ case, he was naked. In Reed’s case… well, that can be a surprise.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
It’s a bit hard to write any sort of comedic science fiction without being inspired in part by Douglas Adams’ flagship series.
Hitchhiker’s Guide has very British, ridiculous humour. Verse for the World-Weary is more… immature. It’s my sense of humour to a tee: sarcasm-laden, irreverent, swear words galore, and oozing with jokes about genitalia.
I also love a compelling, tightly-woven narrative, whether comedic or not, and if there’s one thing Hitchhiker’s Guide is not, it’s a tightly-woven narrative. Which makes sense, because Adams wrote the damned thing as a radio play, always at the last minute before recording. Incredible stuff.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Cozy fantasy and sci-fi has been huge the last few years, and you don’t have to look far to find recommendations of Becky Chamber’s book.
I’m not big on cozy anything; I much prefer epic narratives with high stakes. But I must admit, I enjoyed The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
I mean, the title alone is fucking genius.
There’s a character in Verse for the World-Weary that loves cooking, and I know that trait was directly inspired by Dr Chef for no other reason than I thought a cooking-loving-character-on-a-spaceship had a homey feel to it.
I’m sure there are a plethora of other creations that fed into my pulp science fantasy mashup, but these are the ones that stand out to me.
