The Fallen
tells the story of three different times mankind has come into contact with the
same supernatural force – a fallen angel – those times being the present day,
during World War Two and at the end of the sixteenth century. The protagonists
are the scientists onboard an Arctic research vessel, the merchant seamen
onboard an oil tanker which is part of an Arctic convoy and a group of
mercenaries hunting down religious icons for Tzar Ivan the Terrible
respectively.
The novel
is presented in a nested format, with the present day section providing the
first and last parts, wrapped around the World War Two section which is itself
split around the Russian section which makes up the heart of the story. The
plan was to show the interlinking nature of the three sections, and how actions
in one would have consequences in the others and this seemed a more interesting
way of doing it rather than just presenting them in chronological order. I did
toy with the idea of presenting them in reverse order, which could have worked
quite well, but decided in the end to stick with the more convoluted format.
Mt
original idea was to write a novella set in an Arctic convoy and as I began
plotting, I realised that it would need a prologue. When that prologue – the Russia
section - turned out to be 25000 words or so, I realised that I had a novel on
my hands… About halfway through writing the WW2 section, I had the feeling that
the novel would need something more – which is how the present day section came
about. The three sections were written in their entireties: Russia first, then
WW2 and finally the present day section. Only after all were completed did I
chop them up into the order they appear in the final version. That said, I’d
made the decision to use the format whilst I was writing the WW2 section –
which allowed me to arrive at a suitably cliff-hanging point at which to make a
break both in this section and the present day one.
The Fallen is a creature-feature and is
partly a homage to the books and films which I love and which have influenced
the things I write about. The most obvious cinematic references are to The
Thing (and The Thing from Another World) and Alien. It’s
always tricky getting the balance right in situations like this but hopefully I’ve
succeeded in paying homage rather than blatantly ripping off. There are enough
references in the text – overt and subtle – to acknowledge the debt I owe to
them.
I had a
great time writing The Fallen and I hope the enthusiasm I felt has
transferred onto the page. At heart I’m a frustrated film director and writing
this novel has allowed me to present the epic blockbuster I’d have loved to
direct. It has some of the biggest set-pieces I’ve ever written but hopefully
enough human drama to make you care about the characters I’ve pitted against
the demon.
My thanks
again to Dean for taking this on and also to Adrian Baldwin for creating such a
fine cover. The Fallen will be available first as an e-book then later
as a paperback and you can pre-order it here.