The Noise Within - cover revealed (This one's SF)

[Ian Whates]

Originally Posted by ctg

I take you wrote in third person, with interweaving story-lines, didn't you? What sort of character types they are, and did you find it easier to write them in close 3rd than in first person perspective?

Sorry, ctg, a little late answering this... Yes, written in third person with storylines that initially are quite separate, but, as the book progresses, converge. Two main viewpoints (Leyton and Philip) plus two subsidiary ones (Kyle and Kethi)

As for who they are:

Philip: CEO of a major company. Something of a genius himself, he's trying to escape the shadow of his late father, a household name who developed the engines that push starships between the stars. Philip is close to perfecting the long sought after human/AI gestalt, when a secret from his father's past returns to haunt him. He soon finds himself the target of assassins, even in his own home.

Leyton: Government black ops specialist, one of an elite unit of agents who are used by ULAW (United League of Allied Worlds) as troubleshooters. Leyton is far from happy when he's diverted from normal duties to help bring down a mysterious pirate vessel which has become the darling of the media, The Noise Within. Leyton reckons this ought to be a job for the navy.

Kyle: Hot shot ship's engineer, ex-navy man, who is growing bored in his current position aboard a luxury liner that has so many back-ups he's virtually redundant. So when the chance of a little excitement presents itself, he jumps at it, little realising what he's getting himself into.

Kethi: A citizen of the habitat, a secretive breakaway colony founded a couple of generations ago at the height of the Great War which helped forge current human society. She is a particularly gifted indiviual, both mentally and physically, and is one of those who crew The Rebellion, a rapid response ship dispatched by the habitat as soon as they learn of The Noise Within...

There, hope that helps.

[J-WO]

Hello, Ian. I'd be fascinated (and grateful) to know how you found writing a multi-viewpoint/ multi-storyline novel. Does it require more planning, for instance? Are there any inherent pitfalls?

Best of luck with it all, by the way.

[Fried Egg]

Originally Posted by Ian Whates

Hi, FE, yes... a very short series -- a duology (ie two books). I'm currently working on the sequel, which is due out early next year.

As to whether or not it stands alone... Up to a point, yes. What I've tried to do is provide an ending that resolves all the issues that have motivated the characters and driven the narrative throughout this first book, but at the same time there's an over-reaching story arc which continues through into the second book, so I've left a few threads very obviously dangling as a lead-in to volume 2, The Noise Revealed.

Hope that makes sense.

Fair enough, that's good enough for me.

[Ian Whates]

Originally Posted by J-WO

Hello, Ian. I'd be fascinated (and grateful) to know how you found writing a multi-viewpoint/ multi-storyline novel. Does it require more planning, for instance? Are there any inherent pitfalls?

Best of luck with it all, by the way.

Hi, Jim, Hmmm... planning...? To be honest, the amount of plotting performed varies enormously from author to author. Some plan meticulously, so that when they start writing the actual text they have a pretty firm sense of what each character does in each chapter. I don't. I write very organically. I know where my characters are at the start of a piece and I know where I want them to be at the end, so I give them a gentle nudge in the right direction and then stand back to see what happens. (The process is actually a little more structured than that... but only a little).

The reason I've gone with more than one viewpoint character in both series to date is simple; I wanted to avoid stepping too far away from the protagonist and suddenly presenting details from an 'omniescent narrator's' viewpoint. I knew there would be a lot going on which no single character was going to be privvy to, so the alternatives were to leave the reader in the dark about a lot of cause and effect, to contrive a way of inserting substantial info dumps at various points, to give in and use 'omniescent viewpoint'... or to use more than one viewpoint protagonist, which is the way I chose.

As far as pitfalls are concerned, the biggest one is keeping your timelines straight and ensuring that your characters are where you want them when you want them for the inevitable meetings somewhere down the line.

Hope that answers the questions.

[J-WO]

Yes, I suppose the timelines must be a problem- plot strands run at their own, different speeds. The skills required to synchronize all that must be many and mind-boggling.

Thanks for your time and insight! By hook or by crook (by which I mean internet or convention table) I'll have to get Within. Like a lot of people in this vicinity, I'm a sucker for sweeping space operas.

[Ian Whates]

Well, I could say that I heartily recommend the book, J-Wo, but then I would, wouldn't I?

After its first bad (actually scathing) review a week or so ago, the book has just received another glowing one:

Walker of Worlds: Review | The Noise Within by Ian Whates (Solaris)

I think that makes it:

13 good to enthusiastically glowing reviews
3 more balanced but still positive
1 truly awful review

I can live with that sort of split!

[Ian Whates]

By some strange miracle, 'The Noise Within' found its way to #2 in the Amazon.UK best sellers list for space opera on Friday evening. No idea whether that means it's sold 3 copies or 300, but it did give me a certain warm glow...

[Vertigo]

Congrats on the ranking Ian!

The plot sound thoroughly intriguing and right up my street - I shall have to add to my TBR list.

Incidentally I don't know if the authors have any direct input to this but you have no photo or bio on Ian Whates. Just thought I'd mention.

[Williamlk]

That is a GREAT cover! Godd luck with it!