First solo novel of multi-media writer Nik Abnett, Savant (Solaris, October 2016) is set in a future version of Earth where a living mind mesh cloaks the planet, defending it from alien invasion. When one of the ‘Actives’ that maintains the shield is compromised, global government must race to stabilize the system before the entire thing is brought down. “His mind can save the world, if she can save him from the human race…”
Hi Nik, and welcome to SFF World. Could you tell us a little more about your novel Savant?
You’ve pretty much said it all. Smiles.
Savant is set on a near-future Earth, which holds the defensive position of being cloaked from the universe, rather than risking conflict with hostile aliens. The Shield, maintained by Actives, forms that cloak. The story is about the relationship between a key Active and his carer, and the conflict between the state and the carer in maintaining the Active, and by extension the Shield. In many ways it’s quite a small, personal story.
Did you start out with a central theme in mind? Or did you find that one evolved as you wrote your novel?
I actually began by thinking that I wanted to write a story about unconditional love, say that of a parent for a child. I don’t plot novels, though, because I like the writing to take me somewhere. This novel soon became about the interests of the individual in balance with the interests of the state.
Savant centers around two characters, Tobe and Metoo, who are pretty much polar opposites. Why the decision to throw two immensely different personalities together? What are some of the advantages or disadvantages that came with this choice?
I think polarising things: themes, personalities, situations, whatever, causes a kind of tension that can be very useful for writers. Tobe is essentially all about intellect and Metoo is all about emotion, while most personalities and people have both of these traits in combination with many others. I put these two elements opposite one another not to put them in conflict, but to pair them. These two characters need each other.
The advantages of doing this, from the writer’s point of view are to clearly see a personality, to humanise, and to give the characters purpose. I actually found both characters sympathetic to write, together and separately. If there is a disadvantage it is probably in writing well-rounded, believable characters while maintaining that polarity. Having said that, it’s something writers do all the time.
Although your version of Earth in Savant shows a future that is highly institutionalized and overly bureaucratic, it’s not an entirely bleak world. There is a commitment to freedom of speech, and to the protection of individual rights. For instance, although everyone is ‘chipped’, those in charge of analyzing the brain feeds are not allowed to know their subject’s identity. How difficult was it to avoid falling into a more straightforward ‘evil Big Brother’ setting when creating your complex world?
Honestly, it never crossed my mind. Our own world is complex, and has some of the qualities that you mention. It didn’t seem very difficult to tease those out and expand on them.
There has been mention in some reviews of Savant that there isn’t a great deal of world-building in the novel, that things are teased out or must be assumed. That doesn’t mean that the world wasn’t complete in my mind as I was writing. I think it’s important to edit what goes on the page, and I wanted to avoid great tracts of detail, leaving room for the reader’s imagination. The world was very complex and complete to me very early in the process.
What role do you think you’d be cast as, if you were to find yourself inside the world you’ve created?
That’s tricky. I didn’t write myself into the novel, although, when I began, I guess I identified with Metoo. The initial intent was to write about unconditional love, and I am a parent, after all.
I do have favourite characters. I hope I have the calm pragmatism of Saintout, or the good-natured obsessiveness of Bob Goodman.
You frequently collaborate with your partner, novelist and comic author Dan Abnett. How did you find the experience of working on a solo project?
I loved it, and became obsessive about it. Dan and I live and work together, although we don’t share an office. We both retreat to our own rooms when we’re working, even if it’s a joint project, so in some ways it wasn’t very different. The only difficulty was that Dan brings a huge amount of confidence and energy to everything he does. I’m generally quieter and more obsessive, so I did find myself spending much to long writing, often twelve or fourteen hours at a time.
You’ve written several books of tie-in fiction. How did the process of working on Savant differ from that experience?
I have loved writing tie-in fiction, and I would do more. The process doesn’t come vey naturally to me, though. When I’m writing my own stuff I never plan or plot anything ahead of starting to write. Tie-in fiction requires pre-planning, often in quite a lot of detail, and it means waiting for feedback and adjusting plots and characters as required, which can be a drawn-out process. I love the immediacy of writing in my own worlds, and the autonomy.
I feel more power writing my own stuff, partly because it allows me to be more political, but also because the process gives me the freedom to take any direction the writing suggests, without having to check-in with anyone else. It requires more discipline in many ways, but the personal rewards are greater.
I read that you’re working on a companion piece to Savant. Could you tell us more about that?
Although Savant is entire of itself, I never felt as if I’d finished with the universe I’d set this story in. I never divulged what might be on the other side of that Shield. It didn’t seem important to the story.
I do know what’s on the other side of the Shield. I know what’s going on in the universe. I know what’s going on in our solar system, and I even know what’s happening very close to Earth. The companion novel, working title Seekers, is about a civilisation living in space and searching for a new home.
I’ve read any number of novels about humankind reaching into the universe and colonising other little blue planets. I wanted to write about the end of another world, the plight of its inhabitants, and their search for a new home. Seekers is about how one alien tries to solve that problem.
How about future projects? Do you think you’ll remain in Savant’s world?
I know I’ll remain in Savant’s universe; Seekers proves that. I don’t want to look past the end of this novel while I’m writing it, but it’s a universe that fascinates me, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I revisited it again. That might mean coming back to this Earth, or a new idea might take me off somewhere else.
* * * * * * *
Interview by Juliana Spink Mills – SFFWorld.com © 2017
