P.P. Corcoran is a veteran of the British Army and a part time writer. The first book in his Saiph series has been released as part of The Empire at War Box Set, featuring four full length novels of British Military Science Fiction. We have talked to him about the Saiph series, what British authors brings to Military Science Fiction and his future plans.
First of all for those not familiar with your Saiph series, can you tell us a bit about it?
The safe series is basically a Johnny Appleseed story where after years of war humanity at last puts ifs differences aside and unites under one government. No longer struggling against each other humanity once more looks to the stars and various projects are begun one of which leads to the development of a star drive which allows for near instantaneous travel amongst the stars. Without giving too much away this leads to us discovering that we are not alone in the universe.
At the core of your story is the idea that intelligent life on many planets is the result of DNA manipulation from an alien race. How did you come up with this idea?
I was trying come up with a different scenario where instead of finding that there was aliens out there and fighting with them we actually had something in common with them which led to us forming alliances to defeat a greater enemy.
I was pleasantly surprised by how you have named your “earth characters” using names from all corners of the earth. Was it easy to come up with names for both the humans and aliens or did many of them change during the writing?
It appeared to me that using only Western-style names for the human characters would detract from the basic idea that humanity was now single entity rather than individual nations. As for names for the alien characters I tried to come up with names that showed the distinction between human and alien but were still pronounceable. And yes a lot of names were changed as the book went along as some were too similar or just didn’t suit the character.
You have some pretty big space battles. How hard do you feel it is to write believable space battles?
I must admit although I really enjoyed writing the big space battles and I was very much aware that readers can easily spot clearing basic science errors when you talk about capabilities of future weapon systems. When considering what sort of weapons my combatants would have I spent a long time researching what the experts have to say about how warfare could be conducted over the past distances involved in fighting a battle in space.
Baldies… Werewolves… What inspired you to create the characteristics of the alien races we’re introduced to?
I was very conscious that I needed to make alien races which could realistically interact with each other. There was no sense having an alien that was say, completely made up of proto plasm or some other substance that discounted verbal communication. With that in mind I decided to have a little fun hence aliens that any normal person may be inclined to slap a slang term to. A Baldie or a Werewolf.
Discovery of the Saiph is one of four books in the Empire at War collection. How did this joint release come about?
The original idea of gathering together a group of British authors was Tim Taylor’s, author of the Human Legion series. He contacted me early summer 2015 with the suggestion telling me that he already had Christopher Nuttall and Phillip Richards on board and would I like to join in. Well with names like Chris and Phil involved it was a bit on a no brainer so I said yes. With a bit of brain scratching we came up with the idea of Empire at War as we were all military sci fi authors and the title managed to get that concept across quite effectively.
Can you also tell us a bit about the bonus material?
Well apart from four complete novels I have written a short story entitled Haven One-Eight specifically for the collection. Tim Taylor has contributed not only a short based on his Human Legion series but another short entitled Fallen Witness which accompanies the collections fantastic art work by double BSFA award winning artist Andy Bigwood. Also included there is the opening chapters of Phil Richards new book Escape from the Hive. All the extras add up to virtually another complete novel.
In the intro it says “Brits don’t do military SF”. Obviously a big exaggeration, but do you think British authors bring something different to the table?
Yes I think they do, I think the main thing is that they appear to come at military SF from a different angle than that of other authors. Where some authors tend to concentrate on a single or narrow plot line I feel that British authors have a better grasp of the ‘Big Picture’. In my own Saiph Series I make a point of introducing multiple characters each of whom has their own view of how the central story line is progressing and how it affects them individually. This is something which I feel is important to emphasise. A conflict which spans thousands of light years must inevitably involve more than just one central character or species.
How has your background from the army influenced your writing?
My own experience in the military has hugely affected how I write. I have spent the majority of my adult life serving in various theatres around the world with a wide range of units and this has given me a far better understanding of how command decisions are made and how these decisions in turn effect an individual which then shapes their decision making process in a combat scenario and this allows me to give a more realistic feel to not only the combat scenes but the events leading up to and the results of these actions. I hope that my readers will agree.
So far you have released three books in the Saiph series and are working on a fourth. How many books do you have plans for and do you have everything mapped out?
The fourth book in the Saiph Series, Return of the Saiph, is my final planned book in this particular story line. In Return of the Saiph the readers will find all their unanswered questions about the Saiph answered but, without going into specifics that would ruin the novel for them, an unexpected plot twist that I hope they appreciate. Note that I stated that Return of the Saiph is the final book in this particular story line as I have already been approached by some of my readers who would like me to expand the universe that the Saiph Series is based in. Who knows maybe after I finish writing Return of the Saiph I find that there is more to tell and end up revisiting the series after I finish my next series, The K’Tai War. Any of my readers who think they like the idea of this are welcome to leave a message on my website as to their thoughts.
You also have to tell us a bit about your latest project, Invasion (K’Tai War).
I have to admit that The K’Tai War idea has me pretty excited. Where the Saiph Series jumped from one side of the galaxy to the other and continually introduced new races K’Tai is written around to central groupings. The K’Tai, a race bound by the ancient warrior code of Rig. The K’Tai Imperium over the course of thousands of years has spread to encompass hundreds of planets and star systems. In comparison the Human race is seen by the K’Tai as the young pretenders. Humanity is expanding claiming star systems as fast as they discover them and it is inevitable that soon enough Humanity finds itself on the borders of the K’Tai Imperium.
The first book in The K’Tai War trilogy, Invasion, tells the story of the inevitable clash of these two vastly differing cultures. On the Human side we find the Carter family, Dave and Sue Carter and their two children Jodee and Chris. A seemingly innocuous family they are nothing of the sort as the K’Tai find out to their cost.
On the K’Tai side we discover that the all-powerful Imperium has problems of its own as certain high ranking K’Tai find themselves increasingly at odds with the Imperium.
Of course, there will be plenty of action and plot twists to hold the reader’s attention and I hope that my readers find themselves as immersed in this new series as they have been with my previous books. I know I am.
Once again, thank you very much for your time.
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Interview by Dag Rambraut – SFFWorld.com © 2016
