About the Book
Title: Hemispheres
Author: Mark Everglade
Publisher: RockHill Publishing
Length: 96,000 words, 290 pages
Publication date: August 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945286-49-0
Genre and/or keywords: Science fiction, cyberpunk, solarpunk
Synopsis
In a world where light is currency…
Light is big business on Evig Natt, where it’s always dark and fireflies are the only legal source of light. They’re also used for currency, leaving the impoverished to live in the shadows of the wealthy.
Severum Rivenshear is hired to stop the Kontractor, a feminist speeding the planet’s rotation to bring light to rich and poor alike, until his beliefs shatter while witnessing the abuses of power.
In a time of war, they must bring balance to the hemispheres, even if Severum must betray the very system he’s sworn to protect.
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About the Author
Author Mark Everglade has spent his life as a musician and sociologist, studying conflict on all levels of society. He wrote Hemispheres to sooth our ideological divisiveness in a time of oppression. His previous stories have appeared in Exoplanet Magazine and Unrealpolitik. He resides in the United States with his wife and four children.
Author Links
Interview
What inspired you to write this story?
Hemispheres is an idea my wife came up with. I’ve always been interested in cultural materialism – that is, the way the natural environment impacts cultural practices. But I’m equally interested in how human culture can transcend the limitations of the environment.
When the planet Gliese 581g was discovered in real life, I was inspired by how half the planet was always dark, what we call solar-tidal-locking (which is different than the Earth’s lunar-tidal-locking). I wondered as to the impact that would have on culture. As a professional sociologist, someone who explores patterns of relationships between groups of people, I wanted to interpret this cultural impact in terms of power relationships. In Hemispheres, on the dark side of the planet people end up using fireflies for both light, and currency. This leaves the impoverished to live in the shadows of the wealthy until a group of women unite to try to speed the planet’s rotation, bringing light to everyone equally.
The ideas were inspired by the philosophers Reza Negarestani, Georg Wilhelm Hegel, and Nicholas Luhmann. The overall writing style was inspired by William Gibson, while the characterization was inspired by Charles Dickens. The action sequences took from R.A. Salvatore, while the virtual reality sequences at the end were straight up Alice in Wonderland¸ which is why the character in those scenes is named Carroll. When dealing with VR and the unconscious mind, I figured it had to be surreal, and who better to emulate than the creator of the Mad Hatter?
Is there a character you feel especially connected to? Why?
I feel particularly connected to Aurthur, because he’s the closest to my real world personality. His name was taken as a variation to the word “author,” as a hint to the reader to this regard. On the surface, he’s a recovering narcissist with delusions of grandeur, but inside he’s a very insecure man who loves everyone equally and tries to keep the peace, but can’t empathize with them enough to do so. Other than that, I connect with Arcturus, because she over-calculates every social interaction she has and ends up emotionally stagnated as a result of this, as she tries to fit into a neurotypical world. Each character changes as a result of their journey; Aurthur drops his obsession with becoming a famous artist to start a family, for instance, and Arcturus comes to understand the meaning of love in a way that defies all calculations.
What was the hardest part of writing this?
Dialogue. Being mediocre at social communication myself, often making people feel awkward or coming across as so arrogant as to push people away, I found it difficult to create likeable characters. I asked Jeff VanderMeer, author of the movie/book Annihilation, the other day how he goes about character creation, and he advised that he doesn’t even touch a serious draft until he has perfected the voice, tone, texture, and point of view of each character. I did the opposite, creating the book first, and then going back over the course of 4,500 hours to edit the dialogue, but I think each character has a unique voice now, from the sarcastic slights of Thalassa, the militant orders of Severum, the mystic musings of Akasha, the poetic ramblings of Aurthur that annoy everyone, and the uptight speaking style of Arcturus.
Tell us a little about any upcoming projects.
I am currently finishing my second book which I hope to release in two years. Like Hemispheres, it juxtaposes two societies that are very different, but unlike Hemispheres, it is non-violent. The book takes place on Earth a few decades from now and centers around the topic of free speech and social media. I won’t give away any details yet, but let’s just say there’s cybermonks and an exploration of how spiritual meditation becomes interpreted differently when you’re linked to machines. The underlying theme is yes, there’s a lot of fear driving society right now, but this fear is ultimately based on something very positive – love, a love for life, and the need to protect our loved ones. Love goes beyond political ideologies to unite the entire human race, if they allow it to.
Word Sprints!
Plotter or pantser?
Pantser. I wouldn’t write a book if I knew how it was going to end. If you create realistic characters with genuine motivations and place them into an environment rife with conflict, then the characters should be writing the story, not the author.
Cats or dogs?
As an ichthyologist, fish. My studies of African ecology really contributed to my understanding of how the natural environment is linked to poverty, and how politics manipulates the natural environment to its will.
Musical theater or rock concert?
Progressive metal, but I like opera, and like it best when both are combined at once (i.e. Epica, Ayreon).
What was the last thing you read?
Maldene, Into Neon, Gods from the Machine, and Entropy Angels, in preparation for a series of author interviews I have begun in the cyberpunk and related genre.
What’s a charity/cause you support?
Autism awareness. But right now I think Doctors without Borders is really important, too.
