It’s 2024! WOW!
It’s January 2nd, and it’s Science Fiction Day!
As a sci-fi fantasy author, I feel like it’s a good opportunity to share some of my inspirations and discuss how they helped me with my stories.

Sci-fi is my favorite genre. The wonder involved, and the tie back to reality make it mysterious and beautiful. I love how it can explore the real, current-day world through a lens of the future and often help drive innovation.

For this list, I’m going to share the books that inspired my own work. Otherwise, I could ramble on forever!

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What inspired In the Orbit of Sirens?

My debut novel had decades of inspiration poured into it. I had fallen in love with many sci-fi books growing up, and although I could list probably hundreds of books, I’ll stick with the books that had the greatest impact.

A Fire Upon the Deep – Vernor Vinge

Vernor Vinge sunk his teeth into me quickly with this novel. I tried out the ebook sample and was immediately drawn in by the opening lines. Then he kept adding cool ideas after cool ideas and I was a huge fan. It became my favorite novel, only beaten by its sequel/prequel, a Deepness in the Sky (I’ll get to that later!) The way the aliens interact and adapt to human influence in this was a leading inspiration for the relationship between Auk’nai and human.

The Hyperion Cantos – Dan Simmons

The semi-fantastical world of Hyperion, with its mysterious labyrinth and even more infamous resident monster, the Shrike, directly inspired Nhymn and the Sirens of Kamaria. I wanted to take what I liked about the Shrike and add things I would have preferred it had done. Giving the book a dreamy atmosphere also was a result of reading these books. I liked that it could get weird but still work.

Dune – Frank Herbert

Probably surprising no one, Dune impacted my writing greatly! I’ll admit I only read the first book (in 2024; I plan to rectify that by reading the next two.) By bringing philosophy into the mix. I’ll admit, I may not be the deepest philosopher, but where I really honed it in was the world-building. I developed my aliens based on the idea of “Honesty” instead of the usual approach I see to world-building. The Auk’nai are 100% honest, humans are 50% honest, and Undriel are 0% honest. I felt like this gave me an avenue to explore while the Castus family adapts to the dangers of Kamaria. Really diving into the “rules of a planet” gave me an interesting sandbox to play in.

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What inspired On the Winds of Quasars?

Unsure if I had the ability to write more than one book, Quasars was quite a journey for me. When it came to beginning the book, I leaned on things I like to see in books. I’m a big fan of jumping time after a book. It allows us to see how the events of the first story effected the world and what good and bad had come of it. When writing the Song of Kamaria trilogy, I also wanted to mix up the genre just a little. Sirens was a colonization/first contact story, very exploratory. Quasars is more of a mystery thriller. Threshold is a war book.

Speaker for the Dead – Orson Scott Card

The flip to “mystery thriller” came directly from when I read Speaker for the Dead in highschool. I loved that turn, and seeing Ender Wiggin attempt to solve a mystery felt so cool. It was a totally different tone than the first book and I thought it worked really well. This also inspired me to make aliens we don’t fully connect with.

The Expanse – James S. A. Corey

Another “well duh” moment. The Expanse has changed Scifi forever. Where it inspired me was the idea of having two different characters with different approaches to the same world. Again the detective side of Leviathan Wakes inspired the investigation elements of Quasars, where Holden’s experience opening the door for more to happen to the universe inspired Denton and Eliana’s path. This is another series I hope to finish in 2024, but I got three down!

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What inspired At the Threshold of the Universe?

Bringing the trilogy to its conclusion was one of the most creatively exhausting and rewarding experiences I have ever had. It’s a scary endeavor to pilot into a conclusion, especially when you self-set the rule that this is the hard stop for these characters. Threshold is a war book, so outside of Scifi I read a few autobiographies about famous soldiers (Audie Murphy comes to mind with To Hell and Back.) Dune and some older Redwall books I had read when I was younger helped a lot too. So outside the War aspect, here are some other great books I was inspired by for this epic ending.

Foundation – Isaac Asimov

It’s a slight spoiler to mention, but in Threshold of the Universe, we are shown events that happened in the Sol System and the rise of the Undriel threat. The forces that pushed humanity toward Kamaria are the driving point in this last book, and what better book involves “scifi history” than Foundation. Where the events of something hundreds of years prior can snowball and change the future greatly. I loved this series; it really came in handy as inspiration for the final book in the Song of Kamaria.

A Deepness in the Sky – Vernor Vinge

This might be my favorite sci-fi book of all time. Part of it involves it hitting me at the exact right moment in my life (in 2020. During a pandemic and when some of the plot elements really felt REAL.) The humans dealing with their complex situation in orbit around the On/Off Star, and the race of spider people on the planet below progressing their culture through innovation was an incredible mix. I was inspired to tackle real-world events via this novel, and having the connection between Human, Auk’nai, and Undriel was very important to me. It also taught me that even though the bad guy is dead, the problems aren’t fully over. There must be a change in the hearts and minds of the people who survived. Loved this book!

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What inspired Down Below Beyond?

Now we’re getting to the more modern stuff! Down Below Beyond was my first adventure into my new sandbox, Lodespace! It gave me an opportunity to leap outside my comfort zone and find new adventures. I never like to write the same thing more than once, so this portal-hopping adventure was way different from what the Song of Kamaria had been.

Gateway – Frederik Pohl

The funny thing about this book is that my dad has recommended it to me for decades! I was in a creative slump, burnt out from finishing the Threshold of the Universe, and I decided to finally jump in. This book not only was awesome, but it restored the creative well I had drained. The idea of using random chance as a risk factor was awesome, and there are Prospectors in this book although they are very different from the prospectors in my book. Instead of using a random misunderstood spaceship to make a big score, I reversed it so that the Gateslinger is a conduit for change.

(also, my dad has never read this book! He recommended it for decades, and it turns out he’s never read it!!)

This is How You Lose the Time War – Amal Et Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This book was so cool. I loved the idea of two people competing to ruin timelines and the devastation they caused. What inspired me with this was the popping in and out of timelines and finding evidence of each other. Levort and Bayfo often circle each other, and when they run into each other it often leads to violence. I also liked the idea of characters who sort of lose their home identity, when their gateslingers become more comfortable to them than the place they originally lived. Their adventure takes them across the universe but home is only a click away.

The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester

Some people consider this the best science fiction book ever written, and while I might not go that far, I did really find this book interesting. Humanity almost accidentally discovers they can “jaunt” over distances as long as they know how to get from point A to B. This then effects the way the world works to compensate for everyone’s ability to suddenly teleport. (Maybe this sound familiar?) This book greatly inspired how Lodespace reacts to Gateslingers, and how the citizens of Bloom start to think with a Gateslinger-first mindset. This was an interesting short read that doesn’t quite survive the test of time with some plot elements (there’s a few trigger warnings to be had here.) but it’s worth a read with that in mind.

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What is inspiring Project SNWF?

As I work toward this new project, I am reminded of the stories I read that inspired this new adventure. We’re back in Lodespace with a brand new set up and a story I haven’t told previously. It’s going to be really fun!

A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet – Becky Chambers

Great fun is right! SNWF will take place largely on the MSC Bright Ribbit, and be a more character-focused story about the crew that inhabits it as they get sucked into a dangerous situation. The crew in Long Way left an impact on me, with all of their complexities and the way they work together. I fell in love with this “journey of self-discovery” book, and the world Chambers created for it. It felt like going on a road trip with friends.

Binti – Nnedi Okorafor

The world in this novel was inspiring in many ways. I loved the jellyfish-like aliens, and the school atmosphere. Although I don’t plan to involve a school in my narrative, the way the aliens and humans all work together in a society was a big factor in the development of Lodespace. Sevodan from DBB is also inspired by the jellyfish character in Binti.

The Dark Beyond the Stars – Frank M. Robinson

This quickly became another one of my favorite novels (although I will admit there’s a few trigger warnings to be had here too.) As I mentioned before, SNWF will take place mostly on one spaceship, as does the story in Dark Beyond the Stars. I really loved how although the setting remained constant, the story stayed interesting the entire time. Battlestar Galactica also does a good job with this concept. This book also managed to find some excellent imagery, twisting the ship in ways that just kept hitting your senses. Very cool book (but like I said, a few TW’s to keep in mind as you read.)

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Those were some of the biggest influences for me as a writer. Did you see any of your favorites up there? If so, let me know! Also, if you liked those you MIGHT like my books, so give them a peep! Also, you can find me on Goodreads if you’re curious what else influenced me. I try to review all the books I finish.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you discover your new favorite books this year.
Cheers!
—T.A.