I posted a blog on the inspirations for the titular character of DarkLight Redemption a few days ago, so today I’ll be discussing a bit about the origins of the Post-Human Universe as a whole.
I love comics and have for most of my life, which is why I- like many geeks – often daydreamed about writing the adventures of Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, Captain America, X-Men, Justice League and all the usual suspects. Also, like most people, I didn’t exactly have the DC or Marvel people knocking down my front door asking me to write for them. So I ultimately had to create my own sandbox to play in.
The Post-Human Universe is called so because, while the Post-Humans are at the center of it, the story expands beyond just the Earth. Post-Humans are, simply put, people who have gained extraordinary powers. However, in DarkLight Redemption, I reference aliens from other worlds and even other dimensions. The Universe title is also a tip of the cap to the similarly named Marvel Universe and DC Universe.
As far as the story mechanisms goes, most comic stories are told from the first person perspectives of the title characters. Which is why I wrote DarkLight Redemption from that perspective, and intend to write my future Post-Human novels from it as well. They may not always be narrated by DarkLight himself, but they will all be told in the same manner. Another advantage of the first person narrative is that it plunges you directly into the world around that character with an immediacy that pulls the reader right in.
Tying the reader to a single character is also a good way to avoid several dozen, or hundred, pages of exposition. That’s especially useful here, since this story kicks in twenty years or so after the universe has already been changed in the Post-Human era. DarkLight himself is also a character who has spent years in a world that may otherwise seem strange to the reader, and so he’s a good guide for the journey.
I pulled some general story and tonal pointers from sources ranging all the way from Watchmen to The Venture Bros. Both of the aforementioned stories, wildly different as they may be, take place in extraordinary worlds made more relatable by the narrators who have lived in them for a while. Watchmen references a history of its world in smaller chunks, which works for the sort of story I was telling as well. And Venture Bros has fun with a world of super people and, while I didn’t quite go as far into the realm of parody, I wanted to keep things light for the most part.
You may notice that this novel is referred to as Book One in the Post-Human Universe. Don’t be scared off by that. I have plans to write several more novels in this series, but each one will stand primarily on its own merits – much like my Venator Series. Believe me, you won’t be waiting years for a conclusion to any of these stories.
If you’ve read this, and you’re interested in checking out DarkLight Redemption, then you should visit Goodreads and enter for a chance to win a copy of the novel. Of course, you always have the option to just buy the novel and leave nothing to chance. Either way, I do hope you decide to give it a shot.