The second plot, concerning the Parallax itself was far more complex. It was rather exhausting though as I ‘felt’ for my main characters during the writing. The foremost plot, concerned with the power cut, was ‘easy’ in that I knew what would happen, where to set it and what the characters would do before I started. Parallax is essentially comprised of two interwoven plots. What was the most challenging part of your creative process? The Kindle version of Parallax contains links to news articles illustrating these instances where art mirrored life. Even the cover shows London with all the lights off, eerily similar to newspaper photos of New York with the lights off. The power cut in my book happens in late Oct, so the characters go through similar problems due to the wintry weather, cold, food shortages etc, albeit in London instead. Soon after finishing it, news footage of the storm and subsequent power outage in New York from Hurricane Sandy in late October, rang particularly true.

While I was writing it from Jan-Oct 2012, several aspects actually came true.

What are you most proud of with Parallax? Post-apocalyptic, realistic sci-fi thrillers, Blade Runner or Jules Verne To my surprise, almost all of my good feedback has come from a totally different demographic, so now I have no real idea! I think Sirene and Parallax are far more accessible to most readers than Psinapse was, and I find they appeal to different readers in different ways.Ĭomplete this statement for us: if you like _ you’ll love Parallax. I aim most of my work towards the 16-30 age group, probably male, probably IT types.

I call it “near-future, earthbound sci-fi” due to its futuristic nature, but sci-fi fans will probably consider it more of an adventure, espionage thriller. Later, it transpires that the storm’s power outage may not be quite all it seems, leading onto the espionage aspect of the book and the Parallax itself.ĭifficult to say. Set in 2029, it explores what repercussions a solar storm might have in a near-future setting, how various types of Londoners would cope – rich people, poor people, honest people, crooked people – and what they would do to get by. Parallax is the third instalment of my occasional series of Euro-espionage books.

Parallax by Andrew Ives