So I wanted to publish 2 books this year. Right off the publication of grydscaen: alliance we began work on grydscaen: insurrection. Insurrection is one of my favorites in the series as it deals with mobile frames, pilots and the military. It allows me to write military scifi with an anime feel which is something I have been going for in the series.
Insurrection introduces us to Sati Ima and Nathaneal Barjan who are both pilots in the Pacific Territories air force. Sati was first introduced in grydscaen: beginnings with his own chapter. Sati is a top pilot and is deadly, he can outmatch any who come up against him. But Sati has a tragic flaw. Besides his mouth that gets him in trouble and his bucking of authority he also has schizoaffective disorder, has to take medication every day and gets evaluated each month so that he can continue to fly. I wanted to make a commentary about mental health so Sati allows me to do that.
Insurrection has an anime feel. I wanted to make insurrection take place on the battleship Escalon so that I could explore the technicians, mechanics, cat officers, bridge crew, pilots, officers and the chain of command.
The Psi Faction team is deployed to the Escalon by an edict from the Elite government which controls their mission. The team is led by Gailen Allred the operational commander of the Psi Faction under the leadership of Zoon, the head of the Psi Faction and one of the 3 person Triumverate which leads the Elite Government. Not all the Psi Faction characters are mobile frame pilots. There was a decision made early on to have Lino, Blue, and Raven be pilots with Sati and Nathaneal who were once Psi Faction test subjects once again come back into the story.
Insurrection is the prelude to the next book in the series called grydscaen: desecration which also takes place on the battleship Escalon and deals with the event called the Convergence. I won’t go into it here but it is a major event that will have a huge impact on the series.
Military scifi makes you have to be aware of rules, regulations, the chain of command and orders. The Psi Faction which is a military entity runs by its own set of rules. But when the Psi Faction team joins the battleship Escalon they have to play by a more strict military set of rules. I researched the air force and the navy as well as did my anime homework to ensure we followed the proper military hierarchy. The Psi Faction team are warrant officers, making them one grade below regular officers like a Lieutenant. This distinction meaning they are on contract puts them in a different position than being enlisted. They are not “officers” per say and the Psi Faction has a different set of rules but while they are on the Escalon they need to play within the confines of the military system aboard the battleship.
The frame battles are dynamic. The mobile frame to highlight in this setting is called the Quadrion Isshin. It is a 9th generation mobile frame model which has an aircraft mode and a frame mode and can transform. It is a twin engine, single seat, super maneuverable, jet powered mobile frame and has the thrust and power to boot making it a deadly fighting weapon. It can carry ordinance, has a gennen rifle and two sword modules. The Quadrion Excaliber which is slightly heavier and less maneuverable that the Isshin is also used in Insurrection. Blue pilots an Excaliber while Sati and Nathaneal fly the stealth capable Isshin.
Publishing for this book was done on the heels of the release of grydscaen: alliance. I basically turned around and started publishing insurrection without a gap in the process. Now, I do all the editing, proofreading, interior illustrations and cover art. grydscaen is my endeavor and I like having total control over the process. The cover art of each grydscaen book highlights that specific book’s main character. Insurrection highlights Sati and we have him on the cover in a Pacific Territories flight suit. The flight suit as described in the book is black but we have added red and white highlights to the suit on the cover to make it stand out and be more dynamic.
Each of the grydscaen books has a highlight colour which is based on the manuscript binder that the hardcopy is in. Insurrection was in a black binder. Since all the grydscaen books have different highlights and I wanted to make sure to cover all the colours in the LGBT flag, we needed to make the highlight colour for insurrection grey since the cover already has a fade to black like the other grydscaen volumes. There was careful consideration taken for the cover which uses my illustration and layout design to follow with the grydscaen brand.
Insurrection reintroduces Sati Ima, the son of the Esset battle fleet commander Saito Ima back into the story. Sati will become an integral character to the grydscaen series from here on out. Sati allows me to talk about the stigma of mental illness and bring it into the light. The grydscaen mission has many messages such as LGBT equality, hacker’s rights, mental illness, marginalization and income inequality, marriage equality, drug addiction, homeless youth, survival sex, education barriers, the class system, and cyber security. grydscaen gives me an outlet to talk about these subjects in a fictional backdrop.
grydscaen: insurrection should be available in late June 2016. We are currently in the production process, doing layout, proofreading and getting everything ready for launch. Please stick around for more of grydscaen coming soon.
Sati would really appreciate it, especially after his mouth gets him sent to detention yet again.