Fractal Legacy: Early Planning

The last time I provided an update, I was about to write a few short stories while waiting for feedback on Fractal Peace and Fractal War, ahead of completing those novels. Two short stories would be set in the hiatus between the end of Fractal War and the start of the third novel in the (unplanned) series, Fractal Legacy. Fractal Heritage would follow. Well, it didn't quite work out that way.

It started off well with the first short story, Driven to Extinction, which I'll make available through this website at some point. I really like the basis for the second story I was planning to write, but I couldn't make it gel into a satisfying narrative, so I've filed that away, waiting for my subconscious to provide the answer when I'm not paying attention. Next, it was time for the stories set in Fractal Space, exploring some new characters who will be important in Fractal Legacy.

That was when I realised I was planning to start Fractal Legacy from the wrong point. The events of these short stories were crying out to be part of the novel, teasing out more vital parts of the new characters' world than I'd envisioned. It was time to start planning the book.

I started with some research on the (hypothetical) theoretical basis behind wormholes, leading me down a rabbit hole of exotic matter and negative mass. Luckily, everything fitted neatly into my developing ideas for the novel and the roles of the characters on the new world of Kitran.

As I began to piece together the threads of the story, events I'd intended to leave to one side until the fourth book, Fractal Heritage, kept interfering and insisted on being part of this story. Reluctantly, I had to accept that this was where they fit.

Rather than leave a potentially lacklustre Fractal Heritage without these events festering in the background, I decided to go in the opposite direction to Fractal Peace and combine the two books into one. Once I did, everything made sense. It will be longer than initially planned but not too long for a single novel. This feels right.

The story will be told in three parts:

• Conjunction

• Cooperation

• Bifurcation

Effectively, Conjunction is largely identical to what I was planning for the first half of Legacy, Cooperation contains threads from both Legacy and Heritage, and Bifurcation completes the story of both but is more biased towards Heritage. Phew.

The first part will be told across ten chapters, alternating two narratives from different perspectives. The odd-numbered chapters will be from the points of view of Cabeliac Onga and Amina Ya, two secondary characters from the first novels.

The even chapters will be from Laz Turka's perspective, a young Kitrano scientist setting out on his career by joining Dowl Urkit's department investigating practical applications of theoretical wormhole physics.

• Protective Expansion

• Wormhole Theory

• Past Devastation

• Exotic Matter

• Potential Contention

• Wormhole Practice

• Failed Admission

• Wormhole Reformation

• Forced Determination

• Stretching Space

I've sketched out eight characters so far, with their tentative appearances as below:

Yes, the Kitrano are blue/green. What of it? Don't blame me; blame the Aevoir.

Three of these are carried over from the previous novels, but plenty of other new characters will come. I'm going to wait a bit longer before fleshing them out, but I know where they'll slot in.

I'm going to take the unusual step of starting with chapter two. In fact, I might write all the even chapters in part one first before worrying about the odd ones. I can safely document Laz Turks's life without worrying how any changes I might make to Fractal Peace/War after feedback could affect the story.

I might want to start Cabeliac Onga's tale differently if I tweak things in the earlier novels, so it's best to leave that until I'm ready. Once I get the feedback (hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks), I'll swap to finishing and releasing Fractal Peace and Fractal War. Then it'll be back to Fractal Legacy, the last planned novel in the Fractal Space universe, at least for now.

After that? Well, last week, the idea of a sequel to Two Earths Are Better Than None sprang into my mind. I'm not sure whether it will pan out as yet, but that might be what keeps me busy in the second half of 2024. If it does, it has the working title of Two Earths Are Better Than More (but will likely change that).

Right, it's time to see what Laz Turka has to tell me.