Hello everyone, and welcome to our interview corner. We have with us today, author Selso Xisto, who is on tour with his novel, Particle Horizon. You don't have to take my word for it. Grab a seat and let the interrogation...Interview, begin.
Who are you?
I’m Selso Xisto and I
write science fiction! I also ride a fast motorbike and obsess over
my cat.
What inspired you to
write Particle Horizon?
A long time ago, I read
this amazing book called ‘The Eerie Silence: Are we alone in the
Universe?’ by Paul Davies. It blew my mind. It got me thinking that
there are so many unanswered questions about the origin of the
universe, the big bang, etc. That there was a lot of scope to write
speculative fiction trying to answer those questions without sounding
completely implausible. Before then, I’d always written for myself,
silly short stories for fun, but I never believed I had the chops to
write real Sci-Fi. Then I realized most writers do a lot of research,
but that the really big, fundamental questions are often just things
they made up or speculate on like the rest of us! So, I did a lot of
research and just got writing. Reading the Night’s Dawn trilogy by
Peter F Hamilton was the final straw; his world building and
characters were so awesome and compelling that I couldn’t keep the
beast inside me for much longer! I wanted to create a story that had
the same effect on someone else!
Tell us a bit about the
world, Angelhaven.
Angelhaven is a
hollowed out asteroid 15 miles long and 4 miles wide. Its world is on
the inside surface and held in place by centrifugal rotation. This is
not a new idea by any means, and was heavily inspired by Greg Bear’s
‘Eon’ and Arthur C Clarke’s ‘Rendezvous with Rama’.
Angelhaven orbits a vast Jupiter-like gas giant called Hades. From
the asteroid world trails a 3,000 mile-long tether that drags a scoop
through the clouds of Hades collecting natural resources that are
siphoned up to the factories in Angelhaven. Along the zero G axis of
this world, teenagers fly like birds in a sleeve of cloud around
their artificial sun…
What about your main characters?
Particle Horizon is
told from many perspectives along the way. The three main characters
all come from very different backgrounds and sides of the galactic
conflict. Xavier is a battle-hardened Union marine sent to confront
the Legion invasion head-on. He has a strange power - the ability to
see people’s emotions whenever he closes his eyes. The Union of
Free Worlds is a progressive, technophile society; religion was
banned long ago. Xavier fights an enormous conflict between the
evidence of his ‘magical’ abilities and his training. He also
carries a massive chip on his shoulder; his mother was a victim of
the LightBringer many years ago.
Una is the daughter of
the great scientist in Angelhaven who makes the scientific
breakthrough that provoked this war. She has an artificial mind and
was created with the sole purpose of helping his research. She fights
every day to assert her humanity and cope with what she is and what
she’s done.
Aja is survivor and
victim. She’s a reluctant conscript in the Legion; forced to fight
for a cult she doesn’t believe in. She clings to an old, outlawed
Christian faith and wants nothing more than to escape this war.
Everyone loves to know about the villain, so tell us about the
antagonist.
The main antagonist is
known only as Cain. He too has a mysterious special ability, though
he knows exactly where it came from. He is pure, calculating, cold,
rage and subterfuge. He is motivated only by revenge and a need for
answers only one person can give.
What themes are
discussed in the book?
There are a few key
themes in the book: faith, humanity and origin. Growing up a
Christian and slowly beginning to question my beliefs, as I got
older, religion was bound to be a key part of my first book. Don’t
get me wrong here; this is not an anti-religious book, I think you’ll
see when you read it that there is room for faith and science, and
that ultimately a lot of science is based on a faith in certain
theories that are later proved wrong anyway. My religious themes are
centered on how faith can be corrupted and twisted; Aja herself is a
Christian but persecuted by the cult that has taken over her world.
The other major theme
is that of humanity. I’m endlessly fascinated by the idea of
sentience and where the line is between intelligence and
self-awareness. I tried to explore this from the point of view of a
super-smart artificial intelligence who happens to be cursed with a
human body and all the biological and hormonal issues that affect our
behavior. Una doesn’t know if she’s human or not and this gets
even more complicated when she’s asked to do something unspeakable
to protect her fellow Havenites. I won’t spoil it here though!
The big one is origin;
where did the universe come from? What lies beyond the particle
horizon? I’m not going to give this one away, but I had fun weaving
my own little speculation on this question.
Can you share one random fact
about yourself for our readers.
I once made a comedy
song with a friend at Disney called ‘Monkey Lap dance’ that got
played on prime-time breakfast radio in London!
You are a fascinating author, Selso, and we hope to have you again. For our visitors, don't leave yet, there's more. Selso is giving away an autographed copy of his novel. Enter the giveaway below for chance at the exciting world of Angelhaven
