The first concept art for “Faraway Star” is out!

Since summer last year I’ve written a few articles about my upcoming science fiction novel, called Faraway Star. (An index of them is at the end of this article). I’m quite excited, at last, to be able to show you something other than just words or vaguely evocative repurposed images. The header of this article is an illustration—the first in a series of them—that has been custom-made for the book. It depicts the main character of Faraway Star, Raljebi Xoltiharé, in his dorm room on the distant planet of Algeron. This comes from the first chapter of Faraway Star, which is told in epistolary format, so there’s sort of a subtle metafictional quality to this picture, as it could be Raljebi writing the first in the series of letters that will become his story.

Faraway Star is a character-driven space opera taking place in a part of the galaxy that’s being ravaged by a terrible war between several major planets. Raljebi, a citizen of Caprion, one of the belligerents, is studying music theory on Algeron mainly to secure an exemption from the military draft on his home planet. Later in the first chapter, Raljebi and his friend Quilq, a Menkarian, decide to drop out of school and leave Algeron for another planet, Mira, where there’s a camp of anti-war protesters from across the galaxy mobilizing for peace. That’s the inciting incident of the plot.

In advance of the release of Faraway Star—I still don’t even know the release date, though I’m thinking June seems likely—I’ve commissioned some artists to visualize some moments from the novel. This one, by an artist known as Nayomi, is the first. I think she captured the aesthetic I was looking for perfectly. I definitely had in mind a retro-futurist look for the world of the novel, as if it could have been written, or filmed as a movie, in the 1960s or 1970s. I’ve also been known to describe the premise of Faraway Star to others as “It’s 1967...in space!” I began writing the book over 30 years ago and it’s amazing to see what I’ve had in my head all that time start to take shape in something you can actually visualize.

Faraway Star will be published in ebook, paperback and audiobook versions. If you are one of my closer fans, such as subscribed at the paid tier (or the members section on my YouTube channel), you will get a chance for some advance exposure to the book. In the meantime there will likely be other conceptual illustrations coming soon, and the Garden is where you’ll see them.

Here are my previous articles regarding Faraway Star:

• The books I’m working on: Faraway Star and Wild Among the Moons (an introduction to the concepts of the books).
• Choose your weapon: The tech of my science fiction book Faraway Star (specifically about the role of technology in science fiction and storytelling).
• Strange synchronicity: Finishing an antiwar novel in a time of war (related to the outbreak of the conflict with Iran, and the antiwar message of Faraway Star).

Illustration by Nayomi Arts, all rights reserved.

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