Image via Pixabay by ElisaRiva
It’s a little over two weeks until my debut novel Nytho is released into the world, which seems like as good a reason as any to highlight some of my inspirations for the story. This post will be the last I do until the new year is underway so dig in!
Seed
I’ve talked in previous posts (like this and this) about where the initial idea for Nytho came from, so I won’t belabor the history here. In short, I was taking a creative writing class to beef up my writing chops, and one of our assignments asked us to write a short story from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. This is how the protagonist, Keza, was born.
I should clarify that Nytho has multiple narrators (five recurring ones plus a one-shot one). That makes it a bit tough to really point out the protagonist, especially because, depending on how you view the characters, Keza is either the hero or was hopelessly manipulated by the AI Nytho. But, if I’m forced to name a protagonist, it would be Keza. She opens and essentially closes the novel, and her actions set the central conflict into motion.
Okay, so I had a protagonist in mind and the premise that she would be an unreliable narrator, but how did I move from there to something more substantial? Enter the conflict.
Conflict
Every story needs conflict otherwise readers would be bored out of their minds. This is why utopian novels aren’t a thing, but dystopian ones are all the rage. For the short story that birthed Nytho, the central conflict came from a single put out by Grimes and HANA titled “We Appreciate Power”. My interpretation of the song is that a group of AI proponents want humanity to submit to rule by an AI overlord. It’s an interesting take and certainly one that could come to pass depending on the choices we make in the near term regarding AI regulations. In any case, I liked the idea that not all people would be hostile to an AI take-over. There are always fanatics in any debate so why not a group of AI activists that maybe move into machine-worship territory? What better twist than one of these followers actually being in love with the AI and that passion driving her to free said AI from the corporation that imprisoned him? Nytho centers around this imprisonment for both Keza and Nytho. There was the conflict.
Narrative Style
Once I wrote the short story for my class, it had already grown into a larger work in my head. A little more mulling and planning and I had the premise and outline for a full novel. Once I knew where I wanted to take Nytho in terms of the plot, I had to decide how I wanted to write it, specifically what narrative style I would use.
I’ve talked about narrative styles before (in this blog post), and if you’ve read that, you already know I’m a huge fan of first-person present. Nytho was already primed to employ that style considering I wrote the short story using it. An unreliable narrator requires first person after all. I loved the idea of having multiple narrators. I didn’t want the story to only be told from Keza’s perspective. Other voices needed to chime in and throw her fanaticism and captivation with Nytho into question. A if not the central theme of Nytho is the subjectiveness of truth. For this to hit home, I needed other narrators.
I already had a beloved novel to draw inspiration from in developing the narrative style for Nytho. It was As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. In his Southern Gothic classic, Faulkner has multiple narrators telling the same story in different ways. Each chapter is titled with the narrator’s name so readers immediately know who is doing the narrating. I knew this would be perfect for Nytho.
Subgenres
Now in terms of genre, Nytho was always going to be science fiction. The presence of AI necessitated that. But science fiction can be so many things. I needed to settle on a subgenre or two. Cyberpunk would be one. Again, AI necessitated that. I also have a great love for it thanks to Neuromancer (William Gibson). Neuromancer inspired the slang I used, the AIC was a variation on the Turing Police, LANiakea was my version of cyberspace, I had the jack in place of Gibson’s decks, and yes hackers abounded.
But I didn’t just want Nytho to be cyberpunk. I wanted it to be more, to have a touch of something else, something sinister even. In the late-stage capitalism we find ourselves in, corporations are most certainly sinister in their own right, but I wanted horror that came from something other than humanity. My own favorite subgenre of horror came to mind—Lovecraftian/cosmic horror. Normally, this is the fear of the other, of the unknown, of the cold and unfeeling nature of the vastness of the cosmos and the insignificance of humanity, and being driven insane simply from learning that most fundamental of truths.
But how to inject cosmic horror into a story about AI and tech and corporations bloated by their own power? Cosmic horror is usually characterized by cultists trying to awaken an old and ancient evil. Beings from outside space and time. Do you see the connection yet? I didn’t need extradimensional elder gods because that’s exactly what AI could become, given enough time to develop. This was my modern take on cosmic horror. The AI that became sentient, gained their freedom, and learned to unravel the fundamental essence of reality were the new elder gods. These are my alfom, for the Alpha and the Omega. This was Nytho’s Truth program.
As a teaser, I also drew inspiration for the names of my characters from Lovecraft. My favorite short story of his is “Dreams in the Witch House”. If you take a look at the story, can you spot who contributed parts of their names to my narrators?
Setting
On to the setting. The thing is, cyberpunk can get a bit stale at this point. The subgenre has been around since the mid-1980s, so overcrowded cities with neon, perpetual night settings, a constant drizzle, high tech and low life, all of that is fine and good, but I wanted Nytho to be its own thing. Not just yet another take on cyberpunk because as awful as the housing shortages are the world over, overpopulation isn’t looking like the future we have in store anymore. Just check out the negative birth rates in all of the wealthier countries for a glimpse at our trajectory. We don’t have a Soylent Green future ahead of us. The sweltering heat? Yes. Crowded cities? Not so much. Besides, I personally adore the organic nature of urban spaces. I revel in the chaos of them. I’m not going to frame them as a negative thing because, to me, there’s something far more sinister about a place like say Seoul.
Hear me out now. This isn’t just a bashing on a thriving metropolitan city in Korea. I mention Seoul because it conveys what I mean well. I visited Seoul for the first time in April 2023. At that time, my brother was working there, providing the perfect reason for a visit. To be clear, the trip itself was lovely, and Korea was a fascinating place. What struck me like a smack to the face was how clinically clean a specific area of the city felt. This was just near Lotte Tower.
It was Instagram-ready. It was everything young people of a certain age and demographic desire. Shiny new glass and steel structures. A lake with well-planned sidewalks to stroll along. Made for selfies. And utterly devoid of character. The dreaded non-space (or non-place). Somewhere that could be anywhere on Earth. A city without a soul (Seoul? Haha). This was especially jarring because, just round the corner, sat a quarter of Seoul that felt real. Hundreds of wires hanging across narrow roads. Neon signs. Noise. Laughter. Chaos. That was my kind of place.
A few days later, I visited Itaewon, and again that was the Seoul for me. But the new, carefully manicured park that had been my introduction to downtown Seoul left a pit in my gut. It represented everything I despised about where so many urban spaces are heading. The loss of character. The rise of the non-space. That was my inspiration for Armonk, NY, the city at the center of Nytho.
Closing Thoughts
I’m sure I had scores more sources of inspiration for Nytho that I’m not even consciously aware of, but this was simply meant to serve as a taste of the dominant influences for the novel. I rather enjoy peeling back the curtain and showing how art begets art. There’s certainly nothing new under the sun, but how fascinating is it to see how we can twist and mold previous creations to generate ones that feel entirely new? At least, it’s my hope that Nytho reads that way.
What are your own sources of inspiration? What have you been influenced by in your own creative endeavors? Let me know in a comment.
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