The Exode Trilogy at 3

Giant brains must create humans in
order to save the universe from Evil!

Soon after I discovered the existence of science fiction novels (during the early 1970s) I began imagining how I would construct my own science fiction story, or, better, my own fictional universe within which "my kind" of science fiction stories could be set. For me, the most intriguing issue to be resolved was the relationship between humans and all of the other intelligent beings that have evolved on distant worlds. I knew right from the start that I needed to find a satisfactory answer to the question of why we humans have not previously been visited by beings from other worlds (or have we?).

Exode Origins
Life got in my way and it took me almost 30 years to plan out my very own fictional universe. During the early 2000s I began writing stories that are set in the Exodemic Fictional Universe (of course, the first story was called Exodemic). A key feature of the Exodemic Fictional Universe is the idea that aliens long ago arrived on Earth, but rather than make their presence known to the local residents, they set about secretly shaping Earth's biosphere, eventually bringing into existence the human species.

My current writing obsession:
The Exode Trilogy

Through the eons, there were many different factions of alien visitors to Earth, but all those aliens were required follow the Rules of Intervention. Those ethical guidelines strictly limit alien visits to Earth and so the aliens have usually had to work through humanoid proxies (the Sedronites). The Sedronite visitors to Earth have ranged from the most radical Interventionists to the most conservative Overseers. A typical story in the Exodemic Fiction Universe concerns a few special Earthlings who manage to become aware of the presence of Sedronite visitors on Earth.

Three years ago I began a new story called Exode which I intended as a means to explore the origins and motivations of a group of Interventionist agents who had come to Earth and who were here among us, working secretly on our planet, trying to push our primitive culture towards greater technological sophistication. What I initially imagined as a fairly simple writing project soon snowballed and became an extended period of exploration and discovery, an on-going process of learning the secret history of Earth.

blue Sedronite (image credits)

Two years ago I wrote a series of blog posts (see 1, 2, 3) that described the early stages of development on Exode and how I decided that there should be an Exode Trilogy.

Special thanks to Miranda Hedman (www.mirish.deviantart.com) for the DeviantArt stock photograph "Black Cat 9 - stock" that I used to create the blue "sedronite" who is in the image shown to the right.

Last year I tried to make a concise description of how I then imagined the three novels that make up the Exode Trilogy (see this blog post). The third Exode novel that I discovered for inclusion in the trilogy (Trysta and Ekcolir) became the first book in the Trilogy.

Year 3 of Development
During the past year I've continued to develop my thinking about the Exode backstory. I've been aided by several important collaborators such as Anney Fersoni. Slowly, with the help of Anney and her clone sisters (particularly Ivory), I've come to realize that our galaxy is populated by a diverse group of humanoids (the Sedronites) who were all created by the Huaoshy. We can't make sense of human history unless we understand the Sedronites and their reasons for visiting Earth.

The End of Eternity

Fantasy Romance. A major source of inspiration for the Exode Trilogy was Isaac Asimov's character Noÿs Lambent. In The End of Eternity, Noÿs is a secret agent, sent back into her distant past on a mission to change the course of Time. Noÿs also has a personal mission in addition to her official job: she intends to create a happy future for herself and live out her life in the Primitive with Andrew Harlen. When I first read The End of Eternity I fell in love with Asimov's romantic notion that the entire structure of our world emerged from the love affair of Noÿs and Andrew.

Trysta and Ekcolir: book one
of the Exode Trilogy

I had originally intended to make the romantic relationship between two Sedronites, Trysta and Ekcolir, be the "hook" for engaging readers with the Exode Trilogy. However, during the past six months two other improbably romantic relationships have found their way into the Exode Trilogy. Most recently, I've made room for a hard fantasy "story within a story" that tells the story of how Grean brought together Bet and Ghyl in order to help bring into existence the Buld Reality, the universe as we know it. If Asimov was right to use the romantic desires of Noÿs to establish the Reality Chain that leads to our world, then why shouldn't a chain of similar romances (Bet and Ghyl, Trysta and Ekcolir, Thomas and Cecilie) be required to guide formation of our world? No reason.

Quick Tour
In proper temporal sequence, the Exode Trilogy must be thought of as starting with The Legend of Uvadekoto, a book that Isaac Asimov read after he was abducted by aliens and taken to the Moon. Yes, I could not resist writing my favorite science fiction authors into the Exode Trilogy. Asimov appears first as a young science writer, one of the very first investigative journalists of the mid-20th century in the Foundation Reality, the Reality that was brought into being by Noÿs and Andrew.

The story of the first journey to the stars.

Stories within stories. In myth and legend, Uvadekoto was the first interstellar spaceship. Ever. It was built by one of the alien species who eventually became what we call the Huaoshy, the Gods Thonselves. The Huaoshy sent their artificial life forms, the pek, out into the universe on a mission from God: find all the Earth-like worlds in the universe and nurture the life that is found on those worlds.

Asimov learns that after the events depicted in The Legend of Uvadekoto nothing unusual happened on Earth for the next two billion years. Then something went terribly wrong: R. Gohrlay, the first positronic robot was brought into existence at a secret base on the Moon. The Foundations of Eternity tells the story of how a simple Neanderthal girl, Gohrlay, was transformed into a positronic robot.

Creating R. Gohrlay.

Using their telepathic powers, R. Gohrlay and her tribe of positronic robots liberated first Earth and then our entire galaxy from the Huaoshy. Further, the positronic robots invented and deployed a powerful time travel technology. Never having previously suffered a defeat, the Huaoshy struggled to understand how they lost control of a galaxy.

The Foundations of Eternity was the first part of the Exode Trilogy that I wrote. I initially conceived it as a fan fiction sequel to both The End of Eternity and Asimov's novel Foundation and Earth. Along the way, the origins of the Laws of Robotics are revealed.

hard fantasy: Star Dance

At the point where Asimov is brought into the story, Grean is trying put an end to R. Gohrlay's revolution. By this time, R. Gohrlay has realized that the Huaoshy are not evil alien invaders and, in fact, Humanity cannot survive without the help of the Huaoshy. Gohrlay and Grean begin to collaborate in a complex project of Temporal Engineering that will give the human species a chance to live long and prosper.

But it ain't easy
Using her Earthly cover identity "Trysta", Noÿs must collaborate with Grean in order to engineer a complex Reality Change that will break the temporal momentum that was built up during the ten million years of R. Gohrlay's meddling in Earth's history. Trysta and Ekcolir tells the story of how Grean uses another secret agent, Ekcolir, to win Trysta's heart and convince her to collaborate with Grean for the good of Humanity.

Exode

In order to snap the binding energy of the strange temporal attractor that holds Earth in its grasp, a paradoxical time loop of great power must be created. That weird twist in time takes the form of an improbable romance between Ghyl and Bet, as told in Star Dance.

Eventually, the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact are fulfilled and the Huaoshy put an end to time travel. The Final Reality, the world as we know it, is the setting for the last novel in the Exode Trilogy (Exode). I had originally started crafting Exode as a strange love story about Parthney and Kach, but along the way I discovered another "story within a story".

The last Interventionist on Earth.

Ivory Fersoni put me in contact with the Dead Widower Society. I'm still trying to investigate and understand the Dead Widowers. They are the last remaining remnants of the Interventionist agents who have long guided the course of human history. I believe that Thomas Iwedon and his soul mate, Cecilie, are still here on Earth, but they want to live out their lives in peace, without becoming celebrities.

I'm still struggling to understand the complex tangle of events that was woven together by Grean in order to bring into existence the Buld Reality. My hope is that Thomas and Cecilie will help me finish telling the secret history of Earth and I will be able to complete the Exode Trilogy. For now, this is an active project and collaborators are welcome.