Posts tagged Aliens

A little bit about the aliens in the Brandon Sparks Universe – Joshua Fuld

One can reasonably assume that in a fantasy series like this, a character leaving the insular experience of his own room and venturing into the expanse of space will encounter several alien species along the way, but that was not the original plan. Because of the linear manner in which I wrote Brandon Sparks and the Hidden Sun, the audience’s exposure to large amounts of background information of the alien species and individual creatures is minimal. For example, I had dreamed up the Ptevos, General Zarafat, his armada of ships, and a name for their home world, but I hadn’t gone beyond that, nor had I thought to. My focus was on crafting a great adventure that Young Adult readers would enjoy.

The development of the second novel, Brandon Sparks and the Star Shadow, led to a significant swell in content that includes character histories, descriptions and motivations. Not only was it important to create more data for the Ptevos and Lollibrackens, but as the story grew, so did the need for more alien characters. Cofer Gendrew, the Skelks, Mastacors, and the multiple alien species found on the streets of Praggun City were born. The Brandon Sparks Universe was growing!

As I wrote the first two novels I kept very few notes about the characters and the worlds they lived in, choosing to keep it all in my head. I know this wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but at the time it worked for me. It wasn’t until I began this web site that I realized that character descriptions and foreshadowing plot elements in future novels was an excellent way to get the audience excited about the Brandon Sparks Universe. Not only was I able to take all of the detailed background information that had been in my head for years and use it in a positive way, but this new medium forced me to create new content that would give the reader a deeper understanding of the world I had created and how the characters fit into it. I still have a lot of content that I keep in my head. Can’t give everything away!

One of the things you will notice about the aliens in the Brandon Sparks Universe is that the vast majority pays no attention to the fact that Brandon and his crew are young teenagers. It would get old very quickly if every alien Brandon encountered commented on his age and treated him as if he were a kid. The story does a complete 180° when it relates to the majority of human adults, as they see Brandon’s age and not his abilities. If you look at General Swift and General Zarafat you will see that one’s choice to blindly judge Brandon solely on his age is his undoing just as the other’s failure to look past Brandon’s age is equally disastrous.