Home of the Brandon Sparks Young Adult novels.
Posts tagged Brandon Sparks Universe
Universe
Apr 5th
A brief history of the physical locations in the Brandon Sparks Universe – Joshua Fuld
Once I had created Brandon, Charlie and some of the other original characters, the next step was to create a world for them to exist in. The BSU started with a single bedroom, similar in size and shape to the one I grew up in. Not coincidentally, it was located in Plainview, NY, the town in which I was raised. Once I had established the bedroom as the center of Brandon’s world, things started expanding to the rest of his house and then to his school and so on.
At the outset, the Universe expanded as I needed it to, as opposed to creating locations in advance and then fitting the characters into them. With the exception of the introduction to Brandon Sparks and the Hidden Sun, the entire novel was written in the order it appears and all of the locations were created in the same order. I had no outline, or plan for the first novel. I wrote it as the ideas came into my head. It wasn’t until the second novel, Brandon Sparks and the Star Shadow that I started outlining portions of the story.
One of the questions I get asked a lot is, “When does the story take place?” This is an excellent question and I can see how a reader could ask this because I never explicitly answer it in the books. The story of Brandon Sparks takes place now, and is written in such a way that supposes the reader has already been exposed to enough sci-fi/fantasy that they are able to suspend disbelief enough to accept the fantastical parts of the story as fact. The when is not as important as the what.
One of the self-imposed restrictions I put on this project was to keep things as realistic as I possibly could, especially when it applied to physical limitations. Everything did not have to strictly adhere to the laws of physics, but it had to have a plausible explanation. For example, the Hidden Sun does not have wings. Wings look really cool, but in space they are unnecessary. This does not mean that other ships in the BSU don’t have wings, but it is definitely something that I consciously thought of while creating the ship.
Most of the inhabited worlds that exist in the BSU are similar to Earth; being partially covered in water, partially covered in land, and having an atmosphere rich in oxygen. This sort of flies in the face of traditional sci-fi, where planets are completely covered in sand or consist of flying islands. Again, this looks really cool, but it clashes with my idea that the more similar something is to the world the reader lives in, the more realistic it will feel, and the more likely they are to accept the sensational parts of the story. I do have to mention that I subverted this rule a bit with Harr, a planet that is completely covered in volcanoes, but I do explain that the waterways are beneath the surface. Harr probably looks a lot like Earth did in its early days.
In summation, the realism of the physical Universe and the way it supports the story is more important than the thrills a reader might get from a more unrealistic landscape.
Planets
Apr 5th
A little bit about the planets in the Brandon Sparks Universe – Joshua Fuld
Someone once said, “Everyone has to come from somewhere.” While creating the Brandon Sparks Universe my options for creating different worlds was limitless, but I imposed a loose set of guidelines on myself that would preserve my idea that the more real things felt, the easier it would be for the audience to accept the fantastical.
Everything started with Earth, and trying to keep Earth as familiar as possible. People still live in houses and apartments, we use telephones and refrigerators, cars aren’t flying up walls, etc. I took the realities of Earth and imposed them on the alien planets. In my opinion, it is much more believable if the hated Ptevos live on a planet very similar to our own than on a world that feels unfamiliar. This also has the desired effect of being quite shocking to the reader.
Simplifying some of the scientific issues we would have with traveling to other worlds was an important step. One of the major decisions I made early on was to establish that most worlds in the Brandon Sparks Universe were breathable, just like Earth. If Brandon had to put on a re-breather every time he went to a different planet, explaining that would get old very quickly. It would also limit his ability to interact with other species and as the story goes on, you will see that his face-to-face encounters with different creatures are some of the most compelling moments in the story.
While the individual aliens get most of the attention, each planet has a rich story of its own. Instead of using the planets as forgettable locations for the characters to interact in, each world plays a large role in the direction of the story. Harr is the most prominent example of this. While Praggun City’s sugar-coated exterior is a beacon of hope, its insides are rotten as it is a safe haven for the most despicable aliens in the universe.
Ptevos
Mar 14th
Ptevos are two-legged, intelligent creatures who look like upright rhinoceroses. Their skin is thick and gray, and their eyes are completely black. Each has a single ivory horn on their head. They take pride in their horns, and are judged on their appearance. In Ptevos culture, a damaged or broken horn is a sign of shame and worthlessness. The Ptevos skip childhood altogether and are born into adulthood. The average Ptevos is over six feet tall.
Draculous is the Ptevos home world. It is very similar in climate to Earth with polar ice caps, and a majority of its surface covered in water. The atmosphere is rich in oxygen and able to support plant and animal life. The Ptevos are the dominant species and rule the planet. They have a long history of being governed by a monarchy, presently ruled by Rex Saasha, a vicious and ruthless leader. Upon taking up the crown, Saasha Akuma focused the Ptevos resources on growing their dominance in the galaxy by invading other worlds, enslaving their inhabitants, and stealing their resources.
Their technology is very advanced, focusing on starship weaponry and planetary defense. Their planetary defense shield is famous throughout the universe as being impenetrable.
Author’s Note:
I knew from the outset that the Ptevos were going to be a major villain in the series. I am a sci-fi fan but I tend to struggle with believability of characters. When I design my characters I look at it from an evolutionary perspective and try to create characters that are realistic, or at least that are believable in their bodies. For example, a character with three eyes doesn’t make sense when two eyes work together so perfectly. As the main villain, I needed General Zarafat to have an imposing presence while still appearing to be realistic.
I had named them Ptevos even before I had named Brandon, During my early childhood, I had made up my own language called Ptevos, and while I didn’t think about it very much as I grew older, my mother would remind me of it at least twice a year. I finally found a use for it.
Adults
Jan 24th
A little bit about the adults in the Brandon Sparks Universe – Joshua Fuld
The adults in the Brandon Sparks Universe can be broken down into three distinct categories; adult humans, adult aliens, and Starbloods who act like adults.
Adult Humans
In its simplest form, the story of Brandon Sparks is about children trying to find a way to wake their parents and the adult crew of the Hidden Sun from an unnatural slumber. The attack by the Ptevos takes place early on and eliminates a majority of the adults from playing a larger role in the story. My initial plan was to focus on Brandon and the other children, and watch them succeed in spite of a lack of adult intervention but it soon became clear that in order for the story to develop in the way that I wanted it to, I would have to include more adults.
The three major adults in Brandon Sparks and the Hidden Sun that were not put to sleep by the Ptevos are General Swift, President Matthews and V. All three have a significant impact, both good and bad, and when Brandon interacts with any of them the story has a tendency to suddenly shift in a different direction. This is even true of Brandon’s first encounter with Captain Smoke.
Adult Aliens
The adult aliens differ from the adult humans in that they generally don’t treat the children like they are children. This was done intentionally because I didn’t want the aliens to be just humans with six arms or humans covered in orange fur. I wanted them to be unique and have unique thoughts. Just because General Swift notices that the new captain of the Hidden Sun is a young boy, doesn’t mean that General Zarafat does.
Starbloods Who Act Like Adults
Yes, I’m referring to Charlie. Charlie is clearly the most important and significant adult voice in Brandon’s life. Yes, Sarah is important but it is Charlie that fills in the fatherly role that Brandon so desperately needs. As I conceived the main storyline, it became clear that in the absence of adults, Brandon would need someone he could turn to, and Charlie became his Obi-Wan.
