Just over twelve months ago, “Red Desert”
debuted in the English-speaking market and now really a little time is missing
before the publication of the final book, “Back Home”, which will take
place on 31 July. All this brings me back to the emotions I felt in the summer
of 2013, when I was editing the book in Italian, and this used to give me a mix
of emotions ranging from satisfaction to melancholy.
After living for over a year and a half in Anna’s head and the
one of the other characters in the series, it was really weird to have to write
the end of their story. Now I’m reliving it, while I deal with the
revision of this edition, but this is done in a passive manner, because in my
mind the events have already happened and will not change. The fate of
the characters is already marked, or at least it is to the point of their life
narrated at the end of the novel.
“Back Home” differs a lot from the previous book. “Invisible Enemy” takes
place over a few days and has a strong pace, where tension and action go hand
in hand with the emotions of the characters. This latest book, however,
unfolds in a period of 26 months from the beginning to the penultimate
chapter. Yes, you read that right. Even if the final part covers the time
of half a day. It is longer (more than 100,000 words). It
includes a change in the main setting, although you never lose sight of
the other planet. But above all it is characterised by a stronger
thriller soul, full of suspense, which alongside with the use of multiple
points of view makes it similar, in a sense, to “People of Mars”, but at
the same time with the return to the use of brief flashbacks to “Point of No Return”, although
having as their protagonist a character different from Anna.
But let’s proceed in an orderly fashion.
The story opens with a scene near the ending, a scene full of action
from the point of view of Anna, in the first person and in present
tense. Then you go back, to 26 months earlier, exactly to the point where you
stopped in “Invisible Enemy”, but this time you see what happened in
Houston. From here the novel moves with a series of jumps forward in time. We’ll
find Anna and Hassan committed to bringing their intent to
completion, clashing with a series of unexpected events and dealing with them,
using some unconventional methods.
Compared to what you are used to, everything will be turned upside
down. The distinction between good and bad guys will be so thin
it’ll become negligible. You will find yourself rooting for the one or
the other character in trouble, perhaps losing sight of what should be right,
for the simple reason that it will not matter.
Everything will take place in a crescendo of suspense, where
busiest chapters are alternated with others that favour reflection and tension
until the events get out of control and that will take you back exactly
to the scene with which the novel opened, allowing you to understand it
thoroughly.
In parallel you will see scenes from the memories of a character, which
reveal some aspects that had not been fully explained.
Eventually, when the word goes back to Anna, all the pieces of the
puzzle will be returned to their place and you will know the truth about
the story of the invisible enemy and its intent.
Then, what will become of Earth? And of Mars? Will Anna and Hassan
succeed in defeating their demons?
The answers will be provided by a long scene with a very high rate of
adrenaline. It will be followed in the final chapter by the epilogue of
this adventure begun over a year ago for you readers, but several years
earlier for the characters. You will discover that no one can have all they
want and that the future will definitely have more in store for them after
“Red Desert”.
The world created in this series, in fact, will continue to exist in
the minds of readers and in mine, and we will find it together 35 years
later in “The Isle of Gaia” (the book is already available in Italian as
“L’isola di Gaia”; the publication in English will be some time in the future)
with new characters and adventures, but a common thread.
“Red Desert”, “The Isle
of Gaia” and three more novels (at the moment I’m writing the first of them)
will be part of the larger universe of the Aurora saga. But I
will talk about it to you in the future.
Meanwhile write down this date: 31 July 2015.
“Red Desert - Back Home” will be soon available for pre-order on Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Barnes & Noble, and then on Google Play, Nook UK, Scribd, Oyster, and other retailers on the day of publication.
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