Of False Idols and MindWave Implants

A nice chat with the young and talented Alexis Grove.

False Idols is the first book in an upcoming trilogy by Alexis Grove. The story begins in 2047 in a United States recovering from a global famine and facing a major energy crisis. As most of the population slips into poverty, a few wealthy families are able to provide their children MindWave brain implants.

Implants give the recipients superhuman powers such as augmented sight and hearing, but most importantly they allow the users to live in a network computer-generated world of their making, in which they can access any information at a whim.

These powers obviously could be used for productive purposes such as solving the energy crisis, but unfortunately a MindWave user named Laura steers her peers towards using the devices for self-enrichment and eventually, destruction.

Nick Lal is a weak-willed scion of a wealthy family, who needs to toughen up fast. He receives the MindWave and quickly begins falling under Laura’s sway. At the same time, poor orphan Sarah Fenton is recruited into a government program designed to track and police the MindWave users. She receives a modified implant called a TacWave and is sent to spy on Nick. The two fall in love but find themselves on opposite sides of a looming war.

Why did you decide to become a writer?

I grew up reading a lot. I commuted one hour each way by subway during 7-12th grades. That was 6 years of having 2 hours a day with nothing much to do but read (this was in the days before smartphones). I read a lot of fiction and began to like it. Eventually, it occurred to me that maybe I could write some of my own.

What do you love most about writing?

It’s a form of escapism, where I can create a world and populate it with characters with different personalities and competing interests and then imagine out what happens. Also, I get to plant evil subconscious messages in the minds of my readers… woohahaha!

Where do you get you inspiration from?

All kinds of places. Other books. Movies and TV. The news. Events in my life, or in my friends’ lives. In terms of writing style, I’m a big fan of Lee Child, so (hopefully) you’ll see some of his flair reflected in my own writing.

How would you describe False Idols?

It’s been described by readers as The Matrix meets The Hunger Games. I classify it as science fiction but there’s very little hard science in it. It’s really a story about a couple of teenagers with the weight of the world on their shoulders and how they react to that burden. Sometimes they crumble under the pressure, and other times they overcome it and grow. There’s a love triangle, of course, a lot of action (often in fantastic digital worlds) and a whole spies-and-double-agents subplot.

Why should people read False Idols?

It’s got some great characters with complex personalities that are worth getting to know. It’s got lots of action and intrigue and a three-way love story. So there’s a lot of fun stuff to keep you occupied.

However, there’s also a couple of deeper narratives. The chaos that makes the story fun is driven by income inequality and ecological distress, which are issues of real and increasing concern.

Another sub-narrative is about faith and identity. Many of the characters are motivated by strong beliefs—in one case it’s religious faith, in another it’s patriotism, and so on. The wiser of these characters know that no single doctrine can answer all problems, and while they draw strength from their faith, they can set is aside when it doesn’t provide the answers they need. And some poor characters don’t have a strong belief system at all. That makes them indecisive when they really need to be decisive.

Where did the idea for False Idols come from?

The original inspiration for False Idols came a decade ago when I was setting up a new computer and printer and I was thinking all the wires were annoying—and why did I have to use something as clumsy as a keyboard and mouse, anyway? Shouldn’t all this computing power be available without the hassle of untangling cables and touch typing?

When I started thinking of the solution to this problem, the idea of the MindWave brain implant struck me. And from there, it was a process of thinking about the social implications of these devices, and then dreaming up characters.

What do you expect to accomplish with False Idols?

It’s the first of a trilogy so it’s the “origins” story that sets up the rest of the franchise. I hope the franchise becomes something that appeals to a wide reader base because of the action, romance, intrigue, and so on. And when a lot of people read the story hopefully they will see the sub-narratives I mentioned and the story will compel them to think and talk about these issues.

What can you tell us about False Idols (NO spoilers!)?

The stakes are very high. By the end of this first novel you will see the US fracturing into a three-way civil war. Two of the factions are led by competing religions and one by the old, decrepit Federal Government.

It’s a brother-against-brother, lover-against-lover tragedy, just like the first Civil War. Everyone will have to make a painful choice about where their loyalties lie. And if the nascent war turns into a real war, most of the country is going to starve to death.

Which were the easiest and the hardest parts for you to write?

It’s always very easy to write a few scenes that drive the plot as I first compose the novel. Usually these are key scenes with a lot of action or that define a character in some way. Then you have to stitch these together with other scenes that connect A to B. Those connecting scenes are harder to write, and harder to write in a way that the reader will find exciting, because they’re less interesting to me.

Do you have a favorite character, scene or situation in False Idols, and can you tell us why he, she or it is your favorite?

One of the protagonists is named Sarah. At first she seems like a shallow teenager. Early in the book, however, she’s thrown into a one mile race. She injures her foot badly early in the course and is on the verge of giving up, but then she is inspired to tough it out and ends up doing well. I like this scene because it shows that beneath her bratty façade, Sarah is a very tough girl. That toughness is what makes her a heroine. Also, her performance in this race is a repeated metaphor throughout the series.

What can we expect to see in the next books in your exciting Aeon trilogy?

This book ends with a brewing three-way civil war. In the second book you’re going to see how that conflict is resolved. In the third book, you’re going to see the aftermath.

Some stories are what some have taken to calling Message Fiction, due to the fact that there are (conscious or unconscious) messages to be found in those stories. Did you insert any conscious messages in your story? And if so, what do they try to convey?

As I mentioned above, I included sub-narratives exploring a couple of big issues of national policy, such as income inequality and ecological degradation. And on a smaller scale, I also included a sub-narrative about the importance of faith and identity in forming a strong character (in the classical sense of the word, meaning a core set of values that one lives by).

These messages are there if you’re interested in looking for them, but they’re not preachy or in your face – if you just want to read a book about explosions and love triangles, False Idols will fit that bill.

If your story is mature in nature (containing graphic sexual scenes, violence, swearing, etc.), what led you to decide that this was the right way to go, despite the fact that it might limit your potential readership?

The book is not very intense in these areas. There is some swearing but largely in obscure foreign languages (Afrikaans, Xhosa, etc.) There’s sex but it’s mostly alluded to rather than described graphically. And while they’re violence, the most graphic violence is virtual violence where no one is getting hurt.

And finally, is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Thanks very much for the interview and I hope readers will give my novel a try!

A big thanks to Alexis for taking the time to do this interview!

Alexis Grove is from New York, but he left the Big Apple at 18. He’s spent time traveling around the world and he currently lives in London. Alexis is married and has two children. His hobbies include running, writing, and more recently, beer brewing.

Get your copy of Alexis Grove's excellent False Idols at: www.amazon.com/dp/B00viwky46