Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Lost in a cyberpunk world

A few months ago I published my second full novel, Through Stranger Eyes. Through Stranger Eyes is the first instalment of a cyberpunk / futuristic dystopic world I’ve been working for some time now. I drew a lot of inspiration and was strongly influenced from movies and books like Altered Carbon, Blade Runner and others. The series name is Matriarchs – Silicon Gods.

Last year I also finished drafting book 2 of the same trilogy. The title is Through Silica’s Apex (provisional title) and I was working on plotting book 3. I’m happy to announce that I have not only finished plotting that third book but that I have also started drafting it. I’m actually 30,000 words in already.

This trilogy wasn’t an easy task for me. One reason is that it’s the first series I’ve ever attempted. The other is that each book is a separate story (with limited mention of things that have happened in previous books) however, when all three books are read in sequence, the reader gets a clear picture of what’s been happening behind the scenes from book 1. Another thing to note is that each book takes place years apart from the others. Book 2 for example (Through Silica’s Apex – provisional title) takes place 10 years after the events of Through Stranger Eyes and book 3 (Through Virulent Time – provisional title) takes place well over a century since the events in book 2. The main thing is that certain key players’ actions in Through Stranger Eyes affect the events and mindset of other characters throughout the world and consequently, the rest of the books. That’s also true for book 2 that will have a major impact on book 3 and the characters that populate it.

That means that each book has its own main characters, although in some cases (I won’t go into detail or spoilers here) some characters or their names appear in all three of them.

In the future (unsure when yet) I plan to expand on this cyberpunk universe and create more stories and maybe even full novels. The fact that each book has a rather big time gap between the others in the series provides me with great flexibility. Plus the fact that the things happening in these books happen at a global scale, so I think it’s safe to say that there’s room for more characters and stories.

If you have never read anything cyberpunk, anything like Altered Carbon or Neuromancer or have never watched Blade Runner, or if you have done all the above and are looking for something similar, Through Stranger Eyes is available on Amazon and is free for Kindle Unlimited users.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Through Stranger Eyes – Cyberpunk Thriller – Release date and other things happening

Lots of things have been happening for a while now. First of all, I’m getting ready to publish my next novel. The book’s official release date is October 13, 2019. The genre is cyberpunk thriller. If you’re unfamiliar with cyberpunk, then the best (and simplest) definition is that it’s a futuristic urban dystopia, and practically all things cyberpunk can be summed up as, “high tech, low life.”

If you’ve watched movies like The Matrix, Blade Runner (both films), or the TV show called Altered Carbon, then you have already taken a taste of what Cyberpunk is all about. Or you may have read books like Neuromancer by William Gibson or Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. If you’re a gamer, look no further than Deus Ex and of course the game all cyberpunk fans are waiting (myself included), Cyberpunk 2077. All the above fall under the category of Cyberpunk. As you can understand, the subgenre is quite broad and is tightly related to Science Fiction.

At the moment, the book is with a handful of blog reviewers to get the word out, and of course my trusty team of ARC readers in order to get some early reviews when it goes live. So I’m quite anxious to hear what they think of it. To be honest, out of all the stories I’ve written so far, this has been my favourite and I’m really looking forward to hearing their thoughts.

Hmm, I forgot to mention the book’s title, didn’t I? The book is called Through Stranger Eyes and the series it’s part of is called Matriarchs – Silicon Gods. Through Stranger Eyes is book 1 of 3.

I have also finished drafting book 2, though it needs a lot of work before any of my beta readers get to read it. A LOT!

Lastly, I have been trying to find a decent plot for book 3. So far, I’ve come up with 5 different plots, but none of them impresses me much. I know how the trilogy should end, it’s just that I don’t like the way the events leading to the end unfold. It will come to me eventually (hopefully), but for the time being it feels like I’m churning out sub par ideas, and that is what annoys me the most. To be clear, each book has its own story line and its own heroes. Events take place in different periods, and by the end of the series the reader will have a clear understanding of how the world has evolved and been reshaped from its key players. So each book has to have a strong and independent plot from the previous books in the series.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more info on the world, the characters, and everything else related to the book.