The four book Nightfall series was inspired by my fascination with vintage video games, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. I also drew upon my love of movies such as Tron, Tron Legacy, and even Blade Runner. And I’m also a fan of the rock group Journey and especially the music from their album, Frontiers. This was my soundtrack when I created these stories.
Sebastian, the lead character of the series, also begins this tale with a fascination for video games among other things considered vintage such as books printed on paper in 2035 San Francisco. One night when sneaking into a recycling center at the city’s edge, he comes across what he learns later to be a sophisticated virtual reality chamber. When inside this, his mind is transported to another place unfamiliar to him. Despite his innocent intentions with this, his ability to access this program becomes the catalyst in unraveling a corporate robotics conspiracy with ties to the government.
Assisted by Scotty, a new friend and a master computer hacker, the two teens come to learn of Sebastian’s hidden past from before he became a runaway, leading a lonely life on the streets. The virtual reality program was only meant to be accessible to certain people linked to it. How was Sebastian able to experience what he did with ease?
This series has correctly been described as soft-science fiction. Equally important as the robots being used as weapons and their link to virtual reality and artificial intelligence, human elements of greed, betrayal, and revenge, entwine with these stories. What Sebastian finds as the series progresses is that the humans are more dangerous than the robots.
The stories of the four books, Daybreak, After Dark, Dead of Night, and First Light also include dedicated friendships with a diverse cast of characters. I wanted Sebastian’s world to reflect reality. There are as many good people as there are evil. And sometimes the lines between good and evil become blurred when doing the right thing is not universally right.
As the stories continue, Sebastian searches for any chances of escape from the dangers pursuing him. Fear becomes his constant companion as he navigates the dark world of Nightfall. And why is the series called that? Some people are afraid of the dark, afraid of what they can’t see or what’s hidden from them. That becomes Sebastian’s virtual reality.
