Iain Kelly

My A-Z theme this year is a guide to my trilogy of novels called ‘The State Trilogy’. Set in an unnamed island country known only as ‘The State’, in the imagined near future, the books follow the intertwining stories of a number of characters, principally a State police detective named Danny Samson and an assassin, Gabriella Marino, over a period of six years. It begins with the assassination of an elected official and spirals into revolution and civil war. Part political thriller, action story, war story and dystopian science fiction, the trilogy took three years to complete and the books are available to read now – you can find links to purchase them HERE

In The State Trilogy, ‘T’ stands for:

Tania Childe: A junior officer in the employ of assassinated City Consul Donald Parkinson. Her full first name is Montana, named by her parents after the state in the Civil American States destroyed by the first strike nuclear attack. She is questioned by Danny Samson and later comes to him with vital information in his investigation. As a character, I deliberately made Tania’s sexuality and gender appearance ambivalent. This represented something I wanted to have more of within the future world, although initial ambitions were curtailed, partly by focussing on the plot, and partly by the clumsy English language lack of non-gendered singular alternatives to ‘he’ and ‘she’.

Tyrell and Tia: Members of the northern village in the wilderness and part of the raiding party that makes the dangerous journey to the city in search of supplies. Tyrell also accompanies Hassan on their quest with Eilidh in ‘State Of War’.

Transport: I’m no expert in the future of transport and what may come and replace cars running on petrol and diesel, but I did include some details that I think have a fairly good chance of happening in the medium to far future. Cars are electric, and automatic, although there are still a few older models that include a steering wheel around, including for the police. Taxis are all AutoTaxis, driverless cars. All models of cars are the same shape and colour for economical and resource reasons. Train services are much improved, and a large monorail shuttle travels the length and breadth of the State (think HS2), carried on a track that travels over the wilderness. Cycling and walking are encouraged. Although military flight is mentioned in the trilogy, passenger flight isn’t mentioned, but does exist, although the State does not easily allow people to enter or leave the country. In a quirk of status, the Chancellor insists in still having a chauffeur drive her state car.

Technology: As with transport of the future, I’m no expert on technology. I deliberately didn’t go into too much detail about what we all may or may not be using in the future. There were some things, for example the TouchScreen – a modern replacement of your smartphone, tablet, laptop, computer and television. As the novels progress, I deliberately regressed in some of the technology, so that the city, destroyed by the civil war, and her citizens, in the end become reliant on older and more basic technology, for example in the weaponry of the rebels and mercenaries compared to the state of the art military might of the State army. It was important that the novels focused on the story of the characters and not on the technical details of the future world, which are in the backdrop and help frame the story, but not dominate it.

Teddy Davies: Edward Davies is the head of the State Security Service, the name given for the vast intelligence organisation that controls the lives of the citizens of the State. He also runs the State hit squads and surveillance networks and is loyal to the Chancellor and the Central Alliance Party. Teddy is a dangerous man to all, the power behind the throne, and he holds all the secrets from his time in the agency, including the secrets about the First Strike War.

Timothy Pigeon: A journalist covering the State Chancellor and the Palace in Capital City, working for a State-controlled media outlet and consequently compromised in his work.

Next up – U is for: United States of America and Union of Socialist States

All the entries in the A-Z of ‘The State Trilogy’ can be found HERE

The books are available from a wide selection of online retailers, including AMAZON

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