Cosmic Dark

It's all consuming

Last year, a few of you may know, things got a little bit dark. The world in general, but also personally- I won’t go into it, but this book is perhaps a good indicator of my mind at the time... I had been working on Cosmic Dark for a while but finished it off in lockdown. It started off as a whimsical take on space adventure: what happens if you leave the handbrake off in space? What REALLY comes out of the food processor? How many interns can you kill off before you get court martialled? That sort of thing. Harmless escapism, tongue firmly placed in cheek, for fans of Star Trek or the Hitchhiker's guide; definitely not Dune.

But then lockdown hit, I lost someone close to me, as we all do at one stage or another and this fluffy space tale mutated.

It always had a bit of a dark edge (there’s a segment set on a planet-wide sweatshop for Christ’s sake!) but this was different.

Suddenly I started to empathise with the characters too much. Each waking moment I pored into the book instead of processing my feelings in a journal, I fashioned them into a far off space tale; as though the fantastical setting would keep them safe. Put them at a distance. The epitome of far away= small. Manageable.

As Frank searches his ship for the darkness- the all consuming shadow so absolute that it threatens to swallow all who come in contact with it- is he really just hunting high and low for depression? The source of his ill content? The vast unblinking eye of space looks in, an ever present beacon in the book.

Ever judging. The eye disapproves. Time and time again, Frank is found completely lacking, but still he struggles on. Throughout all of it, he remains undeterred, keeps his head held high and his best friends at his side. ( He lashes out from time to time...leaves one of them marooned in a sweatshop and gives the other concussion, but we won't talk about that. The point is, he wasn't in it alone) Frank didn't let the ride change him, and neither should we. He stays the same loveable buffoon, and the story- whilst really quite scary in parts, is mostly just a fun ride. A wry comment on Earth's future. And ultimately a tale of hope.

So come with me, take a look down the interplanetary slide, remember to check the handbreak, and join in the hunt for Cosmic Dark. Cosmic Dark: It's all-consuming eBook : Sutherland-O'Gara, M: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store