I just started the Dramatis Personae pages for the front of Resilient. It’s the first time I’ve written one, and I admit to a little trepidation — there will be cries of “See, that’s what I’ve been telling you” from certain people in my circle.

Yes, the book has a huge cast, and the names are non-Western. Here’s a sample — please, somebody, tell me you don’t mind.

The Cast

In order of appearance

I wrote the final chapter for my third novel – Resilient – yesterday.

166 chapters. 77,769 words. Woo!

Here’s the pitch:

Set amidst the clash between an advanced, space-faring commonwealth and its stubbornly malignant enemies, Resilient is an epic story of adventure, survival and perseverance.

When a nomadic clanswoman finds herself detained by provincial authorities, a local family’s newborn son becomes just another treasure for her to steal before being deported.

Suban Dhava is a displaced person, unaware of his origins, living at the edge of poverty on a foreign continent — a lawless, turbulent region, scarred by war, isolated by quarantine and embargo — and yet curiously blessed with scattered harbors of hope and redemption.

A forgotten birthplace lies across a seaway, almost within reach. The Anye Accord is civilized, generous — but weary of the Vanya and their habits of subversion and murder. Now only citizens are allowed to cross.

Suban is a citizen — one of many things he doesn’t know about himself. Even his given name has been lost — a word taken from spoken Sanskrit, signifying his clan’s connection to the sea.

It means properly anchored, sturdy, resilient.

Suban will have to be all of these things, if he’s ever to make his way home.

Watch this space, folks!