Author
Bedrich Pasek VIII
Cartographer Robert Altbauer was given a pencil sketch with scribbled landmarks and terrain and was asked to create a futuristc map of the setting for most of the Polarized novel.
The map was finished in February of 2014. Since the Book itself wasn't finished until August of the following year, Robert did not have access to the verbage that would describe the placement of the landmarks. One drawback was that the Tyrrsis bridge was moved closer to Underground City in edits, and thus is depicted in what appears to be a somewhat erroneus spot, relative to the descriptions in the book. Also, the town in which the Keepers of the Lungs reside was moved closer to the Pukka River to accomodate the narrative in the chapters in which J.D. travels through the Lungs.
I decided to keep this map as-is for sentimental reasons. It was with me so long, that it just didn't seem right to change it for publishing.
Sebastian awakes
Illustrator Keith Draws was given the prelinimary narrative from the novel for the scenes depicted, a theme I wanted depicted in the illustration -- usually a few words, in this case "creepy" and "the agony of Sebastian", and then he was given artistic license to create as he saw fit. On occasion, Keith would add something in the pictures which had to be incorporated into the narrative such as the mist in this one, but none of the added items changed the novel in any significant way. I enjoyed incorporating them.
J.D. rescues the family on Sigma-Six
This illustration depicts J.D. with the little dirl he "kidnapped" in New Throckmorton on Sigma-Six, with the girl's family in pursuit. Mahakala's rings are slicing through the clouds as the planet swoops down on a collision course with Sigma-Six. Man's insignificance in the face of nature.
General Luna confronts Prime Minister Shapa
In the illustration depicting General Luna's confrontation with Prime Minister Shapa, the image is intended to convey Luna's bombastic personality, the anger of the Prime Minister, the outrage or faux outrage of the dinner's guests, as well as the oppulance of Madrid Castle, one of the most majestic castles in the world. There is. of course, symbolism as there is in much of the book, but that is for the reader to deduce.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU ARE STILL READING THE BOOK, VIEWING SOME OF THE FOLLOWING IMAGES MAY RUIN THE SURPRISE IN SOME OF THE SCENES!
A-G compound collapse in Brazil
I first set out to write a novel in 1993. The very first premise in that initial attempt was a compound that would allow the forces necessary to compress and expand space to do so without actually coming in contact with the surfaces that were generating the necessary forces, a buffer of sorts to grease the weels and "substitute" istelf for the damage that would be done to a surface which generated exotic things such as negative energy density. After that novel was trunked and several others attempted, the novel that would finally become Polarized was started in 2007, and the only thing that survived from that 1993 attempt was the compound. So, this scene was actually one of the very first ones written, even though it was tucked deeper into the novel in subsequent edits.
Attack on the Cobra
Keith Draws was selected from among quite a few artists I considered; perhaps two dozen or so were considered at one time or another. He was selected because his style reminded me of the covers of those great pulp magazines I used to read as a kid. This illustration is a perfect example. There are lots of illustrators out there who are drawing characters that look like models flexing and posing for pictures. Keith's characters depict a range of emotions theirs didn't.
Lucia Meduse Rimbaud
The chapter that introduces Lucia to the novel received nearly three times as many detailed critiques from my fellow authors who were a part of my critique circle than any other scene in the book. This is an important scene in the novel. The extraordinary detail in the cityscape outside the window is hypnotic. The statues were formless art in the original narrative I provided Keith. His first version of the drawing had some classic Greek figures. Those were appropriate for the stuffy wealth I wanted depicted, but not to the personality of the building's owner, Jacqueline Regina Jones. I told Keith about her obsession with oceans and sea creatures, and the statues became what they are. These perfectly match her personality.
Jones Towers and the Arena
This illustration does a great job of depicting the industry behind the glitzy sector of the city. Notrh City would be crowded along the coastline. While skyscrapers seem like a stretch for a planet with so much room, one has to consider the limited access to water and the harsh climate away from the sweet spot around the caps. Skyscrapers would be built.
Woody Zhu, and Jacqueline's computers
Imagine the computer power necessary to run a planet of automated factories. The simple computer that "ran" Jurassic park seems far too miniscule. Self-repair, self-regeneration in the case of replacement parts, robots to man the manufacturing lines, because the climate doesn't allow for men.
Red Calcutta
I didn't have a name for the refugee city for a long time. As the novel was wrapping up, and I had to come up with something, the images I saw as a child of Mother Teresa walking through the filth of Calcutta to tend to the suffering children came to mind. I knew the Calcutta name was a perfect fit. For some reason, I expected the illustration to match those pictures I had seen, but I didn't tell Keith what I wanted in this illustration. I just gave him the narrative, and let him have at it. Of course, once I saw the illustration, I realized that the narrative in no way mirrored those Mother Teresa pictures, so this was one of the best surprises among the illustrations.
Igraine at Kelly's grave
Some scenes grow organically from the pantster in an author. This is one of those scenes. When I was considering whether to self-publish, or to submit the story to agents and try to find a big publisher, the word count of the novel was the biggest hangup, and this scene was one of the first ones I expected would get cut from the novel by a publisher's editor in order to fit within the prescribed number of words. In no way do I begrudge publishers the need to trim word count to a bare minimum, particularly for debut authors. But this scene was important to the main character, while only peripherally important to the story in order to establish the emotions of the characters. I wanted the readers to see this part, and it is one of the primary reasons I decided to self-publish.
Dr. Fudo Li
One of the toughest scenes to convey was the prisons in the caves. This is one of the scenes that makes me glad I decided on illustrations for this book, because I knew people would have too many different images in their heads unless I went into great detail to describe the prison, and I didn't want to bog down the reader with those kinds of details.
Molly and the attack bots at Fortier Plaza
When my family first came to America in 1969, we stayed with our Czech "sponsors" in Manhattan for several weeks, and it was my first introduction to skyscrapers strictly designed for business. Many of those buildings had plazas that felt cold and impressive at the same time. The focal point was always a fountain, and they were always depictions of something heroic or meaningful. The fascination with these kinds of plazas stuck with me into adulthood, and while I didn't set out to have them play a part of the story, in retrospect, I see that may have sprung from my mind of its own volition.
Erendira at the Washington Navy Yard
This character went through at least ten different names throughout the process of writing the novel. She had name names that were fairly ordinary, but it didn't occur to me that she needed a name that would make her seem exotic in Sebastian's eyes. After all, she is arm candy, and he spent a lot of time in South America. I wanted Keith to depict her because she plays a pivotal role in the book. Keith got a model for the illustration and asked if it was okay to credit her. As soon as I saw her name, I knew it was perfect for the character, and asked if she would object if I changed the character's name to Erendira. She said she was flattered, and thus the character found a name.
Lucia at the Smith and Parker Theater
The slope from where the shoreline was before the ice caps were melted to the heights where the Triangulites would have been comfortable building was difficult to find for oceanfront property. I had to find topographical maps of the slope of the shoreline off Manhattan, and place the depth of the cliffs to match.
J.D. whips the cruiser
A piece of the Argyre Escarpment. Trying to envision the landscape on a planet whose tectonic plates are more active than ours, I envisioned rock formations that were fresher than Earth's. These cliffs are a nice proximity of what I'd expect to see.
The Battle of Eden Birth
While futuristic battles will largely be fought with drones, there will always be a need for men to man the machines that will conduct the battles. The farther the men are from the machinery, the harder it is to fix it, and the more open the machinery will be to hacking and stealing in the course of batle, so I believe men will always play a significant part of battle.
Underground City
It is fun to consider what a million people would do to a massive cave system with modern technology. Of course, they'd have to do without much tech until they could set up the machinery, smelters, and all sorts of things, but they'd shape the space. When picturing the caverns, I imagined about 20 square miles of floor space in the main portion, and the connected veins that would be uncovered in time as the settlers needed the room, perhaps many of the spaces unconnected in the same way the prison wasn't connected to Underground City. Underground City was envisioned as the primary living area, though, and would create the greatest interest from future visitors.
Dracapede
The dracapede was born from a gruesome You Tube video of a Vietnamese centipede that chases down a white mouse, wraps it up and kills it with its pincers. I found the video disturbing, and naturally wanted something like that as the dominant animal in the forest.
J.D. at the Mumbai Fence
Tech plays a big part of space operas. I fought hard not to include "neat" tech that played no part in the story and only stuck to the things in the story that were needed. In this case, the fence. I had gone through about six types of futuristic fences and wasn't happy with any of them. Either they were too far-fetched, or too closely resembled present day tech. This type of operation would have to be built in such a way that a minimum of material would be used due to the cost of transporting goods across space. It would also have to be effective. I asked my dad what type of fences he thought we might have in the future, and his first response was compressed space. That fit with the tech I had already introduced earlier and wouldn't require a lengthy explenation at a point that I want the story to pick up momentum, and the Mumbai Fences were born.
The Battle of Olympus
When I was worldbuilding and imagined a red planet with little water and a prominent volcanic mountain, there wasn't a single moment's hesitation as to what the settlers would have named it. Even if the thing wasn't nearly as enormous as the Olympus on Mars, the similarities between the terrains of Mars and Triangulum would almost guarantee it.
General Luna interrogates J.D.
The interrogation of a man like J.D. who doesn't care what you do to him is tricky, but I don't believe a man as self-confident as Luna would be in an hour like this, would pass up the opportunity to have a personal go at it before the expert interrogators were brought in.
The Dowager Meduse
The potential abuses of nanobot tech are endless. Until the day all men are immortal, medicine's research will primarily focus on how to prolong life. Abuses to that end are inevitable.
Thank you for indulging me.
Bedrich Pasek VIII (aka Fred, aka vrabinec)