Hi everybody,

Thank you to everyone for reading. As foreshadowed, today’s chapter is not a regular chapter, but instead a Q&A where I will take it upon myself to answer your questions (from comments marked with QUESTION and through private message) to the best of my ability. Let’s begin.

Question: The "big reveal" of the story of book 1 is, of course, that Captain Dawn was The Black Death all along. But the comments on each chapter showed that many readers saw this coming. Seeing how the twist was anticipated by readers quite early in the narrative, did you ever consider changing the twist and, if so, what alternatives did you consider?

Answer: I might have touched on this in a post-chapter note previously, but in essence, I did not consider changing the twist, no. As a writer, twists are always a fine balancing act; on the one hand, you want to try and keep them surprising, but on the other hand you don't want them so obscured that they come out of nowhere and feel unsatisfying to the reader. No one likes a cheap deus ex machina or something that doesn't logically or thematically gel with the plot.

While as an author it's always a little bit disappointing to have someone guess what you're planning (nobody likes feeling predictable) personally I believe it's important to stay the course and not alter a narrative to try and constantly "subvert expectations" or "beat" your readers' thoughts. One of my favourite parts of reading or watching any story is trying to predict what's going to happen, and I would never actively try and deprive anybody of that joy.

That being said – holy shit were there some cool theories in the comments. Captain Dawn and the Black Death body swapped. Captain Dawn actually blew up Africa and the Black Death was the hero fighting an unknown third party. Captain Dawn and the Black Death were gay lovers. Captain Dawn’s powers came from draining life force from other people. These are just some of the ones I can remember off the top of my head, but I was overall very impressed by the creativity of some of the theories coming out.

But although I loved reading these theories, I never really considered implementing them. Firstly, because in my head the plot was the plot. Secondly, because changing things would have meant causing logical flow-on effects throughout the story in both directions, which might have disrupted both what I had written and what I had planned (and what’s going to happen in the sequel). Thirdly, because they didn’t necessarily gel thematically with the rest of the story, it would have removed the story from the main characters or would have caused the narrative to peter out. Fourthly, because they weren’t my ideas to begin with – and any plagiarism I partake in is subconscious, thank you very much.

I had a clear plan in my head for the story of Superworld prior to writing it, and likewise have a clear plan in my head for the sequel. Nevertheless, while writing from about Chapter 14 onwards, I did find myself getting tempted by theories branching off in other directions. A secret cabal of psychics. A conspiracy of blackmail in killing everyone Captain Dawn had ever known. The main characters unable to trust their own memories and minds. Viktor Mentok laying dormant and secretly orchestrating a mental take-over of the world. All were tempting notions – but in the end, like I said, in my head the plot was the plot. You’ve got to make a plan and stick to it, ultimately, and the narrative I ended up going with was (in my opinion) the one which best braided everything together in terms of plot.

Question: When you started this series, a lot of people enjoyed it a lot and were showering it with praises. However, after the last chapter specifically, a lot of commentators have said that the story had become predictable and that the chapter felt " cliched " and " that the power of friendship thing was a kind of a dumb way to end it ". What are your thoughts?

Answer: To my mind, this question breaks down into two parts. I’ll start by addressing the actual events of the ending, which I believe a few people may have misunderstood.

In the final scene of Chapter 19, Jane and The Black Death (TBD) engage in combat. Jane, wielding the power of Dawn, begins physically gaining the upper hand, leading TBD in desperation to launch a telepathic attack on her mind. Jane’s mental defences are ramshackle, and TBD quickly overwhelms her mind and prepares to do irreparable damage. Before this can happen, a wounded Matt intervenes, making telepathic connection with the pair using Ed’s prototype telepathy device.

However the pain of Matt’s wounds acts as a drain on his concentration, and his counterattack is repulsed by TBD, who once again prepares to do irreparable damage to Jane’s mind. At this moment TBD is distracted by the telepathic projection of thousands of people the world over, including (but in no way limited to) Matt and Jane’s family and friends. These people, who have been watching the fight on television (remember, the entire event has been going out live) have their minds projected by nearby telepaths (acting as conduits) to appear inside Matt/Jane/TBD’s telepathic connection. Long distance telepathic communication is flagged by Wally in Chapter 14:

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““I’ve heard of psychics entering people’s minds from halfway across the country,” Matt persisted stubbornly.”

“Yeah,” replied Wally, “As a vision. To pass a message.” He explained patiently. “Our influence decreases exponentially the further we are from the mind we’re interacting with. From any kind of distance, sure, if you know what you’re doing, you can pop into someone’s head. But you appear as little more than a ghost, an annoying distraction.

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Individually and normally, this would amount to nothing – barely an inconvenience to be mentally brushed aside – but collectively, in their hundreds (and given TBD is already locked in psychic battle against both Matt and Jane) it serves three purposes:

The “wraiths” break TBD’s concentration; It allows Matt a moment to recover and gather his concentration, and helps momentarily shoulder some of his physical pain; and (most significantly); It puts Jane’s father in contact with her mind through which he helps rebuild her sense of self.

Nowhere (at least as far as I can see) does this scene rely on “the power of friendship” as some unknown or mystical force. This is definitely a moment of “the power of many” triumphing over the might of one, but what is happening has a rational (within the world) and logical explanation. The closest this scene comes to having a “power of friendship/love” aspect is the memories flowing between Peter Walker and Jane and her mentally being restored by this – but I would submit that where TBD has broken down Jane by focusing on her feelings of abandonment, failure and being unwanted, it makes perfect sense (and completes Jane’s arc) to have her sense of self-worth be built back up by her father’s love.

This explanation may help some readers come to terms with the ending – it may not. This leads, then, to the second aspect of this question, which is I suppose more broadly my thoughts on criticisms of the direction the narrative went.

Criticisms, generally, are a difficult thing to know how to handle. On the one hand, you don’t want to dismiss them outright, because then you’re not listening to your audience and you'll never improve as an author, but on the other hand you can’t always take them on, because doing so risks undermining your own work and vision for the story. There’s also the simple fact of conflicting opinions. Prior to going up on Royal Road, the manuscript for Superworld had been through professional assessment and been evaluated by publishers, as well as read by various friends and family. The consensus amongst these primary readers was almost universally that the story was a bit slow in the beginning, but really came into its own in the final third. On Royal Road, conversely, the final third probably received the most criticism, and resulted in a number of negative reviews.

Who, then, do I listen to? Some people found the ending really exciting and touching, others found it incredibly disappointing and lame. Some people thought the reveals were too obvious, others didn’t see them coming. Some people thought the amount of empath hate was unrealistic, others complained that realistically all empaths would’ve been killed. Who do I listen to? How do I satisfy this? This is the central problem of criticism and why IMO at some point you’ve just got to say “fuck it” and take the story where you think it ought to go. In my mind, this is how the story went. And to paraphrase King of the Hill: “It was my decision to make, and I made it.”

As to whether the story was predictable or cliché, again that’s subjective. Avoiding clichés is a cliché in and of itself, and the unfortunate reality of having a slow-drip release like Royal Road is that it gives people plenty of time to theorise in the comments and predict what’s going to happen. I do think the ending of Superworld could be said to follow a “conventional” pattern, in that the bad guys lose, the good guys win, and there’s emotional catharsis, and if you’re not a fan of conventional story arcs then I understand it not being your cup of tea. But to my eyes, this is the opening salvo into this universe – and you’ve got to have your A New Hope before you can have your Empire Strikes Back.

Question: Why can't we get an omnibenevolent god at the end of the tunnel instead of an incarnation of the Devil?

Answer: If this is a reference to the ominous darkness lurking behind the child in the final epilogue, then I’ve got three answers for you:

How do you know that darkness is an incarnation of the Devil? How do you know that the darkness doesn't represent an omnibenevolent god? Por qué no los dos?

Question: Why isn't the world [of Superworld] overrun by OP as fuck mind rapists like all other superhero worlds are?

Answer: This is a great question, and one I find really interesting in that it highlights something I’d never really picked up on before joining Royal Road. Essentially, people seem to have preconceptions about psychics and the way telepathy works from other media, which they unknowingly import into reading Superworld and then get ruffled (or claim plot holes) when those preconceptions and the story don’t align. The result, in my mind (pardon the pun), feels sort of like people getting annoyed that characters in Game of Thrones aren’t using Apparition, because they can do that in Harry Potter. Because it’s all magic, isn’t it? /s

Different worlds have different systems, and what telepathy might entail in one is by no means determinative of what it means in another. In Superworld, the mechanics of telepathy are rooted in several firm principles, the most important of which are:

A superhuman ability is still constrained by the user’s other human limitations; Just because someone can do something, doesn’t mean they’re good at it; For every malicious person who possesses a widespread power, there will be more regular people wanting to not disrupt or to uphold the social contract; and Telepaths can detect telepathic interference.

There is an entire essay to be written here, but in essence I’ve tried to make telepathy in Superworld work in a way which is both logical and reasonable. So in brief:

Why don’t telepaths just walk around taking control of everyone? Because the police have telepaths too, they can tell if someone’s doing it, everyone knows to look out for it, and there’s severe consequences if you do. Same reason lots of us drive round faster than Usain Bolt in half-tons of metal, but very few of us ever run over people. Why don’t telepaths just completely, constantly control people? Because your own consciousness can barely overpower its own subconscious drive to eat candy bars – you think it’s going to fare better reigning in someone else’s conscious and subconscious minds 24 hours a day? Come on. Why don’t telepaths instantly know everything about someone as soon as they telepathically touch them? Because the human mind contains an incomprehensible amount of information, and you can’t instantly read and memories 1000 pages just by picking up a book. Is getting telepathically read being “mind-raped”? IMO no more than having someone grab your phone and read your texts for a few seconds is being “phone-raped”. I mean it depends on your interpretation of the word, but I take the concept of rape quite seriously and am very reluctant to let it be applied to anything but the most serious criminal acts.

To further address this question, allow me to refer to some extracts from my recent Patreon release, A Practitioner’s Guide to Telepathy in the Law:

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Telepathic abilities are broken down into six overlapping functions or effects. These are:

Telepathic perception of the presence of another person Telepathic perception of the thoughts of another person Telepathic communication with the mind of another person Telepathic influence or control over the actions of another person Telepathic influence or control over the bodily functions of another person Telepathic modification of the thoughts, memories or personality of another person

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Although the scope of telepathy contemplated by section 344G is vast, in reality few telepaths have the capacity to effectively utilise their abilities to such an extent. The majority of telepaths can exercise first, second and third degree functions without difficulty, and fourth degree functions with some difficulty and to a limited extent. Adult telepaths capable of competently exercising fifth or sixth degree influence are rare, and will usually not be encountered in a legal setting.

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Common myths and misconceptions about telepathy

A telepath who makes contact with your mind instantly knows all about you

False. As above there are degrees of telepathy and telepathic contact, not all of which involve thought perception. A telepath engaged in routine security or non-invasive monitoring will only get a general sense of a person’s current location, mood and thoughts.

Furthermore, even in direct second degree thought examination a telepath neither accesses nor retains the entirety of a telepath-recipient’s thoughts or memories. The total amount of information being put out or processed by a person’s mind at any given moment is often greater than a telepath can accurately interpret, given that it includes conscious, instinctual and inarticulable thought as well as subconscious processes, sensory perception and synaptic communication.

TIP

Use analogies and practical explanations to help your client or witness understand the limits of telepathy. Possible examples include:

· A telepath reading your mind is like you reading a book – you cannot simply open it for a second and know everything inside it.

· Your brain is an incredibly complex biological computer. When you use a computer, do you instantly know everything that’s on it? Like when you look for a file on your computer, the telepath will search in your brain in certain ways to try and find what they are looking for, but cannot perceive everything.

· Remember, the telepath is still only human, and is seeing your thoughts through their own human mind. They are not going to be able to memorise your every thought and memory in the same way that you would not be able to memorise every word you read if you were going through a large file.

There is no recovering from telepathic misuse or assault

False. Like a physical injury, damage suffered by the improper use of telepathy can heal, either of its own accord or with the assistance of telepathic therapy, and will vary greatly in severity. There is a long-term risk of harm, however, in serious telepathic injuries remaining untreated, as this can potentially lead to secondary mental or trauma-related illness.

Many people find telepathic examinations uncomfortable and will experience short-term anxiety-related symptoms such as nausea, sweating, dizziness or dread either before direct telepathic contact or afterwards. These reactions on their own do not indicate mental damage or that the telepathic contact has occurred improperly.

It is impossible for a normal person to notice or prevent telepathic intrusion

False. It is entirely possible for a non-telepath or non-antipath to be aware of when a person makes telepathic contact, even if that contact is covert or unintentional. There are a variety of courses and instructional videos available online which can teach this skill, and completion of certified mental readiness training is a prerequisite for positions in many industries. Persons trained in recognising telepathic contact usually describe the sensation as “a tingling at the base of one’s skull.”

Similarly, preventing or slowing intrusion by telepaths is a skill now widely taught in businesses and schools. In this respect telepathy is one of the few superhuman abilities capable of being competently resisted by a person without a complimentary power set, given sufficient practice. All legal practitioners are encouraged to undertake telepathic resistance training and engage in practice and refresher courses as part of their Continuing Professional Development.

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If you’re interested in the mechanics of this topic, I’d strongly encourage you to check this Patreon post out – it’s about 30 pages long and implicitly touches on a lot of how Superworld telepathy works, and its (hopefully logical) implications on the semi-real world.

Question: Wouldn't the existence of time travel necessarily either prove that there are infinite possible realities, in which case nothing you do matters because the consequences of every action will happen no matter what or (if there's only 1 universe) disprove the existence of free will because a person time-travelling to the past will know the actions taken by a sapient being ahead of time (in which case nothing you do matters, because it was preordained)?

Answer: I don’t know if I have a particularly good answer for this, as the concept of free will is something debated by philosophers and scientists since civilization first began. Logically, if an atom interacts with another atom in a specific way 100% of the time, and our bodies, minds and universe is comprised of atoms, then no actual free will has ever existed, merely a series of chain reactions playing out since the big bang. Does adding time travel change or resolve this central conundrum? No, not really.

If we assume free will exists in the first place, I don’t think a time traveler knowing what a person is going to do necessarily means that that person didn’t have free will doing it. All it means is that the time traveler knows that this person will exercise their free will in a certain way – if the circumstances were or are changed, the person will/would have exercised their free will differently. Put it this way – if you watch a video of someone walking into a shop and ordering a coffee, it doesn’t mean that that person lacked free will when doing so. It just means that you’re viewing it from a hindsight perspective.

The real question is though: does a time traveler have free will? If they can see the future, can they predict their own actions? Can they change their own actions? Can they predict the consequences of predicting the consequences of predicting the consequences of their own actions? Can an all-knowing God know what all his future thoughts will be?

In the end, I don’t think it really matters. As Matt says in Chapter 9: “It’s irrelevant. We can’t get bogged down in philosophy. It is what it is, time is what it is, the future remains to be written. Or it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter. Either way, we still feel like we’ve got a choice.”

Question: Do you poop?

Answer: Yes, I do. Quite well actually.

Question: Will you get your money up through KU?

Answer: It took me a while to figure out the meaning of this question – at first I thought “KU” stood for “Kansas University” and I was a bit confused since to the best of my knowledge they hadn’t offered me a job. However presuming “KU” stands for “Kindle Unlimited”, then the short answer is maybe.

Prior to about two weeks ago, I was content to have Superworld merely be a free Royal Road release, and to focus for the time being on getting the sequel written rather than releasing and promoting an eBook. However, I have recently been contacted by a company interested in publishing Superworld in various formats, and so something may potentially be on the cards. To answer your question though, in full transparency, I have no idea if they publish primarily through Kindle Unlimited, or on some other format – I will tell you more as it comes.

Generally speaking, the money aspect is simultaneously and paradoxically both very important to me and not important at all. While everybody likes more money, I’m currently working a full-time job, and while it might not be the highest paying job in the world it still pays the bills. So while I’m still working, any money I make from Superworld is a bonus, rather than a necessity. The only way in which the money I’m earning from Superworld matters, conversely, is if things get to a stage where I could consider quitting my job and writing full-time – in which case the amount I would be earning would become very important to me indeed. But for the time being that doesn’t seem to be on the cards, so for the time being squeezing extra money from Superworld isn’t my highest priority – I’d rather spend what little spare time I have writing more content for you guys to enjoy : )

Question: How are you going to continue the story in the sequel? Same main characters or different cast? Tell me some details.

Answers: Ooh, now that would be telling, now wouldn’t it? ; )

Without spoiling anything, I’ll give you a few details. The sequel is set about six months after the conclusion of Superworld, with the events of the first book squarely in mind. Matt and Jane are still the central focus, as they come to terms with the ramifications of everything that transpired, the questions they still don’t know the answers to, (in Jane’s case) their new powers, and their new prominent place on the world stage. The surviving cast will still be present, with some new faces mixed in and some perhaps surprising returns.

You want specifics? Well, I don’t want to spoil anything, so let me just say that there will be sex drugs and mercury poisoning; a cult and their messiah; the world’s most expensive hair follicle test; a man almost dying for authentic Chinese food; the moon having some competition; and a terrorist who talks to fish. Confused and/or intrigued? Then my work here is done.