With Borderlands 2 and Aliens: Colonial Marines on their way, Gearbox Chief Creative Champion Mikey Neumann is a busy guy. Even with these two major projects, he has been writing a novel called The Returners, Part One made recently available on eBook through Amazon, or on his website bozpublishing.com. Neumann regularly tweets the progress of the novel, which he describes as “almost crowd-sourcing the editing process”.
The Returners is a fast paced science fiction work of art. The story begins following Alex Heaton and Chloe Freimont, a seemingly normal young couple, until a sudden gunfight sends them running. It turns out Alex and Chloe aren’t who they claim to be, and they have been found out. Alex is actually Alexander the Great, while Chloe is Joan of Arc, and they are among a group of Returners who have returned for a second life. Packed with historical references, fantastic action sequences and great humor, Neumann brings to life characters most don’t think of outside of their history class.
With everything going at such a quick pace, there are points where it seems a little rushed. There are some mind boggling bits towards the end of Part One (which, for obvious reasons I cannot tell you, but you’ll understand when you read it) but in knowing that is only the first part of an ongoing series, I’m able to brush it off. Its fairly well rounded, although some of the characters, from my point of view of Janey, need more of a backstory with the Returners. You find out rather quickly that she had grown up with one of the characters, but at the same time, not knowing can add to it. Its a double edge sword when you play too much with the history of characters, given that the Returners are originally someone else, you really can’t mess around too much.
Something to keep in mind when reading this is that it is Part One. I read it during the development (so, I was impatiently waiting for each chapter) so if there are questions, know that there is plenty of time for questions to be answered. The story is solid, not held down with a lot of details. I tend to become bored quickly with stories that are heavily detailed, but with The Returners I never felt that need to skip over sections because of pointless details.
I really enjoyed what I have read so far of The Returners, and I’m eagerly awaiting Season Two!
Given his busy schedule, I didn’t want to bother Mr. Neumann too much with interview questions, but I did get the chance to ask him a couple regarding the novel.
Where did you come up with the concept of The Returners?
As the beginning of the book can attest, I was walking down Sunset Boulevard back to my hotel in Hollywood. We were doing recording for Aliens: Colonial Marines and I had a random idea for a short story I would write in my free time while I was out there. Halfway through the short, I realized I had just taken on a second novel. It seemed far too large of an idea to try and cram into something that small.
Fifteen chapters later, that still feels like a solid decision. I’m loving playing around in this universe.
How did you choose who would come back as a Returner? Do you have a favorite? Do you connect with any on a personal level?
I connect with all of them on different levels. I’m extremely careful about who and how I choose which returners will appear in the book. From a high level, I try to imagine what kind of archetype will serve the story the best. From there, I take some of those archetypal ideas and research for a similar historical figure. The last step is layering and plotting out their second upbringing and how that has affected them as a person–this is the step that creates a fully-fleshed out three-dimensional character.
As or favorites, thirteen year-old Albert Einsten is the most fun to write. I love how frustrated he is that all his existing knowledge is floating around in his head and he has no way to unlock it other than growing up again.
I think it would be interesting seeing The Returners done as a graphic novel, would that be something you would consider?
I haven’t begun to think about doing the story in different mediums. Especially not one where my audience would shrink my moving into it. Not that I have anything against graphic novels, but I’d like to grow my audience in a meaningful way if it’s going to start jumping around.
Having said all that, I am pretty sure that the story would work best as a television show. We’re in the golden age of TV right now and who wouldn’t want to get in on that?
Will you continue updating the story in the same manner that you did with Part 1?
Yes. All new chapters will be up for free on the website. This will not be changing anytime in the future.
I hope that people appreciate how the story is being delivered and invest in the eBook versions so I can make enough money to keep the site up and running, pay my editor, and so on.
Outside of The Returners, what do you recommend people should be reading?
I’ve been bouncing around and trying to find a novel (or series) that really grabs my attention. I can say without pause that 50 Shades of Grey was definitely not that novel. Heh.
Okay, for real. Ready Player One is my favorite novel of the last few years, easily. If you haven’t read that, you should get your brain checked and then dive in (provided your brain check cleared your for non-strenuous excitement of the Ernie Cline variety.)
The Mirage was a clever alt-history book I enjoyed.
Tweets by Simon Pegg.
The back of a box of Kix.
Those are all worth reading.
Check out The Returners, now in eBook format on Amazon, or on bozpublishing.com. You can also follow Mikey Neumann on Twitter for updates on the novel @mikeyface
One Nerdy Cupcake 