In his 2022 hard science fiction novel Summer’s End, author John Van Stry introduced us to Dave Walker, who ends up on a space cargo ship in an attempt to better himself.
Now Dave is back in Sometimes In The Fall (paperback, Kindle), in which — as Van Stry explains in the following email interview — now has “a more ‘settled’ or perhaps at least ‘legitimate’ life.” Though clearly that won’t last since, well, otherwise there’d be no point to this second book.
For people who haven’t read Summer’s End, or the interview we did about it, what is that novel about, and when and where does it take place?
Summer’s End is about Dave Walker, who you can think of as an inner city kid if you want to put it in today’s terms. The story is set several hundred years in the future. While the names of the regions are mostly the same, the world is a much more dystopian place than it is today. Also, the solar system has been heavily colonized, but FTL travel is still an elusive dream for humanity.
Dave’s mother left his father (leaving Dave behind when she did). Going back to her “roots” you could say, when she got tired of the working-man / middle-class lifestyle. This of course leaves Dave to grow up with a massive chip on his shoulder, and he takes to the gang lifestyle at a very young age. However, he gets sent a wakeup call one day, from his grandfather, and decides to change his ways. His goal becomes that of becoming a ship’s engineer and getting off of Earth.
That is where Summer’s End starts. Dave ends up on a “tramp steamer” kind of cargo ship, that doesn’t always sail to the nicest of places. Also the solar system is by no means safe, and pirates do exist, along with a good many other things. We see Dave as he works to improve himself, his lot in life, and try not to backslide into his old gangbanger ways, as he’s forced to deal with numerous dangerous, and even deadly, situations.
We also lean along the way that Dave’s estranged mother is actually quite wealthy and well connected. Which of course leads to some of his other problems.
And then what is Sometimes In The Fall about, and when does it take place in relation to Summer’s End?
The novel is about the continuing adventures of Dave, the protagonist from Summer’s End, as he moves into a more “settled” or perhaps at least “legitimate” life.
It takes place a few months after the conclusion of Summer’s End. He’s married now, and he’s working on building his cargo company with his wife’s help. He’s also looking to progress his engineering skills and certifications.
Dave’s step-brother has been freed of his virtual prison on Earth, and is now working on solving the FTL problem, if he can, while the ruling families back on Earth try to get him back so they can steal his work.
David’s grandfather, who is the head of one of those families, wants to help Dave keep his brother safe, and wants to help fund any possible successes that may occur. He also wants to invest in his grandson, who he has become quite proud of. This of course presents problems for Dave, because he grew up poor, and now he’s been accepted back into a family worth trillions (or whatever comes after trillions).
Of course, while all of this is going on in Dave’s life, there are a lot of other factors at play and he can’t avoid being sucked into some of them, and having to do things to help defend his new home (Ceres) and the rest of the people living there, from some serious threats. He has to make some hard choices, and bear the consequences as well as the burden, of them.
And on top of all of this, his reputation often precedes him, which leads to other complications which he must face.
So when in the process of writing Summer’s End did you come up with the idea for Sometimes In The Fall, and what inspired this second book’s story?
I didn’t fully come up with the ideas for Sometimes In The Fall until after I’d finished Summer’s End and sat down to work on it. Some of the ideas I had, but I didn’t have the driving focus of the story.
Originally, I’d been thinking of making Dave’s brother the narrative focus of the second book, but I was talked out of that by my editor. So I started writing with a vague outline and idea on the story, because I wasn’t sure where I was going at first, even if I knew the eventual goal.
I ended up throwing away a couple of chapters that I knew were “wrong,” and then as I sat and thought about that, I suddenly understood what was “right.” I know that may sound hard, but the narrator change kind of threw me for a loop, because I had this other story in my head, and it took a little longer than expected to switch gears. But I’m glad I did, because I like Dave as a character and it was fun to get further down into his hopes and dreams, his ambitions, and to learn more about the world he lives in, from the point of view of someone who actually has to go out there into the world every day and work in it. Rather than say a genius researching FTL drive theory in a lab.
Summer’s End was a hard sci-fi story, and I thought it had some space opera elements, though in the interview we did about it you said, “I’m a bit hesitant to call it space opera as there’s little to no ‘hand-wavium’ going on in the story.” How then do you categorize Sometimes In The Fall, genre-wise?
I would very much put Sometimes In The Fall in the hard sci-fi category as well. Again, there’s no “hand-wavium” going on. The science is really all there, even if you don’t see it, I worked the numbers. Yes, there’s a certain amount of drama, action, and adventure. Because that’s what we all like to read. Also a Dave is there at a few “pivotal” events, but I’ve actually known people like that in real life. I still know some of them now.
I guess I’d lean to the hard sci-fi tag because there is no magic in the story. Everything is science based. Everything is something that a human could do, based simply on training and ability. Where I move the story out of the known and into the theoretical, those things are still based on science. I have an engineering degree, so I know science well. One of my physics teachers worked on the Manhattan Project. In a key role. So I’ve heard a lot of interesting stories about just how theory and discover progress. Another of my physics teachers was on the team that invented the laser. So I’ve got a fairly good understanding of how science and research progress. I’ve also worked in research myself.
Sometimes In The Fall is obviously not your first novel. Are there any writers, or specific stories, that had a big influence on Fall but not on anything else you’ve written, and especially not Summer’s End? Or anything non-literary, while we’re on the subject of influences.
Two of the biggest influences on the story, believe it or not, were the songs “Sometimes In The Fall” by Phoenix, and “The Fear” by Lily Allen. The first is sort of about a guy who’s got a reputation that everyone knows about, as well as his wanting to be with his woman. So it makes me think of Dave. The title is a nod to that song. The second is a song about someone who suddenly has access to a lot of money, as well as the pure pursuit of money, and how that changes people. Often for the worse.
The Phoenix song “North” from the same album [It’s Never Been Like That] was also a bit of an influence, cause there’s a “lone wolf” vibe to it, which is what Dave used to be, but isn’t so much anymore.
Now, in the Summer’s End interview you mentioned working on a sequel called The Fear. Was The Fear renamed Sometimes In The Fall, or was that a different story?
That was the original name of the story, but it was changed when I realized that Dave wasn’t the type to be so easily seduced by that which he actively eschewed all during his teenaged years. That he was going to be dealing with his reputation, more than he’d be dealing with the absurd amounts of wealth he was now tied to.
The thing is, by calling the first two Summer’s End and Sometimes In The Fall, it makes me think the plan is for there to be four books, with the other two being called, I dunno, Winter Of Our Discontent and Spring Ahead.
That’s a pretty good guess on the one title; it is sort of the working title (in my head at least right now) for the next book — I’m talking about the “winter of our discontent” line. That is such a famous line that it’s hard to avoid it. So in the end I probably will. But I am thinking of making this into four books. I know if Summer’s End continues to sell well, and if Sometimes In The Fall also does well, my editor and publisher will be looking for more.
So, is there anything else you think people might need to know about Sometimes In The Fall? Or Summer’s End for that matter?
That you can always overcome your circumstances, that you can make a better life for yourself, and that sometimes, when you really have to, you can rise to the occasion to do the things that sometimes you gotta do.
Finally, if someone enjoys Sometimes In The Fall, and they’ve already read Summer’s End, what hard sci-fi novel or novella of someone else’s would you suggest they read while waiting for, I dunno, Winter Is Coming and Springtime For Walker to come out?
Nathan Lowell’s Solar Clipper series is really good. I actually had dinner with him once, great guy. I know more than a few people compared Summer’s End to his series, which I thought was nice, though to be honest I wasn’t thinking about that series at all when I started this. They’re both very different in so many ways. Which is why I think people should read it. Because he really understands the Merchant Marine and what it’s like to be at sea for long periods of time.
I also like Dorothy Grant’s Command Operations series, which starts with Going Ballistic. It’s pretty hard sci-fi and military stuff, with a fun bit of romance added to it. Dorothy is a former Alaskan Bush Pilot, and her husband is former special forces. So all of the flying stuff is perfect, and so is all of the military stuff. They’re also (her and her husband) good friends of mine.
