The Cycle of Ash - Part 1: Awakening
He should be dead. Instead, he's somewhere that almost looks like home, fighting wars that aren't his, chasing clues that lead nowhere simple. Every answer he finds only deepens the question.
Project Overview
Role: Author, Creative Director, Launch Designer
Type: Sci-fi novel — Book 1 of a trilogy
Publisher: Vrishti Media & Publishing House
Timeline: ~10 years (concept to publication) / [6 months] active production
Format: Physical print
My Contribution: Story & world-building, cover concept direction, launch campaign design (standees, promo assets, press materials, speech)
A genre-blending, science-fiction story following Alex, exploring AI, extraterrestrial contact, and robotics through a philosophical lens.
The story takes its inspiration from many different sci-fi and futuristic concepts, but the story defines itself in a unique way, offering more insight into the philosophical angle of these sc-fi worlds.
Written in 2016, the story initially was a standalone concept, which later blossomed into a trilogy, which can be made a part of a bigger story when needed. the play in the different elements of the story ensures that a spinoff story or a bigger story can be explained that this story becomes a part of.
The Cycle of Ash is a story made for the newer generations, typically readers who are teens to young adults; and yet, parts of it will appeal to the millenial crowd as well as the older readers. The story is placed in a way that involves characteristics of classic sci-fi stories mixed with old school drama and action.
The story is meant to be universal, not isolated to anyone culture or region. Since most of the story occurs in outer space, a universal behaviour was opted for in case of the characters.
The story has undergone metamorphosis in the last ten years, going from a simple 40 page short story, to a genre-blending multi-part trilogy novel. This development occurred due to increasing research, newer concepts and greater understanding of storywriting and concept of “hero’s journey”.
Overall, a simple ending converted to a cliffhanger, and characters who are multilayered rather than being straightforward, are some of the defining changes to this three-parter story.
The story began ten years ago at the back of a classroom, concocted in the mind as a short story of just 40 pages… Years later, as the mind evolved and i grew older, so did my approach. The story found a new footing, becoming a part of a greater series of stories. Eventually, I rewrote the manuscript with new techniques, new characters and brand new direction.
Slowly but surely, the story began weaving into a complete one, but it still lacked the final tributary point. Until 2023, when a growing idea of surreality finally claimed its spot as the mother story. From then on, plans were in motion, trying to connect this story in a meaningful and story driven way.
Book cover designs
Launch event Standee designs
Posters
E-Banner for Launch Event
News Pamphlets and Flyers
