Much of Ravi’s story was informed by the conversations I’ve had with various people over the last few years. It’s a work of fiction trying to keep up with the craziness of the world without becoming a complete fantasy. Real life is already weirder, crazier, and more unpredictable than we realize.
Michael Wilson and Minh-Hang Nguyen’s insights on politics, finance, power, recent history, and espionage were the biggest influence on my thoughts about genre storytelling and Ravi’s story. They often told me about the real story behind the ones we hear about and reminded me to be suspicious of every official account.
Thanks to Alan Moore for the conversations about gods and our relationships with them, which came to inform Ravi’s beliefs, and for reassuring me that I did not inadvertently rip him off. It was Alan who also understood instinctively the inherent, unspoken theme of Britishness in the figure of Ravi from the moment he heard this story, that it was about how many Indian-British people can be more British than the British in their embrace of the culture without losing their own.
Thanks to Roz Kaveney for playing sounding board and listening to my flights of fancy as I planned out the books, and to Richard Markstein for the perspective and reminders of the structures and workings of London that still course through the city’s veins, that Ravi exists as part of the legacy left behind by his father George Markstein, who created The Prisoner TV series that has warped our perception of reality ever since.
Thanks to Leopoldo Gout for working tirelessly to get Ravi published, and for pushing for the magical realist layer that resulted in Ravi seeing the gods as part of his journey.
Thanks to James Handel for volunteering his time to help address some narrative issues and grounding some of the story where needed.