ARKANE and the suspension of disbelief
I recently read the first couple of books in the ARKANE series, a paranormal thriller series authored by JF Penn. The series is a highly intriguing read featuring Morgan Sierra, a soldier-turned-academic who joins hands with ARKANE - a secret organization researching supernatural occurrences that have the potential to cause mass hysteria.
Link to series: https://www.amazon.com/ARKANE/dp/B074CGHPHN
To successfully pull off a series that merges the natural with the supernatural, it is imperative for a writer to make the reader suspend disbelief. While it is true that most fiction readers are willing to set aside some of their rationality before getting into a book, it is also the writer’s responsibility to make this task as simple as possible for the reader. This involves creating an internally consistent plotline that makes implausible events seem remotely possible, given a set of assumptions. And JF Penn does an excellent job of this.
At the end of each book in the series, Penn includes an ‘Author’s Note’, where she talks about the research that went into each object, location and concept introduced in the story, also giving us an insight into how much of the prose is firmly grounded in reality, versus how much is made up (it’s often a 60-40 mix). As it turns out, this is great learning material for aspiring writers in any genre.
The rest of this post covers some of the techniques used in the ARKANE series to help readers suspend their disbelief and have a great ride exploring the world of the unknown.
Placing an anchor in the reader’s mind, responsibly
In the first book, there is a sense of foreboding around the re-appearance of the Resurgam comet. Resurgam is a fictitious comet that is expected to be visible from the Earth in the 21st century, for the first time since 33 AD. It is believed that the appearance of this comet will cause widespread disaster.
Below is a snippet from a fictitious news report that appears in the book:
The comet was named with the Latin Resurgam meaning ‘I shall rise again’ because it hasn’t been seen since 33AD, the time of Jesus Christ. In ancient times, comets were considered to be bad omens and indeed some have claimed that the violent weather events currently wreaking havoc in the South East are related to the comet's approach.
Celestial influence has been seen recently with Elenin, a comet that passed close to the earth in 2011. During the period it aligned with the Earth and the Sun, earthquakes wracked the planet producing the Japanese 9.0 quake, Christchurch in New Zealand and before that, Chile.
There is a concern that the Resurgam comet will have a similar impact, bringing widespread natural disturbances. There are claims from conspiracy theorists that the government is covering up the possibility of cataclysmic occurrences but repeated statements from NASA downplay the potential impact.
Inventing facts about the real world can be controversial. Hence, the author uses a fictitious comet in Resurgam, so that she can exercise the artistic liberty to invent a history for this comet, along with any religious interpretations of the same. But at the same time, she needs to make this believable.
So she briefly introduces the anecdote (and the conspiracy theories) of the Elenin comet, a real comet which was seen in 2011. This helps readers subconsciously place a reference point in their minds to be able to relate to the story of Resurgam in a much better way. At the same time, the author distances herself from the question of ‘whether celestial influence is real’, by exposing the reader to opposing points of view in the same paragraph. This way, the Elenin comet is not used as a means to prove any religious theory, but only as a means to help the reader take small, measured steps into the world that the author has created, rather than making an ungainly jump from the real world to a mythical world.
Providing scientific explanations wherever possible
How can a fiction writer make an implausible scenario seem scientifically possible without sounding like a fraud? One way to do it is by taking a known scientific phenomenon and modifying the experimental conditions, taking them to new extremes, and theorizing how that would play out. Another way is by suggesting possible linkages between scientific theories from seemingly different domains, and exploiting this interplay to come up with interesting stories. Both these techniques are used well in the ARKANE series.
Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to my newsletter to never miss a new article!
In the second book, there is a pharmaceutical company called Zoebios which produces MP3 players seeded with audio recordings meant to cure patients of anxiety and depression. The audio recordings work by invoking an image of God in patients’ minds to show them hope, irrespective of whether they are believers or not. But Milan Noble, the CEO of Zoebios also has a hidden agenda to use this device to influence large numbers of people to wipe out certain sections of society. He believes that people are more likely to commit dastardly acts if they believe that a higher authority is telling them to do so.
Below is an excerpt from a conversation between Maria and Simone, two researchers who played a key role in the development of the Zoebios headset:
“There are two positions and I flip between them. One is that God gave us this part of our brain so we could experience Him and a type of consciousness that we don’t access in everyday life. The other is that we have evolved to believe in a God who doesn’t actually exist but is, in fact, manufactured by our brains. I know believers and atheists who both think the God helmet validates their opposite positions.”
“I don’t understand why humans would evolve to believe in God if he, or she, didn’t exist,” Simone said. “Where’s the sense in that?”
Maria shuffled the scientific papers in front of her, unsure how far to take the discussion. “Evolutionary psychologists have suggested that perhaps mankind evolved to a point where they understood the inevitability of physical death. There were some who started to believe there was more than just a physical life, and over time, these people were selected for, in a Darwinian sense, as they were the most hopeful and the ones who helped others.”
“To reduce the anxiety of death, we came up with the unending beyond the physical. Ok, I can see that.”
Based on the author’s note at the end of the second book, while the advanced Zoebios headset as such is fictional, it is actually based on the God Helmet, which is a real invention. The God Helmet is a device developed by the neuroscientist Michael Persinger to test theories on the functioning of the brain. It was reported that some people who used the helmet experienced religious visions in varying amounts.
In addition, Milan Noble’s hidden agenda behind promoting the Zoebios headset is also based on researched theories around the psychology of obedience.
With the above context in place, the below is a summary of how Penn takes experimental conditions to their extremes, while also linking together different domains of science, to help readers take two cognitive leaps of faith:
Leap 1: Through multiple rounds of the ‘survival of the fittest’ game, humankind has evolved drastically, and today, there are much better standards of life and physical health across our species. Today, the fittest members are the ones who have the best mental health, which includes the ability to be unconcerned by the inevitability of death. In such a world, there is a new tendency for humans to seek a device like the God Helmet.
Leap 2: If the God Helmet is given a massive amount of training data (from the large number of Zoebios patients), it can be used to reliably invoke a strong image of God in anyone, irrespective of the person’s belief. In the wrong hands, this device could be used to make people commit cruel acts in the name of a higher authority, without being able to exercise their own free will (if such a thing even exists, lol).
Filling up gaps in history
History isn’t always complete, as the collection of ancient data is an difficult art. The fact that not everything in the past has been meticulously documented or available online, is a blessing for fiction writers, who can use the gaps in history to create their own version of ‘what might have happened’. There is no reason for the willing reader not to believe the writer, since there is no real evidence to suggest that the writer is wrong!
In the first book, Morgan is on a time sensitive mission to find twelve sacred stones. To find these stones, she must locate the bodies of the twelve Apostles of Jesus.
The author’s note at the end says that there is “little known of what actually happened to those twelve men, and what is documented is contradictory and confusing”. She uses this incompleteness in history to weave together her own story of what might have happened to each of the Apostles. And no wonder, Morgan goes on a riveting journey across Italy, Spain, Iran and America as she locates each of the bodies and the stones.
Conclusion
I’m probably in no position to comment on the different interpretations of religion that are seen in this book, and it is hence best to self-select depending on the nature of your belief.
But from a pure storytelling point of view, I would highly recommend this book! The author does most things right – compelling characters, an intriguing premise, vividly described scenes, and of course, the smooth suspension of disbelief.
There were just a couple of areas where I felt both books could have done slightly better. One is the fact that Morgan and ARKANE with their extensive resources seemed to solve puzzles a little too ‘easily’. A few more missteps and gotchas might have made the story even more compelling. Additionally, the exposition of historic facts seemed a little chunky in certain places and could have been a bit smoother.
That aside, this series has been great so far and I’m really looking forward to reading the third book. And I just love the fact that this series has 11 books in all! Maybe I’ll write a follow up article on this series some time in the future :)