Noam Josephides - Soft-Scifi Mystery Thriller Set on a Multi-Generational Ship

Noam Josephides is an award-winning and bestselling author, screenwriter and director.  He is also a serial technology entrepreneur with numerous successful companies founded, and a past as an Airforce Captain. Noam's love for speculative writing and Science Fiction began with the genre classics he read in his childhood - from Asimov and Heinlin to Clarke and Douglas Adams. His scientific enthusiasm for space led him to pursue studies in Astrophysics and aviation, and his prose combines deep technological and scientific knowledge with a unique focus on human drama, values and personal journeys. Noam spends his time between leading Artificial Intelligence product development at the world's top technology firms, and writing novels, screenplays and fake Tooth-Fairy letters for his 3 young kids. As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book, Generations.

Please give us a short introduction to what "Generations" is about.

GENERATIONS is a soft-Scifi mystery thriller, set on a “multi-generational” ship carrying the remnants of humanity to settle on a new home planet. 180 years into its journey, the Thetis is seemingly a Utopia: a tolerant, united and egalitarian society ready for a new beginning.

But, under that facade, a vast conspiracy has been brewing – a deeply-buried secret that will determine the fate of every human upon their upcoming resettlement.

The key to uncovering that conspiracy lies in the hands of SANDRINE LIET, an Archivist introvert who has everything to lose by pitting herself against the most powerful people on the Thetis.

The deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that there is only one way to save both herself and the rest of her fellow Thetans – and it’s the most horrible choice imaginable…

What inspired you to write "Generations"? Were there any specific events or experiences that influenced the story?

I started the journey that became “Generations” as the COVID crisis was taking over the world, and many ‘perfect storms’ seemed to align simultaneously: political forces, economic power structures, social patterns and the media chaos around the notion of ‘truth’ — all unraveled their underlying nature under the weight of global stress.

Enter the rise of Artificial Intelligence a year later, and things started moving so fast on such fundamental levels of our modern existence, that one had to start asking themselves: who has the power to make basic decisions about my life? What are the boundaries of one’s responsibility to our community, family, self? And what are the foundational values that make us human, and that we envision our future generations to uphold?

Science Fiction was the perfect stage to engage in such discussions, and the story opened up as more traditions, assumptions and ‘known truths’ about our life were allowed into that speculative experiment lab.

How did your background in astrophysics and aviation influence the scientific and technological aspects of the novel?

We've all seen many movies and read many books about colonizing new worlds and traveling across space.

When I set out to write "Generations", one important principle for me was to be absolutely believable.

SO - no warp drives, no FTL speeds, no wormholes or ancient portal relays left by mysterious extinct civilizations for us to fly through. We have to figure out how a generation ship would work for real.

To my surprise, the easiest part was finding works and research around the technical part of such an endeavor - structural plans, engine schemes, how to deal with space particles and radiation and genetic anomalies etc. etc.

And my affinity to hard science and technology helped make this part of the research concise and manageable.

What I found baffling is that almost no one talks about the society, culture and humane side of altering the entire life-experience of humans to a confined spaceship interior. Those questions were the spark that started me down this journey.

Do you have any other "secret" skills, besides writing?

I’ve been a film director, startup founder, piano player… but if you ask my kids for my #1 skill, they’ll admit: I whip up the meanest Spaghetti Bolognese in the galaxy!

Sandrine Liet is a compelling and unique protagonist. How did you develop her character, and what was the inspiration behind her personality and role in the story?

I always knew the story HAD to be led by a smart, sharp female protagonist. From “Silo”s Juliette to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”s Lisbeth Salander to “The Hunger Games” Katniss Everdeen, those characters have always drawn me as complex individuals operating in a rigid, unforgiving world.

Sandrine is definitely not your boilerplate Sci-fi “badass heroine”. She’s super intelligent but very vulnerable, very scarred, entrenched in self-doubt. One of the main challenges she (and me as her writer) needed to face was finding her self confidence and conviction in her cause that will let her face the strongest, most intimidating forces obstructing the truth she is seeking.

Can you discuss the dynamics between the different characters aboard the Thetis? How did you ensure they felt authentic and relatable?

As a screenwriter and director by education, I am always visualizing scenes when I am writing them. So the #1 rule I employ for character dynamics and dialog is: no character is there just to serve as a tool to your plot. They all need to have their own voice. Their own needs and motivations and plans of how to get those fulfilled, sometimes at the expense of your protagonist. This is how good dialog is written – mostly people don’t answer the question you have just asked them. They answer the question in their internal dialog. And they are trying to accomplish something in each and every moment they are “onscreen”.

"Generations" explores deep themes such as human values, sacrifice, and the pursuit of truth. What message do you hope readers take away from your book?

The confined world of a generation-ship carrying the remnants of humanity to resettle on a new planet is, of course, a microcosm of our own reality, and a great experimentation lab to test what values really matter and would make a difference for our long-term survival as a species.

I hope readers, beyond having a lot of fun reading the book, will go out thinking – what is it in our nature that prevents the Utopia we all could be living in already? What’s really important to preserve and amplify as humans, and how does the physical characteristics of Earth play a role in challenging those aspects?

And, ultimately, I hope readers will experience the courage of standing for what’s right even if it isn’t popular, and not bowing to tyranny even when personal prices must be paid.

The novel has been described as a blend of science fiction, political mystery, and thriller. How did you manage to weave these genres together seamlessly?

With social media, COVID, wars and elections surrounding us for the past few years, politics are essentially everywhere. And even what was not part of politics tends to now get politicized. So when I take the reader to the future, to a setting where we are separated from our “normal” Earth environment, incentives and power structure – what then? How does power look when there is no money system? What does family and allegiance look like when all population growth is pre-planned and controlled? Who even wants to rise to power in a world where everyone has a home, food, time and resources? Will human nature still push certain individuals to try and possess power, legacy and influence?

I guess that by the genre of “Generations” you can already guess the answer…

The world-building in "Generations" is highly praised. How did you go about creating the society aboard the Thetis, and what considerations did you make to ensure it felt realistic?

The world-building of the Thetis and the human society that had evolved on it for 8 generations was a key part of the book’s success. I had to nail it in many facets and so spent a lot of time going deep in figuring out how every little details influences a dozen others.

A few examples:

Language – the people on the Thetis has been in the confined space of the Thetis for almost 180 years. Thinking back on how people spoke in 1844 (180 years ago for us today), so much have changed! So many words had become obsolete, while we are still living on the same planet as those 17th century folks. What about people living on a spaceship with no exposure to nature, the elements, weather, animals, oceans and a thousand other things. Daily experience is the biggest influencer on the words we need to communicate our life experience to others, and also influence how we think. So I had to come up with a whole believable language framework for our characters on the Thetis.

Money – on the Thetis, it makes no sense to have a monetray system. People are on a joint mission, albeit a long-term one, and survival is key to make it work. But, if there’s no rich and poor, no economic incentives and no capitalistic status and classes – what does motivate people to excel and pursue new endevours? How do leaders prevent a society sliding into decadence and slacking off mentality? And who determined who gets what when some things are still scarce?

Education – in most scifi spaceships we see on screen or read about in books, you hardly encounter children and families. Most famous spaceships are a militaristic society where everyone wears uniform, or a kind of refugee camp with very low, unsustainable quality of life and order. In order to succeed in its mission, the Thetis needs to be a home to generations of humans procreating, working, socializing and raising families! So I ad to work out an entire social system that makes sense for both a “mission” perspective and the ability to live your full life on the ship.

"Generations" is the first in a series. Can you give us any hints about what to expect in the next installment?

Yes! I can confirm that the work on “Generations 2” is (wink, wink) full engines forward!

In the meantime, a free bonus Novellette is available to my fan list, expanding on the back story of one of the more intriguing characters in “Generations”. The access link to the novellette is included in the back pages of “Generations” on all formats (printed and digital).

What has been the most surprising feedback you’ve received from readers about "Generations"?

A suprisingly funny moment was receiving great feedback from a book club of senior citizens who read the book and loved it – at the same day “Generations” hit #2 in Amazon’s Young Adult Scifi category… Proves to you there’s no age for reading enjoyment!

Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?

I can write anywhere - back seats, airplanes, coffee shops… once I put on my noise canceling headphones and put on my ambient music playlist, I’m quickly “in the zone”. I am, however, a slow writer. Maybe because I HATE editing, so I make sure every sentence is as close to the final puzzle piece as possible before committing to it :)

What are you working on right now?

I am working exlusively on the 2nd book in the series, so it can reach readers as soon as possible!

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I share updates on new releases, free bonus stories and the like through my fan mailing list.

Join on www.generationsnovels.com
You can also follow me on Amazon, GoodReads and BookBub.
On social media, I am mainly active on Facebook and X/Twitter.