Novel / Military science fiction
Savestate
In an endless war across a cluster of planets, everyone who dies is reborn to fight again, and one soldier is the only one who remembers.
- Status
- Planned. Outline only, first chapter not started.
- Length
- Nothing drafted yet
- This draft
- First draft, July 2024
There's a cluster of planets, Earth among them, where nobody stays dead. Die on one and you're reborn on another, and you go right back to fighting with no idea you've done it before. That's why the war never ends.
Jack is the exception. An accident with alien technology in one of his past lives left him able to keep his memories, so he wakes up on each new world remembering every life, every battle and every loss. It makes him an outcast and a very good soldier at once. With a pilot named Lira and a scientist named Dr. Zephra, he goes looking for the truth about the cycle, while General Korgon of Valthar wants to win the war outright.
- A prologue, five chapter beats and an epilogue.
- Cast: Jack, Lira of Xerion, Dr. Zephra and General Korgon.
- Built on game ideas: save states, checkpoints and respawning.
- Influences: Edge of Tomorrow, Mass Effect and Halo.
- Merges an earlier concept, Eternal Battlefield. The two versions still need one ending between them.
- The aliens behind the accident still need building out.
Nothing drafted yet. This is where they'll show up as I write them, so check back.
Revision notes6 open
- structureTwo endings to choose between
The Savestate outline ends with Jack defeating General Korgon, the reincarnation process stopped and peace restored. The Eternal Battlefield concept ends with Jack confronting the alien species behind the cycle, and then either breaking the cycle or accepting his role and shaping future lives. The public post says merging the two means picking one.
- bibleWho built the cycle
The Savestate references file says the cycle runs on ancient technology connecting the planets, and gives the aliens only a minor role as the cause of Jack's accident. Eternal Battlefield makes the aliens the ones behind the cycle. Decide whether the ancient technology is theirs.
- bibleWhere Jack wakes up
The Savestate outline has Jack reborn on a new planet at the start. Eternal Battlefield has him reborn on Earth with his memories intact. Pick the opening world.
- bibleThe aliens aren't built yet
The notes call the alien species' culture and motives "largely unknown" and flag them for later. If they're behind the cycle (see the ending note), they need a name, a culture and a reason before the outline goes further.
- structureNovel or game
The project README calls Savestate a speculative fiction novel, but the references file describes "the game's soundtrack" as if it were a game design. Settle the format; the public post and the site treat it as a novel.
- structureThe README overstates the draft
The README says the first draft's chapter structure is begun, but the chapters file is an outline of a prologue, five one-line chapter beats and an epilogue. There is no prose yet.
Version history1 draft
Current · July 2024
First draft
Not started yet. There's an outline and a few short notes files.