1- Falling out of time: Grossman, David [2011]

Israeli writer David Grossman tells the story of “bereaved parents setting out to reach their lost
children”. It’s a story of bereavement and grief, and the boundary between life and death. “Can
death be overcome by an intensity of speech or memory?”. His writing becomes “a realm where loss
is not merely an absence, but a life force of its own”.
Pros: Very poetic. Interesting theme.

Cons: A vast range of characters. Quite a real subject that needs definite care approaching.

2- The Shadow of the Wind: Carlos Ruiz Zafón [2001]

After Daniel finds he can no longer remember his lost mothers face, his father takes him to the
Cemetery of Forgotten Books, to pick on a single book from the spiralling labyrinth of shelves.

The boy goes on a journey to find the lost author of ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ in post-war Barcelona.
Pros: Richly descriptive characters and environments. It’s relatively untouched by film and artistic interpretation, but has
definite potential of 1945 Spanish ‘look’.

Cons: Isn’t a sci-fi, and plays to more realistic themes. Vast amount of characters.

3- The Player of Games – Ian Banks [1988]

The successful ‘Game Player’ Jernau Morat Gurgeh exists within The Culture (“a humanoid/machine
symbiotic society”), and having become complacent in his current lifestyle and success is
blackmailed to take on the most challenging game of his life; ‘Azard’, from a distant Empire.

The games are essentially the means of deciding the inhabitants position in the larger scheme of
social hierarchy. There are definite themes of communication and relationships through state of
play… as well as a criticism of our contemporary reality (mirrored to Azard) through the eyes of an
outsider (i.e. Gurgeh).
Pros: Interesting concepts and potential for visual design. Very imaginative. Concise storytelling. Characters are well
developed.

Cons: Complex. The second book of a larger series- and ‘Consider Phlebas’ is better at explaining world. (Though can be
read separately- as the novels are self-contained). May exist better as a written book than an animation (particularly with
the games- as a metaphor of life itself).

4- The Wasp Factory- Ian Banks [1984]

Ian Banks writes the story of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame, who lives in rural Scotland, and see’s the
world in a delusional warped manner.
Pros: Potential theme of mental health as something to visualise. Definite characters, and solid plot.

Cons: Quite realistic setting, with challenging theme to visualise.

5- Lost Empires- J.B. Priestley [1965]

Lost Empires tells the story of Richard Herncastle; an aspiring painter who retells his experience in
English variety. He joins his magician Uncle Nick and meets a range of “artistes” when touring across
england’s musical halls. The story is based just prior to the outbreak of WW1.
Pros: Well developed, and interesting characters. Definite visual potential- with English variety and stage performance.

Cons: Made up of numerous, rich stories of Herncastle’s experiences rather than one solidly driven, overarching plot. This
gives a more realistic feel, but in terms of animation may need sorting.
 6- The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham (1951)

John Wyndham’s post-apocalyptic novel follows Bill Masen during the outcome of global blindness
(a possible product of an orbiting satellite weapon), as it allows the violent plant species of triffids to
pray on the now debilitated human race.
Pros: I’ve only read the book, and haven’t seen the TV show or film, so won’t be biased by existing texts.

Cons: It has been extensively redone numerous times. Themes of blindness will prove challenging (though interesting) in
visualising story.

7- The Enchanted – Rene Denfeld [2014]

The enchanted is an old prison, viewed through the eyes of a death row-inmate, whose only escape
is through the re-imagining of life around him, “weaving a fantastical story of the people he observes
and the world he inhabits”.
Pros: Range of characters. Mental state and character’s interpretation is a potential for visual look.

Cons: A real subject that needs approaching carefully.

8- The Hen Who Dreamed she could fly- Sun-mi Hwang (2013)

Korean author Sun-Mi Hwang recounts the story of a hen named Sprout; for her love of new life.
Unable to raise her eggs in the grief of losing them to the farmer, and mocked by the lives of the
animals beyond her cage who she longs for, she’s unable to make anymore.

She’s carted off to be culled, but managed to escape her captures, existing as a recluse on the edge
of farm life with a plan to hatch her own egg.
Pros: Manageable character number, and strong themes.

Cons: More of an emphasis on character than environment.

9- The Insult- Rupert Thomson (1996)

After being involved in a shooting, Martin Blom must adjust to a life of blindness, but begins to
‘see’/visualise his surroundings (diagnosed by his doctors as Anton-Babinski Syndrome), at night.
Unreliability of the narrator and paranoia are main assets of the story, which help create “…the
gorgeously disorienting world of The Insult, [wherein] reality itself is a consensual hallucination. And
you succumb to it at your own risk”.
Pros: Interesting concept. Potential for visual exploration. Manageable characters.

Cons: Dull story. Characters aren’t as interesting.

10- Haruki Murakami- Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage [2013]

Haruki Murakami writes an abstract account of mental illness, fear of abandonment and a poignant
visualisation of the intangible social connections we draw between ourselves and others.

The story follows Tsukuru Tazaki, a 36-year-old train station engineer/fabricator as he’s forced to
reflect back on his past involvement in a group of friends, to start moving forward towards a
potential future with a young woman named Sara.

He saw the group as a harmonious community and likens them to separate pure colours, (himself,
he’s unable to visualise, and place consciously).
However, the goal to exist as abstract intangible beings’ inevitable fails, as body and sex disrupt the
balance. Recognising this, Tazaki takes the first step to university and life on his own. His
disappearance sways the balance, and in fear of abandonment, one member’s dies and triggers a
forceful cut off between Tazaki and the rest of his friends.

After reaching a pivotal moment wherein he chooses life, over death, Tazaki returns to his roots
(with the prospect of a future with Sara), to uncover the mystery of his exclusion, and move on with
his life.
Pros: There’s a definite visual potential for the work. With the content already using visual analogies (“The two boys were
called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine’, and Oumi, ‘blue sea’, while the girls’ names were Shirane, ‘white root’, and Kurono,
‘black field”).

Cons: Unfortunately the books quite recent. Quite a vast range of characters.

11- Haruki Murakami- Norwegian Wood [1987]

In the midst of widespread student unrest of the late sixties, 3 students struggle to “find themselves
and survive their various troubles”. The story follows Naoko and Watanabe as they struggle in the
aftermath of Kizuki’s death. Naoko experiences the Japanese attitudes, views and ‘treatment’ of
mental health conditions.

We watch outwards, in at Naoko as her mind warps her perception of life, and Watanabe learns that
“Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of life”.
Pros: There’s a definite visual potential for the work. With the content already using visual and musical analogies. There’s
a manageable number of characters.

Cons: The story has no distinct direction, as it follows Watanabe throughout his life both the present day, and 20 years
prior.

12- Haruki Murakami- After Dark [2004]

‘After Dark’ is a short Japanese novel that captures a glimpse of Tokyo’s nightlife, by capturing a
number of surreal-like encounters from midnight to dawn. It’s described as anything from a
“memorizing drama to [a] metaphysical speculation”, as we meet two sisters; Mari a young student
whose troublesome relationship with Eri drives her to stay up and out into the early hours of the
morning reading, and Eri who hasn’t woken in months. A supposedly responsible supernatural
entity, is present within her television and haunts her while she sleeps.
Pros: The story relatively short, and works chronologically (direct and concise).

Cons: There’s a vast range of characters. The narrative itself a random collection of stories that paint the bigger picture of
Tokyo at night. This may work, but must be sorted through accordingly.

Haruki Murakami – A Wild Sheep Chase [1982]

The story of an advertising executive who having received a postcard from a friend in hiding, casually
appropriates the image in an advertisement, and is approached by a powerful business man who
threatens him to find the sheep in the image, or “face dire consequences”.

At the heart of the story is the mythological sheep whose triggered in others an obsession to find it,
and whose souls are said to have merged with the being, and (in the businessman case) bring great-
but temporary- success.
Pros: Interesting range of characters, and a range of potential environments.
Cons: The story isn’t direct, and equivocates any final and moral conclusion. Additionally the environments (despite the
subject matter) are really all quite realistic. The visual leeway comes with more the psychological aspect of each character.

13- Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange [1962]

In the near-future dystopian of England, we follow a subculture of brutality and youth culture,
wherein ‘ultra-violence’, is seen as the norm. We watch as 15-year old Alex is convicted of murder
during a botched robbery attempt, and is subjected to an “experimental behaviour-modification
treatment” known as The Ludovico Technique. A technique that conditions a human to fit the laws
and conditions “appropriate to a mechanical creation”- something someone else has deemed ‘good’
or ‘bad’ within society and culture.

We are asked whether it’s better to be ‘bad’ but real , or ‘good’ but mechanical (i.e. a clockwork
orange).
Pros: I haven’t seen the film, and have only read the book.

Cons: However, there is a very solid existing ‘look’ for Alex and the world he inhabits, which is problematic.

14- The Long Earth- Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter [2012]

Having found humans can “step” between parallel Earths using a potato generated device, we follow
Joshua Valienté; a natural Stepper, as he undertakes a task to “map the furthest reaches of the Long
Earth”, with an AI who claims to have once been a Tibetan motorcycle repairman.

The book follows the sudden migration across infinite parallel worlds, where law and control are still
unestablished, and the vast space has get to be owned by large cooperation’s and millionaires, or
controlled by overarching governments.
Pros: Strong characters, and the potential for ‘alien-like’ environment design.

Cons: The book is quite recent.

15- The Wolf – Joseph Smith [2008]

A short novella about a lone wolf, in his attempt to survive in a harsh environment of winter. His
encounter with man, and search for prey has him considering his role as ‘predator’, in the midst of
desperation and the black and white world of survival.
Pros: Manageable number of characters. Interesting theme.

Cons: Quite realistic, and not much room for alternative design.

16- The Folly of the World – Jesse Bullington [2012]

The Folly of the World is a historical fantasy book, following 3 well developed characters as they live
in the midst of ‘The Great Flood’, in fifteenth century Netherlands. The book arrives in a spitting, fast
paced frenzy, not afraid of violence, graphic imagery and daring themes. We meet a “ruthless
conman”, a “thug at the edge of madness” and “a half-feral girl who swims like a fish”.

They all seek the fortune hidden beneath the sea, but face challenges: both against the lost souls,
and each other.
Pros: Strong characters, and the potential for interesting environment design.

Cons: The Books recent.

 17- Borne – Jeff VanderMeer [2017]

In the ruined city destroyed in the rampage of experiments that now run riot (a product of the
biotech firm “The Company”)- a young women survives as a scavenger, as herself and her partner
Wick are terrorised by a gigantic flying bear.

She finds a creature entangled in its fur; the hybrid of a sea anemone and squid “a sleek vase with
rippling colours that strayed from purple towards deep blues and sea greens”, she names Borne,
reminds her of a lost homeland. The “amorphous plant-turned-sentient-creature” stands starkly
against the dull, claustrophobic and unchanging landscape. Borne’s “protean” nature, helps him to
stand for life [plant and animal] lost in and amongst the aftermath of human destruction.

There are themes of alien intelligence, machine and organic life, ecological concerns (global warming
and pollution etc.), nature vs. nature and “characters trying very hard to connect” in extreme
situations (adapting psychologically, mirroring the adaption of Borne, physically).
Pros: Interested in environmental concerns. Strong themes. Potential for interesting character, plant, animal and
environmental design. Manageable character range.

Cons: The books recent.

18- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -Philip K. Dick [1968]

Rick Deckard lives in post-apocalyptic San Francisco, wherein most animals have either been killed of
the radiation poisoning (the product of nuclear war on a global scale), or are extremely endangered,
and humans have either mass emigrated off-world, or cling onto the remnants of an abandoned
earth.

Themes around human isolation are heavy, with survivors relying upon ‘empathy boxes’ as a means
connecting to a collective virtual reality known as “Mercerism”; a technology-based religion that
responds to the cultural push for greater empathy.

Animals are used as a symbol of social power and influence, but for most people (like Deckard), they
must rely upon fake android alternatives, which indirectly damage animal survival further- with
people unable to distinguish real from fake.

With the demand of more advance androids (known as Nexus-6), the police struggle to determine
humans from machine, as the last line of defence (the Voight-Kampff Empathy Test) wobbles
precariously.

Deckard goes out to “retire” six of these rogue Nexus- 6 androids, but soon finds the moral and
philosophical implications involved.
Pros: I haven’t seen the film ‘Blade runner’ but have read the book.

Cons: Has been done before excessively.

19- The Handmaid’s Tale- Margaret Atwood [2017]

Canadian author Margaret Atwood tells the story of a near dystopian future, where in light of a
sudden drop of fertility (a consequence of environmental pollution and STD’s), women are treated
as property of the state. Those who are fertile are force into sexual servitude, wherein they carry
babies that are then taken by wealthy families.

‘New England’ reverts back to the traditional, old values and religious dominance, but only after
experiencing contemporary culture first. A story of gender equality, fear, and civil unrest.
Pros: The merging themes of ‘old English’ values and social codes, with contemporary culture gives interest design
potential for the characters, and their environments. Additionally, there’s lots of symbolisation present in the book… and
interesting ideas around communication and survival in a rigid dictatorship.

Cons: Unfortunately, this book has been made following a TV series, so design is already present there. It’s also very
recent.

Discarded ideas:

20- The Innocent Mage- Karen Miller

21- Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng
22- In the Miso Soup- Ryu Murakami
23- Angel Pavement - J.B. Priestley
24- Bioshock- Rapture
25- Finches of Mars- Brian Aldiss
26- Jack Glass: A Golden Age Story – Adam Roberts