Green River Alumnus Publishes New Sci-fi Thriller Novel
By: William Baliton
A&E Editor
Published October 31, 2018
Green River alumnus, Kartik Sarda, has recently published a new sci-fi thriller novel about Sprachia, a mysterious world caught in power struggles and turmoil.
Titled “The Unconventional Winner: Spectre’s Rise” (TUW), the story is focused on the struggle between a brilliant scientist called The Necromancer and one of his creations, a man named Spectre. “They both have one motive: to rule the planet Sprachia with their power and intellect,” Sarda said. There are several other characters throughout the story who play key roles in the struggle for control of Sprachia.
Covering a variety of different genres, TUW will be especially appealing to individuals interested in movies like “Inception” and “The Prestige”, or shows like “Agents of Shield” and “Black Mirror”. TUW possesses a style that showcases alternating timelines and chapters as well as shifts between first and third person narratives. Sarda said, “In roughly 400 pages, it offers you sci-fi, thriller, fantasy, romance, action, adventure, poetry, violence, and even humor.”
It was during his time at Green River that Sarda began creating TUW, and over the course of four years, he has applied several ideas he picked up from his lessons in neuroscience—especially the idea of uploading human minds into machines. With ideas from his years at Green River combined with a deep analysis of events, detailed world building, and a lineup of new characters developed through his experiences and studies, Sarda invented the world of Sprachia and its story. “The major strength of the book lies in its character development as you learn and relate more this the characters as the story progresses,” Sarda stated.
Coming to Green River from India in June of 2015, Sarda at the age of 17 began pursuing neuroscience for an Associates in Science Degree, which he then changed to physics. He later joined The Current where he worked for the next two years. In his time at Green River, he became the president of three different clubs, had up to five job titles at one given time, and was also a member of Phi Theta Kappa.
Sarda later received several scholarships among which were three $500 international student scholarships, one $1,500 scholarship from the Green River College Foundation, and one $20,000 scholarship for five semesters at Iowa State University.
Currently, Sarda is pursuing physics as an undergraduate at Iowa State University and keeps his career as a novelist on the side. When he is not working on any academic pursuits, he is typically writing, reading, watching TV shows, or playing sports.
While TUW offers an immersive story for readers to enjoy, Spectre’s Rise is only the first installment in what Sarda plans to be a much larger series. “It ends on a cliffhanger, so it’s very apparent that there will be a sequel to this,” Sarda said. “In the book, I talk about an event called the ‘Science Revolution’, and I have a prequel planned based on that event.” Sarda invites sci-fi fans and readers of all genres to enjoy his new book: “It has a unique style that you probably have never seen before.”
