My Influences for 'The Fall of the House of Kyzer' |

By Nathan Marchand
October 23,

As Nick and Tim discussed in a recent episode of their podcast, writers are influenced by most, if not all, of the stories they’ve read and/or seen. Some they’re conscious of, some they’re not.

So, in light of this, I’ve decided to talk about the stories that influenced my writing of The Fall of the House of Kyzer, my first Children of the Wells novella. You might be surprised by what I mention. Or maybe you’re astute enough to have noticed these already.

So, without further ado, and in no particular order…

The Phantom (2009 miniseries)

No, this isn’t the mid-1990s film starring Billy Zane. It’s a miniseries that aired on SyFy. A young man learns that his father was the superhero Phantom, and he is next in line to inherit the mantle. Despite being a parkour practitioner, he required much training before he could take his father’s position. Not only does the miniseries’ hero have much in common with Jaysynn—a young man reluctantly inherits an important mantle—it was also the most recent film I’d seen parkour utilized in when I wrote the novella.

Batman Begins

This film had a huge impact on me when I saw it and has influenced several stories I’ve written since. Like The Phantom, it is a young superhero’s origin story, but this film molded how I wrote the villain. (SPOILER WARNING!) As I said in an episode of my YouTube show for CotW, I pictured Dracon as Liam Neeson, for whatever reason. Once I had that image, the general took on many of Ra’s Al’ghul’s traits from this film. This was especially true when I decided to make Jaysynn’s mentor and the traitor the same character. I consider it to be one of my best contributions to the saga so far.

The Prince and Pauper by Mark Twain

True confession time: I haven’t actually read the book yet. (You can flog me later, but in my defense, it’s on my list). However, I used to watch the animated Disney version a lot as a kid, so the premise of a prince mingling with commoners in disguise has long been with me, and it was something I wanted Jaysynn to do. Mind you, his motivations are different, but it’s still a tale of royalty humbling himself to be amongst his people.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Again, I haven’t read it, but since I love history, I’m well aware of its subject matter. I pictured Thyrion as the Rome of Lomara: the seat of power and the purported cradle of civilization. It seeks to subjugate its neighbors and impose (mostly) benevolent rule. That’s why the city has emperors and not kings. But like all powerful empires, they fall, and usually from within.

X-Men

Marvel Comics’ flagship team of mutant superheroes contributed to a disagreement in interpretation of the pre-Cataclysm magic, much of which survived in the final draft. While Nick saw it as more like alchemy in the Fullmetal Alchemist animes—the manipulation of energy, but each user has a specialty—I saw it more like as the X-Men’s mutant powers. Each character had specific ability (such as pyrokinesis), and that was all they could do. That’s why most of the Select characters I wrote had elemental powers. Thankfully, the strenuous editing process (sorry, Natasha!) helped clear up the confusion and correct any discrepancies

Lost (TV series)

First and foremost, the serialized television series format were part of the inspiration for Children of the Wells, period. But it doesn’t stop there. During our world-building sessions, we made sure we had at least an idea of what caused the Cataclysm because it could become a mystery that could be unraveled. While The Select’s Bodyguard made only a few passing mentions of what could’ve caused it, I decided I would throw in a big but ambiguous clue in my novella. So, much like Lost‘s Dharma Initiative, I added Project: Godfire as a layer of intrigue to be explored later.

Honorable Mentions:

–Thor (2011 film): Jaysynn’s father was partly inspired by Anthony Hopkins’ Odin, both in name and powers.
–Green Arrow on “Smallville”: Only because I sorta copied his hooded costume for Jaysynn’s Watchman hoodie.
–“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edger Allen Poe: Only because it inspired my title. That’s it. Seriously.

As I said, these are just the stories I’m consciously aware of influencing my writing of this novella. I’m sure there are others I’m not recalling. There’s plenty more, I’m sure. A writer’s brain is a hodgepodge of the countless tales he’s absorbed, whether he liked them or not. Since my tastes tend to be on the crazy side, I doubt most people could survive for five minutes in my head. 😛

Up for the challenge? (Just kidding).