The Arachnids

Oddly enough, the Arachnids were a lot of fun to develop.

As a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I found myself thinking about the Daleks and their absolute certainty that everything not Dalek should be purged from the universe. I also drew inspiration from things like the bio-mechanical designs of the Wraith from Stargate Atlantis and the unsettling presence of the Silence.

Physically, though, the Arachnids actually came from a series of dreams.

Well… nightmares, really.

I wanted them to feel truly alien. Not simply humans with different skin colours or extra limbs, but something fundamentally different in how they think, communicate, and exist. Their Hive Mind changes everything. Diplomacy becomes more complicated when individuality itself is questionable. You cannot divide them against themselves in the ways human civilizations often can.

And despite all that, they are not nearly as simple as they first appear.

One of the things I’m most excited to explore in future stories is the depth within Arachnid society itself. Hints of that already exist within some of the Restricted files, but Book Two will begin digging much deeper into who — and what — they really are.

Because the truth is, the Arachnids are not evil in the simple way we often want alien enemies to be.

Like every civilisation, they have their own logic. Their own fears. Their own history.

And I think that makes them far more interesting.

Strangely enough, I already have ideas forming for where some of that could lead as far ahead as Book Four.

That’s one of the things I’m enjoying most about this process. The deeper I explore this universe, the larger and more alive it becomes.

Thank you for joining me on this journey, and for trusting me with your valuable time. I hope you’re looking forward to Becoming Varash and the future stories still waiting beyond it.

The Path is open. The Threads converge.

Have a wonderful day

M. A. Varash