Author Nadine Brandes concludes her dystopian Out of Time trilogy with A Time to Rise (Enclave). Battling the corrupt and powerful Council, a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer seek to destroy the projected Wall once and for all and bring peace to their world. In this Q&A, Nadine discusses her goals for this trilogy, her world-building process, and the challenge of writing fantasy stories with a biblical worldview.
What can you tell us about the world of the Out of Time series?
Well, since I invented it, I can tell you whatever you want to know…down to the tree species and technology behind medibots. (wink) But I’ll spare you for now and just say that the Out of Time Series is set in a world where everyone has a Clock telling them exactly how long they have to live. It digs into this idea of whether or not we’d live any differently if we knew the day we’d die.
How did you go about building the world of your story?
A lot of my world is built off of advanced technology, so I basically devoured Ted Talks, research articles, and newspapers for every breakfast when writing this book. With each new location or city, I had to ask myself what their technological strength (or weakness) was, and then built their culture off of that.
What were your goals writing this trilogy?
I started writing this trilogy as a personal journey—to challenge myself to live with intentionality and awareness that my time is not in my hands. I guess God wanted the rest of the world to be challenged, too, because He took me on this road of publishing. 🙂
What are the challenges of writing something “fantastical” while keeping it within a biblical worldview?
My biblical worldview will make its way naturally into anything I’m writing. My writing process is too centered around my relationship with Christ and my faith for it to come out without a reflection of that worldview. But sometimes it can come off forced or “preachy,” and the challenge is adapting that worldview so that it stays true to Christ, but also so it flows naturally with a new setting.
What do you want readers to take away after reading A Time to Rise?
Hope. With so many dystopian series that I’ve read in the past, I set down the final book feeling hopeless and heavy. That inspired me to write a dystopian series that showed how hope can still exist even in dark times. So my prayer is that everyone walks away from A Time to Rise feeling hopeful and inspired to live with deeper intentionality and with a deeper pursuit of Christ.