Volumes from the Void Book I: The Prospected Family by Mike Ekstrom
What do music, ancient mythology and Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman all have in common? All three inspired author Mike Ekstrom to craft his series Volumes from the Void. Book one, The Prospected Family, gives us the grand introduction to the messy, complicated and entirely otherworldly beings all tied together by fate. And it asks the question of what consequences await when six all-powerful siblings set their signs on their parents’ thrones.
We got a chance to talk with the author himself about the inspiration behind The Prospected Family, what advice he gives those looking to expand on their own worldbuilding and what’s next for Volumes from the Void.
Q: What first inspired you to write The Prospected Family?
A: April, 2009: I was seventeen. It all started with a standalone project. A story I mostly made up as I went, but the narrative forced me to imagine the answer to the question what if there was this choreographed orchestration of Life, Death and Reincarnation. I’ve had this fascination with Religious Studies for most of my life, and these imaginings led me to create this fictional family that saw to the placement of humans throughout existence. As I listened to music, certain songs, certain melodies would inspire these characters and help me define who they are and what they would do in pivotal moments and how the plot would revolve around them.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your main protagonist. What is it about Davias, his family and his own role as the Thinker that made you choose him to be the main character, at least for the beginning of the series?
A: Davias, the Thinker is the main character because he embodies this innocence and morality that none of the other characters exhibit, but his emotions, namely his jealousy, show that he isn’t without fallacy. As a middle child, I made sure that his character felt overlooked and under-developed in the first story, as his growth and transformation become part of the engine that drives the narrative further into the plot.
Q: The family pantheon in your story harkens back to ancient legends and mythologies, as well as fantasy books known for their rich lore (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc.). Was there any inspiration, either from the real world or from literature, that influenced the way you crafted these characters?
A: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman played a considerable, early role in the inspiration of The Prospected Family, mainly in how I planned to design the characters. For their personalities, I borrowed more from mythology than anything: Madrina is a likeness of Athena, Hunter and Helena have roots in Norse mythology in Loki and Hela. The Twins are a reimagination of Charon and Mother and Father are inspired by more Eastern traditions like Japanese and Indian mythos, that tend to emphasize harmony in nature and balance in existence.
Q: What advice would you give to other authors looking to work complex worldbuilding into their writing?
A: It goes without saying: you need to have an idea. That’s the easy part. The hard part is letting that idea grow and being okay with the changes as it takes on a life of its own. Part of the building process is that growing phase. The final product will always stray from the origin; that will give your world and your story the history and elements it needs to thrive. It is in this growing process that the writer can learn the scale and scope of their world, and understand the roles that their characters need to take on and how they can employ the message and themes they hope to convey.
Q: You mention in your bio that you are autistic. How does this give you a unique perspective when it comes to this project?
A: In all fairness, everyone’s perspective is unique; however, I feel that my neurodiversity helped me pay attention to my characters, to the point that I wanted some sense of familiarity and tangibility towards their beings. As an Autistic individual, I find it difficult to communicate verbally, so when I first began this project, I wanted to challenge myself by using dialogue specifically to drive the narrative forward in the first book. It’s helped me to grow as both a writer and a speaker, though I still find it hard sometimes to put my thoughts and intentions into meaningful, impactful statements. I find it easier for my characters to do that for me.
Q: You also mention that your “stories [are] based on the collision of musical inspiration and real-world scenarios.” How does music play a hand?
A: I had written from a young age. Always. The projects were usually unsuccessful and lacked ambition. I didn’t find the proper motivation to create until a particularly difficult chapter in my life. It was at this time I really learned how to lean into music and embrace the amalgam of melodies and messages to help soothe me. This adaptation in my life, in my perspective, was always the catalyst that led to me first putting ideas to paper with a proper vision. Music was the muse I was trying to appease. Music was the fuel in the lantern that helped me write late into the night. Music was the pulse that bled the ink from my pen.
Music taught me to feel my emotions; writing taught me to express them.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from The Prospected Family?
A: I hope someone, somewhere, just one person reads this book and understands that there truly is a balance to our existence. We do need to work together and have some sense of unity to make things work. When you value something so strongly with such high regard that it lords over your point of view, it hinders the ability to find a healthy middle ground, where compromise and success are often found. This is something I am learning to accept in my own life. What my characters lacked was a literal middle ground upon which they could meet, speak, and maintain the Balance.
Q: You’ve mentioned that Volumes of the Void will be a five-book series. Is there anything you can share with us about book 2?
A: Book 2 was where the journey began, fifteen years ago. This was the standalone project that I wrote in my school years. However, I have done the justice of rewriting, and conforming the manuscript into the universe I have created. The sequel will be titled The Void of Impossible Things and it is set in the fictional town of Crooks, Oklahoma. It focuses mainly on the three brothers in their aftermath of the first book as they are forced into close proximity with each other within the Vessel. We learn more about and explore the capabilities of the Void and the consequences of having a Vessel, all viewed from the mortal perspective of David Prince.
The Prospected Family is available for purchase here.
A fantasy writer born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Mike Ekstrom creates tales that are bound to the mystic and ethereal while intertwined with the human condition. What began as a personal project going into college, The Volumes from the Void, has taken him over fifteen years to craft into a developing five-part series.
Having written since a young age, he has been able to combine his education of World Religions and his perspective as an Autistic individual to create unique characters, worlds and stories based on the collision of musical inspiration and real-world scenarios. When he is not writing, Ekstrom finds his tranquility and escapism in a variety of mediums, whether those be video games, fencing or the newest LEGO set.
