Thought-provoking, breath-stopping, and heart-wrenching. Those are the three adjectives I would use to describe Akemi Dawn Bowman’s latest novel, The Infinity Courts. Are you one of those people who makes fun of Siri or Alexa? Maybe you should start reconsidering your life choices, because like Ophelia—the AI in The Infinity Courts—she might be waiting for you by the light at the end of the tunnel…and she wants nothing but sweet revenge.
In this Q&A, we chat with Akemi Dawn Bowman about her writing process, main themes, and influences of her new novel. Keep an eye on this amazing start of Akemi Dawn Bowman’s latest duology, because we definitely cannot wait for the next part!
Hi, Akemi! Congratulations on your new novel! It’s been some time since we last had a chat with you for the release of Harley in the Sky. How have you been doing since then?
Thank you so much! I’ve been pretty exhausted, to be honest. It hasn’t been easy juggling work and family during these weird times, but I think there’s a lot of people feeling the same way. Animal Crossing has definitely been a light in the darkness, particularly when it comes to helping with burnout in the evenings!
You have said that The Infinity Courts is a combination of your love for robots and Jane Austen’s novels. But if Jane Austen herself could give us a summary of your latest novel, what would she say?
Ooh, that’s a good question. I sort of think the whole “artificial intelligence hacking into the afterlife” aspect might be a LOT for someone who lived during a time when they were still sending letters by messenger. She’d probably find the concept very out there! But I think she might pick up on the social commentary, and certainly the romance. Maybe she’d refer to it as, “A study of humanity that takes place in a strange, celestial world.”
You have quite a few books now published, but The Infinity Courts is your first dive into the world of sci-fi. Do you feel like you changed anything during the writing process to adapt to the different genre?
My roots have always been in sci-fi/fantasy—it’s what I’d written my whole life up until STARFISH, and that was after I’d found my agent. If anything, I think writing contemporaries has been what changed my writing. They helped me find my voice, and my love of writing character studies. I think that’s carried through to THE INFINITY COURTS for sure. But I definitely enjoyed having so much freedom to let my imagination run wild! I had more notes written down than usual simply due to the worldbuilding, and I stuck to an outline slightly more than I normally do. Writing this one felt a bit like escapism to me. I love my contemporaries, but they’re so much like abstract diary entries that they can feel quite heavy to work on. This one was less pressure, and more fun!
Ophelia, the AI queen that rules over Infinity is definitely a cautionary tale for us to treat Siri/Alexa better, but how did you come up with such an idea? And what do you expect readers get out of the book overall?
I’m someone who definitely says “please” and “thank you” to any AI, and my brain naturally anthropomorphizes them for sure. But I don’t think I set out to write a cautionary tale—to me, it was always more about lifting a magnifying glass to this idea of “moral righteousness.” Who gets to decide what’s right and wrong? What are the gray areas? Is it possible for people to have fundamental disagreements and still respect each other? And probably a million more questions that had been rattling around in my brain. I hope this book will remind readers how important it is to ask questions, and be unafraid of using their own voices—even if that means making missteps along the way. We learn best by making mistakes, and I think sometimes people forget that, especially in this era. But mostly I just want readers to enjoy Nami’s adventure in the afterlife! Having a biracial character who looked like me who also got to do all the cool, tropey things other characters were doing in books would’ve meant the world to me growing up. I’m so glad I got to write the book I always wanted, and I hope that joy comes through the pages.
What is the aspect of The Infinity Courts that you enjoyed the most writing? Why?
I loved creating the world of Infinity. The courts, and princes, and creatures… It was all just so much fun. There are no real limits in this world, and so it felt like someone lifted the gate in my imagination, and I just had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. It was the first time I felt creatively recharged in a long time.
How did you come up with the four Courts of Infinity —Victory, Death, Famine, and War—and their princes? Could expand a bit on their influences?
The princes and courts were loosely inspired by the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Ophelia had access to google—she literally knows everything about human history. Since AIs in this world can’t create anything new, everything she has made is inspired or based on things from the human world. I loved the idea that she’d be ending humanity by creating “four horsemen,” or in this case, princes, who would each play a part in taking down humans. I’m excited for readers to learn more about them as the story unfolds!
You said yourself that writing truthfully and honestly about emotions is a big part of your work and it shows. In the case of The Infinity Courts, there are times where the reader is able to empathize with both humans and Residents—the AIs who took over the afterlife—and that is no easy task. For you, which were more difficult to write and shape in terms of their emotional landscapes and motivations: humans or AIs? And which character posed the biggest challenge?
The human motivations were probably a bit harder. I think readers will pick up fairly quickly that not every human thinks the same, just like in real life. The humans have a lot of obvious layers—and in the case of Nami, a huge difference in opinion. Ophelia was the biggest challenge to write though, because she is essentially the “voice of the AIs” when readers first meet her. She speaks for all of them, whereas the humans are introduced as individuals united by a common goal, rather than created for one.
Free will, choice, and self-determination are some of the most recurring themes in the novel. In Infinity, there are no limits to what is possible, but many of the characters, both human and AI, are trapped by either tangible or intangible cages. Is there are reason why you decided to construct that interesting paradoxical opposition?
I think most humans have felt trapped in some way. Whether it’s society’s expectations, or just generally feeling unable to be yourself/do what you want to do, it’s an aspect of life that most of us figure out ways to deal with or manage. And some people view the afterlife as a place that represents real “freedom,” where they can finally be at peace. I wanted to explore that a bit, and kind of question not only what freedom really means, but also what it costs—and if it’s even possible.
To wrap things up, all of your books feature some form of art —painting, music, trapeze performances, or even metalworking— and it tends to have a central part in the lives of your characters. Could you recommend three books where art has a similar weight?
THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER by Emily X.R. Pan, AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS by Margaret Rogerson, and AMERICAN BETIYA by Anuradha D. Rajurkar. They all feature artists and are absolutely beautiful books.
Finally, without spoilers, what can readers expect from the second part of the duology? Do you have any other work in store for the future?
The second part of Nami’s story will see her venture further into the world of Infinity. There will be some familiar faces, but also some new ones, and I think readers will definitely be seeing a new side to Nami. She has something to prove this time around, and also a lot of unfinished business! (Avoiding spoilers here of course.) I also recently got to announce that it’s a trilogy, so there’s a third part of the story still to come (and write). I’m thrilled to be able to take readers on this expanded journey, and cannot wait for them to meet Nami and watch her grow over three books. I also have my first middle-grade novel coming out at the end of June. It’s a contemporary called GENERATION MISFITS, and it’s about a middle-schooler who desperately wants to make friends and ends up meeting a group of misfits through a shared love of J-Pop. Out of all my books, it’s the one that feels most like a warm hug!
