Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, The Miranda Conspiracy:
My new novel The Miranda Conspiracy is the first direct sequel I've ever written — the first time characters from a previous book go into a new narrative with almost no break. It's a followup to my 2021 novel The Godel Operation, chronicling the further adventures of Daslakh, Zee, Adya, and Pelagia in the final years of the Tenth Millennium. For imaginary film casting, this means I'm strongly tempted to repeat the casting ideas I suggested for The Godel Operation: Anya Taylor-Joy as Adya Elso, Adam Beach as Zee Sadaran, Alan Tudyk as the voice of Daslakh, and Scarlett Johansson as the voice of the orca-brained spaceship Pelagia.Visit James L. Cambias's website.
But that's no fun at all. Anyway, actors age but fictional characters don't. Some of the people I cited may be getting too old to play a pair of youngsters in their early twenties. It's time for a reboot!
So: who will be in the new and improved cast for The Miranda Conspiracy?
For Adya, I'll go with Jenna Ortega. She is good at conveying intelligence, which is important since Adya is "the smart one" in her family. But she's got range, and that's important because she's also going to be playing Adya's identical clone-sister Kavita, who is wild and outgoing, "the popular one." With a little makeup she'll also be playing their nearly-identical mother Mutalali. This means she'll be doing several scenes in which she argues with herself, so she will need to be able to let the audience know which identical character is speaking.
For Zee, I've picked Chaneil Kular, who has the good looks and physical presence Zee requires.
Daslakh is still the same snarky digital intelligence wearing a small multilegged "spider bot" body. For this version I'll go with a more dry and British sound, and blow the casting budget to get Jeremy Irons. (And if time travel is permitted, swap in Basil Rathbone.)
Pelagia is a space mercenary so let's get a voice fans will recognize: Jennifer Hale (best known as Commander Shepard).
Naturally, there are plenty of new characters in The Miranda Conspiracy as well. I've already mentioned Adya's mother. Her father needs to be someone who can shift between comically pompous, tragic, and genuinely dignified. I think Jared Harris can do anything, so let's give him the part.
Dai Chici is a crime boss who runs a gambling den on the bottom of Miranda's underground ocean. He's also a giant octopus. He doesn't actually speak, but can send "voicemail" style messages to people. The voice for those messages needs to be almost ridiculously menacing, and should have a recognizable "gangster' sound. Let's see if Robert De Niro wants to do it.
And now we come to the most difficult character to cast: "Qi Tian" (not his real name), a secret agent working to destabilize Miranda politics. He's specifically supposed to be the most forgettable-looking person who ever lived. Which actor do you cast to be memorably unmemorable? I'm going to pick Pedro Pascal. He has good range, and his features are plausibly ordinary.
My Book, The Movie: A Darkling Sea.
Writers Read: James L. Cambias (January 2019).
My Book, The Movie: Arkad's World.
The Page 69 Test: Arkad's World.
My Book, The Movie: The Godel Operation.
Q&A with James L. Cambias.
The Page 69 Test: The Godel Operation.
The Page 69 Test: The Miranda Conspiracy.
--Marshal Zeringue