The Percivious trilogy is a lost tale from the 80s, steeped in history from hundreds of millions of years before, recovered now, in our present day, with a playlist to match. The essence and inspiration behind the plot, the characters and their predicaments are clearly inspired by some key songs and artists from the decade referred to as “the revolution of pop culture”. Add to that, past and recent tracks which also echo the creativity and disillusionment of the decade, and you have an epic playlist for an epic sci-fi adventure.
The collection selected for our genre defying trilogy also defies genres of music and time-period. It’s a read (and a listen) that provides a true escape from time and space, in stereo.
– JJ & AJ Cook
1. Insomnia by Daya
Daya is the lucky one because at least she knows the cause of the insomnia – in her case a love gone wrong… while in our trilogy, the source of the insomnia remains a mystery.
2. Final Countdown by Europe
The second book in the trilogy “literally” takes off on this sci-fi number by Europe.
3. Black Cars by Gino Vannelli
Our trilogy does something that no other trilogy has done before, we end the first two novels, Percivious Insomnia and Percivious Origins, on the very same chapter – word for word – the only difference is the associated playlist song, and this one showcases the beauties of Percivious Insomnia – women, cars, bikes and spacecraft.
4. Holding out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler
…and for the last chapter in the second novel, Percivious Origins, a new song from the 80s takes the final scene…..now that our hero has been identified!
5. Starships by Nicki Minaj
The mother of all starships, the HELIX, is introduced in the second novel, Percivious Origins, and there are few songs better than this one…when it comes to intrasellar travel.
6. What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) by Information Society
Our XYZ, evolved from whales, have adapted an advanced form of echolocation on the surface – similar to telepathy – and this track captures it perfectly.
7. The Tide is High by Blondie
Lenacyth, the prehistoric plant that feeds all technology earth’s first intelligent hominids, the XYZ, develop; allows for optimal performance and safety with instantaneous metamorphosis of the species’ vehicles on land, water and even space.
8. Message in a Bottle by The Police
Earth’s first intelligent species, the XYZ, may have appreciated this track while they buried a DNA time capsule in the ocean floor, proof of the existence of their species, when an ELE (Extinction Level Event) threatened to destroy all life on the planet, 280 million years ago.
9. The Ocean by Mike Perry
We listened to this song on repeat while writing the second novel, Percivious Origins, because for us it represents the spirit of the magnificent creatures – whales – that we based our XYZ, decedents of cetaceans, on.
10. Satellite by Dave Mathews
This word/song title appears over 50 times in the Percivious trilogy, and we listened to it as least as many times while writing!
11. Johnny B. Good by Chuck Berry
One of our favourite chapters in the second novel, Percivious Origins, relates to this classic in which the actual song is mentioned.
12. Spaceman by Biff Naked
Our hero and his love interest take in this track booming from a basement dance club right around Halloween – it’s a personal favourite that makes an actual appearance in the third novel, Pervious Escape.
13. Fell In Love With An Alien by The Kelly Family
The Percivious trilogy crosses many genres – romance being one of the favorites!
14. Englishman in New York by Sting
It’s a track that well represents the jet set, sci-fi, medical thriller settings throughout the trilogy and it inspired the first meeting between humans and earth’s first hominids, the XYZ, in the third novel Percivious Escape.
15. Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra
A main character, Ophelia, is a closet (then not so closet) crooner in Percivious Escape, and this is another song that found its way, literally, into the novel.
16. Another Place by Bastille
If I had to choose only one song that best represents the trilogy it would be this one!
J J Cook’s background in marketing across a spectrum of industries—technology, finance, and the arts—brings insight and depth to characters spanning an array of disciplines, ages, countries, and cultures.
A J Cook, MD’s current role as a pediatric urologist and director of fellowship education at the Alberta Children’s Hospital has allowed him the opportunity to author and contribute to numerous published studies and hone his writing skills, while his experience as a surgeon—as well as the relationships he’s developed with his young patients and their guardians—has contributed credibility and realism to the narrative.
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