Interview with Sudhir R Nambiar, Author of The Mangalyaan Protocol Trilogy

In this author interview, Sudhir discusses his journey from corporate life to writing the Mission Mars Trilogy, inspired by ISRO, geopolitics and space exploration.
on Oct 19, 2026

Frontlist: After 27 years in the IT industry with companies like GE and HP, what was it about a career sabbatical that turned into writing a full-fledged space-thriller trilogy rather than just a one-off passion project?

Sudhir: There were multiple factors;

(i) There was a medical emergency in the family due to which I had to take the painful decision of career sabbatical.

(ii) My Son was one of the key factor. His interest in reading encouraged me to write a small narrative. I had no intention of publishing my work. It was he who encouraged me to take the big step. The Ashtadasa Code was my first work. Also, being a fan of science fiction and space exploration, a story took shape in my mind which you see as the Mission Mars Trilogy Series.

Frontlist: Dr. Vihaan Aryavart takes on two global superpowers with a 'tin can' spacecraft built for a fraction of their budget. Was this underdog premise inspired by India's real-life ISRO achievements, like the original Mangalyaan mission?

Sudhir: Yes. The story is inspired by ISRO’s achievements. Being a fan of space exploration since my childhood, I always followed key news from ISRO and NASA.

I also started following Geo-Politics closely since my corporate sabbatical. Though, the work is largely fiction, I was able to include geo political aspects that we today see in my narrative.

Frontlist: Your son was your first reader and toughest critic. How much did his feedback actually reshape the trilogy, and were there any plot points you changed entirely because of him?

Sudhir: Not on Mission Mars Trilogy Series. There were some edits to the current narrative I am working on where he had inputs. He however is not a big fan of scifi and space exploration. He is much into adventure, treasure hunt type of narratives.

Frontlist: You cite influences like Dan Brown, Isaac Asimov, Amish Tripathi, and Stephen King. How did you blend Asimov's hard science-fiction sensibility with Dan Brown-style political conspiracy to create this trilogy's tone?

Sudhir: I definitely have influences from authors listed above and many more. However, being a student of geopolitics myself (which I picked up since my corporate sabbatical), I wanted to blend true incidents happening around us with some amount of fiction or imagination. That’s where the work of the greats like Asimov and Dan Brown helped me a lot. While Dan Brown’s works are more thoroughly researched, Asimov’s is more imaginative in nature. Being a Piscean myself, I thus was able to recreate the effects naturally.

Frontlist: The story evolves from a geopolitical space race in Book 1 to colony survival in Book 2 to first contact with an ancient planetary consciousness in Book 3. Did you plan this escalating arc from the start, or did the story grow organically as you wrote?

Sudhir: Having spent a good amount of time in Project/ Program Management domain and leading teams in corporate, I used the tools effectively to help channelize my thoughts during the narrative building. Imagination always runs wild. I thus maintained a rough note to capture all the rogue thoughts and kept referring to the same as the narrative evolved.

Frontlist: As a software programmer by training, how did your technical background influence the way you wrote the science and engineering details of the Vajra spacecraft and Jezero City's systems?

Sudhir: I spent sometime researching myself on Google and watching documentaries of space exploration. I also consciously wanted to keep the technical aspects as light as possible so that non-tech savy readers also can enjoy the book. Coming from a software programming background definitely did help to grasp the technical concepts and logics.

Frontlist: The 'Apex,' Mars's ancient planetary consciousness, is a fascinating antagonist-turned-ally. What inspired this concept of a planet itself being a living, intelligent entity?

Sudhir: Having watched a lot of post nuclear apocalyptic conditions, I imagined what could have happened on Mars ages ago. There is scientific proof that life once existed on the surface of Mars. The thought of some natural/ unnatural calamity might have forced life to explore other options; maybe underground was a logical imaginary conclusion. I built on this thought to build the narrative. Also, radiation can bring many kind of changes to DNA structure of living beings. This was another thought that struck my imaginary chords of DNA fusion and thus the planetary consciousness.

Frontlist: The trilogy weaves in real geopolitics, including a secret US-China treaty and Russian involvement via the Bogatyr. How much research into current space-race politics went into grounding this fictional near-future?

Sudhir: Geopolitics landscape is constantly changing in the recent times. Alliances are being built and broken almost every other day. I used the current existing conditions and married the same with the fictional part of humans landing on Mars and establishing colonies. Imagining what can happen when hunger for power supersedes humanity helped build a narrative that keeps readers hooked into the plot till the very end.

Frontlist: You describe your writing as growing out of a deeply personal pause in your career to prioritize family. Looking back, how has that period of stepping away from corporate life changed your creative voice as a storyteller?

Sudhir: Corporate life has its own pros and cons. Especially being in Leadership roles can amplify the stress levels to a higher degree at times. The sabbatical period helped me with ample time to explore my inner strengths. It also gave me the time to explore the spiritual side of me much more deeper. I now had time to pen down my thoughts that come naturally when I read a news article or watch content related to science and technology. All these helped frame a storyline that you see in the form of the Trilogy Series that is out in the market today.

Frontlist: With Book 3 ending on the note of humanity being 'merely a pawn' in an intergalactic war, are you already planning to continue Vihaan and Zara's story beyond this trilogy?

Sudhir: I am awaiting the response from the readers. If the response is encouraging and promising, then Vihaan and Zara might venture into a new adventure. You never know what’s in store… 😊😊😊