Three Immortals follows war hero to the fringe of the galaxy where he discovers an ancient alien civilizations and their legendary powers. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I am a computer scientist, so one of the civilizations discovered by the protagonist had to be an AI/machine dominated one. Working in bioinformatics for many years, I developed a deep fascination with biology. We can only speculate what extraterrestrial life will look like. I like aliens in fiction who are truly alien, as alien as possible while remaining relatable as characters in a story. Introducing non-carbon based aliens with a different evolutionary backstory and having them “adopt” a human to live among them was a lot of fun to write about.

Your characters are intriguing and well developed. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

“I did not like […] having existence happening to me, instead of shaping it!” says the hero in the story. All main characters act and change the course of galactic history for good or bad. I wanted to tell the story from the perspective of passionate people who plow ahead despite adversity. None of them is all good or all evil. The hero has massive flaws, the antagonist has a relatable backstory and even the traitors’ perspectives offer some redeeming qualities.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

The story presents itself in a way I like to read space opera and military science fiction and it will check all boxes of expectations if you prefer these genres. Underlying the story thread is questioning the saying “what does not kill you makes you stronger” and the book asks if this is true or not. The (human) galactic government, for example, has idolized this notion in their creed “strength through adversity” and makes war and suffering a desirable natural state for the life of trillions. The machine civilization pushes this one step further through their ability to perceive many realities in the multiverse, and always pursue the most difficult one. The hero, learning this ability, will have to choose if he prefers an easy life or not. The ending invites the reader to decide what they would have chosen for themselves.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

Three Immortals brings its main story to a conclusion – but it leaves the arcs of many interesting characters open for continuation. 2400 Earth years of galactic history are woven in when the story requires, but there are many things left to explore with the reader – including the true nature of the Dark Ones, who nearly destroyed the galaxy. The next book is part 2 of a trilogy set in this universe. We will see familiar characters return, but also new threats and antagonists emerge. The scope will be larger, and the interstellar conflicts of Three Immortals are going to expand beyond the galaxy.

Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website