Infernal Wonderland follows an akiko who stumbles into the submerged Amber City, a broken metropolis filled with automations, reptilian gangs, and drugs that push him deeper into madness, violence, and strange alliances. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Games like Bioshock and Dark Souls. I wanted to explore something different from what I had explored in the last book, which also took place on Neldar. I knew what the idea and concept were going to be, but I didn’t know what the city was going to be like. The Ichor was going to be a big driving point since it was one of the mechanics from the previous book I wanted to develop more, and a system like Bioshock spoke to me, so I went with that.

I felt that your story delivers the drama so well that it flirts with the grimdark genre. Was it your intention to give the story a darker tone?

I write dark stories, apparently, and no matter how hard I try, the tales always end up that way. I guess it’s just my style, and honestly, I enjoy those types of stories more, so it’s probably why.

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

Morality, consciousness, identity, power of corruption, unintended consequences, shadow integration, love and sacrifice, as well as transformation, among others. I believe that in a complex universe, traditional categories of good and evil are insufficient to capture the full truth of existence. I enjoy exploring fundamental questions about morality, consequence, and the price of knowledge and power, for the most part.

I hope the Elder’s Vault series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?

Infernal Wonderland is actually the third novel in the series, and wraps up what the second novel consisted of. I’m currently writing the fourth book. Benign Dystopia is the first novel, and Tellurian Otherworld is the second. The fourth book, currently titled Elysium Nightmare, will take readers on a journey of self-discovery and awakening to one’s true self. It dwells a lot on the nature of consciousness and what it means to be “truly aware.”

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