Tears of the Aeon: The Gothic War blends fantasy with meticulously researched historical detail, convincingly portraying the era while integrating divine intervention into human conflict. What inspired the fantastic journey your characters take?

There were several inspirations that pushed me into writing this book. For example, my first main inspiration was “Homer’s the Odyssey.” In “the Odyssey,” after the Trojan War ended, the main character, Odysseus, goes through trials and tribulations in order to go back to his home, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. And Just like Odysseus, “in Tears of the Aeon: The Gothic War” Ahediel is a skillful warrior who goes through his own entire odyssey, wishing to go back and reunite with his beloved Amia, sacrificing his own kind, his training, and his world in the process. Knowing that Amia is a forbidden love, he searches for her everywhere but can’t find her, fearing the worst. And just like Odysseus who arrives on the island of the Phaeacians nearly losing his life, Ahediel crashes into earth and remains in a place where he does not belong or desires to be. He’d rather be with the love of his life than to fight in a war. Also, I took some inspiration from “the Iliad,” “the Prose Edda,” and “the Epic of Gilgamesh,” to give shape to a grandiose tale.

As a fan of Greco-Roman and Norse Mythologies, I always wanted to read or watch a movie combining both, making them take part in ancient times, like in the movie “Clash of the Titans,” for instance. But unlike like “Clash of the Titans,” I wanted to write a story that takes both mythoi into the same universe and makes them coincide in a fluid and cohesive narrative.

I can say now that I finally wrote the book I always wanted to read…simple as that.

What kind of research did you do for this novel to ensure you captured the essence of the story’s theme?

I saw a TV documentary back in 2004 or 2005 (I can’t recall the exact date). This TV documentary was the one that ignited my desire to start writing this novel. Something inside me wanted me to write this book, torturing me every time I tried to sit down and watch Television. It created some sort of anxiety in me that would not allow me to live my life in peace. I had to let it out. When I found out that the TV documentary did not have enough historical details for me to begin writing the story I wanted to tell, I decided to buy four historical books back in the summer of 2011, about the Gothic War. I immersed myself within this ancient world and started to imagine myself walking on the streets of Roman Pannonia, running scared in the mysterious Germanic forests, and stand on the marble floor inside Emperor Valens’ throne room, listening to his council speak about the politics of the time. I was overwhelmed during that early phase of my book. I had to read a lot, do a lot of research, because I wanted to write this book and make it as truthful to the era as I could make it.

One of the themes I wanted to tap into the overall storyline was the concept of “family” and “bloodline”. In ancient Greek mythology, it was a tremendous sin in the eyes of the gods for a family member to harm or kill another family member. This was very frowned upon by their gods and their society; it was the ultimate sin. It was definite that the gods would curse the aggressor for such transgression. You could count on that. To give you an idea, for example, this concept of “blood and family” is used in the story of “the Iliad,” when King Agamemnon tricks his daughter Iphigeneia in thinking that she is going to marry the hero Achilles. Then her father sacrifices her to the goddess Artemis. Because of this forbidden blood sacrifice, the goddess listens to Agamemnon’s wishes and makes the wind guide his battle ships into Troy, to unleash war on the city. Iphigeneia’s death by the hand of her father brings unfortunate events to Agamemnon’s house.

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

The theme of “family” was very important for me to explore in this book. As you well know, the title of each chapter begins with “The Son of…” or the “Daughter of…” and then the name of their father’s follows after. Back in those ancient times, it was very important for a father to leave a good track record within society if he wanted his bloodline to continue. Their children could suffer bad treatment in the society where they lived if their fathers were not well received or left a bad reputation behind. It was a very patriarchal culture, indeed, which I did not want to exclude as part of that culture.

The other themes I had fun including in the story were the concepts of “choices and consequences,” “power,” “true love versus lust,” “trust and betrayal,” and “vengeance.”

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out and what can your fans expect in the next story?

Yes, it is the first book in the series I’ve been planning out for a long time. Right now, the manuscript for book two is nearly completed. Book two could be out by the beginning of 2026. At the beginning of next year, I’m planning to launch book one in Spain. Since I was a child, it has always been a dream of mine to publish a book in both English and Spanish. Book two will be longer than book one because there were a lot of loose ends at the end of “the Gothic War” that needed to be addressed. You could expect a massive resolution with the main character as he interacts with other Goths of the tribe. Also, expect more from Liecia and Chieftain Vidumavi, more of Chieftain Fritigern, the Warlord Humphrey and his children, more characters, action, horror, suspense, and the supernatural.

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