Trial of Roses follows a young man with a dream to learn magic and protect his homeland. To achieve his goals, he must overcome his enemies and personal demons. What inspired the setup of your story?

I was very much inspired by work such as My Hero Academia and you could say in general the genre of teenagers or young adults in a school type setting but with superpowers or magic involved. I have never done a story like this before so I thought it would be an interesting direction. On top of that I wanted to explore a few of the minor characters from the very first Pantheon book and this seemed like an excellent way to not only flesh them out but flesh out the entire Mystic Order as well. What started as just a short intro chapter turned into a whole little book to itself.

I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?

That is an excellent question! I was very much inspired by the works of young adult fantasy books. There are many that are very famous such as the Harry Potter series. The idea of a school for magic was a very entertaining and endlessly interesting idea to explore. However, I knew it would need to have a distinct flavor to it and so immediately I decided to give it a higher stakes sort of feeling where students can and will die. Moreover, it would be set in its own distinct world that was separate from what we call the “real world.” On top of that I wanted to tie in the culture of the Sebelian people themselves. What started as a very simple story about a young teenager learning how to cast spells turned into a much deeper story about fighting personal demons and even coming to terms with the toxicity of one’s own culture. I find that the protagonists in this story must deal with the sins of the past that have led to scars on their own psyches. Some of them rise above it while others are consumed by it. It is why the trilogy itself is called the Law of Might, a concept which was discussed in many Pantheon books but is really delved into here.

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

There are many themes in this book that I wanted to touch on. Many are expanded upon in the follow-up books to Trial of Roses. The number one focus for me was the power of culture in a society. It is something every civilization has, otherwise it would not be a civilization at all. I wanted to show that even though a few things in the book would be frowned upon in our society, maybe even seen as barbaric, for the Sebelian people such things are the expected norms. Even when culture is self destructive, it has a tendency to live on.

Another topic that lingers in the background of these young characters is the lasting scars of war. In this particular way I was inspired by All Quiet on the Western Front, a certified classic in the war genre. I was reminded of the opening scene I read back in high school. The German students are in the prime of their life as they exit the education system, and a sa crescendo to this stage of their lives, their teacher of all people sells war to them like one would sell a movie ticket to a potential customer. In a similar fashion, the young characters in this book are enraptured by the idea of serving their country just as their fathers, mothers, and siblings did in the past War for Sebelian Liberation. This need to honor sacrifice and live up to family names is what drives these characters forward and sometimes into disastrous consequences. Jingoism is a force that is still around to this day and permeates many societies, especially the American one. I found it very important to make sure this issue was looked at through many different lenses as the story progressed.

When will book 2 be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?

Luckily I was able to release the entire Law of Might trilogy very close together! This was no easy feat as the story progressed and went from one short novella into a small trilogy that was more or less self-contained but still tied to the main Pantheon series. In the follow up story, Trial of the Lake, Sinhar will finally start learning how to work with magic and what it entails if he cannot keep up with the rest of his classmates. Just beneath the surface of all this, however, lies another battle. The Mystic Order has been around for generations and like any institution that has been around for that long it is riddled with its own secrets. Not only is there the threat of ostracization for those who do not fit within the mold of society, but there are also the secrets of those who now hold power and what they did to achieve it. The sequel will introduce new characters but will also explore ones who had minor roles in the main series and are more fleshed out here.

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