Year of the Four Emperors follows four princes born of the late Emperor, none of whom have been anointed as the successor to the throne, and all who wish to gain the title of Emperor. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Year of the Four Emperors was inspired heavily by the actual historical event known as the ‘Year of the Four Emperors’ which occurred in 69 AD and was known as the first civil war of the Roman Empire. Of course I have reimagined the event in a fantastical setting and inserted a host of new characters. The Empire of Kristianborg itself is inspired by the Eastern Roman Empire which is why you can find references to Anna Komnene in the text—who herself was an Eastern Roman Empire princess. It just made sense to construct a narrative around this tumultuous event in the Roman calendar as it provided a viable framework for a political plot.

Your novel has a lot of things going on with politics, war, and the battle for who will take the throne. Did you plan the tone and direction of the novel before writing, or did it come out organically as you were writing?

I am a lover of politics and political intrigue. As a fan of certain novels like Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ with all the different houses competing for control, I knew that I wanted to write a political-esque plot from the beginning. The writing came organically to me as you know what they say: ‘write what you know.’ Certain characters like Eleonora Ulrika were inspired by historical characters such as Atia of the Julii and I definitely had to ingrain myself in the mindset of a queen regent scheming for the throne. Eleonora Ulrika is neither a hero nor a villain; Eleonora is a character that sits in the morally grey area and I’ve always enjoyed those types of characters more. 

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

The research for Year of the Four Emperors is a culmination of many years of dedicated investigation into the history and culture of Eastern Roman chronicles. The main antagonists of the novel are the Kingdom of the Vampir which was based upon the Kingdom of Hungary and in various historical texts such as the ‘Gesta Hungarorum’ it is depicted that their main rival was the Eastern Roman Empire. Other historical texts such as the Gesta Danorum were critical as well. In fact, another author once said something to me: in historical texts such as the Gesta Danorum, the protagonist often goes on quests and fights mythological monsters, but there is something about the fantastical in those books that modern fantasy books simply cannot capture.

Where does the next book in the series take the characters?

The next book in the series will further delve into certain prominent characters. I cannot share anything concrete about the next book as yet as I am still working on it but fans can expect more political intrigue, war, and lust. The Kingdom of the Vampir will be explored much more in the next book also. Readers can get lost in the continent of Exordia next year once again.

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