It’s been a few months since my last update here. If you’ve been following the development of Neverseek and the Abyssal Circle, you know that radio silence usually means I’m deep in the “Lattice,” untangling the histories of this world and making sure every piece of the frontier fits perfectly together.
I won’t lie, though—part of the quiet has just been processing the chaotic state of the real world. As an avid historian, I’ve always tried to read between the lines of history; to look past the loud, official narratives and see the actual human realities beneath them. We are seeing a desperate need for that right now, even locally here in Minnesota. Lately, the constant barrage of political messaging from opposing parties is so incredibly polarized that it completely muddies the waters, making it exhausting to find the ground truth. I’ve always considered myself “purple” in my politics—I value strong, pragmatic, unapologetic leadership over partisan noise and ideological games.
That same historical lens makes watching global events, like the ongoing war in Iran, incredibly heavy. I have a profound respect for the resilience and spirit of the Iranian people, and I absolutely abhor the oppressive government that is currently using them as pawns. Seeing a proud populace crushed under the boot of a broken, tyrannical regime is universally heartbreaking.
Inevitably, that real-world frustration and my habit of reading between the lines bleed directly into the ink. As I’ve spent the last several weeks polishing the first book and expanding the Codex, I’ve found those exact themes taking root in the Abyssal Circle.
Fleshing Out the Frontier: Oppression and Pragmatism
When writing the political landscape of the Marches, I want it to feel as dangerous, muddied, and tragically real as the world we live in. You see this heavily in the Green Fields Valley chapters. The commoners there are a proud, enduring people, but they are currently trapped under the iron-fisted martial law of Royalist High Commander Valerik. Like so many real-world regimes, Valerik hides behind the messaging of “security,” treating his own people not as citizens to be protected, but as expendable fodder for his military “Purge.”
To contrast that tyranny, I’ve spent a lot of time fleshing out the rivalries of the Marcher Lords who rule the edges of the Kingdom. To give you a spoiler-free taste of the friction I’m working with, look no further than these two:
- Lord Stanisław Górski (The North): Sitting on the rich iron ore deposits of the Great Northern Expanse, Górski represents the worst kind of establishment elite. He is a man driven by pure, all-consuming greed, eager to burn down ancient peace treaties with the nomadic Wanderers just to dig a new mineshaft. He is the loud, bitter voice of “progress,” using political noise to mask his exploitation of the people.
- Lord Arnaldo-Sokół (The South): Miles away in the southern Edgelands, Arnaldo represents the kind of pragmatic, grounded leadership I appreciate. He governs the fertile agricultural cliffs outside the gateway city of Strażela. He is a frugal, no-nonsense man who completely ignores the deadly, muddied political games of the high nobles. While others scheme for power, Arnaldo quietly and expertly manages his Sun-Grain fields and hospitals, focused entirely on the actual, tangible prosperity of his lands and his people.
Highlighting the friction between these different types of rulers—the ambitious, corrupt industrialists versus the traditionalist, grounded survivors—is what makes the politics of the Abyssal Circle so cathartic to write right now. It is all about reading between the lines of what the Lords say versus what they do.
The Evolution of the Swarm
On the monstrous side of things, I’ve also had a major breakthrough in refining the Hiv’erek. For a long time, it was easy to view them simply as the “monsters under the bed.” But as the manuscript has evolved, so has the Swarm’s history. They aren’t just a mindless insectoid plague; they have distinct ecological variations that interact with the world in very different ways.
In the Codex, I’ve broken them down into three distinct, terrifying threats:
- The “Moss-Backs” of the West: Reclusive, docile, and territorial variants that have adapted to co-exist with the deep timber forests.
- The Steppe Burrowers of the North: Lethal, fast-moving predators of the high plains, routinely hunted by the Wanderers in their Great Hunts.
- The Ancient Swarm: The unified, hyper-intelligent, and apocalyptic nightmare that has recently shattered the peace by breaching the surface at Gryphon’s Peak.
By giving the Kingdom a historical reason to underestimate the feral surface variants, the sudden reawakening of the Ancient Swarm hits with so much more weight in the story.
What’s Next?
The first book is currently under the knife. I’m ensuring that the military tension feels as immersive and desperate as the lore dictates.
The goal has always been to create a world where the geography, the history, and the magic are inextricably linked—and where the struggles of the characters reflect the very real struggles we see in our own world today. I can’t wait to share more of it with you as the polish continues.
Stay tuned. The Stormwall is holding for now, but something in the deep holds is waking up.
— Joshua