Today it gives the Speculative fiction showcase great pleasure to interview David Behling, author of Josh & Sen Save the Multiverse: The Path of One.
Who is Josh and how does find himself entering another universe?
Hello
and thanks for the great question! Please forgive the long and confusion answer
below J
Joshua Elias Tanner is a 44-year-old criminal lawyer, divorcee, Son of Chicago’s Southside, and father of four-year-0ld Sophie Tanner. Josh was the victim of a tragic accident at a young age that expunged him in most iterations of the multiverse. Josh is considered an iterational aberration as he only survived in 4/1000 iterations. Josh begins acting on a multiversal scale when Immortal Senyak Marztanak invades his brain going back to work from lunch in an elevator.
Sen’s
goal though the telepathic trespass is to convince Josh to help Sen stop a
fellow immortal, Hantal Brundox. Brundox is harvesting the mortal soul essence
of genocide victims on Josh’s Earth, and the Earth of the surrounding
iterations (AKA: the iterational cuboid). In the elevator, Brundox is
acting through a dominated mortal agent to repeatedly kill (throughout Josh’s
iterational cuboid) another person in the elevator who is responsible for a
great decrease in world poverty. If the victim is allowed to live, in the
future their actions will decrease the overall incidence of genocide in Josh’s cuboid,
thus reducing Brundox’s mortal soul harvesting yield. For a lot of reasons Sen
needs to stop Brundox . . . but he can only do so through the actions of Josh,
the iterational aberration.
What
is the name of the world Josh finds himself in and what can you tell us about
it?
After
the elevator . . . Josh ends up Eight iterations from his iteration of origin.
Which is several cuboids away. The world is Earth, but not Josh’s Earth. He is
a long way from his home and from Sophie. He needs to get back to his Earth if
he ever wants to see her again.
Who is Sen Marztanak and where is he from?
Senyak Marztanak, combat specialist, is the second seeded heir of the Marztanak Hegmoncy. As a propagated Immortal, Sen was born an Immortal. He did not rise to immortality through mortal cultivation and Transcendence.
While a good sort, Sen has led a pampered life and is naïve to the ruthless actions others with less fortunate origins will employ in their long climb up. After failing to stop Brundox, Sen’s Grandfather strips Sen of his Immortal status. It is then that Sen learns that a solid grounding in the basics is necessary for any real rise to power. To regain his seat as his family’s heir, Sen will have to transcend through mortal cultivation to get back to the Immortal realms.
You mention the way in which gaming, sci-fi fandoms, and fantasy media influenced your worldbuilding – what can you tell us about that?
As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat!” For me this is only too true in my writing. I’m more than a little bit embarrassed to admit how much time I have spent outside of our “real world” while adventuring in the worlds created by others in the genera of science fiction/fantasy and video games that do amazing jobs of crisscrossing both realms. I have to admit that I find these universes a much better place to take mental rest and recharge my mortal batteries after a long day. J In my down time I have always chosen to go on a five-year mission, watch Han Solo save Luke in the death star’s trench, and read about how Legolas and Gimli overcome their racial differences to become battlefield brothers.
I
do not want to compare myself to a great man, but I feel that I am not giving
the creators of these other worlds I travel in their due if I don’t admit like
Sir Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders
of giants.”
The friendship between Josh and Sen is the basis of the series. How does it develop?
Another great question! Their relationship starts with Sen making a big ask that Josh has no real choice but to acquiesce to. Their following actions proceed to get both of them into so much trouble that their lives are irrevocably uprooted by the powers that be. Needless to say, their relationship starts out pretty rocky. In fact, at first sight, Josh tries to strangle the life out of Sen on the ground of an alley in a rain-soaked, alternate-Earth.
As with so many of us today, both men are isolated, lonely, and living lives of quiet desperation. Like most men, neither Josh nor Sen have anyone they can really count on . . . But . . . one of my favourite songs, The Impression that I Get, by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, has a line that sums up my hopes for men like us: I’m not a coward, I’ve just never been tested. I’d like to think that if I was, I would pass.
God, Karma, fate and the universe force Josh and Sen together in absolute need of relying on each other to get to where they both need and want to be. With this test, they are not only given the chance to accomplish their individual goals for themselves, to save the multiverse for us all . . . But, through their adventures, Josh and Sen are also given the opportunity to pass this test and form a true brotherhood. A bond that so many of us never get to forge while walking the paths of our everyday lives.
In
the subsequent books their friendship continues to solidify as do the
challenges they face together.
What are the two men’s different objectives?
Simply put: Josh needs to advance his individual cultivational growth and strength to travel through the iterations to reunite with his four-year-old daughter, Sophie.
Sen needs to advance through mortal cultivation and Transcend to the Immortal realms in order to prove to his grandfather that he is worthy of serving as this family’s leader or Hegemon.
Alongside Sen, Josh must find a way to rise through the levels of mortal cultivation in order to reach Transcendence. What are “the levels of mortal cultivation” and what is “Transcendence” in this context?
I nod slyly, “Ahhh, I see . . . You want the recipe of the secret sauce . . .” Understand, that Josh (and even Sen) has no idea what the levels of mortal cultivation actually are. For reasons that will be made more apparent in the upcoming books, the powers supervising Josh and Sen’s journey through mortal cultivation keep them in the dark about a lot of things, including the stages of cultivation and the mechanisms of advancement.
However, for the reader’s edification: Cultivation is the process through which one advances the power of their body and spirit by gaining an understanding of the universe and its properties along with purifying body and spirit, and increasing the alignment of the physical and spiritual components of our mortality. Transcendence is the process of achieving complete purification of the spiritual and physical to allow their indivisible and absolute unification into the ultimate Immortal concept of Ka. Thus, Transcending mortal laws and limits into the Immortal Realm. The stages of mortal cultivation are as follows:
Cultivation of a Spherical core. At this level, the cultivator must increase his core by absorbing core essence from defeated spirit beings several times in order to become one with, or attune to one of the seven principal iterational forces of:
-Earth
-Fire
-Water
-Force
-Space / Time
-Life
-Mind
Each Attunement is a separate event and Cultivators in these levels are equal in power to the various super heroes of the Marvel and DC universes.
Tetrahedral Core Formation: Completion of the seven spherical Attunements results in the ability to advance to the Tetrahedral core. Once so advanced, the cultivator is able to simultaneously use and blend all seven iterational forces in order to manifest their will. These cultivators are as powerful as any god we have ever read about, and would be able to curb stomp even the guy in the blue tights/red cape.
Octahedral Core Formation: Having selected four of the iterational Attunement forces to specialize in though this level, an Octahedral core can form. The cultivator is now able to manifest their will instantaneously across the iteration and are galactic level powerhouses.
Dodecahedral Core Formation: Achieving understanding and unification of the physical and mental mortal components to the point of multiversal existence. It is outside of living memory who, if anyone, has ever made it to this level of cultivation.
Icosahedral Core Formation: Gaining a universal familiarity and controlling knowledge of all mortal level forces and concepts. Completing the blending and alignment of the spiritual and physical into unified one will allow Transcendence to the Immortal realms.
Obviously, this takes a long, long, long time. Perhaps greater than a billion years from start to finish.
One of the themes of the book concerns Josh’s feelings of loss in relation to his daughter – how does this parallel your experience?
I have four children from three marriages. I live in the tiny state of Hawaii. My first ex-wife left me and took our infant children with her to the mainland after an expensive, protracted and failed custody battle. They just don’t take small kids away from their mother. Wise policy . . . but it leaves geologically isolated fathers rather powerless to spend meaningful time with their kids. I was bound to Hawaii by my job, at least I felt like it was at the time, and could only see my sons two months a year and every other Christmas.
You mention the early influence of Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark: the main characters deal with everything as it comes - they don’t have a plan. Why is this and do you take the same approach when writing?
Life, real living, is spontaneous. Applying this to the story, aside from creating a completely fictional universe that Josh and Sen exist in . . . I want their adventures, challenges, and responses to these challenges to be as relatable as possible to whomever blesses me by reading their story. I have always found that successful strategies for life and struggling through it, are more like blueprints for approaching obstacles. As opposed to already built houses with ridged walls that we have no ability to modify.
So ya . . . In common parlance, I mostly make it up as I go along. Not to say I don’t have a goal that sharpens itself as the story unfolds. But I like to leave my options open as long as I can.
Why did you choose Greek Mythology as the underlying mythos of the novel and what mythological beings do Josh and Sen meet in book one?
Interesting question. For a lot of reasons, I wanted to give Josh and Sen the Earth Attunement first . . . We write what we know, Gaia, the mother of the Earth, and her Hellenistic pantheon seemed to be a good direction to head in as Josh and Sen started trundling under the dumpster in that alley. In the first book Josh and Sen meet Gaia, Achilles and Cronus.
I should also point out that when I was a kid, there was no Marvel tag on the Disney channel. Heck, for that matter, there wasn’t even a Disney Chanel. Or an internet. You could buy Marvel and DC comics if you wanted, but they cost money. I didn’t have a lot as a kid. I did have access to the library and my father’s books, however. I gravitated to Sci-Fi/Fantasy early in my reading life . . . and Greek Mythology was a great place to get it. I still remember reading the dog-eared paperback from my dad’s shelf talking about Athena springing in full battle armour from Zeus’ forehead when he had a headache!
Talk to us about the terms Karma and Reality: what are these forces and how are they important?
Being on the wrong side of fifty-years-old, I have had to tell my kids more than once that, “Life is not now, nor will it ever be fair.” But damn, I really wish it was!
Karma is a concept in Hinduism and Buddhism relating to a person’s action/work/deeds and the effects of their consequences that determine the fate of that individual.
In my books, Reality is the result of Balance’s judgment (a concept I espouse in the books) of a spirit being’s Karma.
While the result from these three are inseparably linked in my world, each is a controlling force with independent action in response to a spirit being’s choices.
I like happy endings for those who have earned them. So, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but people who have been unjustly rewarded in this life for their accomplishments and deeds will eventually have the judgement of Balance to affect a new Reality based on the Karma they deserve.
What is the meaning of “Earth Attunement” as described in this quote: “When I started the first book and wanted Josh and Sen to travel underground to get their first Earth Attunement…”
As briefly mentioned above, an Attunement is a cultivator’s understanding and alignment of their physical and spiritual being with one of the seven primordial iterational forces (listed above).
Receiving an Attunement will significantly increase a cultivator’s powers, strength and skill. Attunement with all seven forces is required to advance to the formation of a Tetrahedral Core and begin ‘true cultivation’ of the iterational forces, i.e.: accomplishing their will in the mortal iterations. Not just flying, spraying fire, generating a protective shield, etc . . . These are all powers and skills that are useable with only a single Attunement at the spherical level of cultivation. We’re talking about major superpowers of the gods: Making volcanoes erupt, drying of the seas. Moving planets, bringing people back from the dead, traveling between the iterations, etc . . .
You
plan this to be a fifteen Instalment series. How do you envision the series
unfolding?
One book for each of the seven spherical Attunements. One for each of the remaining four mortal cultivational levels. Then three to four books in the Immortal Realms to put a stop to the destruction of the multiverse.
During these instalments we will learn a lot about the history of the mortal iterations and the role that the current Immortals played in it, the regrets they have, and what remains undone. Other main characters will join our two heroes, including Sophie, Alysa, and a few others that I have added in the second and third books already.
I hated ending The Path of One where I did . . . Things were just getting started! But don’t worry, books two and three, Karma and Bigger Fish and The Lover’s Trove, are going to knock your socks off J
How do you see your readers?
Anyone who likes action/adventure with a happy ending for the good guys . . . And who is willing to invest the time it takes for the development of my universe. It really does take some time and a bit of written space to lay the groundwork for a series fifteen books long. A series that not only encompasses the entirety of the mortal multiverse . . . But the Immortal realms . . . And at least one really bad guy from the Realm of Ascension beyond even that!
How
much did the pandemic influence your desire to write and in particular this
story?
It was really one of my main motivational forces.
In the summer of 2021, I was in Bali and saw how much the pandemic was affecting the local population. Bali’s economy is completely based on tourism. At that point, it had been effectively shut down for two years. The people were desperate. Of course, my wife and I invested money and time into our local community to help . . . But somehow, my word fevered brain also thought about creating Josh and Sen. Two guys that could stand up for all of us if and when the time came. So, I started thinking about them, and finally started to write things down a year later during the summer of 2022, when I was again in Bali.
You
have been a lawyer and are now a medical doctor. How do you combine work and
writing?
I get up early and sacrifice a lot of my favourite exercise time to the keyboard . . . Hope my patients are not reading this! ;)
Your second book in the series is awaiting publication: Karma and Bigger Fish. Who will Josh and Sen meet next and what challenges will they face?
My eyes squint and I tilt my head, “. . . Hmmmm . . . More secret sauce, huh?” You got it! Josh and Sen meet and make friends with a group that are much more advanced cultivators then they are: The Sundai Clan. The Sundai will be important in the 5th and 6th book.
Josh and Sen also meet some real bad guys. Nagal, a doubly attuned fire/earth Naga. Kyon Shi an undead energy draining sage, and Kyon Shi’s slave master/mistress: Xsias. An adharmic, blood essence vampire with Tetrahedral cultivation who will be a real headache for Josh and Sen in the third book: The Lover’s Trove.
What about future books? How do you see the series developing?
With a lot of sugar-free Red Bull!
The second and third books are already out of my head and in various stages of editing and publishing. The books in general are getting longer. The Path of One had roughly 70,000 words. The Lover’s Trove (third book) has 95,000 words prior to editing (which for me usually adds 5,000-10,000 more words).
Each book will have Josh and Sen advancing one Attunement or core cultivational level. By the sixth book they will have dealt with a galaxy wide threat in the form of the Savoy Corp (a ruthless band of cultivational mercenaries and their Undead/AI mechanical leader (Dod Stall) who has it out for Josh and Sen’s friends, the Sundai Clan.
By the time Josh and Sen reach Transcendence, they will likely have also dealt with a group of mortal cultivational powerhouses who have remained un-Transcended to the Immortal realms for various reasons. But all these immensely powerful cultivators are united in their desire to stop the union of AI mechanical/Cultivators because of the near multi-iterational loss of spirit beings during the Puppet Wars: a conflict fought over a billion Earth years ago, when AI mechanicals dominated the minds of Cultivators in a devious attempt to increase cultivational power with AI mechanical perfection. This group is a problem for Josh and Sen, because, in the third book, the boys meet two of Sophie’s new friends . . . RX (a ten-foot-tall AI mechanical battle mech) and Anak (a golden tamarin Beast-Affin) who are spiritually paired and who become part of Josh and Sen’s growing family.
I hope what I just wrote makes a little bit of sense to anyone with the will power to have read my words this far down!
Thank you for the great questions!
Live
long and prosper!
SFS: Thank you very much!
Amazon
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