Lansing author kicks off new fantasy series 

When T. R. Sohn was young, he was a voracious reader, devouring the works of Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, J. K. Rowling, Ursula K. Le Guin and Stephen King. 

He always knew writing was something he wanted to pursue. 

The Lansing resident recently released his second self-published fantasy novel, “Forged of Will” ($22.99), the first installment in the “Tales of the Barbarian” series.

“‘Forged of Will’ was partially inspired by the character I’m playing in a Dungeons & Dragons game with my friends and partially inspired by a world that had been building in the back of my mind for quite some time,” he said. “My mind is very active, and between D&D sessions, I’d be thinking about the character and his story and where he came from and why he’s there. I started to put pen to paper; one thing led to the next, and I had written a novel.”

The book follows Nhos, berserker of Jag, barbarian of Arta. Enslaved for most of his life and forced to fight in the colosseum for entertainment, he is finally free. His mission in life: To find the man, known only as the Contractor, who sold him into slavery when he was a boy and kill him slowly and painfully. However, the Contractor wields a magical axe that grants him the powers of a god.

“Nhos is the opposite of me. Literally, the name ‘Nhos’ is my last name spelled backwards,” Sohn said. “I tend to overthink, and I’m patient and polite. I wanted Nhos to be a character who was never really taught proper civility and is therefore brash, rude and immediate to action, with little regard for consequence. 

“I think a chaotic good character like Nhos is interesting because you never know exactly what he’s going to do or how he’s going to solve a problem, but his heart is in the right place, and you know it’s going to be entertaining.”

Sohn, an alumnus of Haslett High School and Central Michigan University, noted he envisions Nhos’ adventures going on for eight books. 

“When I started writing ‘Forged of Will,’ I knew I wanted to write a story that was short, digestible and told almost like a myth. That was in line with how the original ‘Conan’ stories were told. They were short stories published in the newspaper,” he said. “Nhos’ story is ultimately a lengthy one, and I envision these books being like adventure books, with each new book taking the reader to a different region of his world.”

The most challenging part of writing “Forged of Will” was keeping it terse. 

“I kept wanting to explore more about the world or about Nhos, but I had made myself a promise that these books were going to be short and laser focused. Sticking to that was honestly pretty difficult,” he said. “I’m a plotter mostly, but my outlines leave plenty of room for the characters to come to life and drive the story. I often find my outlines being revised on the fly because a character surprises me and does something I wasn’t expecting.”

Sohn’s debut novel was “The Sorceress and the Vigilant,” published last year.

“That was born from my love of all things gothic horror combined with my love of fantasy,” he explained. “I wanted to create a haunted-castle mystery but do so in the skin of a fantasy story about sorceresses and monsters and monster hunters. In a way, a lot of horror is already fantastical: possession, spirits, hauntings, et cetera. By leaning into the fantasy side of it, I was able to create this very atmospherically gothic story of a haunting with a very fantastical source.”

Sohn is working on a prequel to “The Sorceress and the Vigilant.” Upon completion, he’ll begin writing the second “Tales of the Barbarian” installment. 

By his admission, the road to self-publication was more of a mental hurdle than anything. 

“I did a lot of research about self-publishing, and I read a ton of testimonials from other indie authors,” he said. “When I was finished with my research, I knew a few things: One, I wanted to get a good cover, and I absolutely wanted it to be human art, no AI. Two, I wanted to make sure to hire a copy editor to proofread the manuscript and make it as professional as possible. Three, I needed to build all the peripherals that run behind the scenes of an author: website, social media, event coordinator. Once I felt as though I had all these things in place, publishing was honestly a leap of faith in myself. It’s a leap that I’m very happy to have made.”

Sohn encourages people to read more books. 

“I love the craft of literature. Whether I’m immersing myself in another author’s work or my own, I am happy,” he said. “In a world oversaturated by short-form video content that wreaks havoc on the brain, give yourself a rest and pick up a book. Stretch that imagination and take it out for a walk.”

Keep up with Sohn at trsohn.com.