This isn’t much of a question, but more of an adoration for your work! I had ZERO idea my favorite author of the last few years has a slick website, and an active response series! I’ll be brief, but as a sophomore at KSU (Go Cats!), your mass portfolio of novels, alongside your battle depictions and determined characters have me hooked–and honestly, amazed. (Man is THE writer). It’s taken me a while, but I’ve been reading The Corean Chronicles, and I’m currently on the second half of the second book, Darknesses, and Alucius (the GOAT) has just awoken from his near-death battle with the Pteranodons, ending the war with a new expanse of his talent. My question goes into the motive/mentality of Alucius at this point; with the the mass loss/Burning of his men, repeated omen-induced dreams, and a horribly injured body (poor guy got his hair burnt off)–Does he, behind the pages, experience anguish over being used by the Dekrons? Or more so, feels disgust in how easy it is for himself to kill? (luckily it’s always in defense!) If translated such events in today’s world, would Alucius ever be expected of showing symptoms of shell-shock, PTSD? Some passages hint to his withdrawn attitude when ever (briefly) saying what cruelties happened to him to his spouse (in Legacies), but he more-so, just shares a small nod and a send-off in relation to his under captains/soldiers. Therefore, is it because of his herding-origins and strength in The One who Is, that Over Captain Alucius doesn’t shy away from calculated killing? (I don’t want to compare two giants of fantasy literature, but I only know that much) Like Froddo’s dread of the ring, does Alucius carry his talent with a sense of horror? (Being that, many officers would be alive with him, but literal cities would’ve been ablazed if it wasn’t /for/ him). I ask this because, seeing him be used by those torque-wielding women in the last book, I catch myself wondering if the heralded hero ever hesitates, or in such a state of war, there’s no time to hesitate. Maybe I’ll eat my words come chapter 78, but I’m too excited to send a message to the AUTHOR HIMSELF!

For better or worse, you did send a message to the author himself, since I’m the only one responding or posting from the website. In answer to your question about Alucius’s mental state, from my observations and limited research into possible PTSD-inducing situations, there are two primary factors affecting susceptibility to PTSD: (1) the intensity or horror of the events experienced (including duration and closeness) and (2) the individual’s resilience and ability to remain less attached (the “problem” being that I suspect total detachment borders on psychopathy). Alucius never wanted to be a soldier/warrior; he’s a nightsheep herder, and he ends up being good at what he does by first just surviving, and second, by recognizing that the only way he’ll ever be able to return to what and who he loves is by destroying what stands in the way in the most effective manner (which is in fact borderline psychopathy) and by, in effect, identifying those behind his opponents as “the other,” which is a traditional coping mechanism of human beings forced to do horrific acts.