In this debut thriller by E.T. Gunnarsson, the war between nature and humanity has no winner. Humanity's drive for energy and technology was its downfall. In a polluted world, survivors fight and endure the world decimated by their ancestors. From what was left, they will rebuild and struggle to make a better place for their descendants.

Three time periods, four characters, each fighting for their future. Oliver, a lone survivor, raising civilization from the ashes of the wasteland. London and Rose, nomads, forced into the strife between Patria and New Uruk. Simon, a technician on the Arcadis Space Station, joins the revolution against the Leaders. Each trying to survive in a story that intertwines in a new, cruel world.

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? Or what first inspired you to write? I was fifteen when I decided to start writing for real, and it was around that time I started my high fantasy world. A year later, I started Forgive Us, but I do not remember what made me decide to make the book.

2. What do you think makes a good story? This is something you can’t really pinpoint. I played a game called Journey(2012) which has no dialogue and no words in the game. It’s just music and pictures, but paints a beautiful story all together.

 Hollow Knight (2017) is another game I played where there’s no real, linear story, but somehow it makes a beautiful world. What makes a good story is hard to decide, and itall depends on how something clicks.

3. How does a new story idea come to you? Is it an event that sparks the plot or a character speaking to you? A new story idea can come out of nowhere. I have a short story in the works that was inspired from staring at a shower drain. It sounds ridiculous, but I think it might be a good story.

For something like my high fantasy world, new stories come from piecing together a  logical history and wanting to tell that history through a character.

4. Is there a message/theme in your novel that you want readers to grasp? There are a few messages in Forgive Us.

●     Another is that tyranny should not be endured, but rather broken. Regarding tyranny, I also tried to show what real tyranny is, rather than fighting nothing for no reason.

●     The biggest message in Forgive Us is to consider the health of the planet. In Forgive Us, there’s a layer of trash below the sands, the ocean is brown and black, and the sky has a pollution haze. For the reader, I say just don’t be disgusting about your trash and recycle. No one appreciates a plastic bottle on the side of the road.

5. What was your greatest challenge in writing this book? Again, discipline. I went weeks occasionally without touching Forgive Us when I was writing it, which is something I regret now but also was a valuable lesson on work ethic.

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