Octavius Latvalainen

Octavius Latvalainen (born October 5, 1947) is a Finnish-Lovian fiction writer and poet. He is the author of several fantasy fiction novels, most notably Tunes of War, Rebellion in their Minds and Tales from Another World. Most of his books are much loved by teenagers.

Latvalainen has always openly declared his personal ideas. He was strongly opposed to the rebels during the Civil War, but also pointed out that there shouldn't be so much violence by the Lovian government. He recently stated that he supports none of the currents parties, although he has a leftish ideology. Latvalainen has traveled a lot around the world, especcialy in Europe.

Early years
Octavius Latvalainen was born in 1947 in Hurbanova. His father, Tuomas Latvalainen the Younger, was the captain of the passenger ship Aphrodite, while his mother, Alexandra Pliotsy, was a young poet of Russian-Canadian descent. Tuomas and Alexandra met in 1946, while he was in Lovia. They married in March 1947 and Tuomas left immediately for a trip. He was absent in his son's birth, which made him sad. During Octavius's childhood, Tuomas was traveling a lot. Consequently, Octavius grew with his mother and uncle, Vladimir Pliotsy.

Young Octavius was greatly interested in Russian and Finnish folklore. Such themes were his inspirations for short stories he wrote at the age of 13. He never read these tales to anyone, until he grew up. His father encouraged him of reading, although he found fiction novels meaningless and foolish. Octavius was inspired mostly by J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert E. Howard, though reading various authors.

First publishings
Octavius graduated from Nobel University in 1970. In 1971 he wrote his fist book, Hammer of Evil, under the pen name James Franken. It was published by Lovia Verlag, and received quite good critics. Two years later, he published The Axeman's Wrath, a novel he has deen working on since 1969. Latvalainen was disapointed with the novel's poor circulation and he stopped writing for a while. In November 1973 he treveled in Finland and Sweden, a trip he always wanted.

In September 1974 Tuomas Latvalainen died of stomach cancer. The very next month, Octavius lost a very close friend too and that cost him even more. He traveled to California because he wanted to get away from Grim Reaper.

Financial problems forced him to work as a postman in Noble City. At this period he started working on s new book, The Sword of Akainen, which was to become his first success. Before that however he published Peasants and Knights (1976). Now, Octavius had a stronger moral and continued writing novels. The Sword of Akainen was published in 1977 and many critics wrote enthusiastic reviews.

Success and marriage
In 1980, Latvalainen published Rebellion on their Minds, this time for Goodread Publishings. This novel, greatly influenced by Norse and Finnish mythology, it was a major success. While in Germany in 1981 he completed Running to Nowhere. With this specific novel he got more fame and many readers became great fans.

In June 1983 Octavius married Vivian Newfield, a nurse he had met in 1979. In April 1984 his first son was born. He was named Thomas, after Octavius' father. In July, the Latvalainen family traveled to Great Britain and Ireland. In February 1985 he published Through Fire and Steel, which although it got mixed critics was a commercial success.

Zennith
In 1986 Octavius published The Falconer's Quest, his only novel with Orient elements. It was a big success not only in Lovia, but also in Mäöres. Latvalainen was now at the peak of his creativity and this was verified with his book Tales from Another World, which was his best-selling book until then. Unlike his previous books it wasn't a novel, but a short stories collection.

For one more time, Octavius left Lovia in 1988 this time for Italy and Austria. This trip was really inspirational; upon his arrival in Noble City he published Tunes of War. This novel is regarded as Latvalainen's best project, both by his fans and critics. Actually it placed him in Lovia's literature elite.

The silent years
After his last success, Octavius decided to devote more time with his family and in travelling around the globe. In 1990 the whole family traveled to Finland and the next year they visited France. Octavius started writing a couple of books, but he finished none of them.

In December 1992 he had an major eye infection, which forced him to hospital for two months. In middle 1993 he moved with all his family in Charleston, which he thought it was a better place for his son. Nevertheless, they returned in Noble City, two years later.

Later years
In 1996 Latvalainen published a new book, The Highest Castle. It did quite well, but not as much as Octavius expected. In 1998 he published two short stories collections, An Old Man's Memories and Winter Night Nightmares. Reviews were favourably for both books.

Through his wife's encouragement, he published his first potry collection, named Shadows and Whispers in 2000. It was heavilly criticed, though some critics liked it. Octavius announced that he would write more poems, even if that meant less novels. In 2001 however he published the novel Circle of Krae, which received mixed to positive critics.

In 2002 Latvalainen published Waiting 'til Dawn, a poem collection. Reviewers were negative again and so he gave up poetry. In September 2005, Latvalainen announced that he was working on a trilogy, giving no further information. Rumour has it that the first part will be published in 2013. In 2007 Octavius completed The Cursed Cloak, but he published it in 2009. It is his last book until today and it restored his reputation. Since then Latvalainen has published nothing.

Works

 * Hammer of Evil (1971)
 * The Axeman's Wrath (1973)
 * Peasants and Knights (1976)
 * The Sword of Akainen (1977)
 * Rebellion on their Minds (1980)
 * Running to Nowhere (1981)
 * Through Fire and Steel (1985)
 * The Falconer's Quest (1986)
 * Tales from Another World (1987)
 * Tunes of War (1989)
 * The Highest Castle (1996)
 * An Old Man's Memories (1998)
 * Winter Night Nightmares (1998)
 * Shadows and Whispers (2000)
 * Circle of Krae (2001)
 * Waiting 'til Dawn (2002)
 * The Cursed Cloak (2009)