fighting for America who have magical powers
and it’s dramatic — it feels weighty.”
In his world, new witches are drafted into
the military at 18 and serve for life. But there
is a rebel faction in the society that believes
conscription like this is a form of slavery and is
waging a violent terrorist-style campaign.
Laurence has gotten incredibly specific in his
world-building, even down to explaining that
one sound weapon the witches use is “a site-
specific rapid conjuration impact-absorbing
shield created by layering two complicated seed
sounds subvocally.”
“I like making up magic,” he explained, laughing.
“I got some kind of nerd DNA where just those
kinds of making up magical powers is just a very
joyful place for me.”