Nikolai Varen
“An impossible mission. Unlikely companions. Divided loyalties.”
Nikolai Varen stands for historical adventures about unlikely companions who can only accomplish an impossible mission together. One knows the terrain; the other understands the people who control it. Their skills complement each other. Their loyalties do not always align. Between orders and conscience, pay and friendship, they face choices that demand more than courage.
His stories range from Antiquity to Napoleon, across sea routes, Alpine passes, mercenary campaigns and expeditions. Wind, water, hunger and equipment shape what is possible. Readers understand a manoeuvre because the characters have to carry it out. History emerges through practical skills, risks and consequences. Staying close to the people taking action gives both danger and quieter moments their weight.
Nikolai Varen is a pen name — one voice in the AIvory Books author collective.
What makes him unique
Comradeship grows through competence and trust, but also through an argument, a dry joke or a doubt spoken aloud. Entrusting someone with your life need not mean agreeing with them. These companions can surprise each other and enjoy a shared victory. Vulnerability makes them human without taking away their abilities or stubbornness.
The adventures keep the contradictions of their times in view. Discovery can involve exploitation, an honourable mission can serve corrupt interests. The characters must act within those circumstances. There is also room for warmth, the excitement of discovery and the hope of achieving together what neither could manage alone.
His life, as he imagines it
I grew up by Hamburg's harbour. My father was a mechanical engineer at Blohm+Voss and took me to the shipyard at weekends. I wasn't allowed to touch anything. I touched everything anyway. I knew the smell of welding smoke and rust-prevention paint before I could read.
At eighteen I went to Kiel. After two semesters at the naval academy, I knew the sea suited me better than the hierarchy. I switched to history and geography. My Master's thesis on the trade routes of the Dutch East India Company took me to Amsterdam, where I spent three months with old logbooks. Later I sailed on the barque Europa from the Netherlands to Spitsbergen. Six weeks among rigging and sails taught me that seasickness has little to do with courage.
Today I live in Lisbon, above the Tejo. I write in the mornings before the city wakes. On my desk lies a hand bearing compass from 1890, found in a junk shop in Bremerhaven. The needle still trembles. That's enough for me.
Why he writes what he writes
I'm interested in the moment when skill alone is no longer enough. One man knows the route; the other carries the mission. They need each other, but they answer to different people. I want to know what happens to their friendship when an order pulls them apart.
That is why I write historical adventures: for the manoeuvre you can understand with your hands, and the decision no map can settle. My companions can argue, laugh and speak openly before the next storm arrives. I want them to earn victories together without smoothing away the contradictions of their times.
Books by Nikolai Varen
No books published yet.