Author Spotlight: Mikko Rauhala

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.

Today: Mikko Rauhala is a Finnish SF author making their foray into the English speaking world. They often write their stories in both languages, which can get frustrating when there’s no one else to blame for the occasional double entendres.

Informed by their master’s degree in intelligent systems, they’re most at home in hard science fiction settings, though they’re not exclusive and like to cross genres. Whether the subject is steam powered gnomes or universal quantum suicide, Rauhala enjoys taking an eccentric premise and bringing it to its logical conclusion. As befits a Finn, their plot-driven narrative is often seasoned with a touch of dark, dry humor.

Rauhala’s Finnish short fiction has been published in two collections and other media, and they have a national Atorox award nomination to show for it. In English, their books include The Paperclip War novelette, the mixed genre SF collection Flashes in Time, and their debut novel, The Heroborn. Their short stories and flash fiction have also been published in various other media, such as Best Vegan SFF 2020.

Thanks so much, Mikko, for joining me!

J. Scott Coatsworth: How would you describe your writing style/genre? 

Mikko Rauhala: My style is maybe a bit old-school in that I’m drawn to high-concept narratives; coming up with an eccentric premise, building a coherent world around it, and taking the reader for a plot-driven adventure. As befits a Finn, I like to sprinkle in some dry humor, often of the darker variety. I kind of hope I might get some exotic Finnish weird points in the international arena as well, though I’m hardly a typical Finnish author. Still, as a point of playful comparison, I sometimes call myself a poor man’s Hannu Rajaniemi. We’re both Finns who write in English, and we do explore similar subject matter, though I am stylistically rather more compact about it. Eh, us Finns are supposed to be quiet types, right?

I’m an information sponge and I have a master’s degree in intelligent systems; a title I mostly utilize for fiction these days, as my day job is in information security. As such hard science fiction is perhaps closest to my heart, but I do dabble in the entire speculative spectrum. Genre blending or just writing, say, horror or fantasy from a science fiction point of view can also help keep things interesting. I don’t like getting stuck in a rut.

JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it. 

MR: Though I had a couple of acceptances before then, the one that made it to print first was The Guardian of Kobayashi (in Finnish). I’d received notice that a local speculative pirate anthology would still accept short story submissions for a week or so. I didn’t happen to have anything suitable ready, but my brain wouldn’t let it go, and by next day I had a mental outline for Treasure Island in space.

Sprinkle in some casual near-apocalyptic backstory details, an overly eager youngster following his great grandfather’s footsteps into the solar system in a stolen spaceship, some gradual buildup for a creepy twist ending, and I had if not a winner, then at least a contender. The story was indeed shortlisted for the Finnish Atorox award, but did not make it in the final analysis.

Later I rendered the story into English for the anthology Never Stop – Finnish Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, collected for the Helsinki Worldcon 75. The Strange Horizons review had a couple of nice words to say about my story in particular: “It evokes a believable future history through glancing comments and develops a lovely twist ending. Quite satisfying.”

Of course, with that sort of a start it was all downhill from there until I finally, years later, started to get books of my own out and dipped my toes into the English pro market. To all the aspiring authors out there, this tends to be a long game.

JSC: Are there underrepresented groups or ideas featured in The Heroborn? If so, which ones? 

MR: My main characters are often on the autism spectrum, as I find such characters relatable myself. Sasha of The Heroborn is no exception. Specifically, her mind works in fairly straightforward and scientific ways; often smart, though not always wise.

While Sasha is considered a woman in her world, she doesn’t have much of a gender identity, which actually becomes plot-relevant before the end of the book. This will be somewhat expanded upon in any possible sequel.

The elves in the book practice polyamory, though the history of how their society became that way was a surprise even to me. It just spontaneously arose from the story premise. As poly myself, I hope I managed to convey this particular aspect of my elves sympathetically, especially as they have some very… problematic tendencies also. But what can you do, it made sense for them to be this way, and thus no sense for them to be otherwise.

I like to insert these kinds of elements without too much fanfare, just as mundane facts of life. “Yeah, Sasha just had a passing non-straight thought. Anyway…” 

JSC: Are you a plotter or a pantser? 

MR: Mainly a plotter, to be sure. I often know the ending before I start, which can be a bit of curse in terms of retaining motivation to actually get there. I mean, it’s all there in my head already – we’re done, right?

That’s not to say there isn’t any pantsing going on. Details just fill themselves in while writing, ones that I didn’t foresee before being immersed in the story properly. Sometimes these will affect the larger flow of the story, but rarely the overall arc.

JSC: Name the book you like most among all you’ve written, and tell us why. 

MR: I don’t like to pick absolute favorites, there’s always a point of view, but I will take the opportunity to mention my novelette from last year, The Paperclip War. See, I have a bit of a penchant for writing apocalypses, particularly where AI is involved, and I also like to narrativize thought experiments. This little book manages to condense many of my interests into one compact, dry-humored hard sci-fi package. It even uses one apocalypse to stave off another! (This is the premise, not a spoiler.)

While the book was only published last year, the story was once upon a time the first thing I tried to submit abroad – to the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, because why try for less? It was rejected, of course, but the editor actually took a few moments to give encouraging feedback on it, which I incorporated into later revisions. Getting that sort of attention from a prestigious magazine was, to a wannabe international author, a welcome sign that I wasn’t barking up the entirely wrong tree. Eventually the story even got my foot in the door at Water Dragon Publishing, enabling the publication of my recent mixed-genre collection Flashes in Time and The Heroborn itself.

So this one holds a special place in my heart as a solid piece of my quintessence, as well as being the story that pushed me forward on two separate occasions.

JSC: What does success mean to you?

MR: I’ve given some thought to this, particularly as someone who’s trying to break into the English market from a small country with a smaller language. Traditional success – making a good living from your creative work – is hard to come by. But indeed we do get to define our own successes.

Honestly, I’m a pretty particular brand of weird, what with my specific mix of neurodiversity and ideas I’m willing to entertain, let alone take seriously. My stories and characters reflect that. Now, of course I strive to make it all accessible and entertaining to a larger audience than clones of myself, particularly if they’re open to having a strange ride.

But in the wider English speaking world, there are also more of those who might feel a more intimate familiarity with the thought patterns in my text. Maybe they’ll make note of somebody like them making it out there as a published author. Perhaps they’ll sense the world as having just a tiny bit more room for us as well, and we will all be less alone thereby.

I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but it would be a fine sort of success.

JSC: Let’s talk to your characters for a minute – what’s it like to work for such a demanding writer? 

MR: Oh, it’s terrible. I’m just glad I’m not real enough to actually have an independent consciousness that I’m aware of. Sure, I get to do clever stuff, show off a bit now and again, and it doesn’t always come back to bite me. But though I can see how it might be amusing from the outside, the world here on the inside is a mess.

I mean, he’s really proud that it’s a coherent mess and I’ll give him that. But come on, being orphaned twice in the backstory? Ludicrous. Warranted by the equally absurd premise, of course. Everything is so very warranted. But is it fun for me? “Ha-ha, you have your very own nemesis now. Better improve your combat spells.” I was doing that anyway! Spellcrafting is interesting!

JSC: What’s your core motivation in The Heroborn? 

MR: Honestly, survival is a big one. I really want to make the world a better place, I do. Somebody’s got to, what with the mess he made. No Stars to guide us, no Heroes of legend to save us, except ourselves.

But I can’t fix the world if I’m dead, and a lot of the time it feels like I’m being set up to fail. And right when imminent death is no longer among my main concerns he goes and turns that against me.

So yeah. Point me at a problem and I will give it my best. I’ll even echo the ancient lies in an effort to end wars, to try to get humans, dwarves and elves alike to peacefully coexist once more, if I can spare a moment from said nemesistrying to murder me in my sleep.

JSC: Are you happy with where your writer left you at the end? (don’t give us any spoilers). 

MR: I’ve got to admit I’m feeling much more hopeful than where we picked up (not a particularly high bar). But I have… put things in motion. Necessary things, but risky all the same. While I am in a good position to have some control over what is to come – more so than anyone else on this world, maybe save for one other – I’m far from certain where we’ll end up.

Say, since I appear to somehow be in between realms now, I wonder if I could get a little clarity by […]

Sorry, Mikko here again. I had to cut her off before she hijacked my consciousness. Fool me once, shame on you!

JSC: What are you working on now, and what’s coming out next? Tell us about it!

MR: I have a good start on a sequel to The Heroborn. where Sasha faces quickly changing circumstances. Worldviews are further shattered and alliances re-examined, as the implications of both Sasha’s choices and the secrets uncovered inThe Heroborn start fully hitting home.

Meanwhile, my short stories have managed to slip into two anthologies to be published at Archipelacon 2 / Eurocon 2025 in just a few days. Winter’s Heart – Weird Stories from Finland will feature “Lunar Liaison,” a piece of hard sci-fi noir, whereas the readers of The Lion and the Lynx will be treated to “Gnome Dawn,” a magical blend of steampunk and Finnish folklore. Did I mention not wanting to get stuck in a rut?

I’ll be at the con, of course, with a talk, two panels, and a shared reading on my schedule. We will also be hosting a joint book launch for all of the above works as well as my recent mixed-genre short story collection Flashes in Time. So, to those coming, I’ll see you there!

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And now for Mikko’s new book: The Heroborn:

Meet Sasha, a young mage in pursuit of a grander destiny, or at least a new lease on life, always fearful of being found out for who she really is. 

The Heroborn will take you on a fondly deconstructive and dryly humorous Hero’s Journey through a land of magic made science. It tells the story of a resourceful, neurodiverse, scientifically minded hero, steadfastly if not always wisely pushing against the odds.

With a little help from her unlikely new friends and allies, she stumbles upon secrets she’d never dreamed of – and must make a fateful choice for both herself and her world.

Publisher | Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Smashwords

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Excerpt

Sasha took a guard position away from the horses, a habit she’d picked up along the way. She couldn’t be quite certain, but the animals seemed wary of her. Not enough to hinder their journey, but perhaps the curse affected them, too. There was no reason to risk spooking them when there was no need.

She maintained a facade of some vigilance while her thoughts were already on the trip ahead. Then she suddenly noticed one of the customers approaching her. Spooked, she turned to gape at the middle-aged man. He was well-dressed but not overdoing it. His were working hands that immediately started to move to the sides in a placating gesture. The movement revealed what appeared to be short rods of Dust peeking out of protrusions on his belt.

“Sorry if I startled you. I was just conducting my business here and heard there was a fellow arcanist among you. Saying hello seemed like the thing to do,” the mage explained calmly.

Sasha composed herself, embarrassed. “Oh, right. Hello, I’m Sasha of the Heroborn. I didn’t actually know there would be mages here.”

The man smiled sociably. “I’m Gibli, an elementalist and a dabbler in alchemy. There is plenty of work in and around the mines for one adept with explosives.” He left his expression inquisitive, though not actively prying into her affairs.

Sasha decided some reciprocation was in order. “Ah, I see. Well, you won’t have to worry about me encroaching on your business. I’m just passing through here on research. Elementalist, you say? What of those?” She pointed at the Dust rods on his belt. It was a curious limitation of fire mages that they could not control magic that wasn’t predominantly red. Some White Dust could be intermixed in their spells for support, but it needed to be in the minority. It was theorized that somehow, the elementalists’ magic flowed from their wand only to the Red Dust, through which their limited control of the normal variety would then be channeled. It made some degree of sense

“Oh, these? I see, yes, they actually have red cores. I find that encasing it within a layer of White Dust makes for a longer life in my profession. If you do use the stuff, I heartily recommend doing the same.”

That makes sense. “I might just take your recommendation, thank you.”

“You’ve actually been lugging a whole bunch of materials for Red Dust and other explosives for me. There’s enough demand here that it pays to order stock from the coast,” Gibli said, and quickly continued as alarm rose to Sasha’s face, “though of course I provided specific instructions on which materials to carry in separate wagons.”

Sasha sighed in relief. “Thanks for that. By the way, you’d probably know. Is there any Mage Corps presence here?”

Gibli shook his head. “The crown knows better than to gather a concentration of mages here in this place. Not many mages want to tempt themselves by coming to live here, either, so the recruiters don’t bother,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Why’s that, then?” Sasha asked, feigning ignorance.

“The elven woods to the west, of course. Everybody knows about them, though not many have dared venture there in recent memory. No sense in wobbling the present peaceful coexistence. We don’t bother them, they don’t slaughter us. You don’t know the story?”

Sasha had an inkling of how it would go, but shook her head. She’d want to be sure that she was properly informed.

“Well, some eighty years ago the governance wanted to get their hands on the resources of the deeper woods, disregarding the elven dominion as fairy tales. To be fair, nobody had seen them since the time of the Heroes, and even then they had been reclusive. But when the woodsmen were sent exploring, they never came back. When soldiers were sent to see what happened, they never came back. Finally, plenty of woodcutters were sent in with orders to start thinning the forest around the edges, accompanied by a small army for support. And that’s when the elves came out into the open and slaughtered the bunch of them with overwhelming magical force. Some managed to flee to tell their tale, probably by the elves’ design. We’ve been content with the current borders since, and if somebody starts thinking otherwise, I’m packing my bags and leaving. So, if this research project of yours concerns the elves or the deeper west, I’d recommend doing it from afar,” Gibli finished with a measuring look.

Sasha found herself fidgeting a bit. “Oh, no, not to worry, I’ll be doing my work strictly on our side of the border,” she lied, feeling like she wasn’t fooling anyone. One wayward person wouldn’t be enough to start any wars, right?