I do not write merely to reconstruct the past. Every detail I shape, every character I breathe into life, every world I imagine—is more than history. Many stories—whether set in the past or the future—stop at the threshold of suffering and oppression. They show us the darkness of yesterday or of tomorrow, yet rarely dare to ask: What drives the fall of humanity? Who profits when societies break apart? I choose to dig deeper. The true adversaries in my stories are not single tyrants or hidden conspirators. They are something older, more elusive—unseen forces that endure through every age, wearing countless masks. They are the cancers of civilization, concealed within the body of a thriving world, feeding on its strength while quietly preparing its ruin. For their own gain, they become the silent executioners of empires, the betrayers of societies, the inevitable shadows that trail every ascent with decline. Where others divide their tales into heroes and villains, I write of human beings—creatures of flesh and doubt, driven by longing, fear, and the quiet weight of necessity. Their choices are not carved from pure virtue or absolute evil, but from the shifting ground of interest and allegiance. And in the vast shadow of history, I place ordinary people: unsteady, unprepared, sometimes unwilling, yet carried forward by the current. They may seem powerless, yet it is through their trembling hands that the wheel of history turns, and through their uncertain steps that the spark of change is kindled. I use history as a stage, but my gaze is fixed upon the present. Attentive readers will notice that while the characters may differ and the settings shift across nations and cultures, the patterns remain hauntingly the same: entrenched hierarchies, widening divides between wealth and poverty, and the enduring conflicts that fracture societies. Power corrupts, interests ossify, and humanity struggles endlessly with itself—in cycles of ruin and renewal. I do not write for comfort. I do not write for safety. I write to provoke. I write so that, in turning the page, the reader may realize: This is not another’s story—it is ours. The ghosts of history still walk among us. Harry Han is a historical novelist who has devoted years to studying the intersections of Eastern and Western history and culture. His novels weave the fates of ordinary people into the grand tapestry of great powers—blending sweeping historical backdrops with intimate, human stories.