Interview with Szymon Kościanowski, Author of 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol?

The story behind 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol grew out of my fascination with the idea that the Second World War didn’t really end in 1945 – it just moved into the shadows. In this book, I wanted to explore a secret, unofficial continuation of that conflict: a Nazi enclave hidden under the Antarctic ice, New Swabia, with Haunebu craft and underground complexes that survive into the Cold War and force the United States to fight a war that can never appear in history books. At the same time, I’m obsessed with the real “edge of the possible” in aviation: the U-2, A-12, D-21, XB-70 Valkyrie, and X-15, and the people who flew them at the limits of physics. Bringing those two threads together — black projects at the edge of space and a buried Nazi empire that refuses to die — is what created the core of this story. I was inspired by fragments of real history and the myths around them: Admiral Byrd’s Antarctic expeditions, Operation Highjump, the race for nuclear and technological supremacy, and all the rumours about secret bases and lost Wunderwaffe projects that might have survived in remote places. On a more personal level, my writing as a whole — including the Wings of Time series — is deeply connected to my two sons. In the previous interview, with the release of 1953 – The Shadow of Tunguska, I mentioned my younger son and his remarkably mature science fiction stories, which pushed me to take my own writing seriously. This time, I also want to acknowledge my older son. He is now in his final year of high school, with his graduation exams ahead of him – a time when most students are overwhelmed just by school itself – and yet he still finds the time to write film scripts, direct his own projects and act in them, while also attending professional acting and directing classes. Instead of spending his free time endlessly scrolling on social media like many of his peers, he chooses to expand his knowledge and develop his creativity, and he is doing remarkably well at it.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol, what would they be?

If I had to pick theme songs for the main characters in 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol, I’d stay in the world of Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Korn, and Godsmack. For Alexander Kostanov, the CIA test pilot flying at the edge of space, I’d choose “Wherever I May Roam” by Metallica – a lone operator constantly on the move, living out of a suitcase and cockpit, belonging everywhere and nowhere at the same time. For the buried Nazi enclave in Antarctica, New Swabia, the best fit is “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin – heavy, hypnotic, almost otherworldly, like an empire that refused to die and is still pulsing under the ice, far from normal reality. For the American black projects and secret command structure running this invisible war, I’d go with “I Stand Alone” by Godsmack – the attitude of people who know they can’t count on public support or recognition, so they grit their teeth and do the job in the shadows. And for the psychological toll the whole conflict takes on everyone involved, “Freak on a Leash” by Korn feels right – that mix of aggression and frustration fits characters who are trapped inside a mission they can’t fully control or escape.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I gravitate toward alternate history, technothrillers, and hard science fiction. I love stories that ask “what if this one detail of history or technology had gone differently?” and then follow the logic all the way through. It is very much the same with my writing – the Wings of Time series sits exactly at that intersection, where real history and real science are pushed just far enough to open a new timeline.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

My TBR pile is dangerously tall at the moment. I’m working my way through Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Empire series, and Dan Jones’s The Templars. I also have Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem trilogy lined up, and a whole stack of Michio Kaku’s books, including The Future of Humanity, Physics of the Impossible, Hyperspace, Parallel Worlds, The God Equation, and Quantum Supremacy. And because I love a good Cold War-era thriller, Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears is sitting there too, waiting for its turn.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

My favorite scenes to write are, again, the combat ones – especially when the enemy is half-seen or completely unknown. In 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol, the first that comes to mind is the underwater battle between the USS Scorpion and an unidentified submarine. I loved the tension of that encounter: almost nothing is visible, everything depends on sound, instinct, and training, and a single wrong interpretation of the acoustic picture can mean the end of the crew. I also really enjoyed writing the confrontation between the X-15 and the Haunebu craft. Putting a real, experimental rocket plane up against a supposedly impossible piece of technology was irresistible. The X-15 scene combines brutal, realistic flight physics with something that feels almost supernatural, and that clash – between what we know is possible and what maybe shouldn’t exist at all – is at the heart of this book. Finally, there is the Valkyrie attack itself, which is one of the key climactic moments of the story. It brings together everything I like most: high speed, extreme altitude, enormous stakes, and the feeling that a single mission can change the course of history. Writing that scene felt like letting all the tension built up through the book finally explode in one desperate, all-or-nothing strike.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I don’t really have any lucky objects on my desk or special writing rituals. What I have instead is a slightly dangerous way of treating inspiration. When it shows up, it doesn’t matter if it’s 2 a.m. or the middle of a busy day – everything else goes on hold, and I sit down to write until I’m completely spent. So my only real “quirk” is that the story dictates the timetable. If a scene starts playing in my head, I follow it, no matter what the clock or calendar says. Sleep, emails, and common sense can wait; the ideas usually can’t.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

I’d say I live by two ideas. First: “Don’t follow the rules – make them.” I’ve never been particularly interested in fitting my life, my career, or my stories into someone else’s pattern. Second: “You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” For me, writing is the best proof of that. It’s never “too late” to start a book, a series, or a completely new chapter in life – unless you decide to believe it is.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

If I could choose one thing for readers to remember after finishing 1966 – Valkyrie Protocol, it would be the feeling that history is never as simple and clean as it looks in textbooks. I hope they carry with them the sense that there are always shadows, hidden decisions, and invisible battles behind the official narrative — and that ordinary people in cockpits, submarines, and control rooms are the ones who bear the real weight of those secrets. And, on a more visceral level, I’d be very happy if they still felt the adrenaline of the key missions: the underwater duel, the X-15 flight, the Valkyrie attack — as if they had been strapped into the cockpit or standing in the control room themselves.