Artifact Vault

two faced

Two Faced began in 2013 while I was in grad school for writing. I had this idea for a shadowy, behind-the-scenes god making a play to bring magic back to the world. A character modeled a bit after Nick Fury. My cohort hated the first few chapters I created. I struggled with it, but I couldn't abandon it.

I'd was heavily influenced by writers like Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, people who were taking myths and folklore and weaving it all together into these modern day epics. So over the summer, I deep dove into the character of this shadowy figure and he moved into the light and became Janos.

I'm a fan of a good anti-hero. The idea of this cranky, put-upon god trying to save the world charmed me. The more I got to know him and the boundaries he crossed, the more my world fleshed out. Pillar of Heaven may have started nearly two decades ago, but the world wasn't firm until I wrote Two Faced. And as I fleshed it out, it felt like a natural progression to connect them. So you will see characters from Two Faced in The Second Pillar and moving throughout the rest of the Pillar series.

Image of the book Pillar of Heaven on a wooden bedside table.

Two faced playlist

THE cast

If I had my way, this is who'd be cast in a movie of Two Faced.

Janos

Played by Oscar Isaac. The man has chops but, honestly, I'm in love with the beard he sported for Dune. As an actor that can deliver the full range of a complicated character, he'd be perfect for Janos.

Daniel levin

I really like Andrew Garfield and there's something about his gawky, adorableness in Spider-Man that translates to Daniel Levin's unsure cuteness. Plus, he's got the right level of snarky to keep Janos on his toes.

holly Fairchild

Tati Gabrielle is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful women ever. But she portrays this sense of being capable at handling whatever is happening that comes with Holly's character.

zeda

Ian McKellan has already played a Holocaust survivor but there's no one better to play the desperate to redeem himself Zeda.

mercury

Physically, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not fit the character of Mercury at all. No blonde curls for one. But looks aren't everything and Joseph possesses that perfect mix of mischievous and self-assured, serious and mocking that this role needs.

styx

Conveniently, this photo already shows Rachel Weisz in a semi-Roman goddess outfit. I think she's a timeless beauty that would bring the soft sadness that Styx has to the role.

prometheus

Man, the eyebrows on Will Poulter are everything! This guy carries a bit of menace to him and think he can nail that frenzied energy that Prometheus has in the story.

orobas

In my humble opinion, Doug Jones is a way under-rated monster actor. For the demon Orobas, whether its body work or voice work, I want him at the helm.

judgment

Honestly, one of my favorite traits of Michael Fassbender is how many languages he speaks. That aside, we've seen him in enough roles to know he can pull off the judgy, angry, tortured role of Judgment.