Gav Thorpe's Blog, page 11

Valerius (A Horus Heresy Audio Story) – Out Today

Behind door 16 on Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, is my Horus Heresy audio short story, Valerius.

READ IT BECAUSE: The slow-burn storyline of Marcus Valerius and his faith in the nascent Imperial creed continues… and it looks a lot like it may be reaching an unpleasant and blood-soaked conclusion.

“Though he knows such beliefs are forbidden, Vice-Caesari Marcus Valerius of the Therion Cohort is willing to lay down his life in service to the immortal God-Emperor, for the good of all mankind. Sent by Corax to the great slaughter at Beta-Garmon, every last one of the Imperial Army soldiers under his command knows that the end is nigh – but can Valerius’ holy visions guide them to one final victory over the hordes of the hated Arch-traitor?”

Performed by Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Ian Brooker, Cliff Chapman, Steve Conlin, Saul Reichlin,Toby Longworth and Luis Soto.

Buy Valerius

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Azrael Artwork – Interview with Akim Kaliberda

To celebrate the Limited Edition release of Azrael, I asked the cover artist Akim Kaliberda a few questions about his art for Black Library.

Akim has asked for his English to be excused – it’s much better than my Russian!

You can find more of Akim’s work over on the ArtStation website: www.artstation.com/artist/ape.

I’m sure a lot of artists would like to know how you came to be working with Games Workshop. Did you approach them, send a portfolio, or did their art team contact you?

Of course, I wrote to them first. I’m not so good that Games Workshop would have written to me. It happened two years ago. My friend, Aleksey Bayura found an ad that GW were looking for artists and offered to try to make a test brief. In November 2014 I wrote them a letter, in which was a link to my portfolio, and a few words about me. I failed the first time, but fortunately GW gave me a second chance, and at the second attempt I managed it. You would know how glad I was! At that time, I had worked in the CG industry for only a year, and I could not imagine that I would work for such a large and cool company like GW.

Did you have prior knowledge of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 or was it all new? Are you or have you been a gamer?

When I started working, my knowledge of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universe were superficial. I was a fan of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, so all my knowledge of the universe was based on this game. Now, I try to fill in the gaps. This summer I read Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett, and discovered a lot of interesting details, which can be used while working on the illustrations. Books are very useful in this sense.

I love to play computer games! Sometimes I think I should play less. But I love to play so much! By the way, I’m looking forward to the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3.

You’ve drawn for both 40K and Age of Sigmar. Are there any differences in the way you go about illustrating the two settings – colour palettes, themes, etc?

Yes, there is definitely a difference, but I think that it is not essential. I don’t have a particular or a different approach to drawing these universes. Compositional decision is based on the story. Choosing a palette and a gamma largely depends on who I paint, whether it be Nurgle against Stormcasts or Adeptus Mechanicus against Chaos Space Marines. All pretty prosaic.

Were there any particular challenges painting the Dark Angels piece that has been used for the cover of Azrael?

There are always difficulties in drawing. It’s rare when the illustration is easy. I’m constantly searching for the right tools which will convey the atmosphere, the dynamics and the story of what is happening in the illustrations. In this case, while drawing Azrael, I was faced with two problems – lighting and dynamics. I hope I have dealt with them well.

What’s your favourite part about painting in the worlds of 40K and Warhammer?

I like both of these universes, but still I give my preference to Warhammer 40,000. I get a lot more fun when I draw Warhammer 40,000. Firstly I like the visual component of the universe. Secondly I really like the feeling of hopelessness and endless war. The gloomy atmosphere mixed with epic and heroic characters. And third is the universe is filled with an enormous amount of detail, and I love details!

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Akim!

Here’s some more of Akim’s artwork:

You can find more of Akim’s work over on the ArtStation website: www.artstation.com/artist/ape.

If you have enjoyed this interview, you might also like to read my other interviews with cover artists Neil Roberts, Victor Manuel Leza, and Mike “Daarken” Lim.

Buy Azrael

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Azrael – Author’s Notes

I had a particular challenge facing me when it came to writing Azrael. Frankly, I’ve written a lot of Dark Angels recently, with the Legacy of Caliban trilogy and Horus Heresy, and I was struggling to find an angle. The Hunt for the Fallen? Kinda important, but really the backbone of Legacy of Caliban and thoroughly explored already. Also, there was a whole bunch of stuff involving Azrael and the Dark Angels in the ‘current timeline’ of 40K, with them feuding with the Space Wolves in Warzone Fenris and all kinds of hi-jinks that I didn’t have the time or inclination to do all that reading.

So rather than the present I looked to the past for some inspiration.

A few years ago I was commissioned by Games Workshop to write expanded background for the various Dark Angels special characters in the Warhammer 40,000 game. This was good fun as I got to write a whole load of backstory for Asmodai, Ezekiel, Sammael, Belial, and of course, Azrael himself. Doing so impressed upon me the idea that Azrael is the archetypical Dark Angel in that he puts the Chapter above everything else. This is summed up in the quote with which I begin the book:

“Forget your past life. From this day on you are simply a Dark Angel – nothing else is of consequence. The Chapter is all that matters.”

The origins of Azrael’s life are shrouded in mystery, as is his ascent to the pinnacle of the Unforgiven chapters. In Legacy of Caliban I looked at events that pushed Azrael’s loyalties and understanding to the limit at the summit of his relationship with the Dark Angels, so in the titular volume it made sense to look at the other end of the timeline, back to when he first assumed those duties.

So it is that Azrael looks at the period when he took over from Supreme Grand Master Naberius. We begin at the very moment Azrael learns of Naberius’s death. Faced with an ongoing campaign against traitorous forces, as Grand Master of the Deathwing he is thrust into command in the least opportune of circumstances.

Azrael Painted Mini

Through this we glance back at the formative episodes of his prior life, the moments that raised him above his peers to put him on the trajectory to greatness. Picking up references I put into the expanded background, it was rewarding to further flesh out his life story.

I started writing and finished what you might call the first act, completing the establishment of Azrael and the basics of his goals and challenges. And it was there that my big revelation came. I’d allowed myself to become boxed in by my previous work, letting the style of it dictate my thought processes. Though I had a different take on when the story was set, I was still approaching it the same way as the others. I needed to go big and bold in a new direction. I’ll be discussing this feature and freedom of 40K stories in more detail in a forthcoming writing advice post.

So it is that the story for most of Azrael isn’t a sci-fi adventure, but more of an Arthurian quest fantasy. The character of Azrael and the nature of the Dark Angels has always drawn from that mythology, so I went full-on, charting his mythical as well as physical journey to become the leader of the Dark Angels. To be the inheritor of the Lion requires more than simply strategic acumen and a good sword-arm.

This included apportioning the role of Merlin to Chief Librarian Ezekiel, whose attitude to Azrael is somewhat different to what we have seen in stories set in later times. It is not an easy alliance at times. I also had a blast with the Watchers in the Dark, building on what I have written about them in both 40K and the Horus Heresy. All of which culminates in a strange alliance and a quest into an evil wizard’s castle. Well, sort of…

I don’t want to give too much away, but I had great fun taking this angle with the story and it took me to places I might not have gone if I had thought along more traditional science fiction storylines. I hope you enjoy it too.

Keep an eye on my blog this week for more Azrael related posts, including an interview with cover artist Akim Kaliberda, and you can check out all there is to know over on my Azrael page.

Buy Azrael

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Azrael Limited Edition – Out Today

Today sees the official release of my limited edition Azrael novel, part of the Space Marine Legends collection. Last time I checked the Black Library website, there were fewer than 400 copies left, so you might need to hurry to ensure you get a copy.

Keep an eye on my website this week as I’ll be publishing my Author’s Notes, an interview with the cover artist Akim Kaliberda, and a post about how to avoid writing ‘typical’ 40K fiction.

You can read an extract over on the Black Library website.

What’s special about the limited edition?

* 192-page hardback novel encased in magnetic presentation box

* Box artwork depicts Azrael and includes soft-touch lamination, spot UV and a lavish ribbon

* Novel includes soft-touch cover and marker ribbon

* Individually numbered from a limited edition run of 1,000

A lavish ribbon no-less…

Buy Azrael

I answered a few questions about Azrael, for the latest edition of White Dwarf:

Buy Azrael

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Interview with Warhammer TV – November 2016

Warhammer TV was at Black Library Live! 2016 to interview authors about their recent works.

Here you can watch the full recording, where we discuss Azrael, the Legacy of Caliban, Warbeast, and Corax and I answer listener questions – my interview starts at 02:14.

Watch live video from on www.twitch.tv

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Latest Book Releases – All About The Heresy

In case you missed the announcement, Angels of Caliban is now available to buy in paperback, along with the French and German translations of the Horus Heresy anthology War Without End (which contains my short story By The Lion’s Command).

Angels of Caliban

“With the Dark Angels spread across a hundred systems, primarch Lion El’Jonson stands as Lord Protector of Ultramar – though his true motives are known to few indeed, and old rivalries on the home world threaten to tear the Legion in half. But when word comes of the Night Lords’ attack on Sotha, the Lion’s brutal actions bring Imperium Secundus once again to the brink of civil war. Not even the most fearsome warriors of the Dreadwing, nor any arcane secret of the Order, can guarantee victory if he sets himself against his loyal brothers.”

If you haven’t delved into it yet, there’s a whole stack of related blog posts on my Angels of Caliban page, including my Author’s Notes, the Story So Far, and an interview with cover artist Neil Roberts, amongst much else.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1784963484

Buy Angels of Caliban

La Guerre Eternelle (War Without End)

“La vision de L’Empereur pour l’humanité a été réduite en lambeaux, et la Grande Croisade n’est plus qu’un lointain souvenir. Et alors que les flammes de la rébellion d’Horus se répandent au travers de la galaxie et que la guerre engloutit chaque jour de nouveaux systèmes planétaires, certains osent poser la question qui brûle tant de lèvres : les signes n’étaient-ils pas visibles depuis le début? L’époque est sombre, et une seule chose est certaine : la galaxie ne sera plus jamais en paix, ni dans cette vie ni dans les mille à venir…”

ISBN: 978-1780303260

Buy La Guerre Eternelle

Der Endlose Krieg (War Without End)

“Die Vision des Imperators für die Menschheit liegt in Trümmern. Der Große Kreuzzug ist nur noch eine verblassende Erinnerung. Der Traum von Einigkeit ist vorüber. Während Horus’ Rebellion jeden Winkel des Imperiums erfasst und beinahe täglich neue Welten und Systeme im Krieg versinken, gibt es einige, die fragen: Waren die Anzeichen die ganze Zeit da? Nur eines ist in diesen dunklen Zeiten sicher – die Galaxis wird nie wieder Frieden finden, weder in diesem Leben noch in tausend anderen.”

ISBN: 978-1781932131

Buy Der Endlose Krieg

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Space Hulk: Deathwing Competition Winners

The results of my Space Hulk: Deathwing competition are in and it seems that the majority of you (76%) think that #thelionisloyal, with only 24% of you believing #thelionisatraitor (and a small handful who think both). The full stats across each competition are:

Newsletter (76% Loyal / 24% Traitor)

Blog (79% Loyal / 21% Traitor)

Facebook (75% Loyal / 25% Traitor)

Twitter (75% Loyal / 25% Traitor)

My personal view is that catch-all terms like loyalist and traitor are far too simplistic to convey the nuances of allegiances, loyalties and honour any person holds. The Lion in particular holds to a set of ideals that puts him above a simple divide, cleaving to a higher sense of purpose than simply fighting for or against the Imperium. (Ironically, in much the same way Astelan believes himself a direct servant of the Emperor rather than the Imperium).

I am also certain that far too many of you are convinced he is loyal, I’m clearly not doing enough to muddy the waters. What do I need to do, write him shooting Malcador in the face or something?

There were some very witty and clever responses to the competition – here are some of my favourites:

William Vestman Malmi – #thelionisloyal. Anything else would be heresy. And you don’t want heresy. Do you?

Ravenwild – #thelionisloyal he’s just not very good at reading people, happens when you grow up on your own in a horror filled forest.

Gregg Lewis-Qualls – #TheLionIsLoyal of course, I’m still not clear if #TheLionIsAlive or #TheLionIsDead

David Earle – #thelionisloyal #butstillagit

Efty Intunecatu – #thelionisloyal , but kind of a douche…

Simon Catterall – #thelionisloyal but a cunning bastard.

Despite the majority of entries declaring #thelionisloyal, it is possible the Emperor is trying to send us a coded message, as the random result generator I used to pick the winners has chosen three winners who declared #thelionisatraitor! But of course you all want to know who those winners are. So without further ado they are:

Newsletter Winner: Max Blanton (#thelionisloyal) and you also win a signed paperback of Angels of Caliban

Blog Winner: Mike Cook (#thelionisatraitor)

Facebook Winner: Shawn O’Leary (#thelionisatraitor)

Twitter Winner: @TheEmpir3 (#thelionisatraitor)

We’ll be in touch with all the winners shortly.

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition, I look forward to purging the xenos with you online soon!

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Amazon Kindle Meets Black Library!

The big news this week (apart from tomorrow’s Space Hulk: Deathwing competition winner announcement) is that you can now get Black Library eBooks on the Amazon Kindle store. Bestsellers are available now, with the intention to add the rest of the back catalogue over time. I know this is something people have wanted to see for some time, so hopefully it will come as welcome news.

You can see all of my currently available Kindle titles here, which also includes non Black Library works such as The Crown of the Blood, and The Story of Hau’Rax.

Buy My eBooks on Amazon

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Black Library Live & Sledge-Lit

Representation of my security personnel when I arrive for a public engagement.

Well that’s it for another year – all my public appearances are done and dusted for 2016.

Thank you to everyone who came to say hello at Black Library Live! and Sledge-Lit, or any of the other events that I’ve attended this year. As I’ve said before, being an author is a solitary business, so getting to speak to my readers in person is a really important part of my writing process (and mental health!)

Black Library Live!

There has been a hiatus of Black Library events for the past year, so it was a pleasure to be invited to the resumption of the Black Library Live event at Warhammer World. The organisers like to work us authors hard for the day – you can see my packed schedule here and a very busy day it was, but thoroughly enjoyable. I found the audio seminar particularly fun, a real step up from such presentations in the past with the presence of BL’s in-house audio producer Matthew Renshaw on hand to share out-takes and provide a brilliant insight into the words-to-audio process. I also appeared on Warhammer TV, for a half hour interview that starts at the 02.14 mark of their coverage for the day.

In case you missed it, it was announced at Black Library Live! that the Black Library Weekender will be returning in November 2017. Details are scarce at this point, so you’ll have to do the same as me and keep every weekend in November free until we find out more! And finally, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the Horus Heresy Weekender in February – I shall be attending on the 5th.

Black Library Live audience, looking as beautiful as ever.

Sledge-Lit

Sledge-Lit is the festive sister to the Derby Quad’s Edge-Lit convention, and includes workshops, panels, and book launches for the science-fiction, fantasy and horror genres. It’s a lovely little convention aimed at both readers and writers, in a really intimate space at the Quad, which means you can get up-close-and-personal with the attending authors and publishers. If you are a local aspiring author, I would heartily recommend attending, especially if you’ve never attended an event like this before, as it’s very welcoming.

Yesterday I was on a panel entitled “I stand alone – Will fantasy ever stray away from the series?”. After being blindsided by a question of what each panelist’s favourite series and standalone book are (I don’t do favourites and went for memorable instead – Chronicles of an Age of darkness by Hugh Cook, and On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, respectively), a broad discussion ensued regarding the merits, both commercial and artistic of each approach. No world-shattering conclusions were drawn, other than a general admittance that readers (and therefore publishers and editors / agents) tend to prefer a narrative series than standalone books, but with the happy medium of a series that is made up of standalone novels (such as the Discworld books or David Gemmell’s Drenai saga). On a personal note, I simply don’t have the time lately to dedicate to reading a story that is going to take six volumes to finish – I can barely fit in a whole TV series these days!

Me and Mark Latham (always great to catch up with fellow authors at these events)

I said above that it’s a ‘little’ convention, but yesterday it was announced that the 2017 David Gemmell awards will be held at next year’s Edge-Lit, and along with Stephen Baxter and Joanne Harris confirmed as guests of honour, it looks like it will be the best Edge-Lit yet. I’ve had an idea percolating through my brain for my next writing workshop, so if I can find time to pitch it to the organisers, I’m hoping to deliver it at next year’s event. Tickets for the 15th July 2017 are available now.

As an aside, fellow wrestling fan Alex Davis, who arranges Edge-Lit in his role as Literature Officer at the Quad (and who arranged this year’s FantasyCon), provides some very reasonably priced services for writers. As well as copy-editing and proofreading, he can also give feedback on a particular piece of writing, or provide a mentoring service to those needing help navigating the world of publishing. You can find more details here: AD Services for Writers. I haven’t used Alex’s services personally, however he did a great job editing my stories for the Reality Bites, We Can Improve You, and Nice Day For A Picnic anthologies, and he is a really genuine guy who has a great deal of experience helping others with their writing. And no, I’m not on commission!

**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**

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November 2016 – Q&A

This is a compilation of questions that have been emailed and messaged to me recently.

If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).

I’ve been posting Q&As for a few months now, so if you’ve found this one interesting, you can look back at previous Q&As here.

On Facebook Andrew asked: Would you ever consider writing a book on how to write a book?

I am considering collating my best writing advice posts into a self-published book – maybe next year – but I have no idea if there would be any interest beyond my own satisfaction! [if anyone has any thoughts / feedback on this idea, please let me know in the comments]

Connor replied to the newsletter (in reference to this submissions opportunity I mentioned in the newsletter): Thank you for giving us information on the submission window. However I was just wondering if you have any tips for writing space opera, since I’ve never heard of it before now.

I wouldn’t be too concerned about the badge ‘space opera’ – it really means sci-fi that is about space-faring, colonised worlds, interstellar travel, possibly with aliens; rather than something set on Earth, near-future, small scale. So big on ideas, adventure, world-building. It could be ‘hard’ and realistic or more toward the fantastical but it should be a world-hopping story.

Alberto asked on Facebook: Hey Gav, was working on the story on a game like Deathwing a new experience to you? Is it any different than working on a novel?

Working on Deathwing was not quite new, as I helped script the Mark of Chaos video game so I have seen how the process works before. With Mark of Chaos, I was involved from the inception of the story, though there were lots of decisions to be made as the game came into being and various parts of the plot were changed or cut to accommodate the evolving gameplay. On Deathwing much of the game structure and plot, and characters, were already in place when I was brought on board so most of my work was taking what was there and weaving a suitable tale around those resources.

Novels can be a bit of both. Some, like the Legacy of Caliban books, are pretty much all my story, though they use characters from the game, obviously. Others, like The Beast Arises and Horus Heresy, have some of those elements dictated by the ongoing series. When we get to something like Curse of Khaine, the narrative was wholly set out by the Games Workshop background material.

The other major difference is that video games work is more like audio – mostly dialogue and script-work rather than novel prose.

Arron emailed me with: With that being said, as Black Library and its respective Authors are on a roll with the Horus Heresy Primarchs series, I was just wondering/ hoping/ praying that you will be the Author to write on behalf of Corax’s story. As I believe no other Author would do Corax justice especially after all of the work you have put into him and his legion. I understand if you’re not allowed to confirm this as truth, but perhaps just a slight wink?

Thanks for those kind words, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my work on Corax and I’ve had a good time developing the story of the Raven Guard. I think there are many more great stories we can tell from the history of the Legion, including Gate Forty-two, but at the moment I am leaving that to others. Having written quite a lot about Corax and the Lion I am of a mind that other authors should have a chance to write about them. Not only will this bring fresh ideas to these characters it gives me time to work on other Primarchs! In fact, I am currently writing ‘Lorgar – Bearer of the Word’.

Danny replied to the newsletter: Thanks for the newsletter it provides great insight.

Do you know if Black library are planning to release The Thirteenth Wolf as a novella? I have always been fascinated by the 13th company and think it would look great in my novel collection or will I have to start an audio drama collection as well.

I think you should try the audios, they really are a different experience to reading, making great use of voice actors and sound fx to bring the stories to life. With that said, I expect to see The Thirteenth Wolf appear in print at some point – audios of that length are equivalent to a 10,000 word short story so maybe in an anthology. That might be quite some time away though.

Thibault asked: Bravo for Angels of Caliban, I liked it immensely. It is is really a good and rich book that provides interesting bits of insight about the past of the Legion. I hope you will be the author of the Lion Primarch book. If you are, could you please avoid writing half of the book about what happens on Caliban at the same time? These irredeemable traitors take too much space in the Dark Angels books. Meanwhile, we hardly get to know the Legion and the Primarch. On the loyal side, no characters are really developed. It is all for the traitors.

I am currently not planning to write the Lion for the Primarchs series (nor Corax) as I would like to take a break and tackle one or two others instead – I’ve already written a lot about them and it’s time to give somewhere else the opportunity to provide a different approach.

However, I think it’s important to remember that what happened on Caliban was a direct response to the Lion and his personality, and through exploring the relationships and affect he had on Luther, Zahariel and Astelan we see a different side of him and his Legion.

I also disagree that those on the Lion’s side of the story have not been developed. The Lion himself has had plenty of ‘page time’ as well as the emergence of Paladin Corswain, and characters have been further explored in Angels of Caliban such as Farith Redloss and Holguin.

Dave asked on the blog: I bought the audio [The Thirteenth Wolf] the moment I saw it and love it. You say above [in this blog post] the storm contained the 13th company and state there are 50 marines. Are you saying the 13th were a very small great company? I can understand this given they were initially considered too old to become space marines and many would have died undergoing the process.

Hi, thanks for buying the audio. I don’t think a single Stormbird would carry the entirety of the company, just the ‘Old Guard’, Bulveye’s veteran cadre.

If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).

**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**

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