Gav Thorpe's Blog, page 43

Keeping Your Head Down

Sometimes the best thing to do as a writer is to focus on the writing… Okay, perhaps not a revelation, but a truth that can easily be forgotten in the world of forums and Twitter, interviews and Facebook. Concentrating on writing is what I've been doing lately, hence the somewhat sparse content here of late.

It's not just about hitting deadlines. Maintaining focus makes the writing process run more smoothly overall. If your head is somewhere else – like thinking about that review or worrying that someone on the internet has said something you don't agree with – then it isn't in the story and characters.

After two months of slaving away to get back on schedule (and keep the bank off my back) the last few weeks have been a joy. I've agreed a reasonable deadline for Path of the Seer, and I've been (pretty much) keeping to my weekly targets. Writing a few hours a day is a lot more comfortable than writing all day, and evenings, and weekends!

The other lesson learnt recently (again) is that whatever shortcuts you take early on come back to bite you later. Usually it'll take me two or three days to do a rewrite on a novel. I banged through the first draft of Caledor so quickly, it took a whole week of rewrites to straighten in out. Similarly, there are several scenes in Path of the Seer that overlap with Path of the Warrior (only they will be from Thirianna's point of view, not Korlandril's). To start things off, I copied those scenes into the draft for Path of the Seer, which made the word count look healthy. However, these words in the hand weren't worth two in the bush. I rewrote one of the scenes yesterday, for example, and after three hours of work I had 300 words less than when I had started! Editing and rewriting in this way is just as time-consuming (if not more so) than doing it from scratch.

Still, the novel is well on track for the midway point next week, and I'm keeping to my (for me) leisurely schedule of 20,000 words a week after that. Following a brief period of time off (to play Call of Duty: Black Ops, gotta get my priorities right ) I'll be instituting a change of regime. My old PC was so tired and worn out I had given up in it and have written the last three books on the laptop, sat on my sofa. It has been nice to find out that I can write while not sat at my desk, but with the purchase of a new PC, I will be returning to my little room upstairs and a more organised approach. Keeping work space and living space separate is important to me and the two have blurred over recent months.

In September, being a writer was painful. Last month it's been bliss.

For those interested in the gaming side of things, you may be pleased to find out that I've been working on a new ruleset. No details to announce yet, but I've found it immensely enjoyable to get back to the world of D6s and to hit rolls. I have another rules project that's been on the go for quite some time too, which will hopefully be brought into the light at some point in the future. I've gone from being a games designer who wrote novels in his spare time to a novelist who writes rules in his spare time.

Now if I could find a bit more time to paint up toy soldiers…

 

Khaine-tastic!

As I promised on Facebook, here are a few sneaky peaks at The Bloody-handed, my forthcoming limited edition novella for The Sundering. It takes a closer look at Hellebron's early days in the cult of the Lord of Murder, and is packed with some really cool illustrations too.

The Bloody-handed

1,000 hand-signed copies

Character portraits (This is Alandrian)

Filled with spot illustrations

Introspections pt III

More Eldary thoughts.

From Xhalax:

"Dear. Mr Thorpe.

Are Harlequins trapped on a Path like the Exarchs are?

Thanks."

The short answer is no. The long answer gives away too many of my ideas about Harlequins that I have vowed never to reveal in full. Here is the medium answer…

In the time leading up to, during and following the Fall, the Eldar society as it had been was fragmented. There were four different responses to the creation of Slaanesh and the potential doom of the Eldar, leading to the emergence of four different Eldar sub-societies.

Let's deal with the Exodites first. They saw something of the cataclysm to come and decided to try to wind back time. They left for the Maiden Worlds and retrenched their lives in a culture that existed (or they believed to have existed) before the descent into hedonism that led to the Fall. Their attitude harks back in time, trying to reverse the state of the Eldar. The spirits of their dead are locked up in the World Spirit of each Maiden World, forever protected from Slaanesh but divorced from reality, unable to truly die.

Then we have the Craftworld Eldar. They fled at the time of the Fall, and through the creation and adoption of the Eldar path, they seek to maintain the status quo, suppressing the cultural and personal factors that led to the Fall. They are in stasis, neither going back nor going forward. Their spirits end up in the infinity circuit of each Craftworld, neither dead nor alive, trapped for eternity but able to be given the semblance of life again in spirit stones.

Next are the Dark Eldar. I don't know what new information and revelations may be in the forthcoming codex, but here's where we were the last time I talked to anyone else about this sort of thing. The Dark Eldar strive to maintain the society of the Eldar as it was at the time of the Fall, ignoring the lesson of the past but unable to move forward. They live entirely in the present, hand-to-mouth in a psychic sense, sustaining their existence on a day-by-day basis. Their spirits are drained and replenished in an unending cycle.

Which brings us to the Harlequins. They see themselves as the future of the Eldar. They look upon the other Eldar societies and see that all of them are simply trying to survive rather than change. They are the true radicals of the Eldar, and they have a plan so audacious it fills other Eldar with horror. Their plan, their existence, stems from the myth of the Laughing God. This myth tells us that the Laughing God, Cegorach, eluded Slaanesh's grasp and survives to this day. He is the only god to have properly survived the Fall according to the Harlequins, and in this lies their secret.

The myth goes on to say that every now and then Cegorach steals the soul of an Eldar from under the nose of Slaanesh, spiriting it away to safety (possibly whilst dancing, that's Harlequins for you). They believe that in the long term, the only way to defeat Slaanesh is to break the link between the Eldar and She Who Thirsts. The Harlequins see themselves as those saved by the Laughing God, and in performing their masques, and in particular the Dance Without End, seek to show the other Eldar that the Fall cannot be turned back, it cannot be ignored, it cannot be appeased. The future of the Eldar depends upon being able to live in freedom from Slaanesh's grip, and the only way to do that is to be rescued by the Laughing God.  Their spirits…? Their spirits are saved by Cegorach, free to live and die without the touch of Slaanesh.

Introspections III

More Eldary thoughts.

From Xhalax:

"Dear. Mr Thorpe.

Are Harlequins trapped on a Path like the Exarchs are?

Thanks."

The short answer is no. The long answer gives away too many of my ideas about Harlequins that I have vowed never to reveal in full. Here is the medium answer…

In the time leading up to, during and following the Fall, the Eldar society as it had been was fragmented. There were four different responses to the creation of Slaanesh and the potential doom of the Eldar, leading to the emergence of four different Eldar sub-societies.

Let's deal with the Exodites first. They saw something of the cataclysm to come and decided to try to wind back time. They left for the Maiden Worlds and retrenched their lives in a culture that existed (or they believed to have existed) before the descent into hedonism that led to the Fall. Their attitude harks back in time, trying to reverse the state of the Eldar. The spirits of their dead are locked up in the World Spirit of each Maiden World, forever protected from Slaanesh but divorced from reality, unable to truly die.

Then we have the Craftworld Eldar. They fled at the time of the Fall, and through the creation and adoption of the Eldar path, they seek to maintain the status quo, suppressing the cultural and personal factors that led to the Fall. They are in stasis, neither going back nor going forward. Their spirits end up in the infinity circuit of each Craftworld, neither dead nor alive, trapped for eternity but able to be given the semblance of life again in spirit stones.

Next are the Dark Eldar. I don't know what new information and revelations may be in the forthcoming codex, but here's where we were the last time I talked to anyone else about this sort of thing. The Dark Eldar strive to maintain the society of the Eldar as it was at the time of the Fall, ignoring the lesson of the past but unable to move forward. They live entirely in the present, hand-to-mouth in a psychic sense, sustaining their existence on a day-by-day basis. Their spirits are drained and replenished in an unending cycle.

Which brings us to the Harlequins. They see themselves as the future of the Eldar. They look upon the other Eldar societies and see that all of them are simply trying to survive rather than change. They are the true radicals of the Eldar, and they have a plan so audacious it fills other Eldar with horror. Their plan, their existence, stems from the myth of the Laughing God. This myth tells us that the Laughing God, Cegorach, eluded Slaanesh's grasp and survives to this day. He is the only god to have properly survived the Fall according to the Harlequins, and in this lies their secret.

The myth goes on to say that every now and then Cegorach steals the soul of an Eldar from under the nose of Slaanesh, spiriting it away to safety

Introspections III

More Eldary thoughts.

From Xhalax:

"Dear. Mr Thorpe.

Are Harlequins trapped on a Path like the Exarchs are?

Thanks."

The short answer is no. The long answer gives away too many of my ideas about Harlequins that I have vowed never to reveal in full. Here is the medium answer…

In the time leading up to, during and following the Fall, the Eldar society as it had been was fragmented. There were four different responses to the creation of Slaanesh and the potential doom of the Eldar, leading to the emergence of four different Eldar sub-societies.

Let's deal with the Exodites first. They saw something of the cataclysm to come and decided to try to wind back time. They left for the Maiden Worlds and retrenched their lives in a culture that existed (or they believed to have existed) before the descent into hedonism that led to the Fall. Their attitude harks back in time, trying to reverse the state of the Eldar. The spirits of their dead are locked up in the World Spirit of each Maiden World, forever protected from Slaanesh but divorced from reality, unable to truly die.

Then we have the Craftworld Eldar. They fled at the time of the Fall, and through the creation and adoption of the Eldar path, they seek to maintain the status quo, suppressing the cultural and personal factors that led to the Fall. They are in stasis, neither going back nor going forward. Their spirits end up in the infinity circuit of each Craftworld, neither dead nor alive, trapped for eternity but able to be given the semblance of life again in spirit stones.

Next are the Dark Eldar. I don't know what new information and revelations may be in the forthcoming codex, but here's where we were the last time I talked to anyone else about this sort of thing. The Dark Eldar strive to maintain the society of the Eldar as it was at the time of the Fall, ignoring the lesson of the past but unable to move forward. They live entirely in the present, hand-to-mouth in a psychic sense, sustaining their existence on a day-by-day basis. Their spirits are drained and replenished in an unending cycle.

Which brings us to the Harlequins. They see themselves as the future of the Eldar. They look upon the other Eldar societies and see that all of them are simply trying to survive rather than change. They are the true radicals of the Eldar, and they have a plan so audacious it fills other Eldar with horror. Their plan, their existence, stems from the myth of the Laughing God. This myth tells us that the Laughing God, Cegorach, eluded Slaanesh's grasp and survives to this day. He is the only god to have properly survived the Fall according to the Harlequins, and in this lies their secret.

The myth goes on to say that every now and then Cegorach steals the soul of an Eldar from under the nose of Slaanesh, spiriting it away to safety (possibly whilst dancing, that's Harlequins for you). They believe that in the long term, the only way to defeat Slaanesh is to break the link between the Eldar and She Who Thirsts. The Harlequins see themselves as those saved by the Laughing God, and in performing their masques, and in particular the Dance Without End, seek to show the other Eldar that the Fall cannot be turned back, it cannot be ignored, it cannot be appeased. The future of the Eldar depends upon being able to live in freedom from Slaanesh's grip, and the only way to do that is to be rescued by the Laughing God.  Their spirits…? Their spirits are saved by Cegorach, free to live and die without the touch of Slaanesh.

(possibly whilst dancing, that's Harlequins for you). They believe that in the long term, the only way to defeat Slaanesh is to break the link between the Eldar and She Who Thirsts. The Harlequins see themselves as those saved by the Laughing God, and in performing their masques, and in particular the Dance Without End, seek to show the other Eldar that the Fall cannot be turned back, it cannot be ignored, it cannot be appeased. The future of the Eldar depends upon being able to live in freedom from Slaanesh's grip, and the only way to do that is to be rescued by the Laughing God.  Their spirits…? Their spirits are saved by Cegorach, free to live and die without the touch of Slaanesh.

Introspections Pt II

Another from Xisor:

"What do you feel was your biggest 'this might not make it' idea that made it to the final cut? (Were there any such ideas which didn't?)"

The answer to both questions is the same – Eldar gender-bending… For a long time I dabbled with the idea of having a prominent character who was a male member of the female Howling Banshees. I initially wanted to examine the somewhat fluid nature of Eldar gender and their attitude towards male and female roles and characteristics. In the end I abandoned it because it was too much to get across for a secondary character and would have been more confusing than enlightening; and it simply would have been too much to use such a character as the protagonist for the majority of the BL readership. I did, however, make a very small nod to this by having a female Exarch as the 'Young King'; something that did cause some discussion with the editors but was eventually kept with a more explicit mention that the title was a non-gender honorific.

From LordLucan

"I liked the myth which hinted that exarchs were once the footsoldiers of Khaine against the normal eldar of Eldanesh. It could be taken as a metaphor or as a veiled reference to perhaps an actual civil war within the war in heaven. Was this a deliberate move on your part Gav?"

I like to muddy the waters when I can, and one thing that has bugged me a bit about a lot of the War in Heaven stuff is the mutation into part of the C'tan/ Necron background. Obviously such a monumental event would be featured in the Eldar mythology, but I wanted the myths to be a real mosaic of different things, not just a poetic record of a single period or event.

This is why some of the myths are deliberately contradictory to some of those already published in the background. A lot of the pantheistic mythologies started out as a real grab-bag of tales and beliefs, and even after a lot of recording and rationalisation they are far from consistent.

For me the War in Heaven is the Eldar take on the expulsion from paradise. At some stage, even before the Fall, the idyllic existence of the Eldar was torn apart by a cataclysmic event. The fact that Khaine, the embodiment of violence within the Eldar themselves, is at the root of this suggests to me a civil war of some kind. If the instigating figure had been Death – now equated to the C'tan Nightbringer in the background – that would have been more of an indication of external attack. How the two are connected, if at all, can remain a subject for fan (and author!) speculation.

There were already hints of division in the background with the rivalry between the houses of Eldanesh and Ulthranesh and I thought it would be cool to extend that a little further. Internal strife has been the downfall of countless civilisations and it seems natural to me that the almost eternal Eldar society would have suffered at least one internecine war. The myth itself I see as a warning against this sort of thing in general, rather than relating to one specific incident – they were likely several such divisions and unifications over the long existence of the pre-Fall civilisation.

More to follow…

INTROSPECTIONS ON PERFECTION

Since the release of Path of the Warrior I have been asked a number of questions about Eldar culture, war, the Aspect Temples and many other things concerning the pointy-eared inhabitants of the Craftworlds. I've rounded up a few of them, which I will answer over the coming days, but the real purpose of this post is to invite Hamsterites to ask any further questions in the comments section.

A caveat: None of this is necessarily 'official'. I've been working on Eldar in a variety of forms over the years and my answers are based on some of my extrapolations and interpretations over this time. They are my take on Eldar and nothing more (and depend upon the value you wish to attach to my opinion!). Feel free to posit contrary theories in the comments.

Another caveat: Please try to keep questions relevant to themes and issues raised in Path of the Warrior. This is to keep the questions within the sphere of subjects I have already thought about – in the following two books, Path of the Seer and Path of the Outcast, I'll be delving into Eldar psychics, Harlequins, space travel and all sorts of other things in more depth but I haven't necessarily formed my own opinions and answers on those yet.

The last, and most important, caveat: There are contradictions in the established Eldar background. A good example is the nature of Eldar Exarchs and whether they become meshed with their armour. In most cases I have used the most recent Codexes and material, but I have also taken a few liberties for the sake of storytelling. In doing so I have probably created new contradictions. Sorry about that…

Question for the day, from Xisor:

" Exarchs are Exarchs because they're 'trapped by Khaine'. Taking Eldar overlap of myth and actual 'scientific/precise' language, is the nature of 'becoming an exarch' related to the continued existence/pull of the god?"

Right, let's get started with some nice theology/ metaphysics! First off we must decide how much of Khaine as an entity is a mythological analogy and, because of the funkiness of the warp, how much a reality. At a basic level, as with all myths and belief systems, the Eldar gods are analogies. Khaine is a representation of the murderous passion and destructive potential that exists within every Eldar. As such, his continuing existence is simply a reflection of the Eldar's continued need for aggression and violence (mainly to protect themselves in a hostile universe).

It is explicitly stated that Eldar can become trapped on any Path, so for those of the Path of the Warrior this is described as being trapped by Khaine. Are healers who do not move from their path trapped by Isha? Are Bonesingers trapped by Vaul? From that standpoint it might simply be a feature of the Eldar language that the state of becoming an Exarch is simply described in these terms; a linguistic shorthand.

However, this leads one to wonder why it is the Eldar believe that the other gods were slain when Khaine survived, as they still need healers and engineers but do not require the continued existence of Isha and Vaul to explain this. Which brings us to the Avatars…

I would say that the continuing existence of Khaine in the form of the Avatars is a chicken-and-egg situation. For much of the time this fragment of psychic energy given material form is inert. The Avatar sits dormant until the call to war, so it must be assumed that it has only a small effect upon the Eldar in this state otherwise they would be in a state of permanent, violent agitation. As described in the background, it appears that the process of awakening the Avatar is begun from within the Avatar itself, and is completed by the Exarchs and Warlocks with the sacrifice of the Young King. What first stirs the Avatar?

The Avatar's throne is connected to the Infinity Circuit of the craftworld, itself a gestalt psychic intelligence of the living and dead Eldar; each is also a sub-network of the massive Eternal Matrix that exists alongside the webway connecting all of the craftworlds together on a faint but potentially powerful psychic level. That the Infinity Circuit is mainly powered by the psychic energy of the dead may be important here. The death of the Eldar gods, their removal from the warp, may be a euphemism for the withdrawing of the Eldar psychic presence from the warp into the semi-material world of the Infinity Circuits. Whatever powers were once represented by Isha and Vaul. Kurnous and Lileath, no longer exist as part of the diminishment of the Eldar following the Fall.

For reasons of pure survival if nothing else, the Eldar needed to keep their god of war; their intrinsic capability for violence. This manifested itself in the forming of the Avatars as a lodestone for their violent tendencies. The psychic gestalt of the Infinity Circuit exists on a level beyond the material and so can work as an early warning system for oncoming conflict. It resonates with the minds of the Eldar, so as Farseers and Exarchs, and other Eldar, become troubled to a certain level, even on an unconscious plane, the Infinity Circuit will pick up on this and respond by stirring the Avatar, thus signalling that war is approaching and the Eldar need to prepare.

In 'real' terms, I see it like this. When the Fall happens and Slaanesh is created, the psychic energy of the Eldar, as represented by the mythical gods, clashes with the newly born Warp Power. Obviously within the context of the mythology, this conflict would be represented by Khaine, their god of war. While the Eldar die in their billions, a small fragment of their surviving warp presence manages to protect a few, becoming manifested as the Avatars of Khaine.

What does this mean for the Exarchs? For this we have to go back to Asurmen and the founding of the shrines. In my version of events, the Avatars were born active to some degree; that is, they exerted their warlike influence over the Eldar, protecting them against the birth of Slaanesh. However, Khaine's continued presence (that is, the continuation of the capability for extreme rage and violence within the Eldar psyche) would soon become as much of a peril as the emotional free-for-all that led to the Fall. The Avatars were feeding on and being fed by the Slaanesh-Eldar conflict in the warp. They needed to be put in their place, and this meant that the Eldar had to learn to control their warlike instincts.

This brings us to Asurmen and the first Aspect Temples. Asurmen was able to create the first path, that of the warrior, which through ritual and practice allows the Eldar to suppress their violent instincts until needed. To do so, Asurmen first needed to embrace his violent nature rather than fight it from outside, mastering his urges with pure willpower. In order to spread the teaching of the path, he recruited the first Exarchs, Eldar capable of performing the same feat of will. This teaching, the Path of the Eldar, will always require instructors for following generations, and thus there must always be a few Eldar willing, unconsciously but probably guided by the Infinity Circuit as hinted at in Path of the Warrior, to embrace their warrior nature in order that they can pass on the techniques of control required for the Eldar to keep their violent tendencies at bay; also to continue to promulgate the martial prowess required to keep the Eldar alive in a universe that seems determined to destroy them.

In summary, the Exarchs exist to contain the continued influence of Khaine on the one hand, but also to ensure Khaine's continued existence. A rather distasteful but appropriate analogy can be made with a Champion of a Chaos God. A Chaos Champion requires the input of warp energy from his chosen deity to continue to achieve his goals, while the Chaos Power he serves requires mortal followers to continue to propagate its existence. The Eldar need to be able to fight but not be consumed again by violence, and so between them the Exarchs and the Avatar exist to act as a valve mechanism for this destructive behaviour.

More later…

New Author Bloggage

As those who follow on Twitter and Facebook will have seen, my friend Guy Haley has just signed a deal with Angry Robot. Having read an early Richards and Klein short story, I can say I'm really looking forward to seeing them in a full novel. While I have your attention, please check out Guy's new website – and find time to see what the other authors and artists are up to from the list of links to the right.

Okay, pimpage done, back to writing Caledor. Morathi is the focus this afternoon, and she is really, really pissed off…

And while I remember, here's the Kolossus at Baltimore Games Day, inspired by Grudgebearer:

Fear the Dawi Zharr!

http://guyhaley.wordpress.com

Crowning Moment of Awesome

Dennis says hello to Ullsaard's legions.

After a long wait, finally I can hold a printed version of The Crown of the Blood in my sweaty hands. On general release in the next week or so, TCOTB has been in the works for almost two-and-a-half years, since first inception to today.

To say I am delighted to have my first non-Black Library novel published would be an understatement. I take nothing away from my BL work or tie-in fiction in general, but it's a whole new experience having something that is uniquely mine published.

As with everything about going freelance full-time, the experience has been an up-a-down mixture of terror and excitement. While I would never rest on my laurels with regard to the dedicated Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 fans who have read my previous works, TCOTB is a leap into the unknown, with not only characters and story created by me, but also the world in which it is set. The freedom that comes with that is tempered by the apprehension of the scrutiny that will inevitably follow and the comparisons surely to be made with my BL writing.

My nervousness has not been helped by the mountains of praise that have been heaped on the previous Angry Robot releases – I really feel part of something great with the AR chaps and the other authors, and would not like to let the team down. So far, things are looking good. I also feel the need to fly the flag for tie-in writers working on all sorts of universes and hope that this book shows some of the doubters they are wrong if they think authors only write shared world fiction because they wouldn't get published any other way!

The early reviews have been very positive, which is just as well considering I've just completed the first draft of book 2 – The Crown of the Conqueror.

First up, the dinosaur-punchingly great review from Pornokitsch.

"The Crown of the Blood is a testosterone-fueled, dinosaur-punching of a book. It is a collection of violent conquests and vicious battles, from the fields of war to the equally-bloody arena of politics. It all culminates in a very surprising twist ending – the sort that neatly wraps up the book whilst getting readers excited for the sequels. Not I, Claudius, but definitely "Rome", this book is hairy, gory, sweaty, shameless… and perhaps even a little bit thoughtful."

I am particularly proud of the last part of this paragraph; the 'elevator pitch'* to Angry Robot was 'A fantasy version of HBO's Rome'.

Next up we have James Atlantic giving the book a 4 out of 5.

"This is one of Thorpe's best novels.  The setting and story are well thought out and are remarkably logical for a fantasy novel.  If you enjoy military or historical fiction, you will enjoy The Crown of the Blood.  Action, intrigue, conquest, and charismatic generals are waiting for you here!"

Perhaps not quite so quotable but a fair review nonetheless can also be found at Falcata Times. Check their back issues for an interview I did a few months ago.

"All in it is a good solid opening to a new series."

As you might expect, there will be a flurry of blog posts, interviews and other release-related excitement in the coming weeks, so stay tuned to Mechamster or follow me on Twitter and Facebook to keep in the loop.

I would like to end by saying thanks to Marco and Lee at Angry Robot for having faith in me being able to deliver this 'ambitious' novel, and to everyone else who has shown their support over the last couple of years.

*Elevator pitch: the summary of a film, TV series or novel that can be pitched to an editor or producer whilst you have them trapped in an elevator for a few floors.

Addendum: How much manliness can one box contain?

So manly they tried to punch their way out of the box...

Baltimore Bound

This weekend it is US Games Day and along with several other Black Library authors I will be heading to Baltimore to join in the fun. As well as the opportunity to get releases hot off the presses, maybe ask an author or two to sign something, there will also be a seminar with readings from upcoming titles and Q&A sessions.

I'll be treating attendees to a snippet from Purging of Kadillus and no doubt answering questions about Dark Angels, The Sundering and Horus Heresy plans. Please come and chat if you're coming along too. If you are thinking of joining in, don't worry if you haven't got a ticket yet as entry will be available on the day.

For more information check out this link, and this one too.

Gav Calling Earth

Regular visitors will be aware that silence on Mechanical Hamster usually means that I'm busy writing. That has been true of late, so first off my apologies for any neglect. I have recently completed the first draft of The Crown of the Conqueror, and I'm stuck into writing Caledor now, so I'm afraid it'll be a while yet until I can right another proper post.

I do have a few things lined up for Mechanical Hamster soon, and if you want to keep up-to-date with little snippets I suggest the Twitter and Facebook buttons to the right.

Thanks again for visiting, have fun.

How to Handle the End Times?

The start of the meta-story, not the end

One of the most interesting comments that has come back regarding Path of the Warrior is the nature of the ending. Without going into spoiler-tastic details, lets just say that while Korlandril's personal story is concluded, the meta-story of Craftworld Alaitoc is very much left in the balance. This is a deliberate choice based upon the overall structure of the trilogy – across the three books the whole meta-story will be explained and concluded in the final volume -  but it has made me think about endings in general.

On the whole, I almost never tie up every loose end, and sometimes leave a large amount to still be decided by the reader. I just can't bring myself to do 'Hollywood' endings where everything is neatly wrapped up with a bow and presented as a definitive stopping point.

This probably derives from my experience as a world-builder for the Warhammer and 40K games, where the aim is to present information but also include many possibilities for gamers to further explore themselves. It's a means by which an author can share their world and in some sense hand over part of the control to readers. I really quite like leaving openings for further discussion – where did Item X come from? What happened to Character Y?

Real life rarely gives us neat finishes. There are always few stray threads left lying around after every event, encounter and relationship, some of which never get resolved or can be resolved. It's the Sopranos approach I suppose.  That is not to say the narrative or story should not have some kind of definable arc and conclusion. There should be some sense of progress, or at least change, from the start to the finish, even if the nature of those changes are not explored to their ultimate extent.

I have taken several approaches to endings in the past. My Warhammer trilogy Slaves to Darkness concludes with a

Shadow King, Book 2 of The Sundering

series of epilogues that leap forward a few years to show what effects the events had on the characters' lives. (In)famously, Annihilation Squad's end is very definitive for the main character, although many people continue to ask what happened to The Colonel and the rest of the Last Chancers (and there are hints as to what might have befallen Kage later on). As with the Path of the Eldar series, the individual volumes of The Sundering leave the narrative at pivotal moments, to be picked up in the other books – though as the third book Caledor will be a proper conclusion to the series. Angels of Darkness has a similarly blunt end for the characters involved, but in recent discussions with Black Library I've talked about ways in which the meta-story could be continued if not the individual narratives.

So, Hamsterites, what sorts of endings do you like to write and read? Are they different from each other? What's your favourite ending (put spoiler warnings if necessary)?