Interview with Black Library – February 2016

Here’s an interview I gave to Black Library about The Emperor Expects, book three in The Beast Arises series.

The Beast Arises: Gav Thorpe Speaks (originally published 18/02/16)

This weekend saw the release of ‘The Emperor Expects’, the third book in The Beast Arises event series. This volume is by Black Library veteran Gav Thorpe, and we sat down with Gav to find out all about what we can expect from this novel and beyond…

BL: What can you tell us about the story of The Emperor Expects?

GT: Politics, Space Marines and giant battleships! The story breaks into three main threads. Firstly we have the ongoing powerplays of the Senatorum Imperialis, in this instance focused on the emergence of a new common foe for Inquisitorial Representaive Wienand and, of course, Grand Master of Assassins Vangorich. We also continue the unfolding tale of Koorland, last of the Imperial Fists, as he comes to terms with the disaster at Ardamantua and the growing realisation that the Imperium cannot combat the ork threat in its current state. Finally we have a new arrival in the form of Captain Kulik, commander of a battleship in the Imperial Navy. Through Kulik we see the Imperial Navy at the forefront of the battle against the orks – and what a bloody place it is.

BL: This book is the third novel in The Beast Arises series. How did you find writing a novel as part of an ongoing series?

GT: As it is still relatively early in the series, this instalment was not too difficult. While some of the sub-plots are starting to take shape and the character count is growing, we kept quite a tight rein during the planning process. Having just submitted my draft for book 8, I can say that things get a lot more complicated as we go along! The most important part for me was to give readers a satisfying story in one episode whilst still making everything relevant to the longer arcs – it’s a serial but each volume should still have a clear narrative that begins and ends within the covers.

BL: The Imperial Navy plays a big part in this book. Judging by the amount of your previous novels that feature ship-to-ship combat, would it be fair to say you’re a fan of spaceship battles in the far future?

GT: I’m a huge fan of the Age of Sail – Hornblower, Nelson, Trafalgar and all of that. That period is a large inspiration for the style of the Imperial Navy and for space combat in Warhammer 40,000 in general (with a bit of Jutland and the War in the Pacific thrown in). I remember many, many years ago White Dwarf published some Jes Goodwin drawings of ships and naval crew and I loved them instantly (that was back when Space Fleet was released, for those ancient enough to remember). Many years ago I worked on the Battlefleet Gothic game, where I was fortunate enough to breath some new life to those images and ideas, particularly the background. There have been some novels and stories that have dealt with the Imperial Navy, the best being Gordon Rennie’s ‘Execution Hour’, but not since then have they really been at the centre of a book. The nature of the war against the orks and Admiral Lansung’s antics among the High Lords served up the opportunity to revisit this great institution and I hope fans like the way I’ve portrayed them.

BL: You mentioned that this won’t be your last contribution to The Beast Arises. Without giving too much away, what can readers look forward to later in the series?

GT: As I mentioned earlier, I’ve just finished book 8. It is concentrated on the ongoing Space Marine plot, with the Imperium’s finest taking the fight to the orks in massive, epic combat, alongside the Astra Militarum, Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus. BIG BATTLES. I mean really big. Not-seen-since-the-Horus Heresy-big.

BL: Apart from The Beast Arises, what other new Black Library stories can we look forward to from yourself this year?

GT: The biggest release on the cards at the moment is my next entry into the Horus Heresy: Angels of Caliban. I’ve really enjoyed revisiting the Dark Angels on both sides of the Ruinstorm. I have some more HH titles coming up on the schedule, one that is Raven Guard-related and another that is under wraps for the moment. As for later in the year, who knows? I’m putting together pitches to the editors at the moment. The world is my synthi-oyster. It’d be nice to write another Phoenix Lords book after ‘Asurmen’, but I also really enjoyed exploring the Adeptus Mechanicus in ‘The Beast Arises’ so maybe something about Titans and Knights… What would people like to read?

Thanks, Gav. We can’t wait to see what you come up with next. To check out Gav’s work with the Imperial Navy, pick up ‘The Emperor Expects’, book 3 of The Beast Arises, now.

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