Alpharius wrote:Talos' voice in THRONE OF LIES doesn't sound a bit over the top to you?

Kanluwen wrote:"Raven's Flight" was fantastic, as was "Aenarion"+"Throne of Lies" and they weren't really big on the overacting.

"Waiting Death" and "Fireborn" though...my God.

I've heard less overly dramatic phrases from Paris Hilton.

Wednesday 10th of November, 2010

Aaron Dembski-Bowden talks about The First Heretic

The First Heretic’s a New York Times Best Seller, but you probably knew that already. So what’s it like to be the man behind such a successful book? Over to The First Heretic author (and excitable chap), Aaron Dembski-Bowden to fill you in.

Aaron: The folks at BL Towers asked me if I had anything to say about The First Heretic, now the novel’s been unleashed upon the slavering hordes everywhere across the world.

Well, sure, I have some stuff to say, but I’ll try to keep this brief. You’re busy people, right? I can respect that. You don’t want to listen to me harp on about how “it’s such an honour to do a Horus Heresy novel” and fill your screen with the same kind of thing you always see when a writer gets asked to say a few generic words about his or her latest release.

So I’ll spare you all of that, and cut right to the chase. I didn’t feel backslapping pride in myself. I felt raw, blood-chilling terror.

Last week was straight-up one of the most insane weeks of my life. The First Heretic nailed #1 bestselling sci-fi novel in the States, and #2 in the UK (just behind Iain M. Banks, no less – a writer I freaking adore). It sold out in the UK almost immediately, and dived into its second printing. Then it crashed onto the New York Times Bestseller List, and that’s the kind of thing that can change an author’s career completely.

It’d be a lie to say I was completely thrilled and proud; to tell you the truth, I was mostly stunned and overwhelmed. On the day TFH cracked the chart, the phone rang about 800 times. My blog went crazy. My email inbox exploded. For a guy that moved to the middle of nowhere to hide from civilisation, everyone suddenly wanting to talk to me was a frightening prospect. At one point I even pulled the ethernet cable out of my PC’s dusty spine, hiding myself from the internet.

Scary stuff.

TFH’s reviews and forum feedback have been insane, too. The reactions to Lorgar, the architect of Chaos, have been especially awesome – how he was the one primarch who never wanted to be a warrior, and how he walked the darkest paths always seeking the truth. To some, he’s a failure, a weakling, a coward. To others, Lorgar is a philosopher, a visionary, a soul that stares into the truth behind the universe and says – just as Rorschach said – “Never compromise, not even in the face of Armageddon.” Like all visionaries, he stood by the courage of his convictions, whether they were destined to damn the human race or save it.

I love that dichotomy at the heart of the novel, and at the core of the Legion’s fall. It’s immensely gratifying to see so many others pick up on it, too. Love or hate the Word Bearers; respect or loathe Lorgar, people have really sympathised with their struggles and identified with (or at least understood the reasons for) their betrayal.

I should probably end this now, which means getting to the point.

So... to briefly answer a few of the questions that keep hurling themselves at me: Yes, we’ll see more of Argel Tal and the Word Bearers in future Horus Heresy novels; Yes, I’ll be writing more for the Horus Heresy series in the future (thanks for asking, by the way) about other events and the Legions; and yes, I’m aware of how lucky I’ve been to steal a spot on the HH team so quickly.

Lastly, I just wanted to say a sincere thanks to everyone who bought and enjoyed the novel, because the insane and terrifying week I just had is pretty much your fault. That’s right, you’re to blame.

Thanks, gang.
-Aaron.

Aaron will be attending Black Library Live! 2011, so if you want to find out more about what makes him tick, or have your copy of The First Heretic signed, then pop along to Warhammer World on Saturday 5th March. Tickets for the event are now on sale, and are limited to 350 (though we sold 50 at UK Games Day) –order early to avoid missing out. You can find out more about the event, including which authors and artists will be there, and order your ticket on the Black Library Live! ticket page. Be sure to check back often as we’ll be posting more information as authors are confirmed.

The lovely postie dropped an unxpected package through the door yesterday – an advance copy of The Purging Of Kadillus. Part of the Space Marine Battles series, The Purging of Kadillus recounts the war first revealed in the Storm of Vengeance campaign pack in the distant history of 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000.

The story revolves around the Dark Angels of the 3rd Company under Master Belial, who face an unexpected Ork invasion whilst recruiting in the Piscina system. These events take place before Angels of Darkness and those who have read that book will find some familiar faces in unfmailiar roles – Kadillus shows the likes of Boreas and Nestor as they were before being left to their own devices… The star is undoubtedly Sergant Naaman of the 10th Company though, and writing his scenes was immensely enjoyable.

Kadillus has given me an ideal opportunity to go back to the Space Marines and present a story that I feel does them justice. The structure is a bit different from the other books in the series (I can’t help myself, I just have to mess about with format!). I’ve taken inspiration from the Band of Brothers tv series and the novel is broken down into separate stories that focus on a single character at a time, while the arc of the narrative links all of them together.

This approach has allowed me to bring in a wide cast of characters and take a good look at Space Marines doing what they do best – kicking alien bottoms and not bothering to take names. We get to live inside the skin of a Chaplain, fix up wounded Space Marines with the Apothecary, see a battle through the eyes of a Commander and go on missions behind enemy lines with the Scouts. It feels… complete. It’s a great story for introducing Space Marines to new readers, but adds plenty of depth for those who have been around the Adeptus Astartes block a few times.