Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.
In this instalment I spoke to Josh Reynolds about his latest Horus Heresy audio drama Blackshields: The Red Fief, the follow up to the excellent Blackshields: The False War. It’s available to order this weekend, so get ready to pick it up very soon!
As usual, let’s get straight to the questions and Josh’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Blackshields: The Red Fief?
Josh Reynolds: Endryd Haar and his crew of renegades raid a World Eaters fief-world for supplies and find more than they bargained for.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
JR: Endryd Haar, obviously. He’s as murderous as ever, but groping towards a sort of peace with himself and his fate. There’s also his second-in-command, Erud Vahn, who continues to be the voice of reason. And also Kalabos, a World Eaters apothecary whose grip on sanity is even more tenuous than Endryd’s.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
JR: Not long after the events of The False War, in enemy territory.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before listening to this?
JR: Well, ideally, they’d give a listen to Blackshields: The False War.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
JR: I just like writing stories like this, set at the edges of big events. You can explore the themes and setting without having to worry about making it fit in with the broader sweep of the narrative.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it? Did you draw upon any real-life experience to help you plan or write it?
JR: Mostly, I just drew on the Horus Heresy rulebooks and the lore in them. Also, I know plenty of psychotic assh*les, so that helped.
ToW: Do you adapt your writing process when working on an audio like this, compared to a prose story?
JR: Oh, for sure. Writing a script is a different beast entirely. You have to keep in mind how everything is going to sound, spoken aloud, as well as the pace of both the story and the dialogue.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
JR: Not really, no. This one got through the editing process fairly unscathed. I think I added a few more characters to break up some chunky patches of dialogue, but that’s about it.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
JR: If you liked Blackshields: The False War, you’ll like this. If you didn’t, you won’t.
ToW: Do you have plans to continue with the Blackshields storyline?
JR: I have, in fact, just pitched a third audio in the series. Whether it’ll go beyond that or not, I don’t know. If folks keep buying them, I’ll keep writing them.
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Thanks as always to Josh for taking the time to answer these questions. Keep an eye out for a review of Blackshields: The Red Fief in the next few days! If you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews, just click here.
If you’ve got any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, on Facebook or Twitter, or by emailing me at michael@trackofwords.com.
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