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 Darius Hinks about his latest 40k novel Mephiston: Revenant Crusade, his second to feature the Blood Angels Chief Librarian. It’s available to order right now!
As usual, let’s get straight to the questions and Darius’ answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Mephiston: Revenant Crusade?
Darius Hinks: In the wake of the Great Rift, Mephiston’s already prodigious psychic powers have gone batshit supernova. This has magnified the problems he was already battling, but it’s also given him a chance to tackle the Cicatrix Maledictum in a way no one else could even consider. To this end, he’s set himself the task of hunting down a daemon that he believes is a key lynchpin of the Great Rift. He thinks that, if he can vanquish the daemon, he’ll stem the flow of chaos into the galaxy and start to turn the tide of the war.
As always, he’s also conscious that, if he can prove himself by being successful in this quest, he could become living proof that the Blood Angels can embody the better attributes of their Primarch and overcome the darker parts – that they can be the noble, glorious heroes Sanguinius would have wished for. Unfortunately, his monomaniacal focus on this task means that, when we meet him at the start this book, he’s gone to a very bad place. He’s nothing like a noble hero. He’s abandoned his few shreds of humanity and become a monster. This is made all the worse when he discovers that his route to the daemon is blocked by a necron threat that has been left to fester and grow while everyone’s been busy with the Great Rift.
So, there are two battles in the book. One, Mephiston has to defeat an entire necron army if he’s to continue his quest. And two, he needs to arrest his decline into inhuman savagery. He could either be an incredible force for good, or he could prove his doubters in the Chapter right, and become a terrible threat. He’s not dealing with all this alone though – he’s helped by another ancient Blood Angel Librarian called Rhacelus. Rhacelus knows Mephiston of old – from before he was even called Mephiston. He knows him, in some ways, better than Mephiston knows himself. Tonally, the book definitely focuses on the darker, scarier, gorier side of the Blood Angels Chapter (which was great fun for someone reared on gory horror novels).
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
DH: Mephiston is the Chief Librarian, Head Wizard and Senior Scowler of the Blood Angels Chapter. He’s a key character for the Chapter. Is he proof that they can escape their flaw and be worthy of Sanguinius, or is he just a dangerous anomaly in a Chapter that is generally pretty screwed? Rhacelus is another ancient Space Marine and a powerful psyker. He trusts Mephiston and swore, long ago, to stand by him, but as Mephiston becomes ever more monstrous, Rhacelus’ promise becomes harder to keep.
Antros is the third Blood Angels Librarian in the novel. He also wants to help Mephiston, but he’s tackling the problem in a different way – scouring the galaxy for a way to cure the Chief Librarian of his dangerous, reality-mangling afflictions. Antros’ quest leads him right into the madness of the Great Rift. There’s also a whole cast of seriously deranged necron nobles that were great fun to write.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
DH: In the wake of the Great Rift. My previous Mephiston book was set in the past as a ‘historical’ book, but this is ‘current day’ in the 40k timeline. It takes place after the scenes in Guy Haley’s The Devastation of Baal that feature Mephiston, Rhacelus and Antros.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading this?
DH: The book works as a standalone novel, but the first Mephiston novel, Blood of Sanguinius, would add to the enjoyment of this book. I’d also recommend Guy Haley’s Blood Angels novels and Andy Smillie’s Flesh Tearers stories. Oh, and David Annandale’s Lord of Death novella is great too.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
DH: The Blood Angels are such fun to write because they’re so messed up. They have that Jekyll and Hyde, tormented, split personality thing going on. They want to be noble and idealistic but they’re carrying this savage beast around in their heads. All that repressed fury and gothic duality makes for a great inner battle.
ToW: With a character as powerful as Mephiston, how do you go about coming up with stories that put him in sufficiently difficult situations as to properly challenge him?
DH: I don’t know if I’m just mean, but I always like to establish a character’s strengths and then put them in a situation where they have to survive without them. It’s just fun seeing how a character gets out of a tight spot if he can’t use his usual methods. Also, I really wanted in this novel to focus on his inner battle. He’s obviously a kick-ass psyker but his inner demons are not so easy for him to overcome. In terms of how I challenged him, the necrons stood out as a perfect foil for his psychic powers. They have their own brand of techno-sorcery that is, in its own way, equal to anything Mephiston can throw at them, but works by completely different rules, so it seemed like a good match.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it? Did you draw upon any real-life experience to help you plan or write it?
DH: Mephiston’s a barely human, monomaniacal killing machine who will do anything to succeed and is tearing himself apart both mentally and physically. Fortunately, I was able to base all of that on my limited experience of gardening. You should see me after I’ve gone ten rounds with the brambles.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
DH: I’m terrible for going off track. A certain choice of words can send me down a totally unexpected route and I always think that’s fun to explore, because what’s unexpected for me will hopefully be unexpected for the reader too. Also, characters’ turns of phrase, written by accident, can sometimes give an insight into their personality. Obviously, I have a plan at the start of the process – beginning, middle and end, type thing, but it’s the parts that deviate from that road map which are the most fun to write.
In this particular book, the friendship between Mephiston and Rhacelus was something that my editor, Nick Kyme highlighted as being key to the story. So it was actually quite late in the day when I added the prologue scene that shows the two of them on the day of Mephiston’s rebirth. Mephiston is so driven and focussed, it takes Rhacelus to keep pulling him back from the brink of destruction.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
DH: In Blood of Sanguinius, I described Mephiston through other characters’ eyes. I wanted him to seem enigmatic and remote, almost god-like. I think that worked in some ways, but I never really felt like I got inside his head. So, this time, a large percentage of the novel is written from Mephiston’s point of view. He’s a strange, haunted, kind of character but I think I’m starting to understand him a little better now.
ToW: Do you have plans to continue any aspects of this story?
DH: There’s story arc, begun in Blood of Sanguinius, that I’d love to finish off in a third novel. I’d need to pitch the idea to BL first, obviously but, yes, I’m hoping to revisit these characters in the future.
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Thanks so much to Darius for taking the time to answer these questions. Keep an eye out for a review of Mephiston: Revenant Crusade just as soon as I get hold of a copy.
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.