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 Guy Haley about his latest Primarchs novel, Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter, which is available to order in Limited Edition hardback right now before the ‘standard’ editions go on sale in a few months.
Without further ado, let’s get straight to the questions and Guy’s answers.
[Note: I know the header image above uses different artwork to the actual novel, but I couldn’t find the cover artwork to use!]
Track of Words: How would you describe your new novel Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter?
Guy Haley: Space horror with everyone’s favourite loose cannon demigod.
ToW: Aside from Curze himself, who are the main characters in this book and what do we need to know about them?
GH: Curze is the main man, but there are also many Night Lords in there you will recognise, whose inclusion is intended to show opposing sides of the legion’s character. I shall refrain from spoilers, however.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
GH: Before the Heresy, in the Heresy and, well, at another time. It’s a flashback heavy book with a grimly gory framing device. Spoilers!
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend fans check out before reading this?
GH: I’d say Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s excellent Night Lords books, especially Prince of Crows, as that features other moments from Curze’s history. Also my book Pharos, and anything else in the Horus Heresy featuring Curze and his unruly sons.
ToW: What appeals to you about Curze and the Night Lords as characters to write about?
GH: The Night Lords are an interesting bunch. This may upset Night Lord lovers, but they are closest to genuine evil out of all the legions. There are a lot of murderous nihilists among them, even the best of them are cynics, and even before they fell they tended toward self interest. However, they have their own twisted sense of loyalty, honour and service, and there is some good in them, however soaked in blood.
As for Curze, he’s one of my favourite Primarchs. I genuinely feel sorry for him. He really wants to do the right thing, and he sees the truth of the Imperium far clearer than anyone else. His only real problem is that he is dangerously insane. That’s a major drawback, in my book.
ToW: How did you find getting into the headspace of a character like the Night Haunter?
GH: It’s not the nicest place to be, but I enjoy it. It’s a place of extreme, heightened emotion. Curze’s story is totally messed up, just like him. My main question about his character always is how much of his madness is the result of his own choices. I think he obsesses about that too, so we get on well.
ToW: Of all the possible stories you could have picked as Curze’s Primarchs story, what made you go for this one?
GH: Because there was a gap in his story I wanted to fill. But, you know, spoilers.
ToW: What did you draw from for influences when planning and writing this?
GH: Influences? I read all the Night Lords fiction. There’s are nods to space horror movies too, and I was inspired by the more visceral end of the horror genre. I think I channel a bit of Clive Barker when writing Curze. I was asked if maybe I wanted to write some horror for the new Black Library imprint, to which my answer was ‘Er, but I already do…’ Planning? See below…
ToW: This is your third Primarchs novel now, after writing the Perturabo and Corax novels – did this one throw up any different challenges to the previous two?
GH: Making the highly unlikely/impossible seem reasonable or even probable is the first challenge of Warhammer fiction, but creating a coherent tale out of a story that has already been chunked up is the biggest challenge with this particular strand of Black Library’s output, which deals with major characters touched by many hands. It wasn’t too hard with Corax, I had a clear run at Perturabo’s past as only the very beginning had been detailed, but there are a lot of scenes and flashbacks that delve into Curze’s story elsewhere. Hence the framing device.
ToW: What do you hope Horus Heresy fans – and Night Lords fans in particular – will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
GH: Thrills, chills, a bit of sorrow, a dash of ‘urgh!’ Actually, I really hope Night Lords fans like it; I know how important Curze is to them.
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As always, a massive thank you must go to Guy for taking the time to answers these questions. I can’t wait to read this one, especially after having enjoyed Guy’s two previous Primarchs novels, so I’m really looking forward to the standard edition going up for sale. I’ll get a review written as soon as that happens and I can get it read!
Click here if you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews. If you’ve got any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.