Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with 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 David Guymer about his latest Age of Sigmar audio drama box set, Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World, the sequel to 2018’s brilliant Realmslayer. Read on to find out more about Gotrek Gurnisson’s next epic audio adventure, which you can order in CD or MP3 formats right now.
Let’s get straight to the questions and David’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World?
David Guymer: Following on from Realmslayer with Gotrek now in Hammerhal-Ghyra and eager to search for his lost axe – only with no idea where to start! Until a chance drunken encounter with a mysterious old duardin sets him on his way.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
DG: Gotrek, of course, and the poor aelf shadowblade, Maleneth, is still being dragged along for the ride. Those are the main pair, but there’s a similar sized cast to that of Realmslayer, including a few returning faces.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
DG: It’s set directly after Realmslayer and the short story One, Untended. If you want to place it within the broader Age of Sigmar timeline, then it’s probable pre-Soul Wars and pre any other Gotrek stories out there. We start out in Hammerhal-Ghyra, but take in the forests of Ghyran, Ghur, and the Realm of Chaos before we’re done.
ToW: How important is it for fans to listen to the first Realmslayer before checking this out? Does it work as a standalone or is it built off what happened before?
DG: It is a continuation, so while listening to or reading (with the new scriptbook) Realmlsayer first isn’t required it’s probably recommended.
ToW: How do you follow something as massive as Realmslayer, complete with Brian Blessed as Gotrek?
DG: One word: Thanquol
ToW: You’ve already re-introduced Gotrek and shown his first reactions to the Mortal Realms – has he changed since then? Is he still the same character, or do you think he’s different now?
DG: He knows more about the Mortal Realms now. He’s made his peace with a lot of the changes, although there are still a few things he disapproves of. In this story that’s primarily the gods! He certainly doesn’t think much of how ‘hands on’ they are compared to the gods he knew and is somewhat disgruntled over the fact that everyone seems to just let them get away with it. He’s got his quest now, to find his lost axe, but we still occasionally see him drifting back into bad habits whenever the prospect of a huge monster or near certain peril is dangled in front of him.
ToW: Do you think Gotrek still needs the consistent presence of a single companion (like Felix) to stay with him through multiple stories, or is there scope for changing the formula up a bit and rotating through different companions?
DG: The original intention back when we were filling out the cast of Realmslayer was that Gotrek could, Dr Who style, have many different companions that he could alternate between depending on the story and who was writing it. By dint of being unexpectedly popular, Maleneth seems to have established herself as Gotrek’s principle foil now, but I can’t see any reason why that couldn’t change in the future. Maleneth herself certainly wouldn’t mind.
ToW: What did you learn writing Realmslayer that informed the writing process this time around?
DG: Realmslayer was my first *big* audio production. In fact, it was Black Library’s first. I learned a lot from there what works well for audio (small character driven scenes) and what doesn’t (giant fights, long speeches). I also learned how to be more concise in my storytelling. It’s no coincidence that the stories I’ve written since have fallen consistently under word count which, talk to any author, is not a common thing.
ToW: Now that you’ve heard Brian Blessed’s performance as Gotrek in Realmslayer, do you hear the character’s voice differently when you’re writing him?
DG: Strangely not. With Maleneth and other recurring characters I absolutely did, and hearing their speech in my head was a big help as I wrote their lines. With Gotrek though, I’ve had ‘his’ voice in my head since my teens, and I don’t think even the Biggest Voice In The Land™ can dislodge it now. It’s basically my voice, but deeper and angrier.
ToW: What do you hope Age of Sigmar fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
DG: I hope they will come away satisfied, thinking it at least the equal of Realmslayer in every way, and then immediately start clamouring for a third.
ToW: For the first time ever, multiple authors are now working on Gotrek stories concurrently (with Darius Hinks writing Ghoulslayer). What do you think the future looks like for Gotrek, with different authors telling stories at the same time? Have you got further plans for him yourself?
DG: I have ideas for him, and for Maleneth, and for more adventurers, for sure, but there’s nothing planned for them yet. I’d certainly love to a novel or, as I mentioned before, another audio. Because the best trilogies come in threes. I’ve asked Darius and Robbie if they’re plotting anymore, but if they are they’re not saying! Rest assured though, you don’t bring back the Old World’s most famous Slayer, give him a miniature, and then stop telling stories about him. He’ll be back, and whether it’s from me or someone else I expect there’ll be plenty of stories about him in the years to come.
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Huge thanks as usual to David for taking the time to answer these questions and talk about the ongoing adventure of Gotrek! I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to catch up with my favourite grumpy Slayer! Keep an eye out for a review just as soon as I can get my hands on of a copy!
Click this link to order Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World on Audible.
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.