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 Black Library author Gav Thorpe about his new 40k novel Armageddon Saint, the first new Last Chancers novel for over fifteen years! The physical edition isn’t due out until March, but the ebook is available as a ‘digital premiere’ as part of the 2019 Advent Calendar series. Whether you’re excited about a new Last Chancers story or wondering what all the fuss is about, read on to find out more!
Let’s get straight to the questions and Gav’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Armageddon Saint?
Gav Thorpe: It’s the Last Chancers – The Dirty Dozen in space – trapped on an embattled world about to get overrun by daemons.
ToW: For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the Last Chancers series, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
GT: The Last Chancers are a Penal Legion, which is to say its troopers are made up of former Imperial Guard (and others) who must make up for transgressions against the Emperor by going on a near-suicide mission. If they survive they earn a pardon for their past crimes.
The 13th Penal Legion is led by Colonel Schaeffer, a non-nonsense, tough as bricks commander who absolutely believes that he is saving the souls of the troopers that serve under him. Unflinching, faithful and very likely augmented or at least sustained by mysteries of the Adeptus Mechanicus, he walks out of firefights that nobody else can.
With him is (Lieutenant) Kage, a former trooper who has moved beyond the point of having his ‘Last Chance’ and is now a permanent member of the team. Suffering from battle trauma and verging on sociopathic, he is nevertheless a dedicated servant of the Emperor, and a natural survivor (which may be due to a nascent psychic potential or something else).
ToW: Where and when is it set?
GT: It is set just before the Cicatrix Maledictum envelops the Imperium, on the ork-infested hive world of Armageddon.
ToW: How important is it for fans to have read the original Last Chancers trilogy before reading this?
GT: Not essential, but certainly useful. I’m well aware that it’s been 15 years since the last instalment, so I try to cover old ground where needed, without just retreating stuff for existing fans. It is part retrospective by its nature, but the story embraces that rather than trying to be too subtle.
ToW: It’s been over fifteen years since Annihilation Squad – what inspired you to return to this series after so long?
GT: There’s been a few occasions when I’ve thought about returning, as I mentioned when we spoke about the release of 13th Legion (the first novel). It seems that with the anniversary of that book coming up, and recent ongoing Kill Team-related gaming from the Design Studio, the editors and sales folks at Black Library felt this was a good time to do it.
ToW: Why this story? Of all the possible stories you could have written about these characters, what made you go for this one?
GT: My original pitch had the Last Chancers supposedly taking a tilt at Abaddon, but the editors thought that too far-fetched even for a crazy Schaeffer mission (I remain of the opinion that he’s just the sort of person that would try to take down the thrice-cursed). Anyway, what with psychic awakenings, the whole Great Rift happening and so on, it dovetailed nicely with the little back door I’d left myself at the end of Annihilation Squad. There wasn’t much more to it at first but as I started planning, lots of threads from the past and present came together nicely.
ToW: What was it like writing a Last Chancers story again compared to when you first wrote about these characters, considering what’s changed in 40k and Black Library, and what you’ve learned in another fifteen years of writing?
GT: It was like putting on a pair of old, comfy slippers! I’ve always enjoyed writing Kage (it’s presented in first person) and it wasn’t too hard to get back to that voice. And I’ve been reminded over the years that at the heart of the Last Chancers is the idea of a bunch of disparate, conflicted but interersting characters having to do something stupid but heroic. So I made sure to come up with one of the most interesting casts yet… I have to say a big thanks to the editors for trusting me with this one, because it does have a hell of a curveball in there but I think it really works.
ToW: What do you think has caused these characters and stories to remain so popular over the years?
GT: The need / hate between Kage and Schaeffer drives the personal dynamics, but it’s always very centred on a military action story. They get to go to exciting places, kill interesting baddies and blow up exotic things.
ToW: What do you hope 40k fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
This is probably the most thematically deep of the Last Chancers, so hopefully among the bangs and lasbolts they’ll also find a cool story about faith, hope, destiny and the will to live.
ToW: Is this one final mission for the Last Chancers, or do you have more stories in mind for them?
This does a particular job of putting the Last Chancers back on the board, so to speak, and that was all I had in mind at the start. However, the response from Black Library has been so positive, we are looking at whether we can carry on from this new beginning. So, there’s room for fans to hope they’ll see more after Armageddon Saint.
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Huge thanks as always to Gav for taking the time to answer these questions, and so close to Christmas too! I’ll aim to get a review of Armageddon Saint ready as soon as I can get hold of a copy, and in the meantime if you’d like to check out my reviews of Gav’s other stories you can find them all here.
Click here to order Armageddon Saint.
Click here if you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews. If you have any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.