Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview where today I’m welcoming back the fantastic CL Werner to talk about Three Swords, his latest novel in the Marvel: Legends of Asgard range from Aconyte Books. This is his second book in the series, after The Sword of Surtur, but it concentrates on a different set of characters from last time and broadens its horizons to take in much more of the Ten Realms…including one location that comes complete with dinosaurs! Three Swords is out right now in ebook, with the paperback editions coming soon, so read on to find out more about the latest adventures of the Warriors Three, then get your order placed and get ready for action and adventure!
Without further ado then, let’s get on with the interview.
Track of Words: To start things off, could you give us an overview of what Three Swords is about?
CL Werner: Three Swords is an epic adventure story that finds the Warriors Three travelling far beyond the realm of Asgard to thwart the machinations of the devious Enchanters, a group of sorcerers intent upon usurping Odin’s throne.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
CLW: The key characters in Three Swords are, naturally enough, the Warriors Three themselves. Fandral the Dashing is the roguish trickster of the band, probably the one who is the most empathetic to the travails of others and, in a sense, the conscience of the group. Volstagg the Voluminous is the muscle of the trio, a mighty fighter whose strength and stamina are impressive even by Asgardian standards. He tends to be a bit self-important and more than a little bit of a braggart, but at the same time has tremendous heart and is always ready to risk everything for his friends. Hogun the Grim is the third member of the group, a dour and reserved man who has lost his family and his homeland to sorcery. He’s a brooding character, always trying to see past the surface for some manner of threat or deception.
The Asgardian seer Onund provides the magic the Warriors Three require to transport them from Asgard to the places scattered across time and space where they’ll find the tower strongholds of their adversaries, the Enchanters. The Enchanters, for their part, are Asgardians steeped in the ways of sorcery. Forsung, the eldest of this arcane brotherhood, is of such stature that he once strove against Odin. Magnir and Brona complete this trio, each harnessing his powers in different ways. The Enchanters have further enhanced their magic by means of the Living Talismans each wears, powerful relics that pulsate with eldritch energies.
ToW: This is your second novel in the Marvel: Legends of Asgard range, after 2021’s The Sword of Surtur. Having already written about Tyr and Surtur, what made you choose to write your next Marvel novel about the Warriors Three?
CLW: Beyond the Warriors Three being great characters, I think it was a particular aspect of Fandral that made me decide I had to do a story with them. It might constitute a slight spoiler though if I explained that, so let’s just say that my daughter is a huge fan of a particular alias Fandral once assumed. There’s also the contrast between Tyr and the Warriors Three that I thought would make for a very different kind of story in both tone and style.
ToW: Did you draw inspiration or influences from any particular stories from the Marvel back catalogue when planning and writing this?
CLW: Oh there are quite a few classic stories that I drew inspiration from when plotting this novel, but I’m afraid delving too deeply into some of the sources might constitute spoilers. One thing I really like doing with the Legends of Asgard is to go back and revisit lesser known characters and expand on them. Sort of seeing what more could be done with them. That has the benefit of creating some uncertainty for the reader. If I used, say, Loki as the antagonist, the reader has a pretty good idea of what to expect. But when the enemy is Forsung, because he’s appeared so rarely, there’s less definition to the foe and what to expect from him. As much as it is a real thrill to write the ‘big guys’, sometimes taking the more obscure menaces that Thor and his comrades have confronted over the decades can lead to better story-telling.
ToW: It sounds like this isn’t necessarily set in a single place and time – is it more of a cosmic story than The Sword of Surtur was?
CLW: This story is set far beyond the limits of Asgard. The Sword of Surtur largely took place in Asgard and Muspelheim, but in Three Swords the Warriors Three are forced to travel to a wide array of places to confront the Enchanters in their strongholds. After all, if you’re trying to overthrow Odin, you don’t really want to be doing so in the Allfather’s backyard if you don’t have to. So the heroes must journey far from Asgard, travelling back through time, out to an alien world, and even into another dimension of reality in order to vanquish the sorcerers.
ToW: As well as the titular trio of swords there appears to be a dinosaur on the cover, which is pretty cool! Assuming that it does appear in the book, did you have fun mixing Asgardian heroes with dinosaurs? Because it sounds fun!
CLW: The dinosaurs were one of the best things I had a chance to write in this book. And, yes, it was a lot of fun mixing Asgardians with dinosaurs. Because of exactly where these dinosaurs are encountered, I was able to toss out reality and dive into the comic book representation of the animals as per the work of Jack Kirby. I grew up reading a lot of the old monster titles Marvel put out and among them, of course, was the short-lived Devil Dinosaur. So this provided a chance to do those tail-dragging behemoths of the 1970’s and pay a bit of tribute to the work of artists who provided so much entertainment back then. It also helps that my daughter is also crazy about dinosaurs, so I managed to get two of her favorite things into this book.
ToW: Were there any particularly interesting (or annoying, for that matter) challenges with writing this book?
CLW: Truthfully, I think I got too obsessed with doing the dinosaur sequence perfectly and it ended up becoming a slow slog for me, constantly tinkering with those chapters. The narrative leading up to that point and the events after it were really productive, but I just got sucked down into the tar with Volstagg and had a tough time pulling myself back out. I think the results are really fun and there’s even a cameo in there that I think will bring a smile, but it was sometimes an ordeal to get through. Contrasted with one of the other settings (which I don’t want to mention due to spoilers), the dinosaur sequence took three times as long to write but for roughly the same amount of material.
ToW: You’ve written for a fair number of different IPs over the years – how have you found the tone of these Asgardian stories compared to things you’ve written before?
CLW: I think the big difference in tone with the Asgardian stories compared to something set in Warhammer’s Old World or Mantica or other settings has been that of scale. There’s this cosmic epic quality that is always in the background even when not forefront in the narrative. The nearest I could compare it to would be Age of Sigmar’s Mortal Realms, but even there I’m usually only dealing with a single realm. So, if pressed, I would say it is that sense of scope that is always creating a difference as I work on these Asgardian stories. I sometimes find myself wondering what characters not in the story are doing while these events unfold. Where is Thor right now? Or what’s Dr. Doom up to while this is going on? That sort of thing, while not having an impact on the story I’m writing, still occupies my thoughts and I think makes these projects so very different.
ToW: If someone enjoys this (and The Sword of Surtur) and would like to check out some of your other books, where would you recommend they start?
CLW: I still think the best work I’ve done, as a whole, is The Black Plague, a trilogy of novels and attached short stories for Warhammer’s Time of Legends series. Of my more recent work, I’d say Castle of Blood, a novel in the Warhammer Horror range which I’m quite proud of. Witch Hunter, another of my Warhammer books, has just received a fresh reprint. It should be noted that none of those works are particularly similar to the Legends of Asgard books. Likely the best advice I’d give would be to check out an anthology that features some of my stories. That way you’ve got an entire cabal of authors to sample in one go!
ToW: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on with Aconyte for future release, or anything else you’ve got in the pipeline?
CLW: Aconyte has announced Age of the Undead, which is a novel based upon CMON’s Zombicide: Black Plague board game. I believe that one is due out this summer. I also have a story in the newest issue of Tales from the Magician’s Skull. Issue #7 features The Snake in the Fold, a tale of my demon-hunting samurai Shintaro Oba. Oba will be back in issue #8, I might add. Otherwise I have a few projects with Black Library that have yet to be announced and am hoping to start a new project with Aconyte in the near future.
ToW: Finally, if you could sit down for a drink with one of the Warriors Three, who do you think you would choose, and why?
CLW: I think I’d end up sitting down with Fandral by default. Volstagg’s boisterous personality would, I think, become rather overwhelming to a reserved person like myself. Hogun, by contrast, is a rather intimidating character (one of his creators said he pictured Charles Bronson from the Death Wish movies when writing him). So I think it would be Fandral, who seems like a personable enough chap without the excesses of Volstagg or the intensity of Hogun. Fandral would certainly have the best stories to tell, if only because he wouldn’t make them all about Volstagg the Courageous
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CL Werner is a voracious reader and prolific author from Phoenix, Arizona. His many novels and short stories span the genres of fantasy and horror, and he has written for Warhammer’s Age of Sigmar and Old World, Warhammer 40,000, Warmachine’s Iron Kingdoms, and Mantic’s Kings of War.
For more information, check out all of the reviews I’ve written for CL Werner’s books and short stories, and all of the previous interviews we’ve done.
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Thanks as always to Clint for taking the time to talk to me for this interview, and to write such great answers and give us the lowdown on Three Swords! I don’t know about you, but Asgardian warriors, sorcerers and dinosaurs sounds like a great combination!
See also: the main Aconyte Books page on Track of Words.
Three Swords is out now as a global ebook, with the US paperback due on March 8 and the UK paperback due on the 26th May. Check out the links below to order your copy*:
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