Author Archives: Michael

Monthly Roundup – October 2021

Hello, and welcome to my Monthly Roundup post for October, here on Track of Words. At risk of sounding like a broken record, life’s been somewhat up and down recently, and October was definitely more down than up. I’ve had a hard time concentrating on Track of Words, so I only managed seven new posts this month (eight, including this one)…but hopefully that’s seven good posts, at least! All things considered I’m actually very pleased with these, partly because between them they cover quite a lot of ground and partly because I’m just really pleased with how some of them have come out (despite everything). Only time will tell whether I get back to a more productive state next month, but hopefully there’s been at least something you’ve enjoyed in October!

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A Marvellous Light – Freya Marske

Freya Marske’s debut novel, and the first volume in her Last Binding trilogy, A Marvellous Light is a queer historical fantasy that’s warm, magical and an absolute delight from start to finish. Set in Edwardian London, it’s the tale of two very different men thrown together by circumstance and forced to put aside their differences. On his first day in an obscure civil service role, Robin Blyth gets quite the surprise when he learns about the existence of magic and meets Edwin Courcey, his counterpart in the country’s magical administration. Edwin has little patience for bringing Robin up to speed, but when the matter of Robin’s predecessor having inexplicably disappeared develops from an inconvenience into a dangerous problem, the two of them begin to develop a fragile friendship as they investigate a mystery that could affect every magician in the country.

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Silent Hunters – Edoardo Albert

Edoardo Albert’s debut Black Library novel, Silent Hunters is a tale of sinister predators, familial bonds, the consequences of extreme age and relentless, single-minded dedication to duty, set amidst the horror and wonder of the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Chaplain Tangata Manu of the Carcharodons leads the Hunt, a millennia-long search for a lost relic once entrusted into his Chapter’s care, but when he finally has success within his grasp, he sees the prize snatched away by the devious drukhari. With one final chance to complete the Hunt and regain his honour, Tangata Manu embarks on a journey that will take him to all manner of wildly strange places, and eventually to the Dark City of Commorragh, accompanied by no more than a handful of his brothers and an unassuming pair of Chapter serfs.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Robbie MacNiven Talks The Gates of Thelgrim

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m welcoming Robbie MacNiven back to the site to talk about his new book The Gates of Thelgrim, which is his second contribution to Aconyte Books’ range of Descent novels. As someone who’s been introduced to this setting by the novels, rather than playing the games, I’m really enjoying getting to know more about Descent, and this book promises to deliver loads more subverted tropes and fun fantasy entertainment. It’s available now as a global ebook and US paperback, with the UK paperback coming in November.

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In the Shadow of Deimos – Jane Killick

Jane Killick kicks off Aconyte Books’ range of novels based on the Terraforming Mars board game with In the Shadow of Deimos, a tale of the red planet that’s equal parts mystery and adventure. When Luka Schäfer arrives on Mars as an immigrant worker from Earth, keen to forget his past and lose himself in work, the last thing he expects is to watch an asteroid flatten a research station and kill a technician. All his plans are swept away when he’s recruited to replace the dead man and convinced to put his old skills to use, only to find himself drawn into the mystery of what his predecessor had been doing before his death. Meanwhile Julie Outerbridge, head of the United Nations Mars Initiative (UNMI), is maneuvered into leading an investigation into the crash in an attempt to understand what went wrong.

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The Stitcher and the Mute – D.K. Fields

The sequel to Widow’s Welcome, and the second volume in the Tales of Fenest trilogy, D.K. Fields’ The Stitcher and the Mute is another fantastic tale of stories within stories that adds depth and detail to both the overarching narrative and the world being explored. Having caught the man responsible for the Wayward storyteller’s murder, Detective Cora Gorderheim thinks she’s making progress, but when the killer is himself murdered on the way to serve his punishment she realises that all she has really found is more questions. As two more of the realms’ stories are told, Cora digs deeper into what’s increasingly looking like a serious conspiracy at the heart of the Union, and one in which her own family’s history might yet play an important part.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: David Guymer Talks The Patriot List

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m delighted to be chatting to David Guymer about his new novel The Patriot List, the latest instalment in Aconyte Books’ range of Marvel: Untold novels. If you like the idea of a superhero novel where all the ‘heroes’ are actually villains…and especially if you’re a fan of David’s Hamilcar stories for Black Library…then this sounds like a book you’ll want to check out! It’s available now as a global ebook, with the US paperback due very soon and the UK paperback coming in November.

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Cover Reveal: Reign of the Devourer by David Annandale

Hello and welcome to this Cover Reveal article here on Track of Words – for today’s article I’m really, really excited to give you an exclusive first look at the frankly amazing cover art for David Annandale’s Reign of the Devourer, which is the sequel to The Harrowing of Doom and David’s second novel in the Marvel: Untold range from Aconyte Books. I absolutely loved the first book, which I described in my review as mixing “gothic tragedy and bold, cinematic action…to create something powerful and exciting, and it proves to be as spectacular, characterful and downright entertaining as any Marvel movie.” I’m genuinely excited to read the follow up!

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Monthly Roundup – September 2021

Hello, and welcome to this Monthly Roundup post here on Track of Words. While August was an unusually quiet month, I got back up to speed in September with twelve new posts – thirteen if you include this one! It felt great to be back in the swing of things, working on a variety of different pieces. I feel like I managed a good balance in September, with a range of book reviews, author interviews and blog articles, and I’ve even managed to catch up with my backlog of reviews in order to (for once) have a supply of new content ready and waiting to be published. Whether or not I can maintain this sort of progress for long remains to be seen, but at least it’s worked out well for September!

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A Few Thoughts On: Legacy of Steel by Matthew Ward

I’m delighted to have another review live on the British Fantasy Society website, this time for Legacy of Steel by Matthew Ward – the sequel to Legacy of Ash, and the second book in the epic (in every sense of the word) Legacy Trilogy. I’m not going to just reprint the review – here’s the link to the BFS website so you can read it in full – but I feel like this article should be more than just a paragraph and a link. As such, I thought I would use this space to talk a bit about the series (so far) as a whole, and my experience of reading Legacy of Steel, which was a little unusual for me.

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