Author Archives: Michael

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Michael S. Jackson Talks Ringlander The Path and the Way

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m welcoming Michael S. Jackson to the site to talk about his debut novel Ringlander: The Path and the Way. The first book in a new female-led fantasy series, it’s available to order in various formats right now (including a lovely ‘Author Edition’ hardback – more details at the end of the article), and I’m delighted to have this interview as part of the Ringlander blog tour! Make sure you check out the other interviews and reviews on the tour (I’ll include details of these at the end) but before you do that, here’s Michael with the lowdown on what to expect from the Ringlander series and this novel in particular, including a beautiful map he’s created for this world – I do love a good map!

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Cover Reveal: Recruited by Thomas Parrott

Hello and welcome to this Cover Reveal article here on Track of Words, where today I’m delighted to offer a first look at Recruited by Thomas Parrott, a new novel based on Tom Clancy’s The Division that’s coming in 2022 from Aconyte Books. I haven’t played the video game this is based on but it sounds like an ideal setting for this sort of technothriller…and I love a good thriller! I’ve also enjoyed all of Tom’s stories that I’ve read so far – for Aconyte, Black Library and his own original work – so I’ve got a feeling I’m going to enjoy Recruited – and I’m sure I won’t be the only person to do so.

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Darkness in the Blood – Guy Haley

The third of Guy Haley’s 40k Blood Angels novels, Darkness in the Blood is a bleak tale of duty and necessity which explores both Commander Dante’s new role as Warden of Imperium Nihilus, and the unsettling growth of Chief Librarian Mephiston’s psychic might. In the wake of Hive Fleet Leviathan’s defeat at Baal, and the arrival of Roboute Guilliman with Primaris Space Marine reinforcements for the Chapters of the Blood, Dante plans his campaign to purge the remaining Tyranids and begin retaking Imperium Nihilus. Before that can happen, however, Mephiston’s burgeoning powers appear to herald a new danger for the sons of Sanguinius, as the Flaw rises in even the new Primaris Marines. Meanwhile, an agent of Belisarius Cawl travels to Baal bearing gifts of science and technology that might just offer a little hope.

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Warhammer Crime – The Range So Far

Black Library’s Warhammer Crime range only launched in 2020 but it’s steadily growing as new titles are released, and I thought it might be useful to put together an article that breaks down all of the relevant releases and links out to reviews and author interviews where they’re available. Because a few of these stories are connected as well (characters appearing in both short stories and novels, for example) I’ve included as many of those connections as I know of too, so hopefully this should be helpful both as an introduction and a refresher to Warhammer Crime. I’ll keep this article updated as and when new titles are released and/or I publish new reviews/interviews, so that it’s as useful and up to date as possible.

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Sanction & Sin – Warhammer Crime Anthology

Sanction & Sin, the third short story anthology from Black Library’s Warhammer Crime range, collects together nine stories from a mixture of BL veterans and newer names (including debuts for J.S. Collyer and Jude Reid) exploring the trials and tribulations of some of the women living amidst the blood, the dirt, the crime and corruption on the grim streets of Varangantua. Whether trying to maintain the Lex, care for others’ bodies and souls, make a killing or just make a living, each of these characters is forced to confront the realities of life in this vast and unforgiving city, the inequality and the brutality, the squalid streets and the merciless conditions. While some thrive despite the odds, others aren’t so strong or so fortunate, and justice means little in Varangantua.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Jane Killick Talks In the Shadow of Deimos

Hello and welcome to today’s Track of Words Author Interview, where this time I’m lucky enough to have been able to chat to the fantastic Jane Killick about her novel In the Shadow of Deimos, the first Terraforming Mars novel from Aconyte Books. If you like a good adventure story set on the red planet, with competing corporations, crashed asteroids and all the usual dangers of life on Mars, then this is definitely worth checking out. It’s out now as a global ebook, with the US paperback coming later this month and the UK paperback following in November.

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Re-reading The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World, the first book in the epic Wheel of Time series, has an incredibly strong nostalgic hook for me. I first read it in 1999, at age 16, and I’ve lost count of how many times I ended up re-reading it (and many more of the early books in the series) over the following years to refresh my memory about what happened, each time one of the final books was published. After reading, and loving, A Memory of Light (incredibly, 24 years later in 2013) to finish the series I wasn’t sure I would ever go back and read the whole thing again from the beginning – after all, even though I love this series, despite its flaws, we’re talking tens of thousands of pages (4.4 million words) across the whole thing, so it’s a massive commitment. Eight years on though, the trailer for the TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time was released…

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Tristan Palmgren Talks Outlaw Relentless

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I welcome back Tristan Palmgren to talk about their new novel Outlaw: Relentless, part of the same range of Marvel: Heroines novels from Aconyte Books as their previous book, Domino: Strays. Whether you’ve read Domino: Strays or not (and I definitely recommend you do), if you’re a fan of Marvel’s mutant characters then this promises to be well worth checking out! It’s available now as a global ebook, with the US paperback due later in September and the UK paperback coming in November.

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Last Resort – Josh Reynolds

Aconyte Books’ range of novels based on the board game Zombicide begins with Josh Reynolds’ Last Resort, an entertaining and action-packed tale of survival against the odds after a zombie apocalypse. Westlake is a career thief, determined to brave the dangers of the zombie-infested Adirondack Mountains in search of ‘the Villa’, a semi-mythical sanctuary controlled by a vicious mafia kingpin. When he’s saved from serious trouble by a ragtag group of survivors led by an ex-FBI agent of his acquaintance, he sees the opportunity to find a crew of sorts to help him reach and access the Villa, if only he can persuade them to help. Luckily for Westlake, the survivors are growing increasingly desperate, and are willing to risk much for the chance to find a safe haven from the zombies.

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Sanction and Sin: Warhammer Crime and Women in Black Library – with J.S. Collyer, Victoria Hayward, Jude Reid and Danie Ware

Hello and welcome to this very special author interview here on Track of Words, where today I’m talking to no fewer than four fantastic authors – J.S. Collyer, Victoria Hayward, Jude Reid and Danie Ware – about their stories in the new Warhammer Crime anthology Sanction & Sin from Black Library. It’s always great to see new stories published in the Warhammer Crime range, and Sanction & Sin sounds like a fantastic collection of stories exploring some really interesting angles on Warhammer 40,000 as a setting. More than that though, it’s something of a landmark for Black Library as the first anthology to feature stories from four female authors.

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