Author Archives: Michael

The Devourer Below: an Arkham Horror Anthology – edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells

Edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells, The Devourer Below is part of Aconyte Books’ growing range of Arkham Horror fiction and features eight short stories from seven different authors all exploring a sinister presence rising in Arkham. Dangerous deals are being made, threats issued, lives devastated and plots hatched, monsters emerging and reluctant heroes standing up, all in the name of or in defiance of a darkness that few truly understand. From local landmarks to the dark countryside that borders the city, detectives and grieving widows to bootleggers and vagrant children, these stories explore Arkham and its inhabitants in dark, unsettling detail, united by a common theme – sometimes overt, other times implied – of a monstrous, corrupting power and the sinister servants it can call upon.

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The Black Hawks – David Wragg

Book one of the two-part Articles of Faith series, David Wragg’s action packed and foul-mouthed The Black Hawks gleefully tramples over genre norms to deliver a fun new perspective on the fantasy quest story. Vedren Chel is neither heroic nor especially capable, and he would much rather be back home than in Denirnas, fetching and carrying for his step-uncle. When the city is attacked, however, he finds himself in the accidental service of the young, somewhat pitiful Prince Tarfel, and in the disreputable company of a band of mercenaries calling themselves the Black Hawks. If he can keep Tarfel alive long enough to deliver him safely into the hands of the mercenaries’ suspiciously vague employers, Chel might just be able to go home, but in order to do that he has to evade vengeful agents of the church and survive wolves, cannibals and all manner of other dangers.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: David Wragg Talks The Righteous

Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m joined by David Wragg to chat about his new novel The Righteous, the sequel to The Black Hawks and the second part of his Articles of Faith series. I’ve just read The Black Hawks and had a lot of fun with it (keep an eye out for a review coming soon), so I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, which is out on the 10th June from Harper Voyager. If you like your fantasy novels full of the usual action and adventure but erring on the more humorous side rather than all-out dark fantasy, this series should definitely be on your radar!

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QUICK REVIEW: Hochmuller’s Hound (short story) – Josh Reynolds

The title story in the second Casefiles of the Royal Occultist anthology from 18th Wall Productions, Josh Reynolds’ Royal Occultist short story Hochmuller’s Hound sees Thomas Carnacki and his apprentice Charles St. Cyprian up to their knees in mud and blood in the trenches of the Great War. Something has been tearing apart soldiers on the edge of No Man’s Land, and it wasn’t the Germans. When Carnacki and St. Cyprian’s investigations are interrupted by a ferocious German assault on the lines, however, the two men come face to face with more than just a dangerous beast out for blood.

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40k Reading Order: The Horusian Wars – John French

Hello and welcome to another 40k Reading Order article, where this time I’m offering a recommended reading order for the various stories that make up John French’s excellent Horusian Wars series. If you’ve ever wanted to read these dark tales exploring the warring factions within the Holy Orders of the Emperor’s Inquisition, but haven’t known where to start, then look no further than this article! With John’s very kind assistance I’ve put together a comprehensive list of all of the Horusian Wars stories to date – which include novels, short stories and audio dramas – based on their in-universe chronological order.

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Translator Interview: Nikki Kopelman Talks Translating The Ming Storm

Welcome to this slightly unusual Track of Words interview, where rather than chatting to an author, this time I’m talking to translator Nikki Kopelman who has translated Yan Leisheng’s Assassin’s Creed novel The Ming Storm into English for Aconyte Books. First published in Chinese in 2019, The Ming Storm was translated into French in 2020, and now Nikki’s translation (from French into English) is available from Aconyte as a global ebook and US paperback, with the UK paperback edition due in August 2021. I find anything to do with translation fascinating, so I jumped at the chance to speak to Nikki and get her thoughts on the book, on Assassin’s Creed as an IP, and her experience of translating the book into a form that us English speakers can read and enjoy!

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Death’s Kiss – Josh Reynolds

After 2020’s fantastic Legend of the Five Rings novel Poison River, Josh Reynolds returns with the second ‘Daidoji Shin Mystery’ – Death’s Kiss, from Aconyte Books. Set a few months after the events of the first book, it finds Shin busy overseeing the renovation of the Foxfire Theatre, having purchased it for himself apparently out of boredom. When a friend in the Unicorn clan asks him to look into a murder in the mountain city of Hisatu-Kesu, Shin puts aside the work of managing the theatre’s finances and, accompanied as always by the long-suffering Kisami, sets out to investigate. The closer Shin looks into what seems on the surface to be a straightforward case, the more he comes to understand the political tensions in Hisatu-Kesu, and what the consequences could be if proceedings aren’t handled with care.

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Monthly Roundup – May 2021

Hello and welcome to another Monthly Roundup article here on Track of Words, where as usual I’m taking a look back at what’s been going on over the last few weeks. I’d say it’s been slightly quieter on Track of Words than the last few months, but hopefully there’s still been plenty of new content to keep your interest, and I’ve been busy planning interesting things to work on in future. For the first part of the article I’ll do my usual run through of all the reviews, author interviews and blog articles that I’ve published over the last few weeks, so if you missed anything you can click on the links and go take a look. Once that’s done, I’ve got a couple of things I want to talk about in the general update section, so check that out for a bit about why I’m cutting down on Black Library reviews and interviews, and some thoughts on a Track of Words landmark that I’ve recently passed.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Josh Reynolds Talks Death’s Kiss

Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where this time around I’m chatting to Josh Reynolds about his latest Legend of the Five Rings novel, Death’s Kiss. The sequel to 2020’s fantastic Poison River, and the second ‘Daidoji Shin Mystery’, Death’s Kiss offers another fascinating glimpse of Rokugani life through the lens of a Golden Age-esque detective story, and it’s great fun! It’s published by Aconyte Books on the 1st June 2021 in global ebook and US paperback, with the UK paperback following in August, and Josh is here to give you the lowdown on what to expect from it!

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Where to Start With Black Library: Age of Sigmar Grand Alliance Order

Hello and welcome to this instalment of my Where to Start With Black Library article series, where I’m offering suggestions for good entry points into BL’s various ranges, and attempting to demystify Warhammer fiction a little bit. Historically, Black Library hasn’t provided much in the way of guidance regarding its massive range of stories, so I was pleased to see a recent (at the time I’m writing this) Warhammer Community article offering suggestions for where to start with Age of Sigmar books exploring the Grand Alliance Order – the ‘good guys’ (ish) of the Mortal Realms. While I applaud the intentions of this article, I didn’t think it was very thorough, and I didn’t necessarily agree with all of its suggestions, so I’ve put together an article myself on the same topic.

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