Author Archives: Michael

QUICK REVIEW: Watch The Flank – Thomas Parrott

Thomas Parrott’s first story published via his Curious Fictions page, Watch The Flank introduces his The Sundering War setting with a punchy, action-packed military science fantasy tale of giant warmachines and aetheric energy. Cocooned within the huge frame of her Stormcaller giganphract, Bond-Pilot Leyna Raskin roams ahead of her regiment as they make for the safety of Fort Rigour. What started off as a tedious, dull posting, however, quickly becomes a frantic struggle for survival as Leyna finds herself facing off against a mysterious enemy every bit as massive and powerful as her own phract.

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RAPID FIRE: Dale Lucas Talks Realm-Lords

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.

For this interview I spoke to fantasy author Dale Lucas about his new Age of Sigmar novel Realm-Lords, which is his debut Black Library novel and the first ever story to feature the Lumineth Realm-lords! It’s available to pre-order as of Saturday 5th September, so if you’re interested in finding out a bit more about this aelven debut ahead of its release then read on…

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Monthly Highlights – August 2020

2020 continues to fly by despite the craziness still taking place, so it’s time once again for my latest Monthly Highlights article. While August was another slightly slower month for me in terms of the number of books I read (compared to a couple of months ago, at least), it’s been a really busy few weeks on Track of Words with reviews and author interviews, so I hope you’ve been enjoying the content. I’ve also continued to shift back towards a place where I’m mostly choosing books that I’m planning on reviewing – after a few months of finding it tough to get in the headspace for writing reviews, I feel like the words are flowing a bit better at the moment!

As usual I’ve tried to keep things as succinct as possible, and I’ve linked out to reviews where they’re available. Without further ado, however, let’s get straight on (in the order in which I read them) with August’s books…

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EDITOR INTERVIEW: Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells Talks Tales From The Crucible

Welcome to this Track of Words Editor Interview, my ongoing series of quick interviews with authors (and editors) 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 Aconyte Books’ editor Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells about the new KeyForge short story anthology Tales from the Crucible, which is due to be released as an ebook on the 1st September, with a US paperback edition released the same day and the UK paperback edition due on the 1st October. Whether you’re already familiar with KeyForge or you’re just looking for some cool new sci-fi short stories, there should be plenty for you to enjoy in this excellent anthology, so without further ado let’s get straight to it…

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Josh Reynolds Talks Wrath of N’Kai

Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, 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 the ever-prolific Josh Reynolds about his new book Wrath of N’Kai, the first Arkham Horror novel to be published by Aconyte Books. It’s due to be released as an ebook on the 1st September, with a US paperback edition released the same day and the UK paperback edition due on the 1st October. If you like a good occult detective story with a strong sense of 1920’s pulpy noir, this should be right up your street!

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Dredge Runners – Alec Worley

Alec Worley kicks off the audio side of Black Library’s Warhammer Crime imprint with Dredge Runners, an hour-long audio drama which introduces the pairing of ratling Baggit and ogryn Clodde in a brilliant tale of dirty dealings, rampant corruption and abhuman prejudice. Facing the ire of vicious crime lord Tabidiah Kruger after a deal gone awry, Baggit and Clodde find themselves tasked with digging up dirt on the (supposedly) squeaky-clean sanctioner Savriel Sabbriatti. Putting their unusual combination of skills to good use, the pair uncover secrets that might see them richly rewarded if only they can find a way out from between two such dangerous enemies, and overlook a few moral objections while they’re at it.

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Writing for Black Library – Alec Worley Talks Pitching Warhammer Horror

Welcome to this instalment of Writing for Black Library, in which the fantastic Alec Worley offers some amazing advice, ideas and suggestions for writing and pitching Warhammer Horror stories. The 2020 Black Library Open Submissions window is opening in October (for just two weeks) and this time around it’s focusing specifically on Warhammer Horror. I thought it might be interesting to ask Alec about not just writing horror stories but also the difficult job of pitching them to editors, so this interview covers quite a wide range of topics which I hope will be of use to anyone planning on submitting a story. There’s really no better time to tap into the considerable experience of an industry pro like Alec!

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RAPID FIRE: Darius Hinks Talks Blackstone Fortress: Ascension

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 Darius Hinks about his new novel Blackstone Fortress: Ascension, the follow up to his excellent 2018 novel Blackstone Fortress. It’s available to pre-order in a variety of formats – including a swanky Special Edition hardback – and promises to be another tremendously entertaining 40k novel exploring the stranger, darker corners of the setting. If you haven’t already checked out Black Library’s range of Blackstone Fortress stories, now is as good a time to start as any! Continue reading →

The Colonel’s Monograph – Graham McNeill

Released as part of Black Library’s 2019 Novella Series 2, Graham McNeill’s Warhammer Horror novella The Colonel’s Monograph is a quiet, creepingly sinister portrayal of the slow road to corruption. Grieving in the wake of her husband’s death, retired archivist Teresina Sullo takes on a private commission to catalogue the library of a celebrated war hero, the late Colonel Elena Grayloc. As her work progresses Sullo fixates on finding one particular book, which she hopes might shed light on the mysterious circumstances of the colonel’s return to Grayloc Manor and subsequent death. The deeper she digs, however, the more it becomes clear that something sinister lurks behind the colonel’s heroic facade, and that Sullo’s obsession with finding answers is leading her down a dark path from which she might not return.

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Bloodlines – Chris Wraight

The first Black Library novel published under the Warhammer Crime label, Chris Wraight’s Bloodlines is a tale of corruption, brutality and rampant inequality which takes a close look at the gritty realities of life for everyday Imperial citizens. In the vast, continent-sized hive city of Varangantua, Probator Agusto Zidarov is tasked with investigating the apparent disappearance of a spoiled scion of one of the city’s most powerful families. Despite his initial misgivings, it gradually becomes clear that something vile and deeply dangerous is going on in Varangantua. In order to get to the bottom of it Zidarov must navigate vicious cartels, the over-privileged ruling elite, and the corrupt systems of law and bureaucracy in which he himself works.

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