Heirs of Grimnir – David Guymer

David Guymer’s three-part Age of Sigmar audio Heirs of Grimnir revisits a character from Realmslayer and explores the dynamic between the quarreling Runesons of the Unbaki. Disaster has struck the lodge, as its Runefather and eldest Runeson have been found murdered and Aruk-Grimnir’s legacy chest – the means for deciding succession – stolen. The Unbaki’s enemies are legion, but only a great power could have committed such a terrible crime. Alongside his remaining brothers and the elderly Battlesmith Firebrand, sixth and youngest Runeson Forn sets out to retrieve the chest, discover who is to become the new Runefather of the Unbak lodge, and take revenge for the dead.

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RAPID FIRE: David Guymer Talks The Court of the Blind King

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 David Guymer about his new Warhammer Age of Sigmar novel The Court of the Blind King, which is available to pre-order tomorrow in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats. It’s the first time the Deepkin have had a novel of their own, so if you’re interested in this (relatively) new breed of Warhammer aelves, this is the book to check out!

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David Guymer and Steve Conlin Talk Dwarfs, Duardin and Heirs of Grimnir

With his latest Black Library audio drama being released as part of the 2019 Black Library Advent Calendar series, I got in touch with author David Guymer to find out a bit more about what we can expect from the three-part Age of Sigmar story Heirs of Grimnir. Seeing as David has written rather a lot about slayers, fyreslayers and various other varieties of dwarfs (and duardin) over the years, I asked if he would also offer some of his thoughts on Age of Sigmar duardin, old-school Warhammer dwarfs, and how this story fits in with the rest of his Realmslayer series.

As you might have guessed from the title of the interview, this also sees the debut appearance on Track of Words of voice actor extraordinaire Steve Conlin. As well as providing the public face of legendary Games Workshop founder James Workshop, Steve plays the lead role in Heirs of Grimnir and an important role in Realmslayer, so it only seemed appropriate that he should contribute…in his own inimitable style…some insights and additional thoughts to the interview. You’ll see some of Steve’s comments scattered throughout, and then a few specific questions for him at the end.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Child Foretold – Nicholas Kaufmann

Nicholas Kaufmann’s debut for Black Library is a Warhammer Horror short story, a tale of loss, loneliness and belonging for an isolated man. Kavel Trake was once a soldier in the militia, until the orks came to Ballard’s Run. Since then, having lost his family, his leg and his purpose, he’s eked out a living as a farmer with little to do but work and drink. When a dying woman stumbles onto his secluded farm and begs him to care for a babe in arms, he finds both a surprising sense of newfound purpose and the beginnings of a dark path.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Revelation of the Word – David Annandale

David Annandale’s 25-minute Horus Heresy audio drama The Revelation of the Word features a great cast of Black Library audio stalwarts and tackles one of the most delicious ironies of the series. During his Shadow Crusade against Guilliman’s 500 Worlds, Lorgar Aurelian’s meditations are disturbed by one of his sons bringing word of a strange discovery. Travelling to its source, Lorgar finds an underground church and a congregation basing their forbidden worship of the Emperor on the Lectitio Divinitatus. Aurelian’s initial rage as his words are turned against him soon gives way to further scorn of his distant father’s followers.

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QUICK REVIEW: Serpents of Ardemis – Mike Brooks

A prequel to Rites of Passage, Mike Brooks’ short story Serpents of Ardemis adds a little context to a key character in the novel, and provides a sharp exploration of the abuse of power amongst the privileged. Chetta and her (not yet dead) husband Azariel are on the water world of Ardemis for an annual social engagement, rubbing shoulders with other Navigators and nobility whilst simultaneously maneuvering for political gain. Chetta’s disarmingly blunt approach to diplomacy makes as many unexpected friends as it does enemies, friends which will come in handy if she and Azariel are to achieve their goals.

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QUICK REVIEW: Strong Bones – Michael R. Fletcher

His second Black Library short story, Michael R. Fletcher’s Strong Bones is another tale of the Ossiarch Bonereapers, this time from the perspective of a trio of young ogors. Bored of eating leftovers and waiting behind when their elders head off to raid, Stugkor and his mates Algok and Chidder have the bright idea to go out on their own raid, just the three of them. Forging off into the frozen wilds of Ghur, the youngsters find raiding to be less exciting than they expected, until they stumble across a human settlement presided over by an army of strange-looking deaders.

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Augur of Despair – Chris Dows

A three-part Blackstone Fortress audio drama, Chris Dows’ Augur of Despair is an action-packed adventure featuring an odd-couple pairing of protagonists facing off against all manner of potentially deadly denizens of the Blackstone. Rogue Trader Neyam Shai Murad and crusader Gotfret de Montbard make their way back to Precipice in the possession of an artefact which might change the balance of power in the Fortress. To unlock its potential they must escape the attentions of an Ambull, enlist the help of a deeply untrustworthy genetor, battle mutants and cultists, and put their trust in a creation of the Fortress itself.

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Low Lives – Denny Flowers

Following on directly from his debut Black Library story The Hand of Harrow, Denny Flowers’ Necromunda novella Low Lives is a tall tale of confidence and consequences in the underhive. Caleb Cursebound – allegedly the underhive’s ninth most dangerous man – and his partner Iktomi arrive in the (literal) dead-end settlement of Hope’s End with hunters on their tail after their last, somewhat botched, job. They’re quickly forced to abandon their plan to lay low when Caleb heroically (or at least drunkenly) promises to rid the settlement of a gang of Orlocks who recently took control of the locals’ potentially lucrative mine.

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Chris Dows Talks Audio, Comics and Augur of Despair

Chris Dows is a hugely experienced writer across multiple formats, publishers and settings, on top of being a university lecturer, and he’s been writing for Black Library for a few years now. Over that time he’s tackled stories in both prose and audio about Elysians, Cadians, World Eaters and most recently explorers in the Blackstone Fortress, and I’ve been meaning for a while now to get him on Track of Words for a proper interview. With his latest audio drama, Augur of Despair, being released in three parts over the 2019 Black Library Advent series, now seems like a perfect opportunity.

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