Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library 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 Gav Thorpe about his latest 40k audio drama – Heirs of the Laughing God: A Deadly Wit, which is available to order right now. Fancy some theatrical Harlequins action? This one’s for you.
Let’s crack on, over to Gav.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for A Deadly Wit?
Gav Thorpe: Killer space elf clowns riff on Shakespeare.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
GT: From the script notes:
Duruthiel ‘the Red Swan’, Great Harlequin – Leader of the Troupe, Duruthiel aspires to embody the uncaring nihilism of his patron. He purports to be aloof and otherworldly, happy to be the carefree leaf drifting on the currents of the river of life. Yet for all his pretensions to be a pawn of fate and whim, he cannot escape his intrinsic empathy and compassion for other living creatures. Would be insufferable if not for his charisma and the evident constant self-mockery.
‘Echo’, Shadowseer – As much as the Red Swan aspires to become the Laughing God, Echo takes on the role of oracle to Cegorach. It is his dreams that shape the actions of the troupe, his quest to recover the Cup of Truth so that he might gain insight into the destruction of the Great Enemy. Prone to speaking in metaphor, obscurities and riddles, Echo veers from arch and enigmatic, to Sixties hippy stoner.
Adroniel Bladewish, Death Jester – Taking upon herself the role of Death, Adroniel Bladewish is the devil’s advocate of the group, taking apart the arguments and fallacies of her companions with wry wit and ruthless insight. Barely a word passes her lips that is not the unvarnished truth, stripping bare the souls of those around her with a wit drier than a desert.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
GT: There is no identified timeframe, but probably in the present of 40K, on an ork-held world.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend checking out before listening to this?
GT: No, it should work well on its own.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
GT: Audio is great for theatrics and what is more theatrical than a masque of Harlequins? I had so much fun writing the Harlequin parts of Ghost Warrior that I wanted to create a whole series around these players on the precipice of fate.
ToW: Do you find Harlequins bring any particular challenges or opportunities when you’re planning or writing a story?
GT: They are grandiloquent and grandiose, for the most part. This made the dialogue a lot of fun to write, but I had to be careful not to go too far and make it overbearing on the story. They have a lot of agency to go where they will and do what they want, so hopefully that should be useful in keeping each story fresh.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it? Did you draw upon any real-life experience to help you plan or write it?
GT: There’s quite a bit of adopted persona on the part of the characters, literally playing parts that have taken over their lives. I’m not a part of any thespian world so it was more a case of building on the experience that we all assume different identities and personas depending on what company we are in – but at our heart we each have a core identity that we build around.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
GT: It’s better – there was some great feedback from the Black Library audio producer Matt Renshaw which really added to the sound and story.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
GT: It’s definitely me, but with a far more affected narrator voice I would say – much like Ghost Warrior actually, for reasons that might be clear to people that have read that novel. I set out to have fun with the characters and that’s been the central aim all the way through.
ToW: Do you have plans to continue any aspects of this story, or is it a standalone piece?
GT: It’ll be the first of three with each of the main characters being the focal point for one of the stories. Next will likely be Adroniel; I’m working up a pitch at the moment.
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Huge thanks as always to Gav for taking the time to answer these questions. Click here for my review of A Deadly Wit. If you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews, just click here.
If you’ve got any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, on Facebook or Twitter, or by emailing me at michael@trackofwords.com.