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 Robbie MacNiven about his latest 40k novel, Carcharadons: Outer Dark, the sequel to the excellent Red Tithe. You can order this in hardback and ebook right now!
Without further ado, let’s get straight to the questions.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Carcharadons: Outer Dark?
Robbie MacNiven: The Carcharodon Astra have to do something they find inherently difficult – protect an Imperial shrine world from an alien threat rising up out of the void, without massacring or abducting everyone.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
RM: Reaper Prime Bail Sharr, commander of the Carcharodons’ 3rd Company, is back. Beyond that I wouldn’t like to say too much, though there are some fan favourites, and a few possible surprises. We’ll also get to meet a Carcharodon dreadnought for the first time, Wandering Ancestor Itako. Oh, and a certain Red Wake.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
RM: It’s set in 885.M41, a decade after Red Tithe and 119 years before the events of the Gathering Storm (so no, no Carcharodon Primaris details). Since Red Tithe was bound very much to a single locale, I was quite eager to explore some more diverse settings, so the story takes place across a broad number of worlds. There’s the shrine world of Piety V, the agri world of Kora, the Inquisition-controlled planet of Imperius, the cemetary world of Hypasitis and a few more mysterious locations, the ‘Lost World’ and another which I probably shouldn’t name yet.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading this?
RM: Red Tithe, and also a short story set between Red Tithe and Outer Dark, Death Warrant. Don’t worry too much if you haven’t read either though, I think Outer Dark stands up fine on its own to anyone vaguely familiar with 40k.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
RM: Even before the success of Red Tithe I knew I wanted to carry on writing more about the Carcharodons. I’d fancied pitching them against the tyranids for a while, and the shrine world of Piety V got a tiny, passing mention in connection with the Carcharodons in Imperial Armour Volume 10 (congrats to anyone who finds it!). It all snowballed from there really.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it? Did you draw upon any real-life experience to help you plan or write it?
RM: It was really about making it a continuation of the influences that inspired the first. We see more of the Carcharodons’ Pacific-inspired culture, though hopefully again without either a) giving too much away or b) going overboard. Bringing out the gribblyness of the tyranids was also a plus; I’d already had a shot at them in The Last Hunt, so carrying that over in a couple of scenes was fun.
ToW: This is your first sequel novel – did you feel any additional pressure, or find any different challenges, in following on from Red Tithe?
RM: It was an interesting experience. If anything I found there was less pressure, because I was dealing with a lot of characters who I’d now already established. While still making it reader-friendly for those who haven’t read Red Tithe, it freed me up to focus on exploring some cool settings and putting these characters into fresh, challenging situations. The only real pressure was making sure they stayed true to their previous iterations.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
RM: The finished product is very close to the first draft. I knew I was on to a bit of a winner when my editor sent it back with very few changes required – it’s probably the most redraft-lite book I’ve written so far.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
RM: I’d hope it’s familiar. This is my fifth novel, so hopefully my own unique authorial style is starting to become apparent.
ToW: Do you have plans to continue any aspects of this story, and carry on the Carcharadons series?
RM: Let’s just say I’d very much like to continue the arcs established by these first two books!
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Many thanks, as always, to Robbie for taking the time to answer these questions. As soon as I have a review written for Outer Dark, I’ll get it posted! 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.