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 Nathan Long about his old school Warhammer series, Ulrika the Vampire: The Omnibus, which is getting a long-awaited rerelease under the Warhammer Chronicles series. It’s available to order right now, for anyone who’s keen to spend some time in the Old World.
As usual, let’s get straight to the questions and Nathan’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for the Ulrika series?
Nathan Long: First of all, thanks for asking me to answer these questions. I am really looking forward to the release of the Ulrika the Vampire Omnibus, and am happy people are still interested in reading her books. They were some of my favorite things I got to write for Black Library. The elevator pitch for Ulrika’s story was just one sentence. It went like this:
“How does a woman of honor deal with becoming a vampire, when she spent her whole mortal life fighting the forces of darkness?”
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
NL: There are only really two main characters in the series, Ulrika and Countess Gabriella. All the other characters come and go.
Ulrika grew up the daughter of a Kislevite Boyar, and became the traveling companion and sometime lover of Felix Jaeger until she was kidnapped and made into a vampire by Adolphus Krieger against her will. Countess Gabriella is a old and powerful vampire who rescued Ulrika from certain death at the hands of Gotrek Gurnisson after she became a fiend. The countess took Ulrika into her care and made it her mission to teach her the ways of the Lahmian Sisterhood. It is at this moment that the Ulrika series starts.
ToW: Where and when do these stories take place?
NL: They take place mostly in Nuln and Praag, just after the events of the Gotrek and Felix novel Vampireslayer.
ToW: Are there particular themes running across all of the books that readers can expect to see when reading this series?
NL: I tried to make the books a progression from childhood to adulthood (though I don’t think I really got Ulrika out of her rebellious teenage years by the end of it). Ulrika has, in a very real way, been born again when the series starts, and she’s learning life’s hard lessons all over again. At first she’s entirely dependent on her ‘parent’ Gabriella, then later begins to feel trapped by her and her rules, and strives to break free. She spends the novels searching for her place in this strange new world, and it’s a difficult journey.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading the Ulrika books?
NL: A lot of reviewers have said it’s not necessary to read the Gotrek and Felix books to enjoy the Ulrika books, but if you want to enjoy her earlier adventures, Ulrika makes her first appearance in Daemonslayer, and accompanies Gotrek and Felix through Dragonslayer and Beastslayer, before becoming a vampire in Vampireslayer.
ToW: Can you recommend any other Warhammer novels to read after this series?
NL: I was given the opportunity to write the Ulrika series after taking over the Gotrek and Felix series at the eighth book, Orcslayer, so if you want more from that storyline, have a look at those. I also wrote another Warhammer series called the Blackhearts, which is about a band of gallows trash felons forced to do the Empire’s diplomatic dirty work or die. If you like spy novels, you might like those.
I also heartily recommend my friend C.L. Werner’s Warhammer novels, particularly his Thanquol and Boneripper stories, which also tie into the Gotrek and Felix saga, and my friend Graham McNeill’s Sigmar series, which chronicles the life of the god of the Empire before he becomes a god.
ToW: Why these stories? What made you want to write these in particular?
NL: I loved the drama inherent in Ulrika’s situation at the end of Vampireslayer. A woman who has spent her entire life fighting the forces of darkness suddenly and unwillingly joins the forces of darkness. How does she adapt? Can she adapt? Or will she self-destruct? I felt there was a lot of drama to be mined there, and there was!
ToW: What were your main influences when writing these stories?
NL: I’m a huge fan of swashbucklers, both novels and movies, and I tried to give the Ulrika books that feel, with lots of intrigue, romance, flashing swords, daring escapes, breakneck chases, heartbreak, and triumph. The master of the swashbuckler was a guy named Raphael Sabatini, who wrote a lot of novels that got turned into Errol Flynn movies, including The Sea Hawk and Captain Blood. Check them out if you want to see the birth of the genre.
ToW: How do you feel the series as a whole fits together? Did your vision for the whole thing change over the course of writing all of the books?
NL: I think my vision stayed basically the same. I had it all plotted out – roughly – before I started writing, and I stuck to my plan. There were things that surprised me along the way – relationships that became more meaningful than I expected, etc. – but in general it kept to its original inspiration.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
NL: I think my style is pretty consistent from book to book and series to series, but certain things change because of the heroes. Gotrek and Felix stories have bigger, more earthshaking conflicts, and there’s less romance and intrigue than the Ulrika books. My Blackhearts books are more thriller-like, with elements of bank heist and spy tropes, and a bit more witty banter. The books that are really different are my Jane Carver of Waar novels, which are sci-fi and star a biker chick from Florida. I wrote them first person, so the voice is foul-mouthed and southern and completely different from my fantasy novel voice.
ToW: Were there aspects of Ulrika’s story that you had hoped to continue and write more about?
NL: There’s a lot of room for more Ulrika novels, as there is a twenty year gap between the end of Vampireslayer, where Felix says goodbye to her as a fledgling vampire, and Manslayer, where he meets her again fully matured. I had plans for another three books where she would wander the world of Warhammer having adventures and and growing more confident in her powers, while at the same time coming to some difficult decisions about who and what she should be, but I don’t think I’ll get to write them. I would absolutely not object to somebody else writing them, however. In fact I’d love to read them!
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Thanks so much to Nathan for taking the time to answer these questions. I’ve never read the Ulrika series, and I’m very tempted to pick them up after reading Nathan’s answers!
If you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews, just click here. This is the first time I’ve covered a Warhammer Chronicles release in a Rapid Fire interview, but keep an eye out for more like this coming up…
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.
I enjoyed the first volume, and look forward to having the other two available.