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 John French about The Horusian Wars: Incarnation, the second in his Horusian Wars series, which is available to order right now.
As usual, let’s get straight to the questions and John’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for The Horusian Wars: Incarnation?
John French: Inquisitors from two warring factions come to a city-sized monastery in search of an incarnation of divine power as a Chaos cult rises up from the dark. Revelations and bloodshed abound.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
JF: The cast is big! All of the cast from Resurrection return, including Inquisitor Covenant, Viola von Castellan, and preacher Josef. Added to them are a radical Inquisitor called Memnon, his warband, and a number of new members of Covenant’s organization. And…lots of members of the Ecclesiarchy.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
JF: It’s set in now of Warhammer 40,000 in the Caradryad Sector in the galactic south. Warp storms are tearing the fabric of the Imperium apart. Prophecies and heresies are everywhere and the stakes have never been higher.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading this?
JF: You really need to read Resurrection. The Horusian Wars is a big, complex story that happens to be split across several books. Incarnation is intended as part two of that story. And you have to pay attention. Sorry. It’s not going to be everyone’s flavor of ice cream, but for those who have come with me so far, this book is for them.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
JF: The whole series is driven by me wanting to write about Warhammer 40,000 in all its darkness, lack of absolutes, complexity and depth.
ToW: Can you talk a little about how you go about creating the various different cults that Covenant and his warband face, and how you fit them to the needs of the story?
JF: I start with a simple question – what do they believe? In the case of the Renewed from Resurrection, I loved the idea of an Imperial death cult that believes the Emperor is dead and lost in the underworld and needs to be guided back to the land of the living. That idea fed everything about them – their rituals, symbols, mysteries and goals, the grave coins under their tongues, the fact that they are created by dying and being brought back to life.
In Incarnation, I went back to a cult that Alan Bligh and I created a decade ago for the Disciples of the Dark Gods RPG supplement. The Pilgrims of Hayte are a nihilistic apocalypse cult. They believe that hope is dead and everything a lie, and the only response to that is hate and destruction. They are nominally a Chaos cult, in that they use daemons and the like, but they are not worshipers of the gods so much as a wild idea that wants to kill the universe.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it? Did you draw upon any real-life experience to help you plan or write it?
JF: Real life is always a strange thing to talk about when it comes to influence. Real life influences everything I write, but it’s rarely in the big ways that people might imagine. It’s not taking something that happened in the real world and making it into a story. It comes in the small things – the seeds that give tiny edges to ideas.
For example: in lots of old cities the supply of drinking water was really important, so you can come across fountains, taps and almost shrine-like springs tucked away in alleys and back streets, overshadowed by the buildings around them. They feel almost like a secret when you find them. That feeling is part of the inspiration behind the scene of Acia finding the shrine in the drift settlement in Incarnation.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
JF: Lots changed – but the heart of it is still very much what I wanted it to be.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
JF: Those that have read Resurrection will be at home, and there is a lot of twisting going on in the story. As I think I said about the series as whole; it is very much the deep look at Warhammer 40,000 and intricate plotting that seems to have become my calling card.
ToW: Can you give any hints as to what we might expect from the final instalment of the series?
JF: Yes: Revelation. Choices. Incarnate gods.
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As always, I’d like to thank John for taking the time to answer these questions. If you’d like to have a read, you can check out my review of Incarnation by clicking here!
Click here to buy The Horusian Wars: Incarnation.
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.