RAPID FIRE: Sandy Mitchell Talks Choose Your Enemies

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’m delighted to have spoken with legendary Black Library author Sandy Mitchell about his latest 40k novel Choose Your Enemies, and the long-awaited return of Ciaphas Cain. It’s available to order right now, but before you do that here are the questions and Sandy’s answers…

Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Choose Your Enemies?

Sandy Mitchell: Cain and the Valhallan 597th defend an Imperial hive world from invading Eldar and a deeply-embedded Chaos cult.

ToW: For anyone who isn’t familiar with this series, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?

SM: Commissar Cain is an inspirational leader, regarded by all as a shining example of every Imperial virtue. The truth, however, is that he’s entirely self-centred, and concerned only with his own survival – but his attempts to avoid combat as much as possible keep pitching him into harm’s way, where every accidental victory adds lustre to his fraudulent reputation.

His aide, Gunner Jurgen, accompanies him everywhere, a Baldrick to Cain’s Blackadder: fortunately for them both he’s a psychic blank, with the innate ability to nullify warp-spawned sorcery.

Amberley Vail, an Inquisitor with the Ordo Xenos, has a romantic relationship with Cain and an unfortunate habit of involving him and Jurgen in her investigations. The self-appointed editor of his memoirs, she’s a notable presence even in the books where she doesn’t appear on stage.

ToW: Where and when is this story set?

SM: The Damocles Gulf, a short while after the events of The Last Ditch, the previous novel to feature the 597th Valhallan. (Although about half the books to date are set in the period where he’s serving with this regiment, I tend to skip around the timeline a bit, so some are set earlier in his career, and others later, when he’s assigned elsewhere.)

ToW: Should readers be familiar with the rest of the Ciaphas Cain stories before reading this, or do you think they could start the series here?

SM: There are a few references to earlier events, but I try to structure every book so that a new reader won’t feel they’re missing anything they need to enjoy the story. As I’ve said, I write them out of chronological sequence anyway, and Cain often makes throwaway remarks about his previous experiences which don’t refer to anything I’ve previously done. (Though some have stuck in my mind, and sparked stories of their own later on.)

Amberley’s appearance in the book follows on from a short story I did a few years ago, Hidden Depths, which centred on her and her acolytes rather than Cain. Tying that in influenced a lot of the world-building in Choose Your Enemies, including the unusual astronomical and political aspects of the Ironfound system as a whole. (Though, once again, it’s not necessary to have read the short story before jumping into the novel.)

ToW: Where did the character of Ciaphas Cain come from? Warhammer 40,000 isn’t exactly well known for its humorous characters, so what inspired you to create Cain?

SM: I’m a huge fan of George McDonald Fraser’s Flashman books and had wanted to do something similar, about a self-serving rogue everyone else thinks is a hero, but in an SF setting rather than a historical one, for a long time: but the amount of world-building necessary to establish a setting where someone like that could flourish was more than a little intimidating. When I was invited to pitch some ideas for Inferno, the short story magazine Black Library used to publish in the dim and distant days before ebooks were a thing, it was the first idea that occurred to me: the 40K universe was so detailed and textured that all the heavy lifting had already been done.

Ironically, none of the editors liked the idea of an overtly humourous 40K story, but I wrote it anyway because Cain was stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away until I did; then he still wouldn’t go away, but fortunately everyone else seemed to like him after all, and we’ve been hanging around together ever since.

ToW: Why do you think Cain continues to be such a popular character among 40k fans?

SM: Probably because he’s relatable. Most of the protagonists in 40K novels aren’t that prone to self-doubt, or self-deprecation, or using humour as a defence against the horrors they face. A friend once described Cain as “a reasonable man in utterly unreasonable circumstances”, which works for me.

ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?

SM: As so often, I think it was a number of things coming together. It had been a long time since The Greater Good, and Black Library asked if I’d be interested in doing another Cain book any time soon – which of course I was.

I had another couple of novels to finish first, though, both written as Alex Stewart for another publisher, which meant I had plenty of time to think about what elements should go in. Eldar was a no-brainer, because they were the only major antagonist from the 40K universe I hadn’t used in a Cain novel yet, and I’d always kind of wondered what happened to Amberley and her acolytes after the climax of Hidden Depths, so that was a chance to scratch another itch. And Chaos is always good value, although the idea of bringing back a previous antagonist came later, after some typically helpful editorial feedback.

ToW: What influences do you draw upon when writing each instalment of such a long-running series, in order to help make sure it remains fresh?

SM: I think the most important thing is just to trust the story. Refining the outline and making sure the structure’s sound helps a lot, but so much comes down to style and tone, and Cain’s narrative voice is very distinctive.

Working in a shared universe like the 40K one helps a lot, as there’s so much background material to draw on. This time round my most useful reference was the Ordo Malleus supplement for the Dark Heresy roleplaying game, which really helped with the characterisation of a major supporting character, a Malleus Inquisitor Amberley gets into a jurisdictional head-butting contest with.

And, of course, one of the great pleasures of working for the Black Library is the editorial feedback, which is invariably both detailed and helpful.

ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept for the book? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?

SM: Everything changes and evolves as I write it; the finished book is quite different from the original outline, but that’s as it should be. Quite often the best and most effective elements of a story are the ones that take you by surprise, and then you realise of course that’s what it should be.

ToW: Do you have plans to write further Ciaphas Cain stories, or is this a standalone piece?

SM: I don’t have any specific ideas yet, but I doubt very much that Cain and I have finished with one another. I’ll be happy to write stories about him for as long as Black Library are willing to publish them.

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Thanks so much to Sandy for taking the time to answer these questions. Keep an eye out for a review of Choose Your Enemies coming sometime soon – I can’t wait to get hold of it!

Click here to buy Choose Your Enemies.

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.