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 Guy Haley about his latest Horus Heresy Primarchs novel, Corax: Lord of Shadows. It’s Guy’s second novel in this series, and one of no fewer than three releases from Guy all coming within a few weeks of each other – he’s a busy man! Lord of Shadows is available to order this weekend as a Limited Edition hardback, and will be available in standard editions in a few months.
As usual, let’s get straight to the questions and Guy’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Corax: Lord of Shadows?
Guy Haley: The dark side of Corvus Corax.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
GH: Corvus Corax is your main man here. Although several other familiar characters appear.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
GH: The story concerns the Carinae Retribution. This was a campaign during the Great Crusade where Corax intervenes to aid a Expeditionary Fleet that has ground to a halt attempting to force a human void culture into compliance. The Carinae Sodality is a loose confederation of cities in space that orbit a star without planets. They’re quite wily and have been stalling for time, but when pressed to join the Imperium, they flat out refuse. Corax attacks…and it all goes wrong.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading this?
GH: Any and all of Gav Thorpe’s Raven Guard stories from the Heresy period.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
GH: As usual, I was asked! They had a gap, I was down to write another Primarchs novel. This was it. I’m quite happy to take random assignments. They stretch me.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it?
GH: Gav Thorpe’s stories. I tried to follow what he had done with the Primarch.
ToW: How familiar were you with Corax and the Raven Guard before writing this? Was there much research required?
GH: I didn’t know much about him, as I hadn’t explored that branch of the Heresy at that point. I have now! I read all of Gav’s novels, and pored over Forgeworld’s Extermination in some depth.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
GH: It pretty much turned out how it was intended to. I write quickly, to a plan. It’s rare for one of my Warhammer books to veer away from what I intended.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
GH: It’s the usual Guy Haley writes Space War stuff.
ToW: Do you have plans to continue any aspects of this story, or is it a standalone piece?
GH: As a Primarchs book, it is standalone, though that’s not to say I will never write Corax again.
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Once again I’d like to thank Guy for taking the time to answer these questions. Keep an eye out for a review of Corax: Lord of Shadows as soon as the standard edition is available!
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.