Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases – or in this case, a slightly older release from the Warhammer Chronicles series. 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 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 Mike Lee about his classic Warhammer Time of Legends series, The Rise of Nagash, which is available as a single-volume omnibus in the Warhammer Chronicles series. With Nagash playing a big role in the Age of Sigmar at the moment, there’s never been a better time to look back to the Great Necromancer’s earliest days!
As usual, let’s get straight to the questions and Mike’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for The Rise of Nagash?
Mike Lee: The Rise of Nagash is a centuries-spanning epic about Nagash, the first necromancer, the birth of the vampires, and the fall of Nehekara, once known as the Blessed Land. It’s a huge story about magic, religion, politics, intrigue, murder, and war.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
ML: It’s a little tricky, because the story covers such a broad swath of time that there are new characters being introduced in every book! But the main characters would be Nagash, of course, who begins the story as the high priest of the Mortuary Cult of Khemri; Arkhan (sometimes called the Black), a dissolute noble who becomes Nagash’s chief lieutenant; Neferata, the young Queen of Lahmia, and Alcadizzar, a young noble raised at the Lahmian court who has a mighty destiny ahead of him.
ToW: Where and when do these stories take place?
ML: The bulk of the story takes place in Nehekara, around 2,000 years before the time of Sigmar and the creation of the Empire. Nehekara was once a vast kingdom dominated by seven city-states that prospered under the favor of a pantheon of gods now all but forgotten. So we’re talking ancient history even by Old World standards, a time so distant that it’s little more than myth.
ToW: Are there particular themes running across all of the books that readers can expect to see when reading this series?
ML: The quest for immortality is a major theme running through the story, as well as the corrupting effects of power and the role of religion in society.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading the Nagash books?
ML: I highly recommend all of the Time of Legends stories, especially The Great Betrayal by Nick Kyme [now available in an anthology entitled The War of Vengeance], as well as Caledor, Malekith, and Shadow King, all by Gav Thorpe [collected as The Sundering]. Though the Nagash books take place in a remote corner of the world that’s largely unaffected by the deeds of Dwarfs, High Elves, and Dark Elves, these books cover some of the greatest legends of the Warhammer world.
ToW: Can you recommend any other Warhammer novels to read after this series?
ML: By all means check out Josh Reynolds’ Nagash the Undying King and Neferata, which continue the stories of the First Necromancer and the Queen of the Vampires. I also recommend Graham McNeill’s Heldenhammer, Empire, and God King [collected together in The Legend of Sigmar], which tell the story of the legendary Sigmar and the creation of the Empire.
ToW: Why these stories? What appealed to you about writing about Nagash in particular?
ML: Actually, it was Black Library that approached me to do the series. I had just finished the last of the Malus Darkblade books, and my editor asked if I might be interested tackling Nagash for the Time of Legends series. At the time I didn’t know a great deal about Nagash and the Tomb Kings, but I love world building, and the chance to write about Nehekara, its people, and its gods really appealed to me.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing these stories?
ML: In terms of the lore, Black Library wanted me to stick with the background presented in the Tomb Kings army book and ignore sources like the old LIber Necris. That gave me a lot of freedom to do my own take on the details of Nagash’s story, sticking to the broad strokes but hopefully adding some surprises along the way to keep things interesting.
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?
ML: The books were originally designed to work as one long story, broken into three major phases of Nagash’s rise and eventual fall. Breaking out the story into those three parts seemed easy on the surface, but the farther I got into writing the second book, the harder it became to sort out. That’s why the second book is shorter than the first, because it became clear that I either had to find a break in the story much sooner than I’d planned, or else I’d have to make it much longer (and somewhat weirdly paced) than I wanted. At the time, a lot of readers were unhappy with the way the story concluded in the second book, and I certainly understand why – I wasn’t really happy with it, either.
The overall vision of the story didn’t change much during the writing, but the emphasis on certain characters did. The Lahmians became a much bigger part of the books than originally planned, for example, because you can’t really tell the story of Nagash without also telling the origin story of the vampires. Alcadizzar’s early life got a lot more emphasis than I’d originally planned as well, because it was so closely tied to Neferata and Lahmia. So the story grew with the telling, as most epic fantasies tend to do.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Is it a familiar style, or a departure?
ML: I’d say it’s very similar to my other Warhammer Fantasy novels, especially the later books in the Malus Darkblade series. It’s a mix of action, intrigue, and horror, told on a really epic scale.
ToW: Were there aspects of Nagash’s story that you had hoped to continue and write more about?
ML: Not so much Nagash, honestly – his story comes to a pretty definite end at the close of the third book. I had briefly considered chronicling the further adventures of Arkhan the Black (and did write a follow-up story called Picking the Bones), but unfortunately the timing on those never worked out.
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I’d like to say a massive thanks to Mike for taking the time to answer these questions. I hope this has inspired you to check out this great series, if you haven’t already got it!
Click here to buy The Rise of Nagash.
Click here if you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews. I’m aiming to gradually work through some of these great value Warhammer Chronicles omnibuses, and you can already hear from Graham McNeill on his Legend of Sigmar series. Keep an eye out for more Rapid Fire interviews about the Warhammer Chronicles omnibuses coming up…
If you’ve got any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.