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 Nick Kyme about his latest Horus Heresy audio drama Nightfane, which is available to order right now via the Black Library website and app, and Audible!
Without further ado, let’s get straight to the questions and Nick’s answers.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Nightfane?
Nick Kyme: Injured and understrength, Thiel and his squad investigate an apparently deserted promethium drilling rig and uncover a murderous enemy and chilling evidence about the military offensive codenamed ‘Nightfane’.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
NK: Aeonid Thiel is the sergeant of the Red-Marked. He is notorious in the Ultramarines Legion for being censured for performing theoretical battle-drill scenarios against fellow legionaries, an act which, ironically, proved somewhat prophetic when Ultramar came under attack from former legionary allies. He distinguished himself during the campaign, particularly in the gruelling Underworld War, which he quickly became disenamoured with (believing it to be political in motivation and ultimately a lost cause). He ended up founding the ‘Red-Marked’, precursors for the Tactical Marines the legionaries would eventually become.
Bracheus is a veteran Ultramarine, who also fought in the Underworld War and shares the burden of that harrowing conflict with Thiel. He’s a drill master and Thiel’s right hand man. Pragmatic and ferociously loyal, Bracheus is concerned about the rapid intake of recruits into both the Legion and the Red-Marked, believing the vetting process to not be as rigorous as it should be.
Aberon is an Apothecary and a recent addition to the Red-Marked, who are in need of his specialist skills. He is a former prisoner of war, captured during the Underworld War, and has not escaped his ordeal completely unscathed. Acerbic and defensive, he and Bracheus have a very difficult relationship but he is nonetheless a gifted physician and medic.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
NK: The story is set after the events of Red-Marked (the previous audio drama). Having discovered the existence of something called ‘Nightfane’, Thiel is chasing down any military intelligence to find out what exactly it is and how it might relate to the renegade forces still at large around Ultramar in the wake of the Shadow Crusade (when, principally, the Word Bearers and World Eaters led a devastating assault on Ultramar’s Five Hundred Worlds). It takes place on an oceanic moon called Bael, and the only structure on that moon, an isolated promethium drilling rig.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend fans check out before listening to this?
NK: There are two audio dramas that precede this one: Censure and Red-Marked. The former is set during the Underworld War and just features Thiel in a desperate guerrilla battle against the occupying Word Bearers. The latter is the inaugural mission of the Red-Marked and the moment they attain validity in the eyes of Thiel’s superiors. If you want to read about Thiel’s origins and the inception of the war on Ultramar then look now further than Know No Fear (by Dan Abnett).
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
NK: I knew I wanted to write a third audio drama starring Thiel and the Red-Marked, principally as a follow up to Red-Marked and because Nightfane as a concept had been buzzing around in my head for a while. I had a story focused on tension and the unknown in mind, something that would draw a little on my appreciation of ghost and horror stories, but also the classic sci-fi trope of the isolated space station/ship. The idea for the rigging station came from a truly spectacular diorama I saw in Warhammer World of a rigging station. The rusted gantries, the dripping pipes and the potential soundscape made it an obvious choice for a location for the script.
ToW: How would you describe the Thiel stories to someone who hasn’t read any of them yet?
NK: They’re special forces stories, really. A small group of elite and highly trained superhuman warriors are tasked with a near impossible mission. Thiel is a soldier, highly pragmatic with a maverick streak in him. He has a strong moral compass but a ruthless edge that makes him perfect for the kinds of missions he undertakes and the decisions he has to make. The stories are generally focused on action with Thiel as the main antagonist. He’s interesting because although he has been censured, he’s not seeking redemption – he doesn’t think he needs to – but instead he’s looking for purpose and to try and stay ahead of the next crisis he believes is coming Ultramar’s way.
ToW: When writing about Thiel, how do you set him apart from his fellow Ultramarines without making him feel like he isn’t an Ultramarine?
NK: It’s less about who he is and more to do with what he does or how he does it. Courage, honour, loyalty, duty – these are traits that Thiel has in abundance. He’s less slavish to doctrine and a radical thinker (tactically and strategically speaking), which I think actually just puts him slightly ahead of the curve. He is the epitome of what an Ultramarine actually is, just a more evolved version. I liked this idea that because of his unconventional approach to tactics, the necessary flexibility of his squads due to lack of resource and manpower, he becomes the forerunner of a new way of thinking for the Ultramarines, even influencing his primarch to a degree, and thus ushering in the concept of a smaller, more surgical force that the majority of Space Marines will become in the future.
ToW: How does the final product compare to your original concept? Has anything changed much from your first ideas?
NK: I did originally kill one of the major characters, who now survives to the end. I had a whole scene written out, dialogue, effects, everything. It would have been brutal but I couldn’t quite get it to work and ultimately I felt it weakened the story so I jettisoned it and that character got a reprieve! I also changed the twist about three times. I knew what I wanted to do, just not exactly how I wanted to do it. Often, for me, the writing process is an iterative one and so it proved with Nightfane.
ToW: How do you find writing stories for the audio medium? Do you find anything particularly challenging or satisfying about it?
NK: The actual script format takes time. I don’t use a special script writing piece of software or anything like that. I literally take a previous script I’ve worked on, delete the dialogue, any narration and leave the framework and markers that I overwrite with new text. It can be quite a lengthy process and I’m forever going back and making tweaks so it’s easier for the producer and actors to read/understand. Increasingly, as Black Library has done more and more audios, I’ve moved to less narration and much more dialogue. There’s a place for both, I think, but dialogue just works better in the dramatic format.
Nightfane has some but very minimal narration, which in itself is a challenge so it doesn’t come across like your characters are narrating every description or the sound effects have to do too much heavy lifting. The dialogue and sound effects should work harmoniously with the story, not act as a crutch, so attaining this balance can be a challenge. It is very satisfying when you can really make the most of the medium, using the soundscape to its fullest degree and doing things with the sound effects that can’t be reliably or satisfyingly emulated through prose. That way, I think, you know whether you’ve got a strong audio drama or not, because it’s a story that absolutely works best when it’s orated rather than read.
ToW: Do you have plans to write more audios featuring Thiel and the Red-Marked?
NK: Absolutely. I have one more story to tell with Thiel and the Red-Marked that closes off the whole Nightfane saga. It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Thiel who has to face up to the world he left behind to establish the Red-Marked and find his purpose, but also a culmination of everything he has discovered in Censure, Red-Marked and Nightfane.
***
Huge thanks to Nick for taking the time to answer these questions! I don’t know about you, but I’m fully pumped to listen to this now – so keep an eye out for a review of Nightfane coming soon.
Click here to order Nightfane.
Click here if you fancy taking a look at some other Rapid Fire interviews. If you’ve got any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.