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.
For this instalment I spoke to Darius Hinks about the latest Warhammer Chronicles release, The Orion Trilogy, which collects together his novels The Vaults of Winter, Tears of Isha and The Council of Beasts. Read on to delve back into the history of the Wood Elves in the Warhammer Old World, then check the book out – it’s available to order right now.
Track of Words: What would be your elevator pitch summary for The Orion Trilogy if you were introducing it to a new reader?
Darius Hinks: It’s a truly vast, epic fantasy, concerning a wild, near-feral elven race known as the asrai. The story takes place entirely within their savage and barbaric realm and focuses on their dark king, Orion, a violent force of nature reborn every year through magic and bloody ritual. The trilogy was originally conceived is a one long story so I’m delighted that it’s now being published as a single volume. This is how I always wanted it to be read.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters across the series and what do we need to know about them?
DH: The (huge) cast list consists of elves, dryads, daemons, forest spirits and sentient beasts with only one human character popping up in the whole trilogy (and, from memory, she doesn’t stay human for very long). Orion is the linking thread, but he’s not your typical king or your typical hero. He’s the avatar of a brutal hunting deity, Kurnous, as well as being inextricably linked to nature and the rebirth of the seasons. His queen, Ariel, is slightly closer to a normal regent, but she’s equally bound by centuries of obscure, violent ritual.
ToW: Where and when do these stories take place?
DH: In the Warhammer Old World, shortly before the catastrophic events of the End Times. I knew the End Times were coming so I tried to give these novels a sense of impending, momentous change, as though the asrai are teetering on the brink of a doom they can’t fully glimpse.
ToW: Are there particular themes running across all of the books that readers can expect to see when reading this series?
DH: When I pitched the trilogy, the Games Workshop design studio were already thinking of exploding their Old World setting. They wanted to create something that was more unique and fantastical and less grounded in recognisable history. I thought Orion was a cool way to write an Old World Warhammer story that fitted the more fantastical direction the setting was heading in. My inspirations, in terms of mood a least, were things like The Faerie Queene [by Edmund Spenser], Pan’s Labyrinth and the Oberon and Titania scenes in Midsummer Night’s Dream – sinister, inhuman, sylvan societies grounded in dark magic and the inherent savagery of nature.
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading the Orion books?
DH: It’s not necessary to read anything before tackling this book, but I can recommend Graham McNeil’s Guardians of the Forest as a great novel set in the same location and society.
ToW: Can you recommend any other Warhammer novels to read after this series?
DH: Legends of the Age of Sigmar: Sylvaneth describes the current adventures of Wood Elves in the Warhammer setting.
ToW: What appealed to you about Wood Elves and their gods as characters to write about?
DH: I love how they embody that ‘nature red in tooth and claw’ idea. They’re rooted in an ancient and very dark form of European folklore that pre-dates the more palatable Tolkien-esque elves. I saw it as a chance to write about elves who are strange and terrifying, but not because they are cruel or sadistic – because they are gloriously wild and untrammelled by the ideas of civilisation that bind human societies.
ToW: Of all the possible stories you could have written about these characters, what made you go for these?
DH: Orion is a dangerous loose cannon and I thought that would be fun to explore. He’s a feral huntsman who leads his subjects through ritual carnage, so I liked the idea of seeing what would happen if his enemies pushed him to even greater extremes. I have to admit, that means he’s not hugely likeable for about the first 100,000 words or so, but gradually he comes into his own. (And some of other characters are likeable!)
ToW: Did you draw from any particular influences when writing these stories?
DH: The Wood Elves Army Book, along with some very useful chats with the chap who wrote them, Matthew Ward. Beyond Warhammer reference material, I was aiming to write something that mixed the gory, sinister, occult, ritualistic fantasy novels of Clive Barker with the epic scope and cultural richness of The Lord of the Rings or Gormenghast.
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?
DH: As always, the story turned out darker and stranger than I intended. I do try to write nice stories…
ToW: What do you hope Warhammer fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
DH: Anyone interested in Games Workshop’s Sylvaneth race should get a kick out of reading this saga from their bloody origins.
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Thanks so much to Darius for taking the time to answer these questions. This series passed me by the first time around so I’m looking forward to getting hold of a copy and checking these books out! I’m sure I won’t be the only person looking out for a copy, either…
Click here to buy The Orion Trilogy.
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, on Facebook or Twitter, or by emailing me at michael@trackofwords.com.