Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with 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 legendary Black Library author CL Werner about his new Warhammer Horror novel Castle of Blood, which is available to order now in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats. It’s the first full-on horror novel released for Age of Sigmar, and promises to be very interesting indeed!
Let’s get straight to the questions and Clint’s answers, to find out more.
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Castle of Blood?
CL Werner: Classic gothic horror in an Age of Sigmar vein. It is a tale of unspeakable revenge and desperate survival against the malign powers of darkness. It is dark corridors in an ancient castle where horrible death waits around each turn and no one is sure who will be the next to fall victim to the curse that threatens them all.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
CW: To be honest, I think readers will discover the main characters for themselves as they read. The cast is quite varied. A crippled swordsmith, a scheming nobleman, an aelven scholar, a duardin cogsmith, a fallen priest, an alchemist, a reformed thief… these are only a few of the people who are caught in a web of murder and deception. It would be remiss to point to anyone, as all of them are under the same shadow of death.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
CW: Castle of Blood takes place in the realm of Chamon long after the Realmgate Wars when civilization is returning to the lands. The castle of the title is a fortress reclaimed from Chaos when the Stormcast Eternals liberated these lands. It has long been the seat of the von Koeterbergs, the leading family of the town of Ravensbach, but the family has declined until only the elderly Count Wulfsige remains to play host to the castle’s guests…
ToW: This is your first novel for the Warhammer Horror imprint – how do you see this range differing from ‘standard’ Black Library stories?
CW: The Warhammer Horror imprint allows authors to delve into a much darker kind of fare. The epic battles and grand journeys are set aside and there’s more room to delve into things from a more concentrated focus. You can see how the powerful magic and strange creatures affect the inhabitants of the Mortal Realms. There’s more of an ability to shine light on not simply what something does, but how it interacts with these people. There’s a more personal and emotional emphasis to these stories while at the same time taking them into much darker and more sinister territory than you might usually find in the typical Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40k tale.
ToW: Does this book tie into anything else you’ve written for Black Library, or is it a standalone story?
CW: There is a character who has appeared in one of my previous Warhammer stories. However I’ll let readers discover for themselves (along with the characters in Castle of Blood) that particular detail.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
CW: I’m always drawn to horror stories. The majority of my DVD library is horror films and a third of my book library is likewise devoted to subjects that could be classed broadly as ‘macabre’. Castle of Blood was simply a natural for me. A chance to do a creepy ‘old dark house’ story.
ToW: Your writing has always seemed to be at least influenced by horror, if not directly channelling it. Has the Warhammer Horror label allowed you to take things further than usual, or is this just a recognition of what you’ve always been writing?
CW: There’s always a trace of horror elements in my work, I think, but the Warhammer Horror imprint has really allowed me to go a bit further in the presentation. There’s not the same kind of restraint in, say, some of the grislier aspects that can pop up in stories of violence and black magic. I don’t think Black Library has ever shied away from certain subjects, but once in a while there’s the request here and there to pull back or pan away from some of the more visceral imagery.
ToW: Were there any particular reference points which you used as inspiration for this story?
CW: Castle of Blood, at least I hope, will have the overall feel of the European horror films being made in the late 1950’s and through the 1960’s. Those were certainly what I wanted to evoke, that same atmosphere you’d find in films like Black Sunday, Baron Blood, and Castle of the Walking Dead. From the literary standpoint, there’s more than a dash of the immortal Poe in the plotting and I think some of the imagery may have drawn from the frightfully neglected work of Edith Nesbit, someone who went to far darker places than many of her Victorian contemporaries.
ToW: What do you hope Age of Sigmar fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
CW: It is my dear hope that Age of Sigmar fans will be able to see the struggle between Order and Chaos in a different, more intimate way when they finish this book. To see the lure of corruption and how tenuous a victory over Old Night really is. The menace is more than just armies of monsters and barbarians ravaging the countryside, and I think Castle of Blood illustrates that aspect nicely. If I’ve done my job well – and this is one book where I think I did exactly what I wanted to do – then fans will be thinking about it long after they’ve finished reading it.
ToW: Is this a self-contained story or do you think you might return to these characters/locations in future?
CW: The story is self-contained, but you never know. One of the characters could stage another appearance. I won’t tell you who though. That would be cheating.
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Thanks so much to Clint for taking the time to answer these questions. If you’d like to know yet more, you can read my review of Castle of Blood right here.
Click here to order Castle of Blood (or here for the audiobook version).
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.