Welcome to this Track of Words Editor Interview, my ongoing series of quick interviews with authors (and editors) 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 Aconyte Books’ editor Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells about the new KeyForge short story anthology Tales from the Crucible, which is due to be released as an ebook on the 1st September, with a US paperback edition released the same day and the UK paperback edition due on the 1st October. Whether you’re already familiar with KeyForge or you’re just looking for some cool new sci-fi short stories, there should be plenty for you to enjoy in this excellent anthology, so without further ado let’s get straight to it…
Track of Words: What’s the elevator pitch summary for Tales From The Crucible?
Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells: One incredible planet. Nine tales of adventure.
ToW: For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the KeyForge setting, could you give us a quick overview of what it is, what its origins were and what we need to know about it?
CLW: KeyForge is a collectable card game from legendary game designer, Richard Garfield, that takes place on the Crucible – an enormous, artificial planet in the centre of the universe made up of pieces from other worlds across time and space.
Over millions of years of new environments and societies have been added to the world, cultures have expanded, and creatures have explored: adventuring, surviving, and even thriving. Meanwhile, Godlike Archons use the other inhabitants to compete in battle and unlock the secrets of the Crucible, gathering the mystical substance Æmber to enter Vaults hidden by the planet’s legendary creators, the Architects.
This means that there are countless places to explore and hundreds of stories to be told, and this anthology gives us a slice of what life is like on this extraordinary planet.
ToW: How would you describe the tone of KeyForge, its factions and characters, and how that comes across in this anthology?
CLW: In one word? Fun!
This isn’t a grimdark world, and while bad things can and do happen, KeyForge really embraces the fun, colourful and adventurous side of science-fiction. It draws from lots of elements including popular culture, classic SFF and Saturday morning cartoons, and it’s full of excitement and wonder.
But we also get the chance to dig deeper into life on the Crucible and how it might work, and this means that we get to explore a range of situations and emotions – from high stakes vault battles, to smaller, more nuanced emotional moments.
ToW: What about the individual stories in this anthology – could you tell us a little bit about what we can expect from each one?
CLW: This is a little tricky because I don’t want to spoil any of them! However, what I can say is that they’re all different. All our authors are exploring things that really interest them about this world while also bringing the Crucible to life. So we have everything from graduate students on the field trip from hell, Martian scientists perfecting monsters, epic vault battles, skilled thieves and detectives, a librarian who’d just like a little peace and quiet and so much more! The stories range from explorations of friendship, grief and family to high octane adventures.
That’s what I love most about this anthology – the stories are so different and each one is amazing!
On a side note, if you want to get a little glimpse at the characters you can meet a few here:
ToW: With so many different characters and story elements, how did you go about making sure the anthology as a whole still felt consistent? Did you give much direction to the authors about characters, themes, ideas etc. to include?
CLW: We were lucky in that we had access to an early version of the KeyForge RPG book that Fantasy Flight Games produced, which provided lots of details about the world, the houses and also about Hub City, which is why a lot of our author’s chose to focus on that area. However I didn’t give any sort of specifics beyond the fact that we wanted stories that brought the world to life.
I was very lucky to work with a great group of authors who all have their own style and approach to story, however because we get pitches first, I was able to see the sorts of stories we already had so I could make sure we didn’t end up with too many of the same. But I think giving the authors a little freedom in what they could pitch and write allowed them to create amazing stories, because they were writing something that was uniquely them. I don’t think any of them would have worked if they’d been written by someone else or if I’d told them exactly what to write.
I think the cohesiveness also comes from the fact we were able to focus on a smaller area of the Crucible and really flesh it out the details, while still making sure they felt well rounded and engaging.
ToW: What are Aconyte’s objectives for this anthology? Is it designed specifically to be an introduction to this world and the characters, or is it more just an opportunity to tell some fun stories?
CLW: For us it was an opportunity to explore this wonderful world in more detail, both for fans of the game and for people who might not be familiar with KeyForge and the world of the Crucible. It’s a chance for us to really dig deep into the setting and bring it to life in a new way. The fact that we get to some amazing, fun stories is the perfect added bonus!
ToW: For you personally, as an editor and a reader, what appeals to you about this setting and these characters?
CLW: For me, I love this setting! I think it’s such a cool and interesting place that offers so much potential for storytelling. There are hundreds of possibilities and we’ve barely even scratched the surface of exploring the Crucible.
Plus there are Saurians!
ToW: What do you hope sci-fi fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
CLW: I hope that sci-fi fans will get a chance to see and remember that science-fiction doesn’t always have to be dark and gritty – you can have fun with it, have it be bright and colourful and still get excellent stories from it that really explore all of human existence and emotion.
ToW: Can you tell us anything about what’s next for Aconyte and KeyForge? Might we see some of these stories released individually online, or more from these characters in future?
CLW: I can’t say too much but we do have plans to do more with KeyForge so definitely keep an eye on our newsletter and our website and we’ll reveal more as soon as we can!
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Thanks so much to Charlotte for taking the time to answer these questions – I thoroughly enjoyed Tales from the Crucible, and I would very much recommend you get hold of a copy if you can! You can find my review of it right here (including links out to individual reviews of most of the featured short stories).
If you’re not familiar with Aconyte, they’re the publishing arm of Asmodee Games, and this is the very first short story anthology in their new line of books. Head over to aconytebooks.com to find out more about the worlds that are going to be brought to life in a whole range of books coming soon – I’m certainly hoping for more KeyForge stories soon!
Pre-order Tales from the Crucible.
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