Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, in which I’m chatting with Robbie MacNiven about his first novel for Aconyte Books – The Doom of Fallowhearth. Well known for his Warhammer fiction, Robbie is now turning his attention to Descent: Journeys in the Dark, which is still pretty bleak but a little different to the usual grimdark. This book kicks of Aconyte’s range of Descent novels, and will be published as an ebook and US paperback on the 6th October – the UK paperback is due a little later in November.
Without further ado, let’s hand things over to Robbie…
Track of Words: How would you describe your new novel The Doom of Fallowhearth?
Robbie MacNiven: It’s akin to a high fantasy dungeon crawl crossed with a Victorian Gothic novel. Three has-been adventurers team up for a final quest, only to find themselves drawn into a dark web of intrigue and death. The trio are tasked with trying to locate the Baroness of Forthyn’s daughter, who has gone missing in the wilds near the bleak town of Fallowhearth. Needless to say, not all is as it seems.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
RM: The characters are really the driving force behind the novel. Logan, Durik and Ulma are all pre-existing, playable figures from one of the Descent board game expansions. Logan was once one of the most famous human rogues in Terrinoth, but has been living a comfy retirement and is less than thrilled to be risking life and limb again. Durik is an experienced orc pathfinder, at home in the wild and very much the level head of the group (which made a nice change for an orc character!). Ulma, a dwarf outcast, is obsessed with alchemy and experimentation, and views this last quest as another opportunity to test out her new concoctions in the wild. Writing for this cast certainly helped keep the story fresh, and the ancillary characters were also fun – over the course of their journey they’ll encounter everyone from coarse northern tribesmen to mysterious necromancers.
ToW: For anyone who isn’t already familiar with it, can you tell us a little about the Descent world in which this story is set?
RM: Descent is a classic high fantasy setting. Most of the action takes place in the realm of Terrinoth, but there’s much more to the setting at large. From desert sands to the blasted heaths, mountain crags, deep forests and bustling cities, it’s a world crying out to be explored. The new Descent RPG in particular is packed with lore and great ideas for crafting your own Descent stories and games.
ToW: Were you already a fan of Descent before writing this, or was it your introduction to the setting?
RM: I knew of Descent in passing, but didn’t have a deep understanding of the lore. The most difficult thing was picking which story I wanted to tell first! I decided early on that I wanted to follow a set of pre-existing characters from previous Descent board games. That didn’t narrow things down a great deal – there are dozens, perhaps over a hundred, in existence! Eventually I found the Labyrinth of Ruin gang, Logan, Durik, Ulma and Dezra. I found myself wondering just what they’d have gotten up to after their adventures in the board game. It flowed from there.
ToW: Where did this specific story come from? Of all the Descent stories you might have written, what made you want to write this story in particular?
RM: Really it was the Labyrinth of Ruin gang that initially caught my attention when I was going through both the Descent RPG and the board games looking for inspiration. Once I had them as my main protagonists things began to click. I knew aspects of their personality and past I wanted to expand upon and explore, and I quickly worked out which final adventure I wanted to inflict upon them.
ToW: Where did you look for influences outside of the game itself, when writing this? Did anything inspire you in particular?
RM: I pitched a few quite separate stories for my first Descent novel. The one that became The Doom of Fallowhearth was very much the ‘gothic mystery’ one. The touchstones I wanted to include involved bleak castles, isolated towns, suspicious peasants, misty forests, lurking threat and the sense that not all is as it first appeared. Obviously a lot of this is drawn from the nineteenth and twentieth century gothic tradition, but it still had to feel like a classic fantasy tale for it to fit in with Descent’s classic fantasy style. Contrary to the initial pitch, there are no vampire maidens locked in haunted towers!
ToW: Are there any particular challenges or opportunities when writing a ‘dungeon crawl’ story like this?
RM: I think, besides having fun with the setting, building up and exploring the characters was the main opportunity I wanted to make the most of with this one. Expanding a few lines or paragraphs of background lore is something I’m used to from my previous tie-in work, and it’s certainly something I enjoy. In terms of challenges, I wanted to try and stay true to the particular vibe the new Descent RPG goes for. It isn’t quite ‘grimdark’, so I had to steer clear of that despite writing a story that at times could be pretty bleak.
Robbie’s Age of Sigmar novel Scourge of Fate IS pretty grimdark
ToW: What do you hope readers will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
RM: I think this might possibly be the most emotion-packed novel I’ve written. That’s perhaps an unusual claim, but if I’ve done my job right I’ll be able to get some sort of reaction from the reader once it’s all said and done.
ToW: Do you think you might revisit these characters for more stories in future?
RM: I’d certainly like to revisit Terrinoth, and hopefully a few of the characters as well!
ToW: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on with Aconyte for future release, or anything else you’ve got in the pipeline?
RM: I recently finished the first draft of my second novel for Aconyte, but I’m afraid the subject matter is classified! I’ll be able to say more about it soonish though. I’m writing on a lot of other fronts just now too – I’m finished up two non-fiction military history books (both about the American Revolution) for Osprey Publishing, as well as two graphic novel scripts for the same publisher (one about the battle of Kursk in World War 2, another about a US infantry company in Vietnam). I’ve also been working alongside the great team at Gasket Games developing the first Age of Sigmar digital game, Warfield. Keeping busy!
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Thanks so much to Robbie for these great answers, and for taking the time to give us all the lowdown on his new book. I had a blast reading The Doom of Fallowhearth – keep an eye out for a review coming soon!
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