Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview where today I’m talking to David Annandale about his upcoming Aconyte novel, The Harrowing of Doom! There have been a few Marvel prose novels already released by Aconyte, but this is the first in the Marvel: Untold range – “new tales of Marvel’s Super Heroes and villains”. It’s due out in ebook and as a US paperback on the 1st December, with the UK paperback following on the 7th January 2021.
Without further ado, let’s get straight on with the interview…
Track of Words: To start off, tell us a bit about your new novel The Harrowing of Doom. What’s it about?
David Annandale: Every year, Doctor Doom must duel with a champion of Hell in the hopes of freeing his mother’s soul. Every year ends in defeat. Determined to fight Hell on his own terms, instead of Mephisto’s, Doom conceives of a different way to free his mother, but it is a way fraught with terrible risks, not just for Doom but for Latveria.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
DA: The main character is, of course, Victor von Doom. He is the absolute ruler of Latveria, and will let nothing and no one stand in the way of his goals. Having said that, he also sees himself as the saviour and protector of his subjects, and there are many who would agree with him.
Among those is Kariana Verlak, the fanatically loyal captain of Doom’s palace guard. She believes completely in Doom and everything he stands for. Her wife, the brilliant neurosurgeon Elsa Orloff, is not so wholly committed, but she soon finds herself ensnared by Doom’s schemes too.
Maria von Helm is a sorceress and was the closest friend of Doom’s mother. She has been a recluse for decades, fearing that she will suffer the same fate as Cynthia von Doom. When Doom reveals his plans to her, she becomes his collaborator, knowing full well what is at stake.
Father Grigori Zargo is the priest of St Peter Church in Doomstadt. He wants nothing to do with Doom, or anything that smacks of the occult. Unfortunately for him, he also has a talent for which Doom has a very specific use.
And then there is Prince Rudolfo Fortunov, the crown prince of Latveria until Doom deposed his family. He has been fighting a guerrilla campaign to take back the throne of Latveria, and he sees an opportunity when he discovers the gamble Doom is taking.
ToW: Where and when is this set?
DA: The novel takes place in Latveria, mostly in the capital of Doomstadt, some 15 years after Doom takes power.
ToW: Of all the Marvel characters you could have chosen to write about, why Doctor Doom?
DA: Doctor Doom has been my favourite of all Marvel characters for well over 40 years. His Gothic Hero-Villain persona pulled me in long before I even knew what such a character type was. And that’s without even mentioning his cool-beyond-words visual appearance. Then there’s the fusion of super-science, dark sorcery, politics and supernatural horror that surround him. How could he not be my favourite character?
ToW: Are there any previous Doctor Doom stories that would be useful for readers to be familiar with, before starting this book?
DA: The book is a stand-alone. I do make a reference to a story that was reprinted in Marvel Super-Villain Team Up 15 (1975). It was an important one to me in my childhood, and was the first one I read that essentially had Doom as the protagonist, battling the Red Skull who takes over Latveria. But it is not a story I expect readers to have encountered.
ToW: Once you had settled on Doctor Doom as your protagonist, what inspired you to tell this particular story?
DA: The struggle to free his mother’s soul is, I think, a compellingly tragic aspect of a good portion of Doom’s life. Can we say that it also makes him more sympathetic? At least, understandable. And so it’s a way in to his character for readers too.
ToW: What are the challenges in writing a novel with a protagonist who is normally seen as very much the villain? Did that affect the way you approached the book at all?
DA: Doom is a villain, but one who, megalomania notwithstanding, is also driven to do what he believes to be the right thing (even though others might disagree). In the context of Latveria, too, I think he comes across differently than in, say, Manhattan. The challenge, though, is to find the balance of making him a protagonist readers care for, without forgetting that he is also a villain.
ToW: Beyond the comics, where did you look for inspiration when planning and writing this book?
DA: I have drawn on the tradition of both the Gothic Hero-Villain and the Byronic Hero. In particular, I drew on Byron’s dramatic poem Manfred, with its driven, powerful, isolated hero defying the gods and humanity as he follows his obsession to its end. The other kind of Gothic I’m drawing on is the Universal horror films of the 30s and 40s, and the Hammer films of the 50s and 60s. I’ve modeled Doom’s laboratory, for example, on the one in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). There’s some Poe in here too.
Check out David’s novel Curse of Honor for more dark fantasy from Aconyte
ToW: What do you hope readers will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
DA: I’m hoping they like this take on Doom, of course, and that this Latveria feels like a living place for them. I want the story to be exciting and, at times, frightening.
ToW: Do you have any plans to write more Doctor Doom stories in future?
DA: I’ve already pitched another novel! Writing this book was a dream come true, and I’d like to write much more about Doom.
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?
DA: I don’t have anything official to announce yet with Aconyte, but there will be more to come. My next release is with Black Library, and that’s the Warhammer Horror novel The Deacon of Wounds.
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Thanks so much to David for taking the time to talk about The Harrowing of Doom! I’m looking forward to reading this one…
See also: my interview with David about his first Aconyte novel, Curse of Honor
If you’re in the UK and would like to support local independent bookshops, you can pre-order The Harrowing of Doom from my store on Bookshop.org*
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Good to see Latveria has marriage equality!