Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, in which I’m talking to the fantastic CL Werner about his first novel for Aconyte Books – The Sword of Surtur, which is part of the Legends of Asgard range of Marvel prose novels. I asked Clint for the lowdown on the book, its characters, and why he chose to tell this particular story for his first Marvel novel! It’s due to be published on the 5th January 2021 as a global ebook and US paperback, with the UK paperback due on the 4th February.
Without further ado, let’s get on with the interview.
Track of Words: How would you describe your new novel The Sword of Surtur?
CL Werner: The brief summary for The Sword of Surtur would be ‘an epic adventure into fiery Muspelheim to defy the apocalyptic portents of Ragnarok’. The story sees Tyr, eldest son of Odin, risking everything to negate the doom that hangs over his father’s head by stealing the weapon fated to slay the King of Asgard – the infamous Twilight, sword of the fire giant Surtur.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
CLW: The principal characters are Tyr, Lorelei, and Bjorn Wolfsbane. Tyr is the eldest son of Odin, the Aesir God of War and the hero who sacrificed his hand to bind the Fenris Wolf. Lorelei is the younger sister of the notorious Enchantress Amora, and a magician in her own right. Bjorn is a younger Asgardian from the wolf-haunted region of Varinheim, who regards Tyr with a bit of hero worship since it was he who caught the Great Wolf itself.
It is Lorelei’s magic that enables Tyr and Bjorn to embark on this quest to sneak into Muspelheim and seek to steal Twilight, a plan that, if successful, might change the doom foretold for Odin and thereby change Ragnarok itself.
ToW: Where and when does this story take place?
CLW: The story takes place both in Asgard and Muspelheim. We don’t see any other parts of the Nine Realms, much less Heven (which is still sealed off from the others at this period). I’ve always thought of Bifrost as a kind of ‘in between’ when it comes to the Nine Realms, so I suppose you should count the Rainbow Bridge as another location that figures prominently in the story.
As for the ‘when’ of the story, it is set in Midgard’s past, though how far in that past is a bit ambiguous. The Asgardians are an exceedingly long-lived people, effectively immortal to the human way of thinking, so they lend themselves to stories across a much wider lens when it comes to time.
ToW: Of all the Marvel characters you could have chosen to write about, what made you pick Tyr, and this particular story?
CLW: I wanted to focus on a character from the Asgardian part of the Marvel Universe who I always felt had a great deal of story potential but never really, in my estimation, had too much focus placed on him. The Marvel version of Tyr has quite a few differences from the god in Norse cosmology. He’s the eldest son of Odin, but has been eclipsed by his younger brother Thor, whose heroic deeds and mighty feats are prodigious even by Aesir standards.
This has led to feelings of jealousy and self-doubt that present a very complex contrast. Tyr is more than a bit envious that Thor garners such acclaim but at the same time, due to the loss of his hand to the Fenris Wolf, he questions whether he is still capable of the victories that Thor achieves. The character is himself conflicted internally, which I think makes him compelling.
ToW: For readers interested in knowing more about Tyr, whether before or after reading The Sword of Surtur, are there any other stories that you would recommend they check out?
CLW: The most obvious thing I’d suggest is the first novel in the Legends of Asgard range, The Head of Mimir. While Tyr doesn’t really factor into that novel, you’ll get a lot more about Heimdall and other places and characters that do appear in The Sword of Surtur.
Much as I’d like to point to a particular range of issues of Thor to consult, I can’t really pin down a specific storyline that I’d consider the definitive one for Tyr. Many of his early appearances were as a one-off adversary for Thor to come up against and quite often in later stories he’d be present in a supporting rather than central role. It’s easy to point to Surtur stories to reference, but not so simple when it comes to Tyr.
ToW: It must be pretty exciting knowing that you’re going to be writing a Marvel novel – when you set out to plan and write this, was there anything in mind that you particularly wanted to achieve? Any personal goals for the book?
CLW: Growing up I was a Marvel reader and except for the odd issue of Swamp Thing or Weird War didn’t have much exposure to DC. So you can imagine that I was pretty jazzed to do something in their universe. We went through several plots before deciding on one that would show off the epic scope of the Marvel Universe to best effect, but in each the central thing I wanted to explore was the character of Tyr himself.
As mentioned above, I find the contrasts and internal conflict with him quite compelling. Add to this a son’s devotion to his father and the lengths he would go for the prospect of sparing Odin a violent doom. In writing this story I think that was the main thrust of my focus. If Tyr comes across as a determined and compelling person, then I’ve managed to hit the mark with what I set out to do. Aside from thrilling battles against giant monsters, of course.
Lady of Sorrows – Clint’s latest Warhammer novel
ToW: If someone is used to, say, your Warhammer writing – would you say this is a similar sort of style to what they might expect? Something different?
CLW: By the very nature of the Asgardians, the tone is different. The Asgardians are superhuman in every way, and the gods even moreso. They’re not nearly so ‘squishy’ as the mortal characters I usually write about in Warhammer or Age of Sigmar. Tyr and his companions are able to endure conditions and overcome obstacles that would be far beyond the capacity of any Midgardian to survive. When you have characters strong enough to wrestle dragons and trade punches with rock trolls, the scale of things is going to change by necessity.
ToW: Do you have more stories planned for Tyr in future?
CLW: I have discussed more novels in the Legends of Asgard range with Aconyte and among those were further stories focused on Tyr. Ultimately, I think it will be up to the readers whether they’d like to see more with the Aesir God of War.
ToW: What do you hope readers will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
CLW: The main thing I always hope that readers will take away from any novel is an entertaining experience. If I’ve managed to keep someone enthralled with the story, if the pacing is so gripping that they read it from cover to cover in a single sitting… well, I don’t know that I could ask for more than that.
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?
CLW: At present I’ve been in discussions with Aconyte about a few projects, but I can’t say anything about what they might be. I have started a new project for Black Library and I’m in the editing/revision stage on a Kings of War novel for Winged Hussar. There’s also a half-finished Shintaro Oba story that I want to lock down and then look into getting a collection of my samurai sword-and-sorcery stories published. We’ll have to see if that bears out.
ToW: Finally, if you could live in one of Marvel’s Ten Realms, which one would you pick?
CLW: With how the summers are in Arizona, I’d probably end up in Muspelheim. Anyplace else and I’d need a sweater.
***
Many thanks to Clint for taking the time to talk to me for this interview, and provide the lowdown on The Sword of Surtur! Keep an eye out for a review coming sometime soon.
See also: all of the previous CL Werner reviews and interviews on Track of Words
If you’re in the UK and would like to support local independent bookshops, you can pre-order The Sword of Surtur from my store on Bookshop.org*
Alternatively, pre-order The Sword of Surtur from Amazon*
*If you buy anything using this link, I will receive a small affiliate commission – see here for more details.
If you enjoyed this interview, and can manage it, please consider leaving a tip on my Ko-fi page.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media. For more information visit marvel.com. © 2020 MARVEL