RAPID FIRE: Edoardo Albert Talks Silent Hunters

Welcome to this instalment of my Rapid Fire series of author interviews – today I’m speaking to Edoardo Albert about his first full Black Library novel – Silent Hunters, a Warhammer 40,000 novel featuring the Carcharadons. It’s available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audiobook editions, so if you’d like to know more about what to expect from this book and Edoardo’s take on the Carcharadons, read on! To begin with, here’s the publisher’s synopsis:

In the darkness beyond the galaxy, there are monsters. Some swim closer to the light, drawn by the beacon that is the Astronomican, while others stalk the Void, predators in the dark. The Carcharodons have hunted for millennia, but now they are drawn into a new blackness… the Dark City of the drukhari itself. Commorragh.

For a thousand years, Chaplain Tangata Manu has searched for a relic lost under his watch – an ancient thing, once charged into the keeping of the Forgotten One himself. But at the brink of seeing his hunt fulfilled and the relic returned, it is stolen from under him. Now, if Tangata would see his honour restored, he must lead his hunt against some of the vilest predators the galaxy has ever seen, before they can turn the artefact to their own purposes…

For more information, let’s get straight on with the interview!

Track of Words: What can you tell us about your new novel Silent Hunters?

Edoardo Albert: It’s Carcharadons versus Drukhari! If you’ve ever found yourself lying in bed at night wondering what would happen if a Carcharadon hunt team had to infiltrate Commorragh then your night thoughts have been answered!

ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?

EA: Te Kahurangi, the Pale Nomad of Robbie MacNiven’s Carcharadons novels, returns. But, it turns out, he has a brother, the Carcharadons’ Chaplain, Tangata Manu, brothers separated by an ancient feud and present rivalry. We also meet two of the Chapter serfs, Iraia and her son, Jona, who find themselves intimately involved in the quest. For the Drukhari have taken something that belongs to the Carcharadons and the Space Sharks want it back – and they are prepared to go into the heart of darkness to find it.

ToW: Where and when is it set?

EA: In the ‘present’ of the 41st Millennium (but note, there are no Primaris Space Marines involved – it would be a chance beyond coincidence for a Torch Ship to happen upon the Carcharadons in the Void beyond the Galaxy). As to setting: the Void, the Galactic fringe, the sea world Sagaraya [which we’ve previously seen in Edoardo’s short story Last Flight – ToW], and the Dark City itself.

ToW: How important would you say it is to be familiar with the Caracharadons and their previous Black Library adventures before reading this?

EA: Useful but not necessary – it should work well as a standalone novel.

ToW: You’ve written about the Fulminators before, and various Imperial Guard regiments – what was it about the Carcharadons that appealed to you as characters to write about?

EA: That they’re so different! These are hunters in the Void; they have seen things no one else has seen and fought monsters beyond imagining. These are the strangest of all the Space Marine chapters and I hope I have succeeded in conveying some of that strangeness in this story.

ToW: Once you knew you were going to be writing about the Carcharadons, what made you decide on this as the story to tell?

EA: Well, Black Library asked me to include the Drukhari, so that was pretty well set. Then, I was in bed for a week feverish with flu (that sounds almost quaint now!) and I wrote the prologue in my head while drifting in and out of fevers. I had this image in my mind, of standing on a beach looking out over an endless ocean and then, slowly rising up from the waves, first the helmet, then the rest of the armour, a Carcharadon walking out of the ocean. So, that was the start! Then it was on from there.

The other aspect was seriously thinking my way into the minds of the Drukhari: I’ve gone into areas of life in the Dark City that no one else has explored before. I think fans of the Drukhari will find much of interest there, and in the Kabal of the Pierced Rose and its Archon, Ilu Limnu.

ToW: Robbie MacNiven’s two Carcharadrons novels are probably the most high-profile stories about this unusual Chapter of Space Marines – how have you gone about setting your take on these characters apart, and bringing something new to them?

EA: By making them the hunters of the Void, the children of silence. They are the strangest, most isolated of all the chapters but there is reason for their ultra-violence in their isolation and in the role and duty given to them.

ToW: How would you compare this to your other work, in terms of style and tone? Will it be familiar to long-term fans of Edoardo Albert, or is it a bit of a departure?

EA: The Carcharadons suit a quite baroque writing style – as does 40k in general – so the book is a little more gilded than my usual style but it should still be accessible to anyone who likes my other work.

ToW: What do you hope 40k fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it (you said “One of the best 40k stories they’ve ever read!” when I asked you this question about your novella Lords of the Storm…)?

EA: Well, obviously, I want them to look up after finishing the book with a look of astonished wonder on their faces as they whisper, “That was the greatest 40k story I have ever read!” I also hope that they will have understood something of the strangeness of the Carcharadons and have gained a fresh insight into the bleak underlife of the Dark City.

ToW: Is this a standalone story or can we expect more from these characters in future?

EA: I suspect it will be a standalone.

ToW: Finally, what can you tell us about other projects that you’re working on or will be coming out soon?

EA: Well I’ve been working on another Imperial Guard short story, and I’m really pleased with how it came out! Apart from that, I’ve just completed a new, and very long (230,000 words in first draft) historical fiction novel that I can’t say anything else about at the moment, and I’m about to start on a new non-fiction work with archaeologist Paul Gething called How to Make the Perfect Sword. So things are pretty busy!

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Edoardo Albert is a British writer of Italian and Sri Lankan descent. He writes about Britain in the early medieval period (between the Romans leaving and the Normans arriving), the 41st millennium in the Warhammer universe, and lots of other things besides.

You can keep up with Edoardo’s work on Twitter, and check out his website for more information.

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Many thanks to Edoardo for taking the time to answer these questions, and for giving us an idea of what to expect from Silent Hunters! If you haven’t already, do check out my reviews of Edoardo’s previous Black Library stories.

See also: my Author Spotlight interview with Edoardo, from 2019.

Order Silent Hunters from Amazon* – also available as an audiobook*

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