Author Archives: Michael

The Last Eight Years with John French – Part One

Hello and welcome to the first instalment of an extra-special author interview, where I’m delighted to welcome the fabulous John French back to the site to mark the 2,000th post on Track of Words! Author of the Ahriman series, the Horusian Wars, the Cado Ezechiar series, a host of Horus Heresy and Siege of Terra novels, and so much more, John has been a friend of the site for a long time. In fact, if you go way back to July 2016 John was the very first author I ever interviewed (about his Tallarn stories in the Horus Heresy)! With that in mind, to mark the milestone of post number 2,000 I sat down with John for an in-depth, retrospective interview looking back at his work and his career over the last eight years since we first spoke.

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Behind The Scene: Darkside by Michael Mammay

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post with author Michael Mammay, who’s here today to talk about his new novel Darkside – which is out on the 24th September from Harper Voyager. Book four in the Planetside series, albeit also readable as a standalone story, Darkside sounds ideal for anyone who enjoys both pacy, action-packed military SF and high-stakes, thrilling investigations. Michael has kindly contributed an excerpt from the novel alongside commentary on some of the challenges of writing this book!

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RAPID FIRE: Jude Reid Talks Creed: Ashes of Cadia

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where today I’m delighted to be chatting to the brilliant Jude Reid about her debut novel for Black Library – Creed: Ashes of Cadia. With the paperback edition recently landing, now is a great time to take a look at this excellent addition to Black Library’s ever-growing range of Imperial Guard novels, which introduces the character of Ursula Creed and returns the action to the surface of Cadia itself! Read on to find out more about this great book and its characters, Jude’s writing process, and loads more.

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It’s My Duty, I’m A Missionary – David Niall Wilson Guest Post

Welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where I’m joined by David Niall Wilson – author of the upcoming novella When You Leave I Disappear (coming in August 2024 from Shortwave Publishing). Described as “a literary horror novella in which a bestselling author’s imposter syndrome draws her into a darker and darker world from which she may never escape”, When You Leave I Disappear sounds intriguing, and I was delighted when David agreed to write this guest post exploring the strength of horror fiction as a medium for exploring stories which blur the lines between fiction and reality. Without further ado then, over to David.

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The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands – Sarah Brooks

First things first, I’m unusually biased here, as the author of The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands – Sarah Brooks – is my sister. With that caveat in mind though, I want to talk a bit about this book, which I absolutely, unapologetically loved. Inspired by a real-life passage on the Trans-Siberian Express, The Cautious Traveller… is the story of a perilous journey from Beijing to Moscow on a grand and powerful train, heavily protected against the dangers of a vast, largely unknown expanse – the titular Wastelands. Among the crew and passengers on the train are a trio of viewpoint characters, each with secrets to hide and their own unique perspectives on the train and the Wastelands. As the journey progresses though, the strength and safety of the train are challenged, while passengers and crew alike are confronted with the Wastelands at its most dangerous.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Nadi Reed Perez Talks The Afterlife of Mal Caldera

Welcome to this Track of Words author interview, in which Fabienne chats to Nadi Reed Perez about her fantasy novel The Afterlife of Mal Caldera, which is out now from Titan Books. In The Afterlife of Mal Caldera, debut author Perez introduces us to a potential afterlife which takes the form of a giant party. The story is philosophical and pulpy at the same time, centred around the very real characters, whether alive or dead. The eponymous Mal is selfish, deeply hurt, funny – and charming. Nadi Reed Perez is a voice to watch, and we had the chance to catch up with them to discuss music, writing and debuting.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Matthew Ward Talks The Fire Within Them

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where today I’m delighted to welcome back Matthew Ward, whose novel The Fire Within Them – book two in the Soulfire Saga – is out now! I’ve spoken to Matthew about his books multiple times (you can find them all here) and it’s always an intriguing experience, but this time I thought I’d take a slightly different approach. We covered the usual questions about The Fire Within Them, but the main focus of the interview involves the magical elements at the heart of the Soulfire Saga. Having read book one, The Darkness Before Them, I was fascinated by this setting and the magic at its core, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity to ask Matthew to tell us more!

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Austin Grossman Talks Fight Me

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where today I’m joined by Austin Grossman to talk about his brand new novel Fight Me, which is due out on the 23rd of May from Penguin Michael Joseph. A superhero story unlike any I’ve read before, Fight Me is a fascinating read, exploring unusual perspectives on heroes and villains, power and consequences, and I was thrilled to be able to chat to Austin and delve into some of the themes running throughout the book! So read on to find out more about the cast and themes of Fight Me, along with observations on the appeal of superhero stories, the nature of villains and heroes, the reasons for wanting super powers, and loads more!

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Laura R. Samotin Talks The Sins On Their Bones

Thanks for visiting Track of Words, where today I’m delighted to present this exclusive interview with author Laura R. Samotin, discussing her debut novel The Sins On Their Bones (which is out now from Random House Canada)! I jumped at the chance to read this book and chat to Laura, after Genoveva Dimova included it in her ‘12 Debuts To Look Forward To In 2024’ post last December, and I’m so glad I did – it’s a fantastic read, set in a fascinating fantasy world full of dark magic and complex, wounded characters. There’s so much to talk about with this book, so keep reading to find out more about the characters, the magic, Laura’s writing process, and loads more.

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Behind the Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Fermi’s Progress by Chris Farnell

Hello and thanks for checking out this Behind the Scene post, where today I hope you’ll join me in welcoming author Chris Farnell – author of the Star Trek: Lower Decks Crew Handbook, among other things – who has kindly contributed an excerpt from his four-part science fiction novel Fermi’s Progress, along with an exclusive commentary discussing this scene. When Chris and I started talking about doing this post, it became clear pretty quickly that with a book about a spaceship that blows up every planet it visits, the only possible scene to choose would be the first time this happens! But fun as blowing up planets must be for a writer, there’s a lot that goes into making a scene like this work, and Chris digs into this really well in his commentary about the scene.

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