Tag Archives: Evan Dicken

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Evan Dicken Talks To Chart the Clouds

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m chatting to Evan Dicken about his new Legend of the Five Rings novel To Chart the Clouds, which is out soon from Aconyte Books. Previous L5R novels from Aconyte have featured evil spirits, haunted castles, hired assassins and corrupt merchants, but this time it’s a tale of border tensions and a hidden valley, and it sounds great! If you’re a fan of L5R, or you’re just interested in a fantasy setting inspired by feudal Japan, then this is definitely worth checking out – so read on to find out more! First of all, let’s have a look at the book’s synopsis…

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The Devourer Below: an Arkham Horror Anthology – edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells

Edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells, The Devourer Below is part of Aconyte Books’ growing range of Arkham Horror fiction and features eight short stories from seven different authors all exploring a sinister presence rising in Arkham. Dangerous deals are being made, threats issued, lives devastated and plots hatched, monsters emerging and reluctant heroes standing up, all in the name of or in defiance of a darkness that few truly understand. From local landmarks to the dark countryside that borders the city, detectives and grieving widows to bootleggers and vagrant children, these stories explore Arkham and its inhabitants in dark, unsettling detail, united by a common theme – sometimes overt, other times implied – of a monstrous, corrupting power and the sinister servants it can call upon.

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A Few Thoughts On: Champions of the Mortal Realms

Black Library’s Age of Sigmar anthology Champions of the Mortal Realms collects together four novellas originally published in 2018 as part of the ‘Black Library Novella Series 1’ – Warqueen by Darius Hinks, Heart of Winter by Nick Horth, The Red Hours by Evan Dicken and The Bone Desert by Robbie MacNiven. All four novellas are excellent, and as an anthology this offers great value for a collection of stories covering a wide variety of characters, locations and themes from across the Mortal Realms. It’s had a slightly strange publication history, however (as has its 40k companion Servants of the Imperium), so I’ll talk a bit about that as well as taking a quick look at each story and linking out to my individual reviews.

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QUICK REVIEW: Fangs of the Rustwood – Evan Dicken

Evan Dicken’s Age of Sigmar short story Fangs of the Rustwood continues his approach of exploring the lesser visited corners of the Mortal Realms, this time featuring the sinister dangers of Chamon’s grot-infested Rustwood. Seeing opportunities for advancement in his future, witch hunter Kantus Vallo escorts a trio of prisoners, each a suspect in a high-profile murder, to face the judgement of his superiors in the Order of Azyr. As the forest’s lethal flora and fauna take their toll, however, he’s forced to free the prisoners and put his trust in them in order to survive and escape the Rustwood.

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Gods & Mortals – an Age of Sigmar anthology

In three and a half years the Age of Sigmar setting has grown from fairly humble beginnings into something wild and imaginative, with vast scope for storytelling and almost unlimited potential. In that time, alongside a couple of dozen novels we’ve seen a whole host of short stories published, some tying in with ongoing narratives and others standing alone. Over a whopping 400+ pages Gods & Mortals collects together eighteen short stories into an impressive anthology, eight of which are brand new while the other ten are drawn from those previously-published tales. Eighteen stories, nine authors, and lots to enjoy.

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The Red Hours – Evan Dicken

The Red Hours is Evan Dicken’s longest Black Library story to date, an Age of Sigmar novella set in a bleak outpost in Chamon, the Realm of Metal. Disgraced and discredited in the eyes of his Freeguild commanders, Captain Byrun Hess is unceremoniously posted to the ominously named Grave of Heroes, where he finds his new command to be somewhat smaller and less orderly than he’s used to. When a brutal shardstorm sweeps in out of nowhere and forces them into hiding, Hess and his newfound comrades quickly find themselves facing much more than just the natural dangers of Chamon.

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QUICK REVIEW: Acts of Sacrifice – Evan Dicken

Evan Dicken’s second Black Library short story, Acts of Sacrifice takes a similar approach to his debut The Path to Glory and tells a tale set before the Age of Sigmar. This time it takes place during the Age of Chaos, as the Order of the Ardent Star faces total destruction at the hands of a horde of Khornate ravagers. With the Order’s fortress besieged and its Master dead by the blade of the horde’s champion, Sir Anaea leads a handful of her remaining knights out in search of a more defensible holdout, hoping to find safety and a chance of survival.

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The Return of Inferno! to Black Library

Way back in the mists of time (well, 1997 to be precise) the first publication for the newly-created Black Library was a bi-monthly magazine called Inferno!, which featured short stories, comic strips and artwork all bringing the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 to life. Inferno! ran to 46 issues over seven years, and introduced fans to a whole host of names who would go on to be regular Black Library authors. Dan Abnett, Gav Thorpe, William King, Ben Counter and a whole host of other authors published their first Black Library stories in the pages of Inferno! magazine.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Path to Glory – Evan Dicken

For his Black Library debut, Evan Dicken takes us to the end of the Lantic Empire in The Path of Glory, a pre-Age of Sigmar short story that’s set just prior to the Age of Chaos beginning. In the realm of Chamon, a great human empire is crumbling under the weight of Chaos invasion, and it falls to three champions to try and wrest some kind of victory from the jaws of defeat. Between Captain Sulla of the Lantic Legions, the mage Kaslon of the Gilded Order, and de-facto Emperor Livius, a little hope still remains for victory or vengeance.

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