Tag Archives: Track of Words Advent Calendar

EDITOR INTERVIEW: Gwendolyn Nix Talks School of X (plus sample chapters)

Hello and welcome to this Author Editor Interview, where today I’m welcoming editor Gwendolyn Nix to the site to talk about School of X, a new anthology from Aconyte Books that’s part of their Xavier’s Institute range of Marvel novels and anthologies. School of X includes stories from seven different authors and features all manner of mutant heroes, and as editor of the anthology Gwendolyn is perfectly placed to give us the lowdown on the sorts of characters, stories and themes that we can expect to find here. School of X is available now as a global ebook with the US paperback due later in December and the UK paperback coming in February 2022, so read on to find out more about this new anthology, check out some sample chapters of the book, then order yourself a copy!

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Black Library in 2022

The Black Library online preview has just taken place, squeaking in at the end of 2021 to show off some of the books due for publication in 2022, so now seems like a good time to look ahead and think about what 2022 might be like from a BL perspective. For the first part of this article I’m going to talk specifically about the BL preview and give some of my observations on how it went (TL;DR overall I enjoyed it, even if I’m not keen on how it was structured), and what I think about the newly-announced books. After that I’ll recap the other BL books that have already been confirmed for 2022, and then go on to talk in a fair bit of detail about how I see the year ahead going on the BL front…or at least how I’m hoping it will go.

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The Twice-dead King: Ruin by Nate Crowley – Victoria Hayward Guest Review

Hello and welcome to this guest review here on Track of Words, where I’m opening up the floor to author Victoria Hayward to talk about Nate Crowley’s novel The Twice-dead King: Ruin, which is out now from Black Library. 40k fans may well already be familiar with Victoria as the author of short stories The Carbis Incident and The Siege of Ismyr (featured in the Warhammer Crime anthology Sanction & Sin), both of which are excellent! I knew Victoria had read and loved The Twice-dead King: Ruin, and I was delighted when she agreed to write this review – I think it’s a fantastic review, which brilliantly illustrates what this book means to Victoria while painting a vivid (but spoiler-free) picture of the story as a whole. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Don’t Give Up: 2021 as a Debut Author – Marc Collins Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m handing the reins over to the brilliant Marc Collins to talk about what 2021 has been like as a debut author. Marc’s debut novel Grim Repast was published this year as part of Black Library’s Warhammer Crime range, and it’s an absolute belter of a book – and likewise all of Marc’s short stories I’ve read have been fantastic. It’s been great to watch Marc’s authorial journey from the outside, but in this article he’s kindly offered some fascinating insight into what it’s been like from his perspective, including his path through the Black Library Open Submissions process. It’s very much a tale of perseverance and determination, and I’ve no doubt these are only the first steps in a long and prosperous career.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: S.A. Sidor Talks Cult of the Spider Queen (plus sample chapters)

Hello and welcome to this Author Interview, where today I’m chatting to S.A. Sidor about his new novel Cult of the Spider Queen, his second in the growing Arkham Horror range from Aconyte Books. His first Arkham Horror novel, The Last Ritual, was a tale of surrealist art mixed with cosmic horror, but this time the focus is on adventure in the depths of the Amazon jungle…and maybe a spider or two. Cult of the Spider Queen is out now in global ebook and US paperback with the UK paperback due in February 2022, so read on to find out more about this new novel, check out some sample chapters of the book, then order yourself a copy!

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The Hood – Lavie Tidhar

Lavie Tidhar’s British history/mythology/fantasy mashup The Hood, out now from Head of Zeus, is quite frankly batshit crazy. The second book (following By Force Alone) of his ‘Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet’, it’s a wild reinterpretation of the legends of Robin Hood by way of the Knights Templar, the Murder Ballads, fairy tales, fantasy and a shitload of narcotic fungi – it’s totally bizarre, but weirdly compelling. Set across a strangely distended span of decades and taking in everywhere from the city of Nottingham and the surrounding Sherwood Forest to York, London, the Holy Land and Faerie, it begins with the ill-fated kidnapping of Maid Marian and goes on to feature traumatised veteran Will Scarlett, perma-baffled knight Richard at the Lee, the harpist Alan-a-dale, a Jewish drug mastermind named Rebecca, a succession of Sheriffs of Nottingham, and all manner of other weird and wonderful hoods in the woods.

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Mischief, Power and Tricksters – Gabriela Houston Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m thrilled to welcome author Gabriela Houston to the site to talk about the fascinating concept of tricksters in fiction! I read Gabriela’s debut novel The Second Bell earlier in the year and loved its Slavic mythology-inspired magic, and themes of family and community. With Gabriela’s second novel (and her Middle Grade debut) The Wind Child due out in February 2022, this fantastic guest post is a great opportunity to see how the familiar figue of the trickster relates to The Wind Child. Check out the publisher’s synopsis for this brilliant-sounding story of friendship, gods and monsters, then read on to enjoy Gabriela’s article on tricksters and the balance of power.

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Original Fiction: Valkyrie by Danie Ware

Hello and welcome to this very special post on Track of Words, where I’m delighted to publish a fantastic piece of original fiction from a wonderful author – Valkyrie by Danie Ware. A bleak tale of the Viking invasion of England, it’s a powerful story that hearkens back to the oral tradition of storytelling – try reading it out loud for full effect!

“In the names of Frey and of Freya,” he said, “tell me where the creature lies.”

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Richard Lee Byers Talks The Rebels of Vanaheim (plus sample chapters)

Hello and welcome to this Author Interview, where I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Richard Lee Byers back to Track of Words to talk about his new novel The Rebels of Vanaheim. This is Richard’s second novel in the Marvel: Legend of Asgard series from Aconyte Books, following on from 2020’s The Head of Mimir, and tells the story of another one of Asgardian hero Heimdall’s adventures in the Ten Realms. The first book was a lot of fun, so I’m looking forward to this one – read on to find out more about this fun-sounding new Marvel novel, then check out a few sample chapters at the end of the article to get a taste of the book itself.

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Best of Black Library 2021

2021 is rapidly coming to a close, which means it’s time for my usual roundup of the best Black Library books I’ve read over the last year. As always, I want to open with the caveat that these are my personal highlights based solely on what I’ve read – I’m not suggesting that there haven’t been other excellent BL titles released this year, just that I haven’t read them! I should also point out that I’m basing my selections on books which were first published in 2021, which means I’ve chosen one that only had a Limited Edition release and won’t be more widely available until 2022, and that this year I’m almost entirely looking at novels. In previous years I’ve also covered other formats and split out my choices into different articles based on the main BL settings – 40k, Age of Sigmar and Horus Heresy – but this year I’m just going to do this one article, and concentrate on novels.

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