Ask... GAV THORPE

[David Earle]

Just finished reading Honour to the Dead.

Spoiler: Pexilius! Brings out the feelings and kills a Warhound Titan with his eyes. Awesome kid. I loved how the Ultramarines reacted to an infant.

And I can't say I didn't feel a bit bad for Tyhe for a second there. Well done, sir!

[Dennis the Hamster]

1. Are you able to give us even an estimate of when we can expect Book Three of the Legacy of Caliban?

It should be out at this time next year if everything goes to plan. The delay between Ravenwing and Master of Sanctity was my fault, other work I had on last summer impacted my schedule and BL moved the release to accomodate.

2. Regarding the Ravenwing...

Can service in the Ravenwing lead to the Deathwing? Before, I'd assumed it could... but then I also assumed that the knowledge of the Fallen was restricted to the Deathwing. This was largely due to the wording in the old Codex, which, frankly, I'm glad is obsolete. As such, I'd always assumed that the Master of the Ravenwing was selected from those Dark Angels who rose through the Deathwing and were eventually trusted with command of a Company. I figured the Master of the Ravenwing was either the most promising candidate for command, or that maybe it was like Belial and the Deathwing - he commanded a Battle Company before inheriting the First.

Now, though, I'm wondering if promotion to Master of the Ravenwing is restricted to membership of the Ravenwing. The Black Knights seem to be capable of functioning as a "mini-Deathwing" unto themselves. And then there's Sammael's own rise from Black Knight to Master of the Ravenwing (though admittedly that could be because of his stellar service and the late Gideon's own belief in him).

Any chance you can qualify whether it's one or the other, a choice of either one (best candidate, for instance), neither of the two, or simply up to what the Inner Circle thinks is best given the pool of candidates available?

Thanks!

It used to be pretty straightforward, and then they introduced new 'ranks' - the Deathwing Knights and Ravenwing Black Knights, and the term Inner Circle got bandied around in strange ways, and to be honest I sort of made it up from there. To my mind the Black Knights are a step above the normal ravenwing, perhaps on a level with regular Deathwing and that the Deathwing Knights are a but closer to what the company masters know. Bearing in mind that military rank does not automatically equate to rising through the inner mysteries I would see the progession something like:

Scout
Battle Brother
Ravenwing
Deathwing - Black Knight
Deathwing Knights
Company Master - Librarians - Chaplains
Interrogator Chaplains - Grand Masters
Inner Circle (with various ranks)

Or thereabouts... Probably less formalised than that, depending on individuals and mentorship, experiences, etc,

Gav

[Dennis the Hamster]

Just finished reading Honour to the Dead.

Spoiler: Pexilius! Brings out the feelings and kills a Warhound Titan with his eyes. Awesome kid. I loved how the Ultramarines reacted to an infant.

And I can't say I didn't feel a bit bad for Tyhe for a second there. Well done, sir!

And a bravura performance for Pexilius, but no credit given!

Gav

[Phoebus]

Thanks, Gav.

[Liliedhe]

Does Sammaels bike with the awesome name still exist? I mean, the one he drove when a black Knight.

Spoiler: Withermare. Just awesome. Sounds like a ghost horse.

EDIT: And I finished Master of Sanctity.

Poor, poor Astelan. It sucks to be him. Also, you have me more paranoid than a Dark Angels Chaplain, because I don't trust one bit of that ending.

Can Astelan get a happy end? Pwetty plz?

Ok, on a more serious, not fangirly note, I liked that book a lot. Especially the psychopathology of Asmodai was a very thorough and disturbing bit of work. Which does not mean that I don't want him to be taken behind the toolshed and shot, but you did a brilliant job on creating such a loathsome character without resorting to having him do things for the EVULZ.

I will be eagerly awaiting the next book, just so I can be chicken about reading it, again.

Spoiler: I don't think Astelan is dead, because that would be too easy.

[Midgard]

Not really a question, more of kudos on a great book in "Master of Sanctity". Also, am I the only one to feel sorry for poor, broken

Spoiler: Asmodai

? I wonder if he will ever get to face his own personal nemesis in

Spoiler: Malvine Rhemell

, and if it will result in any profound effects on him. The circumstances surrounding that event almost make me wonder if there was, at least to begin with, almost a sliver of sympathy for others in this character before he became, well, what we saw in "Master of Sanctity". To me, he symbolizes the dichotomy at the heart of the Dark Angels, both what they could have been, and what they ended up becoming when dealing with demons of their own creation. Was that what you were going for, or am I reading too much into it?

[Lord of the Night]

Hey Gav,

This was shown to me yesterday;

http://www.amazon.fr/Phoenix-Lords-Asur ... of+Asuryan

First off: A Phoenix Lords series, truly epic!

Second I have some questions about it, if you can answer them. (You may get asked these at the Weekender but they're here as well in case those questions get missed.)

1. Will each of the seven Phoenix Lords get a book?? (Irillyth the Shade of Twilight is No.7)

2. Will there be an overarching story or will each story be a stand-alone adventure featuring one Lord??

3. Asurmen is the obvious choice for book one, is Maugan Ra going to be book two?? (Please say yes! And that his book will be about him killing an entire tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan by himself.)

4. Is there a chance we'd see Karandras vs Drazhar?? (You know... for the rematch.)

Thats it for the questions I guess, anything else you can share on this series would be great. Thanks in advance for anything you can answer,.


LotN

[Dennis the Hamster]

Hey Gav,

This was shown to me yesterday;

http://www.amazon.fr/Phoenix-Lords-Asur ... of+Asuryan

First off: A Phoenix Lords series, truly epic!

Second I have some questions about it, if you can answer them. (You may get asked these at the Weekender but they're here as well in case those questions get missed.)

1. Will each of the seven Phoenix Lords get a book?? (Irillyth the Shade of Twilight is No.7)

We hope to cover at least the original six (the ones I consider the proper Asurya) and we'll see what else happens. There's a rant attached but I'll save it for a blog post nearer the time!

2. Will there be an overarching story or will each story be a stand-alone adventure featuring one Lord??

One PL per book as central characters - others may appear. More a meta-plot than a narrative I would say - a thematic link not a chronology.

3. Asurmen is the obvious choice for book one, is Maugan Ra going to be book two?? (Please say yes! And that his book will be about him killing an entire tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan by himself.)

Asurmen was the obvious choice for book one, but haven't decided on any running order for the rest yet. Not sure a novel with a character on his own shooting 'Nids would be all that engaging... The conflict is a little on the nose for my liking

4. Is there a chance we'd see Karandras vs Drazhar?? (You know... for the rematch.)

I don't know what the situation is with the fate of Arhra and will be looking to GW for some guidance. My vote is always to maintain the mystery where possible. Arhra vs Karandras is likely but that will need the thumbs-up from GW (the novels contain flashbacks to the Fall and post-fall universe).

Thats it for the questions I guess, anything else you can share on this series would be great. Thanks in advance for anything you can answer,.


LotN

There'll be more closer to release, I'm sure.

Cheers,

Gav

[Lord of the Night]

We hope to cover at least the original six (the ones I consider the proper Asurya) and we'll see what else happens. There's a rant attached but I'll save it for a blog post nearer the time!

Cool. I look forward to all of them, because let's be honest... is there a single Phoenix Lord that isn't crazy awesome?? No.

One PL per book as central characters - others may appear. More a meta-plot than a narrative I would say - a thematic link not a chronology.

Interesting. A theme that unites the Lords.

Asurmen was the obvious choice for book one, but haven't decided on any running order for the rest yet. Not sure a novel with a character on his own shooting 'Nids would be all that engaging... The conflict is a little on the nose for my liking

Maybe not engaging on a characterisation or plot level, but it would be awesome action-movie wise. In truth though the most interesting part about Maugan Ra is his relationship with Craftworld Altansar and his quest to save it.

I don't know what the situation is with the fate of Arhra and will be looking to GW for some guidance. My vote is always to maintain the mystery where possible. Arhra vs Karandras is likely but that will need the thumbs-up from GW (the novels contain flashbacks to the Fall and post-fall universe).

Sweet! Looking forward to seeing that.

There'll be more closer to release, I'm sure.

I look forward to it.


LotN

[David Earle]

Hi Gav,

I started reading The Curse of Khaine this morning and it wouldn't let me stop! I did not see... any of that coming, but I really enjoyed it.

If you don't mind a few questions:

1. Are there any plans to show a bit more of Tyrion's view of things?

2. Are there any plans to show a bit more of

Spoiler: what happened to Malus Darkblade? End Times or no, it seemed a sorry fate for that schemer... assuming it was his fate...

3. Did you have any inkling you'd be writing this book when you were working on Time of Legends? Because they fit together really well.

Best regards!

[Dennis the Hamster]

HI,

1. Not in novel format, as far as I know. There is a lot of stuff in the Khaine background book that doesn't centre on Malekith, but I had to make a decision on how to fit everything into one novel, and making it the culmination of Malekith's story started in the Sundering made the most sense to me.

2. Yes, there is a Malus book coming out in the New Year, by CL Werner I think.

3. None at all, but the background did a good job of picking up on the cycles and classic themes of the Elven story which gave me something to hang the narrative on. I can't say it was easy getting everything to sit right, but I think it provides a suitable culmination to the storyline.

Cheers,

Gav

[Words_of_Truth]

Spoiler: I hope Malus isn't dead, he was my favourite fantasy character.

I was wondering whether we'll be seeing any more Raven Guard books and/or a conclusion to..

Spoiler: The visions Valerius has

any time soon?

[Dennis the Hamster]

Spoiler: I hope Malus isn't dead, he was my favourite fantasy character.

Spoiler: You'll have to read his very own novel to find out the details...

I was wondering whether we'll be seeing any more Raven Guard books and/or a conclusion to..

Spoiler: The visions Valerius has

any time soon?

Spoiler: There will be more Raven Guard to come, following the Raptor audio this spring, but I'm taking a trip into Dark Angels land for the next novel. And yes, Valerius' visions will be the subject of further stories, rest assured.

Gav

[Words_of_Truth]

Spoiler: I hope Malus isn't dead, he was my favourite fantasy character.

Spoiler: You'll have to read his very own novel to find out the details...

I was wondering whether we'll be seeing any more Raven Guard books and/or a conclusion to..

Spoiler: The visions Valerius has

any time soon?

Spoiler: There will be more Raven Guard to come, following the Raptor audio this spring, but I'm taking a trip into Dark Angels land for the next novel. And yes, Valerius' visions will be the subject of further stories, rest assured.

Gav

Great thanks!

I was reading Deliverance Lost again and was reading through the assault on the perfect fortress when I came across a description of the commanders bodyguard, in it you described them as wearing "golden carapace armour and white fatigues stained and muddied by the advance from the landing zone" and ,I thank you again for answering something similar to this before, but I'm about to paint some of the new Solar Auxilia as the Therion Cohort and was wondering whether this was a scheme that represented the entire army on the whole. Sorry for being pernickety, I just want to get the army just right

[teessider]

Gav, from what I can tell the warhammer universe is in for a massive re-boot. Having been involved in it for so many years how do you feel about it changing?

[Dennis the Hamster]

Gav, from what I can tell the warhammer universe is in for a massive re-boot. Having been involved in it for so many years how do you feel about it changing?

I can only answer that when I see how things end up, otherwise it'd just be speculation. As for the reasons whether such a reboot was necessary and the manner in which it has been done, I've not been involved in the process and would be just making stuff up. I don't think there was anything fundamentally broken that needed fixing with the Warhammer World, but that doesn't mean it won't be worth the upheaval.

We'll have to wait and see

Cheers,

Gav

[Lord of the Night]

Hey Gav,

I have two questions for you after reading your interview over at Mengel Miniatures.

Tyler: Any hints on future Horus Heresy or End Times books of yours you are able to give us?

Gav: I'm just starting Angels of Caliban, which unsurprisingly allows us to catch up with what's been happening with Luther, Astelan, Zahariel and friends.

Is this the third Dark Angels Horus Heresy novel??

Just as The Sundering should have been three more books in retrospect, just the elven arc of the End Times could have filled six books.

I completely agree with you. Is there any chance of future End Times works even when the event itself ends?? And if so would you want to write more Elven books?? (I'd love to see Tyrion's perspective on events. Yes he went crazy/evil, but he got a damn raw deal and he had some good points on the whole situation, my personal favourite being when he asked Teclis exactly how Morathi manipulating him was different than what Teclis had already done.)


LotN

[Dennis the Hamster]

Hey,

1. Yes, it is a DA novel, although there will be characters from other Legions taking part too.

2. I genuinely have no idea. I too think Tyrion's story would be compelling and would love to tackle it, but I've not yet had the proper conversation with BL regarding the sort of novels they'll be publishing for Warhammer in the future (but they assure me they will still be publishing them!).

Cheers,

Gav

[sam vimes]

I still have to readMark Of Heresy and the two shorts in Marks Of Chaos but any ways my order of Slaves To Darkness came yesterday what can I expect and whats it about?

[Dennis the Hamster]

I still have to readMark Of Heresy and the two shorts in Marks Of Chaos but any ways my order of Slaves To Darkness came yesterday what can I expect and whats it about?

Hopefully you'll have started by now

If not, you can expect a classic tale of Chaos and the idea that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, set against the backdrop of the crumbling Empire during the Time of Three Emperors (published nearly ten years before Time of Legends came about ).

Cheers,

Gav