Fires of War is finished!
In the words of Professor Farnsworth, 'Good news everyone' - I've finished Fires of War at last!
For those not in the know, this is the Salamanders short story that's featuring in the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology, released next year. Not only is the story finished, but it's also gone through its editorial rigours and come out on the other side pretty much unscathed. I'm glad, as I spent a long time going over this one, honing and re-honing (Steve will attest to the agonies I went through trying to get it just right), so to have its first editorial pass reveal only very minor cosmetic changes is a relief.
In point of fact, as the story isn't going to change a busting lot from the first draft I feel I can say that it's a whopping 22,000 words of Salamander action and intrigue. And I have to say, it's a lean story, too, with not a bit of flab in sight. This was one of the things that bothered me most as I was writing it - that it was simply going to be too long. But thankfully, with a helpful and understanding editor (thanks Lindsey) and the adage in my mind given to me by the Head of BL, George Mann, that 'Every short story is as long as it needs to be', I got past this and finished up with a story I'm very pleased with.
Fires of War is quite an important tale for me as it sets up some of the plot and background for Salamander, my first novel featuring this eponymous Chapter. You don't need to have read it to enjoy the book, far from it, but it will enhance your experience. More importantly for me, though, it has enabled me to begin to form the characters in my mind and slowly start the development process. I have big plans for all my main leads (of which, two really stand out). I've also started to put in place a long story arc that effects and is driven by the cast, and culminates in something of an explosive finale (I already know all the main beats of the meta-plot as a result).
I hope you enjoy the story and will be suitably primed for the novel, once you've read it. Its going to be a long ride, I think, with plenty of surprises in store. Salamander fans (and those who love good sf/40K action) - this is your moment, the first step on the journey. Let's travel it together...
For those not in the know, this is the Salamanders short story that's featuring in the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology, released next year. Not only is the story finished, but it's also gone through its editorial rigours and come out on the other side pretty much unscathed. I'm glad, as I spent a long time going over this one, honing and re-honing (Steve will attest to the agonies I went through trying to get it just right), so to have its first editorial pass reveal only very minor cosmetic changes is a relief.
In point of fact, as the story isn't going to change a busting lot from the first draft I feel I can say that it's a whopping 22,000 words of Salamander action and intrigue. And I have to say, it's a lean story, too, with not a bit of flab in sight. This was one of the things that bothered me most as I was writing it - that it was simply going to be too long. But thankfully, with a helpful and understanding editor (thanks Lindsey) and the adage in my mind given to me by the Head of BL, George Mann, that 'Every short story is as long as it needs to be', I got past this and finished up with a story I'm very pleased with.
Fires of War is quite an important tale for me as it sets up some of the plot and background for Salamander, my first novel featuring this eponymous Chapter. You don't need to have read it to enjoy the book, far from it, but it will enhance your experience. More importantly for me, though, it has enabled me to begin to form the characters in my mind and slowly start the development process. I have big plans for all my main leads (of which, two really stand out). I've also started to put in place a long story arc that effects and is driven by the cast, and culminates in something of an explosive finale (I already know all the main beats of the meta-plot as a result).
I hope you enjoy the story and will be suitably primed for the novel, once you've read it. Its going to be a long ride, I think, with plenty of surprises in store. Salamander fans (and those who love good sf/40K action) - this is your moment, the first step on the journey. Let's travel it together...
Labels: Fires of War
posted by Nick Kyme at
09:13
4 Comments:
Hi there, nice to see you are freed up to work on the big novel.
I wonder what is your preferred "level" of intrigue when you write novels.
Many times authors come up with a great idea but also overdo it a tad, nothing directly wrong in doing that but it demands a significantly better quality of the matrix around the main story to carry it through.
The outcome is nice on an individual scale but can become awkward on a macro scale when books are compared with one another as they seem to be about basically the same things, a plot that soon enough turns out to be "the" really heavy hitter where the whole fate of the galazy as usually hangs in the balance of one character.
Other times the author chooses to portrait a lesser "level" by choosing a less significant problem that although it is very important to the characters in the novel, is not of the "whole galaxy hangs in the balance" type.
So, having rambled away to this point I wonder, what is your take on the main storyline/issue/threat level in a big novel, are you more inclined towards the epic grand scale of storytelling or more towards the minimalistic dito?
Now I have no idea if you read this one or not but if you did I´m curious what your take of the following might be:
I recently bought and finished all three blood angels "deus" novels by James Swallow and I must say I have mixed feelings about them.
Nothing wrong in his writing, its solid and fun to read action and he certainly made some heavy duty research into the blood angels background...so in what areas did he fail in my opinion?
He didnt do any research on space marines in general before jumping head over heels into the specifics of the blood angels "fluff".
The result is an epic tale of galaxy threatening proportions that dwell deeply into rich blood angels background but this is somewhat ruined by overall "fluff" flaws. The author misses out just about everything there is on the background of space marines and basically manages to wipe out the whole chapter two times over not to mention half their fleet assets.
Characters that take up to centuries to train and mould die of like witless flies and super rare space ships with millenia old service records are treated like logs on a river. The very feel of space marines being rare, super tough, century old warriors that just dont die of as soon as it starts to rain (not mentioning the amazingly never ending supply of them) makes the novel feel like an imperial guard meatgrinder and not like a small tightly knit brotherhood of elite superhuman warriors.
So my questions is, what is your take on background research on all levels for an upcoming novel and being a professional writer when you write a 40k novel where do you get your research from, is it cooperation with the Games Workshop developement team, fans online, your editor, what does a writer do when facing up to a big and complex universe he is about to write a novel on (assuming he is not 100% familiar with it from the start)?
Thanks:)
Hi Pyriel,
First of all, Happy New Year to you! Apologies it's taken me so long to reply. Quite a complex series of questions/queries and I've been neck deep in Salamander for the last month or so.
Let me say, I love Jim Swallow's work. I think he's a great writer. As I'm his editor, a fan and fellow writer, it wouldn't really be professional of me to pass comment on the ins and outs of his Blood Angels/Space Marines research and the fan reaction to that. Suffice it to say, I think his work is absolutely top notch.
I can, however, answer you question about macro and micro plots and my preference thereon. The answer is fairly simple: it depends on the book and the story you wish to tell. A good story, even one that deals with a macro level crisis (this would come under the Event category of story using the M.I.C.E quotient - see an earlier post for more on that, unless you're already familiar with the theory), should have some micro level stuff too. The characters need individual crisis and the capacity to suceed or fail - essentially their arcs. As a crime fan, I love intrigue and mysteries (mainly because I enjoy deconstructing them and being surprised), so there is some of that in Salamander for sure. I have wondered at times whether the whole thing is too veiled, but I'm convinced that the readers will be able to figure it out.
I also wanted to engender a sense of history and consequence in the narrative and this is where the intrigue comes from. There are mysteries involving the central characters and more than a few secrets knocking around - again more intrigue. Of course, this is all couched in lots of heroic Salamander action as befits such a noble Chapter.
I do find the whole 'galaxy in the balance' angle a little tricky to get my head around sometimes. I think the Horus Heresy is the daddy when it comes to overarching narratives on this scale and I'd be very nervous trying to find a plot that matches up to that. For me, everyone's individual realities are their universes. It's all relative; what might mean nothing to one person could be potentially universe-threatening for another. For instance, a character who is obsessed with promotion (and I'm talking broadly here) - if he doesn't get it and he's had all his hopes pinned on it, all his efforts up to this point in his life have been geared towards it, then that's pretty life shattering if it doesn't come off. What then for this character? What does it mean? What does it say about them and their own self image and how they project themselves to others? Suddenly their entire world view, their entire view, is cast into abject Chaos.
That can be powerful I think, and totally embraces the idea of micro plotting but when viewed soley within the context of that character is pretty damn macro to them. See what I mean?
Raising the stakes in any book is obviously important, even more so if you're writing a trilogy (which I have planned the Salamander books to be). It's not good reaching the summit of crisis in the first story, the only way from there is down. Saying that the crisis still must have resonance and consequence - it goes back to that idea of a micro plot but relatively speaking is actually macro.
Am I inclined to write in either micro or macro fashion? Again, depends on the story. There can be elements of both, I think and the interpretation of the narrative as one or the other is actually realtive to the characters and the context in which it is presented.
The thing to remember (and this goes for your background comments too re: Space Marines and their rarity etc) is that everything is relative.
Moving on from that regarding background, I have found this and the Salamander short the most background intensive thing I have ever done. As well as the codexes, rulebook and so, I have also put together a Salamander/Space Marine 'style bible'. There's nothing religious about it, it's a collection of salient articles, sections of extant rulebooks and so with anything useful about Salamanders: the battles they have fought, their famous characters, names of their vehicles, how their companies are made up; their known history etc. It's actually a fairly meaty tome.
As for getting advice etc - sure, I've taken note of the imparted wisdom of fans (yourself and Argos, most notably) and tried to utilise and embody the essence of that within the story. I have consulted with Games Development and even some of the very high ups in GW (hence that whole 'black skin, burning red eyes' hot potato). Not only that, but I've also read lots and lots of books. Not just 40K, either, but just in general. I find it extremely useful to be reading whilst I'm writing (not at the same time, you understand). It's inspiring and thought provoking, and gets you in the creative mood (the 'authorial mode' if you like, which refers to another previous post). I watch good TV (dramas usually) and analyse them, or take in movies that evoke a certain emotional response. I always remember reading something that Lee Child wrote about research (another of my favourite authors). He said that you should read anything and everything, take in knowledge, utilise it, analyse it and make it work for you. I was struck by that notion. I think he really had a point with it.
I hope that has answered your question pretty well and that you've got something out of my semi-coherent ramblings. Thanks, as always, for your interest and your questions.
Hi there, hope you had a wonderful christmas and new year:)
Thanks for the answer, some things you said really got me thinking.
I´m also looking forward to the element of crime/mystique you are planning to include as well as the talk of subtle hints hidden like easter eggs.
Those small touches are what really do it for fluff gurus and die hard fans.
I have also picked up a couple more of Swallows novels to try and give the guy some more justice as I came to like his writing style.
Now do I have more questions?
Do I want to pester your free time with irritating rants, well it wouldnt be polite but to be honest I´m of a far to curious nature to be able to resist so here goes...:P
Detail in describing things:
How do you view this to me important issue. In my experiance this is "the" most important make-or-breake deal with what type of reader will fall for an author, the methods of describing.
Lets take the common action scene so often found in 40k novels.
The problem as I see it is that people have different views and expectations of how things work for the author to be able to satisfy all the readers by describing things in a too detailed (narrow) way.
One person might think bolters work in a certain way as do the marines individual tactics and another person thinks something else so the author cant please both by describing the action scene in a "narrow" way.
What does the author do then?
1: He uses his own imagination and knowledge and takes the path he likes and hopes this transforms into better quality and thus more people will like it.
2: He does what I like to call "do-the-Abnett" and brushes over everything with a wide and generic brush not really describing the detail of the action with fancy tech and detailed tactics but rather by throwing in the odd and cool sounding terminology and a wonderfully rich scenery.
The result is nobody really knowing how that bolter works or what the marines did in detail to avoid that big trap but the general descriptions still leaved them actually feeling the fyceline smell and happy as hell for it although tech-nuts might feel a tad left out.
3: They "do-the-Clancy" and do some serious research and maybe correspond to professionals in the area and describe in minuscale detail the inner workings of the bolter and what the squad does in a step by step method with everything being correlated to real life state of the art tech specs and what the SAS guy told him a squad would do in the correspondence.
The result being a lot of tech-nuts attracted but also zero females reading it:P
So what is your take on this or do you think I´m comlpetely of my mark with my home made analysis?
Hey Pyriel,
That's a very interesting question about an author's approach descriptions. Of course, it depends on the thing that you're describing as to how much 'air time' you give it (i.e. number of words on the page). Going overboard on something that is either commonplace, mundane or has been described a hundred times before can often feel very pedestrian and comes across like padding.
But I think your question was really directed at 40K weapons and the like. I have read critiques before from some readers saying that they think authors are lazy because they don't go into exhaustive detail describing a bolter or a Land Raider, and take it as red that they are preaching to an informed audience. I would agree with that summation. Franchised fiction, like 40K, is targeted, specifically, at fans of the genre, fans of 40K. Are most 40K gamers, hobbyists, background experts, painters etc going to know what a bolter is, what it looks like etc? I reckon they probably are.
That said, I still think it's worth investing some time in such descriptions in order to convey atmosphere and strong imagery. What are the things that stick regarding bolters for me? They're big, loud, carry explosive shells and anyone on the receiving end of one who's not wearing some decent armour is likely to get pulped very fast. But more than that, it's what they represent. They aren't just a gun (at least not for Space Marines) - they have almost holy significance (at least they do when they've been wielded by the same Space Marine for a while).
I'm not sure I'd ever attempt to describe how a bolter 'worked' per se. In my opinion, it's not really appropriate nor would I be that confident in describing the inner workings of a science fiction weapon. I think familiar terms help convey the right qualities: shells, chambers, clips, sickle-mag, targeter etc are all great instantly recognisable but very gun-sounding words that serve to illuminate any reader to what type of weapon a bolter might be. Impressions are important to - like for instance what it sounds like when it fires, what effect that has on firer and firee (if such a word exists; I'm pretty sure it doesn't, but you get the drift). Even impressions, evocative words, used to describe what it looks like in fairly short detail - it's hard, black, heavy. Straight away, I'm thinking: uncompromising, militaristic, brutal. Then I think, what does this say about the guys using them. That I then don't have to describe so much as I've already implied it. It goes back to that old writer's adage of 'show don't tell'.
I guess you can't please everyone, you just have to go with what suits your writing style and what evokes the write sort of mood. Looking again at your three archetypes of description, I would all three can come into play in lesser or greater degrees depending on the thing being described.
I hope all of that is reasonably interesting and that it provides some insight. Back to the grind for me, now...
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