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Uploaded 06/03/02

Giantslayer Interview

As next month sees the release of Giantslayer, the seventh installment in the Gotrek & Felix saga, I thought it might be an idea to catch up with the man himself and ask him a little bit more about it. I'd just like to thank Bill once again for taking the time to do this interview and I'd also like to say thanks to the members of the various Trollslayer forums for their suggestions of some questions to ask him - cheers folks! Anyway, ladies and gentlemen - I give you the Giantslayer Interview:   Hello Bill and thanks for agreeing to this interview. No problem-it's my pleasure.   First of all, without giving too much away, can you tell us a little bit about Giantslayer? Its the tale of G&F's visit to the island of Albion, it involves a trek through some of the nastiest places they have ever been and encounters with some of the scariest monsters. It has a guest appearance from Teclis, the high elf uber mage. In fact, a fair proportion of the book is seen from his point of view.   And was it a challenge to do it from the Teclis POV and not make him seem..well, too human? It’s always difficult writing from the point of view of someone who is not an actual human being. Impossible with something truly non-human, if truth be told, since I am human.  The best you can hope for is a kind of approximation of it, which will hopefully convince readers. Still when all is said and done Elves are humanish.  With Teclis, I tried to keep in mind that Elves have very long lives, and are very, very political and manipulative. What is important to him are sometimes things that might seem insignificant to humans and vice versa.   Awhile back you wrote an essay for the site. Does this ‘Legacy of the Old Ones’ play a significant role in the book, then? Yes. A very significant part.  The Paths of the Old Ones have been hinted at in previous books. In this one we actually get a look inside them and learn some things about the Old Ones themselves.   What was the inspiration for this particular storyline? There were a number of them. I wanted to get G&F out of the Old World and resolve the ongoing Chaos invasion plot. I wanted to do a "test drive" on Teclis for the Tyrion and Teclis book I had been planning. On a slightly less exalted level, I always wondered how the Slann ever got into battles with some of the other races in the tabletop game.   The main criticism leveled at the previous book, Vampireslayer, was that there was a definite lack of the fighting and bloodshed that people have come to expect in a Gotrek and Felix novel. Have you answered this criticism in Giantslayer? There are certainly a large number of epic battles and the climax is perhaps the bloodiest battle of our heroes’ careers so far.   So in terms of ‘Slay-age’ how would you rate it, out of say, five axes? Maybe six. Sorry, I was possessed by the spirit of Spinal Tap there.   And in amongst all this, Gotrek meets the legendary elf Arch-mage, Teclis? I foresee a few sparks flying, literally! Cats and dogs is the comparison that springs to mind. Gotrek certainly does not like Teclis. With Teclis, its more like he sees Gotrek as a tool that he requires to complete the task at hand.   Was it fun to write these encounters?   Yes. For once there was someone to stand up to Gotrek who is powerful enough not to be intimidated.   Okay, I have to ask – will there be any instances of Gotrek’s trademark signature, the old  ‘thumb down the blade’ in this book? I believe there is. There's certainly a lot of his trademark mass slaughter of opponents.   <laughing>Excellent. Would I be correct in assuming that you include this imagery in every book for a purpose? Er-What imagery is that? I'm not sure I understand the question.   Sorry. I actually meant the ‘thumb down the blade’ imagery! No, it’s just something he does. It’s a habit which hopefully characterises him.   Will we see any more hints of Gotrek’s misdeeds - the ones that led him to become a slayer? Fairly soon I think I will have to deal with the events that led to Gotrek shaving his head. I doubt that it will come as any surprise to long term readers that the working title is Kinslayer.   I’ve been asked to ask you how influenced were you (if at all) by Storm Warriors when writing about Albion? Not really, I confess. It seemed to contradict a lot of the stuff in Dark Shadows, and when all is said and done, Storm Warriors is a story told by Orfeo. That means it is not necessarily part of the actual continuity. Dark Shadows is.   In the last couple of books, it almost seems as though Gotrek has been giving Felix an out with regard to his obligation as the Slayer’s Rememberer. Is this the case, and will the duo ever be parted by anything other than the Slayer’s inevitable death? The thing about Gotrek is that he is cruel but fair. It may actually have occurred to him that Felix is not a dwarf and that it is not really fair to expect him to behave like one. It is also possible that he doesn't think Felix is up to it and he is setting him some tests. Will they be separated before the death quest ends? Most likely-I have considered several storylines involving this. Needless to say any such separation would be temporary. Also these things are only vague ideas at the moment. Nothing is set in stone until the books come out.   So will everyone’s favourite Grey Seer, Thanquol be putting in an appearance in this book and if not, when are we likely to see his return? He does not appear in Giantslayer and he may not appear in the next book either but, like a bad penny, he will show up. I am considering doing some short stories about him.   With the developing storyline for G&F, would you use some of the current background to go back and change some of the prior novels and if so, which ones? There are always things you would change if you could go back and do them over again. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I have the nagging suspicion though that if I could do it and make the changes a few months later I would most likely want to change them too. Who knows I might even want to put them back the way they were to begin with-the grass is always greener...   What was your greatest challenge to overcome in the writing of this book? Keeping Gotrek and Teclis from killing each other.   Okay, so a spoiler... Now that you have finished writing Giantslayer, is there any scene in particular you would have changed and why? I would have stopped Gotrek killing Teclis. Oops- just kidding! Like I said before, in every book there are things you would do differently. I think it’s a bit unfair to ask me to dissect what I now think were my mistakes before the book is even out. In six months I might feel differently.   You briefly touched upon this in an earlier question but will we see a possible separate storyline on the brothers, Tyrion and Teclis at some point in the future? A ton of fans would be very excited to say the least. I have a lot of ideas for them at the moment. I would like do a storyline with more of a high fantasy feel. T&T are characters whose lives are lived on an epic scale. G&F wander into epics by accident and then do their best to lower the tone of the place.   You’ve also just had an entire issue of Inferno! dedicated to you – how does that feel?   I'm flattered.   Can you tell us a bit about the story you wrote for that issue? It’s a tale of steamships, seasick dwarves, orc pirates, desert islands and ruined ancient cities filled with cursed treasure. And a fair amount of violence. It has G&F's first sea battle and some hints of what they might get up to after the current story arc finishes.   And the comic strip? It’s a short violent episode featuring some skaven and an experimental rocket propelled cable car.   Given that your experience runs more to books, was the comic strip quite difficult to write, or just different?   Just different and a lot of fun.   From the hints he’s dropped over the course of the books, it appears the Slayer is a very widely traveled dwarf. Have you ever considered doing a Gotrek: the Early Years book about some of these earlier adventures? It’s certainly one of those things that have been discussed. I am also thinking that a large part of Kinslayer may well be told in flashback from Gotrek's point of view.   Right, onto more general questions now. Many authors will use living persons they know as models for some of their more developed characters – is this something you practice in? Admitting that you use living people as your models is a good way of ending up in court. I plead the 5th.   You are currently working on Wolfblade, the fourth installment of the Space Wolf series – care to tell us a little bit about that? It features Ragnar and it is mostly set in and around Terra. It looks at the links between the Space Wolves and the Navigators. It also contains a fairly epic battle in which 4 Space Wolves storm a fortified asteroid containing hundreds of fanatic cultists.   And this will be out in October, correct? As far as I know.   What about the convention/Gamesday circuit – will you be attending any this year? I think I will be in LA for the Gamesday there.     Anyway, final question for the moment. Some of the most frequent non-character based questions you get are from budding writers. So, have you any advice you could give anyone considering a career in writing? Read as much as you can and write- preferably every day if you can. Steven King's book On Writing contains lots of good practical advice put better than I can put it here.   Excellent. Okay, thanks again for taking the time to do this interview – it’s been very much appreciated. My pleasure.   [ Top ]     [ Interviews ]