Guest Post - Matthew Ward on The Darkness Before Them

Hellooo!

I have really enjoyed reading Matthew Ward’s ingenious Legacy trilogy of fantasy novels that mixed Gods, demons, battles and magic to dizzying effect. I also really enjoyed their standalone tale Queen of Evertide that is an equally smart urban fantasy tale using the legend of Robin Hood. I was therefore very pleased to hear that Matthew has a new series starting later this year and how could I resist hearing a little more about it? Mr Ward over to you!

Darkness Ahead

With The Darkness Before Them landing later in the year, everyone’s favourite book-tempting womble kindly offered me this opportunity to talk a bit about what you can expect.

There’s a quote attributed to Walt Disney “You can’t top pigs with pigs” – his response to whether or not he’d follow up his Academy Award winning Three Little Pigs animated short with a sequel. I think there’s always the desire to do something at least a little different the next time around. I suppose lessons learned along the way have something to do with that – I have a very analogue brain, so I’m dreadful at picking out the specific moments or lessons that life offers up, they just blend into the waveform’s peaks and troughs – but mainly I just like doing something that’s new.

For The Darkness Before Them some of that comes in with the kingdom of Khalad, which wears its magic a lot more openly than the Tressian Republic or the Hadari Empire (the main realms in The Legacy Trilogy). In Khalad, the soul is as much a commodity as fuel or gold, its value derived from the vigour or skills a fading spirit might possess. Criminals serve as baleful embalmed guardians, while the spirits of departed artists are imbibed so that the living might inherit a measure of their talents … at least for a time. Warships prowl the cloud-strewn skies. And the entire populace lives in fear of the hungry mists pressing in at the kingdom’s border.

That said, I’m a big believer in playing to your strengths, so anyone who loved The Legacy Trilogy should find plenty to enjoy in The Darkness Before Them.

It’s still a character-driven story. Possibly moreso than its predecessor, given that we spend all of our time with Kat – a disgraced thief trapped on the fringes of society – and … one other, who I’ll maybe talk a little bit about nearer to release. Suffice to say, he’s a very different kettle of fish. Both have difficult choices to make and heartbreaking lessons to learn. They’re further from the centres of power – in Kat’s case about as far away as it’s possible to get – so there are different challenges at play, and different sides of the world to explore than maybe we saw in The Legacy Trilogy. Yes, there’s a world at stake beyond the window, but not everyone can – or wants to – get involved.

At least, not to begin with. In Khalad you either find your place, or one is found for you.

In life … or in death.

The Darkness Before Them releases 7th November (US) & 9th November (UK).

These are dark times for the Kingdom of Khalad. As the magical mists of the Veil devour the land, the populace struggles beneath the rule of ruthless noble houses and their uncaring immortal king.

Kat doesn’t care about any of that. A talented thief, she’s pursuing one big score that will settle the debt that destroyed her family. No easy feat in a realm where indentured spirits hold vigil over every vault and treasure room. However, Kat has a unique gift: she can speak to those spirits, and even command them. She’ll need every advantage she can get.

Kat’s not a hero. She just wants to be free. To have her old life back. But as rebellion rekindles and the war for Khalad’s future begins, everyone – Kat included – will have to pick a side.

Author biography

Matthew Ward is the author of The Legacy Trilogy, Queen of Eventide and the forthcoming Soulfire Saga. When not hammering away at novels he works as a creative consultant and voice director on such games as Vermintide, Darktide and Aliens: Dark Descent. Though frequently accused of living in worlds of his own imagination, really he lives near Nottingham with his extremely patient wife and several attention-seeking cats.