Hellooo! 

I recently reviewed Pillar of Ash by HM Long the ending of a fantastic and very inventive quarter of fantasy stories mixing gods, cultures similar to our own but different and a refreshingly different set of lead characters. It has been indeed a journey of discovery. It was great to have a chance to ask Hannah some questions about the new book and how it feels ending a series.

Hey there!  

How do you like to booktempt people into reading Pillar of Ash?  

Pillar of Ash takes place in an atmospheric, Viking-inspired world with a band of heroes on a grand quest, meddling gods (or so-called gods), and an apocalyptic battle for the fate of creation.  

Yske I found a really unusual main character. We rarely focus on healers, and she is introverted too. How did she evolve?  

Yske began in contrast to Hessa, a simple warrior vs healer notion. I wanted to end the series on a gentler note, with hope, and as an introvert, I love reading about truly introverted characters. So I gave myself permission to lean into a character I could relate to more personally.  

 
As I wrote, Hessa and Yske’s similarities and differences began to become clearer. Both have an innate a reluctance towards violence, but where Hessa, born into constant war and conflict, had to deny herself and learn to kill for the sake of those she loves, Yske is not in that situation. She is able to turn away from violence because of her mother’s sacrifice and the sacrifices of those around her, and able to hide from the world to some extent. It’s coming to this understanding that really shapes Yske throughout the book.  

Was this finale to the Hall of Smoke series envisaged from the start? Does knowing it’s a finale raise the stakes when writing? 

Before selling Hall of Smoke, I only had two books in mind. One was Hall of Smoke, as a complete standalone. The other was Barrow of Winter, also a standalone but in the same world, and the over-arching Four Pillars storyline wasn’t there. But my agent and publisher liked the idea of a quartet, and I was more than happy to start pulling at threads and see where the characters and world could go.  

By the time I wrote Barrow of Winter, I had begun to have a clearer idea of what Pillar of Ash would be, but I still went into it with only some basic ideas – a world-ending battle, a quiet protagonist, and a foresty atmosphere. For me, knowing too much about a book before I write it strips the life out of it and slows my writing speed (honestly, I get bored). But there was still a huge pressure with Pillar of Ash as a series finale, and it definitely raised the stakes. I froze up a few times drafting it, and had extensive chats with my alpha readers during development to keep things moving.  

What has been the most interesting lesson you’ve learnt from writing a series? 

Oh, there’s so many! But the biggest one is likely that I really need to start writing down my worldbuilding details as I write. I am a chaotic and impulsive worldbuilder, and relied heavily on my wonderful beta readers to point out continuity issues between the books. So now I know – write details down right away, Hannah. 

What else can we look forward to from you in the future and where can we find out more? 

Next up is Black Tide Son, the sequel to Dark Water Daughter and the second book in my nautical fantasy trilogy The Winter Sea.  It’s due to publish July this year. After that I do have multiple more projects contracted, but I can’t speak much about them yet except to say one is a standalone, and there’s also a duology in there too, all adult fantasy. (Oh, and another Winter Sea book, of course!) 
You can find out more and keep an eye out for the latest info on my website, www.hmlongbooks.com, and on my Instagram, @hmlongbooks.  

What great books have you read recently? 

I’m currently loving Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett, and I recently did a reread of some of my favourite books of all time – the Old Kingdom trilogy by Garth Nix and The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne.