INTERVIEW: Graham McNeill

Congratulations on the Legend nomination, Graham! How does it feel to be shortlisted for Empire, the second Sigmar novel in the Black Library's Time of Legends series?

GM: Thanks very much! It’s a great feeling to be nominated for this award, as David Gemmell was such a huge influence on my writing, and is probably the writer I’d credit most for making me want to write in the first place. These books are very much in the vein of David Gemmell’s work, so it’s nice to feel that folk have responded to that.
 
You started as a staff writer for Games Workshop’s magazine White Dwarf but quickly became a novelist as well. Is there much difference between magazine writing and novel writing?

GM: A big difference, though at the end of the day, you’re still writing to entertain, inform and inspire. Both use different muscles in the brain, and require different mindsets. For magazine writing you’re much more in the moment, as the article will likely be read in under ten minutes, but a novel you can let your thinking stretch out to much longer spans. You can give the writing time to breathe, though that doesn’t mean you can let it be flabby. Writing a novel with the same discipline you apply to an article is a good way of making sure you don’t ramble on past when you need to.

As if that wasn’t enough, you are a games developer as well as a writer. Is gaming a useful experience when writing novels? Are the two compatible?

GM: Certainly when it comes to writing tie-in fiction based on a wargames system. I’m never hidebound by what the rules say when it comes to fiction, after all, the game is based on fairness, whereas a novel doesn’t need to adhere to those same rules. You need to be aware of the game and the rules so you don’t do anything silly, but the novels are designed to be an extra layer of depth that the games can’t match. Certainly, I found it very useful when it came to doing 40k and Warhammer novels.

You are the author of over a dozen other novels, including Heldenhammer, which was nominated last year for the DGLA Awards. What do you think is Empire’s appeal to DGLA award voters? Its Sigmar, isn’t it?
 
GM: Pretty much! Sigmar is a hero cut from the mould of David Gemmell, and he’s someone I could imagine him writing. It’s a heroic fantasy novel, with great characters, epic battles and a gritty sense of reality in a fantasy setting.

Writers are notoriously critical of their work. What are you happiest about yourself with Empire?

GM: I like the way the characters change over the course of the book. Heldenhammer was the ‘youth’ of the trilogy, full of vigour, optimism and possibility, whereas Empire is the ‘older and wiser’ of the novels, where the characters begin to see they’re not the youths of their memories any more and feel their world changing around them. Seeing where they were at the beginning of the book, and where the are at the end of it, is one of the most satisfying aspects of the book.
 
One of the points being made about your novel and one that many (such as Mark Charan Newton) seem pleased about, is that it is the first novel from the shared-universe of Warhammer 40k to be shortlisted. In your opinion, is this a sign (at last!) that novels such of yours have now earned their position in the genre limelight?

GM: I think it’s a sign that opinions are changing. There’s still work to be done, but the quality of writing within the tie-in genre is getting better all the time, and I think it’s a sign that people are beginning to realise that.

And of course I should perhaps also mention that cover by Jon Sullivan for the UK edition, which has also been nominated for an Award... were you impressed with that yourself?

GM: Yeah, I love Jon’s work, and am always pleased when I get a look at his next cover. The one for God King (the third Sigmar book) is even better!

As this is the DGLA Awards, I’m interested in whether David Gemmell’s books have been an influence on you before (or even during!) the time you became a professional writer. Have you read any of his books?  Do you have a favourite?

GM: I own all the David Gemmell books, and re-read them regularly. Waylander was my first Gemmell book, and I think it’s always going to be my true favourite, as the moment I finished it – back when I was 14, I turned straight back to page 1 and started all over again. I even dedicated Heldenhammer to him, with the words, ‘To DG, you taught me all I know’.

Here’s your last chance to woo voters: what would you like readers to get most from Empire?

GM: I’d like them to get a sense of the real heroism of Sigmar, to feel what he feels on his journey to unite the lands of men in order to safeguard them from all the terrible dangers ranged against them. It’s epic, heroic, funny, scary and dangerous. If you’ve never tried a tie-in book, the Sigmar series would be a great place to start. Especially since I’ve just finished the third book in the trilogy.