Blog Tour - LEGACY OF STEEL by Matthew Ward (Interview & Giveaway!)

Welcome everyone to Day #4 of the LEGACY OF STEEL blog tour!  Out of This World SFF Reviews has the honor of being today's stop.  To help celebrate the recent release of this second book in fantasy author Matthew Ward's Legacy Trilogy, I am delighted to be able to bring you a fascinating interview I conducted with him recently.  And that's not all!  At the very end of our interview will be a special giveaway opportunity to win one of two physical copies of LEGACY OF STEEL!!!

I would like to thank both Orbit Books and author Matthew Ward for allowing me to be part of this incredible event and for also providing the giveaway copies.  For those who haven't read this series, I highly recommend that you do because it is definitely one of the best epic fantasy reading journeys you will ever take in my opinion.  And if you don't believe me, here's what Publisher's Weekly had to say about it:

The newest book in the series, LEGACY OF STEEL, was just released a few days ago and can be purchased on Amazon and many other book retailers worldwide.  So please do pick it up if you have a chance.

Now I would like to present my interview with author Matthew Ward where we discuss many topics from his current series, to the writing process, to potential upcoming projects, as well as some personal life stuff.  I hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as I enjoyed doing it.  I learned a lot and also had a great deal of fun getting to know Matthew a little better.  His honesty, thoughtfulness, and humor really come through in his answers.  Anyway, here it is:

(Nick): Greetings Matthew!  Before we begin I would just like to extend a sincere thank you for stopping by Out of This World SFF Reviews and taking the time to chat with me today.

(Matthew): Hi! Nice to be here.

(Nick): Last year your debut novel Legacy of Ash took the fantasy world by storm, garnering a ton of accolades from both reviewers and fellow authors alike.  Did you expect such an amazing outpouring of appreciation?

(Matthew): It was all a bit overwhelming (in a good way). You always want to find an audience, but the experience is very different to the expectation. 

It’s something that walks the razor’s edge between humbling and aggrandising … but to be honest, I’m just glad that folk like what I’m doing. Long may it continue.

(Nick): Previously you spent a decade as a principal architect for Games Workshop’s Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.  What made you decide to change your career path and begin writing full-length novels based on your own stories?

(Matthew): Even before GW and I parted ways, I’d slowly been shifting from a games development role to one grounded in narrative. From there, a hundred tiny steps led to a place of ‘yes, I think I can actually do this’.

The more mundane details aside, it was all about growing in confidence as much as anything. My background is sciences, rather than arts, and sometimes it was hard to see beyond that. 

To be honest, I’ve spent far too much of my life sitting in the box marked out for me. I’m not sure I’m entirely free of it now, but it’s at least I’ve made that box much larger than it used to be.

(Nick): How do you feel that experience with Warhammer helped you with your current process as a fantasy novelist?  

(Matthew): It certainly teaches discipline and innovation. You learn a lot about boundaries when working with someone else’s intellectual property. What you can change, what you can’t. What enhances a setting or character, and what doesn’t. When the job’s sometimes simply to be the pair of hands on the keyboard. They’re applicable to your own creation just as much as one you’re being allowed to play in.

In a setting like that, there’s always someone ready to pitch in and explain why you shouldn’t do a thing (occasionally at some volume). There’s a peculiar freedom to that, for all the confines you might expect. It’s a safety net, and if you pay attention you can learn a lot from the examples you’re set. 

(Nick): Piggy-backing off that, could you briefly describe your writing process for us?  What does the typical writing day of Matthew Ward look like?

(Matthew): It’s very dull. Writing days start at about 8am, and continue until I get a chapter finished, or I’ve worked down a list of edits that I’ve planned to get done for that day. Realistically, that means a day stretching on to anywhere from about 3pm to 6pm … because the CHAPTER. MUST. DIE. 

Some writers like to leave things mid-scene, mid-paragraph or whatever, so they know where they’re starting the next morning. It’s not something I can do. I need to have something that I can stare at come the end of the day, and know I’ve hit a milestone. Some sentences get rewritten a lot in that time. 

(I’m also not one for going ‘I’ll come back and fix that later’.)

The first draft is normally 95% what I want, and of the remaining 5% most of it is fixed by my very good friend Mr Delete Key. There’s a lot of slimming down and speeding up of narration - especially when action’s involved. Anything to keep the story moving at a good lick. 

(Nick): The Legacy Trilogy is truly epic in scope with regard to characters and world-building.  In my recent review of the latest book Legacy of Steel, I likened it to the experience of watching a huge cinematic classic like Lawrence of Arabia or Ben-Hur playing out in your mind instead of on the big screen.  Are there any epic films or books (fantasy or otherwise) that you claim as influences?

(Matthew): Anything that gives you that feeling of the music swelling and righteous retribution about to unfold. Avengers Assemble and Endgame both deliver on that, and it’s the feeling I always want to capture. Characters have been through (often very personal) hell for hundreds of pages … now they’ve got a chance at catharsis and triumph.

Hulk? … Smash.

Outside of books and movies, I owe a huge stylistic debt to Bloodborne and the Dark Souls games. They weave a sense of creeping dread and a subtle sort of bombastic fantasy - Oh, and the soundtracks? So good - that I don’t think you get anywhere else. That glimmer of hope as all turns to despair and dust. Magical.

(Nick): Which character in the Legacy Trilogy is the most fun for you to write and why?

(Matthew): It’s always tied between Ana and Kurkas, and for much the same reason: they’re always just distant enough from the plot that they can have fun. 

Ana, particularly, gets to say all of the wry, mean-spirited little things I try to filter out of my conversations, which offers a freedom all its own. Kurkas, on the other hand, has a much more self-effacing humour which is probably healthier.

Maybe that’s the key? I think more characters could stand to laugh at themselves … or others. Makes the day brighter, and the shadow darker all at once.

(Nick): Can you give us a hint about any upcoming writing projects that you may have beyond this series? Any ideas brewing?

(Matthew): Always. Legacy began about twenty years ago, and there are so many other stories waiting to be told in Aradane ... and even a few beyond. After all, Aradane is just one world among many. Yet more legacies echoing through the ages. The rise and fall of gods. And, of course, the coming of Third Dawn.

Beyond that, I have other projects in mind. Real world dark fantasy, if that’s not overladen with contradictions. So much of Legacy is rooted in Slavic folklore … I’m still hoping for the change to set the real thing loose. On London, say. It certainly has it coming.

(Nick): What do you enjoy doing on your days off from writing epic fantasy novels?

(Matthew): Days off? I’m still figuring out the work/life balance thing. 

That said, Lego has its hooks in me again (I have a Batwing waiting for me in a box downstairs). 

Beyond that, I do like my video games, though I’m playing a lot less. That’s chiefly Supergiant’s Hades right now, and worth it purely for the writing and the voice acting, which is absolutely stellar … but it’s also a gem as far as gameplay goes. I’m very much looking forward to the Demon’s Souls remaster (I missed it on the first time around).

(Nick): Okay, let’s talk music. Two-parter.  Who is your favorite band/musical artist?  Best live show you attended?

(Matthew): The Levellers, though as you might expect there’s a definite era I prefer (Weapon Called the Word through to One Way of Life, for the record). 

As to the show? That’d be a Levellers gig on the outskirts of Birmingham, supported by Nick Harper back in 2003. Large enough to be a gig, small enough to not be overwhelming.

(Nick): Finally, and I know this is a standard question in pretty much every interview, but I also feel like it is a valuable one. What advice would you give to a brand new author just starting out who may be having doubts or would just appreciate some advice from an established author like yourself?

(Matthew): Just keep going. It’s a horrible, disheartening truth, but there’s so much luck involved in getting published - let alone being successful. Worse, there’s no clear road map to either - at least, not one worth having. (Though the internet is plump with leeches who’ll try to sell you one.) 

Keep your head down and keep polishing your craft, whether improvement comes by inches or miles. Write, write and keep writing, because everything makes you better. 

Temper your instincts with honesty, work out where you need to improve, and make it happen. Because what you’re really doing is honing your skills so that when luck does break your way, you’re ready for the opportunity. It might take months. It might take years. But if it’s what you want, and you’re prepared to work for it, you will get there.

(Nick): That's awesome advice. Well, that’s all I got!  I really want to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to stop by and have this discussion with me Matthew. I hope that everyone gives the Legacy Trilogy a try because it is one of my favorite fantasy series in recent memory.  Also, congratulations on the publication of the second book, Legacy of Steel (Orbit Books), which is available to purchase now worldwide. Appreciate the talk and good luck with everything in the future!

(Matthew): You’re very welcome. Thanks for having me!

🚨 GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!! 🚨

And now, for that incredible giveaway I mentioned earlier!  Thanks to Orbit and Matthew, I have been afforded the opportunity to give away a physical copy of LEGACY OF STEEL to 2 LUCKY WINNERS!!!

To enter, all you have to do is follow me on Twitter (@nickrevws), follow Matthew Ward (@thetowerofstars) and follow Orbit Books (@orbitbooks).  To finalize your entry, simply comment on this post.  I will select two winners at random and announce those winners next Friday, November 13th.  So be sure to get those entries in because you are going to want to have this spectacular book in your hands and on your shelf.  Good luck!

Cat-servant and owner of more musical instruments than he can actually play (and considerably more than he can play well), Matthew Ward is also the author of Legacy of Ash, architect of Coldharbour, and Creative Consultant on Vermintide 2.  He's afflicted for an obsession with old places - castles, historic cities and the London Underground chief amongst them - and should probably cultivate more interests to help expand out his author biography.

After a decade serving as a principal architect for Games Workshop's Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 properties, Matthew embarked on an adventure to tell stories set in worlds of his own design.  He lives near Nottingham with his extremely patient wife - as well as a pride of attention-seeking cats - and writes to entertain anyone who feels there's not enough magic in the world.  You can connect with author Matthew Ward on Twitter, Facebook, and his Website.

And with that, my stop on the LEGACY OF STEEL blog tour is in the books! (no pun intended). Hope you enjoyed it and thanks as always for supporting the blog.  Oh, and be sure to visit all of the other stops on the schedule.  There are so many amazing blogs involved that are doing different and creative things in support of this tour.  Thanks again!

-Nick