Blog Tour - LEGACY OF LIGHT by Matthew Ward

Out of This World SFF is pleased to welcome you to the official LEGACY OF LIGHT blog tour presented by Orbit Books and author Matthew Ward!  The Legacy Trilogy is truly epic in scope, characterization, and world-building, and to finally get to find out how it all ends was a thrilling experience that I won't soon forget. My stop today will be packed with goodies for you that include a special giveaway opportunity, an enlightening interview that I had with the author Matthew Ward, and finally my official review of the concluding volume.

So let's begin this stop on the blog tour with that giveaway I just talked about, shall we? Matthew and Orbit Books were gracious enough to provide me with these two stunning paperback copies of Legacy of Light, which I would love to send to a couple of lucky folks. All you need to do to enter the giveaway is drop a comment at the end of this post. Two winners will be randomly chosen and the announcement will occur on Twitter on Monday, August 23rd. Good luck!

Recently I had an opportunity to interview Matthew Ward and we talked about quite a few things ranging from his feelings about the series coming to an end, TV shows, video games, his affinity for LEGOs, and a bunch of other fun topics. Matthew is always extremely thoughtful and candid and it was a pleasure to get to chat again. I'd like to thank him for taking the time to do this with me and I hope you all enjoy the conversation. 

And here it is!

(Nick): Hello Matthew! First off, I just want to thank you for stopping by Out of This World SFF once again and taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with me. 

(Matthew): Nice to be here!

(Nick): This must be an exciting time for you as the final book of your Legacy Trilogy, Legacy of Light, is about to be released into the world. What emotions are you feeling right now as the series finally comes to a close?

(Matthew): It’s an odd one, as for most intents and purposes Legacy of Light and the Legacy Trilogy writ large ended almost a year ago (which was when I handed over the finished manuscript). 

Still, it’s going to be nice to see the whole thing in print, and maybe - touch wood - actually in a bookshop somewhere. While the initial hardback release for Legacy of Ash managed to dodge the pandemic, it was a limited run of 500 copies, and everything else has launched in the middle of lockdowns.

If we assume that Legacy of Light ends on a positive note (and you can do that, if you like - I’m not stopping you), maybe that’s appropriate? Time will tell.

(Nick): Is the ending exactly what you envisioned when you first began writing the series or did anything change (either subtly or dramatically) as the story played out through the first two books?

(Matthew): By and large, the ending is what I always knew it would be - the what, the who and the where. The ‘why’ has changed a bit over the years, and as the cast has grown, the details of the ending have changed alongside. But in the final analysis, Legacy of Light ends where work on the setting began, twenty-odd years ago. 

Now that’s a weird feeling, but not a wholly unpleasant one.

(Nick): Was this an easier book to write than the previous two or were there some challenges that you had to contend with during the writing of it that maybe made it more difficult?

(Matthew): The hardest part with Legacy of Light was getting started. I sort-of knew where it needed to begin, but also knew it could begin somewhere slightly different as well. That kind of back and forth took a while to work out, as it made for a huge investment of time and words, but sometimes you need the build up before the dam breaks. 

Even so, I wouldn’t say it was hard, exactly. There’s a wonderful freedom knowing that whatever you do, this will be the end of the story - you can let it carry you away and wash you up on a riverbank further downstream. There’s pressure there - of course there is - because all the characters have to play their part and earn their … let’s call it ‘reward’ … for what they’ve been up to, but there’s a momentum present, all the same.

If you want a ranking, Ash was the hardest, Steel the easiest, and Light somewhere in between.

(Nick): I feel like I’ve lived and died with these characters over the past three years and shared so many ups and downs with them. How important do you think it is to establish that type of connection between your characters and the reader? Or is it even important at all in your mind?

(Matthew): The characters are the story. They have to be. If we don’t care about them, we don’t have a reason to care about the world … beyond some trifling superimposed mortality we might bring to events. 

It’s part of the reason I have a lot of relationships (big ‘R’ and small ‘r’) in the trilogy, even though I’m not super comfortable writing the actual romances. Partnership is something that almost all of us cherish or long for on some level, and it’s part of what hooks us into a great story.

A hero isn’t what he does alone, it’s who he does it for, and why. 

(Nick): The audiobook for book two, Legacy of Steel, was just released on July 22nd. Do you feel the audiobooks have successfully captured the intrigue, tone, and action of the series so far?

(Matthew): I think they’re wonderful, and I’d recommend them to both newcomers to the series and folk wanting to revisit the story without hefting around books the size of cinder blocks. 

(Nick): When we last spoke you touched on some potential upcoming projects. Now that Legacy has wrapped up, can you give us a glimpse of what might be next on the horizon? Will it be set in the same world as Legacy or will this be a totally different setting, characters, and story?

(Matthew): Options are open at the moment, though I’m having a few discussions. At any given time, I have about a dozen projects I could start - the trick is working out which one is the right one at that moment in time. I want to come back to Aradane - maybe see what happens a couple of hundred years down the line, maybe a thousand - but there are plenty more worlds to explore on the Celestial Clock. Maybe that’s where I’ll go next? We’ll just have to wait and see.

(Nick): Let’s switch gears for a minute and talk about some other stuff. Is there a book or TV series that has caught your fancy lately?  Anything you want to sing the praises of?

(Matthew): I’m still not really much of a reader (I’d rather be writing), but we have just been through all of Burn Notice on Disney+, which was a lot of fun. Shades of childhood classics like the A-Team, and really tightly written with plenty of humour. Given we only started watching it because we saw Bruce Campbell was in it, it’s been hugely good value.

(And yes, Bruce was great. He’s always great, but I loved seeing him in a long, solid run of something, rather than him being a cameo or a guest star.)

(Nick): I know that you are also a big gamer and LEGO aficionado.  Anything on the gaming front that you’ve loved recently and what if any LEGO finished products might you be sharing with us on Twitter soon? I simply love the photos of your creations by the way.

(Matthew): I feel like I’m in a bit of a gaming drought at the moment - it’s a world of remakes and re-releases (although I am cautiously optimistic for Elden Ring next year). I did - with much swearing - not only complete Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but Platinum it on PS5 recently. Most everything else seems easy after that.

At time of writing, I do have a plan to put some new builds up on Twitter, but it’s secret for the moment, if only because it includes an excruciating pun.

(Nick): You recently did a fantasy casting (which I thought was incredibly fun) on your blog for who would play which character in Legacy of Ash.  Do you ever seriously ruminate over what a movie or TV adaptation of Legacy would look like and is that something that you ever would want to see happen?  

(Matthew): Honestly, I have so much on that I don’t tend to worry about ‘maybes’ until they become ‘definitelys’. That said, I think it’d be a lovely thing to see and the whole adaptation market is much more faithful to source material than it used to be. I think the trilogy would adapt quite nicely, but what do I know?

(Nick): Okay so final question. What part of writing this series was the most fun for you personally? Characters? World-building? Action scenes? Research?

(Matthew): I like those moments where things have been going wrong for a while, but the goodies just can’t (or won’t) be pushed any further. 

Maybe someone makes an impossible decision, volunteers for a terrible sacrifice, or simply stands up to be counted when everyone else steps back. It’s those moments that I live for, whether I’m writing, reading or watching. That undeniable, inevitable feeling that now there’s going to be a reckoning…

“You took everything from me.”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“You will.”

It’s that.

(Nick): Well, that’s all I have for you today Matthew. As I said in the opening of the interview, I so appreciate you taking some time to talk with me and give some more insight into your writing and other interests. I do want to take a moment just to say how much I love the Legacy series and congratulate you on writing such a masterful story that will stay with me forever. I hope everyone gets a chance to read it and experience how truly remarkable it is. Thanks again and best of luck with your new book/series!

And now, here is my review of the concluding volume of Matthew Ward's Legacy Trilogy, LEGACY OF LIGHT!

Review

When I first embarked on this series, I had an inkling that it might be one of those that sunk its hooks into me and made me care about every single character throughout. And I wasn't wrong on that account because having now finished the final book, I'm left feeling like I took an incredible journey with some close friends (and enemies) and the result was one of the most rewarding reading experiences I've had in quite some time. 

LEGACY OF LIGHT delivers everything you could possibly want in a climactic finish to a series, and does it all with an absolutely breathtaking flourish. Where the first two entries Legacy of Ash and Legacy of Steel brilliantly presented the history, clandestine scheming and circumstances on how we ultimately got here, this book was a whirlwind ride teeming with consequential battles and risky pitfalls until the last page. And I must add that it was truly inspiring and fascinating to behold.

One of the best things that I can say about this book is that it is completely unpredictable and you will be put through the wringer emotionally with every chapter. There's nothing worse than an ending that ties everything up in a nice neat bow for the reader. I simply can't stand cookie cutter characters and endings. I need to bleed a little at the end of a series, and Matthew Ward dishes out some painful lumps and makes things what I would call less than comfortable. But I loved every beautiful minute of it and wouldn't have it any other way.

I also loved the fact that in this entire series things are never quite as they seem and characters sometimes don't behave the way you would expect. That aspect thankfully doesn't change in LEGACY OF LIGHT, in fact, Ward continued to keep me off balance until the eventual mind-blowing payoff. So what I'm saying is yeah this last book takes chances, imperils your darling characters, keeps you shrieking in fear as one dastardly act follows another, and never EVER apologizes for it. Those are the best books in my opinion. 

I'll wrap things up by saying that this is a book and series that every reader who claims to enjoy epic fantasy should read for so many reasons. The magic is of the dark variety and rather excellent. Characters that you literally feel like you know and who you feel every anguish and joy of victory with. World-building that is complex, richly detailed, conveying a palpable sense of place that is both real and wondrous. And lastly, writing that is of the highest quality in the genre in the areas of dialogue and description. I can't say much more than just read it and find out what you've been missing. LEGACY OF LIGHT is a magnificent achievement that ends this series just as brilliantly as it began.

Overall Rating:

You can purchase Legacy of Light in the U.S. right now on Amazon.

It will officially be on sale in the UK and elsewhere tomorrow, August 19th!

About the Author

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 the Legacy Trilogy, architect of Coldharbour, and Creative Consultant on Vermintide 2. 

He's afflicted with an obsession for 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. 

And that concludes my stop on the LEGACY OF LIGHT blog tour! I'd like to extend a special thank you to Matthew Ward and Orbit Books for the opportunity to participate with so many amazing blogs. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Out of This World SFF and please be sure to check out Matthew Ward's books because they are awesome reads.

Happy reading!

-Nick