MD Lachlan’s Wolfsangel reinvented the werewolf lore, turning it into in a very dark twist on Norse mythology. The novel has since been followed up by the equally excellent Fenrir and the just-released Lord of Slaughter. Lachlan was also the first interview I did for this blog, so I thought I’d send him a few, quick follow-up questions about how he thinks things are going…
The third book in your werewolf trilogy, Lord of Slaughter, is now available in the UK. How does it feel to get to this point in the series?
Good – I was worried that, with a story that basically always plays itself out throughout history, things might become stale but there always seems a new way to tell it.
Any lessons learned so far? What’s been the greatest challenge so far?
Just getting people to hear about the series is the most difficult. There’s so much competition and only so much time you can spend publicising it.
Any surprises, in terms of reception or even how the story’s developed?
The reception has been overwhelmingly excellent – brilliant reviews, great reader feedback, with only one or two lukewarm exceptions. The characters are always a surprise. I never know who they are until I hear them talking in my head.
Looking back on the first three books, is there anything you might have done differently?
Not really. Perhaps we might have marketed them harder to a horror crowd, as I’ve realised that they are really fantasy/horror crossovers.
How many books are in the series? (There seems to be some confusion about this...) And how do you see it developing for future instalments?
The series will go on indefinitely – until people stop reading it. It goes all the way through human history to the present day. I actually have the WWII story already written!
Without wanting to stick a spoiler for the end of Lord of Slaughter, the Viking age ends. The old Gods die. So the story will no longer be about a struggle between Odin and the Fenris Wolf played out on earth. Odin’s gone. What happens when the enemy that defines you disappears?
What are you working on now/next?
Book 4 of the Wolfsangel series. It’s the first one set in Britain.
I’ve also got a series set in the 100 Years War coming out next year – the book is nearly finished. It’s a historical fantasy doing what Wolfsangel did – taking the mythology of the day as if it’s true. It will be under the name Mark Alder and published by Gollancz. It’s something of a monster in terms of size!
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Wolfsangel, Fenrir, and Lord of Slaughter are out now (published by Gollancz in the UK, Pyr Books in the US).
Mark Alder’s ‘debut’, Son of the Morning is published in April 2013. Here’s the very brief, but interest-piquing synopsis I found on Amazon UK:
In the 14th Century, the nations of Europe rose up against each other. The Hundred Years War raged, and angels and demons stalked the earth.
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