David Guymer's Blog - Posts Tagged "gemmell-awards"

The shortlist for the 2016 David Gemmell Awards have been announced and Gotrek & Felix: Slayer has made the cut. Here are thes shortlist for all three categories...

Legend Award (best novel)

The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)
Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia (Baen)
**Gotrek & Felix: Slayer by David Guymer (Black Library)**
Ruin by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan)
The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence (Harper/Voyager)

Morningstar Award (best debut)

Battlemage by Stephen Aryan (Orbit)
The Traitor by Seth Dickinson (Pan Macmillan)
The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig (Harper/Voyager)
Starborn by Lucy Hounsom (Pan Macmillan)
The Vagrant by Peter Newman (Harper/Voyager)
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Harper/Voyager)

(We normally have five finalists in each category, except in the case of a draw, which has happened only once in the awards’ history. However, as we had just six nominees for the Morningstar this year, and the number of votes separating fifth and sixth place weren’t that great, we thought it was fairest to let all six nominees go through to the final.)

Ravenheart Award (best cover art)

Kerem Beyit for The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)
Jason Chan for The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence (Harper/Voyager)
Larry Elmore & Carol Russo Design for Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia (Baen)
Raymond Swanland for Archaon: Lord of Chaos by Rob Sanders (Black Library)
Paul Young for Ruin by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan)

The shortlists for 2016’s Gemmell Awards open for voting at midday (GMT) today (Friday 8th July). Website: www.gemmellawards.com and closes at midnight (GMT) on Friday 19th August.

The results will be announced at a presentation ceremony taking place at 8pm on Saturday 24th September at Fantasycon in Scarborough, UK



... now I had all sorts of happy things to say about this. I got a few congratulatory e-mails from editors and friends, which is lovely, but in a way undeserved - the Gemmells are awarded on public votes so it was YOU GUYS who really deserve the thanks. It's the passion of the fans of Gotrek & Felix and of Black Library generally that made this, particularly given that that better selling books by far more successful authors than I didn't make it. And as Scarborough is in my own county (short journey, yay!) I'm doubly thrilled to be at the party.

And then, my excitement bubbling down to background level, I read this blog on the subject by Mark Lawrence, my fellow shortlistee:

http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...

Let's just say I'm not blind to the fact that Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb, and Brian Sanderson (and even Brian McClellan, dastardly thief of Headtaker's rightful Morningstar Award in 2014!) are far more deserving of this or any award than I. I know that. But the suggestion that because a book is less widely read it is underserving seems a bit... harsh. Sure there are some parts of Black Library's output that are a bit niche, but anyone could enjoy Gotrek & Felix, anyone could enjoy Gaunt's Ghosts or Malus Darkblade or the Horus Heresy.

I have no doubt that it wasn't meant unkindly, merely a statement of fact on the weird upside-down state of a world where a book with 93 ratings (Note: it's 96 now!) makes it through where one with 23,000 didn't, but it did sting, particularly from a big name author whom I admire so much. Maybe it's because as a struggling part-time professional I already feel a bit of a fraud without having to justify my presence amongst such august company. I get a little tongue-tied around Dan Abnett and Jim Swallow - how am I supposed to share a room with Joe Abercrombie or Mark Lawrence?

I'm sure that Joe, Brian, Robin (and yes, even Brian McClellan!) will get over their disappointment. I know I'd trade the Legend Award for selling half a million copies of Slayer any day.

And I suspect Black Library would too.

(Addendum: Brian McClelan may or may not in fact be dastardly; I've never met him, so the chances are like... 50%. You know who I have met though? John Gwynne. If I hadn't already voted for myself and for Raymond Swanland then I'd be behind John in both categories; a great guy, nice enough to congratulate me, and to console me when I missed out in 2014, and a fantastic writer. If you've not read his the Faithful and the Fallen series, then give Malice a go)

A few months ago I finally caught up with what tens of thousands of people have been doing for years and started to read the Horus Heresy series. I’d dipped in here and there. My editor, Laurie, had told me that Know No Fear was a good point to jump in so I’d read that. For a bit of background reading for Last Son of Dorn I’d read Prospero Burns. For my current sparring partner/work-in-progress Iron Hands novel, I’d read Meduson and the Primarchs. But I hadn’t yet made the commitment. In fact, not reading it had become something of a battle-worn badge of honour, in the same way that refusing to listen to the *right* kind of music had been at school. Nevertheless, I’d clearly been tip-toeing towards this precipice for some time now, but the final shove came at Warhammer Fest when that man Laurie again pulled me aside to talk about an exciting future project, which hopefully you’ll get to hear about soon.

So that was it then. I’m in.


The journey so far...

Reading a series like this with writer brain engaged (does it switch off??), I can almost feel the authors upping their game. I saw it firsthand with the work I did on the End Times, and got close enough to smell the fear-sweat of it with the closure of the Gotrek & Felix series – you just can’t dissociate yourself from the knowledge that what you’re working on is *important* to a *lot* of people and that you are *not* permitted to f^*k this up. More on writing Slayer in next week’s blog. Here lies the evidence for the benefit of a few sleepless nights, because the first four books in the Horus Heresy series have been awesome.

With one big commitment however, there comes one even bigger.

Authors love reviews of their books. It helps to spread the word and it helps us to connect with our readers and know what they’re thinking, which I’d imagine is what readers want to so really it’s win-win. For all that however, I almost never write reviews. As I embark on my grand Horus Heresy adventure, I’m resolved to start mending my ways and writing reviews. Not just for this series, but for every book I read from hereon. I feel I owe it to the writer (especially as I’m not always... um... paying for Black Library books) and to my own readers whom I pester to write reviews of my books.
Like I’m about to do now.

Please go and review my books. On Amazon. On Goodreads. Anywhere. Please…

Here are my reviews of the Horus Heresy series so far:

Horus Rising) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

False Gods) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Galaxy in Flames) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Flight of the Eisenstein) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

At first I was a little wary, nervous perhaps that people would judge my writings based on my inelegant two paragraphs of after-action scrawl on Horus Rising. But I got over it. And now I actually rather enjoy it. For Flight of the Eisenstein, I even got so into the idea of doing a review at the end that I took notes!

I’d love to read some comments from people who regularly write reviews or even professional book bloggers on their ‘process’.

Now though, before diving headlong into Fulgrim, I’m taking a short break from all things Black Library to catch up on some other reading that I’ve left abandoned for too long. I’m half way through part 1 of the Regeneration Trilogy, I have a hankering to read Robert Harris’ Fatherland after something I read in the newspaper at the weekend, and I’ve had my heart set on Sharp Ends by one of my favourite authors, Joe Abercrombie, ever since I heard about it. Plus I have my Gemmell Awards Reading List to get through before the end of September.

Look out for reviews!

Gotrek & Felix: Slayer is probably the most important novel I’ve written to date. When I was first to asked to write the Doom of Gotrek Gurnisson the immediate feeling was one of elation, descending slowly, slowly, but oh so inexorably into a kind of mewling terror. As I wrote last week, the cosy safety of one’s writing burrow can’t hide the fact that ‘out there’ are many thousands of rabid Gotrek & Felix fans, possibly with pitchforks, some of whom will have been following their adventures for twenty years and will not, not, tolerate an inferior offering for their beloved saga’s conclusion. If ever there was a time for a man to up his game, and get up off the kitchen floor then this was it.


Where it all began

(The King era)
Trollslayer (1999)
Skavenslayer (1999)
Daemonslayer(1999)
Dragonslayer (2000)
Beastslayer (2001)
Vampireslayer (2002)
Giantslayer (2003)

(The Long era)
Orcslayer (2006)
Manslayer (2007)
Elfslayer (2008)
Shamanslayer (2009)
Zombieslayer (2010)

(Collected Stories)
Slayer of the Storm God (2009)
Gotrek and Felix: The Anthology (2012)
Gotrek & Felix: Curse of the Everliving (2013)
Gotrek & Felix: Lost Tales (2013)

(The interregnum)
Road of Skulls (2013)
Gotre & Felix: City of the Damned (2013)
The Serpent Queen (2014)

(The Doom of Gotrek Gurnisson)
Gotrek & Felix: Kinslayer (2014)
Gotrek & Felix: Slayer (2015)

That’s a lot of books with, cumulatively, about 10,000 ratings and an average rating of comfortably around 4/5. That's not counting the brilliant Grey Seer Thanquol or Ulrika the Vampire spin-off series'. They also go back a long way, and even further if you count the short stories in the old gaming supplements. I even pleasantly surprised myself recently, flicking through a 4th edition Warhammer Undead army book and found a Gotrek & Felix book I’d forgotten about (fun fact – Gotrek & Felix originally arose from William King’s roleplaying sessions. And apparently, if you go back you can see the point in the short story Geheimnisnacht at which Gotrek was originally meant to die!).

Even though I’d grown up with Gotrek & Felix this meant a lot of reading, particularly as I wasn’t completely up-to-date (I hadn’t read the last two Nathan Long books yet). Crafting a satisfying conclusion to a 12 book saga in just two more volumes therefore required a great deal of notes, much scratching of heads, and one very, very long conversation with an editor. A lot of people have asked me since Kinslayer first came out if I consulted with William King or Nathan Long before starting to write, and the answer to that question is no.



I wanted The Doom of Gotrek Gurnisson to be as true to the feel of Gotrek & Felix as a new author could make it, but at the same time to fit the story into the wider narrative of the End Times and make the characters my own. That’s part of the reason why an older, more bitter Felix appealed; imagining how the characters would have turned out had Felix finally got the settled life he’d been wanting and waved Gotrek on his way.

Of the two novels, I’m actually marginally fonder of Kinslayer. It was a chance for me to revisit a lot of beloved locales before the End Times took them all away, a valedictory tour of the Old World in words. Added to that, Throgg and Helbrass turned out to be two of the most entertaining villains to write, every scene with Snorri Nosebiter was a blast, and the fight between him and Throgg at the end ranks as one of my all-time favourites. Neatly squaring a lot of plot circles in the process was a bonus.

Plus I cried. I cried a lot. And not just at the end.



Slayer was an altogether different beast. After all the bridges that had been burnt in Kinslayer it only really owed Kinslayer itself in terms of narrative loose ends. Ultimately, this book is all about Gotrek’s doom and his friendship with Felix – as it should be. While Kinslayer left me in tears, this book left me physically shaking. The final third I wrote in a flurry of middle of the night sessions hunched over my kitchen table with pen and paper. The rush to the climax had me, but it’d also be true to say that the birth of my first daughter (about six months old at the time, and with a cameo near the end) had me severely behind with my deadline. I wouldn’t recommend that style of writing for anyone that values their ability to perform basic human functions, but I can’t say it didn’t work for me or to the benefit of the story. My editor (different one by this point) wrote back to me that that final third was the best stuff I’d written and by the time I’d caught up on sleep and D vitamins I could see that he was right.

But I still won’t be doing it again.

The one time that I’ve met William King was at the Black Library Weekender 2012. This was before I’d started on my debut novel, but after I’d written Curse of the Everliving. I went to his Q&A panel where someone asked him how he saw Gotrek & Felix ending and he jokingly answered that it would have to be fighting the four Chaos Gods themselves while the world around them exploded.

Spoilers aside, I don’t think he’d be too disappointed with the outcome.


Vote for the Gemmell Awards here: http://www.gemmellawards.com/award-vo...

As well as marking the imminent paperback release (see what I cunningly did here?), this is also a reminder that there are two short weeks left to vote in the David Gemmell Awards to which Slayer has been shortlisted. The full lists are:

(Legend Award (best novel))
The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia (Baen)

Gotrek & Felix: Slayer by David Guymer (Black Library)
Ruin by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan)

The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence (Harper/Voyager)

(Morningstar Award (best debut))
Battlemage by Stephen Aryan (Orbit)

The Traitor by Seth Dickinson (Pan Macmillan)

The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig (Harper/Voyager)

Starborn by Lucy Hounsom (Pan Macmillan)

The Vagrant by Peter Newman (Harper/Voyager)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Harper/Voyager)

My own debut novel, Headtaker, made it to the shortlist for the Morningstar in 2014 and I was gutted to miss out on it so, a) don’t put me through that again with Slayer this year, and b) if you’ve read a book on this list that you think deserves recognition, then go vote for it!

(Ravenheart Award (best cover art))
Kerem Beyit for The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

Jason Chan for The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence (Harper/Voyager)

Larry Elmore & Carol Russo Design for Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia (Baen)

Raymond Swanland for Archaon: Lord of Chaos by Rob Sanders (Black Library)

Paul Young for Ruin by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan)

Voting on the shortlists will close at midnight (GMT) on Friday 19th August. The results will be announced at a presentation ceremony taking place at 8pm on Saturday 24th September at Fantasycon in Scarborough, UK.

Both Elfslayer and Shamanslayer, written by Nathan Long, have previously been nominated for the Legend Award but neither took home the axe. Did I mention? The Trophy’s AN AXE.

You can read more about my thoughts on the Gemmell Awards in my previous blog post, but I have a feeling that 2016 could be Gotrek & Felix’s year.

Remember me.

Here a Slayer lies.