Lioness of the Parch

While I'm fond of Duardin, an enjoyer of Grots and Orruks, and largely tolerant of the various flavors of aelf; I make no secret of my love for the Freeguilds (and The Empire before them). Something about the desperate, gritty, and often short lives of humans in the Mortal Realms has always appealed to me. So it was a rare delight when the fine folks at Black Library reached out to see if I'd be willing to take a stab (or several) at Tahlia Vedra.

Seeing that this was the first novel I'd written about an established character, there was quite a bit more history to take in. Add to that the fact this was before the release of the Dawnbringer Campaign Books, many of which featured Tahlia quite prominently. This meant I not only had to work within established lore, but all the new character beats that were happening as I was writing the novel.

That's the nature of IP work, though; and honestly it only increased my desire to dig into Tahlia's motivations and backstory. It was particularly fun to thread her character arc around the framework of loyalty and pragmatism that the incredible writers at GW have so expertly constructed.

Also, Tahlia is a lot of fun. When writing Age of Sigmar fiction, its easy to be seduced by the grim, self-serious aspects of the setting. If you need proof, look no further than my first novel, which is as grim as they come.  Granted, Tahlia is capable of being just as stern and somber as her Freeguild fellows; but there's also a streak of fatalistic humor that underpins her outlook. I tried to convey this not only for Tahlia, but also the people around her--friend and foe, alike. And from the first fistful of reviews, it seems like that effort is coming across in the text.

Which, I'm not ashamed to admit, is a huge relief.

In any case, I am honestly proud of Lioness of the Parch. And grateful to the editors at Black Library who trusted me with a character so important to The Cities of Sigmar.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I am humbled by the amazing art of Anna Lakisova (who made Tahlia and Infernadice look incredible) and Remi Milner (who brought my characters to life).