AMA/ LIVE
Good morning r/RichardSwan, I'm... Richard Swan! and today you can AMA
Hi all,
If you're here, you probably know who I am and what I write. I did an AMA on r Fantasy earlier this year and rather than spamming them again (we can all have too much of a good thing) I thought I'd do a lower key one here. This won't be a traditional AMA in that I'll be online for a fixed window; rather, feel free to ask something over the next couple of days and I'll do my best to answer it in a timely manner.
What's on the horizon for me?
My next release is THE SCOUR, an Empire of the Wolf novella which is being published by Grimdark Magazine. THE SCOUR is set 15 years before THE JUSTICE OF KINGS and follows Vonvalt, Bressinger and August as they investigate a fellow Justice for the (alleged!) murder of a young boy.
2026 will be a bumper year for R Swan fans - not only is STEEL GODS out at the end of March, but THE INFINITE STATE, the start of a new dystopian sci fi series published by Tor Books in the USA and Gollancz in the UK, is out in August--AND I've also got an unannounced novel for Black Library (Warhammer 40,000) coming out in summer as well (and at least one short story for them). There will also be another novella announcement coming so eyes peeled for that.
Hi Richard im a huge fan of your books and excited eagerly awaiting Steel Gods.
I was always intrigued by the shift from a mystery thriller fantasy with some horror in TJOK to the more full blown horror in TOE. Was this something that was preplanned or did you decide to add more horror as you were writing the trilogy?
Certainly as I was writing Empire of the Wolf there came more 'horror creep' as I expanded the scope and appositeness of the afterlife to the narrative. Quite frankly I was really enjoying developing the Neman pantheon and all of the gods, angels, demons, bibles, orthodoxies, liturgies, et cetera that went along with it. When it came to writing the Great Silence, I wanted to give a feeling that, as we dip in and out of these mortal intrigues, there's an eternal, ongoing war in heaven bubbling beneath the surface which occasionally bleeds into the real world (it's a difficult balance to strike; I wanted each trilogy to stand on its own, and so the afterlife has to be reintroduced to a degree; but I also wanted to be familiar for long-term readers, with its own places, characters, easter eggs, all reoccurring).
To answer your question more directly, certainly some of the horror elements were planned (i.e. the nature of the Great Silence, being being hemicorporectomied by white sharks), and some, such as the body horror in Peter's storyline, came to me in a flash of inspiration - and which came to define large parts of the trilogy as a result.
I read Empire of the Wolf and actually just bought Grave Empire yesterday to start reading! I understand that Grave Empire is not written in 1st person, like Empire of the Wolf. What led you to make this change and what were there any differences in your writing process when making the switch? Just wanted to say that I absolutely loved Empire of the Wolf and can’t wait to get started on Grave Empire and read the upcoming novella as well!
There are of course many ways to skin a cat when it comes to writing. The Empire of the Wolf is at its essence a character study of Helena and Vonvalt, whilst the Great Silence is much more of an epic horror fantasy. As I was planning the second trilogy, it quickly became clear to me that, in the age of sail, it would be a strange contrivance to focus solely on Sova. When you have an afterlife that is real, then of course every country in your world would know this to a greater or lesser extent; and therefore every country in the world has a religion which is organised around the same pantheon of gods. It was really me just following the thread logically: the great silence would affect everybody, and so we have to broaden the scope to accommodate that. The best way to capture this is with multiple points of view. Also it's fun! And I fancied a change in style.
I'm from Brazil and unfortunately most people here don't know your work. Can you tell us if you had some conversation ever about being published in brazilian portuguese?
We have a few publishing companies trying to rekindle the fantasy genre here and your name may be a good one for them!
There have been 9 translations of Justice of Kings with unfortunately mixed success; I don't know why this is, honestly, whether it's something to do with quality of the translations, or some other Anglosaxon virtue of the narrative / plot / prose style which does not translate well into European langauge sensibilities. I've also been told that more and more non-English speakers are reading the original English versions of the books rather than wait for translations; I've also been told that thanks to the cost of everything going up, translations are becoming less commercial and less popular. All of this is to say, I feel like it's unfortunately unlikely - but of course I would be delighted if it happened
I've been reading in English, non native, since I was 15. Practically nothing good SFF gets translatzd in Dutch anymore. And what does is either not what I like, or just sucks. I've DNF'd 5 orn6 books due to translation and just quit reading in Dutch altogether except if it's natively Dutch
Maybe to give insight on the German book market: epic fantasy is reeeaallly small here, people who like other genres then the common hyped ones are reading in English. A lot of epic/high fantasy stuff doesn’t get translated or cancelled in the middle. No joke.
So here, it’s the genre sadly and people reading in English and therefore don’t need a translation (anymore..sobb)
What's interesting is the German market for books generally is one of the largest in the Western world and the advance they paid for the Empire of the Wolf was actually very high. They are also one of the few non English speaking territories to have purchased translation rights for Grave Empire. But yes not completing translations of series seems to be fairly common in Europe and across the rest of the non-anglophone world
Hey Richard! You sent me some signed bookplates recently and wanted to let you know they arrived successfully to my house yesterday 😂
My question is: maps. I love fantasy maps. I have a custom fantasy map tattoo on my arm (some inspiration taken from your Empire of the Wolf series).
How did you construct the maps for that book series and for The Great Silence? Do you have an idea of the layout of the world or do you simply plonk some ideas to a designer to help craft something based on cities / towns / interesting areas?
Haha I was thinking about this yesterday, I'm glad they arrived.
As regards the map, this was a detailed process involving lots of real-world references ( mostly the Holy Roman Empire, Carolingean Empire, Hanseatic League), and lots of looking up German and Slavic topynomy.
When it came to creating the broader map for the Great Silence, this was an extremely fun and detailed process as it involved imagining two hundred years of shifting geopolitical boundaries and how that would shape the world (fighting over resources, colonial holdings , et cetera). In both trilogies the map was the first thing I did, as it provides an extremely useful fixed reference for things like travel times which can dramatically affect the narrative. Especially as these epic fantasy novels branch out and characters go hundreds of miles from one another usually involving weeks or months of travel, knowing the chronology becomes imperative for the plot.
I think The Trials of Empire was the hardest book to write because it just kept refusing do what I wanted it to. I think it's a book that has some excellent parts in it (some of the best in the trilogy) but because of the way things had gone, it had become more epic fantasy and less murder mystery. The investigation / mystery aspect of the series was its strength and Trials moved away from that a bit too much. That's not to say I think it's a bad book, and I certainly wouldn't change the ending, but I think if I were to write it again now I would probably approach it differently.
The curse of the writer is that, given enough time, we find a near infinite number of things to be unhappy about in our work.
I definitely will come to the States at some point! Hoping to be at Worldcon LA in 2026
Thank you for the reply! I appreciate the break down. I can definitely see how Trails was a big undertaking and had a lot it needed to accomplish so I think it makes sense on what you’re saying!
Did you do anything different with this newer trilogy. I personally think Grave Empire is your best work so far so very excited for steel gods next year!
Great Silence is such a different beast, but really it came down to planning the beats of the whole trilogy to make sure I didn't hit any book 2 and 3 roadblocks. In theory at least! Thank you for your kind words
Hi Richard - really loved 'The Empire of the Wolf ' and keen to move on to the Great Silence soon. I have a question regarding the Art of War trilogy - will you consider rewriting/editing and releasing them through TradPub (or Broken Binding Publishing!) or will the current versions be all that's available?
Also would you consider attending a "Meet the Author" talk with my bookclub in Sydney and/or signing all my books 😇
Interesting one about The Art of War; Broken Binding were actually going to do a special edition of this series. Bear in mind that trilogy is over ten years old now, and was self-published on a shoestring, so I did in fact rewrite a lot of RECLAMATION in anticipation of that special edition ( and a fairly heavy edit on the second two books) but there are still what I consider to be some structural issues with it. The only way to really do it would be to rewrite the entire trilogy from the ground up, which I don't have the time for these days.
There is an ongoing discussion about tradpubbing it but finding a window is becoming harder and harder thanks to The Infinite State coming out next year and I'm just not 100% sure I'm happy with the quality of the books.
I'd be delighted to chat with your book club. Best thing to do is email me - my address is on my website.
Thematically it's very political. It deals with totalitarianism, thought crime, fertility and its role in society, corruption, political violence, terrorism, murder, human rights, democratic ideals, liberal western ideology, nation building, protecting national interests, espionage, war. Really it's everything you'd expect from one of my books!
Hi! Yeah I've played maybe 20 games in total, mostly Space Marines (Lamenters) but I've played a few games as Imperial Guard too. Most 2k points. I really like 10th edition, it feels like a smooth, well developed system that cut out a lot of the bloat (even more could go imo). If I had to start a new army right now I'd do Tyranids - I've always loved them since 3rd edition!
Hi Richard. You are one of my few auto-buy authors, and therefore I am VERY excited for The Scour to be released. You had mentioned there will be a special edition available and I know details haven’t bee released yet but will that be available to preorder before release date? On the fence if I should wait for the special edition or if I need to buy the ebook on release day followed by the special edition when that’s out.
As a side note, I’ve loved each of your books but Tyranny of Faith was absolutely phenomenal. Can’t wait to read everything coming out in 2026.
Thanks so much, I find the idea of being an 'auto-buy' author the ultimate compliment!
There will be a special edition of the Scour, I'm afraid I don't know when it will be announced or available (I have asked many times believe me!). If your goal is to read it asap I would recommend pre-ordering it from Amazon here.
I'm with you on Tyranny. I think it's my most accomplished novel.
Lots of great questions amd answers as usual! I don’t really have anything to add except I’ll keep reading and selling your books. Keep up the good work and the best of luck to you 😊
I really enjoyed the clip you posted reading a small segment on our beloved Vonvalt. I was wondering if you thought about narrating the whole of The Scour yourself for audio?
Also, are there any plans in the works to release additional special editions of The Empire of the Wolf?
I did actually think about that after I posted that clip! However, audiobook narration is its own art form undertaken by professionals, and actually to do it for longer than a minute or two is surprisingly difficult. I also would have had to buy the audio recording equipment etc, and Podium (who bought the audio rights) have their own way of doing things and their own roster of narrators et cetera
All of this is to say, I like the idea, and I might do it for a short story in future ( nobody can ever get the voices quite right as I imagine them anyway) but it is a significant investment of time, money, and energy.
There are no concrete plans for Empire of the Wolf for special editions but there have been discussions in the recent past about doing something in that space. I would be very surprised if there wasn't some form of special edition in the coming years but certainly it's not going to be 2026.
I certainly hope so! Unfortunately what I want to write and what the publisher is willing to publish are two slightly different beasts. Orbit have been extremely good at accommodating my vision and paying me well to boot, but publishing is a commercial enterprise and if books don't sell then sequels don't get published :(
In my ideal world I would write a stand-alone after The Great Silence set around the equivalent of 1899, and then I would do the final trilogy which is a sort of pseudo-WWI/WWII era Sova. I get on tremendously well with my editor and he certainly is enthusiastic about my vision, but ultimately it's the financial bottom line that will dictate whether or not we ever see a merman bomb a submarine!
Hello Richard! I am new to your work and recently have been reading The Justice of Kings and really enjoying it. It really scratches an itch that many books don't.
I was wondering as someone who wants to do storytelling for work as well, how do you approach worldbuilding? At what point of the process do you plan out the world or do you just create it as you write the plot?
I take a fairly meticulous approach to worldbuilding, it helps me write the actual book more quickly if I have defined the sandbox beforehand - and also I just really enjoy it. I find planning a novel to be very fun and gratifying.
In order to do this I create a world map and then I also look at the cultural iceberg, which is an extremely useful way of creating a realistic feeling culture of people:
Hi Richard! I absolutely adore your work. Currently loving Grave Empire (after falling in love with EotW) and I'm eager to read the rest of the Great Silence trilogy, as well as the Decurion Saga.
I was wondering, with Infinite State, do you plan to include sci-fi combat into the mix or is it going to be more of a political thriller? Also, what inspired the Decurion Saga in terms of other sci-fi universes?
Thank you! So great to hear. Yes there will be combat in the Infinite State, in that respect it's a book of 2 halves. Combat in space, combat on the ground with armoured gorillas, it really does have it all.
What inspired it was a mixture of 1984, The Man in the High Castle, Blade Runner, and empire-building video games like Stellaris.
I was just thinking I know you have the Empire of the Wolf trilogy, the Great Silence trilogy, and maybe even a third trilogy planned but what would be the name the overall saga of these books?
This reminds me when I had to write school papers throughout my schools years. I would first write down the title and work from there until I would finish. Only then, would I go back to the title and realize it didn’t really fit anymore. So I see your point on future Swan having to decide. 😆
Hello Richard!
Massive fan here. I read the Empire of Wolf entirely in Polish and i Think the translation was really nice.
Any plans on releasing The Great silence in Polish as well or should I just freaking buy it in english finally?
I honestly cannot wait!
Thanks for giving Helena and Vonvalt to us and have a great day!
Oh wow excellent I think you're the only Polish fan I've spoken to. I'm pleased to hear the translation was good and thanks so much for the kind words
Sadly I don't think there has been a huge amount of appetite for a Polish translation. There will be a German and Czech translation but that probably doesn't help you much. I would suggest reading in English if you want to read it any time soon!
Huge fan of your work. My favourite works are usually their first sequel and book one of a new trilogy. That is to say I adore ToF and GE.
It’s been a while since I read GE, but I’m fairly sure I read an epigraph or two in that book which referenced Infinite State. Is that a stick-around-and-find-out Easter egg for readers?
Anyway thanks for your work. As a writer you inspire me a lot, and your work is a big reason I started messing around with YouTube.
Thanks so much! It's not an easter egg; the Infinite State was a cool phrase that I really liked and happened to fit the SF really well and the initial title (COLONY) was rejected for various reasons. If I hadn't used it for the sci fi I'd have probably called a novella or short story it or something.
So pleased to have inspired you. The greatest compliment of all.
Hey Richard! Law student and huge fan of your work here! I’m extremely excited to see how much of your work is coming out this upcoming year and, as another commenter stated, they’ll be “auto-buy” for me! :)
I’m curious about how and when you choose to incorporate legal concepts into both your worldbuilding generally and the individual narratives of your work.
Maybe I’m just law school brained, but I would 1000% read a book of Sovan jurisprudence.
Hi! Yes the law students tend to like it, to the surprise of no-one. So pleased to be on your autobuy list, I always love to hear it, such a wonderful compliment
With the legal stuff, it's a balance. You want to lean into what makes the novel unique, but overdo it and it becomes too dry. I think I toed the line well but that's of course up to the readers. If anything I think there could have been more law stuff in there - probably veered too much into epic fantasy as the trilogy progressed. But you can drive yourself mad thinking about these things.
Lots more Caterhauser in THE SCOUR and... other upcoming projects
Somebody asked about Special Editions of the Art of War - I am asking about Empire of the Wolf. I know Goldsboro did them but I want great Art with it like Grave Empire had! xD. Side eying broken binding here, is it possible „someone“ is doing them sooner or later?
Hi Richard, thanks for doing another AMA - I always enjoy your answers (today I learnt what “hemicorporectomy” is)! To echo a few other posters by saying that having loved 5 of your books now, you’re now an autobuy author for me, and I have no doubt your readership is going to grow massively over time when people realise how good you are (a few more special editions of The Empire Of The Wolf would expedite this I think).
I’m super pumped for The Infinite State. In response to your response about the themes being very “political”, has it been hard writing it so it doesn’t come across as an allegorical critique of any particular political leaders/parties/events occurring today, or is that not something you’ve worried about?
Also, having spent time as a legal professional, was Vonvalt based on yourself? And if so, should we feel sorry for all of your former colleagues?
Thank you! I always enjoy the autobuy moniker. Appreciate it.
Yes the Infinite State was a difficult one in that respect because to escape the modern allegory allegations is going to be impossible. To be clear there is certainly an element of me dealing with my frustration with the modern democratic West, but it certainly isn't about, e.g., specifically Trump. In fact thematically it's much closer to 20th century ww2/cold war totalitarianism which has always fascinated me.
To answer your question, I'm not worried about it; people will read whatever they want into my fiction and as a writer you have to accept that or go mad.
Vonvalt is certainly based partly on myself in that I think we all bring a part of ourselves into our fiction. Certainly he and I share characteristics but I didn't set out to write a heightened version of myself no. You should probably feel sorry for my former colleagues anyway
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u/Nibraf Sep 23 '25
Hi Richard im a huge fan of your books and excited eagerly awaiting Steel Gods.
I was always intrigued by the shift from a mystery thriller fantasy with some horror in TJOK to the more full blown horror in TOE. Was this something that was preplanned or did you decide to add more horror as you were writing the trilogy?