Very pleased to welcome Steve back to the blog today talking about the latest adventure for Nate Garrett.
Tell us a little bit about what inspired the character of Nate Garrett
Nathan Garrett was someone who lived in my head for years while I very, very slowly made my way through about a dozen drafts of the first book in the Hellequin Chronicles. I was 25 when I first decided I wanted to take my writing seriously. Nate was the first character I created. I wanted a man who would do whatever it took to get the job done, no matter how nasty and ruthless that was. Nate became that person.
Do you ever base your characters on people you have met in real life?
Sometimes. There have been a few people I’ve used for the smaller roles, but none for the bigger parts. I’ve friends ask if they can be killed off in future books, I promise to get round to each and every one of them.
How does a plot tend to start to evolve for you?
I tend to think of a scene or idea, and it builds from there. So for Crimes Against Magic it was the ending, and Born of Hatred it was the fight between Nate and the two ghouls outside of the police station. Things get filled in pretty quickly from there as the idea gets fleshed out. It doesn’t usually take me long to go from a brief outline to a fleshed out story. Unfortunately that story usually changes a few times while I’m writing it, which is always fun.
And what is up next for Nate?
After Prison of Hope, there’s Lies Ripped Open, which is out in Aug. That has a lot of answers about why Nate left Avalon, and what happened between him and Merlin. It asks some new questions too, but I wanted the 5th book to be an Avalon centric one.
After that, well we’ve got a ways to go to complete his story. And things are going to get a lot worse for Nate before they get better.
I know you have another project in the works – can you give us a hint?
I’m working on a Science Fiction book, which currently doesn’t have a finished title. I’m calling it Warbringer, but seeing how that’s changed a dozen times since I started, it’ll probably be named something else by the time I’m finished. I’m also working on a fantasy/sci fi book called Chimera. Chimera is a book I’ve had in my head for years and tend to go back to it when I get some time. There was a lot of world building and details involved for it, so it’s taken some time. It’s nice to be able to do different things though.
Best book you have read this year so far.
See, I’m dreadful at reading books when they come out. I tend to end up reading last years books and playing catch up. I really enjoyed In Dark Service by Stephen Hunt, and the Copper Promise by Jen Williams. I always have so much to read, sometimes I think I’d be better off not buying any new books until I’ve read them all… but that’s stupid and I could never stop buying new books.
Steve McHugh is the author of the popular Hellequin Chronicles. The fourth book, Prison of Hope, is out on April 14th. He lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing video games.
Prison of Hope: http://www.amazon.com/Prison-Hope-The-Hellequin-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00OV403VM/ref=pd_sim_kstore_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=10B2CDBW7GEYQ94K2VDP
Blog: https://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevejMchugh
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steveJMchugh
Review:
Publication Date: 14th April 2015 from Amazon/47 North
Source: Netgalley
Long ago, Olympian gods imprisoned the demon Pandora in a human—Hope—creating a creature whose only purpose was chaos and death. Remorseful, the gods locked Pandora away in Tartarus, ruled by Hades. Now, centuries later, Pandora escapes. Nate Garrett, a 1,600-year-old sorcerer, is sent to recapture her and discovers her plan to disrupt the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, killing thousands in a misplaced quest for vengeance. Fast forward to modern-day Berlin, where Nate has agreed to act as guardian on a school trip to Germany to visit Hades at the entrance to Tartarus. When Titan King Cronus becomes the second ever to escape Tartarus, Nate is forced to track him down and bring him back, to avert a civil war between those who would use his escape to gain power.
Prison of Hope is book 4 in the (wonderfully addictive) Nate Garrett series from Mr McHugh, once again I loved it – they are always the most tremendous fun, with magical mayhem, thrills and spills and a hugely intelligent mythology that borrows from our own.
In this instalment Nate goes on a school trip which turns out to be somewhat stressful – the witches are playing up, there is an escapee from Tartarus and once again he finds himself caught up in the political maelstrom that is Avalon..
I always enjoy the Hellequin Chronicles books SO much, so readable and beautifully done as far as flow and storytelling goes, with some marvellously drawn characters, all of which are enigmatically brilliant. I’m absolutely in love with Nate, although I would not want to get him mad..
The mythology is rich and full of depth, descriptively speaking the author has the knack of putting you right on the spot, making this whole world seem as real as our own, the action is always edge of the seat stuff and with each new instalment the relationships between the characters ebb and flow meaning you are always desperate for the next part.
Overall then a really great read, all of them, another strength being that you can read any one on its own, you don’t necessarily have to read in order. A series that I hope will run and run.
Highly Recommended
Happy Reading Folks!