Jonathan D. Beer: The Goonhammer Interview

While many of us lament the apparent ending of the Warhammer Crime imprint, it did give us more than just some great stories and fond remembrance. One of those things is some terrific new talent for the Black Library, and today we’ll be sharing a conversation with Jonathan D. Beer.

Through 2021-2022, Beer saw stories appear in three different Crime anthologies beginning with Old Instincts in the Broken City collection. Those efforts paved the way for his first Warhammer novel, The King of the Spoil in 2023. Moving into the ‘mainline’ 40K universe the following year with Dominion Genesis (reviewed here), he brought those characters back for another appearance in Opportunity Cost for this past May’s Cult Mechanicus Week (reviewed here).

Tomorrow Beer’s next novel, Tomb World, goes up for preorder. Swapping one set of metal men for another, this time he’s telling a tale of Necron redemption and treachery as a tomb guardian must contend with what it means when her dynasty begins to stir. Beer was kind enough to take time out of his schedule for a chat about his career as a writer, his experiences writing Dominion Genesis, and how everything led up to the Necrons.

Getting To Know You

GH: Let’s start by getting to know a little more about you, as there doesn’t seem to be a lot out there (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, mind). What has your writer’s journey been like? How did you break into it, and was speculative fiction always where you saw yourself writing?

JB: First off, thank you for reaching out to set up this interview. As you say, I think this is the first long-form interview I’ve done.

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. Formally, my first published story came out in 2012 in a few places. It’s called Budapest Will Burn₁, and in it I, surprisingly, burn Budapest to the ground.

I’ve always been drawn to speculative fiction, and for the longest time described myself as an alternative history and science fiction writer. I’ve let the alt-history bit drop in recent years, although it would be fun to return to my ideas for stories set in and around an alternative version of the 1848 Revolutions.

For Black Library, I submitted to pretty much every open submission window they ran from 2010 onwards. I got through to the second round in 2018 with a writing sample featuring Space Wolves that I look back on fondly, and in 2019 submitted 500 words of what would become the opening of Old Instincts.

GH: What lesson would you hope aspiring writers take from your Writer’s Journey? What can others learn from you?

JB: I often joke that the only lessons people can learn from me are cautionary tales!
I think I’m incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to do what I do, specifically for Black Library and to write in general. When I think back over those first years when I started to take writing seriously, I think I prioritised going after opportunities – submitting to magazines and anthologies, that sort of thing – over learning my craft and developing my ability to sit down and crank out a story or a chapter in good time.

GH: Tell us a little bit about your writing process. Are you a regimented writer, or one who writes in bursts? Do you have a certain writer’s soundtrack that helps you create?

JB: I am an extremely unregimented writer, to the frustration of myself and my editors! If I can give one piece of advice to aspiring writers, it would be this – build up your writing muscles now, before you have to start writing to deadlines. And it is a muscle – the ability to plant your butt in the chair and get words down on a page, good or bad, is the essential demand placed on you as a writer.

Evocative prose, interesting characters, story ideas – all of these come with time, experience, and the wisdom of editors. But sitting down and getting the words out, by hook or by crook, is entirely on you, and it is far better to learn before you have a deadline, rather than after (ask me how I know!).

GH: Are there any themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

JB: I have a definite interest in building things, or rebuilding. A lot of what I’ve written or would like to write focuses on building in the aftermath of disaster or trauma, either individually or collectively. How people react to the worst life can throw at them, and how some people work to rebuild, or build something new, is something I am fascinated by, particularly in a setting as bleak as the 41st Millennium.

GH: If you could write a novel for any franchise or property you wanted, which one would you choose (and why)?

JB: This is going to sound very corporate, but the only IP I’ve ever wanted to write for is Warhammer 40,000. The world is so rich, so layered, so bleakly fascinating, and the Black Library approach to a shared universe fits me like a glove.

Beyond Warhammer, I don’t know. I harbour plans for some original novels and short stories, so I think if time opened up in my schedule I’d be looking to do those rather than aiming for other franchises.

GH: What about the Warhammer setting brought you into the universe initially, and what keeps you coming back to it?

JB: I distinctly remember when I went from being interested in Warhammer 40,000 to being hooked on it. Near the beginning of the second Eisenhorn novel, Malleus, a triumphal parade is going to be held to celebrate a great Imperial Guard victory.

As part of the preparations for the Triumph, the Adeptus Mechanicus geo-engineer a huge rainstorm over the host city. The deluge pours through the city and empties out into a nearby river, which is now horrifically polluted from all the toxic gunk that has been washed off the city’s ancient buildings. The sheer scale and thoughtlessness hubris was like nothing I had come across before, and so I was hooked.

What keeps me coming back are the variety of tales to be told, and the trials and excesses of its characters. Like any good science fiction story, Black Library novels and short stories are explorations of people and ideas. What is it like to live in a world that offers absolutely no hope? How do people who suppress their emotions respond to trauma? How do those who have lost their identity rebuild their sense of self? Exploring these ideas and the characters that are buffeted by them is what sits me down at my keyboard.

GH: How did you come to write for the Black Library?

JB: I think I submitted to all but one of the open submission windows that Black Library ran between 2010 and 2019. Between open windows, I was an active member of the Black Library Bolthole, a forum set up by Sarah Cawkwell shortly after the official forum was shut down.

I found the Bolthole shortly after reading my first 40K novels (the Gaunt’s Ghost’s Founding trilogy, the Eisenhorn trilogy, and my beloved Double Eagle – thanks Dan, you hooked me good!) and it was the best possible community to develop both my love of the setting and my writing skills. As you’d think from the name, the BL Bolthole had a more specific focus on Warhammer fiction than other forums, and there was always a flash fiction contest or other opportunities to share and critique one another’s work.

I owe a huge debt to all the members of the Bolthole.

In March 2020, about two weeks after we’d entered the first Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, I got an email from the Black Library editorial team asking me to expand on my short story pitch from the year before. And the rest, somehow, is history!

GH: What has been the most rewarding part of writing for the Black Library?

JB: Outside of seeing my name on the cover of a book (which is a thrill that doesn’t go away), it’s undoubtedly the community. The Black Library writers are some of the nicest and warmest people you could hope to meet, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been swept up into their midst. Writing is a solitary business, but the friendship and support I’ve found make it far more of a collective effort and experience.

Also, the editorial team are amazing – endlessly patient and supportive. I quite often compare my writing career so far to that of a child actor – I’ve somehow been allowed in front of the camera, and I’m learning how to do this as I go. I’ve been hugely lucky to work with editors who have been willing to go the extra mile to shepherd each of my books across the finish line in the best form they can be.

GH: Do you have a favorite Black Library author (or authors)? What do you most enjoy or admire about their craft?

JB: This could take a while…

If you forced me to pick just one person, I would say Aaron Dembski-Bowden – he is an absolute master, and sets the bar that I try to aim for. I could wax lyrical about every one of his novels, but the skill of his prose is just remarkable. Every sentence is evocative, and his grasp of the setting and how he uses it and explores it through the trials of his characters is just exceptional.

But forcing me to restrict myself to just one would be a cruel and unusual punishment. Dan Abnett, obviously, was my entry point into Warhammer 40,000, and his body of work speaks for itself. John French’s work in the Horus Heresy is amazing, and Solar War opened the Siege of Terra series spectacularly. Chris Wraight is an exceptional writer (picking just one, The Lords of Silence is just a masterclass₂). Gav Thorpe’s Sundering trilogy for Warhammer Fantasy Battle was excellent. Brutal Kunnin’ by Mike Brooks was an absolute joy.

Of those who form what I think of as the newer tranche of writers (although most have half a dozen novels under their belts by now!), I have to highlight Marc Collins (Grim Repast was a very tough act to follow), Tory Hayward (Deathworlder is through and through great₃), Jude Reid (just the nicest person in the world, I’ve loved her short fiction, and Fulgrim, The Perfect Son is next on my TBR list₄), and Danie Ware (her Sisters stories have been cracking).

Oh, and Nate Crowley’s Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! blew me away. An absolute phenomenon of a book. And Rob Rath (The Infinite and the Divine is a defining work of Black Library’s recent history, and he’s also a gem of a man₅). And Denny Flowers (I will read anything that features the Imperial Navy, and Outgunned was cracking).

And that’s not even getting to everyone! I don’t know if I’m qualified to necessarily call the past few years a Golden Age of Warhammer fiction, but I will say that the calibre of everyone writing right now is just absurd.

GH: Okay, same question, but who is your favorite outside of the Black Library?

JB: My teen years were defined by two authors – Terry Pratchett (GNU, Sir Terry₆), and Bernard Cornwell. I ingested the Discworld and Sharpe books – wildly different, but equally impactful on my life.

In terms of more recent authors, I’d be remiss in not taking the opportunity to plug Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota quartet. Reading those books made me feel like my brain was on fire, and reminded me of what science fiction is really capable of.

GH: Do you have a favorite Warhammer character?

JB: Crikey. Picking just one, I’d say Argel Tal. Or Khayon. Or Bree Jagdea. Or Lotara Sarrin. Or Corbec. Or… you get the picture.

Actually, and this is appallingly self-promoting of me, my main Crime characters, Nescata Rachen, Melita Voronova and Haska Jovanic, mean a great deal to me. Putting them through the truly awful things I’ve put them through taught me so much, and showed me that I could actually do this whole writing business. So as self-aggrandising as that is, I should mention them.

GH: Do you play Warhammer at all? If so, what format(s) do you enjoy, and what factions do you play?

JB: I did, for a good long while. I got into Warhammer because a friend wanted me to start playing, so lent me the Founding and Eisenhorn trilogies for a weekend. The following week, I split the 4th edition starter box – I went with the Space Marines, and collected a remarkably large portion of an Iron Hands successor chapter of my own invention.

In Warhammer Fantasy, I had a decent sized High Elves force (shout-out to Graham McNeill’s excellent Defenders of Ulthuan for spurring that decision), and I absolutely adore Mordheim.

I tended towards the painting side of the hobby rather than playing. I am an abysmal tactician; I can’t tell you how many times my gorgeous squad of Terminators, accompanied by my Terminator-armoured Chaplain or Librarian, deep-striked onto the battlefield only to get absolutely decimated by my friend’s mob of Genestealers.

GH: Outside of writing, what are some passions or hobbies that keep you engaged?

JB: I spend far more time than I ought to working through my Steam library – right now I’m back on Satisfactory, but I think another run at Disco Elysium or Baldur’s Gate 3 is due. I buy far more books than I can read, and try desperately to keep up. At the start of this year I set out to learn to draw, with very little success thus far!

GH: Hearts, Hibs, another team, or none of the above?

JB: I’m not much of a football fan, although in my youth I spent many a Saturday shouting at the dugout at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park with my dad and grandad. I cheer for my adoptive Scotland in the Six Nations, and I follow tennis fairly closely.

Dominion Genesis

Now that we’d gotten a little background of who Jonathan Beer is as a person, I next wanted to dive a little bit into Dominion Genesis.

Here’s what I wrote when I reviewed the book earlier this year:

It’s not every day you get a chance to post-mortem a book with the author, and I took full advantage.

GH: Where did the idea for Dominion Genesis come from? Can you share with us what the original pitch was?

JB: After The King of the Spoil, I was asked whether I wanted to have a crack at a Mechanicus novel, and particularly to write an Explorator character. I was delighted – the AdMech are one of the most fascinating and distinctive aspects of the Warhammer 40,000 setting. The opportunities for body horror augmentation and arrogant characters were obvious.

My first pitch was quite different – Sherax and company were going to be plumbing the depths of a space hulk, and dealing with what they found inside. But Dominion Genesis came about after I had been leafing through my collection of codices and fastened on to wanting to explore how the acolytes of the Omnissiah would cope with trauma and loss.

The survivors of Gryphonne IV were perfect, embodying the hubris of the Mechanicus, humbled in swift and horrific fashion by Hive Fleet Leviathan, and now left to drift and contemplate their future. What more could you ask for as a starting point for a novel?

GH: They say each book makes your next one better. What lessons did you learn from The King of the Spoil that you applied to Dominion Genesis?

JB: The most obvious lesson was that I could, in fact, write a novel. After a few abortive efforts when I was a lot younger, I had spent most of my pre-Black Library time writing short stories (or planning them, anyway!). The email from the Black Library team asking me if I’d like to write a novel for them was simultaneously the best and scariest message I have ever received. ‘Congratulations, Mr. Beer, you’ve been offered the chance to do the thing you have always wanted to do. But now, you have to actually do it.’

I’ve heard more than one writer say that they learn how to write a book each time they sit down to start. And while that has very much been the case for me, the knowledge that I’ve done it once helped me face down the challenge of doing it again.

GH: In an interview with Track of Words, you noted that ‘it’s easier to get into the headspace of a tormented info-broker or an angst-ridden ganger than it is a seven foot tall post-human warrior.’ I would imagine the Adeptus Mechanicus are more challenging still, given their arcane ritualism, psychology and mentality.

What made you want to write about them, and how did you prepare for writing them with authenticity to the lore and setting?

JB: I think what really made me want to write about them, other than my general fascination with their philosophy and aesthetic, was trying to place myself in Sherax’s head. The Mechanicus espouse logic and the strength of the machine, but just about every depiction of the adepts of the Machine God shows the lie of that. They are just as emotional – particularly prone to arrogance and hubris – as anyone. Once I starting thinking about that essential characteristic of repression, I felt I knew how to go into the story.

I also immersed myself in the incredible AdMech artwork that has been produced over the years. One of my regrets for Dominion Genesis is that I wasn’t able to explore the body-horror aspects of Mechanicus self-augmentation as fully as I’d like, which has been gloriously captured in pen and paint by some truly exceptional artists.

GH: How did you plot out the book? What tools did you use to keep track of plot points and character developments?

JB: My planning tools were a mixture of notebooks, post-its, and typo-strewn notes in my phone! I had a fairly detailed pitch document, summarising the overall plot and the arcs of the key characters, which was expanded into a moderately detailed chapter-by-chapter breakdown. I don’t think I plan as much as I should do, which is mildly ironic given that I spent so much time in my younger years planning stories without actually getting them down on paper.

I first-draft in Scrivener, just because I like the way it isolates each scene, and I edit in Word.

GH: How did you decide the pace and tone of the book, and in particular how you transitioned from a slower, mystery-laden first half to a more conventional action narrative in the second?

JB: As I say, I don’t think I necessarily decided that as actively or as consciously as I ought’ve. I knew I wanted to open the book with Sherax and her companions being Explorators, delving through the decrepit ruins of ancient vessels. I knew that, given the focus of the book on her reaction to the loss of her home world, I would need to have her clashing with her fellow adepts.

Shifting gears as Sherax sets off to pursue the Genesis device came about naturally – that is to say, I didn’t have a plan of the book that marked the point at which things step up a notch, but rather it followed the events that the story needed to follow.

GH: Is there anything you wanted to challenge yourself with in the writing of this book, whether it be stylistically, narratively, or anything else?

JB: That’s an interesting question. I think I am still so much of a neophyte at this business that simply writing the book itself was challenge enough!

I was definitely aware from the outset that this was going to be a very different book to King of the Spoil – shifting from the street-level, gritty world of Varangantua to the grand, frankly cosmic scale of Dominion Genesis. If anything, I think the challenge of this book was ensuring I did justice to the Adeptus Mechanicus – creating characters and places that fit readers’ understanding of them, while driving into areas of the philosophy and psychology that perhaps hadn’t yet been explored.

GH: Did anything emerge from the writing process that surprised you? Something that wasn’t initially planned to be in the book, perhaps, a narrative turn, or a particularly compelling scene?

JB: The Orks infesting the Almagest was something that appeared out of nowhere as Sherax and co. worked their way through the ship. I knew I wanted to have her encounter the degenerate remnants of the ship’s crew, but when I started thinking about how they would have actually fed themselves, somehow I found myself writing them farming Ork mushrooms. Once I had the idea, there was no way I was going to leave it alone.

GH: What was it like working with the editors at the Black Library? Can you share a particular scene they really helped with, or place you feel they really contributed to making the book stronger?

JB: Where to begin? I received invaluable feedback on just about every part of the book (and not just the positive reinforcement that is the balm to every writer’s soul). My editor has a particularly good eye for structure, something that I have yet to develop as well as I’d like, and a knack for knowing where I need to tighten up or take a second pass at a scene that isn’t landing. Certainly, the book would be far weaker if I had been left to my own devices.

GH: Early on you have a sequence set in a ruined space hulk, with multiple ships crushed together. How challenging was it to write that sort of unconventional physical space? As a reader It can sometimes be difficult to keep your visualization as you read; I had to reread a couple times just to get it right in my head. What techniques did you use to ‘map out’ that imaginary space?

JB: That was a fun scene to write because I had a very clear image in my head from the start (which is not always the case). Sherax and her party standing on the hull of a broken Imperial transport, looking up (relatively speaking) at the hull of a lost ship and leaping across through the zero-g aether was a moment I knew fairly on I wanted to play with.

GH: Did you ever worry if you missed the mark on lore or representation? Like, a week after the book would come out you’d see the Tech Priest devotees picking it apart on Reddit? (That might just be my own imposter syndrome asking!)

JB: On lore, no. It’s not that I don’t worry about that, it’s more that I trust myself to know the setting and what I’m touching on, and even more than that I trust the editors to catch me any time I go astray.

On representation, very much so. I’ve purposefully tried to me as inclusive as possible with my characters and perspectives, and I have tried to make sure they are three-dimensional and interesting (as I obviously try to do for all my characters) and avoid falling into tropes or lazy cliches. Less so with this book, but certainly in Tomb World, as multiple characters have what could be described as severe mental health problems, and I felt it was extremely important to portray those properly, and not trivialise them simply because the character who is experiencing them happens to be an immortal robot alien.

GH: In my review of Dominion Genesis, I noted that your character work was especially strong here. I really appreciated the depth you lent Sherax and the crew of the Peregrinus– so much so that I was thrilled to see them return in the Cult Mechanicus Week eShorts last month.

On the flip side of the coin, in my review and others it’s been noted that the final part of the book perhaps wavered a little in pacing and focus compared to the sequences leading up to that. Were there any challenges when it came to concluding the book that you can share?

JB: To give a perhaps too-honest glimpse behind the curtain, I think the way the novel wavers at the end is a result of me running out of steam, both creatively and physically, when I reached the final act. More time and a clearer picture of what Sherax and co. would encounter when they boarded the Genesis vessel would have certainly benefited the climax. It’s a regret that I couldn’t dig deeper, but one that I hope I will learn from for the future.

GH: Have you seen any reader reactions to the book that surprised, delighted, or disappointed you?

JB: As a writer you are advised never to read your reviews. This is very good advice, which I and many others completely ignore!

I’ve been delighted by the reaction to Dominion Genesis. It was a tough book to write, in parts, and when I turned it in I was quite down on it in general. So to see people’s positive reactions has been wonderful.

What’s also been nice is that the criticisms that I’ve read haven’t come out of nowhere for me – that is, when I’ve been reading reviews, those areas that people have said are weak, I’ve tended to agree with. This has kept my ego from being too bruised, and has helped me identify what I need to do in the future to avoid those same pitfalls.

GH: Finally, if you handed this book to a reader new to Warhammer, what would you hope they took away from it?

JB: To be slightly pretentious, I’d hope that people take away the broader message of the book – there is very rarely a shortcut to healing and restoration.

I hope that Sherax is an engaging and flawed protagonist, struggling to come to terms with a loss that eclipses her understanding, and flailing about for control in a universe that is beyond the control of just about everyone. I hope they like my take on the Adeptus Mechanicus, who were both challenging and immensely rewarding to write. And generally, and most importantly, I hope they enjoy it!

Tomb World

With Tomb World not yet having been released, I didn’t have any specific questions about the book’s story or writing. Still, I couldn’t resist a couple to end the interview given Jonathan’s tremendous candor and willingness to engage about his work.

GH: Regarding Tomb World, I have a similar question I asked before, with your first novel leading into your second. Can you talk a little about what you learned from your experience with Dominion Genesis that you brought to your latest?

JB: Firstly, and this relates a bit to my answer to your next question, I think I learnt how essential it is to ground inhuman characters in the aspects of humanity that they are intended to reflect.

Without trying to get too meta, Necrons are the worst aspects of ourselves composited into an alien race that was terrible even before they had their souls stolen by predatory gods. Everything they do is driven by denial of their reality – writing them meant grounding their actions and decisions in that fundamental aspect of their psyche.

Secondly, I learnt the importance of having a plan, and knowing the arc of your characters from the outset. That isn’t to say that I didn’t know where Sherax was going in Dominion Genesis, or that I wasn’t open to moments of surprise in the writing of Tomb World. But as I mentioned earlier, I was approaching a bit of burnout towards the end of Dominion, and I very much wanted to avoid that when it came to Tomb World.

GH: In my upcoming Black Library Weekly column₇ there’s a section where I highlight a reader comment with regards to the review of Evan Dicken’s Shade of Khaine.

In it, the reader remarks – and their perspective is mainly Age of Sigmar – that too often Warhammer writers appear to write non-humans as essentially humans with cosmetic differences. When it came to you writing the Necrons, how did you go about making sure that you really nailed the flavor and feel of this ancient Xeno race in a way that communicated something unique to the Warhammer universe?

JB: That’s a great question. It’s one that I was very aware of, particularly coming off the back of writing AdMech characters in Dominion Genesis. I was mindful throughout Tomb World of the need to draw a clear line between the feeling of being inside the heads of these two factions, who while ostensibly similar are in fact very, very different.

That difference, at least for me, is that the Necrons cling to their emotionality as a way of hiding from the horrific nature of their existence, whereas my Adeptus Mechanicus characters try as best they can to repress it. This meant leaning into their pettiness, their arrogance and hubris, and their abiding hatred for the C’tan and what they did to the necrontyr.

My touchstone was that Necrons, for all their strength and resilience and magical technology, are horrified by what they are, and they will do anything – inflict any atrocity, on one another or others – as a way to deny that existence, and occupy themselves from any possible inward reflection, as it would inevitably lead them to madness. Although, in answer to your question, I don’t know if this necessarily makes them uniquely different from some aspects of humanity, both in the real world and the grim darkness of the far future!

 

Footnotes

1. It was released as part of a speculative fiction steampunk anthology called The Best of Penny Dread Tales, and you can find it here. As always, I recommend buying it through a local independent bookseller rather than Amazon whenever possible.
2. Our review of the recently-released Illustrated and Annotated Edition can be found here.
3. Deathworlder was my personal pick for book of the year for 2024. Tyranid body horror had me at hello.
4. Reviewed here.
5. Can confirm.
6. For the curious.
7. This is referring to the ‘Readers Respond’ segment I introduced in this week’s Black Library Weekly. Thanks again, Phil Bowles!

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