But Tor.com came to me with concerns that A) there is a huge glut of books with “girl” in the title lately, comically so and B) The use of “girl” is frequently employed to strip young women of their agency. Heloise is a girl and she does go through the ringer. I originally named the book The Fractured Girl. I wanted to capture that experience, and that became the kernel of the idea that blossomed into The Armored Saint.Īnd why did you decide to name it The Armored Saint as opposed to The Iron Maiden or The Judas Priest? Or are you saving those for the next books? My only complaint is that the universe focuses so heavily on war, and on the elite-status combatants, that you never see what life is like for normal people having to live in the ruins. I love the dark, humanity’s-last-gasp-tone of the Warhammer 40K universe. Most people looking at the book’s cover have commented that Heloise, the protagonist, looks like a Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine.

So, where did you get the idea for The Armored Saint, and how different is the novella from that original idea? In a world where devils threaten to wipe out humanity, only just held at bay by a magical veil….in a world where wizards reach beyond that veil to channel the power they seek, and risk tearing it aside, letting hell loose upon us all…in a world where a draconian religious order will stop at nothing to keep the veil shut, slaughtering all who they even suspect of wizardry…one girl will stop at nothing to free her people from The Order’s iron grip.īut just because The Order is cruel, doesn’t mean they’re wrong…ĭun dun dun. I always like to start with a plot summary. It’s to Myke’s credit that he didn’t run to the hills.

Given my juvenile mind, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that my questions for Myke Cole, author of the grimdark fantasy novella The Armored Saint ( hardcover, Kindle) would be full heavy metal references.

Joe abercrombie the devils release date