Book Tour Q&A: The Blade of Absolution by Lou Yardley

Fiction Fans
Oct 18, 2023
9 min read

Updated: Oct 19, 2023

Today we're taking part in the book tour organized by Escapist Book Company for The Blade of Absolution by Lou Yardley! Continue reading for the book blurb and a Q&A with the author.

About the book

One sword... a whole load of chaos!

Part dungeon break, part magical sword heist, “The Blade of Absolution” kicks off “The Volkdrow Chronicles” with a hearty dose of monsters, magic, and mayhem.

Set in the monstrous world of Venari, deep in the sprawling city of Red Fern, “The Blade of Absolution” follows Everfrost as she goes in search of adventure and her ever-so-slightly nefarious father. Things don’t quite go to plan and, as chaos ensues, she meets Woodrow (a half-orc assassin), Pyggbe (an untrustworthy goblin), and Yelkrie (another untrustworthy goblin... but with a trick or two up her sleeve). Will they work together or will they be at each other’s throats?

For those familiar with Lou Yardley’s Venari tales, this book will introduce you to characters and monsters old and new. If you’re brand new to this world, get comfy and prepare yourself for some epic fiendish fantasy, adventure, monsters, foul-language, odd humour, and a splash of gore.

Caution: This fiendish fantasy may contain monsters and swearing.

Actually, it absolutely does contain both of those things.

On to the interview...!

Thank you so much for joining us for this Q&A! We’ll start off with one of our standard podcast opening questions–tell us something great that’s happened recently.

No worries! It’s great to be here! Thank you so much for allowing me into your world 🙂

Something great that’s happening is that it is (or will be very soon) autumn! I think autumn is probably my favourite time of the year. I love all the oranges and browns in the trees, the colder temperatures and, of course, Halloween. 🎃 👻

What are you currently reading or what’s up next on your TBR? What made you pick up this book?

I’m one of those people who likes to have a few different books on the go. I’m just about to start “Dracula” again as it is the season for all things spooky! I’ve just finished “Dead of Winter” by Darcy Coates. Again, it’s spooky season so I wanted some horror. This book was absolutely fantastic. It was SO TENSE! I was perched on the edge of my seat the whole time!

I’m also reading “The Prison Healer” by Lynnette Noni. I decided to pick this one up now because it’s been on my TBR for AGES! I used to subscribe to Fairy Loot, so it’s one of those fancy hardback versions and I’ve made a promise to myself that I’m going to read at least some of those books that I was sent during the subscription before this year is over.

Other than that, I’ve also recently got into manga. I think it’s a fantastic way to tell stories, and I love the mixture of genres that manga covers. At the moment, I’m reading “One Piece, Volume 9” by Eiichiro Oda, and I recently finished “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Volume 1” by Koyoharu Gotouge. Both are absolutely superb! Highly recommended!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to start writing?

Hiya! I’m Lou and I enjoy long walks in the park… and books. I like books. I’ve always been a reader, but it wasn’t until 2015 that I decided to write a book. I’d just finished my degree and I was looking for a new project. I’d been interested in NaNoWriMo for a while and, while I’d had a few failed attempts, I thought I’d give it a ‘proper’ go. I still take part in NaNoWriMo most years, but I’m nowhere near as strict with myself as I was in that one in 2015.

I love using writing as a way to escape in real life. Anything can happen when you’re writing.

How do you spend your free time when you’re not reading or writing? Do you have any hobbies or interests that you can talk to us about?

I know it sounds really dull, but I like to walk. I also love to learn about minibeasts. If a creature has a lot of legs, I’m usually interested in finding out more about it. I have a particular fondness for spiders. They’re such misunderstood, but utterly fascinating creatures. I’ve lost many an hour watching the garden spiders on my roof garden.

As a result of this interest, I’ve found that bugs and spiders do tend to crawl into my stories. It’s not my fault, they just invite themselves in!

If you could collaborate with any one author, who would it be and why?

Good question! I know it’s too late, but I’m going to have to go with Terry Pratchett. The man was an absolute genius and a true magician when it came to the written word. He was also hilarious!

What is one thing that you love about the current state of SFF and what is one thing that you wish you saw more of?

There’s quite a lot to love about the current state of SFF, but I’m going to single out two things. The first is that indie books seem to be getting more love. That’s not to say that I’ve got anything against traditional publishing, it’s just lovely to see all these different stories get out there that might not have been picked up by one of the big publishing houses. I don’t think we can ever have enough stories - the more the merrier! (I’ve also got a deal with myself where I’m not going to die until I’ve finished my TBR list… so if we could just keep adding to that, I’m going to live forever!).

The other thing I love is how accessible SFF is now. Thanks to TikTok and Instagram, SFF titles are being displayed more prominently in bricks and mortar stores. I’d also like to think that a generation of readers is being introduced to SFF thanks to social media.

On the flipside, I do feel like most of the books that get featured heavily on social media tend to be ‘spicy’ and/or romantasy. I’ve got nothing against those kinds of books (in fact, I read them fairly regularly), but I would like to find the people who are talking about books more aligned with Tolkien and Pratchett. I have no doubt that those Booktokers and Bookstagrammers are out there, but I’ve yet to find many of them. (If this is you, please get in touch. I will follow you in a totally non-stalker way.)

What is one book you want to shout about to the world? What about it makes you love it so much?

I’m going to cheat here and talk about a series. A few years ago, I stumbled upon a book called “Rogue Dungeon” (“The Rogue Dungeon, #1) by eden Hudson and James A. Hunter. I’d heard of neither author before and from the description I learned that the book was one of those LitRPG things. Now, I feel it’s important to note that I’m not a gamer. I do play games on occasion, but I’m terrible at them. Absolutely terrible. For that reason, I’ve never really been interested in the LitRPG genre, but something about this one caught my attention.

And I’m really glad it did.

This series is fantastic! My favourite elements are the characters - especially Kaz!

They’re the kind of books that you can breeze through in a day (if you’ve got the time) and there’s never a dull moment.

What are your favorite types of stories? Of characters?

My favourite kinds of stories are when the main character(s) have to leave their normal life behind to do something completely extraordinary. This could be to go on a quest like in “The Hobbit” or it could be realising that their world isn’t quite what they thought. Loads of urban fantasy authors do this really well. I’ve only read a few of the books so far, but “The Guild Codex: Spellbound” by Annette Marie is a fantastic example of this.

Character-wise, I like characters who are flawed. None of us are perfect, so I like to see that reflected in the stories I read (and write!). Just as none of us are perfect, very few people (if any) are purely good or purely evil. I like characters to be a melting pot of different things.

What was your favorite part of writing this book?

Being able to live in another world for a while. Writing is my form of escape, so even if it does take me to place with a buttload of monsters, it’s still a nice break. The AirBNBs in Venari are disgusting though.

They say to never judge a book by its cover, but a cover is still a marketing tool that helps sell books. Can you tell us about the idea behind the cover of your book?

I’m so guilty of judging books by their covers. I just can’t help myself!

The artist behind this cover was the superbly talented Neil Fraser. The idea was to showcase the main character from the story, while also giving a hint at the world they live in. In the background, you can see a castle (representing Palestone Castle, where much of our story takes place). The green colour was intentional as it ties in nicely with a kind of magic that occurs in this book (here’s a hint, it’s not good… and it’s quite sickly).

Can you give us an elevator pitch for your book?

In the past when I’ve been asked this question about previous books, I’ve really struggled. However, this time I’m ready! And I even worked it into the synopsis!

Here we go… it’s super short:

One sword... a whole load of chaos!

Part dungeon break, part magical sword heist, "The Blade of Absolution" kicks off "The Volkdrow Chronicles" with a hearty dose of monsters, magic, and mayhem.

How different is the final version of this book from the first draft?

It’s shorter. A LOT shorter. I also made a number of changes thanks to my lovely beta readers (honestly, beta readers are worth their weight in gold!). They suggested different word choices and ways to make things clearer. Without them, this book would be a mess!

The final version also lacks the notes I left to myself, such as [insert character name here] and [write this bit later]. 😂

In your opinion, what kind of reader would like this book?

They say (whoever ‘they’ are) that you should write with your ideal reader in mind. I wasn’t sure who that was, so I wrote the book I wanted to read. If you’re like me and you’re looking for a fantasy with fantastical creatures, magic, little to no romance, a fair bit of humour, and a slimy touch of gore, then this could be for you!

As the series progresses, the humour and darkness will increase. I think humour and darkness go really well together.

What would you like readers to take away from this book?

Never trust a goblin. Or mysterious queens for that matter… or anyone. Just trust no-one.

Do you have a favorite quote from your book that you can share with us? What about this quote in particular makes it your favorite?

Again, I’m going to cheat here and share two!

The first is: “It’s interesting to see how we decide what monsters are, isn’t it? Gnomes look like humans, so she gets your guilt. What if she was a goblin, eh? Or an orc? Or an ogre? What about a troll or kolbold?”

This is said by a character called Yelkrie (a goblin). There is a theme running throughout “The Blade of Absolution” about what makes a monster, and I really wanted my main characters to think about it.

Another is:

“She’d come here searching for answers, and all she’d found was an ending.”

Things were a little bleak in the story when I wrote that line, but I just felt like there was something oddly satisfying about it (even if I do say so myself).

Is there anything you can tell us about any current projects you’re working on?

Absolutely!

This November, I’ll be making the most of NaNoWriMo to work on book 2 of “The Volkdrow Chronicles”. I’m looking forward to getting back to my friends and finding out where their adventures have taken them. I haven’t got it all figured out yet, but I do know that a couple of the characters have taken to the seas…

I’m also working on a couple of other series. The first is called “Glintsprock’s Quest” and it follows a goblin called Glintsprock as he goes on all kinds of adventures. The series will be a mixture of novellas and short stories, and it’s SO MUCH FUN to work on. Find out more here: https://louyardley.com/glintsprocks-quest/

And that’s not all!

I also have a web series called “The Misadventures of Morga Skullsplitter”. Morga is an orcish warrior. She's the best there is. No-one can crack a skull open quite like Morga Skullsplitter. But she's tired, and she's had enough. All she wants is a nice quiet retirement. One where she could spend her days sipping tea, eating jellybeans and reading mystery novels would be wonderful.

One day, an offer to go on one last quest is given to her. Her prize at the end of it? That long sought after retirement. The quest will be dangerous, difficult, and probably bloody long. The chances of facing off against monsters and dark magic are extremely high. She could die... or worse...

But all she has to do is find the Heart of Darkness. That's all. After that, she can retire to a nice little cottage at the seaside. You can find out more and read the episodes so far here: https://books.louyardley.com/morga

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for us! Do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to leave for our readers?

Thank you for letting me talk about the things that make me happy, and thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this.

And finally, where can you be found on the internet if our readers want to hear more from you?

The best places to find me are:

My website: https://louyardley.com

My Ko-Fi page: https://ko-fi.com/louyardley

Instagram: https://instagram.com/goblinsstolemybrain

Facebook: https://facebook.com/louyardley