Black Library 2017 News/Rumours Thread : Xmas Advent

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**BobtheInquisitor**

So what's going on with the AOS novels? Have any come out in paperback, yet? I still haven't seen any AOS fiction at the local book stores, all of which still have WHFB Total War and End Times omnibuses on the shelves, as well as hardback The Beast Rises books, sadly not in the romance section. Do we know anything about their release plans? Will they compile the novelettinis into a single big book, or will we be paying $20 for essentially a re-forged short story?

**VeteranNoob**

None in PB for AoS yet. Seems like they are still assessing and working out fic formats for AoS. This is NOT a bad thing, BL is often trying new ways of getting content to us so I'm hoping paperbacks don't follow the 9 months after HB release they do for HH.

Also, never heard noveltinni before...that's hilarious

**reds8n**

... so when down town on the weekend popped into Waterstones/book store to investigate the possibility of picking up "Deathfire" in the "legacy"/MMPB format.

No joy -- bearing in mind Bl told me on their Fb page -- as mentioned here previously -- that the book would be out now.

Inquired further on their FB page, am now told this book will be released in July.

Ho hum.

**farmersboy**

Hmm, explains why I've had a few fruitless attempts at buying it - I knew it should have been out by now.

**reds8n**

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/ciaphas-cain-box.html

Ciaphas Cain Trilogy

A Ciaphas Cain boxed set

In the 41st millennium Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium, is an inspiration to his men – at least that’s what the propaganda would have you believe…

READ IT BECAUSE
Enjoy tall tales of adventure and derring-do in Commissar Cain’s memoirs (annotated by a sarcastic inquisitor). Tau, necrons and Chaos cultists all fall before the self-proclaimed hero of the Imperium…

DESCRIPTION
Recruited in their millions from planets all over the Imperium, the human soldiers of the Astra Militarum fight tirelessly to protect mankind from its many enemies. To back up the command structure of the massive regiments, commissars ere employed to maintain discipline and inspire faith. Brave, ferocious and determined, they are true heroes of the Imperium. The roll call of famous commissars is long, but few have achieved the notoriety of Ciaphas Cain. Whether faced with orks, tyranids, or the forces of Chaos, he always somehow manages to emerge triumphant and covered in glory.

This stunning slipcase boxed set contains the first three volumes in the eternally popular Ciaphas Cain series – For the Emperor, Caves of Ice and The Traitor’s Hand, together with extra content in the form of additional short stories and editorial introductions.

Written by Sandy Mitchell

WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR
The funny thing about Cain is that I never expected anyone else to like him. Way back in the dim and distant past, so long ago that Black Library published short stories on chunks of dead tree instead of ecologically sound pixels, I was invited to pitch some ideas for Inferno!, the magazine of stories and comic strips set in the Games Workshop universes. And the standard was intimidatingly high. Gotrek and Felix had adventures there. Gaunt’s Ghosts, too.

So, rather hesitantly, I suggested this idea I’d had, about a Commissar who, in complete contrast to the archetype, was concerned entirely with his own safety. Only to be told, in no uncertain terms, that humour just didn’t work in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and to come up with something else. But by that time it was too late. Cain, and his narrative voice, had become embedded in my head, and the only way I could get it out was by writing the story. And, once written, I sent it in anyway, expecting an instant rejection. To my surprise, though, the story sold. And the readers loved it. Almost as soon as the issue hit the shops, the fan mail started coming in. They wanted more. So did the editors. More short stories followed, during which I really began to get to know Cain. Jurgen, too, was beginning to become a character in his own right, more than just the comedy sidekick.

Inevitably, the next request was for a novel, which presented a whole new set of challenges. The short stories worked because of Cain’s first person narration, but a Warhammer 40,000 novel is, by definition, a widescreen blockbuster, crammed with incident and really cool explosions. Clearly, I couldn’t keep the focus entirely on Cain, because a lot of the story elements would depend on a much wider context he really wouldn’t care about. The solution was to interpolate an editorial voice, adding footnotes and additional material to fill in the gaps in the narrative. Which, in turn, went a long way towards making the books distinctive. And here I am, a decade and a half later, introducing the first hardcover edition of For the Emperor! and the two books which followed it. Looking back on them, I can see myself developing as a writer from volume to volume, growing in confidence with the longer medium, to the point where, after nine Cain books and a handful of others, I now consider myself primarily a novelist.

Which probably accounts for my fondness for a body of work of which I continue to be proud. Without the redoubtable Commissar, and the characters who surround him, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today. Working for Black Library, and with its exceptionally fine editors, developed my craft and my confidence in a way all authors should experience, and which far too few do. I’m getting the itch to return to his adventures, and looking forward to hearing what he’s got to say for himself when he starts to dictate the next portion of his memoirs.

**Knockagh**

Got delivery of Guilliman this morning..... Smokes it's one fine assed looking book. My socks are well and truly off! Top marks for presentation, will see what the inside is like in the coming days..... I really like Annandale, I know some don't but I would say I have throughly enjoyed 80% of what I have read so far, so fingers crossed.

Only downside, it is a tiny book....

**VeteranNoob**

Knockagh wrote:
Got delivery of Guilliman this morning..... Smokes it's one fine assed looking book. My socks are well and truly off! Top marks for presentation, will see what the inside is like in the coming days..... I really like Annandale, I know some don't but I would say I have throughly enjoyed 80% of what I have read so far, so fingers crossed.

Only downside, it is a tiny book....

Awesome, please do let us know what you think of it.

**MajorWesJanson**

reds8n wrote:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/ciaphas-cain-box.html

Ciaphas Cain Trilogy

A Ciaphas Cain boxed set

In the 41st millennium Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium, is an inspiration to his men – at least that’s what the propaganda would have you believe…

READ IT BECAUSE
Enjoy tall tales of adventure and derring-do in Commissar Cain’s memoirs (annotated by a sarcastic inquisitor). Tau, necrons and Chaos cultists all fall before the self-proclaimed hero of the Imperium…

DESCRIPTION
Recruited in their millions from planets all over the Imperium, the human soldiers of the Astra Militarum fight tirelessly to protect mankind from its many enemies. To back up the command structure of the massive regiments, commissars ere employed to maintain discipline and inspire faith. Brave, ferocious and determined, they are true heroes of the Imperium. The roll call of famous commissars is long, but few have achieved the notoriety of Ciaphas Cain. Whether faced with orks, tyranids, or the forces of Chaos, he always somehow manages to emerge triumphant and covered in glory.

This stunning slipcase boxed set contains the first three volumes in the eternally popular Ciaphas Cain series – For the Emperor, Caves of Ice and The Traitor’s Hand, together with extra content in the form of additional short stories and editorial introductions.

Written by Sandy Mitchell

WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR
The funny thing about Cain is that I never expected anyone else to like him. Way back in the dim and distant past, so long ago that Black Library published short stories on chunks of dead tree instead of ecologically sound pixels, I was invited to pitch some ideas for Inferno!, the magazine of stories and comic strips set in the Games Workshop universes. And the standard was intimidatingly high. Gotrek and Felix had adventures there. Gaunt’s Ghosts, too.

So, rather hesitantly, I suggested this idea I’d had, about a Commissar who, in complete contrast to the archetype, was concerned entirely with his own safety. Only to be told, in no uncertain terms, that humour just didn’t work in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and to come up with something else. But by that time it was too late. Cain, and his narrative voice, had become embedded in my head, and the only way I could get it out was by writing the story. And, once written, I sent it in anyway, expecting an instant rejection. To my surprise, though, the story sold. And the readers loved it. Almost as soon as the issue hit the shops, the fan mail started coming in. They wanted more. So did the editors. More short stories followed, during which I really began to get to know Cain. Jurgen, too, was beginning to become a character in his own right, more than just the comedy sidekick.

Inevitably, the next request was for a novel, which presented a whole new set of challenges. The short stories worked because of Cain’s first person narration, but a Warhammer 40,000 novel is, by definition, a widescreen blockbuster, crammed with incident and really cool explosions. Clearly, I couldn’t keep the focus entirely on Cain, because a lot of the story elements would depend on a much wider context he really wouldn’t care about. The solution was to interpolate an editorial voice, adding footnotes and additional material to fill in the gaps in the narrative. Which, in turn, went a long way towards making the books distinctive. And here I am, a decade and a half later, introducing the first hardcover edition of For the Emperor! and the two books which followed it. Looking back on them, I can see myself developing as a writer from volume to volume, growing in confidence with the longer medium, to the point where, after nine Cain books and a handful of others, I now consider myself primarily a novelist.

Which probably accounts for my fondness for a body of work of which I continue to be proud. Without the redoubtable Commissar, and the characters who surround him, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today. Working for Black Library, and with its exceptionally fine editors, developed my craft and my confidence in a way all authors should experience, and which far too few do. I’m getting the itch to return to his adventures, and looking forward to hearing what he’s got to say for himself when he starts to dictate the next portion of his memoirs.

Typical. Instead of an omnibus of the last 3 in the series and the various shorts, they go back to the first 3 books in a special format and price.
I love cain books and was fine with buying them in hardback, but I'm not touching these.

**VeteranNoob**

The Cassius lim ed. book is up

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/cassius-hb.html

**reds8n**

MajorWesJanson wrote:

Typical. Instead of an omnibus of the last 3 in the series and the various shorts, they go back to the first 3 books in a special format and price.
I love cain books and was fine with buying them in hardback, but I'm not touching these.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/prod-home/prod-home-bl/complete-ciaphas-cain-ebundle.html

might be of interest/help ?

**Knockagh**

VeteranNoob wrote:
The Cassius lim ed. book is up

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/cassius-hb.html

Funny looking offering. The book looks way better than the case which is pretty ugly.

**reds8n**

pics from warhammer fest :

A few anthologies gathering together not in print/audio stories and the like.

One or two new ones --

The Corax one is all of the novella and shorts plus a final novella. Novel length.

The Dorn one is a full HH novel : Deals with a well prepared attack from the alpha legion within the sol system not long prior to the sol system invasion. Will be seeing imperial fists prior to the heresy as well as the first time alpharius and dorn meet.

The Russ one is the 2nd of the Primarchs series and features their infamous grudge with the DA beginning ...

Thanks to Mr Harris of the BL page on FB

**Kanluwen**

I love the cover to "Echoes of Imperium". It just oozes character and reminds me of a Frazetta cover to a Conan book.

**VeteranNoob**

Thanks man! Faster than the rest

Man, what a year for Heresy

**ADarke**

What's Echoes of Imperium about?

**VeteranNoob**

ADarke wrote:
What's Echoes of Imperium about?

From First Exp from FB - Echoes of the Imperium, audio story anthology related to Imperium Secundus. No idea if this contains new material, or is just a CD bundle of existing audios.

**Knockagh**

Man o man

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Did this get posted yet?

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/labyrinth-of-the-lost-ebook.html

Silver Tower: Labyrinth of the Lost by Andy Clark

A Warhammer Quest novel

A band of champions brave the ever-changing nightmare of the Silver Tower in a daring quest to defeat the twisted machinations of the Gaunt Summoner…

READ IT BECAUSE
It's a classic adventure tale of heroes on a quest in a labyrinth… but it's given some twists that could only occur in the Age of Sigmar and some bizarre circumstances that could only come about when you're dealing with the servants of Tzeentch, the God of Change.

**Yaraton**

"Praetorian of Dorn"

Let me guess, AL loses again?

**VeteranNoob**

It's the fic companion to the game, so I guess this would be as appropriate as AoS fic.

**Knockagh**

Are all these due to be released this year?

**Kirasu**

Sweet, now just need a Sanguinius model

**Looky Likey**

Laurie said that if you want any of the books pending on Dan or Aaron then pester them directly via social media as this is the best way to get them to hurry up, so get to it people!

Apparently they have several new fixed length series in the works to succeed the Beast Arises when it finishes. As they have actually finished writing Beast Arises rather than extending it endlessly (HH) or failed to get the authors to finish it (see above) and the quality has been good but not amazing, I am pretty happy with this.

**BrookM**

Bah, I very much doubt that will make Penitent happen any time sooner.

**reds8n**

http://www.blacklibrary.com/the-horus-heresy-teaser.html

looking at the image url :

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/BL/product-pages/2016/20-05-HH-meduson-page1.jpg

gonna assume this is Meduson related : this has been Warhammer World only since it's initial release

http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.com/whats-the-warhammer-world-experience/exclusive-merchandise/

so... ebook release then ? Or maybe a limited edition ?

It's a nice anthology FWIW.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
and a summary of weekend news courtesy of Mr. Goulding :

A great weekend, some really good feedback in the seminars and also a really good chance for me, Jim, John, Gav and Chris to speak to readers face to face and find out what they think of the recent books.

Here's what was ACTUALLY said in the seminars about new products:

The Either
This is a CD release of the MP3 audio drama, of the short story that was originally taken from the 'Meduson' anthology. The current MP3 download has an icon cover, so this is the full CD artwork, nothing more sinister. smile.gif

Echoes of Imperium
This is a "CD anthology" release of several short MP3 audio dramas, in exactly the same style as 'Echoes of Ruin'. It contains the stories from Advent 2014 ('Stratagem', 'The Herald of Sanguinius', 'The Watcher') and 'The Shadowmasters'.

Praetorian of Dorn
John French talked about this a lot, so I won't spoil too many details about the story - suffice to say that the Alpha Legion force the Imperial Fists into the was by attacking Terra and Solar System. The title refers to the main character - Archamus, master of the huscarl retinue - since he is the praetorian of the Praetorian. This book will be released in August this year.

Corax
A collection of all Gav Thorpe's Corax stories since the end of 'Deliverance Lost' (that's 'Soulforge', 'The Shadowmasters', 'Ravenlord', 'The Value of Fear' and 'Raptor') plus more than a novella's-worth of new content. There are new scenes added at the beginning and the end, and a whole brand new novella called 'Weregeld', which Gav said refers to "the price that Corax must pay for his past deeds". He also talked about the themes of the overall story arc, and mentioned the word "nevermore" before going all quiet... ninja.gif

Leman Russ: The Great Wolf
The next book in The Primarchs series, written by Chris Wraight. He was quite vague on the story (although I pointed out that I've read it and it is EXCELLENT!) but he did say that this includes the actual story of the infamous "the Wolf and the Lion" incident that starts the Space Wolves' rivalry with the Dark Angels. Therefore, it is set at least partially during the Great Crusade, but he did also mention a significant portion set after the Scouring.

Finally, James Swallow started talking in more concrete terms about Garro: Weapon of Fate - there was no artwork to show, but this book will be a full length novel, in the numbered HH series, which tells all of Garro's story since he became Agentia Primus, but in prose form rather than audio. It's not simply an anthology of the audio drama stories and 'Garro: Vow of Faith', and it is NOT a script book, but rather a "director's cut" of the original plots all worked together into a single narrative, with lots of extra material, whole new scenes and a generally less episodic feel to the whole thing. It covers more than four years of the Heresy, and not only brings people up to speed if they haven't been listening to the audio dramas but also gives die-hard fans a whole new outlook on Garro's personal journey. His final fate "will start to become more clear" in this book.

I think that's just about everything!

ADB's novel 'The Master of Mankind' is about to be delivered to the editors, he assures me. The reason we didn't talk about it in any depth was 1) ADB wasn't there, and 2) I haven't read it, because I don't have it yet. tongue.gif

**Knockagh**

VeteranNoob wrote:
Knockagh wrote:
Got delivery of Guilliman this morning..... Smokes it's one fine assed looking book. My socks are well and truly off! Top marks for presentation, will see what the inside is like in the coming days..... I really like Annandale, I know some don't but I would say I have throughly enjoyed 80% of what I have read so far, so fingers crossed.

Only downside, it is a tiny book....

Awesome, please do let us know what you think of it.

Finished last few pages of gulliman over some lunch just now.... Not terribly impressed. Maybe if you like the space marine battles series it might be more your thing. It's well enough written, I just found the story really really boring. Ultramarines fight orks, they have a bit of a disagreement over tactics and they find out something that was pretty obvious from the start, the end. Not my thing, I like much of Annadales work but not this. I think they could have used the opportunity to write about a more significant event in Gullimans life than this, yes it has a connection to what is coming but it's a pretty poor one. Someone said to me this morning maybe it's just Gulliman who is the bore, maybe that's true. Will give the Russ book a go, if it's as pretty as the Gulliman book, to see if he is right.

On the plus side my book shelves have a nice new addition, after all it won't be coming down again in a hurry.....

**reds8n**

Not sure how the Age of Sigmar stories fit together?
Here’s a handy guide.

**VeteranNoob**

Knockagh wrote:
VeteranNoob wrote:
Knockagh wrote:
Got delivery of Guilliman this morning..... Smokes it's one fine assed looking book. My socks are well and truly off! Top marks for presentation, will see what the inside is like in the coming days..... I really like Annandale, I know some don't but I would say I have throughly enjoyed 80% of what I have read so far, so fingers crossed.

Only downside, it is a tiny book....

Awesome, please do let us know what you think of it.

Finished last few pages of gulliman over some lunch just now.... Not terribly impressed. Maybe if you like the space marine battles series it might be more your thing. It's well enough written, I just found the story really really boring. Ultramarines fight orks, they have a bit of a disagreement over tactics and they find out something that was pretty obvious from the start, the end. Not my thing, I like much of Annadales work but not this. I think they could have used the opportunity to write about a more significant event in Gullimans life than this, yes it has a connection to what is coming but it's a pretty poor one. Someone said to me this morning maybe it's just Gulliman who is the bore, maybe that's true. Will give the Russ book a go, if it's as pretty as the Gulliman book, to see if he is right.

On the plus side my book shelves have a nice new addition, after all it won't be coming down again in a hurry.....

I've heard that same feedback about a bore, though is it just Rouboute himself? Thanks! I'm thinking to get the Russ one early edition but Guilliman, well obviously now, waiting for hardback.

**foostick**

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/meduson-ultimate.html

THE STORY
Driven almost to the brink of self-destruction by the death of Ferrus Manus, the Iron Hands now seek vengeance for the many horrors of Isstvan V. Gathering survivors from the Raven Guard and the Salamanders aboard any vessels capable of warp travel, they wage a new campaign of annihilation against the traitor forces across the galaxy - a campaign masterminded by legendary warleader Shadrak Meduson.

In Meduson: Ultimate Edition, Black Library is proud to present seven short stories from the original anthology, as well as Grey Talon and The Either as full-cast audio dramas with complete production scripts. Finally, the defiant strength of the Iron Tenth begins to fall in the brand new story Hand Elect by Chris Wraight.

CONTENTS
Meduson by Dan Abnett
Unforged and Unspoken by Guy Haley
Immortal Duty by Nick Kyme
Hand Elect by Chris Wraight
The Keys of Hel by John French
The Noose by David Annandale
Deeds Endure by Gav Thorpe
Audio drama: Grey Talon by Chris Wraight. Running time 60 minutes. Performed by John Banks, Ian Brooker, Steve Conlin, Toby Longworth & Luis Soto.
Audio drama: The Either by Graham McNeill. Running time 67 minutes. Performed by Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Robin Bowerman, Ian Brooker, Steve Conlin, Toby Longworth, Luis Soto & Ramon Tikaram.

ABOUT THIS EDITION
368-page hardback book with full-art matt PPC hardcover
Gloss dustjacket in the Horus Heresy series style with gold foiling and art by Neil Roberts
Includes 2 CDs contained in the endpapers

The Enhanced Audio Edition is an ePub 3 file incorporating audio elements and works best on certain types of eReader. To enjoy the full experience we recommend using the following devices:

iPhone or iPad Android phone or tablet (using epub3 compatible software) PC or Mac computer

So, if like me you tracked down one of the Warhammer World exclusive editions you'll be missing a short story with this edition.

They're absolute crooks sometimes.

**reds8n**

Yeah, thanks BL ...

... still -- cannot comment on the new story -- but enjoyed the rest immensely.