Hulksmash wrote:There were some valid points once you got past the hypocrisy. And I can understand someone getting annoyed at the lamentation of the PB. People hyped it up and that rarely lives up to expectations (David Weber and Jim Butcher are exceptions to this rule )

MajorTom11 wrote:Tbd, you are ridiculous.

To say you personally like the book, then slam people who didn't like the book for 'personal expectations' and question their intelligence and reading skills is truly epic hypocrisy sir.

You should start your own forum where no one else can post and you tell us all what we think! That would be amazing!

TBD wrote:

It's funny, but what you did here is the exact same thing you accuse me of doing. The difference is that I (partially) explained why I think the statement(s) I responded to is absurd), and nowhere did my post say that different opinions are not allowed.

TBD wrote:
Prospero Burns is an extremely well written story, and to call it a stinker just because it didn't meet your personal specific expectations is nothing short of absurd.

TBD wrote:
So maybe you should take your own advice if you don't like to deal with different opinions on the internet? Either respond to me using arguments as to why you don't agree, like I did, or don't respond at all.

TBD wrote:
There happens to such a thing as someone reading a book and "not getting it". That person can then go ahead and state what a stinker it is, but if someone subsequently tells him he didn't get it, or not enough of it, then he will have to deal with that without transforming into Captain Butthurt all of a sudden.

I know this kid who once read the Bible, and after finishing it he said "what a stinker, there weren't enough elephants in it, and I expected more exploring of the psychological and philosophical differences between the Sumerians and the Ethiopians".

When someone told him to not be absurd and that he perhaps had wrong expectations about the book he responded by saying "but, but it's my opinion, and my opinion is holy because its mine and therefor it can never be wrong!".

I guess there are certain types who would actually agree with the kid, while others would say it's not the book but him being a fething idiot.

Call me an arsehole but I'll happily agree with the latter, and I don't give a rat's behind what anyone thinks about that

BrookM wrote:

Alpharius wrote:THIS IS ABNETT!

Meaning he can get away with a lot?

BrookM wrote:Answer: Yes, yes he can. Then again, this could be BL as a whole trying to break through into a different field. Maybe if the title and cover description text were different I'd get it, but as it stands right now, I came for the story of two loyalist legions fighting because they are forced to, not the back story of a human that takes up most of the book. Granted, Kaspar is an interesting character, why not do a whole novel about him instead? All his talk and flashing back to his days as conservator talking about Terra that was is far more interesting for some reason.

MajorTom11 wrote:

TBD wrote:
Prospero Burns is an extremely well written story, and to call it a stinker just because it didn't meet your personal specific expectations is nothing short of absurd.

You can try to be all oh you took me wrong, but there it is. You think the book is extremely well written, and anyone who disagrees is absurd.

Go through my posts, or ask anyone who has dealt with me on this board, the only time I get into arguments with people is when they start telling other people what they are and aren't allowed to like.

I didn't take issue with your opinion, it's content or your right to make a personal assessment for yourself. My comment was directed to you calling anyone who didn't like the book absurd.

This 40k novel was clearly beyond our intellectual scope.

The Wolves, like all aspects of 40K, have evolved over time, so the question of what counts as getting them 'right' isn't entirely straightforward. Consider how Graham McNeill portrayed them in A Thousand Sons, compared to how Bill King did in the four original Space Wolf novels. Superficially things are pretty similar, but in many ways they're very different characters. Every author, including the various writers of the Codexes, has their own angle on the SWs, and being faithful to that huge collection of material is a challenge.

So, in preparation for BotF, I thought a lot about the nature of the SWs and how to portray them. At the same time, I did a *lot* of reading. For starters, that meant the current Codex, plus extracts of the older ones sent to me by BL. I went back through the two Space Wolf omnibuses, as well as the relevant stories from the anthologies. There were bits and pieces from the Index Astartes that were useful, as well as chunks of the venerable Rogue Trader rulebook. And don't forget the Thousand Sons - I didn't want them to be mindless villains (the sorcerers, at least), and it was important to get them 'right' as well. So that meant reading extracts of the Chaos Space Marine Codex (both old and new), as well as the various snippets about them scattered across the GW canon. I also wanted to get a feel for how Space Marines were being written in contemporary BL books, so got stuck into books like Salamander and Soul Hunter for a flavour of how the universe was being rendered by current authors.

In the end, there were three sources that proved most helpful and influential. The first was Helsreach, which came out just as I was getting started. This was a great inspiration in many ways, but the story structure is also quite similar to the Fang's and I suspect the writing issues were pretty similar. The second was A Thousand Sons, which gave me heaps of ideas for portraying Magnus's sons. I had a long chat with Graham before starting out, as I wanted my Thousand Sons to feel the pain of Prospero in everything they did. For them, it's a matter of decades since the City of Light fell, and they're still coming to terms with it.

The third influence was, of course, the mighty Prospero Burns. I won't be giving any spoilers away if I say that this was one of the finest books I've ever read from BL, and it was a huge help in getting the Space Wolves clear in my head. By the time I got hold of an advance copy I was about a third of the way through Fang, so I had to do some rewrites to make sure everything matched up. In my opinion, Dan has written the definitive Space Wolf book in PB, and I've taken his account as the principal template for my own rendering of the warriors of Fenris.

All that being said, though, BotF is my book. There are ideas there that are totally my own, and I've not tried to copy anyone's style or mannerisms. It was an enormous privilege to portray Fenris in all its savage glory, and to try to tell an epic tale with the action and depth it deserves. I'll have to wait to see what the readers make of it, especially those who play SWs or TSs. Experience tells me that not everyone will agree with my take on the characters, setting and story, since everyone has a different angle on them. But I hope that others will, and that it'll stand up alongside the other Space Wolf stories and further enrich their fantastic background.


1) how long does Black Library usually give you to finish a book? did you choose this project or was it given to you?

Hi MaveriK, and thanks for the idea of doing this. BL books vary in how long they take to write. Some are written as quickly as three months, although there's usually been a few weeks of planning before that, and the proofing stage can also add to that. BotF took a lot longer, as it was Big and Difficult. I was asked to pitch for BotF by BL.



2) like Dan Abnett, he had certain props around him to help him write Prospero Burns, did you do anything similar?

Lots of artwork, and piles of codexes. But mostly the inspiration comes from the music I'm listening to as I type. God bless Spotify.



3) who is a your favorite Space Wolf character and why?

The Dreads. They're awesome. The way I see it, all Space Marines have an ambivalent relationship with being stuck in a giant metal coffin for all eternity. Sure, it's a huge honour and they can keep on fighting, but deep down they know they'll never race toward the enemy with a chainsword in their (real) hand ever again. They're pissed, they're confined, and that makes them utterly terrifying. Space Wolves even more so. Imagine being a Blood Claw - the most reckless and exuberant warrior in the galaxy. You spend your time hurling yourself into combat like the were-rabbit from Holy Grail. Then you're told you can only trundle into contact at two miles per hour and you have to get your mjod through a tube. That's some interesting psychology there.

And, of course, there's the grandaddy. Best Space Wolf character? Bjorn, by a distance.



4) what are your final thoughts on the Space Wolf chapter in comparison to the other chapters of the Imperium.

As I said in the previous post, I think Dan's take on them is the right one. They're savage, but not savages. They're brutal, but not brutes. They're obsessive in pursuit of their goals, and kill without remorse or hesitation. They're executioners, the guys you turn to when you need a job doing with the most extreme kind of prejudice. But they're also capable of extreme loyalty and devotion. They value the human spirit when it stands up and fights. They have no airs - what you see is what you get. They will laugh as they run into battle like a mortal would laugh when falling in love. They're superstitious and backward, but for all that wiser than many more advanced strands of the Imperium. They're extremely simple, and also extremely complicated.

In short, they're brilliant.



5) I would like to ask if the author will shine a light to the lethal native flora and fauna of Fenris aside from the obvious Wolves, like Psyfoxes and cave dragons....? Is the Fang described in lots of detail?

Hi Bulweih. As you'd expect, Fenris gets a lot of attention. I did try to flesh out the planet's unique landscape, and pay attention to the fact that everything on it is trying to kill you. All the time.

Don't expect much focus on the more exotic fauna, since most of the action takes place in the Fang, and this is about Space Marines fighting each other. But there are deep tunnels at the bottom of the fortress, and the story takes us a long way down...



6)I am wondering what authors inspiers him and he looks up to. :-)

I've been pretty vocal about the BL authors I admire, in this thread and elsewhere. As for non-BL writers, I have pretty broad tastes. SF-wise, I like Iain M. Banks, Ursula LeGuin, Christopher Priest, John Wyndham and Margaret Atwood. I also enjoy Robert Harris thrillers, journalism by Joseph Mitchell, and Calvin and Hobbes.

One author I hugely admire is J. K. Rowling. Not for the books (I haven't read any of them), but for her life-story. Anyone who can work that hard and go through so much rejection and maintain belief in her material is a hero. I'm glad she's made a success of herself - she deserves it.



7)Was the battle/war only at the fang or was it global?

Hi dragon950. Your questions touch on stuff that I'd rather leave to the book to tell, so don't assume from my brief responses that they're not good questions (they are).

The book concentrates on the Fang.



8)How many brothers were left to defend the fang? There should be one company left to defend, plus all the different priests, scouts, blood claws that haven't been put in a compnay yet, and dreadnoughts.

Yup, that's about right. More detail in the book.


9)Any ideas on how many thousand sons were attacking the planet. In the third ragnar book it made it seem like there was alot more of them than there were in the HH book.

I took the likely numbers from what's left at the end of A Thousand Sons, accounting for defections to Ahriman, etc., over a millennium. So we're talking hundreds of Rubric Marines rather than thousands. But that doesn't mean there can't be mortal troops as well, on both sides - the ranged forces are pretty big.


10)My thoughts: I know it's much more likely that whenever the Thousand Sons launch an assault on Fenris they would just head straight for the Fang (rather than get shot out of the sky by Fenris' Planetary Defense Guns) but if they were to consider sending forces off to go after the natives how would the SW counter this/ act on it and how would the skirmishes play out?

Hi Orphus. As with my previous post, not much I can say here that isn't answered in the book. The battle focusses on the Fang, just as the Sack of Prospero focussed on Tizca.


11)I've always wanted to know with all Black Library authors how much the stories main details are already decided ?

There's a lot of freedom there. BotF had a couple of restrictions which gave me a few headaches, mostly involving numbers and timing (like the siege lasting 40 days, etc.), but in terms of characters and the unfolding of the action, we get a fairly free hand.


12)I noticed areferance to greylock in the write up on the site, i am interested to see if this is the same greylock aka brother captain greylock from the wolftime campaign released back in the rt book of the astronomicon ?

Ah, no. There's been a slight typo on the BL site here - the character in the book is actually called Vaer Greyloc, and he's a Wolf Lord. He's got no relation to the Greylock you're referring to, who I think would have been fighting in the 40K 'present' (BotF is set in M32).


13)Did you do all your research via books, or who did you talk to for facts on the wolves? What places/groups/films/etc did you find yourself drawing on for their speech and behavior? How do you feel your works line up with William Kings descriptions of the Fang and Fenris?

Hi Grey Mage. I think the first (long!) post at the top of this series of answers mostly covers this question.

Just on Bill King's vision - I do think that my version of Fenris is a little different. That's not because I don't admire King's original (I do), but just because I think that the 40K universe has evolved since those books were written. I've not set out to contradict anything in the Space Wolf saga, but we do get to see a darker, grittier Fenris, which I think is in keeping with the tenor of current 40K writing. Also, remember that there are approximately 8,000 years between the action of BotF and the King Space Wolf books, so you'd expect some things to have changed.


14)Just how peeved are the Wolves that Fenris is being invaded? Does it bring on a righteous fury among the Wolves, making the assault on Prospero seem like puppies playing?

One of the aspects I wanted to play up was the difference between the TSs' defence of Prospero and the SWs' defence of Fenris. Remember that the Thousand Sons were hamstrung by confusion and contradictory impulses - in large part, because the wisest among them recognised that they were being punished for a terrible miscalculation, and that makes the conflict all the more tragic. The Space Wolves have no such uncertainty - they loathe the Traitor with a passion, and they're going to fight like daemons even when it looks like all is lost.

So there are key differences here, but there are also some surprising similarities. The Wolves and the Sons share millennia of mutual hatred and mistrust, and over the centuries they've become more alike than either would admit. The Thousand Sons are driven by a bitterness at their betrayal (as they see it) which makes them far more ruthless than they were in the days of the Crusade. The Wolves have also been badly hurt by the Heresy, and are mistrusted by the wider Imperium almost as much as Magnus once was. One of the great aspects of the Heresy story is the ambiguity between 'good' and 'bad' in the Galaxy - over time, as the Long War drags on, the various factions become more and more alike, and the only real victors are the ever-thirsting gods. In telling a story set in M32, I wanted to start hinting at how this process begins, and how the Galaxy of the young Imperium already exhibits the flaws that will see it degenerate so terribly by 40K.

reds8n wrote:Just for the record, so to speak : the artwork we're seeing on the next Nagash book isn't the finished item, it's really little more than a hurried off placeholder piece.

Jon Sullivan is the chap behind the cover art for the Space Marine Battles and the Time of Legends books. He’s a talented artist, a perfectionist and a little mad. Jon painted a great piece of art for the cover of Nagash Immortal. At least we thought so. Jon on the other hand felt that it wasn’t quite great enough, that a book featuring one of the most infamous characters from the Warhammer world needed something spectacular. So he painted another, from scratch (we love you Jon). And here it is: the new cover-art for Nagash Immortal.
If you can’t remember what the original version looked then be sure to check out the product page, before we update it with the new art tomorrow.

Alpharius wrote:I find it very hard to get into the 'bad guy' books, especially when they're so far along as to be really, really bad - irredeemably so.

"Evil" in the 40K and WFB world tends to be very black and white - and with Chaos being the main antagonist, well, there isn't much to recommend signing up for that side, in the end.

FOr example, I want to pick up "Wulfrik", but I am hesitant to do so, as I can only read about so many 'good people' getting beat down before it gets old.

Am I missing something?

I have plenty of projects lined up for 2011, I’m just not starting the first one yet. That will be Deliverance Lost, my first full-length Horus Heresy novel. In preperation for writing the synopsis and to get my head around things, I am embarking on a complete read-through of the HH series to date. That includes all the short stories and audiobooks too. I’m taking notes as I go along, on certain characters, plot points, elements of style and background, and sketching out my ideas for Deliverance Lost as they occur to me.

It’s an interesting experience. Mostly my research for a new Black Library novel will revolve around brushing up on the various gaming books containing related background – I don’t read other BL novels as preparation. I’m intrigued to see how the HH series unfolds back-to-back. It’s a bit like the difference between watching a TV series week-by-week and watching it as a DVD boxset, or perhaps reading a collected graphic novel of a comic series. You get a different sense of pacing when you don’t have to wait between installments, which sometimes is for the better and sometimes doesn’t work as well.

I have some rewrites coming up too. The Crown of the Conqueror for Angry Robot and Path of the Seer, second installment of The Eldar Path are both with the editors at the moment.

Further into the year will be some audiobooks, probably, as well as Path of the Outcast. I’ve also been talking with BL about my next trilogy for the Time of Legends series. Look out for further announcements, I think it’s one that will cause a bit of a stir and no doubt some will feel it a somewhat contraversial choice, but that’s all for the better as far as I’m concerned.

One of the best things about being a writer, workwise, is that now and then you get money for old rope! In my case, Grudgebearer is being packaged up with two of Nick Kyme’s dwarfs novels in an omnibus edition, along with background material we wrore for the Grudgelore book. It’ll be nice to see Grudgebearer available again, bringing bawdy dwarf drinking songs to a new generation… Plus the money always comes in handy.

Before the end of the year I will also have written The Crown of the Usurper, most likely the concluding part of the series, though that’s not yet been finalised. My mind is wandering onto what to do next for non-BL writing, so we’ll have to see what happens with that.

I’m going to have to be a bit canny with my deadlines this year – with some friends I am heading off to New Zealand in the autumn for the Rugby World Cup, so that will be a big chunk of time (and money!) I have to bear in mind.

As I mentioned earlier I have a signing in Amsterdam at the end of January, plus we have Black Library Live! to look forwards to. There’s also talk of double-teaming with Nick Kyme for the Warhammer Doubles tournament to celebrate the release of the Dwarfs omnibus. Come and say hello at any of these if you get the chance.

Enough waffling. Time to read more about Space Marines, Remembrancers and Primarchs…

Happy New Year to all my lovely Hamsterites!

1hadhq wrote:Good news? IDK.
Isn't the title Deliverance lost ?

I am not sure if I WANT Mr thorpe write about the Raven Guard, as positive as a HH book is.

It better goes 'ravens and their use in mythology' then 'poe'...

Kanluwen wrote:

1hadhq wrote:Good news? IDK.
Isn't the title Deliverance lost ?

I am not sure if I WANT Mr thorpe write about the Raven Guard, as positive as a HH book is.

It better goes 'ravens and their use in mythology' then 'poe'...

He's already written about the Raven Guard. He did the audiobook "Raven's Flight", which is quite exceptional.

1hadhq wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

1hadhq wrote:Good news? IDK.
Isn't the title Deliverance lost ?

I am not sure if I WANT Mr thorpe write about the Raven Guard, as positive as a HH book is.

It better goes 'ravens and their use in mythology' then 'poe'...

He's already written about the Raven Guard. He did the audiobook "Raven's Flight", which is quite exceptional.

A few minutes of an audio book doesn't contain the same risk as a whole HH book. Yes, risk.
His work with Eldar lately may be good ( but I didn't read those books, so? ). Did he not some DA book (s)?

1hadhq wrote:So his only installment of Space Marines was AngelsofDarkness?
Not the best example of SM fluff.

Agreed, he's fine for elves of different eras.

Deliverance Lost should be a bit off, if he has to work through the HH series tough.
Maybe a review of this kadillus purge gves a hint what to expect.

BrookM wrote:What is Dan's novel "Salvation's Reach" going to be about? I do hope it is not a Ghosts novel.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and Keeler is the Remembrancer from the Horus Heresy series with the holy powers and the such.

reds8n wrote:Gildar Rift, The --Space Marine battles book about the Silver Skulls -- by a Dakka member too !

Just Dave wrote: one of the BL Authors on Dakka

Just Dave wrote:oooh oooh oooh!

Ummm...

Aaron Dembski-Bowden?!

Higher or lower?

Pyroriffic wrote:

Just Dave wrote:oooh oooh oooh!

Ummm...

Aaron Dembski-Bowden?!

Higher or lower?

Much, much lower...

Pyroriffic wrote:Much, much lower...

Pyroriffic wrote:

Just Dave wrote:oooh oooh oooh!

Ummm...

Aaron Dembski-Bowden?!

Higher or lower?

Much, much lower...

Kanluwen wrote:You, of course, realize that if we don't like even the smallest bit of your novel we reserve the right to harangue you like chittering Gibbous Monkeys, yes?

BrookM wrote:I saw a picture of you with war paint and a sword and shield hacking into other people, kinda hard to believe.

BrookM wrote:Right, so what famous battle is your novel going to be based on? Can't say that the Gildar Rift sounds familiar.

The Black Library are looking for A:

Digital Assistant

Salary: £14,000 to £18,000


The successful candidate will be responsible for the creation of digital media for Black Library. You will use InDesign and your knowledge of HTML coding to turn our physical products into high quality eBooks. Once created you will handle the upload of these products to various locations for sale, along with the associated product data.

As a key member of the digital team you will also deal with the customer services issues that arise, and as such you should have good communication skills.You will need to be highly flexible and able to move with the demands of the digital market, learning new skills as the market develops. Attention to detail is very important as is the ability to work to tight deadlines.You will have some input into the marketing of our digital products and will work with the team to ensure that we are maximising opportunities.

Key skills required:

•Knowledge of HTML coding
•Good communication
•Enthusiastic self starter with a strong work ethic.
•Experience of both Mac and PC computers anadvantage

If you would like more information then contact Anne Clarke on 0115 9004026 or Caroline Pritchard-Law on 0115 9004057. Should you wish to apply for this role please email your C.V.and covering letter explaining why you would like to be considered for this role to:hr.recruitment@games-workshop.co.uk quoting ref number 200

Closing date: Monday 31st January 2011

The next open submissions window will begin May 2011.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


In 2011 Black Library will be looking for new writers to join the hallowed ranks of our best-selling Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 authors. Prospective authors will be able submit to us in the following ways:

Short Stories

We require a single paragraph summary, a 500-1,000 word synopsis and 1,000 words of sample text. If accepted the final word count for short story manuscripts is typically between 5 and 8 thousand words.

Novels

We require:

•a 1,000 word summary
•chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the entire novel (no more than 6 pages) and
•the first 3 chapters (10,000 words minimum).


When accepted the final word count for novel manuscripts is in the region of 100 thousand words.


Writers whose work we consider fit for publication will be contacted within 8 weeks of a submission window closing. Rejected submissions will not receive a response.

Any submissions which do not adhere to the submissions guidelines will be rejected.

Unfortunately, we are not currently looking for Horus Heresy or Time of Legends submissions .

Please e-mail all submissions as a single attachment (in Word format, 12pt Times) to: submissions@blacklibrary.com (this e-mail address is for submissions only and we will not reply to any queries we receive via this address), there is no automated receipt response.

I haven't had time to prepare a full response to the Gaunt casting ideas yet, but I have been enjoying them. Some in a "what the hell..?" kind of way, and others in a "Oooh, never thought of that one..." style (in the latter camp... Radha Mitchell as Criid, James Purefoy as Bask etc). I will make some picks of my own soon (though you won't like them). In the meantime, please feel free to keep coming up with ideas.

If you want a new task to focus on... Eisenhorn. Casting for him, Ravenor and the crew, if you like, but what I'm REALLY interested in is what he sounds like. Who would you pick to give Gregor Eisenhorn a voice?

Can't imagine why I'd be asking that...

Kanluwen wrote:It is something new.

Something so new, it doesn't come out until February

It's Raven Guard Scouts fighting a guerilla war against Tyranids.

Commander Endova wrote: George Mann. Never heard of him before.

Alpharius wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:It is something new.

Something so new, it doesn't come out until February

It's Raven Guard Scouts fighting a guerilla war against Tyranids.

I'm so there!

I am glad that one of my favorite Legions is finally getting a lot of print time!

Alpharius wrote:Anniversary Edition?

That's a little early...

...and silly.

Black Library wrote:Black Library presents an epic celebration of the art of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Compiled by John Blanche from over thirteen years of astonishing images, Inquis Exterminatus is crammed with art from the past and present. There are pieces which have not been seen since the very earliest incarnations of the Warhammer 40,000 game - and a selection of works produced especially for this book.

BrookM wrote:I mentioned that a page or so ago, it's the upcoming Print on Demand title. I have an original run copy of it, by far my most favoured background book of the hobby. I am a bit tempted to get another copy.

questions that I’ll answer right here.

First up: Promethean Sun

Just what the hell is that all about? (Okay, so I paraphrased a bit…)

This is a novella in much the same format as Iron Warrior and Daenythos that were released by BL last year. The difference with this one is that there won’t be lots of pictures and what have you (other than a fookin’ kick-ass cover by Neil Roberts – aka ‘The Louth Legend’ – here’s a link to his site – this is the first cover he’s done for me and I am soooo looking forward to seeing the results), just lots of story, baby.

It’s intended as a bit of a prequel to a future Vulkan novel (which, fingers firmly crossed, I’ll get to write) and so is set during the years of the Great Crusade. Now, don’t piss and moan because it’s not moving the story along or blah, blah – that’s to come. Be patient, this one builds to that later stuff and does some of the ground work, ‘kay?

The main protagonist is Vulkan, it’s his story really, but you’ll also meet a couple of familiar faces you may have read in Salamander and ‘Forgotten Sons’ from Age of Darkness. Ooh, exciting. You’ll just have to wait and see who they are (but they both kind of introduce the story).

I don’t want to say too much more than that as it’ll spoil it but this is hot Vulkan action with the Salamanders and a bit of a first chance to see them during the Horus Heresy. As mentioned yesterday, I’m about a third of the way through. Look out for this on the BL Direct page as that’s the only place you’ll be able to get it. The powers that be inform me it’s going to available around May this year. Watch out for it going up on pre-order in a few weeks…

And question 2…

Salamanders.

Why? (Again, bit of paraphrasing there…)

It’s something I get asked a lot. I assume it’s along the lines of ‘why did you choose this Chapter to explore and immortalise in print’ rather than ‘why bother doing those lame Salamanders’. Oh, and subscribers to the latter can do one right now. I’ll have no rabble rousers on this blog – no siree.

Dak'ir
Well, the answer is pretty simple: it just sort of happened. The story goes I was writing a couple of things for 40K – my first forays, actually – Assault on Black Reach: The Novel and a short story for Heroes of the Space Marines. I know I wanted to do something different for the anthology and pick a Chapter that no one had written about yet. Salamanders were free, so I went for them. I went off and did my research. I knew a bit about the Chapter, but it wasn’t until I started to track down all the bits of lore that were dotted around stories, Codex box outs and so on that I began to build a picture. Pretty soon I was hooked.

Fire, forging, all that noble spirit and humanity – these guys were proper heroes! Some folks will know that I write about the Dwarfs for Warhammer (omnibus edition coming soon with both my novels, Gav’s dwarfy book and our combined efforts in the background book Grudgelore – all of which is included, plus a short story – sheesh!) and there was a lot of crossover there – other than the height of course.

A tale began to form in my mind. That one I rejected as it didn’t work for me. Then I came up with something else and the nascent beginnings of ‘Fires of War’ started to form in my head. The original story was actually set on an ocean planet but under the waves, a bit like Bio Shock but Lindsey asked me to nix that setting as it was too similar to Oathbreaker in that it involved flooding an underwater complex (it’s a hold in the Dwarf book). Instead, I plumped for a sort of sky city (or loft-city as I call them in the short) and so the world of Stratos was born.

The short, which became a long on account of its 20,000+ word count, was the beginning of my saga. I remember when I was writing it and discussing the story with Steve Parker that he said: ‘You just want to be writing the novel, don’t you?’ He was right. I totally did. In fact, I was so pumped about the whole thing and the characters that I’d created and thought about – A LOT – that I pitched a trilogy to my editors on the back of the short. They loved it and I had three books in the bank to write. I guess that’s why the Tome of Fire trilogy is so closely linked. It’s one big story that I’ve broken down into three volumes.

I’m not sure if any of that really explains why I went for Salamanders. Maybe it helps to know how the whole thing came in being. I can tell you this, though, I feel a tremendous sense of ownership and closeness to the Chapter. They feel like ‘my boys’ in many ways and I absolutely love the fact that so many fans love what I’m doing with them and the story that I’m telling with Dak’ir, Tsu’gan, Pyriel, Elysius, Ba’ken, Iagon and the rest of the gang. It’s especially tremendous how some of the lesser characters like Ba’ken and Elysius have grown so much with the telling. From what was essentially a character piece driven by Dak’ir, the trilogy has become a real ensemble epic.

I’m going to do more and as soon as I’m done with Nocturne I’ll be planning the Circle of Fire trilogy. Meantime, I need to travel back about 10,000 years and get on with Promethean Sun.

Thanks again for all the questions and I hope you keep coming back for more. Cheers!

reds8n wrote:Colour plates are ..hmm.. alright : nice Adrian Wood picture of Belial, and a doubvle page map of the combat areas.. which one can actually read, which is nice. Handy little geek pleasing full list of the DA forces in the campaign at the back.

reds8n wrote: Colour plates are ..hmm.. alright : nice Adrian Wood picture of Belial, and a doubvle page map of the combat areas.. which one can actually read, which is nice. Handy little geek pleasing full list of the DA forces in the campaign at the back.

Alpharius wrote:"novella" meaning "in print" then, right?

do you mean Adrian Smith...I hope!?!?

One of GW best people that they let go at some point

Welcome to the first in a hopefully long series of interviews carried out for you by The Painted Dragon.

First up is Dan Abnett.

About Dan
Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is a British comic book writer and novelist.
As one of the more prolific 2000 AD writers, Abnett was responsible for the creation of one of the comic’s better known, and longest-running, strips of the last decade, Sinister Dexter. Other original stories include Black Light, Badlands, Atavar, Downlode Tales, Sancho Panzer, Roadkill and Wardog, based on the game of the same name. Abnett has also contributed to some of the comic’s major ongoing series, including Judge Dredd, Durham Red and Rogue Trooper.

He has written novels set in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe (Military science fiction genre). They include the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, the Eisenhorn trilogy and Ravenor and more recently, the first book of the Horus Heresy series, the SF bestseller “Horus Rising”. He has also written five Warhammer Fantasy novels. He also wrote a novel for the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood called Border Princes in 2007.

Dan Abnett’s Website

The interview

Macewind: Hi Dan, I’d like to thank you for agreeing to take time out of your busy scedual to take part in this interveiw. The internet is buzzing about the recent Ultramarines movie, so I guess ill start the questions there.

Mace: Did you find writing the script for Ultramarines more or less challenging than writing a novel?

Dan: It was differently challenging

The sheer word count workload of a novel is greater, but there are so many things about a screenplay that are specific to a screenplay so it brings demands of it sown. It was different mindset, and it took a lot of careful thought to hit the best balance between what we could manage to put in the movie and what NEEDED to go int he movie.

Mace: If Codex Pictures approached you again – which race would you most like to focus on?

Dan: I’d want to do more Space Marines, with Imperial Guards, maybe? And Tyranids.

Mace: The movie has received mix reveiws, have you had a chance to watch it yet, and if so, what did you think of it?

Dan: Nothing pleases everyone all the time. I think some of the comments have been honest and fair, while others seem to have come from an angry, vocal minority for whom nothing is ever right. I’m delighted with it. It’s fun, it’s got some great action and great moments, and I know how much genuine effort and intent went into it. Space Marines shooting Chaos Marines, on film. What’s not to love?

Onto writing in general.

Mace: Which writers inspired you growing up and which books stick in your mind the most as influential works.

Dan: Ray Bradbury for Dandelion Wine, Alan Garner for Elidor and the Owl Service, Jack Vance for the Demon Prince novels, HP Lovecraft for everything he wrote, John Buchan for Greenmantle, Edgar Rice Burroughs for Pellucidar and Mars, Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Keith Laumer, John Wyndham…

Mace: Are your characters based on real people? And do you ever grow attached to them and miss them when they die? (the characters)

Dan: Some are definitely based on real people…and oh yes, I miss some of them a lot.

Mace: What is your approach to writing – daily word quotas (and if so, what are they), weekly quotas, creating detailed outline that is strictly adhered to, more free-form writing, or any combination of both?

Dan: I write 2-3 thousand words a day, and switch at lunchtime to comic book scripting. I use to be a very loose plotter, but since my Adventure with Epilepsy, I have become much tighter about planning. I’ve also become a real morning person: no more late nights working.

Mace: You’ve written a duology with Graham McNeil – what other BL writer would you most like to try that with?

Dan: Graham and I get on well, and we’d done it before (kinda) with the first two Horus books. The Horus books are generally very collaborative, but I reckon I could happily play the same kind of character tennis with Jim Swallow or Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

And now your books.

Mace: When you suffered from your recent illness (I hope you are now fully recovered!), did you change your mind or make any changes to prospero burns?

Dan: I am, thank you. No, it just took longer

Mace: Who is your favourite character from the ones you have created for your novels?

Dan: Maybe Loken or Rawne? John Grammaticus? Harlon Nayl or Kara Swole? Tough question!

Mace: How many Gaunt’s Ghosts novels are in the pipeline before the conclusion of the current story arc, and is it the last Ghosts story arc?

Dan: Three more to finish this arc. I’m working on the latest – Salvation’s Reach – right now. It isn’t the last arc.

Mace: Are we going to see more Malus Darkblade books?

Dan: yes

Mace: Are there any current plans for titles where legions that took smaller parts in the Horus Heresy, such as the Salamanders and Night Lords receive ‘top billing’?

Dan: We’ll try and cover everyone one way or another, either in a book of their ‘own’, or as part of a major storyline.

Mace: I would like to know if there is a book planned, that shows the Horus Heresy from the sight of the Eldar or another Xenos race?

Dan: It’s a possibility

Mace: You expressed an interest in the past for writing a novel based on a Tyranid planetry invasion – from the perspective of lowly citizens to Guardsmen and PDF forces; will this be combined into your Gaunt’s Ghost or Inquisitorial series?

Dan: If I get to do it, it will be stand alone. No one will survive.

Mace: Can we expect a Space Marine Battles book from you in the future, or is that not a series that would hold a great deal of interest to you?

Dan: I’d like to do one, actually. It’s just a matter of finding a slot to fit it into.

Mace: And that concludes the interveiw! Thank you again for your time and I wish you every success with your future work.

Dan: Thank you! It’s been fun!

Interview by
Macewind, TPD Admin

Dan wrote:

Ray Bradbury for Dandelion Wine, Alan Garner for Elidor and the Owl Service, Jack Vance for the Demon Prince novels, HP Lovecraft for everything he wrote, John Buchan for Greenmantle, Edgar Rice Burroughs for Pellucidar and Mars, Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Keith Laumer, John Wyndham…

reds8n wrote:

One of GW best people that they let go at some point

You know he works, and has done since he left WD, for BL right ?

I did like the retconned ending where Sigmar himself curses the vampire kind to for all time fear him and his name. Which in the past was something Nagash did because the original vampires (from the Nagash novels) abandoned him.

Ozymandias wrote:Am I the only one who remembers the Purging of Kallidus as the garage campaign that Andy Chambers ran with his buds?

The fact they are now writing novels about it would blow my mind if I was one of the participants.

Ozymandias wrote:Am I the only one who remembers the Purging of Kallidus as the garage campaign that Andy Chambers ran with his buds?

Welcome to the second in the series of interviews carried out for you by The Painted Dragon.

This time we have Graham Mcneil.

After writing a story in primary school about a giant octopus smashing up a boat, Graham realised that making stuff up was easier (and a lot more fun) than reality and decided at an early age that he was either going to be a binman or a writer. Fortunately, a life on the bins wasn’t on the cards and, after escaping a stint as a building surveyor in Glasgow, he headed south in 2000 to join Games Workshop’s Games Development Team. Here he worked on projects such as the Tau, Necrons, Witch Hunters, Space Marines and Black Templars codexes for Warhammer 40,000, Conquest of the New World and The Empire for Warhammer, and The Two Towers for The Lord of the Rings. As well as all this, he was involved in running Studio campaigns and collecting the odd toy soldier.

Between populating the various Warhammer universes with fiends and heroes, he’s written a host of short stories for the Black Library and over twenty novels, which came about when he was approached in a seedy bar (well, Bugman’s) and asked if he’d like to write a novel involving a codex chapter of Space Marines. After a full microsecond’s thought he said yes and five months later, the first Uriel Ventris novel, Nightbringer, was published. Later Graham turned to his darker side and wrote Storm of Iron, featuring the twisted servants of Chaos in form of the Iron Warriors. More Uriel Ventris novels followed, Warriors of Ultramar and Dead Sky, Black Sun, as well as three novels set in the dark and dangerous Warhammer World; the Ambassador, Ursun’s Teeth and Guardians of the Forest.

Following that it was a return to the 40K universe, but in a slightly different way, penning False Gods, a novel of the Horus Heresy (which seemed to do alright…), the second book in the opening trilogy of this epic period.

Graham left Games Workshop in the summer of 2006 and now works as a full-time freelancer, spending most of his days locked in a tiny office and dreaming up new and dangerous ways to start wars in the Warhammer universes and put his characters through hell on the pages of his novels, short stories and background books. His latest Horus Heresy novel, A Thousand Sons, was a New York Times bestseller, and Empire, the second novel in the Sigmar trilogy won the 2010 David Gemmell Legend Award for best fantasy novel.
Graham McNiell’s Website
The Interview

Mace: Which writers inspired you as you grew up, and which books stick in your mind the most as influential works?

GM: I was (and still am) massively influenced by David Gemmell. I love the heroic aspect he brings to his characters, the grit to the fantasy and the sweep of the landscapes they inhabit. Waylander has always been my favourite of his books, though The King Beyond the Gate would give it a run for its money. Clive Barker has been a great influence too, the sheer breadth of his imagination staggers me when I go back to reading his books – especially Imajica and Weaveworld. Beyond that, I’ll admit to not having read a lot of ‘classic’ SF, but have latterly gotten into writers like Gene Wolf, Conan Doyle, Verne and so on. And it would be rude not to mention Dan Abnett, who writes 40k like everyone wants to.
Did you always want to be a writer or was it something you naturally fell into?

GM: Yeah, I think it was something I was always going to do, and just kind of took my time getting there via university and a few other jobs in-between. I don’t think anyone ‘falls’ into writing, I think that its something their born to do, and will go there in the end if they get the chance. If you want to be a writer, you’ll not be happy doing anything else. I certainly never was, and that’s why I think, since an early age, I always knew I’d have to tell stories for a living or else risk being very unhappy in work and life.

Mace: You published about recently travelling to Paris and Lille to do some book signings, does it ever amaze you the sheer amount of popularity your books receive, especially overseas in other countries?

GM: It’s always amazing to imagine your books being read, let alone in another language. Every author hopes his books will get to the widest audience possible, but to cross the language barrier and be read in many, many different languages is just amazing. Every time I go abroad, whether it’s to an English speaking country or not, I’m always blown away by the passion and enthusiasm folk have for my books. It never gets old seeing eager faces who clearly like the books coming up to see me. It never gets any less strange either, ‘You’re queuing to see me??’. It’s the strangest life I’ve ever known…

Mace: How do you plan a book? Do you have the ending already worked out or does the story grow on its own?

GM: A little of both, but mostly the former. My synopsis style is quite verbose, as I like to make sure the editors get how things play out along the way and don’t need to scratch their heads wondering how the characters get from situation A to B. Knowing how it’s ‘likely’ to play out is kind of like having a safety net, but one that’s a bit frayed around the edges. Going into a novel, I like my plots to be robust enough to stand up to scrutiny and offer me a good guide (and that’s all it is really, it’s not Rand McNally or Ordnance Survey) but has enough flex in its bones to adapt to better ideas that often occur along the way. The folks at Black Library like to know what they’re getting before they commission a novel, but they understand that novels are organic things that grow in their own way, and sometimes won’t end up the way you planned. Sometimes the characters demand their own stories, folk you planned to kill off won’t let you, or, now that you’ve got into the nitty gritty of the book, some of the logic doesn’t quite hold up. All those things can help twist the story in ways you didn’t expect, so it’s best if your plan can meet those changes and still work out pretty much the way you wanted. If you read the synopses of most of my novels, you’d not recognise half of them.

Mace: Are your characters based on real people? And do you ever grow attached to them and miss them when they die? (the characters)

GM: The only person I’ve based a character on is myself (though I didn’t realise that until someone pointed it out to me) in the Ambassador. It’s never a good idea to base characters on folk you know, as they can get upset if you do terrible things to them or portray them in unsympathetic ways. Anyway, it’s more fun to invent my own characters!

Mace: What is your favourite book, and character that you’ve written and why?

GM: I get asked that a lot, and it’s always a tough question to answer. The glib answer is ‘the one I’m working on now’, but that’s a little disingenuous. The one I can go back to and actually read, as opposed to dipping into for background research, is The Ambassador Chronicles, as I think it’s a nice, self-contained pair of books that tell their story in an energetically direct way and don’t outstay their welcome. I’m very proud of all my books, and each one has a particular memory attached to it that makes it special: Nightbringer for being my first, A Thousand Sons because I was writing it when my son, Evan, was born. And so on. When it comes to characters, it’s often not the big guns that stay with you as favourites, it’s often the smaller roles. Pasanius and Honsou are immense fun to write, as is Wolfgart from the Sigmar books, but I can’t deny that I love writing the heroic exploits of Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines and Sigmar of the Unberogen.

Mace: What army is your favourite to write about.

GM: I don’t write about ‘armies’ as such, so I can’t really answer that. Tyranids are fun to write, as they’re so alien and unknowable and scary that they make great antagonists. I’m going to be writing about Necrons soon, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of making them properly scary and serried. It’s the character of the characters that makes them favourites to write about, not what army they come from.

Mace: If you could invent a brand new army to introduce to the 40k world, what/who would it be?
GM: Fishmen of Aquapolis Binary. Or maybe not. I don’t know yet, but when I get going on my new trilogy (starting towards the end of 2011…) I’ll be introducing a lot of new things into the galaxy. The characters are going to be venturing into vast swathes of wilderness space that the Imperium hasn’t even begun to survey yet. So we’ll see what happens there…

Mace: Any current plans for titles where legions that took smaller parts in the Horus Heresy, such as the Salamanders and Night Lords receive ‘top billing’?

GM: Not for me, no, but I expect both the Legions you name to have a little firelight shone on them soon. Once I get done with The Outcast Dead, I’ll be hitting one of the biggest Legions…

Mace: I would like to know if there is a book planed, that shows the Horus Heresy from the sight of the Eldar or another Xenos race?

GM: I bet you would. So would I. Since the Heresy engulfs them as well, I’d be surprised if we don’t see something from their perspective, but whether that’s a full novel, I don’t know.

Mace: If Codex Pictures approached you – would you be interested in writing a script and which faction would you most like to focus on?

GM: Of course I would. I’d love to write an Ultramarines movie if there’s to be a sequel. But as Dan did such a fine job on the first one, who knows what will happen. If it wasn’t to be an Ultramarines movie, then I dunno, maybe a Chaos one or an Ork one.

Mace: Will you be writing anything more of the Thousand Sons in the future?

GM: I think there’s certainly scope for another one, but it wouldn’t be for a while. When there’s so many new avenues to explore, it’s often counter-intuitive to go back to folk you’ve dealt with before. The main beats of their story has been told (as it’s known anyway…) and the main biggie of the Rubric doesn’t happen until after the Heresy. I became very attached to the Thousand Sons over the course of the book, so I’d be surprised if I don’t go back to them before it’s all over. I’d love to do a 40k story of Ahriman, where – in his mind – he’s still loyal, and is still fighting to prove that Chaos can be mastered and that the Emperor was wrong to chastise Magnus. Of course, he’s lost sight of the horrors he’s inflicting along the way, but that’s Chaos for you…

Mace: I would love to know if there will be another Iron Warriors book. Do you think the real Fulgrim is still around in the 40k universe, still trapped somewhere inside his painting?

GM: I suspect that Honsou is too bad to stay down for long, but how, where or if he’ll return with an Iron Warriors book is something I’ll need to think about. If there’s a story that he’d be perfect for, then I think he’ll come back. But I won’t bring him back just for the sake of it, only if there’s a good reason for him to be strutting around. As to Fulgrim, his presence in the portrait is something I quite fancy addressing in the Heresy series. Maybe some Emperor’s Children find out about it and, finding the idea repellent, try to do something about it. Not sure, but I think it’s a nice is he/isn’t he dangling hook.

Mace: Will we have more Ventris novels?

GM: You will indeed. The Chapter’s Due was NOT the last book, merely the end of an arc. I have the next three sketched out in my head already, and I can’t wait to get started on them, though it’s likely to be a little while as other projects elbow their way to the front of the schedule queue.

Mace: I’ve read you have Tau and Necron armies. Do you get to play often and do you write personalized background for your armies and units?

GM: I don’t get to play nearly as much as I used to (or would like to), but I still get my weekly fix of gaming in the roleplay group I’m part of. Writing and life and looking after my little boy often get in the way of gaming, but when he’s older, I’m sure we’ll be rolling dice and moving toy soldiers every week… I have self-penned backgrounds for my Tau and Empire armies, though not my Necrons (I like their faceless, unknown quality), and the Ultramarines 4th company army I have has its background in the novels, so that saves a job…

Mace: You’ve written a duology with Dan Abnett – how did you find that and what other BL writer would you most like to try that with?

GM: Writing with Dan was a great experience, and we’ve collaborated several times on varying projects, each time with great results. I think we’ve both enjoyed the creative buzz you get in throwing ideas back and forth and seeing what comes out of the process. Dan always inspires me, and hopefully he goes away with fresh ideas and perspectives. I suppose we must like it, as we keep doing it! Long may it continue. As to other writers I’d like to collaborate with, well in the Horus Heresy, we all work together on the stories, characters and plots, so I guess I get to work with them when we have our pow-wows at BL towers.

And thats the lot! Thanks again for your time and I wish you every success with your future works.

Interview by
Macewind, TPD Admin.

So we were in the recording studio yesterday putting together our first ever all-girl Warhammer 40,000 audio drama - Red & Black, featuring the Sisters of Battle - and it was a pretty good day. Although I think I may have broken the voices of our actresses with all the shouting and snarling...

This audio story features the talent of the brilliant Beth Chalmers (previously heard in Black Library's Throne of Lies and Aenarion audios), who brought the character of Sister Miriya from my novel Faith & Fire to life. Joining Beth was the equally excellent Lisa Bowerman, better known as the titular heroine of the Bernice Summerfield audio series from Big Finish Productions. Lisa swapped acting and directing duties with the venerable Toby Longworth this time around.

Red & Black will be out later in the year; it's a prequel to Faith & Fire (which will also get a reprint soon) and be followed by the next adventure of the Sisters, Hammer & Anvil.

But before that, Legion of One - my next Horus Heresy audio - will be out, and with it the anthology Victories of the Space Marines. I listened to Legion of One last night, and it's stellar work from Toby and Lisa, along with some epic sound design and music by Jamie Robertson.

As for Victories of the Space Marines, the anthology includes a reprint of my story Heart of Rage. This was one of the first Black Library audios, and it was previously only available in text form in the Blood Angels print-on-demand collection The Book of Blood.

When Heart of Rage was originally produced, we had to trim it for length to fit the story on a single CD, but when Black Library decided to reprint the text version of the story, I made sure we got the full-spec "uncut" text.

reds8n wrote:Yeah, that would be good, I've seen that sell for £200+.. which is too steep for my pockets.

reds8n wrote: Sword of Vengence is turning out to be a cracking read, and Helion Rain was enjoyable enough. need to give it another listen or two before passing final judgement.

Just Dave wrote:Note: I see you appear to have changed your flag too - France are we?

BrookM wrote:

Just Dave wrote:Note: I see you appear to have changed your flag too - France are we?

Oh you silly American, I'm far too brave to be a frog.

Just Dave wrote:

BrookM wrote:

Just Dave wrote:Note: I see you appear to have changed your flag too - France are we?

Oh you silly American, I'm far too brave to be a frog.

American?!

While I only (ha, “only”) have one novel being released in 2011 – Blood Reaver, the sequel to Soul Hunter – I’ve got the next several 40K novels on my plate fairly close to organised and loosely planned out. In fact, 2011 needs to be spent writing two of them, which will be the Grey Knights novel, and the last of the Night Lords trilogy, which I’ve currently named I Can’t Name this Book, and I Keep Changing My Mind over the Title.

- I’ve also promised myself to get enough of my non-40K novel cracked so I can send it to agents and kickstart that side of my career. It currently creeps by under the working title Annabelle’s Blood, which is very apt, but I’d like it a lot more if half my sci-fi novels didn’t already have that damn noun in their names, too.

I’ve also got several short stories and a novella coming out. Not sure how much I can blab about any of them, but here’s the skinny on what’s confessable:

- The novella is one of Black Library’s limited edition range, and it’s a Horus Heresy novella. I’ve toyed with notions of a Mechanicum plot in the past, but it never felt quite right. This was a big deal for me, and it had to be something damn special because of the format, but it couldn’t be essential to the saga due to the limited edition nature of the whole deal.

The story I decided to tell was actually chosen by all the freaking mail I’ve had since The First Heretic went live. “What did Lorgar witness in the Eye of Terror?”

Good question, 500,000 people. I’ll get back to you all on that later this year.

- One of the short stories I’ll be doing is the prologue / teaser / test for my potential future Rise of the Warmaster series, featuring Abaddon the Despoiler in the years after the defeated Legions retreat to the Eye.

- My Grey Knights novel has the working title of The Emperor’s Gift. (You may now stop asking and/or sending me suggestions.) In a spot of intriguing news, and with no spoilers allowed, it has a strong tie to Dan’s Eisenhorn/Ravenor series, and it’s set in the same era. But neither of us are saying a word more about it, yet. The phone line has burned over this one, and to say I’m excited as all hell would still be an understatement. If it doesn’t rock on toast, you have my permission to shoot me in the face.

- Yeah, I’m doing another Horus Heresy novel, but not in 2011. No, I can’t say what it’s about yet. It’s still a long way away, and I have more immediate stuff I want to write.

Pyroriffic wrote:Oooh, shall look forward to seeing you there, Mr. Red.

BrookM wrote:Here's hoping he finally gets to write about the World Eaters.

Lint wrote:

BrookM wrote:Here's hoping he finally gets to write about the World Eaters.

Nah, Counter will get the WE novel, and we'll be graced with lines like "Overlapping fields of fire" and "Sons of Angron/Dorn/Russ/Corax/Fulgrim/" ad naseum, about once every page.

reds8n wrote:

Pyroriffic wrote:Oooh, shall look forward to seeing you there, Mr. Red.

There is a pint/similar with your name on it coming your way.

For the dramatic finale of Nick’s trilogy, Nocturne, we decided to show a different kind of Salamander and artist Cheoljoo Lee has brought Librarian Dak'ir to life in this striking cover. Check out the close up below to see that glint of psychic power in his eyes ...



We have much more great cover art to bring you so check back over the next few days.

BrookM wrote:There is this one Chapter, but that one has sadly been ruined to the point of non-canon thanks to a certain author with a love for Eldar.

reds8n wrote:http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/coming-soon/the-gildar-rift.html

..from a hotly tipped, occassionally hungover, up and coming young* author.

Pyroriffic wrote:
* Occasionally hungover. Yes. This is... sadly... true. It's the whole fragile female thing. And the fact that I put away the best part of a vineyard on Tuesday night.

Yes. Blue and silver is a quite lovely combination, though I say so myself. Very cold. Harsh, almost...

If it was 'hotly tipped' in the sense that people threw lots of money at me, I'd buy into that wholesale

Pyroriffic wrote:

reds8n wrote:http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/coming-soon/the-gildar-rift.html

..from a hotly tipped, occassionally hungover, up and coming young* author.

Point Clarifications

* If it was 'hotly tipped' in the sense that people threw lots of money at me, I'd buy into that wholesale. But thank you anyway.

* Occasionally hungover. Yes. This is... sadly... true. It's the whole fragile female thing. And the fact that I put away the best part of a vineyard on Tuesday night.

* Up and coming young author. I AM young. You know, compared to say, a 900 year old Timelord.

Yes. Blue and silver is a quite lovely combination, though I say so myself. Very cold. Harsh, almost...

Kanluwen wrote:Is it bad that my mind went in a totally bad direction from that comment? Curse you, Pyro!

Kanluwen wrote:And Gildar Rift features Huron, huh? Interesting.

Blood of Aenarion preview
Fans of William King were excited to hear about the upcoming new trilogy featuring High Elf princes Tyrion and Teclis (and if you missed it, you can see the BLTV interview with the author himself). We now have Raymond Swanland's art for the cover of Blood of Aenarion, featuring Tyrion himself! This is the first time we have featured this famous High Elf prince on the cover of a novel and we think Raymond has done a brilliant job.



Raymond lives in sun-drenched Honolulu, so we're not sure how he ends up producing artwork that is so dark and visceral!



Check back next week to see what fantastic new pieces of art we reveal every day here on our blog.

Kanluwen wrote:Get back to work, Pyro!

Kanluwen wrote:No, I'm just trying to be motivational!

Think of me as the friendly neighborhood Commissar, but more Gaunt than Hark.

Thanquol's Doom
Winona Nelson, who clearly hates Dwarfs, painted this striking cover for the forthcoming Thanquol's Doom.




Bet that Dwarf wishes he'd worn his helmet.



Nothing says 'fear me!' like standing on your enemy's cannon, pointing a massive sword at him and opening your glowing maw.


Winona has also painted the cover for Bloodborn and the upcoming Bloodforged, which is currently an office favourite. More please Miss Nelson !

reds8n wrote:Let's see what goodness Bl bring us this week then :

Huron is coming through the Gildar Rift
Jon Sullivan has out done himself. This fantastic piece of art will appear on the cover for upcoming novel The Gildar Rift. We think this might just be the best cover for a Space Marine Battles novel yet. What do you think?



Huron Blackheart, possibly the scariest individual in the 41st Millenium.



Don't forget that all of the previously released Space Marine Battles novels are now available as eBooks.

narked wrote:Gonna be a lovely looking book when it comes out, let's hope the words match up!

Will be taking pride of place on my shelves when it gets released, hopefully with Pyro chained up in the vicinity with a pen

Pyroriffic wrote:
Jon Sullivan is totally The Man.

The Red Duke is one of the most vicious vampires to stalk the Old World, and we think Cheoljoo Lee’s art for the forthcoming Warhammer Heroes novel reflects that perfectly. Cheoljoo has produced a blood-chilling portrait that, like his covers for the Salamanders series, is dark, moody and dripping with menace. We particularly like the perspective, making you feel like the vampire’s next victim...we won’t sleep for a week now.

Black Library wrote:The Keeler Image

Eisenhorn's back and so is Clint Langley with another great image of everyone's favourite inquisitor (aside from the one in the floating chair, obviously). This striking depiction of a young Gregor Eisenhorn will appear on the cover of the forthcoming audio drama "The Keeler Image".

"The Keeler Image" will be the Black Library's first ever double-disc audio drama and ties in nicely to the existing "Eisenhorn Omnibus".

Just Dave wrote:I'm not a fan of Audio Books either, but I guess I'll have to try getting into them again; particularly the Horus Heresy ones. I like Corax too much to not listen to them!

Alpharius wrote:

Just Dave wrote:I'm not a fan of Audio Books either, but I guess I'll have to try getting into them again; particularly the Horus Heresy ones. I like Corax too much to not listen to them!

Same exceptions will be made here - HH Series stuff only!

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I am quite fond of Dan Abnett’s writing – indeed, I have reviewed seven of his novels (not including short-stories featured in anthologies), making him the most-featured author on this blog, I believe.

From his highly successful and long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts Warhammer 40,000 war series, his three contributions to Black Library’s New York Times Bestselling Horus Heresy series, and his stand-alone humorous alternate-history novel Triumff, there seems to be no end to the man’s talent for writing engaging, thoughtful speculative fiction. I do not know his comic work as well as I think I should, but I do know that I’ve read a good deal of his work for 2000AD, which I read when I was younger.



This past week, I was lucky that both Dan and his partner-in-all-things, Nik Vincent, were able to take some time from their busy schedules to answer some questions about their work. So without further ado, here’s what they had to say…

First off, some questions for Dan...

Prospero Burns, your latest novel in the Horus Heresy series (and New York Times Bestseller) was recently released. How would you introduce it to newcomers and also long-time readers of the series?

It’s the next epic chunk of the mythology, but it works as a stand-alone novel too. It’s about one (human) man’s interaction with the most savage and strange (post-human) Space Marine legion, and the truths he discovers about the heresy as a result. It’s about witnessing history.



What’s it like working on such a large project with other authors, and how did you find the writing process for this novel? Are there any Horus Heresy storylines you’d like to pursue?

It’s enormously satisfying collaborating with the other BL writers, throwing ideas around, spit-balling. We push each other in interesting ways. And there are certainly events and legions I’d want to write about. Some of the most exciting are the ones that I’m doing next – which I’m not supposed to talk about!

Who would you say is the biggest influence on your work?

Undoubtedly Nik, as my first reader.

One of your most popular series is Gaunt’s Ghosts. Do you have any plans of revisiting the series in the future, and – after 13 novels (including Salvation’s Reach) – how much longer do you see it lasting? Any interesting observations about the development of that series (past and future)?

There’s a good way to go yet, at least four or five more novels before I foresee an end. I love the fact that, at nearly a million and a half words, it’s become so character driven and interwoven, and that people care about the characters – deeply. I think it’s still staying pretty accessible though. It’s a proper, old-fashioned adventure.



Black Library is about to publish a collection of your Warhammer fiction: Thunder & Steel. What differences do you find, writing Warhammer and 40k fiction? Is there a big difference in your working practice? Do you think you’ll return to Warhammer-writing at any point soon?

I’d love to, but the demand is less. 40K is much more popularly taken up by the readers, and so that’s where Black Library likes to focus my efforts. But I’d love to do some more. I have a splendid idea for a chunky Warhammer novel, and fantasy is a great change of pace.

What was it like being the writer for Games Workshop’s first movie?

Scary, strange, intimidating, fun, educational, satisfying.



Embedded, your next novel through Angry Robot, is being released this year – what can we expect from it, and how did you come up with the premise?

It’s combat SF, so sort of the kind of thing I’m known for from Gaunt, etc. But this is a closer future, and the context is more political. It’s more of a tough-edged military thriller. It’s harder and less of a glossy adventure. It’s about a reporter who is literally embedded in a front line soldier to observe a war. He sees through the soldier’s eyes, feels what the soldier feels. I’m not sure where the idea came from – it was just there one day. I’m extremely proud of the novel.

And over to Nik...

You wrote Hammers of Ulric and Gilead’s Blood with Dan (both are included in the Thunder & Steel omnibus). How do you feel about them, a decade on? Might we see more of Gilead and the White Wolves in the future?
I just re-read Gilead’s Blood and thought that it stood up rather well. I have a great fondness for those early Warhammer novels, and often wonder why we didn’t write more of them. There is some talk of revisiting Gilead, although nothing is written in stone yet. I’d certainly like to give him another outing, and it’s always a pleasure to write with Dan.



What was it like writing with Dan? Any artistic disagreements?

I’ve been working with Dan virtually every day for a long time, certainly since before the first Black Library novels. Writing is a solitary occupation, but I’ve always been Dan’s first reader and sort of PA, and I’ve regularly helped him brainstorm ideas and work up plots. Writing together is an extension of that process. We brainstorm the plots and then divide up the work. I think it’s made even easier because we live together, so Dan would only have to look up from his work and say, “Can you put a skin of good elf wine in your first chapter, so I can use it later”, and there it would be.

After your short story in the Sabbat Worlds Anthology, there have been hints that you might be returning to writing: can you confirm anything? (Truthiness of this statement, project details, etc.)

I was thrilled to be asked to contribute to the Sabbat Worlds Anthology, alongside three New York Times bestselling authors, and even more thrilled when readers seemed to like what I’d done. There is talk of a possible novel set on the same occupied planet, and I’d love to get to grips with it. Nick Kyme, who also contributed a great story to the collection, and who is on the publishing team at Black Library, is working with me on the plotting right now.

And questions for you both...

What were your first forays into writing? How do you feel about it/them today?
Nik: I wrote a novel when I was about 14 as a school project. It makes me cringe now, of course. Sadly, I no longer have those exercise books, but perhaps that’s just as well.

Dan: Probably writing and drawing my own comics, aged nine or ten. They probably do still exist, in an attic somewhere. That’s worrying.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? How do you find the differences working in fiction, comics and shared universe fiction?
Nik: I love to write, but, actually, I tend to think of myself more as a copy editor. I guess that’s all those years spent as Dan’s first reader.

Dan: I love my job, and I am very grateful for it. If I wasn’t doing it for a living, I’d be trying to find a way to do it. I really enjoy – and, creatively, benefit from – the variation the specific challenges of those different things offer.

What projects do you both have in the pipeline (novels, comics, etc.)?
Nik: I’m looking for an agent for three novels that I wrote over the last couple of years, so that takes up a chunk of time. I have three more novels that I’m working up research for, and, of course, I’m working with Nick Kyme and Christian Dunn on more Gilead and that occupation-word novel, so I’m pretty busy.

Dan: A new Gaunt’s Ghosts novel, a new Horus Heresy novel, a movie and two other book projects I can’t talk about, plus comics: Sinister Dexter, Heroes For Hire, Soldier Zero, The Annihilators...

Who are you reading at the moment (fiction and/or non-fiction), and which books/movies/etc of 2011 are you most looking forward to?

Nik: Right now, I’m reading Traitor General by Dan, as research for my 40K novel, and I’m loving it. I rarely have the time to reread material, so this is a bit of a treat. I try to read a lot of the novels published by Angry Robot, as their output is very impressive, and I always look forward to anything new from Kaaron Warren, Lauren Beukes and Trent Jamieson, in particular. I also like to keep an eye on which art exhibitions are coming to London. Anything that stimulates the mind is grist to the mill when it comes to the work.

Dan: I’m reading a book on the siege of Byzantium, like you do. Then I fancy re-reading Foundation, and Alan Moore’s From Hell.

The Outcast Dead final cover
Back in December, we showed you Neil Robert’s sketches for Graham McNeill’s next Horus Heresy novel. Since then, we have been inundated with requests to see the finished artwork. So, without further ado (and to give us more space in our inbox):



This is the story’s hero, an astropath on the run in the bowels of Terra, and his unlikely protectors. You’ll have to wait until later in the year to find out more. For now, have the whole cover to sate your appetites. And don’t say we never give you anything.



The Outcast Dead will be out in November, but watch out for more exciting Horus Heresy releases in the meantime…

reds8n wrote:and "Savage Scars" is sat here as well.

BrookM wrote:The way that refuelling scene is described was, pardon the pun, nightmare fuel really. Wasn't it the warp core that they refuelled IIRC, that might explain why the serfs all withered and burned up. Also, the part where they stumbled upon a silent and unresponsive Ajax was just plain scary.

reds8n wrote:

BrookM wrote:The way that refuelling scene is described was, pardon the pun, nightmare fuel really. Wasn't it the warp core that they refuelled IIRC, that might explain why the serfs all withered and burned up. Also, the part where they stumbled upon a silent and unresponsive Ajax was just plain scary.

I think so... but comments made here and there and some rereading makes me wonder exactly what is/was inside the refuelling caskets....

All-new Horus Heresy & Eisenhorn short stories

Viva la Revolucion! The novel is dead, long live the short story!

Perhaps not, but there is a lot to be said for short fiction: it allows authors to explore a new genre or develop a group of characters without committing to a full novel. As readers we benefit too: a short story can prove the ideal accompaniment to a longer novel and give us a chance to fit in a whole adventure before bed.


Our own monthly short story collection, Hammer and Bolter, has received a great response from you guys and our authors alike. In fact, it’s been so popular that we’ve decided to launch a range of short stories that you can download for only £1.50 each. We’re kicking things off with two Eisenhorn short stories from Dan Abnett – ‘Missing in Action’ and ‘Backcloth for a Crown Additional’. Both stories previously appeared in the Eisenhorn Omnibus but this is the first time they’ve been available separately – pre-order them now.


This month’s issue of Hammer & Bolter includes (among others) a brand-new Horus Heresy story from the upcoming anthology Age of Darkness. Iron Within, by Rob Sanders, features a group of loyal Iron Warriors who were left behind to garrison the planet of Lesser Damantyme during the Great Crusade. Now, with the Heresy in full swing, they face an almost impossible choice – loyalty to their Primarch or loyalty the Emperor of Mankind (dum, dum, dum!).


Make sure you keep an eye on our Facebook page for more information on our short story revolution.

reds8n wrote:...hmm... bugger..looks like I'll need to buy Hammer and Bolter then..

reds8n wrote:...hmm... bugger..looks like I'll need to buy Hammer and Bolter then..

Pyroriffic wrote:I made it in there again this month.

Balance wrote:By the way, I've found a few Black Library books on Apple's iBooks. I was a bit surprised, as I thought BL was trying to keep it to themselves, but there's a few listed. Just picked up Horus Rising to see how it is. I got the free eBook for First and Only a few months back and found they made it look nice (this was in the MobiReader format) with little imperial eagles for chapter breaks, but the text had a lot of spurious hyphens in it, probably the result of manual justification at some point.

Bearers of the Word
Even though we’ve spoiled you recently with sneak peeks of forthcoming covers, we couldn’t resist giving you one more, in the shape of this amazing Chaos Space Marine by Clint Langley.



We asked Clint to add as many spikes as possible to this treacherous Adeptus Astartes (they’re our favourite decoration here in BL Towers), but we didn’t realise just how many he’d manage.



What upcoming title do you think this stunning piece of art will appear on?