Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists features in this Horus Heresy audio drama

Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists, is swordsman whose skill with a blade is renowned throughout the Imperium. Once a peerless duellist and champion of Rogal Dorn, he has of late earned his primarch’s ire and seeks to atone. With treacherous Word Bearers abandoned by their brethren upon a comet-shrine within the Solar System itself, Sigismund calls his warriors to arms – such heretics cannot be allowed to remain upon the doorstep of holy Terra, while the Heresy rages across the galaxy...

YARRICK IMPERIAL CREED – AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

Hey Readers,
In today’s New@BL we catch up with one of the rising stars of Black Library, author David Annandale, to find out about his new novel Imperial Creed.

David is has been writing for Black Library for a while now, and his works include a Space Marine Battles novel on the deadly Black Dragons as well as numerous short stories including Evil Eye, The Dark Hollows of Memory and The Judges, in their Hunger. Last February saw the release of Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha, a story that in which the noble Commissar Yarrick is held captive by his arch-nemesis in an Ork gulag. David’s new book also focuses on Yarrick, but rather than portraying the hero of Hades Hive, this novel joins a young commissar at the beginning of what will prove to be a very eventful career.

Eddie – Hi David. Tell us about your new novel Yarrick: Imperial Creed.

David - Imperial Creed is the story of Yarrick’s first mission as a commissar. He is, of course, far from being a novice on the battlefield, but his new rank comes with a steep learning curve. The good news is that he has an excellent mentor in the person of Lord Commissar Simeon Rasp. The bad news, as Rasp points out, is that their mission with their deployment is on the planet Mistral, whose politics are such that the moment when you think you know what’s going on is the moment you are most fatally wrong. So this is the new commissar’s baptism of fire. He’s a long way from being the legend he will become, but the strength of character that will make him one is there, and he’s going to need it. The soldiers fighting alongside him will need his strength too, because what is at work on Mistral is even darker than Rasp suspects.

This adventure is also where seeds are planted for other events that will shape Yarrick’s life and shake the galaxy. Allies and enemies whose destinies will intersect in important ways with Yarrick’s step onto the stage, including one whom readers might recognize from The Death of Antagonis. The forces unleashed in the story convulse Mistral, but their consequences will extend all the way to Armageddon.



How does the character of Yarrick in Imperial Creed differ from the way he appears in your other book, Chains of Golgotha?

The Yarrick in Chains of Golgotha is a living legend, which is both a burden and source of great power. That Yarrick can command vast armies. This Yarrick is still learning what he must do, and what he must become, in order to serve the Imperium and the Emperor. The Yarrick of Imperial Creed still has both his arms and both his eyes, so there are many scars, physical and otherwise, that he has yet to acquire.



What was it that made you want to write about Yarrick in particular?

The first time I read the Imperium’s timeline in a 40K rulebook, I was struck by the entry about Ghazghkull Thraka releasing the captured Yarrick, and wondered what the story behind that was, never imagining that I would one day get to write it. So he has long been a character who has fascinated me. I love the mixture of the bigger-than-life and the very human that he represents. He becomes a figure who commands the respect of the Adeptus Astartes, but he is not genhanced. He doesn’t have superhuman powers. There is only that extraordinary will to see him through the most extraordinary challenges.

Also, though we know a lot about his career beginning with the Second War of Armageddon, the same is not true of his deeds as commissar before that. There is so much to explore, and so many tales to tell. Imperial Creed is just the start of a huge saga, and I hope readers will enjoy the ride.



You have your first full Horus Heresy novel on the way later this year. Could you give us a little teaser of what we can expect from that?

The Damnation of Pythos is a tale about the Shattered Legions. It picks up right after the end of my audio short Veritas Ferrum. In fact, I wrote that while in the early stages of the novel, as I wondered how this group of Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard made it from Isstvan V to the Pandorax system. So this is where they are now, brutalised by the massacre and hungry for revenge. Pythos is a death world, its native life monstrous. But there is something else here too, which could be the means for the Iron Hands’ vengeance. Or it could spell their doom.

Are you working on anything for Black Library at the moment?

I’ll be gearing up shortly for the next Yarrick book, which will be a new adventure, though will also continue the arc begun in Imperial Creed. I’m also working on several Yarrick short stories. Additionally, I’ve been doing some work with the Grey Knights, which I shall just tease about here. And I’m just beginning a project about another named character. But his name is one I can’t reveal just yet…

Thanks David, sounds like we’re keeping you busy.

You can pre-order Yarrick: Imperial Creed today, as both an eBook and hardback edition. While you’re at it, why not catch up on some of David’s other books:

THE PLAGUES OF ORATH - NEW SPACE MARINE ARTWORK

Hey readers,
Today’s Digital Monday Quick Read is something a bit special. Plague Harvest, by Cavan Scott, is the first in a new trilogy of Space Marine Battles novellas set during the Plagues of Orath. On today’s New@BL, we take a look at what you can look forward to from the trilogy, and showcase the stunning new series artwork.

The Plagues of Orath
On a quiet little agri-world in the heart of Imperial space, an ancient evil awakens (it's always the quiet ones). A new trilogy of Space Marine Battles novellas will chronicle the war for Orath, as this once-peaceful planet is subjected to plagues that raise the dead to walk again, not to mention the less then gentle salvation that two Chapters of Space Marines provide.

The first instalment in the series is Plague Harvest. This first book follows the Ultramarines Librarian Vabion, working in an uneasy alliance with the Doom Eagles Chapter as they try to contain the plague that is sweeping Orath and also discover the source.

Bringing the battle to life
The artwork that provides the covers for all three instalments in the series was created by Kai Lim and it’s pretty awesome:



One of the coolest things about this piece is the fact that a lot of the Space Marines' newer units get Kai Lim’s impressive treatment. A lot of these don’t have any artwork outside of the Codex, so it’s great to see them in action in this piece. Take a look at this Centurion sergeant, surveying the battlefield with a thoroughly deserved sense of invulnerability while a Hunter tank provides anti-air support in the background.



Even the Tactical squad Space Marines look unstoppable - wading forwards with bullets ricocheting off their power armour and delivering bolter-based death to the enemies of man.



The Stormtalon gunships (which feature heavily in the first book, Plague Harvest) can also be seen here clearing the rubble-strewn skyline for their strafing run.




We can’t wait to see these guys in action in the series. Download the first novella now from our Quick Reads section.

Oh, and while we’re talking Quick Reads, next Monday’s new story will be a Horus Heresy title with ties to Graham McNeill's new novel Vengeful Spirit – one not to miss.

Thanks for reading,

- Eddie, Chapter Serf

in a strictly limited edition of only 4,000 copies worldwide.

 tomball0706 wrote:
Just a quick question, didn't really know where to ask this but this seems like the most sensible place to do so

Mechanicum, for a while now, hasn't been able to buy off the black library website (well bar the hardback one) have they stopped doing the paper back? Thanks

The Emperor’s Scythes have yet to appear in many Black Library stories, but that will be remedied soon. In the meantime, if you want some insight into some of the origins of this mysterious chapter, you may find some clues in the recent Horus Heresy novel The Unremembered Empire.

Hey Readers,

On Today's New@BL we catch up with author Guy Haley.

Guy's been very busy of late. His recent work has covered everything from tank battles in the 41st millennium to Space Wolf primarch-hunting packs, to the goblin tribes of the Worlds Edge Mountains.



His latest two books both deal with the brutal conflict in the Valedor System, waged between the tendrils of two tyranid hive fleets and a desperate alliance of eldar kindred.

Here's what Guy had to say about his new books:

Eddie - Tell us about your novel Valedor.

Guy - Valedor is the most exciting book you'll ever read! Well, okay. I hope it is exciting. I certainly found it exciting to write. The eldar background is among my favourite pieces of the Warhammer 40,000 mythos. Elegant, elegaic, full of doom and sorrow, it links all the eras of the game universe together – from the dim and distant wars between the Old Ones and Necrontyr, the rise of the Chaos gods, right up to the present. Best of all, there's a glimmer of hope to it, which I got to fully exploit.

Valedor is a war zone on a truly epic scale. What can we expect from the battles in the book?

Loads of different eldar factions uniting to battle two tyranid swarms! So there are a lot of tyranids battling all manner of eldar war machines and troops. In space, in the webway and, ultimately, on a planet that is literally falling apart. Who could ask for more?

The Last Days of Ector is another new book from you out this week, a prequel to Valedor. Tell us about that story.

At the time of the story, the Valedan system is held by the Imperium, but it was planetscaped originally by the eldar. It's a True Star, rather than a Maiden World system, so all the eldar there were wiped out by the birth of Slaanesh, leaving a bunch of lovely worlds ripe for colonisation. The Last Days of Ector is about one of these Imperial worlds, a chilly hive world, and how twenty members of the Crimson Castellans Space Marines save a portion of the population, with help from an unexpected source...

In the last year you've written stories from both the tau and eldar perspectives. How do you approach these two xenos races differently when portraying them?

I like xenos. There's an inherent challenge to non-human characters, as I often say - make them inhuman enough to be different, yet human enough to sympathise with. Obviously I'm a human (I'm not actually a goblin, really!) and it's hard to break out of the human mindset, but as long as you carefully follow the philosophies and temperaments of each, they develop in different ways - the chaps behind the background are awfully clever, after all. However, a complicating factor is finding enough character range within the archetype of each race. If you bear that in mind, it's not too hard.

I tend to see the tau and the eldar as at different ends of the same spectrum. They both have unshakeable self-belief in their superiority. They both have fantastic technology. The eldar's is considerably more advanced, of course, but they both at least understand their science. They both have caste systems (of a sort). But the eldar are melancholy and in danger of dying out, whereas the star of the tau has yet to reach its zenith.

What are you working on for Black Library at the moment?

Can I really say without the Inquistion mind wiping me or feeding me to Laurie Goulding's pet cave squig*? Yeah? Okay. I've got a lot on, to be honest. I'm doing a load of short stories, an increasing amount of material for the Horus Heresy, and have just taken over writing about the Black Templars, my first story about whom will be out soon-ish. There's more ork stuff coming. And there will be novels. And more fantasy stuff. And... [that's enough now, Haley - Ed].

Thanks Guy!
You can order both Valedor and The Last Days of Ector now in eBook and hardback formats.

Be sure to check back tomorrow when we'll be showcasing a new piece of Space Marines artwork on New@BL.
Thanks for reading.

- Eddie

*Fact of the Day:
Laurie raised his pet squig from a mushroom that he found growing in his shed.

Make sure you check back on Saturday both on this site and iBooks to see what you can look forward to from Games Workshop Digital Editions on May 24th.

A new edition of our flagship game is always a big occasion and Black Library will be merrily joining in the celebrations as well.

I’m up to my throat in the delicious back and forth of Heresy planning, as Master of Mankind pounds its way towards its inevitable, eventual realisation. I had an early Skype call with Nick (of Clan Kyme) this very morning, throwing specifics at each other for… various projects… and there’s been a mountain of emails, text messages, and Facebook chatter between me, Laurie, and John French regarding the details of the Emperor, the Webway, and the girls and guys shedding blood in its webbish, wayish tunnels.

As for what I’m writing right now, it’s a cross between picking the nits off sections of The Lord Inquisitor: Prologue, and something non-Heresy-related that has the following words featuring pretty heavily: “Blackmane”, “Space”, “Wolves”, “Dark”, and last but not least, “Angels“.

Oh, and “Duel”.

Also, “Orks”

 Theophony wrote:
, hopefully they'll make a decent poster of hat cover and not charge a boat load what am I saying its GW in a black library disguise, it'll be expensive, buy I will probably own it anyway.

Size – A3 (297mm X 420mm)

The Gallery Print is printed on 260gsm Linen White paper and is supplied in a card-mount frame, ready to display.

In other news:

To celebrate the launch of Warhammer 40,000, Black Library have asked a selection of their authors to pick their favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels to be released as eBooks. This essential collection will be updated every day this week on the Black Library site.

Friday 30th of May, 2014

HORUS HERESY - THE FIRST CHAMPION

Hi readers,
It’s an exciting day for fans of the Horus Heresy as a much anticipated character makes his battle début in a brand new audio drama by John French.



Templar focuses on the famed hero of the Imperial Fists, Sigismund, and sees the First Captain face-to-face with traitor Space Marines for the first time.
Here’s a short extract to give you a brief taste of the action, where our yellow-clad hero tests his blade against a battle brother from another Legion.

LISTEN TO AN EXTRACT NOW


Templar is available to download now as an MP3. This audio drama is currently exclusive to blacklibrary.com and is available a full six months before it will be released in stores as a CD.

That’s not the only new addition to the Heresy today. John French’s other VII Legion story, The Crimson Fist, is now available in a new hardback format to match the rest of your Horus Heresy Collector’s editions.



This novella was first printed in the anthology Shadows of Treachery.
For those of you who haven’t read it yet, the story describes a brutal naval engagement between sworn enemies the Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists.
It also introduces another Imperial Fist captain whose legacy will extend well beyond the events of the Horus Heresy, Alexis Polux – the eponymous Crimson Fist.



That’s all for today,
We’ll be back next week with more news, extracts and new releases.
Thanks for reading.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Have they had any good novels with Tyranids lately?

Hey readers,

There’s good news for Horus Heresy fans today, as the first novel in the series is released for the first time as a fully unabridged audiobook and the full collection of paperback editions comes back into stock.

The Birth of Heresy

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett is the most popular Black Library book ever released – and with good reason as it’s totally awesome. The first Horus Heresy sets the scene for what has become our longest and most read series.

In the most recent Horus Heresy novel Vengeful Spirit we saw Horus at his apex, as master of the Traitor Legions. As the Warmaster begins to tighten the noose and his armies close in on Terra, what better time to look back at where it all began?

I was there…
Horus Rising has been an audiobook before, but previously in an abridged format. Since its first release we’ve had fans requesting a full and and unabridged version, and today those requests are answered.

Voiced by the talented Toby Longworth, Horus Rising clocks in at over 12 hours of audio. Here’s the opening few minutes to give you a sound bite of what to expect, including the Immortal line:

“I was there, the day Horus slew the Emperor…”


Listen to an extract:


Horus Rising is just one of dozens of books in our Horus Heresy audiobook series. Together they represent over 200 hours of audio. These audiobooks are perfect for long drives, or as background listening whilst painting an army of Citadel Miniatures. (What could be more appropriate?)


Paper is Back!
We also have some good news for fans of paperback books.



The Horus Heresy series has grown to be over two dozen novels long. We know that many of you who started reading at the beginning of the series are keen to complete your paperback collection, so we’ve re-printed every novel in the series to ensure you can get your hands on all of them.

The new prints all have a platinum blue sheen (following on from the gold of the first print run, and the silver and bronze of the second and third prints).


Check out the full range here to pick up any that you might have missed.

That’s all for this week.
Check back on Monday when we’ll be back with a new Quick Read and another week of news and new releases.
Thanks for reading,

- Eddie
‘I was there, the day Horus Rising was released as an unabridged audiobook’

We’ve raided the Black Library archives to bring you a great selection of rare, premium books to add to your bookshelf.

This is a final chance to get your hands on much sought after exclusive titles, including many collector's and limited editions.

HE OVERFIEND SPEAKS – AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID ANNANDALE

Hey Readers,

Today we catch up with David Annandale, author of the latest instalment in the Space Marine Battles series.



What can you tell us about Overfiend?
The Overfiend of Octarius is a tremendously dangerous ork warlord. Having forged an empire for himself by driving the humans from the Octarius System, he has been hard-pressed in turn by the tyranids. The conflict has spilled out of Octarius, with the Overfiend invading the nearby Lepidus system. The story the three linked novellas tells us of the joint effort of three forces of Space Marines to drive the Overfiend from Lepidus. But the Overfiend's attack has a purpose. There is something here the orks want very badly, and these particular orks are a far more dangerous foe than anyone realises. And as if things weren't complicated enough for the Imperials, the eldar also have an interest in the system.

This book is a combination of three novellas, how do they all tie together?
Each novella shows the conflict from the perspective of one of the three Chapters involved. So we begin with Stormseer, which sees the White Scars moving against an ork manufactorum on the moon of Lepidus Prime. The action then shifts to the planet itself for Shadow Captain, where the Raven Guard must stop the orks from destroying the principle human colony. Then it is up to the Salamanders to intercept the Overfiend's Kill Kroozer in Forge Master. The events of each novella have a direct impact on what happens in the next one.

The Overfiend story features three very different Chapters of Space Marines: what did you see as the key differences between them?
Each has a very different approach to war, of course, with the White Scars' emphasis on speed, the Raven Guard's on stealth, and the Salamanders' implacable refusal to give ground. As well, the protagonist of each section is a specialised warrior, and I wanted to explore the implications of, for example, the machinic coldness that comes with being a Techmarine in the context of the humane Salamanders.

Which Chapter was your favourite to write about?
I don't know that I had one. My approach, when writing about any Chapter, is to dig into what I find most exciting about those particular Space Marines. The idea being that my favourite is whichever Chapter I happen to be writing about at that moment.

What are you working on for Black Library at the moment?
I'm working on a number of Yarrick stories, as well as gearing up for his next novel. There are also several projects about the Grey Knights in the works, and I've been busy doing something top-secret involving the Blood Angels.

Thanks David!


Overfiend is available to order now, as a hardback edition, eBook, or as a full unabridged audiobook that clocks in at over 14 hours of story.

You can also collect each of the three novellas that comprise Overfiend individually as eBooks.

What the Devil?
Overfiend isn’t the only new title this week. Iron Devil is a new audio drama by C L Werner that sees the remnants of a battered Cadian Regiment face the brutal horror of the mighty Morkanaught. We haven’t heard much from the Orks in our audio dramas before, so we’re all pretty excited about this one, particularly as it comes from author C L Werner, author of the quite excellent title, The Siege of Castellax. You can listen to an extract over on the Iron Devil page. That’s all for today,


Thanks for reading.

– Eddie, Underfiend

FREE HORUS HERESY WALLPAPER
As a way of saying thanks for being one of our newsletter subscribers, we're giving you the first look at a brand new piece of Horus Heresy artwork and the chance to download it as a free wallpaper fro your phone, tablet and computer.

Enjoy your wallpaper.

a Dark Angel off to the extreme left..

Today also sees the start of Black Library’s Summer of Reading. There will be a new short story uploaded to their website every day this week, so make sure you head over there now to see what today’s story is.

Behind a Loyal Mask
The Purge is a new limited edition Horus Heresy novella, only available from blacklibrary.com. This new story from Anthony Reynolds follows a squad of XVII Legionaries during a pivotal event in the Word Bearers history.
We’re not giving much more away just yet, but if you’re excited about the prospect of an upcoming Word Bearers novel, we have created a set of suitably Heretical looking desktop wallpapers for you, complete with blood-smeared Colchisian Script.

 reds8n wrote:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/newsletter-download.html

FREE HORUS HERESY WALLPAPER
As a way of saying thanks for being one of our newsletter subscribers, we're giving you the first look at a brand new piece of Horus Heresy artwork and the chance to download it as a free wallpaper fro your phone, tablet and computer.

Enjoy your wallpaper.

This is the cover for the forthcoming " Legacies of Betrayal" book -- which is another anthology IIRC.

Only from out of great conflict can true heroes arise. With the galaxy aflame and war on an unimaginable scale tearing the Imperium apart, champions of light and darkness venture onto countless fields of battle in service to their masters. They ask not for remembrance or reward - simply to meet their destiny head-on, and only by embracing that destiny will they come to learn what the unseen future may yet hold for them...This Horus Heresy anthology contains eighteen short stories by authors such as Graham McNeill, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Nick Kyme and many more. Also, Chris Wraight's acclaimed novella Brotherhood of the Storm delves into the nature of the elusive White Scars Legion, and their questionable sense of duty to the Emperor.

For centuries, war has raged between the proud elves and unforgiving dwarfs. After many great battles and vicious sieges, many failed attempts at peace and bloody massacres, both the dwarf High King Gotrek Starbreaker and the elf Phoenix King Caledor II tire of war and seek to bring the conflict to an end - but neither will surrender. As the last battle of the war begins, the two kings meet in single combat to decide who will be the true master of the Old World. And only one of them will walk away. The concluding instalment of the War of Vengeance saga.

Master of the First / The Long Night (The Horus Heresy) Audio CD – Audiobook, April 7, 2015
by Gav Thorpe (Author), Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Author)

The Dark Angels and the Night Lords fought one another to a bloody stalemate during the Thramas Crusade and, though the Lion eventually claimed victory, it left both Legions scattered and under-strength. Back on Caliban, those Dark Angels loyal to Luther begin to grow impatient for a return to past glories, allowing the corruption at the world's heart to spread. Meanwhile Jago Sevatarion, First Captain of the Night Lords, languishes in a gaol cell in the heart of Ultramar. Far from a spent force, both Legions must consider where their own personal loyalties lie, and what path they will take in the days and months to come.

While the war rages on across the galaxy, for many on the Throneworld of Terra it exists only in rumour and hearsay. But in the course of her daily duties, humble adept Katanoh Tallery discovers evidence of a conspiracy within the Administratum - surely, this can only be the precursor to a traitor attack on the Solar System itself! Fleeing into the shadows, she soon finds herself at the mercy of the mysterious Knight Errant Nathaniel Garro. Will this stalwart defender of mankind be her saviour, or her executioner?