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Is it just me? Black Library seems to be losing its way. They seem to be spending most of their time and energy these days on special, limited edition releases, ebooks and so on.... And spending less and less energy or focus on what used to be their bread and butter: publishing mass market paperback books telling 40k and WHFB stories for as wide an audience as possible.

I'm venting here, but I'm not the kind of consumer who will spend $30+ on some rare/collectible/limited edition/special signed copy of this or that novella. I don't have the disposable income. And in any event, I consider 40k fiction to be the kind of thing I expect to pay $8 or so to read -- that and the occasional $40 splurge for a 40k art book (meaning, a book that offers genuine value for the price tag: glossy pages, illustration, nice big trim size...)

I suppose many of Black Library's recent experiments relate to the general migration away from printed books and toward digital formats. Presumably Black Library is experimenting with ways to make a special book experience that cannot be digitized. I guess I'm old school. I like paperbacks.

Understand, I'm not a hater. Actually, I'm more of a fan boy. Three or four years ago I was eagerly devouring Black Library books. Ironically, just a few years ago BL seemed stronger than ever. The Horus Heresy line has been a real success, selling copies, helping escalate the brand, and generating lots of fine stories.

But lately I'm not getting the feeling that BL is as committed to telling the same kind of stories for the same kind of readers as it used to be.

They're moving away from the idea of just dumping dozens of stories a month. They're trying to publish quality stories, not just have the quantity of stories.

It's important to remember that the eBooks we're seeing right now, are mostly them announcing that older collections have been put into an eBook format. There's also the issue of these "special, limited edition releases" are going to be reprinted later in a suitable anthology as a kind of "packed bonus".

To give an example: I bought "The Bloody-Handed", the novella set during the lead-up to the Sundering of the High Elves. I fully expect that when they publish a collected anthology of the Sundering(Malekith, The Shadow King, and Caledor respectively) that "The Bloody-Handed" will be included within it.
Does that make my purchase of "The Bloody-Handed" a bad one? No. I have it two years before anyone who will buy the anthology. I also have the artwork accompanying it included within. That's what the novellas give us.

Smaller publishers do better from smaller runs of high quality books. Their hardbook art books are surely good for this. Mass market paperbacks are more risky, you need to print and sell a lot for them to work, and the initial outlay is greater to have this large stock. The mass paperback market is not an easy one especially as 'mass' as they would be, Warhammer is still a niche interest within SF books being published.

If they are moving away from publishing a lot of paperback novels it's because the money is found elsewhere.

Between the HH series and the Eldar Path stuff they seem to be focusing more on quality and less on Space Marine bolter porn, fortunately.

I've always wondered what the very first BL book was though

Harriticus wrote:I've always wondered what the very first BL book was though

From memory, the first releases were a bunch of re-prints of the old Boxtree Books releases from the late 80's/early 90's. Felix and Gotrek, the Konrad saga, and the Genevieve books, IIRC.

I have to be honest and say that the limited edition stuff isn't my thing. Having a flayed mink skin or whatever on the cover, and for the most part regurgitated artwork inside, is not really of any interest to me although I realise that this is subjective.

I would say however that they are obviously making money (BL keep releasing them), and the ebooks also are a good idea although they are far too expensive.

My only concern is that BL might be pushing its writers too hard these days in terms of output. I have always thought Graham McNeil to be one of the best writers, but both he, Abnett and ADB have had a work output over the last 4-5 years that makes Stephen King look positively lazy by comparison. Reading the Outcast Dead the other day, there is an absolute howler of a continuity error in the plot, one that was impossible to ignore and for me actually underwhelmed the series. It makes me think how hard pressed Graham McNeil must be, more so when you consider he wrote the other books (False Gods and A Thousand Sons) which clash with this one. It makes me think of a guy living in minimalistic room. Just a single neatly made bed with a writer sat at a desk, a drip inserted into his arm. His eyes are ringed-red and his hair frazzled, meanwhile a suited man with spectacles arrives carrying a huge pile of paper. "The next twenty-thousand words. You have until tomorrow, 1300 hours." The writer lets out a moan and his heart palpitates slightly, but he glances at the picture of his wife and children. Were they even real, or an implanted memory? He struggles to remember the touch of his wife's skin. Where was the photo even taken?

So leading on from this, I would like to see BL go outside of its core group and pull in some other external writers. I would like to see some boundaries pushed back in terms of imagining the universe. With the exception perhaps of Abnett who likes to throw the odd curve-ball (Legion, or the re-imagining of the Space Wolves in Prospero Burns) pretty much every BL release these days is a straight down the line pulp, that leaves things exactly as it found it. I understand that this is party a result of the game universe being that much more defined than it used to be, but I think some more new ideas are needed to help keep things interesting and stop them stagnating. I realise however that this is a sticking point, and the rage which has greeted things which have fallen outside of pre-ordained fluff before*, means that such a thing might be unpopular with some core fans. But, aside from the benefits of bringing in some better literature, I think it might help to introduce some fresh DNA into the gene-pool from time to time, beyond people from the GW design team who are already firmly ensconced within that universe.

Just my thoughts anyway! Soul Hunter and Prospero Burns show that BL can produce some absolutely cracking books from time to time, but I don't think you should try and behave like a pig and swallow everything they put on the table.


*Think back to the first Horus Heresy art book, and the news that in the new background Ferrus Mannus' head was detached from his body. The comments on the internet at that time made for pretty amusing reading, although presumably not for Iron Hands fans.

I dislike their limited edition books. While I'm all for them releasing limited editions I wish it was of novels they general relaeased, but added in more details and such to make them worth the increased price.

would save me having to pain myself deciding from short blurbs if i want to buy the books before they sell out as I liek reading all the books but don't want to have to set a reminder alarm to be at the computer at X time just to try to get a book :(

insaniak wrote:

Harriticus wrote:I've always wondered what the very first BL book was though

From memory, the first releases were a bunch of re-prints of the old Boxtree Books releases from the late 80's/early 90's. Felix and Gotrek, the Konrad saga, and the Genevieve books, IIRC.

They were a larger paperback than the current ones, the first was 'Space Marine' by Ian Watson which is nothing like the current fluff which is why it's only been reprinted as a special edition not part of their regular line.

It's also the GW book that makes most liberal use of the word "spincher".

I'm reading the Inquisition War books at the moment though, enjoyed the first one a lot.

Pacific wrote:I would say however that they are obviously making money

Well, yeah, lol. People buy them up so they can put them on eBay with double the retail price as the starting bid.

Howard A Treesong wrote:

insaniak wrote:

Harriticus wrote:I've always wondered what the very first BL book was though

From memory, the first releases were a bunch of re-prints of the old Boxtree Books releases from the late 80's/early 90's. Felix and Gotrek, the Konrad saga, and the Genevieve books, IIRC.

They were a larger paperback than the current ones, the first was 'Space Marine' by Ian Watson which is nothing like the current fluff which is why it's only been reprinted as a special edition not part of their regular line.

It's also the GW book that makes most liberal use of the word "spincher".

I'm reading the Inquisition War books at the moment though, enjoyed the first one a lot.

i rather enjoyed inquisiton wars a while back

Squat to Space Marine "your landraider has some damage to its armor, i'd rather not ride in it"
Space Marine to Squat "just stick a purity seal on it and we'll be fine"

I like the idea of BL releasing fewer, but higher quality books. Aaron Dembski-Bowden has written about one book a year, and I've enjoyed all of them. Just wish I didn't have to wait til May or so for Void Stalker!

Howard A Treesong wrote:

insaniak wrote:

Harriticus wrote:I've always wondered what the very first BL book was though

From memory, the first releases were a bunch of re-prints of the old Boxtree Books releases from the late 80's/early 90's. Felix and Gotrek, the Konrad saga, and the Genevieve books, IIRC.

They were a larger paperback than the current ones, the first was 'Space Marine' by Ian Watson which is nothing like the current fluff which is why it's only been reprinted as a special edition not part of their regular line.
.

There are a couple of bits in that book - namely the squats, and on top of that the chaos squats riding ambulls (!) that don't fit into current fluff. However, I think the rest of it is pretty much spot on, and in fact I would say to this day there aren't many more vivid accounts of the creation of a space marine. Another great bonus point for it is that Ian Watson actually manages to imbue the characters with some actual 'character', something lacking in most accounts of Marines. I'm not saying this as a criticism of more contemporary books, just that having indoctrinated super soldiers does not make for interesting character development most of the time, and that's quite a hurdle for any writer to overcome.

Interestingly, I read an interview with Ian Watson where he was talking about the book many years later. He was saying how he enjoyed writing it, and would not discount the possibility of visiting the universe again some day (!) He also talked about the infamous 'buttock branding' sequence, and how the editors had initially requested they remove it (even back then they were obviously a bunch of prudes), but then subsequently forgot about it and the sequence ended up in print. To my knowledge, the only example of buttock branding in GW literature.

One thing that can't be disputed is that you will struggle to find a writer who polarises opinion more than Ian Watson. When I was a teenager, for my friends and I 'Space Marine' was almost like a Bible to us, and the one copy we shared between us was read and passed around so many times that it fell apart. But, at the same time, and I think in the years subsequently, I would meet people who absolutely hated it. It's a funny old world.

I really wish that they would expand on the things that have happened inbetween the HH and 999M41 It seems that every book is set in either the early 900's or 999 of M41.

There is 10,000 years of history there to explore. Why not write about ANYTHING inbetween. I know 40k is only ment ot be a setting but it's a huge living universe and more if it needs to be fleshed out.

I would love to read about the scouring after the heresy. I would love to see the Age of Apostasy and the rise of gorge vandire, I would love to read about the telepath wars and the assassin wars. There is so much to draw on and invent and 10,000 years is a hell of along time something interesting must of happened in the past. I would love to read about what happened to the sisters of silence. Are they still the guardians of the black ships? Do they have a 'standing army'? How is their relationship to the Inquisiton? There is so much more to 40k then bolter porn and the BL books are a great way to flesh out this often confusing universe.

Pacific wrote:One thing that can't be disputed is that you will struggle to find a writer who polarises opinion more than Ian Watson. When I was a teenager, for my friends and I 'Space Marine' was almost like a Bible to us, and the one copy we shared between us was read and passed around so many times that it fell apart. But, at the same time, and I think in the years subsequently, I would meet people who absolutely hated it. It's a funny old world.

Pretty much the same thing for my group of friends. We all read it, and his Inquisitor series, and loved them. I was shocked when years later I discovered how many 40k fans hated them. Oh well, opinions and all. I still enjoy reading Space Marine occasionally.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

FabricatorGeneralMike wrote: I would love to read about the scouring after the heresy. I would love to see the Age of Apostasy and the rise of gorge vandire, I would love to read about the telepath wars and the assassin wars. There is so much to draw on and invent and 10,000 years is a hell of along time something interesting must of happened in the past. I would love to read about what happened to the sisters of silence. Are they still the guardians of the black ships? Do they have a 'standing army'? How is their relationship to the Inquisiton? There is so much more to 40k then bolter porn and the BL books are a great way to flesh out this often confusing universe.

My guess, that's to come after the HH series wraps up. They have to know they can't drag that series out forever (though they're giving it a good try) and I'd guess they're planning the next big even to write about collectively.

Have you red Gildar Rift. It is very bloody. I would not let a child read that book, it has slavery and alot of other nasties.