Black Library? Black LIEbrary is more like it!

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**Kid_Kyoto**

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Blog/In_the_grim_Darkness.html

In 1987, ‘Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader’, contained the first pieces of background about the war torn galaxy of the 41st Millennium and was responsible for introducing the world to Space Marines. Six years later, Ian Watson wrote Space Marine, cementing the reputation of the Adeptus Astartes as the towering, death-dealing, armour clad warriors of the Imperium that we know today. It seems that gene-bred, super-human warriors are everywhere in sci-fi now. Space Marine is an old novel and not exactly up to date with the current view on the Warhammer 40,000 universe, but if you want an insight into what got the ball rolling, check it out here.

The first ever Black Library novel released was Dan Abnett’s First and Only, way back in 1999. In fact, the name of the book was a bit of a joke, as we weren’t sure that it would be popular enough to warrant a second one! Thankfully that wasn’t the case and since then, we’ve released two hundred and seventeen Warhammer 40,000 titles, featuring every race in the game (and more besides) and spanning ten thousand years of war. We thought it would be cool to find out how many words that would be, so we set to work, and after scouring every book, we can confidently say that this makes up a total of seventeen billion, three hundred and sixty thousand, one hundred and three words (give or take a fairly huge amount)!

We mentioned earlier that we were planning something special to mark the birthday. By order of the Inquisition, we can’t tell you much about it at the moment, but we have managed to sneak this preview past the guards. Let us know what you think it might be on our Facebook page.

Every race in the game?

EVERY RACE?

EVERY?

HA! HA! I say and HA! Again!

217 books and not a squat or sensei to be seen

I know, I know, but I don't count the reprints of the old Boxtree books.

Shame on the Black LIEbrary, SHAME!

**Wardragoon**

Well squats are no longer a race, they have been retconned, and I seem to recall that sensai are still mostly human(well as human as the big E) Now I do have to say I don't remember any books with vespids in them

**Kid_Kyoto**

But they said that with a picture of Rogue Trader RIGHT THERE ON TOP!

Why is GW raping MY CHILDHOOD!

**Asherian Command**

Wardragoon wrote:Well squats are no longer a race, they have been retconned, and I seem to recall that sensai are still mostly human(well as human as the big E) Now I do have to say I don't remember any books with vespids in them

Joke Went past your head didn't it?
This is a legimate Thread Kid Kyoto are serious.

**Harriticus**

I wonder why they waited 12 years to start 40k books, it's my understanding it was fairly popular in the 90's...

But really, only now are we starting to see non-Imperial books. Eldar Path series and so on. Having an epic Tau-based trilogy where they fight for their races survival against the Imperium would be a fun change as well.

**English Assassin**

Don't despair, KK, maybe the anniversary treat will be the story of half-Eldar Brother-Librarian Ilan Nastase of the Ultramarines and his pet Gyrinx teaming-up with the Squats of the League of Grindel defending the Imperium against the menace of the Zoats.

Or maybe not...

Edit: Harriticus, the first (if memory serves) published Warhammer 40,000 fiction was the anthology Deathwing published around 1990, long before Black Library came into being.

**Asherian Command**

Or about Inqusitior Obiwan Sherlock!

**-Loki-**

Wardragoon wrote:Well squats are no longer a race, they have been retconned

They weren't retconned - they were killed off.

It would be a retcon if GW said they never existed at all, or actually changed them in some way without explaining it. All they did was kill them off. That's story progression, not a retcon.

**Lynata**

Hey, there was a Squat in "Inquisitor".

Good book, by the way.

-Loki- wrote:They weren't retconned - they were killed off.
It would be a retcon if GW said they never existed at all, or actually changed them in some way without explaining it. All they did was kill them off. That's story progression, not a retcon.

I dunno ...

Andy Hoare March 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm
I’ve never read (or indeed written) that Squats were eaten by Tyranids. I know the idea was played around with in a Black Library re-issue of an old Ian Watson book some years ago, but other than that it seems more a case of urban legend…

**Kid_Kyoto**

English Assassin wrote:Don't despair, KK, maybe the anniversary treat will be the story of half-Eldar Brother-Librarian Ilan Nastase of the Ultramarines and his pet Gyrinx teaming-up with the Squats of the League of Grindel defending the Imperium against the menace of the Zoats.

Or maybe not...

Edit: Harriticus, the first (if memory serves) published Warhammer 40,000 fiction was the anthology Deathwing published around 1990, long before Black Library came into being.

I'd buy 2 copies of that!

And then in the second book they team up with Judge Dredd!

Then they quest for the Crown of Command...

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Lynata wrote:Hey, there was a Squat in "Inquisitor".

Good book, by the way.

Grimm doesn't count since the Ian Watson books weren't created by the Black LIEbrary.

**Lynata**

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Grimm doesn't count since the Ian Watson books weren't created by the Black LIEbrary.

lol - point taken

**insaniak**

Harriticus wrote:I wonder why they waited 12 years to start 40k books, it's my understanding it was fairly popular in the 90's...

They didn't. They just waited 12 years to set up their own publishing company.

There were a whole raft of 40K, WHFB and Dark Future books printed in the early '90s by Boxtree Books, most of which have since been re-issued by the Black Library.

**CadianCommander**

Every race in the game?
EVERY RACE?
EVERY?
HA! HA! I say and HA! Again!
217 books and not a squat or sensei to be seen
Shame on the Black LIEbrary, SHAME!

Stop whinging and start writing, then.

Only the Horus Heresy and.... Time of Legends? are authors invited to write and commissioned from the outset. Otherwise they pitch and BL decides whether to publish it or not. I get the impression that they don't commission much that hasn't been pitched (would love to be corrected if I'm wrong).

They can only publish what authors write.

You wanna see it, write it, pitch it, and if it's good enough, they'll publish it. Don't keep waiting for someone else to do it and then complain it doesn't happen.

For myself, I'm a die hard IG player but would absolutely love to see some of the other races represented far more in the BL books and from their pov, esp tau and orks. But it requires someone to write it and I don't have the knowledge of the other races to even think about it.

And I wish people would get over the squats. I'd almost put money on people will still be going on and on and on about them ten years from now.

But Wardragon's on the money - squat was a main character in the Inquisitor book so you may want to re-think your rant.

**Chowderhead**

CC, you do know he's joking, right?

...Right?

**Kid_Kyoto**

CadianCommander wrote:
Stop whinging and start writing, then.
...
They can only publish what authors write.

You wanna see it, write it, pitch it, and if it's good enough, they'll publish it. Don't keep waiting for someone else to do it and then complain it doesn't happen.

I sent them a writing sample from Bloodstorm! Ravenblade! Obliterates! The! Universe! and they didn't even reply. It had squats and zoats and sensei and the ultrarare Necron Monorail in it.

But Wardragon's on the money - squat was a main character in the Inquisitor book so you may want to re-think your rant.

Uh I already said we can't count BL reprints of the old Boxtree books, BL didn't create them. IN FACT when the Black LIEbrary reprinted the old short story collection Deathwing (the very first 40k fiction book) they actually edited one story Warped Stars so that the squat engineer Grimm became techpriest Grill!

The Black LIEbrary took part in a Stalin-like PURGE of one of the founding races of 40k!

And now they continue the lies by saying their books include EVERY RACE.

Shame on them, shame!

Chowderhead wrote:CC, you do know he's joking, right?

...Right?

Ssssh! I'm quite enjoying my nerd rage here. Go reply to Ask Teh Space Emporer.

**CadianCommander**

CC, you do know he's joking, right?

<face palm>

I have got to stop reading and posting late at night just before going to bed.

<embarrassingly crawls back into box>

**Kid_Kyoto**

CadianCommander wrote:
CC, you do know he's joking, right?

<face palm>

I have got to stop reading and posting late at night just before going to bed.

<embarrassingly crawls back into box>

Oh come on, embrace the nerdrage!

**DeadlySquirrel**

Someone reset the squat-clock...

**BeRzErKeR**

The what clock? I don't remember ever hearing of the squ-THIS POST PURGED BY ORDER OF THE HOLY INQUISITION. PRAISE THE EMPEROR.

**rockerbikie**

If The Squats were that great. They should have Space Skaven instead.

**Shredsmore**

rockerbikie wrote:The Squats were that great. They should have Space Skaven instead.

Space Skaven are my favorite WHFB army so hell yes!
lulz (They really are though)...

**rockerbikie**

Shredsmore wrote:
rockerbikie wrote:The Squats were that great. They should have Space Skaven instead.

Space Skaven are my favorite WHFB army so hell yes!
lulz (They really are though)...

Space Skaven would increase the comedy in Warhammer 40k by a mile.

**DarknessEternal**

Squats have been in book. There was even one after The Purge (but they didn't come right out and call him a squat).

Also, Sensei are in nearly every book. They are humans after all, not a separate species. (You said "race" which is highly inaccurate)

**English Assassin**

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Bloodstorm! Ravenblade! Obliterates! The! Universe!

That is quite possibly the finest title ever suggested for a novel.

If anybody's interested, here's an article by one-time GW editor and book reviewer David Langford on the early days of GW fiction.

Edit: whoops, it's actually written by well-known sci-fi author Steven Baxter, I just found it via Langford's blog.

**DarknessEternal**

Kid_Kyoto wrote:
I sent them a writing sample from Bloodstorm! Ravenblade! Obliterates! The! Universe! and they didn't even reply.

Youngblood! Bloodshot! Deathmate Red! This Blood's For You!

**Grey Templar**

I do find it very irritating that there arn't any Fantesy books with Ogres as the main characters.

**DoctorZombie**

Harriticus wrote:I wonder why they waited 12 years to start 40k books, it's my understanding it was fairly popular in the 90's...

But really, only now are we starting to see non-Imperial books. Eldar Path series and so on. Having an epic Tau-based trilogy where they fight for their races survival against the Imperium would be a fun change as well.

And then get horribly defeated?

**English Assassin**

DarknessEternal wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:
I sent them a writing sample from Bloodstorm! Ravenblade! Obliterates! The! Universe! and they didn't even reply.

Youngblood! Bloodshot! Deathmate Red! This Blood's For You!

Why yes of course! One of the few ways to further "improve" this concept would to be to let Rob Liefeld write it.

**ObliviousBlueCaboose**

Black LIE brary, more like Lack LIE berry.

**Scambone**

all the money from an army of plastic addicted zombies, and they still can't bother to keep a cannon (canon?) together. its sad. I found 40k after squats were already gone, but I don't see why they pulled them. Just use regular guard rules if they don't want to bother keeping support for new codexes, and keep churning out the old models. I'd buy a squat commissar. Better yet a squat inquisitor.