Fewer HH novels?

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**evancich**

I stepped away from 40k for a year or so and started to get back into it.

I went to BL to get the HH novels that I missed while I was away and noticed that there weren't very many. There seemed to only be around 2 or 3 HH novels (where I define a novel as a book with more than 250 pages) released a year.

There seemed to be a bunch of shorter books with a single story and less than 200 pages.

So, what happened? Am I wrong and the frequency of novels hasn't changed or is BL releasing fewer HH novels?

Are they trying to extended the calendar time (that is, make this last for many more years) before we get to the end of the HH? Or, are people not into reading novels and prefer the shorter books? Or, is this some cash grab (more short books = more $ than novels)?

It just seemed strange to me that I didn't have 8 HH novels to read, but rather 3 and like 57 million short stories.

**ImAGeek**

There are definitely fewer novels at the moment, most of the releases are anthologies of limited edition novellas.

**PhillyT**

With the utter garbage that most HH novels are, I have no problem with them reducing their number.

**evancich**

ImAGeek wrote:
There are definitely fewer novels at the moment, most of the releases are anthologies of limited edition novellas.

Ah, thanks. That is what I thought. Cheers

Automatically Appended Next Post:

PhillyT wrote:
With the utter garbage that most HH novels are, I have no problem with them reducing their number.

Why did you post in this thread? What does your opinion on the quality of HH books have to do with the release cycle?

**Harriticus**

GW destroyed the franchise with a never-ending barrage of special hardcover limited edition anthology short story available only online! gimmick

**evancich**

Do the limited edition stories get put into collections of short stories later? Or, is the only way to read them to buy the LE version?

**jareddm**

Yes, they do get put into non-limited edition collections. The latest one, Legacies of Betrayal, is all limited edition and ebook stories released in a normal softcover format.

**farmersboy**

I think GW got greedy - they saw how well the initial HH novels were selling (good enough to become New York Times best sellers) and started to milk the market. It take a long time for an author to write a novel, but a handful of them can bash out many more short stories and novellas, especially if they don't have to tie in to the overall story arc as tightly as a novel.

Then it's a simple move to make them 'limited edition', raising the price, give the pages some fancy edging, raising the price, throw in a couple of pages of dodgy artwork, raising the price, make the e-book version just as expensive, then sit back and watch all the money pour in...

...and watch the fans switch off in their droves as they get fed up of being ripped off, seeing a story arc get bloated and seeing the end novel/s getting pushed ever further back. Hardback, trade paperback, 'legacy paperback (i.e. 'this is the size we started it in'), novellas, limited editions, audio books, e-books, and yet the story is going nowhere and the fans' favourite authors are dropping out/moving on to other things.

At this rate the Siege of Terra will be published circa 030.M3

**Pilau Rice**

They got a bit crazy with the releases for awhile and it was hard to keep up with so many ebooks, limited editions, audiobooks and the like.

I think, well hope, they have realised that they can't just churn them out so much. I've stopped buying the limited editions and the audiobooks as I find it very annoying that they are just going to get released again. I was fully aware that the limited editions would feature in a novella, but when they say Gold and Silver editions only and then release a bronze one it doesn't sit well with me. Same with the .mp3s.

The quality in the books has been suffering, sure there were some doozies at the start, but it's been going down hill for awhile.

**foostick**

If you want an idea of the sheer bloat the Heresy series has become check this out, it's everything they've put out in the series at the moment - Novels, Anthologies, Novellas, e-Shorts and Audio. I keep a spreadsheet so I can track what I've got and what I'm missing.

For the record I buy the hardback novels, novellas when they go to standard "vanilla" release and the audios on disc.

I don't buy - limited editions, e-books of any kind or MP3 audio.

Novels:

Spoiler:

Other:

Spoiler:

Anthologies:

Spoiler:

Audio

Spoiler:

Novellas

Spoiler:

Other i.e. e-shorts and event exclusives not printed in a book

Spoiler:

**the ancient**

Fewer novels because GW wore them out. All the good authors have found better paying jerbs, except ADB, poor bugger.
Hey everybody, its friday, you all have to do 4 pages about the heresy by 5. k thanks.
Thank feth, I dont pay for it all.
Side note, AOS is like Kymes Salamanders, 5 pages and blink, blink, snooze.
Goldings got a lot to answer for if hes in charge.

**Veteran Sergeant**

This can only be a good thing, given how the quality of the series has declined.

Maybe, just maybe, TBL finally decided that there needed to be some quality control. Could be a flagging sales thing. Maybe the books were selling fewer copies because people were buying less of them.

Either way, when your series accounts for close to 50 books, but only like 10 of them are even necessary, it's not a good sign. Honestly, I'd be happy if I were you. That would mean TBL would actually get on track with continuing the story.

**FeindusMaximus**

Agree on GW $$ grab making crap books. I stopped after
'The Unremembered Empire (2013) by Dan Abnett'.

This week on the BL website I saw the new $$$ grab. 1500yrs after the HH, 12 books, 1 month for 12 months, Orks vs Imperium.

Really wish book 2 of Horus Talon trilogy would come out.

**Lithlandis Stormcrow**

For HH they're now going for the "Limited Edition" cash grab tactics - less content, bigger price tag.

Does this remind you of something?

**Slaphead**

I have to agree with what a lot of others are saying here. From my point of view, I absolutely love the Horus Heresy books I've read so far, but am just losing track of all the ridiculous limited editions, quick reads and audio books. Limited edition for me is what annoys me the most with GW/BL at the moment.

It does indeed look like they are just trying to milk that cash cow for all it's worth. Instead of an epic series of books, it is looking more and more just like a never ending subscription. The opening books in the series are just excellent, but I don't get all these filler anthology books, there are too many of them instead of proper novels. There are more than enough Horus Heresy books now, please GW for goodness sake, just finish the damn story/series!

A closing trilogy of books by Dan Abnett and Aaron Demski-Bowden for the siege of Terra (not bloody limited edition!) and the end of the Heresy. Done.

Then get their authors to move onto current 40k or the events after the heresy like what they are doing with the new series involving the Imperial fists and the Orks. If people need a Heresy fix, perhaps release a few more short stories or anthologies, but just concentrate on getting that closing trilogy and proper novels done first instead of all this faffing about and doing filler stuff.

As a Blood Angels fan, I find it surprising that Sanguinius plays such a key part in the closing stages of the Heresy, yet there is only one book dedicated to him and the Blood Angels. I know the Blood Angels were stuck in the Signus system, but I find it a bit disappointing that there aren't more Blood Angels Heresy books. The closing Siege of Terra story should fix both that and also the series finally getting some closure.

**Muhr**

Whatever the reason behind HH books becoming fewer, I don't think it's exclusive to the HH series. A couple of years ago, some form of rot became apparent on the Black Library web site. Everything that was good about the site was transformed into something...lesser. Before the rot, you could go to the 'Coming Soon' section to find a neatly laid out page where the first titles on the screen were the one's with the closest release dates, but if you go to the same page now you're greeted with page upon page of Audio books, e-books and posters, half of which have been out for ages!

Put simply, the coming soon page is a complete and utter mess and is a perfect lesson in how NOT to design a web page. They won't even let you know when a HH novel is due out, deliberately keeping you in the dark until the day of release. I shelled out for the first HH limited edition novel, Tallarn: Ironclad, which was awful, plus it STILL hasn't managed to sell out!

I don't know WHAT they're playing at, frankly, but it's as if they've decided that they just can't be bothered anymore, and to hell with their customers. A crying shame.

**JamesY**

I was chatting to a bl chap when I left gw last year. Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

**heybiff**

JamesY wrote:
Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

PLEASE tell me your talking out your ass! Otherwise I give up on this series and will go back to WEB Griffin. He's almost dead and releases faster.

**JamesY**

heybiff wrote:
JamesY wrote:
Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

PLEASE tell me your talking out your ass! Otherwise I give up on this series and will go back to WEB Griffin. He's almost dead and releases faster.

Sorry bud, I'm really not. The only thing that will accelerate the schedule is if (or more like when) interest falls to the point that it forces their hand. The last fw event I worked (when Horus was released) their writing team let slip that they estimate publishing about 70 of the black hardback books. They never actually want it to come to an end.

**heybiff**

Wow. Just wow.

**farmersboy**

JamesY wrote:
heybiff wrote:
JamesY wrote:
Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

PLEASE tell me your talking out your ass! Otherwise I give up on this series and will go back to WEB Griffin. He's almost dead and releases faster.

Sorry bud, I'm really not. The only thing that will accelerate the schedule is if (or more like when) interest falls to the point that it forces their hand. The last fw event I worked (when Horus was released) their writing team let slip that they estimate publishing about 70 of the black hardback books. They never actually want it to come to an end.

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me, the way BL have been going of late. In an ideal world everyone would stop buying HH for 12 months and force their hand, but that's not going to happen.

**Lithlandis Stormcrow**

farmersboy wrote:
JamesY wrote:
heybiff wrote:
JamesY wrote:
Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

PLEASE tell me your talking out your ass! Otherwise I give up on this series and will go back to WEB Griffin. He's almost dead and releases faster.

Sorry bud, I'm really not. The only thing that will accelerate the schedule is if (or more like when) interest falls to the point that it forces their hand. The last fw event I worked (when Horus was released) their writing team let slip that they estimate publishing about 70 of the black hardback books. They never actually want it to come to an end.

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me, the way BL have been going of late. In an ideal world everyone would stop buying HH for 12 months and force their hand, but that's not going to happen.

Exactly.

The thing is that they can only count on those fanatical loyalists of theirs to justify their lovely little money milking. And we all know they will never be annoyed at the mighty GW :p

**Pilau Rice**

farmersboy wrote:
JamesY wrote:
heybiff wrote:
JamesY wrote:
Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

PLEASE tell me your talking out your ass! Otherwise I give up on this series and will go back to WEB Griffin. He's almost dead and releases faster.

Sorry bud, I'm really not. The only thing that will accelerate the schedule is if (or more like when) interest falls to the point that it forces their hand. The last fw event I worked (when Horus was released) their writing team let slip that they estimate publishing about 70 of the black hardback books. They never actually want it to come to an end.

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me, the way BL have been going of late. In an ideal world everyone would stop buying HH for 12 months and force their hand, but that's not going to happen.

Well this sucks.

I might as well stop buying the f***ing books as it's likely I'll be dead before they finish the series.

**Gerinako**

I can't wait that long for a series.

I'll wait till 2036 for the omnibus on my iKindle that I can just download to my retina

**Mantorok**

I like that they made a comic recently.

I do not like it's 27.99 price tag.
I also do not like that it looks like that software they use for 3D porn webcomics.

**Flinty**

I'm not surprised they can reliably plan a release schedule for another 20 years. Its a big galaxy with an infinite amount of events that can be looked at over thousands of years. They are creating a history of a galaxy and thats something that doesn't really start and stop, so plenty of holes to fill and stories to tell.

Now of couse it would be better for them to tell good quality stories...

**heybiff**

Lithlandis Stormcrow wrote:

The thing is that they can only count on those fanatical loyalists of theirs to justify their lovely little money milking. And we all know they will never be annoyed at the mighty GW :p

I wonder if they know that probably more NON-players read than players. I only got back into 40K after a friend handed me Galaxy in Flames, and even then I only play about 10X a year, and buy less. I know others who are totally out of the hobby, but get the HH series off Amazon. Hell, every once in a while HH stories would come up in conversation when hanging out (we are all in our 30's and 40's BTW). That hasn't happened in a WHILE. What with having to wait a year after the hardback for the paperback to come out -- the REAL paperback not that weird sized one that won't fit in a pocket and costs too much.

Sure squeeze the regulars for more $$, but kill the market at the same time. GW should really do some market research. It can't possible make things worse.

H.

**AndrewGPaul**

I'm pretty sure they do know that; the sales figures from the various booksellers is probably pretty clear.

Also, a year between hardback and paperback is standard; you can't blame BL for that.

**Lithlandis Stormcrow**

AndrewGPaul wrote:
I'm pretty sure they do know that; the sales figures from the various booksellers is probably pretty clear.

Also, a year between hardback and paperback is standard; you can't blame BL for that.

Well, they really did print the hardback versions just to squeeze that money out so... I am sure someone can find a way to blame that on them :p

**Slaphead**

Pilau Rice wrote:
farmersboy wrote:
JamesY wrote:
heybiff wrote:
JamesY wrote:
Current release plan for novels goes up until 2035 and the series still won't be finished. Hopefully they will revise this, but as it stands that's the plan.

PLEASE tell me your talking out your ass! Otherwise I give up on this series and will go back to WEB Griffin. He's almost dead and releases faster.

Sorry bud, I'm really not. The only thing that will accelerate the schedule is if (or more like when) interest falls to the point that it forces their hand. The last fw event I worked (when Horus was released) their writing team let slip that they estimate publishing about 70 of the black hardback books. They never actually want it to come to an end.

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me, the way BL have been going of late. In an ideal world everyone would stop buying HH for 12 months and force their hand, but that's not going to happen.

Well this sucks.

I might as well stop buying the f***ing books as it's likely I'll be dead before they finish the series.

Wow, the Horus Heresy is like a magazine subscription, but with books. To me, it looks like they are looking at the profit rather than the content which I guess is why they are reluctant to close the series off. Shame, I was really looking forward to reading the Battle/Siege of Terra.