Black Library News & Rumours Thread II, aka Rise of the Bibliophile

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**Kanluwen**

I just dislike that artist's style. It's "not 40k", if that makes sense.

**warboss**

Kanluwen wrote:I just dislike that artist's style. It's "not 40k", if that makes sense.

To each his own I guess. I can see maybe why you'd say it's not 40kish as its a bit more cartoony and light on the Blanche grimdarkness. I guess I've been playing Space Marine too much and that style is growing on me.

**Kanluwen**

I don't like Blanche either, so that's kind of strange...

To give you an idea:
I prefer Neil Roberts'(the guy who did the Sanguinius art) stuff. He's done the art for most of the HH covers, and he does a good job of making it look "grimdark" without going Blancheian. He and Jon Sullivan do a fantastic job of making good art without making it cartoony.

**KamikazeCanuck**

I guess in some ways the HH covers have supplanted John Blanche as "the style" of 40K.

**Kanluwen**

That's very much not a Bad Thing.

**KamikazeCanuck**

Not a fan? 40K owes a lot of it's grim darkness to him.

**Kanluwen**

It also owes a lot of its grimdarkness to the grunge movement.

That doesn't mean it needs to stick to it.

Blanche's art is, IMO, best taken in small doses. He does well with the stylized or what I like to call "in-universe" artwork, but outside of that it's very irksome to look at.

**KamikazeCanuck**

Grunge? Wasn't 40k about the grim darkness before Nirvanna?

**warboss**

Kanluwen wrote:I don't like Blanche either, so that's kind of strange...

To give you an idea:
I prefer Neil Roberts'(the guy who did the Sanguinius art) stuff. He's done the art for most of the HH covers, and he does a good job of making it look "grimdark" without going Blancheian. He and Jon Sullivan do a fantastic job of making good art without making it cartoony.

I'd say the vast majority of the BL cover art has been nice (including the ones you mention above). The only one I'm not a huge fan of are the Hunt for Voldorius (mainly for the WTF?? vehicle and armor designs that don't match anything else) and maybe the salamander novels (which are ironically done by the same guy who did the DA pic I'm praising). As for John Blanche, I realize that he was seminal to the design of 40k and that it matched the grimdark world of Rogue Trader where marines were just brainwashed thugs collecting tribute for the emperor. Unfortunately, his style just irks me... he's consistently the least favorite artist in any 40k art book I look at. Maybe I'm liking the cartoony look so much since its the exact opposite of the scribbles he'd come up with.

**BrookM**

automatonsleuth wrote:So, we have the cover art for another Horus Heresy novel, "Fear to Tread":
http://www.blacklibrary.com/Blog/Where-angels-fear.html

No, not a novel, an audio drama..

**Temujin**

Pretty sure it's a novel. The Dark Angels one was an audio drama.

**reds8n**

Indeed, that's for Mr. Swallows book late next year.

**automatonsleuth**

BrookM wrote:No, not a novel, an audio drama..

Having had another look at the blog post, I'm not actually sure whether it's an audio drama or a novel. It doesn't actually say which it is in the post, but the products advertised at the bottom are all audiobooks, and this was revealed at the same time as Malediction, which is an audio drama...

Still, I'm hoping it will be a proper novel, I'm not all that keen on BL audio stuff personally. I like to come up with voices myself, and I tend to find the sound effects more distracting than enjoyable.
.

**reds8n**

That is the cover for Fear to Tread., which is his BA HH novel, due September next year.

http://jmswallow.livejournal.com/133473.html

**Pacific**

With regards to the title, presumably Sanguinius is the 'angel', does it perhaps refer to the Legion rushing down to Signus Prime (somewhat foolishly?)

**automatonsleuth**

reds8n wrote: That is the cover for Fear to Tread., which is his BA HH novel, due September next year.

http://jmswallow.livejournal.com/133473.html

Thanks for clearing that up, and giving us a publication date! I look forward to having Blood Angels in time for my birthday.

**Pilau Rice**

I hope Kyriss is still in this and it's not all Khorne, Skulls and Blood

**BrookM**

Ah, my bad, soz.

**Abadabadoobaddon**

I thought Sanguinius had black hair.

**automatonsleuth**

Abadabadoobaddon wrote:I thought Sanguinius had black hair.

Nah, Gwinny has been pretty and blonde. You can see it in Blanche's portrait:

and even (although his head is a lot harder to distinguish in this one) Adrian Smith's original Horus vs The Emperor picture:

**CaptainLoken**

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Grunge? Wasn't 40k about the grim darkness before Nirvanna?

Hahahaha!!! That's funny.

Actually, Rogue Trader was HEAVILY influenced by the whole PUNK scene. (For those of you not born before 1990, the Punk Rock scene was during the 1980's). Look at the artwork in the Rogue Trader book...mohawks, studded leather, baseball bats with nails in them, and all that good stuff. It was a reflection of the "end of the world" literature and media that was out at the time. Mad Max meets Judge Dredd meets Dune. It predates the whole grunge scene by a decade...

Now, don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE Fluffy Nutter. I play 40K BECAUSE of the Fluff. It has evolved into a very unique and diverse setting, but it wasn't always that way. GW stole from the best, because they were fans of the best. Over time, the whole setting has become something special, even though it was based on elements taken from numerous sources. Kind of like how the Lord of the Rings setting has influenced so many fantasy settings.

**KamikazeCanuck**

CaptainLoken wrote:
KamikazeCanuck wrote:Grunge? Wasn't 40k about the grim darkness before Nirvanna?

Hahahaha!!! That's funny.

Actually, Rogue Trader was HEAVILY influenced by the whole PUNK scene. (For those of you not born before 1990, the Punk Rock scene was during the 1980's). Look at the artwork in the Rogue Trader book...mohawks, studded leather, baseball bats with nails in them, and all that good stuff. It was a reflection of the "end of the world" literature and media that was out at the time. Mad Max meets Judge Dredd meets Dune. It predates the whole grunge scene by a decade...

Now, don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE Fluffy Nutter. I play 40K BECAUSE of the Fluff. It has evolved into a very unique and diverse setting, but it wasn't always that way. GW stole from the best, because they were fans of the best. Over time, the whole setting has become something special, even though it was based on elements taken from numerous sources. Kind of like how the Lord of the Rings setting has influenced so many fantasy settings.

Also has a lot of Heavy Metal influence. Noise Marines are straight up Glam Metal marines of doom.

**reds8n**

Only really of interest to those in the UK/Nottingham area, but..

Black Library will have a stand at the Warhammer Doubles event in the gaming hall at Warhammer World.
You can get your hands on limited edition, prerelease and Direct Exclusive Products.

On sale this weekend:

• Prerelease books on sale up to three month early,
Including ‘Deliverance Lost’, the new Horus Heresy novel by Gav Thorpe and ‘The Gildar Rift’ the new Space Marine Battles novel by Sarah Cawkwell.

• Limited edition signed art prints. Selection of this year’s collectable Black library art prints including work by Neil Roberts and Clint Langley.

• Direct Exclusive products, a range of books usually only available online including the award winning graphic novel ‘Daemonifuge’ and the art book ‘Inquis Exterminatus’.

• A limited number of our collectable Horus Heresy novellas.

We will also have an appearance from two Black Library authors. Gav Thorpe and Sarah Cawkwell will be signing copies of their latest novels from 12:00 until 14:00 on Saturday, so once you’ve got your books weeks before its on sale you can even get ithem signed.

The Black Library stand will be open on Friday from 18:00 – 21:00, and Saturday from 8:00 – 14:00.

I can recommend both of the above 40K novels, both very good indeed.

Moving onto next year, we have some details about Bl Live !

AUTHORS ANNOUNCED FOR BLACK LIBRARY LIVE

It’s only 37 sleeps until Christmas, but here at Black Library we’re counting towards an even more exciting event: Black Library Live! 2012 (106 sleeps, just in case you were wondering).

Black Library Live! Is our annual celebration of all things Black Library, held in Warhammer World. It’s your chance to meet authors, get your hands on prerelease books and exclusive products and generally spend a whole day immersed in all things Black Library.

Here’s a list of some of the authors you can meet this year.

Graham McNeill, along with copies of his new Iron Warriors The Omnibus and his first audio drama Eye of Vengeance
Andy Chambers, signing copies of his new Dark Eldar novel, Path of the Renegade
Josh Reynolds, author of the Warhammer novel Knight of the Blazing Sun
Rob Sanders, with prerelease copies of his new Space Marine Battle Novel, Legion of the Damned
William King, will be attending to sign copies of his new Warhammer Novel Blood of Aenarion
George Mann, author of the Raven Guard audio drama series
Sarah Cawkwell, author of Space Marine Battles novel, The Gildar Rift
Andy Smillie, author of numerous tales in Hammer and Bolter
John French, author of the short story ‘The Last Remembrancer’ from the Age of Darkness anthology

And there are more authors still to be announced. We’re going to run out of tables! (only joking, it’s chairs we’re short of).

As well as meeting your favourite Black Library authors, this event is a great chance to pick up some Black Library limited edition products. This year we will have 100 copies of the Horus Heresy Novella Aurelian, both gold and silver editions. This will be the final time this book is sold anywhere in the world, so if you want one this is your last chance.

There will also be a huge range of Black Library Direct Exclusives including the game book Hive of the Dead and the graphic novel Daemonifuge.

Tickets for this event sold out a month ago, but we’ve managed to track down six tickets that were stashed away for a rainy day, and, since it has been unseasonably dry this month, we’ve decided to put them back on sale. They will be available to buy tonight from 6:00, so if you haven’t got a ticket yet, be sure to check back then.

If you can’t make it to Black library Live! 2012, don’t worry – there will be another Black Library event coming up later in the year that will make the ultimate awesomeness that is Black Library Live! seem merely fantastic. What could it be? Details will be announced next month.

Tomorrow on the blog, an interview with Gemmell Award winning, New York Times bestselling author: Graham McNeill.

Astonishingly enough those 6 tickets sold out rather quickly.

Am intrigued greatly by the new event they'll be announcing, guessing it must be something along the lines of BL Live, just perhaps one that goes on a bit longer. Is the world ready for the Black Library Weekender ?

**Pilau Rice**

automatonsleuth wrote:
Abadabadoobaddon wrote:I thought Sanguinius had black hair.

Nah, Gwinny has been pretty and blonde

He has Black Hair in Horus Rising and a Thousand Sons apparently

Maybe it changes colour when he is Angry

**DarkStarSabre**

He dyes his hair for mourning iirc.

**Pilau Rice**

DarkStarSabre wrote:He dyes his hair for mourning iirc.

iirc it's the tears he dabs on his face that are for mourning, not his hair colour. But without a glance I could be wrong.

**automatonsleuth**

Pilau Rice wrote:

He has Black Hair in Horus Rising and a Thousand Sons apparently

Maybe it changes colour when he is Angry

Yes, did a Google search and he did indeed have black hair in Horus Rising / A Thousand Sons. How odd. He definitely has pretty blonde locks in all the Collected Visions stuff. Has he had any other appearances in the HH series?

On an unrelated note, Mr Rice, you sound delicious. In as non-creepy a way as is possible, I'd really like to eat you.

**Pilau Rice**

automatonsleuth wrote:
On an unrelated note, Mr Rice, you sound delicious. In as non-creepy a way as is possible, I'd really like to eat you.

Why thank you sir, i'll be sure to avoid you at all costs, good bai!

I think Sangy looks better with Blonde Locks. Corax and the Night Haunter rock the Black look much better, being all angsty and all that.

**Just Dave**

Finished Outcast Dead last night (probably give it a 7 or 8 out of 10 personally), so my contribution to the current spoilered conversation:

Spoiler:

As to my thoughts on Outcast Dead:

I think I'd give it a 7/10, possibly an 8. This would indeed make it one of the lower 'ranked' HH novels for me, which surprised me too.

At first I loved the novel and it was a real page-turner. The intrigue of Kai and what he would find, the growing knowledge of Istvaan (such as when they receive the news of the betrayal and Ferrus' death, and the portrayal of Ferrus here is REALLY GOOD), I also found at this point that Graham did a sterling job of making the Astropaths and their abilities and what goes on within them/the warp make sense, which is what I was most concerned about within the novel before I had read it. Up until about Chapter 13/14 I couldn't put the book down. But it was then that things got dubious for me. I found the course of events largely very predictable, with who would die and such forth, with the action being fairly routine and almost unrealistic (within 40K). For example, that one of the outcast dead wasn't named in the Personae at the beginning, it was clear he was going to die and he got battered and bruised (unlike the others) for seemingly little reason. Furthermore, some characters were really stereotypical, such as Severian, Nagasena, Golovko, Subha etc.

Overall, it really let me down towards the end, beginning to feel predictable and scripted and not really explaining properly many points/hints and revelations. There were a few nice revelations and some insight into the Emperor, but these didn't really make up for it IMHO and in their own way often didn't make sense. In true HH style it raised a lot of questions (which is good), but unlike usual, it seemed to fail to give a hint of the answer or when they could be answered. For example:

Spoiler:

**reds8n**

today's blog post

We have three new eBooks for you this Friday, brought to you straight from the hallowed libraries in the Temple of Hera. The three eShorts, available separately for the first time, feature Ultramarines Captain Uriel Ventris battling against a variety of foes across the Imperium.

We caught up with Ultramarines author (and honorary son of Macragge) Graham McNeill to chat about the creation of one of Black Library’s most enduring characters.

Where did the idea come from for Uriel Ventris – an Ultramarines captain who stretches the teachings of the Codex Astartes?

The idea for Uriel came out of a desire to show the teachings and doctrines of the Ultramarines by contrasting them against someone who doesn't follow the Codex exactly. Ordinarily, I'd never kick off a series with a character who doesn't exemplify the group he's part of, but since the Ultramarines were such a well-established part of the 40K background, I figured I could get away with it and hit the ground running. Though to be fair, Uriel's deviation from the Codex doesn't really begin in full until Warriors of Ultramar, so there was some groundwork done in Nightbringer to establish his archetype before I went on to break it. And, when all's said and done, Uriel has gone on to learn that the teachings of Roboute Guilliman are there for a reason. Seeing the Iron Warrior Honsou in Medrengard showed Uriel where his path of deviation would inevitably lead, so that was a wake up call to him to mend his ways. But that's not to say he won't be tested again in the future, though that might come in a rather unexpected way...

Did any characters or events evolve unexpectedly over the course of the series, or did it all follow a “grand plan”?

In the first three books, I was pretty much going from story to story, without much thought for how they might all link together. As my confidence as a writer increased (and the books grew more popular) I began to think of the stories as an ongoing series that needed to work together, and that's when I started working out the novels in terms of how they worked over the course of a number of book as opposed to being standalone tales. The second arc of stories were very definitely planned as a whole, and a lot of what I've done with the characters in those (and still to come) books has been developed bearing in mind what went before, so it all appears like a seamless, flawless plan I evolved a decade ago. As with all things writing, the best ideas comes out in the writing, not the planning, so I'm always being surprised by what ends up in the novels, so much so that I'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out in the next book, even though I kind of know how it's going to end.

And the obvious question – what’s next for Uriel and Pasanius?

Uriel and Pasanius will march again, though given my brutal schedule it might be a couple of years before I get the chance to tell their next adventure. I have the next three books planned in outline form, and after the grand finale of The Chapter's Due, I'm going to take it back a notch or ten to focus on a tight group of characters thrust into a situation where the battle's already lost on page ten, and the rest of the novel will be a nailbiting tension ride to see who lives or dies. It'll likely be called The Swords of Calth, and I can't wait to get busy on it.

Thanks Graham, we can’t wait.

Also out today, another addition to our range of eBundles with the full collection of Space Marine Battles novels collected into one massive volume. Download this bundle today and you can read Sarah Cawkwell’s new novel The Gildar Rift and two novellas from the Architect of Fate series before they are available anywhere else.
Next week on the blog, we’ll be back with more previews, news and an exclusive peek at some new Neil Roberts art on Wednesday.

Have a good weekend.