Black Library 2017 News/Rumours Thread : Xmas Advent

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**MasterSlowPoke**

cincydooley wrote:
MasterSlowPoke wrote:
Has there been any word on when The Battle for the Abyss will get audiobook treatment? Currently I work 70 hour weeks and the only way I can read is in audio form, and I'd like to continue the heresy.

Let us all do you a favor and encourage you to skip this one.

And Raven's Flight.

I made it through Descent of Angels, it couldn't be much worse than that.

**Darth Bob**

You know, the Centurion looks pretty awesome in that artwork. I wish the models were posed as dynamically as that art.

**Wyzilla**

Darth Bob wrote:
You know, the Centurion looks pretty awesome in that artwork. I wish the models were posed as dynamically as that art.

I've said it many times before, the art of Centurions are awesome. The problem is that the legs on the moderl are both static and too short, and there's literally nothing on the back. The model would be great if you just couldn't see the astartes in the mech from the back.

**BrookM**

Wyzilla wrote:
1hadhq wrote:
Soo
poor Corax is stuck with limited, edition, novella, and Mr Thorpe.?
Sad News.

What's wrong with Gav? His work with the Avenging Sons was awesome.

Besides, much better than Ben Counter getting the job.

I agree with you there, we may be in a minority though.

**reds8n**

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

Yes.

More or less.

The format they used to release the HH books ( and indeed most of their books in) is one that the publishing industry as a whole is moving away from.

The HH books get a hardback release, then X months later they get a tradepaperback release -- this is softback but somewhat larger than the original format, about the size of the that various Space Marine Battles series was/is in if that's any help to you.

Then the HH series -- and only the HH series -- get a release in the old style paperback known as the "legacy format" .

AT the moment they're going back through the rabge and releasing each book in the hardback format, with the tradepaperback format X ( it's normally 3-6 IIRC) months afterwards. So there will be a release of Mechanicum in this format but there is unlikely to ever be a reprint in the old/legacy format.

Hope that helps, sorry if this isn't quite what you wanted to hear.

**Wyzilla**

BrookM wrote:
Wyzilla wrote:
1hadhq wrote:
Soo
poor Corax is stuck with limited, edition, novella, and Mr Thorpe.?
Sad News.

What's wrong with Gav? His work with the Avenging Sons was awesome.

Besides, much better than Ben Counter getting the job.
I agree with you there, we may be in a minority though.

Everyone with a good taste in literature of Counter, considering his characters have the depth and intrigue of a photocopied cardboard cutout. And going above and beyond the call of shoving the word "wolf" into a sentence more then ever thought possible.

**tomball0706**

reds8n wrote:
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

Yes.

More or less.

The format they used to release the HH books ( and indeed most of their books in) is one that the publishing industry as a whole is moving away from.

The HH books get a hardback release, then X months later they get a tradepaperback release -- this is softback but somewhat larger than the original format, about the size of the that various Space Marine Battles series was/is in if that's any help to you.

Then the HH series -- and only the HH series -- get a release in the old style paperback known as the "legacy format" .

AT the moment they're going back through the rabge and releasing each book in the hardback format, with the tradepaperback format X ( it's normally 3-6 IIRC) months afterwards. So there will be a release of Mechanicum in this format but there is unlikely to ever be a reprint in the old/legacy format.

Hope that helps, sorry if this isn't quite what you wanted to hear.

Thanks for the help! All the heresy books I own are in legacy format, bar one or two, and I wanted to keep them all like that. Guess I'll just order it of amazon now instead

**1hadhq**

Wyzilla wrote:
BrookM wrote:
Wyzilla wrote:
1hadhq wrote:
Soo
poor Corax is stuck with limited, edition, novella, and Mr Thorpe.?
Sad News.

What's wrong with Gav? His work with the Avenging Sons was awesome.

Besides, much better than Ben Counter getting the job.
I agree with you there, we may be in a minority though.

Everyone with a good taste in literature of Counter, considering his characters have the depth and intrigue of a photocopied cardboard cutout. And going above and beyond the call of shoving the word "wolf" into a sentence more then ever thought possible.

I didn't request Counter instead of Thorpe..

But I am very unimpressed by anything involving space marines written by Mr Thorpe.

**Pacific**

I thought Angels of Darkness was very good, although perhaps that was as much about the book actually introducing something new, something which I think is just so difficult to do within the 40k universe - even though 'that line' was so massively divisive with fans!

Also he gets a big thumbs up for mentioning the Demiurg in 'Purging of Kallidus', even though the rest of the book was very much cookie-cutter Space Marines in BL.

You know, the Centurion looks pretty awesome in that artwork. I wish the models were posed as dynamically as that art.

Indeed. I think both of those models are pretty poor (and massively uninspired), but that's a great piece of art.

**heybiff**

cincydooley wrote:
Pacific wrote:
.

I'd wager they're unconcerned.

Heybiff

But they **had** to notice the bump in sales of the novels that isn't accounted for by the number of active rulebook/mini buyers. Maybe some of it could be explained away by random purchasers in BM stores; but not at the volumes they wee selling, and certainly not NYC Bestseller list volumes.

Heybiff

Automatically Appended Next Post:

reds8n wrote:
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

Yes.

More or less.

The format they used to release the HH books ( and indeed most of their books in) is one that the publishing industry as a whole is moving away from.

The HH books get a hardback release, then X months later they get a tradepaperback release -- this is softback but somewhat larger than the original format, about the size of the that various Space Marine Battles series was/is in if that's any help to you.

Then the HH series -- and only the HH series -- get a release in the old style paperback known as the "legacy format" .

AT the moment they're going back through the rabge and releasing each book in the hardback format, with the tradepaperback format X ( it's normally 3-6 IIRC) months afterwards. So there will be a release of Mechanicum in this format but there is unlikely to ever be a reprint in the old/legacy format.

Hope that helps, sorry if this isn't quite what you wanted to hear.

Funny, The "legacy format" is commonly know as mass-market paperback. The industry standard. LOL. Publishers have found the hardback format selling less and less well.

I got an email from BL that explained basically what you said, and in a nutshell told me to expect the mm paperback 6-8 months after the initial hardback release. Pretty sire I'll loose interest if I have to wait 8 months between novels. At lest they committed to releasing the whole series a paperback.

Heybiff

**farmersboy**

The time frame is thus...the hardback is released, then three months later the first, larger paperback is released ( the 'trade' paperback that's becoming more and more common), then another six months after that (so nine months after initial HB publication) the mass market paperback (or as GW term it the 'legacy' format) is published.

**xowainx**

Go into the sci-fiend fantasy section of any major book store and you'll see the vast majority of books there are now in the trade format as opposed to MMPB. It really isn't a Black Library only thing.

**BobtheInquisitor**

In the local Barnes and Noble, they are still mostly MMPB... Maybe it's a British thing? It seems Americans, as a people, are willing to spend less on books.

**xowainx**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
In the local Barnes and Noble, they are still mostly MMPB... Maybe it's a British thing? It seems Americans, as a people, are willing to spend less on books.

Could well be, and could explain the consternation too.

**farmersboy**

It's only really become a common sight over the last few years, and what's most annoying is that it really screws the look of any collection up on your book shelves - my collection of Clive Cussler novels is 95% MMPB, but now they're all in this rather pointless Trade size - why didn't they just put prices up without making the books physically bigger?

My extensive collection of Black Library books is now all over the place, except for the HH novels.

**reds8n**

http://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/comments/25m3e6/ama_with_graham_mcneill/

AmA with Mr McNeill there, don't think there's any startling revelations but ....

some new Space Marine Battles artwork, that's the Scythes of the Emperor versus Tyranids there.....

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.

subtle eh ?

Guess there's a new book a'comin' about them then.

Vulkan Lives is in ( GW at least) stores now in the Legacy/same as the first 20 odd novels format.

Guy Haley has 2 new books out

http://www.blacklibrary.com/new-at-bl/Valedor-An-Interview.html

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.

Haven't read those yet --- finished Vulkan Lives and surging through "Commissar" by Andy Hoare -- which features Vostryans and is pretty cool so far -- but I intend to, I rate Mr Haley's books very highly.

In news that will shock no one.....

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.

Other info that might be of note :

from Mr Dembski-Bowden

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”

Oh and according to BL my new Ravenguard novella has been despatched so they should be arriving soon.

**BrookM**

AD-B is going to continue the Space Wolf saga then?

**Looky Likey**

What's come out recently that isn't a HH book that is worth reading? I'm off on holiday and need some reading material.

Edit: And to stay on topic, limited edition high quality prints: http://www.blacklibrary.com/exclusive-products/gallery-range I brought the visions one.

**reds8n**

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/the-last-days-of-ector.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/valedor.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/yarrick-imperial-creed.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/archaon-everchosen.html

would be my pick of the recent releases -- haven't read the first 2 there -- but I will .

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/skarsnik.html was very good too IMO.

**Theophony**

Well as I'm painting scythes of the emperor I guess I'm going to be buying that book, 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.

**the shrouded lord**

Well, I like the horus heresy series. I've read up to and including fulgrim, and am reading vulkin lives (AMAZING btw)
Anyway, does any one have an Horus heresy book suggestions? I'm hoping to slowly read through each sub-plot (legion plot) individually, and was wondering what people would suggest?
This seemed the most logical place to ask.

**reds8n**

http://www.blacklibrary.com/our-ranges-horus-heresy.html

might help, that's the timeline order of stories.

Personally I'd just stick to the order they were published in, you'll understand everything well enough.

.. probably

There's some close ups/WiP of the Scythes artwork here : https://www.facebook.com/JONSARTbCRW15464/media_set?set=a.684928294876664.1073741939.100000784983392&type=1

**Looky Likey**

reds8n wrote:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/the-last-days-of-ector.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/valedor.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/yarrick-imperial-creed.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/archaon-everchosen.html

would be my pick of the recent releases -- haven't read the first 2 there -- but I will .

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/skarsnik.html was very good too IMO.

Ta, I've gone for Yarrick & Valedor.

**reds8n**

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.

odd you say that....

http://www.blacklibrary.com/exclusive-products/gallery-range

No Scythes of the Emperor art there.. yet anyway !

Quite dig the Abaddon and Archaon ones.

**kronk**

What is this a picture of? the Emperor versus Horus? It's hard to make out.

Edit: Never mind. I blew up the picture on my screen. That's The Big E and Horus, with Sanguinius dead on the ground.

**shade1313**

kronk wrote:
What is this a picture of? the Emperor versus Horus? It's hard to make out.

Yep, with dead Sanguinius off to the left of the Emprah.

**kronk**

Thanks, Shade. I just figured that out.

Sweet picture. How big are these prints. they don't say on the site.

**gianlucafiorentini123**

kronk wrote:
Thanks, Shade. I just figured that out.

Sweet picture. How big are these prints. they don't say on the site.

A3

**reds8n**

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.

All same size

**Looky Likey**

Do we think that the actual picture is A3 or the card frame is A3?