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2016/11/30 15:24:37
Subject: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: p90 Amazon kindle news
Most annoying part of BL by far is that audiobooks are only available on their site and to add them to my tablet I gotta download it to my comp then plug the tablet into it then manually move it from one to the other.
My Armies:
5,500pts 2,700pts 2,000pts
2016/11/30 16:03:54
Subject: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: p90 Amazon kindle news
Escaping from ruined Calth, Oll Persson and his band of refugees are trapped on a dark, forgotten world. But the enemy draws near, and immortality may not be enough to survive...
READ IT BECAUSE
It's the return of Oll Persson in a tale following the events of 'Know No Fear' and 'Unmarked' which drives the mysterious Perpetual towards his ultimate destiny…
THE STORY
Oll Persson stands apart from the rest of mankind. He is one of the old ones, one of the undying. One of the Perpetuals. Now, fleeing from the ruins of Calth with his band of fellow refugees, the vagaries of the warp have brought him through the backways of time and space to a city that rests on the edge of oblivion... and no further. The path has ended abruptly, and Oll's enemies are finally closing in. Will his immortality be enough to save him this time?
Written by Dan Abnett. Running time 27 minutes. Performed by Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Ian Brooker, Cliff Chapman, Steve Conlin, Penelope Rawlins, Saul Reichlin and Luis Soto.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/12/01 09:49:09
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Mylasa Yaygus is an enigma, her origins a mystery even to her master, the Inquisitor Covenant. She is the Maiden of the Dream, a psychic torturer and manipulator of consummate skill, but amongst her many lives and histories is there a mote of truth that reveals who she really is?
READ IT BECAUSE
One of John French's strengths is crafting intricate mysteries with strong characters at their core, and this is another such tale of a powerful psyker who may be her master's most useful ally or most dangerous foe.
THE STORY
Mylasa Yaygus is an enigma, her origins a mystery even to her master, Covenant. Of all of the inquisitor's acolytes, Mylasa is the least known and arguably the most dangerous. A powerful Primaris psyker, the truth about her past is as byzantine as her abilities. As Ilk, she is a hive-born wretch bound for the Black Ships, as Verrun, she is the daughter of a rich merchant clan... but if these are false memories, who really is Mylasa? She is the Maiden of the Dream, a psychic torturer and manipulator of consummate skill, and amongst her many lives and histories might there be a mote of truth that reveals who she really is?
Earlier in the week I posted the first part of a wide-ranging interview with Black Library Commissioning Editor Laurie Goulding, which included loads of fascinating details about Laurie’s work chronicling the Scythes of the Emperor chapter of Space Marines (which he writes under the name LJ Goulding). In this second part of the interview we talk about the other side of Laurie’s work for Black Library, as the man responsible for editing the Horus Heresy series!
Before we get onto the Heresy however, I had one more question for Laurie about his Warhammer 40,000 writing…
Some of your previous writing has covered things like Kaldor Draigo carving Geronitan’s name into Mortarion’s heart, or the uneasy alliance between Blood Angels and Necrons in The Word of the Silent King…which are the sort of contentious topics that get a certain section of the fanbase hot under the collar. It seems like you chose those topics specifically to address these unusual topics where you think there’s something else to say – is that the case, or was it more that you just saw them as cool stories to tell?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, one of the things that’s been said lots of times is that all of the IP is created equal. All of the background of Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the Horus Heresy – everything is cool, and I think the only way that stuff appears not cool is if people either overthink it or if not enough detail of context is given. In the case of Mortarion’s Heart, Christian Dunn who was my editor at the time – I’d just done a Scythes of the Emperor story, Shadow of the Beast – he said “what do you want to do next, would you like to do an audio drama?” I was working a lot on doing the scripts and the editing for audio dramas so I said “yes, absolutely!”
He said “we should probably start you off with a Space Marine chapter. We’ve done all these chapters – Blood Angels, Ultramarines, and that leaves us with a few major chapters we’ve not really touched. Nobody’s touched the Grey Knights in audio at this point. Have you got any ideas for a Grey Knights story?” I said “I think I might have one, yeah! How about the thing where he carves the guy’s name on Mortarion’s heart? Would that be a good one?” He said “well…yeah, if you can make it work?”
Originally I had a couple of ideas of how I might approach that and make it something that wasn’t so much a joke, and more something where once you understand the context it becomes a little more believable or a little more authentic feeling within the background. I mean this is all mad science fantasy wizards and daemons and people are saying ‘oh well it doesn’t make sense if it doesn’t exactly line up scientifically’! It doesn’t matter; as long as there’s a reason or as long as you acknowledge that the reason is mental, then you can make a cool story out of that.
The first idea I had was that Mortarion was swollen to immense proportions, almost titanic in size, and he would eat Draigo, who would be running around within him. I’d written a good chunk of that story and then I turned over the next page in the codex looking for more details that I could add in and there’s almost exactly that story with one of the other characters, Justicar Thawn, who goes inside a daemon and explodes it from the inside. That’s the same story, so I had to think of a different way of doing it! We came across that idea of the true name, and there’s so much cool background for the Grey Knights, and for daemons and daemon princes. You can tie the Horus Heresy into 40k, there are so many strands!
I think as readers, and writers, of Warhammer fiction everybody just needs to think ‘what’s the context for this seemingly mad series of events that’s just been described in a sentence in a codex? What’s the context, what makes it believable, what makes it true?’ I tried to do the same thing with The Word of the Silent King, with the context of the Blood Angels and the Necrons having an alliance. There’s the whole joke about the brofist – I used that as my Twitter banner for the day it came out and it’s all good fun, but there’s actually a very serious story idea behind it.
Some people do get very invested in this stuff, and they take one sentence as gospel truth saying ‘well that doesn’t make any sense, I hate this and I don’t want any part of it’. Other people think ‘it doesn’t seem to make any sense but I wonder if there’s a story behind it’. A surprising amount of what we do editorially as well when we’re writing for ourselves within the Warhammer background come out of that – ‘this seems crazy, how can it be made more authentic?’
Some people have said ‘oh wow, now that finally makes sense, I really like it!’ while others say ‘what’s the point in doing it? It’s a stupid idea anyway, and you’ve just made it worse!’ Okay, if you didn’t like it before and you still don’t like it now – great! I still got to tell my story, not everyone’s going to like it.
We’re going to move onto the Horus Heresy shortly, as you’ve been a crucial part of the Horus Heresy team at Black Library…but that’s about to change! Could you give us a little bit of information about what’s happening, and what you’re going to be up to next?
Yes indeed – bombshell, right? I think a lot of people thought I’d never leave GW, like Crazy Uncle Laurie who lives in the attic and hoards all the Horus Heresy reprints! A lot of people in the office were very surprised, but the support I’ve had from everyone here and fans alike has been overwhelmingly positive.
Essentially I’ve been offered a new job in California, because of my experience with the Horus Heresy and all the commercial success it has enjoyed in the past five years or so. I spend a fair amount of time there anyway for holidays and such, and I’ve often thought about living in the US, so when this offer came through I just couldn’t turn it down. One of my cousins lived in Hollywood for five years, and she was really excited to see me heading over there more and more. Another of my cousins is a professional football… soccer?… coach in Virginia, so I’m not too concerned about my broad Midlands accent being a problem for my new colleagues!
I can’t really talk about what I’ll be doing, yet, but it really is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of opportunity. Maybe in a few months’ time we can talk about it some more.
How do you think that’s going to affect the Horus Heresy series going forward?
You know what, I really agonised about this. The decision to leave wasn’t an easy one, as I’ve been so completely focused on Black Library and the Heresy in particular, it felt like I would be turning my back on all that work, and all the other people who’ve become so invested in it as well. In fact, some of the authors said some very kind things about the work we have done together in the past six years, it was very touching. I always joked that when a book is a success then the author gets praised, and if it’s not so well-received then the PUBLISHER gets criticised… but to hear these world-renowned writers praising my contribution to their work was, well it was just so flattering. I can’t really describe how that felt.
Having said that, I’ve known about this move for a little while now, and I’ve been manoeuvring things ahead of time. Alan Bligh and I started planning out the Siege of Terra about two years ago, and the rest of the HH novel slots are accounted for and allocated to authors, so that was all already sorted. I’ve put in a lot more of the groundwork on the series in the past three months, so it should just be plain sailing from here, for the rest of the BL team and whoever else joins in future.
Are you going to remain working with Black Library in any form of consultative way, in order to continue lending your Heresy expertise as the series draws to a close?
Absolutely. The rest of the team know that my head is full of this Heresy trivia, so it would be crazy not to just offer the answers when they are needed. There’s no acrimony here, I still really want to see the series finished in the way we’ve been planning it for the past few years.
We’re currently looking at whether or not it would be helpful for me to continue to attend the author planning meetings, like a creative consultant or something like that. I’d be happy to live in the US and take my holidays back in rainy Nottingham, and offer whatever assistance I can in the completion of the project along the way.
It’s strange, because Alan Merrett only recently left Games Workshop after thirty-five years or something like that, and I spoke to him in Bugman’s bar at his farewell drinks party. He said something like “Ahh, the Heresy will be fine with you to keep everyone in line,” and I was thinking, but what if I end up leaving for this new job?! Yikes. That was another reason I had to think really carefully about it, because Alan and I worked very closely on Visions of Heresy and he was always at the HH meetings. I didn’t want to let him down, which is why I’ve been working so hard to get things planned out and ready for whoever steps up to the plate next.
But you know what? I’m not the Horus Heresy. Alan wasn’t the Horus Heresy. No author is the Horus Heresy. It’s a huge setting, it’s the ancient history of the distant future. This is bigger than any one person, and it’s going to be fantastic even though I won’t be in that office when the final book goes to print.
In fact, part of me is looking forward to being ‘just a fan’ again. Maybe I can troll the new editors on Twitter or Facebook, asking the same old questions like a broken record! Ha!
Will you be making any more contributions in terms of writing the Horus Heresy?
Recently I’ve been handling such a huge plate-spinning, herding cats sort of role on the editorial side. I’ve always been THE editor for the Horus Heresy, since I started – I’ve edited everything that came through Black Library for the Horus Heresy, and commissioned all of it since 2013. Everything that the studio’s produced, like board games and additional content for White Dwarf – everything like that has come through my desk as well, and for Forge World I’ve been a collaborator with Alan Bligh since day one. In fact I’ve just finished proofreading the latest batch of stuff from them, which is all very exciting! With all of that, it’s been such a huge task that writing my own HH stories felt like a whole new marathon race on top.
I did The Heart of the Pharos and a couple of other things that are related to that – Nick said a while back “Do you have more ideas that you want to do?” but I’ve had no spare time! I couldn’t possibly have written any more of this! Nick and I both find we have so many editorial tasks to do that we don’t get the time to tell the stories that we’d like to write, but then who knows, now? Never say never! Essentially there would have to be a really good reason for me to tell a story rather than Aaron, or Graham, or Dan – and because of the fact that it’s all laid down now, I can safely discount myself from writing any Horus Heresy novels.
Was it the setting on Sotha (and the links to your Scythes work) that drew you to writing The Heart of the Pharos, or was that a coincidence?
Interestingly, it was actually a line from Prince of Crows that set this whole thing in motion, way before The Unremembered Empire was properly planned out. I had already pitched for the next Scythes of the Emperor novel, and we had some names floating around from the existing background but nothing concrete. Then Aaron Dembski-Bowden had Sevatar nominate Sotha as one of the mustering points for the Night Lords fleeing from the Thramas Crusade, and the cogs started turning in my head…
In the next Horus Heresy meeting, Dan was asking about a possible location in Ultramar for his ‘new Astronomican’ idea around which Imperium Secundus would hinge, and I blurted out Sotha. We all kept on talking this through, and the moment I pointed out that the fortress monastery was on Mount Pharos, the deal was done. The same name as an ancient, iconic lighthouse? It’s like we planned it all along.
One of the names that Richard Williams and I had discussed way back for the Scythes was the first Chapter Master Oberdeii, a venerable old veteran of the Ultramarines Legion. Dan loved this idea, and he put Oberdeii into The Unremembered Empire as a neophyte Scout. The Aegida orbital platform became part of the legacy of the 199th Aegida Company, and the concept of Sotha later being the centre of a political coalition of worlds was cemented into the 40k lore, just like a smaller version of the Five Hundred Worlds of old Ultramar.
The idea for The Heart of the Pharos was always intended to be the next step of Oberdeii’s story, but when Guy Haley started talking about his ideas for the novel that became Pharos, he and I started working really closely together to make sure that the two of them tallied up and felt like a single story in many ways. I had finished the script before he started the novel, but Nick (as my editor) wanted me to add something more and make it feel a little more separate, not just like a prelude or prequel. Because of this, I decided to focus a lot more on the Lion and the Dark Angels at the end, which becomes the point of the whole plot. It’s no longer a story about Oberdeii, but Lion El’Jonson, who’s not in Pharos at all. Because of that, Gav Thorpe and I did a lot of back and forth to make sure I left the primarch where he needed to be at the beginning of Angels of Caliban – basically, as far away as possible from Sotha.
There’s plenty of exposition in there, though, if you know where to look. Why do the Scythes make such a big deal out of horses and horsemen in their heraldry? What is that tune that Tebecai is humming? What exactly IS the Pharos, and what did Oberdeii see when he fell into its workings? I can tell you, the Tyranids didn’t build that machine, and they sure as hell weren’t hiding down there in the depths during M31, even though some fans have convinced themselves otherwise.
Oh yes – here’s a Horus Heresy Easter Egg for your readers. Tebecai is so named because we couldn’t think of a name for him during the synopsis stage for the audio drama. It’s literally ‘TBC’, to-be-confirmed, like Forrix from Graham McNeill’s Iron Warriors was originally named ‘XXXX’ in the pitch. I have Graeme Lyon to thank for that bit of inspiration. Cheers, Graeme!
From your perspective as the Commissioning Editor, which story are you happiest with during the time you’ve worked on the series?
I really like the Calth stuff, before you get to Imperium Secundus. I’m ashamed to say, I knew virtually nothing about Calth before Dan wrote Know No Fear, but I was so enthused by it that I pushed for Mark of Calth as a project and the associated audios as follow-ups, as well as tying in to a lot of stuff like Betrayer.
It’s interesting, because with the Betrayal at Calth board game and the amazingly positive response that it has had from the fans, Calth and the Underworld War has become almost like a setting in its own right. The Honoured and The Unburdened wouldn’t have been commissioned if there wasn’t a board game to tie in to, but they are both excellent stories with so many links to other parts of the Horus Heresy, as well as each other.
In fact, I’ve recently had a few discussions after The Beast Arises and as we start to approach the Siege of Terra, like what would we do differently? As in, if we had never done the Horus Heresy as a series but we still knew all the lessons that we have learned from doing it, and we were going to start it from scratch tomorrow – how would we approach it? I like the idea that there would be different settings within the Horus Heresy, like ‘Warzone: Calth’ or ‘The Isstvan Atrocity’ – each of those story arcs would be standalone, books would be released from different settings almost seemingly at random. You could pick up any one of them and read and enjoy it, and follow the storyline as it fits into the wider setting, but you don’t NEED to read Isstvan to enjoy Calth, you don’t NEED to know what happens in Prospero to appreciate Tallarn, and so on. Of course, if you did read all the different arcs then you’d pick up some nice Easter Eggs or subtle little links.
I reckon Calth is the closest to that, as a concept. Know No Fear is Book 1, Betrayer is Book 2, then Mark of Calth etc. It would end with something like the story Rules of Engagement, where Guilliman starts to think about Imperium Secundus – then the next little setting would be just that. It’s all purely theoretical, of course, but it’s good to learn from mistakes AND successes in publishing, and put those lessons into practice on the next project. The Horus Heresy is in some ways a victim of its own success, with any number of fans wanting more while others just want to skip to the end. I think we could cater for both types, if Black Library had any idea how successful the series would be and planned ahead in the beginning, accordingly.
Are we going to see any new authors, who haven’t yet contributed to the Horus Heresy series?
Yes! People who’ve been following the series recently have seen that all stories are starting to look towards the Siege of Terra, and there’s so many stories lines now like the White Scars – we’ll continue what happens with that storyline, with Jaghatai Khan and Revuel Arvida. That’s all set on Terra now. And the Space Wolves stuff (without spoiling it for people who don’t know what’s happening) the Space Wolves and the Raven Guard are taking a real sideline now. We’ve got Imperial Secundus collapsed and everything’s heading towards Terra. The stuff that’s going to be in the rest of Advent and early next year, people are going to see more and more that this is definitely the end phase, these are the final stages of the Horus Heresy.
We’ve also got the Primarchs as a separate series – there’s a lot of Great Crusade content and a lot of Horus Heresy content potentially in there, and these are the absolute, definitive stories that really tell of the definitive character of those Primarchs – how those primarchs got to be like that, and how that affects their Legions, and essentially that’s why the Legions are the way they are, and that’s why the Horus Heresy turned out the way it did. It all comes back to these huge characters – this is still The Horus Heresy: The Primarchs so it’s another opportunity for us to bring in authors who perhaps weren’t around for the original HH series. David Guymer for example has announced that he’s working on the Ferrus Manus Primarchs novel, which I was then forced to confirm because he’d told people in front of an audience! So yes, we do have newer authors to the series who’ll be taking a bit more of the heavy lifting.
Which story coming up are you most excited to see told?
I’m really, really excited to see what people think of Master of Mankind. This was a book where Aaron had been writing it for so long, and he’d be the first to admit it took him a long time to write this book! He and I talked about it before he started, and then he gave me a couple of updates throughout, and then he changed some of the focus of some of it and wrong-footed me on the cover artwork commission a little bit so we had to change something there because he’d changed what the story was going to be about. Then when it came in – I’ve said this to him, that I really wanted to hate that book. I really wanted to read it and go “Aaron you have turned in a dreadful book, you’ve wasted all that time, go back and never darken my door again”…
Unfortunately I think it’s the best thing he’s ever written, so I kind of hate him for that! It’s really, really good. When you read Master of Mankind you then look all the way back to Horus Rising and everything that’s ever been written about the Emperor and it’s like…’oh wow! That’s not what I thought this guy’s about…’ There are some harsh truths in there. It’s quite an emotional meat grinder when you read it – I mean it’s not like The Path of Heaven (which apparently had grown men weeping in Bugman’s when they read it) or anything like that, but it’s like when you go back to Legion by Dan Abnett and it says something along the lines of ‘I don’t think the Emperor can even be described as a man’. It’s like ‘WOAH, he’s not even human! What is he really?’ Now we’re picking that up again – does he think like the rest of us or are his motives unknown to mere mortals? It’s pretty harsh.
What’s going to be the greatest challenge, in your opinion as an editor, in closing out this series?
The one thing I’m most concerned about is making sure that the authors don’t abandon any storylines or characters, purely for time. We’ve spent more than ten years building up the Horus Heresy and all the characters in it – in fact, someone online showed me a combined Dramatis Personae for the whole series including novellas, short stories, audios and so forth. That was one HUGE document! And every single character has a part to play in the overall story. And every single character with a dangling plot thread has people waiting to find out what happens to them. I think we’d be doing the characters and the fans a disservice if we had anyone just vanish between the pages.
I know a lot of readers have joined us halfway through, or dropped in and out depending on what the latest releases are. One idea that was mentioned a year or so ago is a sort of ‘reader’s guide to the Heresy’, with sections covering each of the Legions, primarchs, major characters and events, stuff like that. Then, people can go ‘I really liked the Dark Angels plotline, I wonder if I missed anything’ and this guide would have a section, like, here’s everything on the Dark Angels. Look how dodgy the Lion was, in the middle of the story! Who were those guys stationed in the secret Alaxxes nebula base? What was the significance of the Ouroboros to Warhammer 40,000 in general? What exactly happened with the Lion Sword?
If the opportunity came up for me to be involved in that after I leave, that’d be awesome, such a great labour of love for a Heresy nerd like me! I guess we’ll have to wait and see what my successor wants to do with it all.
You recently chose your five favourite Black Library novels, but how about flipping that – which upcoming releases are you most excited about?
Within the Horus Heresy, obviously we’re heading towards the Siege of Terra and there are any number of cool story threads covering setup from the old background that we’ve known about for a long time, stuff that we’ve introduced in the course of the Horus Heresy series, and then new stuff. I’ve seen the plan – I’ve seen everything that’s coming for the Horus Heresy and in a lot of cases I’ve decided upon whole sections of it and how it’s going to be handled.
At some point soon, when all the other pieces are set and when all the Primarchs have been assigned to their tasks, the authors will then meet and decide how we’re actually going to tell these stories. We’ll work out what the roadmap of the Siege of Terra’s going to look like and we’ll have that big final meeting where Terra will be carved up and divided up, people will start to tell their stories and everything will come together at the same time. I know what a lot of that is, and it’s really exciting.
In terms of the immediate future, David Annandale’s writing a book called Ruinstorm which is the definitive end of Imperium Secundus. It’s the absolute, final, there’s no more storyline left for Imperium Secundus after that point! Then Nick Kyme is writing Old Earth, which is Vulkan’s final adventure – after his rebirth in Mount Deathfire this is him moving into position to fulfil whatever destiny it is that Eldrad Ulthran might have seen a snippet of.
We’ll have a whole bunch of new audio dramas coming, with John French working on some new stuff, and James Swallow as well who has got some fantastic ideas for audios, short stories and novels coming up.
For the Primarchs series we’ve got Gav Thorpe writing Lorgar and David Guymer writing Ferrus Manus, then we’ve also got three or four other authors who are currently either in the process of pitching their stories or we’re talking to them about which Primarchs they’d like to do. With the ones that are currently being pitched there are some fantastic ideas in there, stuff you’d never think would be part of a Primarchs storyline.
What’s next from LJ Goulding – will you keep writing for Black Library?
I’d definitely like to keep writing for BL. I’ve got the Scythes of the Emperor stuff coming out next year, including Slaughter at Giant’s Coffin as a standalone Space Marine Battles novel, Scythes of the Emperor: Daedalus, and then the Scythes of the Emperor omnibus. I’ve then got this other short story that’s coming out which I’ll leave as a surprise – I think people will enjoy it!
I’ve also got one other novel project which I’m currently working out the exact details for. It’s another one of those things where I had to wait a little while to see how things would shake out, and what cool stuff I could borrow from other things that other authors are working on. It’s been a case of just finding the exact combination of characters and events to make it the best story it can possibly be, but a lot of it is already written! I like to write stuff and then sit on it for a while and see what else I can add in.
One final question – what would surprise us about Laurie Goulding? Any hidden talents or unexpected interests?
I can recite, from memory, The Elements by the songwriter Tom Lehrer. I’ve used that ‘knowledge’ to win cash in quizzes, before.
***
Massive thanks to Laurie for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk to me and answer these questions! If you’re anything like me you’re now itching to find out more about what’s coming up both for the Horus Heresy and the Scythes of the Emperor… watch this space for reviews of the upcoming stories as soon as they’re released!
Separately I’d like to wish Laurie all the best in his new venture, and I’m sure everyone reading this will want to do so as well. Good luck, and thanks for so many great Black Library stories!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/12/02 10:12:50
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2016/12/02 23:26:18
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: p91 Xmas advent #s : Maiden of the Dream
When the traitorous allies of Horus and Kelbor-Hal seized Mars, the visionary adept Arkhan Land became a man marked for death. As his world crumbles around him, whom can he trust?
READ IT BECAUSE
Finally, for the first time ever, you'll see the story behind one of the most famous names in the Imperium – Arkhan Land, whose name is on some of the Imperium's most powerful and revered weapons. Oh, and the events of this story tie in to 'The Master of Mankind'…
THE STORY
When the traitorous allies of Horus and Kelbor-Hal seized Mars, they sent elite hunters to apprehend key targets and ensure that any loyal resistance would fail. One such target was the legendary technoarchaeologist Arkhan Land, the discoverer of many lost treasures and curiosities from mankind's Golden Age - and the Imperial Fists cannot allow such a valuable mind to fall into the hands of the enemy. Does Land have good reason to fear his apparent saviours?
Day 4 of Advent 2016
A Warhammer Age of Sigmar short story
Those who tread the Road of Blades do so seeking glory in the eyes of the Dark Gods, or so Ahazian Kel believes, but the Deathbringer must endure the trials of Chaos and prove he is worthy before he can become exalted.
READ IT BECAUSE
It's an exploration of what a servant of the Blood God will do, and how far he will go, in the service of his dark master and in pursuit of power and glory.
THE STORY
Those who tread the Road of Blades do so seeking glory in the eyes of the Dark Gods, or so Ahazian Kel believes. He is the last of his tribe, a Deathbringer, a fearless warrior whose path leads him to the dreaded Soulmaw, a forge-citadel and bastion of Khorne's Skullgrinders, a place between realms. To breach such a fortress... the rewards could be beyond imagining, the power to determine your own destiny, but Ahazian must endure every trial of Chaos and prove he is worthy before he can become exalted.
Written by Josh Reynolds
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2016/12/04 20:30:22
Subject: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : Road of Blades
Not sure if it's been mentioned here yet, but we're getting another Phoenix Lords offering in February, and I don't mean Jain Zar, this is an audio-drama.
Asurmen: The Darker Road
A Phoenix Lords audio drama
THE STORY
It is said the Phoenix Lords arrive on the eve of great moments... Guided by fate, Asurmen the Hand of Asuryan comes to the craftworld of Ulthwé. At the behest of the head of the seer council, he joins the warriors of Ulthwé and the young seer Eldrad on a quest to the Crone Worlds in search of the oracle Hiron-athela. It is believed that this being holds an artefact that could safeguard Ulthwé's future, but in order to obtain it the eldar must travel a dark road...
Written by Gav Thorpe Running time 71 minutes (approx).
Performed by Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Steve Conlin, Toby Longworth, Penelope Rawlins and Genevieve Swallow.
Definitely getting this one!
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2016/12/04 20:31:22
2016/12/05 11:03:02
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : Road of Blades
Warleader Kardan Stronos of the Iron Hands fights against the tyranids on Varasine, measuring his Chapter’s infallible logic and ruthless strategy against the cost in human lives.
READ IT BECAUSE
The Iron Hands can be among the most inhuman of Space Marines, pitting cold logic and precise calculations above the lives of those they ostensibly fight to defend… as the Astra Militarum are about to discover.
THE STORY
The beleaguered Astra Militarum defenders of Varasine fight against the alien menace of a tyranid invasion, but their only possible salvation approaches in the form of something almost equally inhuman. Warleader Kardan Stronos of the Iron Hands, long having studied the xenos threat, now brings his fearless battle-brothers to join the war - only he can save Varasine, measuring his Chapter’s infallible logic and ruthless strategy against the cost in human lives.
Written by David Guymer. Running time 21 minutes. Performed by John Banks, Cliff Chapman, Steve Conlin, Toby Longworth and Luis Soto.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2016/12/05 11:22:36
Subject: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: p87 : 2017 calendars
BrookM wrote: A question to people who have both Visions of Heresy and its predecessor the Collected Visions: is there a lot of difference in material between the two? Or is it the same book, different cover?
The Collected Visions I think predates the series so mainly covers the thinly sketched lore that was available then and uses images from the card game and some other bits that may have been from codices and other GW releases (I think, not positive).
Visions of Heresy has a lot of the above, plus a lot of the novel series artwork and I think the lore may be more in depth in that it pulls bits and pieces in from the novels.
I've got both and if I'd paid full price for Visions I'd have been a bit hacked off given the GW guy told me it was all new content, it's not but I managed to get it for £20.00 which is the same price as a hardback novel so for that it was worth it.
In summary - Visions is good but don't pay full price
"We are the Red Sorcerers of Prospero, damned in the eyes of our fellows, and this is to be how our story ends, in betrayal and bloodshed. No...you may find it nobler to suffer your fate, but I will take arms against it."
2016/12/05 12:56:04
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : Road of Blades
Warleader Kardan Stronos of the Iron Hands fights against the tyranids on Varasine, measuring his Chapter’s infallible logic and ruthless strategy against the cost in human lives.
READ IT BECAUSE
The Iron Hands can be among the most inhuman of Space Marines, pitting cold logic and precise calculations above the lives of those they ostensibly fight to defend… as the Astra Militarum are about to discover.
THE STORY
The beleaguered Astra Militarum defenders of Varasine fight against the alien menace of a tyranid invasion, but their only possible salvation approaches in the form of something almost equally inhuman. Warleader Kardan Stronos of the Iron Hands, long having studied the xenos threat, now brings his fearless battle-brothers to join the war - only he can save Varasine, measuring his Chapter’s infallible logic and ruthless strategy against the cost in human lives.
Written by David Guymer. Running time 21 minutes. Performed by John Banks, Cliff Chapman, Steve Conlin, Toby Longworth and Luis Soto.
Yep, I think it's time for me to give up - for some inexplicable reason GW/BL really do seem to think their ridiculous one-dimensional Robo-Vulcans portrayal of the Iron Hands(with audience-insert Robo-Jesus to save them from themselves) is a great idea and aren't going to come to their senses and stop. Christ at this rate my headcanon version of 40K is becoming extensive enough I'd be as well writing my own setting from scratch
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
2016/12/06 07:36:31
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : The Calculus of Battle
Badly injured star player Greig Garr must find a way to play in the next match or he won’t be able to pay back his debts. A mysterious stranger offers to cure his leg, but what will the true cost of his amazing help be?
READ IT BECAUSE
It's a classic sporting dilemma taken to the extremes that only Blood Bowl can provide – in a world of daemons and monsters, the cost of mysterious magical help is always going to be higher than you'd like…
THE STORY
Nordland Rangers star player Greig Garr is in trouble, and living a lifestyle he can no longer afford now his glory days are over. As the team slips down the league, and his debts mount, it becomes harder and harder for him to keep his coveted position as team captain. Badly injured after a nasty run-in with a lizardman, Garr must find a way to play in the next match or he won’t be able to pay back his debts. A mysterious stranger offers to cure his leg, but what will the true cost of his amazing help be?
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Returning to Terra, the Librarian Balsar Kurthuri of the Raven Guard must face judgement for breaking the Edict of Nikaea, even if it turns all of his erstwhile allies against him.
READ IT BECAUSE
After a shocking twist in 'Weregeld', the Raven Guard Chief Librarian returns to Terra to face judgement. Will his unerring loyalty to his primarch be punished, and if so, what does that say about the the Imperium the Sigillite is working to build?
THE STORY
Balsar Kurthuri of the Raven Guard has always followed his primarch's orders. When the Edict of Nikaea forbade psykers within the Legions, he returned to the line squads without a second thought. When the Warmaster's treachery became known, he gave freely of his powers. Now, as the war appears to be entering its final, grim stages, at Lord Corax's command he must return to Terra to face judgement for the apparent crime of unswerving loyalty…
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/12/07 13:45:24
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
A force of eldar attacks an Imperial world that has been overrun by orks, their objective to stop the waaagh becoming any more powerful. But have the eldar underestimated their opponents’ cunning and ingenuity?
READ IT BECAUSE
Those tricksy eldar are up to their usual ploys – manipulating mankind for their own benefit. But with humans on one side and orks on the other, have the aliens bitten off more than they can chew this time?
THE STORY
Though the Imperium defends its worlds with vigour, not all cries for help are answered in time, or even heard at all. A nameless Imperial world has been conquered by orks; its resources seized for the greenskins’ war effort, and its human population enslaved. The eldar have foreseen that if the ork warlord is not stopped, and soon, the consequences will be dire. Enraged by its losses, the Imperium will eventually launch an anti-xenos crusade of unparalleled ferocity. To protect the future of their own craftworld, the eldar must be prepared to sacrifice all to defeat the ork invaders.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
As Lord Commander Primus, Eidolon leads the Emperor’s Children in Fulgrim’s absence. But a challenge from within the Legion forces him to turn the Kakophoni against their brethren.
READ IT BECAUSE
With their primarch obsessed with, shall we say, other matters, the Emperor's Children turn to infighting, in a typically extreme way…
THE STORY
As Lord Commander Primus, Eidolon leads the Emperor’s Children in the absence of his primarch - who even knows where the daemon prince Fulgrim resides, now? But a challenge from within the Legion forces Eidolon to confront one of his rivals, the ambitious Archorian, a capable officer and tactician who would see the Legion returned to glory. Dissent is unacceptable. It is time for the Kakophoni to be set against their erstwhile brethren.
Written by Chris Wraight. Running time 25 minutes. Performed by Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Steve Conlin and Luis Soto.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/12/09 09:57:24
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2016/12/10 09:56:06
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : HH audio drama
When Fabius Bile is attacked by daemons aboard his frigate Versalius, he is surprised to be rescued by an old friend, one of his very first experiments. But does the prodigal’s return bode well or ill?
READ IT BECAUSE
When you have as long and chequered a past as Fabius Bile, occasionally things are gonna come back to haunt you. Such is the case here, as an early experiment returns, and chaos ensues…
THE STORY
When Fabius Bile is attacked by daemons aboard his frigate Versalius, he is surprised to be rescued by an old friend, one of his very first experiments. It has ever been the Apothecary's desire to improve mankind, to render them hardy enough to endure in a galaxy of pain and war. Such desires have often led to abominations created by Bile's own hand, and enemies too numerous to list. This creation, Mesuline, though ostensibly an ally, bears a cryptic message, one that could bode ill or well for her Progenitor.
Written by Josh Reynolds
I read the Fabius novel a few days ago and was thoroughly entertained by it.
So this promises to be good.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
A force of eldar attacks an Imperial world that has been overrun by orks, their objective to stop the waaagh becoming any more powerful. But have the eldar underestimated their opponents’ cunning and ingenuity?
READ IT BECAUSE
Those tricksy eldar are up to their usual ploys – manipulating mankind for their own benefit. But with humans on one side and orks on the other, have the aliens bitten off more than they can chew this time?
THE STORY
Though the Imperium defends its worlds with vigour, not all cries for help are answered in time, or even heard at all. A nameless Imperial world has been conquered by orks; its resources seized for the greenskins’ war effort, and its human population enslaved. The eldar have foreseen that if the ork warlord is not stopped, and soon, the consequences will be dire. Enraged by its losses, the Imperium will eventually launch an anti-xenos crusade of unparalleled ferocity. To protect the future of their own craftworld, the eldar must be prepared to sacrifice all to defeat the ork invaders.
Just read this, it's a pretty good little short. The Ork warlord in it pulls off something absolutely hilariously Orky:
Spoiler:
Capturing an Imperial city and turning it into a giant, flying, void-capable aircraft carrier by sticking loads of skimmer devices and some void shields to it.
2016/12/10 22:32:15
Subject: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : Fabius Bile -- Prodigal
Day 11 of Advent 2016
A Warhammer Age of Sigmar short story
When Hamilcar Bear-Eater and a handful of Astral Templars cross the Sea of Bones they find a civilization untouched by Chaos, and attempt to bring them back into the light of Sigmar.
READ IT BECAUSE
A mystery from the Mortal Realms awaits for the Astral Templars. Is it possible that the touch of Chaos can be resisted? If so, that could be amazing… but let's be honest, it's probably too good to be true, isn't it?
THE STORY
On the hunt for the vampire Mannfred, Hamilcar Bear-Eater and a handful of Astral Templars cross the Sea of Bones to find a civilization untouched by Chaos, and attempt to bring them back into the light of Sigmar. But Jercho is a curious land and a secret lurks at the heart of this wealthy, seemingly blessed realm. When all the Mortal Realms have been cast to flame, and ravaged by Chaos, how is it that these sun worshippers remained inviolate?
Written by David Guymer
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Thanks to a great post on the grand alliance community for pointing this out(Olincay). It's not the greatest book in the world but it does kinda set the stage of what's going on and how life is like for a non chaos follower in a chaos controlled realm.
Day 12 of Advent 2016
A Lucius the Eternal audio drama
Lucius the Eternal is openly challenged by a champion of the old Death Guard Legion. Could an immortal daemonhost, blessed by Nurgle, be the undoing of the blademaster’s curse?
READ IT BECAUSE
Lucius the Eternal is a fascinating character, and his unique curse (or blessing, depending on your point of view) coupled his pride and pitted against the gifts of Nurgle make for one hell of a tale.
THE STORY
While voyaging through the depths of the warp, the infamous blademaster Lucius the Eternal is challenged by a servant of another god - a champion of the old Death Guard Legion, no less. Keen to remain dominant over his preening and ambitious rivals in the Cohors Nasicae, Lucius takes up his sword without a second thought... but could an unfeeling daemonhost of Nurgle, or the voices inside his own head, be the undoing of his Slaaneshi curse?
Written by Ian St Martin. Performed by John Banks, Antonia Beamish, Robin Bowerman, Steve Conlin and Luis Soto.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2016/12/13 10:17:26
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : Lucius audio drama
Distrusted by his allies and despised by his rivals, Gendor Skraivok nonetheless seeks to claw back the leadership of the Night Lords Legion for himself, by fair means or foul...
READ IT BECAUSE
We've seen a bit of the Ultramarines after the calamitous events of 'Pharos', but not so much of the Night Lords… Here's Guy Haley to remedy that with a tale charting a power struggle in the Legion.
THE STORY
Following the disastrous invasion of Sotha and the dimming of the Pharos' light, Gendor Skraivok languishes on board the VIII Legion flagship Nightfall. Distrusted by his allies and despised by his rivals, he nonetheless means to claw back leadership of the Night Lords from the pretender Captain Shang, by fair means or foul. And, rather than a portent of doom, the daemonic blade that seems to have chosen him as its bearer may be the answer…
Written by Guy Haley
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2016/12/14 10:01:00
Subject: Re: Black Library News/Rumours Thread: Xmas advents : Night Lords HH story
Day 14 of Advent 2016
An Imperial Knights short story
As two young squires prepare for their ritual of Becoming, the Herald Markos Dar Draconis recounts the story of his first battle at the helm of a Knight Titan, a story that made him into a legend.
READ IT BECAUSE
It's the tale of a legendary Imperial Knight pilot recounting his first battle to two aspiring warriors. What more could you want?
THE STORY
As two young squires prepare for their ritual of Becoming, the Herald Markos Dar Draconis recounts the story of his first battle at the helm of a Knight Titan, a mighty Imperial war engine. In defending his home, Markos must quickly learn the ways of war and repel the greenskin hordes of the Warlord Skarjaw or see Adrastapol ransacked by an ork menace that has blighted his lands for many years. His deeds during the war will see Markos become a hero, an inspiration to his fellow Knights, a legend that only he knows the truth of...
Written by Andy Clark
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,