Black Library News & Rumour thread. Annotated Eisenhorn: Malleus. p.135.

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**Pacific**

I liked the joke I read online that it's just a box full of gravel.

**Mentlegen324**

Tsagualsa wrote:
Oh look, another limited (1750) edition no normal person will be able to access, with collectible stuff the plebes can admire from a distance: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/07/11/the-epic-fall-of-cadia-mega-edition-is-packed-with-incredible-artefacts/

If everyone could access to, then it wouldn't be limited edition. They can't make enough of these for everyone even if they printed far more.

**Tsagualsa**

Mentlegen324 wrote:
Tsagualsa wrote:
Oh look, another limited (1750) edition no normal person will be able to access, with collectible stuff the plebes can admire from a distance: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/07/11/the-epic-fall-of-cadia-mega-edition-is-packed-with-incredible-artefacts/

If everyone could access to, then it wouldn't be limited edition. They can't make enough of these for everyone even if they printed far more.

It's not that not everyone can access them, it's that normal people have no fair chance to even try to due to scalpers. You either get insanely lucky, are an influencer with special dibs or pay n-times the sticker price to buy from some sleazebag on ebay that flips it before even having the product in hand. There would be less complaining if there was a fair-ish lottery or whatever, as it stands normal people need not apply.

**Shadow Walker**

Pre-orders https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/07/22/black-library-pre-orders-new-adventures-and-classic-tales-from-the-astra-militarum/

**BrookM**

I wonder when we'll see the next arc of Gaunt's Ghosts get the hardback treatment, figured they'd do it alongside the banner.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ho-hum, I should do this more often.

**Pacific**

My question would be, have they gone through all of these books and replaced any mention of the words "Imperial Guard" or "Guard" with "Astra Militarum"

**Shadow Walker**

Pacific wrote:
My question would be, have they gone through all of these books and replaced any mention of the words "Imperial Guard" or "Guard" with "Astra Militarum"

When the Horus Rising came as new edition hardback (back when they started to replace paperback HH) it has the same = too low numbers for the Legions present during the Ullanor parade. So, unless something changed, then IG is still IG.

**Mentlegen324**

Pacific wrote:
My question would be, have they gone through all of these books and replaced any mention of the words "Imperial Guard" or "Guard" with "Astra Militarum"

Just why would they do that? The term is still used.

**BrookM**

Some people are just looking to be fussy about things.

**Pacific**

You don't need to be snide, we have both posted on here for long enough?

I am thinking back to one of Inquisition War trilogy stories, where Grimm the Squat was erased and replaced with a human character. It always struck me as borderline mental, but this would be a very small thing to do by comparison.

**Shakalooloo**

Pacific wrote:
You don't need to be snide, we have both posted on here for long enough?

I am thinking back to one of Inquisition War trilogy stories, where Grimm the Squat was erased and replaced with a human character. It always struck me as borderline mental, but this would be a very small thing to do by comparison.

The earlier books in the Gaunt series had references to things like 'petroleum' and 'cigarettes' in place of the now-established 'promethium' and 'lho sticks', and those have not been replaced. Hell, rather than correct a simple 'he/she' mix-up in Necropolis, Abnett spun a whole extra sub-plot out of it. I think these books are safe from editorial standardisation.

**BrookM**

And vox casters were still called comm-links. Now if Dan would stop trying to turn Guardsmen into "lasmen" that would be something, gods what a terrible term that is for infantry.

Waaaaaaaaait a fluffing minute, the whole kids thing was a cock-up and not some clever plot seed sown well in advance?

Damn.

**Shadow Walker**

Pre-orders https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/07/29/black-library-pre-orders-the-beginning-of-the-end/

**Gert**

Pacific wrote:
My question would be, have they gone through all of these books and replaced any mention of the words "Imperial Guard" or "Guard" with "Astra Militarum"

Warmaster established that both terms are used interchangeably within the series and GW has put it in the Guard codexes as both as well since the wider name change started.
Astra Militarum is the High Gothic/official designation just like Adeptus Astartes or Adepta Sororitas while things like Imperial Guard, Space Marine, and Sisters of Battle are common vernacular.

**Segersgia**

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/08/02/dan-abnett-interview-how-i-finished-the-end-and-the-death/

Oh… Come on!

**Lord Damocles**

Obviously.

**Londinium**

I for one am shocked.

But while many of your questions will be answered, many more will be posed: “This is a snapshot of what really happened, where the myth grew from. What the myth becomes is probably more important to Warhammer as that’s what people have come to believe, 10,000 years later. But this is a moment of being there at ground zero and seeing these things as they actually play out from numerous perspectives… it almost tells you too many versions!”

Why do I get the sinking feeling that there will be more stupid retcons coming our way, which haven't been built up to and change the vibe of the story, like the Erda stuff.

“I was looking forward to returning to characters like Loken – who obviously has got to be in it because he was there at the start –

He should have remained dead.

**Geifer**

Londinium wrote:
Why do I get the sinking feeling that there will be more stupid retcons coming our way, which haven't been built up to and change the vibe of the story, like the Erda stuff.

How many years has it been since the Siege series started? And right from the beginning GW threatened us with telling what really happened. I like to think there was a subtle message in there about the quality and quantity of the nonsense that would make it into the final book.

As someone on the outside I'm quite interested to finally see the opinions spawned by that.

**Gert**

I cannot swear on this website but I swearing in real life.
I don't care about retcons but there is just not enough story to go round to make this three books.

**Shadow Walker**

Londinium wrote:

“I was looking forward to returning to characters like Loken – who obviously has got to be in it because he was there at the start –

He should have remained dead.

This!

**BrookM**

Well, this is certainly becoming a ludicrous amount of padding for what was supposed to be an eight book finale, which in itself was already padding things out quite a bit.

But this may be Dan taking a serious stab at writing an ending that isn't rushed, as the joke is he normally can't write a proper ending.

Oh well, bring it on, might as well get it over with, just so long as Pandaemonium is the next book he is writing.

**Shadow Walker**

BrookM wrote:

Oh well, bring it on, might as well get it over with, just so long as Pandaemonium is the next book he is writing.

Yeah, it would be great but I am not sure if it is not something GG related or even somehing totally unexpected. Dan said years ago that he would like to write a book about Tyranids invasion, and also something from an Ork perspective, so who knows what it could be?

**Scottywan82**

Segersgia wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/08/02/dan-abnett-interview-how-i-finished-the-end-and-the-death/

Oh… Come on!

Oh. My. God.

HBMC called it. That's hilarious.

**Malika2**

Shadow Walker wrote:
BrookM wrote:

Oh well, bring it on, might as well get it over with, just so long as Pandaemonium is the next book he is writing.

Yeah, it would be great but I am not sure if it is not something GG related or even somehing totally unexpected. Dan said years ago that he would like to write a book about Tyranids invasion, and also something from an Ork perspective, so who knows what it could be?

And I recalled he also wanted to write about the Unification Wars... So there's that.

**Shadow Walker**

Malika2 wrote:
Shadow Walker wrote:
BrookM wrote:

Oh well, bring it on, might as well get it over with, just so long as Pandaemonium is the next book he is writing.

Yeah, it would be great but I am not sure if it is not something GG related or even somehing totally unexpected. Dan said years ago that he would like to write a book about Tyranids invasion, and also something from an Ork perspective, so who knows what it could be?

And I recalled he also wanted to write about the Unification Wars... So there's that.

They said it is set in ''a more contemporary period in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, one with a very different scope''.

**Malika2**

Shadow Walker wrote:
Malika2 wrote:
Shadow Walker wrote:
BrookM wrote:

Oh well, bring it on, might as well get it over with, just so long as Pandaemonium is the next book he is writing.

Yeah, it would be great but I am not sure if it is not something GG related or even somehing totally unexpected. Dan said years ago that he would like to write a book about Tyranids invasion, and also something from an Ork perspective, so who knows what it could be?

And I recalled he also wanted to write about the Unification Wars... So there's that.

They said it is set in ''a more contemporary period in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, one with a very different scope''.

Yah, I overlooked that one, just read about the stuff Dan said years ago.

**Shadow Walker**

Malika2 wrote:
Shadow Walker wrote:
Malika2 wrote:
Shadow Walker wrote:
BrookM wrote:

Oh well, bring it on, might as well get it over with, just so long as Pandaemonium is the next book he is writing.

Yeah, it would be great but I am not sure if it is not something GG related or even somehing totally unexpected. Dan said years ago that he would like to write a book about Tyranids invasion, and also something from an Ork perspective, so who knows what it could be?

And I recalled he also wanted to write about the Unification Wars... So there's that.

They said it is set in ''a more contemporary period in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, one with a very different scope''.

Yah, I overlooked that one, just read about the stuff Dan said years ago.

As much as I would like to see UW series, it is probably years in the future if ever. I think they would rather do the Scouring.

**deano2099**

Like Dan said, it's one book, just three volumes. Now I disagree that it's "impossible" to publish it in one volume as Black Library themselves publish massive paper omnibuses that fit 1000 pages small print and often 3-5 full novels. But you certainly wouldn't be able to fit it all in a hardback with a sensible font size that matched all the others.
I'm happy that after so long, they're not restricting the author on word count for the final chapter of a huge series. I'd rather that than whole bits be excised by the editors.

(Ironically when Siege of Terra was first announced, people were bemoaning the fact that Abnett wasn't writing more of it)

You can tell from that article that even Dan is a bit annoyed about how the publication of it is being dragged out, and it'd been nice if the three books just came out on the same day, but is GW.

(There's plenty of precedent for this - Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books are so large they're published as two separate volumes in the UK, released the same day)

**Lord Damocles**

Scottywan82 wrote:
Segersgia wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/08/02/dan-abnett-interview-how-i-finished-the-end-and-the-death/

Oh… Come on!

Oh. My. God. HBMC called it. That's hilarious.

That's pattern recognition.

**Tsagualsa**

Look who is not surprised at all

Tsagualsa wrote:
Shadow Walker wrote:
I hope (I know) that the second volume of the 8th novel of the Siege of Terra is the last one.

Considering all the heavy implying going on, calling it ''almost a sequel to the heresy'' and all the avoiding to flat out say that it will be exactly two volumes, a volume three is almost a given at this time, and i personally think that we can call ourselves lucky if it stops there and does not escalate to volume four or even more. I guess they just can't let go of the opportunity to have a ''twist'' with a ''secret'' third volume, coming ''totally out of the left field'' and containing ''huge revelations''™. Also, to be cynic for a moment, that approach offers another round of opportunities for mega-deluxe trilogy special editions in a commemoratory box, and to milk the whole affair for half of another year and perhaps an additional christmas.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just to list some circumstancial evidence for TEatD not being limited to two books:

- They never outright say it is two books -. they use expressions like 'more than one volume' or 'several books'. They also quite deliberately avoid natural expressions like ''the first half'' and the like, instead again opting for 'the first volume' and such.
- The release schedule is aligned so that they can release Vol. 1 at the black library celebration, have it end with 'To be continued in Vol. 2' instead of 'To be concluded in Vol. 2', thus generating more buzz for the 'secret' 3rd Volume, then present Vol. 3 at Warhammer Fest 2023, for a christmas release, coincidentially at around the time when wholesaler preorders and amazon listings would need to happen
- From an artistic standpoint, there is no way, and i mean no possible way, that the cover of the last ever book in the Horus Heresy is not the image that defines the 'modern' setting of Warhammer 40k, i.e. the carrion emperor on the golden throne.

"It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.''

It's literally the first thing you see in every single book and novel you open, the one thing every last reader or person even passingly familiar with the setting has seen multiple times.

No way this is not the cover image for the actual last volume in the series.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Lord Damocles wrote:
Scottywan82 wrote:
Segersgia wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/08/02/dan-abnett-interview-how-i-finished-the-end-and-the-death/

Oh… Come on!

Oh. My. God. HBMC called it. That's hilarious.

That's pattern recognition.

I give you another one for free: there will be some sort of 'Ultimate Collectors Edition' of the three volumes, possibly with a beef jerky Emperor and a voodoo doll Sanguinius to alternatively hug or stab. For about a million dollars, of course.