Upcoming Black Library Releases (as of October/November 2016)

After the long-awaited return of the Black Library website’s Coming Soon section, news is now breaking of a further tranche of new books heading our way in the coming months. A quick trawl through the dusty corridors of the internet reveals a fair number of new titles, although here I’ve excluded the paperback versions of books already released or announced.

It’s worth bearing in mind that these release dates are almost certainly going to be the wider online releases, as opposed to the initial Black Library website releases, so take with a considerable pinch of salt. In addition, very few of the covers look to have the finished artwork, so keep an eye out for the official covers once these reach the Black Library website.

With no further ado, however…the new books:

Kingsblade by Andy Clark
Due for release August 2017 in paperback, which suggests this might see an earlier release in hardback beforehand.

Imperial Knight Titans clash as an internecine war ravages the Knights of Adrastapol.

The Knight Houses of Adrastapol are both noble and righteous, and when the Imperial world of Donatos falls to the heresy of the Word Bearers, they are foremost in the vanguard to retake it. Led by High King Tolwyn Draconis, the Knights are peerless in battle and strike deep into the enemy’s ranks. But the war soon turns when a terrible tragedy strikes, casting the Imperial campaign into anarchy. As desperation grows, unblooded Knights Errant Danial and Luk must quickly learn the ways of war to prevent an unholy ritual, or Donatos will be lost and all the noble Houses of Adrastapol with it.

The Black Legion by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Due for release August 2017 in hardback – this one is ripe for a swanky/expensive Limited Edition release first, which means August sounds about right for the standard hardback.

Abaddon returns from exile and raises the dreaded Black Legion.

The Sons of Horus may be no more, but rising from their ashes come the Black Legion. Returning after his long self-imposed exile, Abaddon offers the disparate Chaos Space Marine warbands within the Eye of Terror a simple choice – join him or die. As his newborn war host emerges from the Eye of Terror to ravage the galaxy, none can stand in Abaddon’s path, not even the Black Templars Chapter – sworn to stand guard at the storm’s edge – nor the Emperor’s Champion himself.

Garro by James Swallow
Due for release August 2017 in paperback (presumably trade paperback) which puts the hardback release a few months earlier – so look for this in Q1 2017.

Battle-Captain Garro, a legendary hero of the Horus Heresy, finally emerges from the shadows.

Clad all in grey, an errant warrior of the Legiones Astartes kneels before the Regent of Terra and accepts a solemn new duty – Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro, once commander of the Eisenstein, is now Agentia Primus of Malcador the Sigillite. From the desolation of Isstvan to the halls of the Imperial Palace itself, he stands ready to strike back at the traitorous allies of the Warmaster. But Garro is walking a path of his own, one that may lead him to question his true place in the Imperium – and what if he, too, should falter? This book contains James Swallow’s complete saga of Nathaniel Garro in the Horus Heresy – it contains the original series of audio dramas, expanded with additional scenes to better represent the author’s original vision, along with the the novella Vow of Faith.

Note the ‘additional scenes’, which should be interesting – sort of a halfway house between a completely new release and the recent anthologies which have only contained existing stories.

Scythes of the Emperor by LJ Goulding
Due for release August 2017 in paperback, so I’d expect Slaughter at Giant’s Coffin to see a hardback release early in 2017.

A doomed Space Marine Chapter confronts the alien tyranids in a devastating battle for survival.

Following the loss of their home world Sotha to the tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken, the Scythes of the Emperor begin a new kind of war against the alien menace. Facing further humiliation and defeat after regrouping at the Giant’s Coffin on Miral Prime, recently appointed Chapter Master Thracian must find a way exploit his warriors’ need for vengeance if their Space Marine Chapter is to have any hope of survival… This collection spans the greatest period of upheaval in the Scythes of the Emperor’s history, and includes the novel Slaughter at Giant’s Coffin along with five additional short stories.

Those short stories are probably all by LJ Goulding as well – while there’s also stories by Richard Williams and Graham McNeill, it seems unlikely that they’ll be included.

Glory Imperialis featuring Richard Williams, Andy Hoare and Mark Clapham
Due for release July 2017 in paperback.

Omnibus edition of three classic Astra Militarum novels: Imperial Glory, Commissar and Iron Guard.

They are the Shield of Humanity, the Hammer of the Emper – in the entire known galaxy there is no force as numerous and determined in the defence of mankind as the Astra Militarum. Be it the war-hardened veterans of the Brimlock Eleventh, sent to rid a world of feral greenskins in the hopes of colonization; the dogged and resolute infantry of the Mordian Iron Guard, battling dread xenos to secure a mining world; or the steel-hearted Commissar Flint, leading a regiment of the Vostroyan Firstborn to quell a rebel uprising, the men and women of the Imperial Guard strive tirelessly to enact the will of Terra and defeat the enemies of man.

Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia by Guy Haley
Due for release July 2017 in hardback, which puts the Limited Edition release somewhere around April 2017.

Perturabo, primarch of the Iron Hands (sic), is forced to crush his own home world rather than see it fall to rebellion.

Born to a life of political conflict, Perturabo was always considered a child prodigy among the people of Olympia – indeed, his philosophical and scientific works were beyond compare. But then, after his rediscovery by the Emperor and decades of thankless military campaigning on the Great Crusade, the primarch begins to resent his Legion’s place in the Imperium. When word reaches him of turmoil on his adoptive home world, he orders the Iron Warriors to abandon their campaign against the alien hrud and crush this emerging rebellion by any means necessary…

The Horusian Wars: Resurrection by John French
Due for release July 2017 in hardback – this one might get a Limited Edition release, but equally it could well just get a standard release. Difficult to say, although a linked short story has already been published – The Purity of Ignorance.

Inquisitor Covenant and his warband go on the hunt for a traitor within their holy order.

War rages in the Caradryad Sector. Worlds are falling to madness and rebellion, and the great war machine of the Imperium is moving to counter the threat. Amongst its agents is Inquisitor Covenant. Puritan, psyker, expert swordsman, he reserves an especial hatred for those of his order who would seek to harness the power of Ruin as a weapon. Summoned to an inquisitorial conclave, Covenant believes he has uncovered such a misguided agent and prepares to denounce the heretic Talicto before his fellows. But when the gathering is attacked and many left dead in its wake, Covenant vows to hunt down Talicto and discover the truth behind the mysterious cult apparently at the heart of the massacre. In the murky plot into which he is drawn, Covenant knows only one thing for certain: trust no one.

The Carrion Throne (Vaults of Terra) by Chris Wraight
Due for release May 2017 in hardback, so once again this could be the main release date or there could be an advance, Limited Edition release as well.

Inquisitor Erasmus and his acolyte Spinoza root out a shadowy conspiracy on Holy Terra itself, the capital world of the Imperium.

In the hellish sprawl of Imperial Terra, Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Erasmus serves as a stalwart and vigilant protector, for even the Throneworld is not immune to the predations of its enemies. In the course of his Emperor-sworn duty, Erasmus becomes embroiled in a dark conspiracy, one that leads all the way to the halls of the Imperial Palace. As he plunges deeper in the shadowy underbelly of the many palace districts, his investigation attracts the attention of hidden forces, and soon Erasmus and his acolyte Spinoza are being hunted – by heretics, xenos, servants of the Dark Powers, or perhaps even rival elements of the Inquisition itself. They eventually discover a terrible truth, one that if allowed to get out could undermine the very fabric of the Imperium itself.

Warlord: Fury of the God Machine by David Annandale
Due for release in April 2017 in hardback – see comments re. the previous two books! As with John French’s book, there’s already been a linked short story – Gates of the Devourer.

The mighty Warlord Titans of the Adeptus Titanicus go to war against the forces of Chaos.

The Battle Titans of the Adeptus Titanicus are towering war engines, striding to war as holy effigies of the Omnissiah, and the mighty Warlord Titans are the most renowned among all the forces of the Imperium of Man. Their weapons bring righteous death to the alien and the heretic alike, and the merest glimpse of them on the march has stalled entire planetary rebellions. But as the galaxy burns before the rampaging hordes of Chaos, it will take more than any one single Titan Legion to hold the line…

Dante by Guy Haley
Due for release March 2017 in hardback. The cover doesn’t match the others, however this looks ripe for inclusion in the Space Marine Legends series, which would mean a £40 Limited Edition release a few months earlier. That said, maybe it’s a standalone.

The untold origin story of Chapter Master Dante of the Blood Angels, one of the Imperium’s greatest heroes.

Dante is Chapter Master of one of the noblest but most troubled Chapters of Space Marines in the Imperium: the Blood Angels. From the time of his birth in the rad-scarred wastes of Baal Secundus, he was destined for glory and strife. From his apotheosis to Scout, to the hive cities of Armageddon and the alien menace of the Cryptas system, Dante has waged war against all the enemies of the Imperium. He has witnessed the divine, and struggled against the darkness within all sons of Sanguinius. Longer lived than any other Chapter Master, this is his chronicle, his great and storied legend.

Those are the main, big releases – but there are a few other titles worth noting:

• Space Marine Legends: Azrael by Gav Thorpe – standard hardback (May 2017).
• Ahriman: The Omnibus by John French (May 2017 in paperback).
• Legacy of the Wulfen – David Annandale and Robbie McNiven (June 2017 in paperback – collects together Curse of the Wulfen and Legacy of Russ).
• Space Marine Legends: Lemartes by David Annandale – standard hardback (June 2017).
• The hilariously titled Untitled tie-in novel (April 2017 in paperback – watch out for a new boxed game/edition of 40k in 2017 perhaps?).
• Forges of Mars omnibus by Graham McNeill (March 2017 in paperback).
• Space Marine Legends: Shrike by George Mann – standard hardback (March 2017).
• Space Marine Legends: Cassius by Ben Counter – standard hardback (February 2017).
• The Macharian Crusade omnibus by William King (February 2017 in paperback).

So there you have it – another chunk of new books to save up for over the coming months. You’ll notice that they start in February 2017, so I’d expect a February subsection to show up on the Coming Soon section pretty soon. That’s worth keeping an eye out, if nothing else to see what’s not yet leaked out into the internet, and to check out any more finalised covers.

Anything in there whetting your appetite? If so, let me know!