Black Library Monthly – June 2019

Welcome to Black Library Monthly for June 2019, my usual monthly roundup of all things Black Library. This time around there’s loads of new and upcoming releases to talk about, some cool new information about future books in the Warhammer Horror range, and a few other bits and pieces on the news front. I’ve been reading a lot of short stories in June, so I’ve got links out to all of my reviews for those as well as a few thoughts about the latest Black Library short story anthology, as well as all of my other reviews, interviews and blog posts as usual. To begin with though, let’s take a quick look through the news…

News

In the name of keeping things focused, and cutting down on the time it takes me to write these roundup articles, for this month I’m trying out a slightly trimmed-down version of the News section here. Rather than going through every little bit of news I came across, I’ve picked out a few things which I’d particularly like to mention. Everyone has access to the Warhammer Community site, and while Black Library feels very much like an afterthought on there, it’s not too hard to keep on top of what little BL-related information does come up. This month the most interesting post was this one about the Emperor’s Spears lore, so I’d recommend checking that out for a bit of cool Dark Imperium-era background. I didn’t think there was much else of interest, really.

Voxcast
I’ve been doing my best to keep up with the very entertaining Stormcast and Voxcast podcasts that Games Workshop have been releasing recently, and it’s worth quickly talking about the latest episode of Voxcast – with Black Library editor and author Nick Kyme. Nick’s on there in his role as author rather than editor, talking about his early days of writing for Games Workshop and Black Library, and about his work with both the Ultramarines and the Salamanders. If you’re a fan of Nick’s work, it’s well worth checking this out to get a little insight into the way he constructs his characters, and the thought that goes into his writing. There’s no juicy news or info to take away, other than that he is still planning on writing more Salamanders novels, but it’s an interesting way to spend an hour and a bit nonetheless.

Apocalypse
If you’re even vaguely interested in Games Workshop’s products as a whole, it’s probably not escaped your notice that there’s a new way to play Warhammer 40,000 – a new version of the Apocalypse rule set. You might also have seen that Black Library have got in on the act, with a Space Marine Conquests novel of the same name, by Josh Reynolds. I just want to mention here that this is another example of BL’s weird approach to providing information to fans – the title, synopsis and temporary cover for this book have all been available in the book trade for months, including a rough release date, and Games Workshop have been talking about the new Apocalypse stuff for weeks if not months, so once again it feels very strange that BL kept so quiet about the book.It was ‘officially’ confirmed via a Warhammer Community post on the 16th June, with no mention on the BL Coming Soon page. What didn’t receive any notification at all, however, was the fact that it would be available as a Special Edition hardback – it wasn’t until the morning of its release day (29th June) that the SE hardback showed up online. I’m sure there was a reason for the radio silence with this book – even if that reason was entirely specious – but it’s another example of poor communication from BL nonetheless. On a more positive note, at least the SE hardback was a much more affordable proposition than usual – at £25 rather than the usual £40. Sure, it’s not quite to the same standard of appearance as the usual £40 editions, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Black Library Live
I can’t talk about June without mentioning Black Library Live, which took place at Warhammer World on the 1st. I won’t go into a lot of detail about it here, as you can read my roundup of the event right here, but suffice it to say I had a great time hanging out with loads of Black Library fans, chatting to authors and editors, picking up advance releases and generally nerding out about all things BL. Sadly this year we didn’t hear anything concrete about the BL Weekender, but I’m hoping we’ll find out more about that sometime soon. If you haven’t been to a Black Library event before – be it BL Live or the Weekender – I really can’t recommend them enough, so if you fancy checking one out then have a read of my BL Live roundup, and keep an eye out for Weekender tickets.

Upcoming Titles

Next up, let’s have a look at all the information I could find about new Black Library titles that we’re going to be able to pick up over the coming months. Some of this information is from the Black Library Coming Soon page, while other information is taken from the wider book trade onlline.

Warhammer Horror
It looks as though most – if not all – of the second wave of Warhammer Horror books (but not audios) are now showing up online in the book trade, with titles, a little bit of information and temporary covers. It looks as though these are going to be released gradually from October to December, and if the information we’ve got so far is correct then it appears the range is moving from paperback-only (in terms of physical releases) to a slightly wider set of formats.

Here’s all of the information I could find about each title; I’ve included The House of Night and Chain below for the sake of completion, even though that’s already been confirmed at BL Live. Hopefully we’ll get confirmed covers sometime reasonably soon as well.

The House of Night and Chain by David Annandale

Due October 2019
Paperback
384 pages

Here’s the synopsis:

At the edge of the city of Valgaast, Malveil awaits. It is a house of darkness. Its halls are filled with history and pain. It knows all secrets, and no weakness can be hidden from it. Now it stirs eagerly because its prey approaches. Colonel Maeson Strock of the Adeptus Ministorum is returning to his ancestral mansion. He is a shell of a man, broken by the horrors of war and personal loss. Colonel Strock has come home to take up the mantel of planetary governor. He hopes he can purge his home world of political corruption. He hopes he can reforge connections with his estranged children. He hopes he can rebuild his life. Malveil will feast on his hopes. Strock believes he has seen the worst of the galaxy’s horrors. Malveil will show him how wrong he is.

Castle of Blood by CL Werner

Due November 2019
Hardback
192 pages

There’s no synopsis available just yet, so here’s all we know so far:

A brand new Warhammer Horror novel from Clint Werner
Set in Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe
50,000 word story – B format HB priced at £12.99 (Same format and pricing as the Primarchs series)
Will have fore edge printing
Introduces our readers to the setting of Mhurghast

Dark Harvest by Josh Reynolds

Due October 2019
Paperback
368 pages

Again there’s no synopsis, just a few little bits of information:

A brand new Warhammer Horror novel from Josh Reynolds
Set in Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe
Think Constantine meets The Wicker Man as we follow our lead character (Harran Blackwood) as he ventures deep into the marshlands of Ghyran in search of an old friend
B format Paperback so £8.99
Will have fore edge printing

Invocations

Due December 2019
Paperback
343 pages

Despite the cover saying Evocations, it looks like this is actually tilted Invocations. Here’s the information we’ve got so far:

A collection of short horror stories from across the Worlds of Warhammer.

An Imperial Priest extracts a monstrous confession; a widower embarks on a doomed pilgrimage; a witch hunter returns to the place of his nightmares…

Invocations is Black Library’s second Warhammer Horror anthology, featuring more short stories set in the chilling hellscape of the 41st millennium and the arcane gloom of the Mortal Realms. From the whispering corridors of abandoned hospitals to the shrieking dungeons of ghostly castles, this collection of sinister stories further explores the unspeakable evil at large in the Warhammer worlds.

Contains the following stories:

Lora Gray: He Feasts Forever
Ray Cluley: Flesh and Blood
Richard Strachan: The Growing Seasons
David Annandale: The Hunt
Steven Sheil: The Healer
Nick Kyme: Stitches
Peter McLean: Blood Sacrifice
Jake Ozga: Supplication
David Annandale: The Summons of Shadows
CL Werner: A Sending from the Grave
David Annandale: From the Halls, the Silence
Justin D. Hill: The Confession of Convict Kline

Three of those short stories (He Feasts Forever, The Hunt and Stitches) have been released already, as part of Digital Horror Week, but the rest are all brand new.

Coming Soon page
Despite having a few issues still – titles not showing up, a slight lack of useful information, and so on – the Black Library Coming Soon page over on the Warhammer Community site is at least being updated with some – if not all – of the upcoming BL releases. I don’t think there’s much point in grumbling about the things it doesn’t do very well here, so instead I’m just going to list out the new titles which have appeared this month. It was actually updated twice, so here’s the first update:

Blood Rite by Rachel Harrison
Similar to Phil Kelly’s Death Knell, this looks like being a paperback novella featuring the characters from the second set of Space Marine Heroes minis.

On Wings of Blood
A paperback anthology of Aeronautica short stories. Here’s the contents, pulled from the book trade:

Medusan Wings: Matt Westbrook
Raptor Down: Gav Thorpe
Sturmhex: E J Davies
Wraithbound: J C Stearns
In Service Eternal: Matt Smith
Stormseeker: Alec Worley
The Emperor’s Grace: Nicolas Alexander
Wraithflight: Guy Haley
Doom Flight: Cavan Scott
Ancient History: Andy Chambers
Acceptable Losses: Gav Thorpe
Wings of Bone: James Swallow

Cadian Honour by Justin D. Hill
The paperback edition of Justin’s second Cadians/Minka Lesk novel. Check out my quick interview with Justin about this book here, or my review here.

Gotrek & Felix: The Fourth Omnibus by Nathan Long
I’m assuming this is going to feature Elfslayer, Shamanslayer and Zombieslayer, plus maybe some short stories.

Brunner the Bounty Hunter by CL Werner
I can’t say I’m a massive fan of that cover, but the Brunner novels were great so it’s good to see them being made available again in the new Warhammer Chronicles format.

The second batch of titles came a little after BL Live, so I assume BL were just holding off until they were announced at the event before listing them online.

Realmslayer: The Complete Script For the Audio Drama by David Guymer
Featuring artwork, behind-the-scenes photos, insights from author/editor/cast as well as the scripts themselves, this promises to be a fascinating addition for anyone really interested in BL audios.

Ghoulslayer by Darius Hinks
A new novel in the ‘Nounslayer’ series – who’d have thought we’d see such a thing again? I gather the plan is for multiple authors to tackle the character of Gotrek, so it’s going to be great to see how that goes. Darius has already written Gotrek in a short story called The Neverspike – currently only available in an event-only anthology – so he’s had some practice already.

Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World by David Guymer
If you needed a clear sign that Realmslayer was popular, this is it – another 4-part audio box set, and the return of Brian Blessed! Can’t wait.

Double Eagle by Dan Abnett
A new edition of Dan’s much-loved Sabbat Worlds novel, this is bound to get fans excited about the long-awaited sequel. Maybe one day that will show up as well!

Rites of Passage by Mike Brooks
Possibly the BL book I’m most excited about, out of all the upcoming releases. What’s not to love about FINALLY getting to read in detail about the Navigator Houses?

The Beast Inside by Darius Hinks
A Blackstone Fortress audio drama, which should be fun. According to the Coming Soon seminar at BL Live there should also be a short story anthology coming up, so keep an eye out to see if that arrives at a similar time.

Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty by Josh Reynolds
I’m assuming the August release date is for the LE hardback that was available at BL Live, complete with cool cyberpunk-style clear plastic dust jacket. I’ve got a copy of this, and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in!

Digital Mondays

There were four Mondays in June, so we got four Digital Monday releases – three brand new short stories and one pulled from the pages of Inferno! Volume 1.

If you were only going to buy one of these, my top pick would be No Hero – although you’re better off going for the ebook of Inferno! Volume 1 for £7.99 (giving you 11 short stories in total) rather than paying £2.49 for the eshort. Pricing aside, it’s a fantastic story dealing with the genuinely grim realities of life for the Imperial Guard, and well worth checking out. Don’t just take my word for it either, as it’s been nominated for a Scribe Award!

I enjoyed (to varying degrees) all three of the other stories here as well – Dale Lucas’ interesting take on the price paid by the Stormcast Eternals, Matt Smith’s tale of a cowardly commissar, and Rob Hayes’ story set entirely within the confines of a Baneblade. Overall I’d say it’s been a decent month for new short stories.

Weekend releases

Right up until the end of the month I’d have said that it had been a reasonable month for new releases, albeit a touch sparse. An impressive tranche of titles landing on the 29th slightly changed the complexion of the month, however, so overall I think it’s been pretty good. Here’s what’s what, in roughly the order they were released:Liber Chaotica
A new edition of the much-loved background book (technically focused on the Old World but still pretty relevant to 40k and AoS), to my absolute lack of surprise this proved an instant hit…and sold out absolutely everywhere. At the time of writing it’s still listed on BL’s website but isn’t available to order. They’d be mad not to reprint it…but who knows how these things work? If you didn’t get hold of a copy but do want one, I’d recommend getting in touch with BL to pester them about a reprint…but don’t hold your breath.

Space Wolf: 20th Anniversary Edition by William King
Another absolute classic, Bill King’s Space Wolf was many people’s first introduction to Black Library. It looks like this hardback edition sold out pretty quickly as well, but keep your eyes peeled for more ‘20th Anniversary’ editions of classic BL titles to come.

Gotrek & Felix: The Third Omnibus by William King and Nathan Long
Featuring Giantslayer, Orcslayer and Manslayer, plus four short stories from various authors, this is an interesting omnibus as it covers the period of change for Gotrek and Felix novels where they changed authorial hands for the first time.

Old Earth by Nick Kyme
The mass market (small format) paperback of book 47 in the Horus Heresy series – seven more to go and then the entire 54-book series will finally be available to read for anyone who’s been determined to stick with the original format. Check out a quick interview with Nick about this book here, and my review here.

Titandeath by Guy Haley
The trade (large format) paperback of book 53 in the Heresy, for those who don’t want to fork out £20 for the hardback but can’t wait the (probably still quite a lot of) months for the MMPB. Take a look at a quick interview with Guy about the book here, and my review here.

Spear of the Emperor by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
This one came out in super-posh Limited Edition format (swanky display box, loads of extra goodies etc.) back in November 2018, but is now FINALLY available in standard hardback, ebook and audiobook formats. For me personally, this is an absolute must-read. Here’s my usual quick author interview about this book, and you can also check out my review here.

Shield of the Emperor by Steve Lyons, Steve Parker and Mitchel Scanlon
A reprint of the old Imperial Guard Omnibus: Volume 1, this features the novels Death World by Steve Lyons, Rebel Winter by Steve Parker and Fifteen Hours by Mitchel Scanlon, as well as a short story by each of the same authors.

Soul Wars by Josh Reynolds
The paperback edition of Josh’s excellent Age of Sigmar novel – if you haven’t yet picked this up but are at least vaguely interested in Age of Sigmar, I really can’t recommend this one enough. Have a read of my quick interview with Josh about the book here, and my review here.

Gloomspite by Andy Clark
Available in hardback and ebook formats, this is the newest Age of Sigmar novel – and it’s about the Gloomspite Gits! I know we shouldn’t judge books by their covers, but wow…just look at that cover! It promises to be a fascinating read as well; can’t wait!

Heirs of the Laughing God: Death’s Mercy by Gav Thorpe
The second instalment in Gav’s Heirs of the Laughing God audio drama series, this one focuses on the Death Jester character – sounds promising. You can check out a quick interview with Gav about this story here.

Dark Imperium: Plague War by Guy Haley
Nine and a bit months after the standard hardback was released, and apparently after much feedback from fans requesting it, BL released a LE version as well! It beautifully matches up with the LE for the first in the series, and features the short story The Armour of Fate as well as an author introduction from Guy. 750 copies were printed, and they sold out QUICKLY – on the one hand that meant quite a lot of disappointed fans, especially as (once again) BL’s communication about when it would go on sale was…let’s say lacking. On the other hand, hopefully it proves to BL that there’s appetite from the fans for LEs of other ‘book 2s’, and encourages them to offer the same format for each book in a series.

Apocalypse by Josh Reynolds
As I mentioned earlier, this was released to tie in with the new Apocalypse rule set for 40k. It’s the fifth book in the Space Marine Conquests series, is available in SE hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook formats, and from what I gather is an absolute whopper at 150,000 words! Check out a very quick interview with Josh about this one here.

Underhive
A Necromunda anthology featuring Mike Brooks’ novella Wanted: Dead and nine short stories, including six previously released as eshorts, one previously released in Inferno! Volume 1, plus brand new tales by Darius Hinks and Josh Reynolds (Josh’s new story is a Kal Jerico tale), this is pretty much a must-read for any Necromunda fan. At £8.99 it’s not one of the huge doorstop-sized omnibuses, but a 350-ish page collection including some really, really great stories. Here’s the contents:

Wanted: Dead: Mike Brooks
Dirty Dealings: Rachel Harrison
Redemption: Darius Hinks
Death’s Head: Josh Reynolds
Emp-rah’s Eye: Guy Haley
Once a Stimm Queen: Robbie MacNiven
Scar Crossed: Nick Kyme
Burned: Darius Hinks
A Common Ground: Mike Brooks
Red Salvage: Josh ReynoldsVenators
An audio drama collection featuring the three Necromunda short audios previously released as part of the 2018 Advent Calendar – The Deserter by Justin D. Hill, Expectatio by Matt Keefe and Half-Horn by Josh Reynolds. You can check out my reviews of each of those by clicking on the links in the previous sentence.

Silver Nails and Beasts in Velvet by Kim Newman
The third and fourth of Kim Newman’s classic Genevieve books to get the new Warhammer Horror treatment, although seeing as Genevieve Undead is a collection of novellas I think these are technically the second and third novels in the series. Available as usual in paperback and ebook formats.

As well as those two paperbacks, there’s also an ebook collection featuring all four books, for £28 – offering a £1 saving on each book. What’s more, the first two books in the series are now available as audiobooks, narrated by Antonia Beamish – Drachenfels and Genevieve Undead.

Reviews, interviews and blog posts

As usual, here’s the rundown of what I’ve been posting about during June – lots of quick reviews, a few novel and audio drama reviews, a couple of quick interviews and a fairly lengthy blog post:

I’ve read and listened to some great stories over the course of June, including a couple of really interesting non-Black Library novels (although I won’t go into those here – but do check out the links to the reviews above). I had an absolute blast re-reading Chris Wraight’s The Carrion Throne and then going straight into The Hollow Mountain, which I picked up at BL Live – if you enjoyed the first book (as I did) then I think you’ll have a great time reading the second once it’s released a couple of weeks into July. It provides a fascinating follow-on to The Carrion Throne, another intriguing exploration of Terra, and – as usual with Chris – just a damn fine story.

I particularly want to draw attention to a few short stories, however – I’m slowly working my way through Inferno! Volume 3, and over the course of June I read and reviewed the first five stories in the anthology. Regular readers will be familiar with how much I love short stories, and how often I talk about the impact that the original Inferno! magazines had on me as a youngster, so it’s always an absolute pleasure to pick up one of these new anthologies and find excellent story after excellent story. So far in this third instalment I’ve read about the beliefs of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the ongoing adventures of an aelven prince, a frantic race through an Imperial underive, a gruesome series of murders on a Blood Bowl team and the dangerous process of electing a skaven religious leader.

Where else can you find such entertaining variety than in the pages of an Inferno! anthology? If you haven’t yet checked out at least one of these anthologies then I truly can’t recommend enough that you grab one and give it a go. If you’re already a convert but haven’t got around to picking up the third instalment, what are you waiting for? I haven’t even finished this volume and I’m already looking forward to the next one, which I think is due in October.

Coming up…

According to the Coming Soon page there are only three titles confirmed for July, and only one of those is actually a brand new book:

Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain by Chris Wraight
The Burden of Loyalty
The Orion Trilogy by Darius Hinks

That accounts for the 13th and 27th July, leaving the 6th and 20th unaccounted for. I would assume the second Siege of Terra novel – Guy Haley’s The Lost and the Damned – will be released in Limited Edition hardback on one of those Saturdays. Hopefully Black Library will provide a little more information this time around, rather than the one day’s notice for The Solar War, but time will tell…

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As always, if you’ve got any thoughts or comments on the month’s news and releases – or any reviews I’ve written – please do get in touch via the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter.

Black Library Monthly – June 2019