With no Black Library Weekender in 2020 – for obvious reasons – the ‘Coming Soon’ seminar that usually closes the event was replaced by an online Black Library preview from the Warhammer Community team. You can check out all the reveals, and re-watch the whole stream, over on the Warhammer Community website, but in this article I’m going to offer up some of my reactions to the preview and the books announced. I’ll give an overview of the preview to begin with, then go on to cover what was announced for each of the main ranges, including a little bit about which of my predictions/hopes proved accurate.
Overall thoughts on the preview
I watched the online preview with my usual bunch of Warhammer/Black Library friends, and we all agreed it was pretty good, all told. I counted 11 brand new titles, not including reprints of existing books, and they all look cool – some of them even qualify as properly exciting – with a nice mixture of tentpole releases, most of which I expected/hoped to see, and more unusual, unexpected titles. I thought both the pre-recorded author interviews and Nick Kyme’s general announcements slot were interesting, engaging and definitely worth having, adding a nice bit of excitement to the announcements. I would love to see more BL content along those lines (preferably expanded out a bit) from Warhammer Community in future.
It’s perhaps unfair to try and make direct comparisons between this and the ‘Coming Soon’ seminar at a Weekender…but life’s not fair, right? Compared to the 30 or so new titles announced at the 2019 Weekender there were considerably fewer revealed in this preview, but then that’s to be expected given the approach that WarCom take to these online previews. The decision to fit everything into the usual online preview format – complete with the two hosts filling time by talking about each announcement – inevitably means there’s going to be less detail than an in-person seminar (and no real Q&A opportunities, either). If I’m being brutally honest I’d prefer to cut the chat and just focus on the author interviews and interesting information…but taken on its own merits it’s fair to say that this preview was essentially a success.
That being said, I did have a few reservations about the balance of titles being revealed. Everything announced looks great, but it’s disappointing to see just two new Age of Sigmar titles compared to seven 40k books, and nothing whatsoever for Necromunda, Warhammer Crime or Warhammer Horror. Even more disappointing was the fact that there were no audio dramas mentioned, compared to the five announced at the last Weekender. Bearing in mind the constraints mentioned above, hopefully it’s a case of there just not being enough time to talk about literally everything – it would be a shame if there are actually only those two AoS books, no audios and nothing for the other settings.
I’m sure this won’t be the full Black Library range for 2021, though. It probably isn’t even everything for the first half of the year – at last year’s Weekender the BL team said that the releases being announced would cover the first six months of 2020 (at least, that was the pre-Covid plan), so it’s a reasonably safe bet to expect the same thing in 2021. Bear in mind as well that there are already a few January releases listed on the WarCom Coming Soon page. Fingers crossed for more interesting releases still to come!
I was also a little surprised that there was no mention of previously-announced titles like John French’s Cypher audio drama box set, or books which have been listed online such as Inferno! Volume 6 or George Mann’s Sabbathiel (the cover of which is December’s image in BL’s 2019 calendar). Nothing about the Space Marine Conquests series either, which seems to have fizzled out a bit with the latest in the series being Andy Clark’s Fist of the Imperium, published back in January 2020. Of course, there was another novel in the series listed online for a while, but it looks as though Thomas Parrott’s Masters of Shadow may never see the light of day.
Those reservations notwithstanding, all in all I’d say that the preview was a success. For all the frustrations at what wasn’t announced, there’s still plenty to look forward to in 2021! With that in mind, let’s take a look at each of the main settings – starting with the Horus Heresy.
Horus Heresy
Just the two Heresy titles, but both of these are pretty (by which I mean really) big announcements, for books that I think a lot of fans are going to be excited about. The rate of releases for the Heresy is always going to be a bit slower than what’s possible for 40k and AoS too, so while there’s plenty more that I’m still looking forward to finding out about – the authors and titles for the rest of the Siege novels and novellas, for example – I’m very happy to know that these two are coming!
I do still hope that BL will provide some information soon-ish about what’s happening with the assorted short stories and audio dramas which haven’t yet been collected into anthologies. It feels like the sort of unresolved question that risks going unanswered if it’s not tackled reasonably soon. Check out my Horus Heresy predictions to see what I got right and wrong, then read on for my thoughts on the two newly-announced novels.
Mortis by John French
This was a great way to kick off the preview – surely it was one of the most highly-anticipated BL books for 2021 after the phenomenal Saturnine this year. It’s a cool title, the cover looks badass, and hearing John talk a bit about both the events and themes that we’ll see in the book was excellent. It sounds like the perfect subject matter for John’s style – I’m sure he’s going to absolutely nail it. Oh, and I’m pleased that my prediction of who would write their second Siege novel was spot on (it had to be either John or Guy, but Guy seems to have been busy with lots of 40k writing)! I imagine the order of the final three will be Chris Wraight, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and then Dan Abnett with the final novel.
It’s going to be interesting to see when this one is released. If the Weekender had happened then I would have expected the Limited Edition hardback to have been published either that weekend or the next, with the standard edition then available in February to coincide with the Black Library Celebration (that’s what happened with The First Wall, at least). Unless BL are going to sneakily release the LE hardback before Christmas this year, I would think it’s likely that we’ll see Mortis get its initial release in early/mid January with the standard editions coming in April/May.
Alpharius: Head of the Hydra by Mike Brooks
Another prediction I got right – the next Primarchs novel! I’d seen an online listing for this author and title combo and had been hoping it would prove correct, so I was delighted to see it officially announced. It’s great to see newer names getting involved in the Heresy, and I’ve a feeling Mike will do a really great job with this story. Of course revealing any sort of details about the origins of Alpharius is a dangerous task – it’s going to be impossible to please everyone – but I’m looking forward to seeing how this one goes.
I could see this being released in LE hardback as part of the BL Celebration in February, just like The Lion in 2019. If that’s the case, the standard editions would probably be due in May/June, in theory at least (The Lion was caught badly by the initial Covid lockdown, but it had originally been due for release in May).
Warhammer 40,000
I’ve got to admit, I’m properly impressed by the range of 40k books confirmed for 2021! I was expecting (or at least hoping for) a few of these, but even with Penitent/The Swords of Calth/Dark Imperium 3 there are some nice surprises in the specifics. While some of what I thought would be revealed – anthologies, audios, a mega edition, etc. – wasn’t mentioned, I’m really looking forward to finding out more about some of the unexpected announcements. Especially Nate Crowley’s Ghazghkull novel and Darius Hinks’ Liber Xenologis background book!
I made quite a few 40k predictions, as well as listing plenty more hopes for 2021, and for all that I’m looking forward to what did get announced, I’m a little surprised at some of the things that didn’t. In particular I did genuinely expect to hear at least something about Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s next 40k novel (whether that’s Spear of the Emperor 2 or Black Legion 3) and Justin D. Hill’s third Cadians novel. Still, hopefully we’ll hear more about those in due course. Check out my 40k predictions to see what I got right and wrong, then read on for my thoughts on the new titles that have been announced.
Penitent by Dan Abnett (plus Pariah reprinted)
I didn’t want to get my hopes up about this, but I’m delighted that Penitent is finally about to see the light of day – and I know I’m not the only one! Dan sounded incredibly enthusiastic about it, and once there’s an official release date I think I’ll start to feel the hype really building. From the terminology used on the WarCom article it looks as though this will get a simultaneous hardback/SE hardback release (SEs generally being simultaneous, as opposed to LEs which have the annoying gap), which would be great – although it’s interesting to see no mention of a matching SE hardback for Pariah.
To be fair though, while the Penitent SE does look lovely…so does the standard hardback – and likewise the new Pariah hardback! Not only are both covers beautiful (seriously – how nice are those covers?!), but they’ll look lovely on the shelf together too. I’ve no idea when these are likely to be released (although my gut feeling is that they won’t be included in the BL Celebration), but once the dates are confirmed I foresee a lot of people going back to re-read their Eisenhorn and Ravenor books, and/or Pariah for those who already have that one!
Godblight by Guy Haley (plus Dark Imperium and Plague War re-released)
This is going to please a lot of people, and I suspect Guy Haley is very relieved that he’s not going to have to answer any more “but what’s happening with Dark Imperium?” questions! Godblight itself sounds very cool, and I’m looking forward to seeing the cover once it’s available. The fact that Guy has updated/adapted the first two books in the series to fit in with the wider 40k timeline is very interesting, and I think ultimately a good decision from Guy and BL. Am I going to buy the new editions of the first two novels? No, I don’t think so – especially as in his interview Guy suggested that the changes weren’t vast. I can see the potential frustration for collectors, with different editions not matching on the shelf, but all told I think this is probably the best option for the series.
The fact that there isn’t yet a cover that BL could reveal for Godblight does suggest that its release might still be a little way off. I could see this (and the reissues) coming in March or maybe even later. Speaking of collectors – I wonder if Godblight will get a SE hardback? I kind of doubt it, but it’ll be interesting to see if it matches the format of the first two if one is released!
The Swords of Calth by Graham McNeill
I just had a feeling that this would be announced – it’s certainly been a long time coming! The fact that Graham wrote The Death of Uriel Ventris suggested that he wasn’t finished with the character, and it’s cool to see both Graham and Uriel back on the 40k scene. The accompanying 40k miniature is nice, but personally I’m much more interested in the novel than the mini (and next year I really hope the BL Celebration mini is for an AoS character after four years of 40k) – although I imagine both book and miniature are going to be pretty popular! As with Penitent, it looks as though there will be a simultaneous SE hardback for The Swords of Calth, and interestingly both of these SEs are quite different to the usual faux-leather stylings of most recent SEs/LEs.
This one is confirmed as part of the Black Library Celebration, along with the mini, so it will be coming at some point in February. The Celebration is usually towards the end of February (24th in 2017, 23rd in 2018 and 29th in 2019 – my spreadsheets coming in handy once again!), so if I had to guess I’d say expect it to be on the 27th in 2021.
The Gate of Bones by Andy Clark
I expected confirmation of the next Dawn of Fire novel but wasn’t sure who the author would be – I’m pleased to see another Andy Clark book (alongside his upcoming AoS novel Stormvault) on the schedule. I haven’t yet read Avenging Son so I don’t have much to comment on with this one, other than to say that I really like the cover for this (much more than Avenging Son, which isn’t really my cup of tea), and that I’m pleased to see the paperback/SE hardback combination of formats continue. I know some folks would prefer a standard hardback rather than going straight to paperback, but personally I think it’s a good choice for what BL are hoping will be one of their headline series, that they want as many people to get into as possible.
I’ve no idea when to expect this one, to be honest. As I mentioned in my previous article, I would love to see BL provide some kind of roadmap for the Dawn of Fire series, setting expectations for how many we’re going to see and how regularly they’re planning on releasing them.
Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! by Nate Crowley
I’m looking forward to all of the books announced for 2021, but if I had to pick just one to read I think this would probably be it. I’m a huge fan of Nate’s writing, having absolutely loved not just his 40k work so far (a couple of short stories and a novella) but also his novel The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack and his recent SFF travel guide Notes From Small Planets, so the prospect of a full-length BL novel from him is very exciting. The fact that it’s about Ghazghkull, and written from the perspective of Makari? That’s just the icing on the cake!
Given that BL don’t yet have a cover to show us, and that the WarCom article specifically says that it’s “a while away yet”, I wouldn’t expect to see this until March at the earliest, and possibly later. I’ve a feeling it’s going to be worth the wait, though – and I can’t wait to see the final cover!
The Book of Martyrs by Danie Ware, Alec Worley and Phil Kelly
To be honest this one came out of the left field, but perhaps in hindsight a portmanteau isn’t that surprising. BL have already released a couple of books in this style (The Wicked and the Damned for Warhammer Horror and the recent Age of Sigmar title Covens of Blood), there’s clearly demand for Sisters of Battle fiction, and two of the three main writers for this faction recently – Danie Ware and Alec Worley – predominantly contribute shorter fiction to BL as opposed to writing novels. All told, it makes sense for there to be more Sisters short fiction, and a portmanteau is something a bit different to the usual short story anthologies that BL have tended to release. Throw in a Phil Kelly novella alongside those from Danie and Alec, and it should be interesting!
Interesting as this sounds, it’s probably unlikely to be one of BL’s big sellers (compared to Mortis, Penitent or Godblight, for example), so I could see them releasing it pretty much any time – it might work nicely as part of the BL Celebration, otherwise it should easily fit into any gaps in the release schedule between the big novel releases. That’s basically a roundabout way of me saying I’ve no idea when it’ll be available!
Liber Xenologis by Darius Hinks
Another surprise, this one sounds very cool indeed, and I have a feeling it’s going to be very, very popular. The long out of print 2006 (I think) background book Xenology – by Simon Spurrier – is something of a cult classic, and while this sounds like it might be taking a slightly different approach, it’s clearly going to be at least loosely along the same lines. I love the idea of writing it from the perspective of Janus Draik, tying in cleverly with the Blackstone Fortress range which Darius has had so much success writing in, and perhaps bridging the gap between that and the main 40k range. I wonder if this is the precursor to further Janus Draik/Rogue Trader fiction? That would be cool.
I may well be wrong here, but I could definitely see this being released as part of the Black Library Celebration. As with Mortis I’ve a feeling it might have originally been intended for release at the Weekender had the event gone ahead, but with that not an option it seems to me that this would make a great addition to the Celebration, providing some nice variety alongside the novels and the new Ventris mini. Even if not, I think this will be one to keep a close eye on, and be ready to grab quickly on the day of release if you want to avoid missing out.
Age of Sigmar
Not so much to talk about for AoS, but while – as I said earlier – I think it’s a shame to see BL announcing so few titles, I’m very much looking forward to both of these. A new Gotrek novel is always a good thing, and having recently read Richard Strachan’s debut BL novel (Blood of the Everchosen) – which is fantastic – I can’t wait to read more from him. So I think both new titles are great, and well worth having on the schedule, even if I was hoping to see a few more AoS releases confirmed for 2021.
I’m quite surprised to not see anything Slaanesh-related, but then I could imagine BL/GW having something lined up but choosing to hold off from revealing it until the miniatures range is launched. Time will tell, of course. It’s been nearly two years since Hamilcar: Champion of the Gods so I’m really hoping for a sequel sometime soon, and then I basically just want to see BL ramping up the opportunities for exploring the realms and the different factions of AoS. 2020 has provided some excellent AoS fiction – in particular (in my opinion) Profit’s Ruin and Blood of the Everchosen – but just not enough of it. Check out my Age of Sigmar predictions to see what I got right and wrong, and then read on for my thoughts on the two confirmed books.
Gitslayer by Darius Hinks
Another one I’m delighted to have been right about! I loved the Gotrek and Felix series, I’ve had a total blast reading and listening to Gotrek’s adventures so far in the Mortal Realms, and I very much hope this turns into a long-running series for Age of Sigmar. Ghoulslayer was a lot of fun, so I’m very happy to read more of Gotrek’s adventures from Darius – although I could also see a multi-author series working, if BL decides to get a range of authors involved. I had been wondering what noun Gotrek would be slaying next, but hadn’t considered Gloomspite Gitz…but I’ve got to say, Gitslayer is an excellent title! And that cover is fantastic. I can’t wait to read this one.
We know that Andy Clark’s AoS novel Stormvault is due at some point in January, so it’s going to be interesting to see when Gitslayer lands. If BL’s AoS schedule continues to be a bit sparse, I could see there being quite a gap between novel releases – so looking at it the other way, if this is published in January or February, for example, it might be a sign of releases picking up. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.
The End of Enlightenment by Richard Strachan
As I mentioned earlier, Richard’s first AoS novel – Blood of the Everchosen – is excellent. I would say it’s one of the best AoS books yet, in fact. It’s really that good. I was hoping he might write another Chaos-focused novel, but really I’m just happy to see another novel of any sort from him, so I’m pleased that my hope for 2021 has been fulfilled! I haven’t yet read Dale Lucas’ Realm-Lords so I don’t really know much about the Lumineth, but I have absolute confidence that Richard will have produced a fantastic story. I like the idea of balancing the light of the Lumineth against the darkness of Nagash, and I’m always up for stories featuring the Bonereapers, who are super cool!
As with Gitslayer, I can’t really offer any prediction for when this is going to be released. All I can say is that I hope it comes out soon, as I think Richard deserves as wide an audience as possible for his excellent writing!
***
That turned out to be a bit more of a comprehensive article than I anticipated, but I hope it’s been interesting. To very quickly (honest) recap – the preview was pretty great overall, even if I can’t help being greedy and wishing for more announcements! I was a touch disappointed at the balance of releases, and I really hope there are more AoS releases, any Warhammer Crime/Horror and Necromunda releases, and at least a few audio dramas lined up for 2021…but in truth I can’t complain because the new books that have been announced all sound fab!
I think I did quite well with predicting a few of the releases confirmed in the preview, even if I was clearly a bit over-optimistic in general! I still stand by most of my predictions for 2021, though. The preview may be done and dusted, but I’ve a feeling there are still lots of new Black Library books (and hopefully audio dramas) still to come over the next year or so! At the time of writing this WarCom haven’t updated the Coming Soon page, but I have updated my BL pre-order tracker so you can check that out for a pretty comprehensive breakdown of what we know is due to be released at some point in the future.
What did you think about the preview, and the Black Library books announced for 2021? Are there any releases you’re particularly looking forward to? Anything you wish would be announced? Let me know in the comments below, or find me on Twitter!
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