Black Library Weekly: Happy Warhammer Day!

Image credit: Games Workshop

This year's Warhammer Day was a bounty of goodies for the Black Library Museum. I dropped into my local store to help support the local economy, walking away with a Space Marine "ammo pouch" prop, a silver-plated coin, and art print for my troubles. These were nice additions to the Warhammer Day hype; last year we had the commemorative minis and a slew of online stuff, but I don't recall any physical goods tied to the event.

I was a little concerned that the stock would be limited. Last April when my store held its Anniversary Celebration, it only had four copies of the Light of the Emperor and Other Stories anthology to sell. We got one, but were sitting outside the store two hours before it opened for the privilege.

I needn't have worried. The store was well-provisioned with seventy-five pouches, and I had the luxury being able to drop by shortly after store open. Indeed, Games Workshop may even have over-provisioned; I've since heard of at least one store that had so much stock that they were relaxing the restrictions a bit to get more of them into people's hands.

Either way, it was a very happy Warhammer Day indeed!

Up for Preorder

The 'drip cycle' continues this week, with two more promised novels arriving for preorder. First up is Vagabond Squadron, by Robbie MacNiven (Outer Dark, Oaths of Damnation). The latest Aeronautica Imperialis story after Dan Abnett's 2024 Interceptor City, it comes in a regular (hardcover) and Special editions. The SE will contain an additional short story, For Luck, as well as the usual cover treatment and ribbon. Sadly, no author introduction or afterword.

The other is the newest Age of Sigmar tale, Starseer's Ruin. Written by Adrian Tchaikovsky (On the Shoulders of Giants, The Long and Hungry Road), the story's Seraphon hero Irixi was introduced in last year's Advent Subscription short story Written in Stars. Tchaikovsky gave a short interview with the Black Library that was featured on Warhammer Community this week as the book's existence was unveiled, too!

Finally, Guy Haley's Shadowsword is being released in audiobook format.

Image credit: Abacus Books

Sharing a Six-Pack With...Justin D. Hill

Nope, it’s not Theakston Old Peculier ale, it’s- what else- books! In our occasional featurette for the Black Library Weekly, we bend the ear of Black Library authors to get a half-dozen book recommendations.

This week we're chatting with Justin D. Hill, author of Hell's Last and (one of my personal faves) The Bookkeeper's Skull. Hill posts regular short clips on social media of him musing about the writer's craft, and if that wasn't all enough to keep him busy he also co-hosts as historical writers' podcast whose ">latest episode just dropped!

Three Black Library Books He’d Recommend…

Storm of Iron, by Graham McNeill. "Anyone who has been in the hobby for a few decades has a book from the early days that really stays with them, and for me its Graham McNeill’s first 40K novel: Storm of Iron. This book has it all – loyalists and heretics and sacred gene-seed. But at its core are my favourite and the Emperor’s finest – the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum – facing off against all the horrors of the universe with nothing more than a lasgun. Now that’s courage!"
Saturnine, by Dan Abnett. "From old to new... The Siege of Terra series brought us the most famous events of Warhammer lore in fictional form. There must have been a lot of pressure on the writers to get these stories right, and I think my favourite (just!) is Saturnine. It combines so many levels and characters and ways of telling a story. It also captures both the grandeur and the human scale of the Horus Heresy. Great read!"
Betrayer, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. "The Horus Heresy series has dominated my reading life for the last twenty-odd years, and I think my favourite of them all was Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s novel about the World Eaters, uncovering their 'human' side, and the tragedy of their and their primarch’s experience. Favourite moment? The gunning of chainswords as they wait to drop-pod down onto the war zone."

Two Non-Black Library Books He’d Recommend…

A Month in the Country, by J. L. Carr. "For most of my adult life I lived abroad in China, Eritrea, New York, and Hong Kong, and this novel is set in my little part of Yorkshire – and is redolent with all the small details and ways of speaking native to your home town or shire. So I would often read it to remind myself of where I came from, and ultimately, where I was going back to. In brief – a World War I veteran gets a job to uncover a mural in a remote medieval village church. It’s a perfect gem of a novel."
The King Must Die, by Mary Renault. "Mary Renault was one of JRR Tolkien’s students at Oxford university and while she went on to become famous writing early gay fiction that drew on her experiences as a nurse during the Second World War, she saved her very best for her work set in the Ancient Greek world. Her Alexander the Great trilogy is brilliant work, but my favourite is this – the legend of Theseus, killer of the Minotaur, told in realist style. It’s my historical fiction gold standard. So far, unbeaten."

And Finally, One of His Own Books He’d Recommend…

I’m best known for writing Cadian Stormtrooper, Minka Lesk, so I’m going to recommend probably one of my least known pieces... a character who is, essentially, Minka’s mirror image. This is how the story came about: a tree had come down in an autumn storm, and I’d spent a weekend chopping it up, and while cleaning the chainsaw of oil and sawdust, I wondered what it would be like to clean a chainsaw after a 40K battle.... That was the spark. The next day I got a message, asking if I was interested in contributing to the anthology, and I bit their hand off. The narrator’s story, and voice, came out pretty much preformed. Her name is Briar, and she tells her tale, The Tomb of Vichres, in the Sabbat War Anthology. Outside of 40K, I think the best place to start would be my novel, Shieldwall, set in the run up to the Battle of Hastings, in 1066.

Thanks for sharing, Justin!

Image credit: Choboy

Quality Is Job One

Perhaps the cruelest email we can receive as Black Library collectors is the notification that one of our orders has been canceled. After all, it's been hard enough to get to that point playing the Preorder Sweepstakes, and it can be a real head-scratcher trying to figure out how the system showed enough inventory in the moment of ordering to complete the transaction, only for the stock you're ordering to go missing when it comes time for fulfillment.

One member of the Black Library Subreddit showed one reason inventory can go on walkabout, and while it was to their own good fortune you hate to think that it caused someone else to get the dreaded "Your Order has Been Canceled" email. u/Choboy ordered one copy of the Yarrick Box Set, but- alakazam! - saw two arrive.

At least two others noted having received 'bonus' copies of the Special Edition Mike Brooks' Voidscarred in the same fashion.

Look, nobody's pretending that Black Library order fulfillment is a zero-defect operation, and anecdotal evidence is only slightly preferable to no evidence at all. We can't draw any reasonable conclusions here other than to simply note that it's happening, and hope that the system improves. When you're dealing with artificially-scarce products like Limited and Special Editions, it's critical to get it right.

Sometimes 'getting it right' can come from an unexpected source. When a member of the Black Library Nutters Facebook Group posted some photos showing that their copy of the Tomb World Special Edition was missing the signature/limitation page, I reached out to author Jonathan D. Beer. Beer directed the member to try and receive satisfaction with Games Workshop's customer support, but promised that if that didn't work out that he'd personally make sure to send them an autographed bookplate. What a mensch!

ICYMI

This week on Goonhammer we offered up our review of Mike Vincent's The Remnant Blade. Any book centered on the Night Lords has some big shoes to fill from Dembski-Bowden's legendary trilogy, but it was great to see someone take a go at it and try and create something entirely new!

I was also excited to see us expand the tent a bit and do a review of a BattleTech story. Okay, so it's not Black Library related, but I'm sneaking it in here for anyone who may have an interest in both properties.

Over on WarCom, we had another dose of the Heroes of the First Founding short fiction series with The Burden of Command. This one stars Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines! Over in the print department, White Dwarf #517 arrived featuring a self-contained Age of Sigmar short story, Tattered Sails, by Jake Ozga (Suffer the Vision, Into Dark Water).

In the world of podcasts, The Fluffenhammer lads go all-in on books in their latest episode, looking to see which books are most representative of their settings. Frankly, you had me at Ahriman apologism...

Then- serendipity abounds!- Jen and Keri of the WH40K Book Club give their review of Guy Haley's Shadowsword. You know, the one that just became available on audiobook? So if audio reviews and audiobooks are your thing, there's a nice one-two punch right there.

Over on YouTube, Tom Evans of the Filmdeg Miniatures channel ">shared a sit-down chat₁ he had with Gav Thorpe (Lorgar: Bearer of the Word, 13th Legion). The two spoke for around 45 minutes on the history of the Eldar over the course of Warhammer 40K history and some of his Black Library work, well worth checking out!

Image credit: Titan Books

Quick Hits

To celebrate a decade of Age of Sigmar, WarCom held a vote for the "Miniature of the Decade." I'd enjoyed Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion by Dale Lucas so much (review here) that I actually snared the model as a result. It's such a well-designed, detailed eye-catcher of a sculpt that when the time came to vote I didn't hesitate. Despite loads of incredible competition, guess who won first place when the results were revealed on Saturday?
Looking for something to read? Rob J. Hayes (No Quarter, Anarchy's End) posted a free short story, The Execution, over on his Patreon.
With just under three weeks to go, Ben Galley (Mournclaw) has crushed his Kickstarter target for an illustrated, hardcover collector's edition of Dead Stars: Part Two, part of his Emaneska Series. Congratulations, Ben, it looks amazing!
Adrian Tchaikovsky hasn't just been busy with the Seraphon. He's surely a contender for hardest-working man in speculative fiction right now as he's placed a trio of shorts in Flametree Press's upcoming anthology, Creative Futures. Not only does this collection sound amazing ("This anthology is a collection of works that draw inspiration from the Creative Futures Research Project, a partnership between Coventry University and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), the UK Ministry of Defence’s science and technology organisation. The writers involved in the project created stories that imagined some of the future crises that we may have to resolve and the ramifications of our choices on the generations who come after us."), but he's also joined by another Black Library writer Stark Holborn , whose Nightfall on Stygies is seeing its print debut in the upcoming No Peace Among Stars anthology.
If that's not enough, Tchaikovsky's got another book on the way, Green City Wars. A noir story where the characters are all genetically-enhanced animals that (ostensibly) live to serve the humans, but beneath the surface a "complex underworld of animal politics, crime and conflict thrives."
Another hard-working writer is Tim Waggoner (Skin Man). He'll be ringing in the new year as Titan Books publishes his short story, Marked for Death, as part of its Conan the Barbiarian Heroic Legends series. Meanwhile, his Conan novel Spawn of the Serpent God comes out this week, and he took some time to discuss the book on his blog.
I spoke a bit last week about the upcoming World Fantasy Convention 2025 in Brighton, and you can add Juliet McKenna (Fear Itself) to the list of literary luminaries who will be in attendance and available at the mass autograph session. She's also hosting or co-paneling on a number of sessions, details here!
DK Books recently published their Warhammer 40,000 Character Encyclopedia, and author Wade Pryce and editor David Fentiman shared a quick chat about the book and his experience.
John Goodrich (Mud and Mist) has a new short story, A Memorable Proposal, appearing in the latest issue of Assemble Artifacts. "A nervous boyfriend’s proposal goes off the rails when a clandestine monster-hunting team descends on the couple’s romantic getaway, convinced that the perfect girlfriend is not who—or what—she says she is." If comedy/horror/romance is right up your alley, make sure to grab an issue₂!
Noah Van Nguyen (Elemental Council, Godeater's Son)'s blog has been relatively quiet in recent months- but with good reason! He recently popped back up with an update and talks about the Black Library novel he's recently finished writing. Spoiler: there aren't any spoilers, sorry!

Image credit: Games Workshop

Coming Attractions

Here’s a list of the date-set upcoming releases from the Black Library based on the available preorder information we have. As always, take all of this with a grain of salt unless it’s Games Workshop-confirmed.

Going forward, this section will be updated weekly in this column. Any titles that are announced but without a date will be added once a date is assigned it, and anything highlighted in green is something just added (or updated) this week. Books that are underlined are previously unpublished titles.

Upcoming but Undated

Master of Rites, by Rob Young
Steel Tread, by Andy Clark (hardcover and Special)
Demolisher, by Andy Clark (hardcover and Special)
Archmagos, by Guy Haley (hardcover and Special)
Hereticus, The Illustrated and Annotated Edition, by Dan Abnett (hardcover)

Upcoming in 2025

Krakenblood, by Marc Collins (hardcover and Special Edition, 11/1)
Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen, by Chris Thursten (hardcover, 11/1)
The Dark Coil: Ascension, by Peter Fehervari (paperback, 11/1)
Anvils of the Heldenhammer: The Ancients, by Dale Lucas (paperback, 11/1)
On the Shoulders of Giants and Other Stories, by various (paperback, 11/1)
Warhammer Character Encyclopedia (Library Edition), by Wade Pryce (hardcover, 11/4)
Ashes of the Imperium: The Scouring, by Chris Wraight (hardcover, 11/4)
Da Red Gobbo's Last Stand, by Andi Ewington (hardcover. 11/8)
The Relentless Dead, by Steve Lyons (Special Edition and hardcover, 11/8)
Da Red Gobbo Collection, by various (paperback, 11/8)
Double Eagle, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 11/8)
Death and Duty: An Astra Militarum Anthology, by various (paperback, 11/8)
Interceptor City, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 11/8) (review)
No Peace Among Stars, by various (paperback, 11/8)
Vagabond Squadron, by Robbie MacNiven (hardcover and Special, 11/15)
Starseer's Ruin, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (hardcover, 11/15)
The Art of Warhammer Video Games, by Andy Hall (hardcover, 11/25)
The Twice-Dead King: The Omnibus, by Nate Crowley (paperback, 12/2)
Hell’s Last, by Justin D. Hill (paperback, 12/16)
The Rise of Nagash, by Mike Lee (paperback, 12/16)

Upcoming in 2026

Farsight: Blade of Truth, by Phil Kelly (paperback, 1/27)
Fulgrim: The Perfect Son, by Jude Reid (paperback, 1/27) (review)
Siege of Terra: The Shattered and the Soulless, by Graham McNeill (paperback, 1/27)
Vaults of Terra: The Omnibus, by Chris Wraight (paperback, 1/27)
Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom, by Mike Brooks (paperback, 3/10)
Carcharodons: Void Exile, by Robbie MacNiven (paperback, 3/10)
The Green Tide, by Mike Brooks, Nate Crowley, and Justin Woolley (paperback 3/24)
Carnage Unending, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 4/21)

Footnotes

Apparently, apparently people still like to get together in a shared space, breathe the same air, and converse with one another. Civilization ain't doomed yet!
Link to Amazon, but of course it's always better to order from your local independent bookseller whenever you can!

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