Black Library Weekly: The Celebration 2026 Is Here!

"And there’s plenty more to look forward to in this month’s Black Library Celebration, which kicks off on Monday 9 March."

So declared Warhammer Community last Wednesday, but when dealing with the powers of the warp, one should always expect the unexpected. #TzeentchTakeTheWheel

I'd taken that to mean that we'd get our reveals today, then see them appear in the following Sunday's Preview as they moved from the announcement stage to the preorder one, but instead James Workshop pulled a sneaky one and delivered the goods one day early in yesterday's Preview.

Hey, you won't catch me complaining! At time of writing there's no sign (yet) of the traditional eShort story subscription- longtime readers will recall that last December's customary Advent one quietly had its plug pulled- but here's to a whole week of all things Black Library.

Now, before we dive into the books, in the interests of science I'm gonna run last week's poll back, but this time for the Black Library Celebration instead of Warhammer Relics (and I'll have more on the Relics results in a bit).

Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]

Horus Rising (Premium Edition), by Dan Abnett

Here's this year's biggie. Last November during the World Championships Preview Show, the Horus Heresy Saga was unveiled. A curated collection of a dozen of the 54-strong Horus Heresy mainline novel series, soon to be given the reprint treatment.

The announced titles were:

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
False Gods by Graham McNeill
Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
Fulgrim by Graham McNeill
The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett
Know No Fear by Dan Abnett
Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Praetorian of Dorn by John French
The Master of Mankind by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Slaves to Darkness by John French

I'm not at all surprised to see these offered in the newest deluxe format, Premium Edition, as the Heresy has proven to be quite the money-spinner for Games Workshop. By offering it in the non-numbered, delimited format as well, it can help tamp down some of the predatory purchasing that plagued the previous Heresy Limited Editions. As you'll recall, it was just such an episode- for the Era of Ruin anthology- that appears to have been the triggering incident for the recent changes to the deluxe edition program.

It's a fair question to ask to what degree we need a new edition of Horus Rising, a point underlined by Black Library Nutter David Sinclair in this picture he shared:

Image credit: David Sinclair

That's fair. A new Horus Rising- even one as beautiful as this latest offering- might well be more appealing to newer Black Library readers and collectors. But that's not an accident, as I wrote of in a previous Black Library Weekly:

The longevity and lifeblood of any hobby is in no small part determined by its ability to acquire new participants to replace (and surpass) its level of attrition- those people, for any number of reasons, who are exiting the hobby. If you look at recent Black Library offerings through that lens, it paints a fairly exciting picture:

Affordable ‘deluxe editions’ of The Lords of Silence and Dan Abnett’s Hereticus in the Illustrated and Annotated Edition product line
The announcement of a hardcover reprinting of twelve essential books of the entire Horus Heresy in the ‘Horus Heresy Saga’
An upmarket- but more broadly available- ‘Premium Edition’ kicking off the next Horus Heresy-tied story line, The Scouring, with Chris Wraight’s Ashes of the Imperium

I mean, taking that all into account does it not look like the Black Library might be expanding their outreach to newer fans? It certainly does to me.

Nor is this only going to appeal to newer fans. I wasn't 'collecting' the Black Library when the Limited Edition of Horus Rising came out in 2020. Now fetching a price in the aftermarket North of USD $500, it would be a prohibitively expensive undertaking now in 2026 to start grabbing the older LE's.

But a new collection at a fraction of the cost? That sings a siren's song. And for those just wanting for standard fare, they've got you covered as well.

Image credit: Games Workshop

Horus Rising (Hardcover Edition), by Dan Abnett

It's not often I buy the standard copy of a book when a deluxe edition is available, but I may grab one of these as well. It's a beautiful treatment. No disrespect to Neil Roberts (though mileage varies on that score), whose original cover art is what most of us are familiar with, but updating the cover treatment is probably long overdue.

Image credit: Games Workshop

Ghazghkull Thraka: Warlord of Warlords (Special Edition), by Denny Flowers

There's been a ton of speculation in the usual fan spaces that the 11th Edition Starter of Warhammer 40,000 is going to take us back to Armageddon. Beyond the recently-confirmed Ork Warboss leak, if you like to read the tea leaves it's a crowded cup:

Last October's Yarrick Box Set release
The new Ghazghkull Thraka book
Two Ork-flavored anthologies (The Green Tide, Legends of the Waaagh!) in the next couple months, the latter of which features a reprint of Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
A new printing of David Annandale's Yarrick Omnibus this coming May

An afterword by author Denny Flowers is included in the Special Editon, so while the cover art isn't necessarily my cup of tea on this one, it's one to look forward to all the same!

Warlord of Warlords will also release as a standard-edition hardcover.

Image credit: Games Workshop

Chem Dog, by Callum Davis

I'm currently reading Death Rider by Rhuairidh James, and loving the Commissar-and-compelling-troops trope is probably an early imprint from Gaunt's Ghosts. The Savlar Chem Dogs are just my kind of dirtbags, too, so I'm definitely keen to crack into this one.

Image credit: Games Workshop

Grombrindal: The Legend of the White Dwarf, by various

Hasvik212 is one of the rock stars of the Black Library subreddit, and he sourced out the contents of the Age of Sigmar offering. They are:

All that Could be Done, by Jennifer Brandes Hepler
Best Laid Schemes, by Adrian Southin
Fire and Fungi, by Andi Ewington
Hunt for Whitebeard, by Ian Green
An Oath of Redemption, by James Brogden
Old White-Fur, by David Guymer
This Rough Beast, by Graham Thomas Wilcox
White-Haired Daemon, by Dale Lucas

This looks to follow the same model as the previous anthology, On the Shoulders of Giants (review), which is collection of short stories anchored by a novella.

Jennifer Brandes Hepler is making her Black Library debut here, while Adrian Southin makes the jump from his previous shorts (Path of Grief, Da Stink of Defeat) to the longer-form novella. Andi Ewington's a name we've seen here a lot recently, with us not only reviewing Da Red Gobbo's Last Stand, but also giving a read to Silence of the Dead (co-authored with Erica Marks) as part of our occasional series Beyond the Black Library.

Ian Green had a couple of short stories published as part of eShort Weeks in 2024 and 2025 (The Reservoir of Rot, Doomwheel), both for Age of Sigmar. James Brogden authored the Grombrindal story The Trials of Albarak, which was serialized in White Dwarf last year starting in issue #512 (May).

David Guymer's a Black Library veteran, author of novels ranging from Realmslayer to Lion El'Jonson: Lord of the First. Old White-Fur is another tale that comes to us from the pages of White Dwarf starting in issue #480 (September 2022). The same can be said of Dale Lucas, who wrote last year's terrific Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion (review).

I was also glad to see Graham Thomas Wilcox featured here as well. He wrote two terrific stories for last April's Raiders of the Realms eShort Week, one of which (Conn Crowhand’s Last Oath) won my "best in show" for the week. The other- This Rough Beast- is included here.

Image credit: Games Workshop

The Infinite and the Divine – Illustrated and Annotated Edition, by Robert Rath

This is the fifth book in the Illustrated and Annotated Edition series, and a very welcome one. Funnily enough, The Infinite and the Divine finally secured top slot in the "Top Book" shelf at Warhammer World last year, and the book it dethroned? Why, Horus Rising, of course!

In addition to writing some real bangers for the Black Library, including The Fall of Cadia and Assassinorum: Kingmaker, Robert Rath is also the head writer for the Extra History animated YouTube series. Abnett's and Wraight's annotations in their books (The Eisenhorn trilogy, The Lords of Silence) have been top-notch. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Rath does with the medium.

Image credit: Games Workshop

Faith & Fire (20th Anniversary Edition)

Starting in 2019, the Black Library has released a novel each year in a "20th Anniversary" commemorative edition. Like the Illustrated & Annotated Editions, these are beautiful collector pieces at a non-collectory price, well worth adding to even a starter library.

Previous releases have included First & Only and Ravenor by Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill's Nightbringer, Deus Encarmine by James Swallow, and last year's Fifteen Hours by Mitchel Scanlon.

This year's entry- another by Swallow- has an introduction from Danie Ware as well!

Image credit: Games Workshop

The Green Tide, by various

Finally, one of those Ork-flavored omnis I mentioned earlier is landing for the Celebration. Like any good value-for-money omnibus this thing's a paper brick, weighing in just shy of 600 pages.

In exchange for your hard-earned lucre you're getting two novels (Warboss, by Mike Brooks, and Justin Woolley's Catachan Devil), two novellas (Iron Resolve by Steve Lyons, Prisoners of Waaagh! by Woolley), and a quartet of short stories (Where Dere's Da Warp Dere's a Way and Painboyz by Brooks, Nate Crowley's Mad Dok, and The Enemy of My Enemy by Graham McNeill).

Image credit: Games Workshop

Black Library Celebration Anthology 2026

No word at time of writing what the contents are, but these tend to contain 4-5 previously-published stories from across the Black Library's ranges.

These are free in stores, so make sure to stop in at your local Warhammer Store on Saturday, 28 March to score your copy!

Finally, there are the two Reader's Choice reprints which were announced earlier last week on Warhammer Community.

Image credit: Games Workshop

2025 Black Library Reader’s Choice

For the past four years the Black Library has run an (almost-) annual Reader's Choice ballot to see which books the fans would like to see given a reprint. Warhammer Community announced the most recent winners this past week, with Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe and Steve Parker's Deathwatch getting the nod.

The Reader's Choice releases are part of the Black Library Celebration, and frequently see cult classics and series-starting books get the nod. Curious about the past years?

2024

Last year's Celebration brought back C. L. Werner's Grey Seer, yes-yes. The story featured Thanquol, the titular grey seer of the Skaven first introduced in William King's second Gotrek & Felix tale, Skavenslayer in 1999. Dan Abnett's 2008 tale of the Legio Invicta Titan Legion, Titanicus, also made a return

2023

Simon "Si" Spurrier's Lord of the Night clocked in as the Reader's Choice for 40K, and- fun fact- there was a misprint run on these where some of them had pages mixed up with the year's Fantasy reprint, Riders of the Dead by Dan Abnett (I wrote about this as part of our Black Library Bibliophiles series, here).

2022

2024 wasn't C. L. Werner first rodeo here, as Witch Hunter was the Fantasy reader's book of choice for 2022. A sort of fantasy version of Gregor Eisenhorn, Mathias Thulmann's debut novel entered the Black Library Readers' Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2004. Alongside it was Cadian Blood, the Black Library debut of some guy by the name of Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

2021

As relentless as the Krieg themselves, the first Krieg novel by Steve Lyons, Dead Men Walking, was brought back for another round. Joining it from the Fantasy side was the first Malus Darkblade book, The Daemon's Curse, by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee.

By the way- spoiler alert- we'll see two of these Reader's Choice titles here mentioned again in just a few...

Image credit: Games Workshop

Apostle Was Just the Beginning

It's a good time to be a Word Bearers fan, isn't it? Not only did they just get a cracker of a book from David Annandale, Apostle (review), but they woke up on the first day of the Black Library Celebration today to find another Word Bearers novel revealed!

Zardu Layak: The Crimson Apostle looks to be the next title in the line of Horus Heresy character stories that have included 2024's Eidolon: The Auric Hammer by Marc Collins and John French's 2022 book Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader.

This is Rich McCormick's second novel for the Black Library following 2024's Renegades: Lord of Excess.

While it's exciting to see new, character-driven models revealed during the Celebration as well, it should be noted that the sinister Zardu Layak model shown in the reveal is an existing resin kit (Zardu Layak and Blade Slaves) available in the Warhammer webstore.

ICYMI

We've had two dozen books inducted into the Black Library Readers' Hall of Fame since we kicked it off last November, with two of them (Simon Spurrier's Lord of the Night, and The Daemon's Curse by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee) entering this past weekend.

For those keeping score at home, here's the number attributed to each author.

7 books: Dan Abnett
4 books: William King
3 books: Graham McNeill
2 books: Ben Counter, Sandy Mitchell, Ian Watson
1 book: Matthew Farrer, Mike Lee, Kim Newman, Simon Spurrier

Also this weekend on Goonhammer we rang in Lore Friday with our weekly book review as Mustercrux took aim at Andy Clark's Steel Tread sequel, Demolisher.

Over at Warhammer Community, this week's Black Books download is 23 pages about the World Eaters mustering world of Bodt. These are a real lore gem, so make sure to check them out- these books tend to go for stupid money on the secondary market.

WARCOM also announced that another tranche of White Dwarf back-issues were added to Warhammer Vault, the digital archive of tons of Warhammer books and content that's available as part of a Warhammer+ subscription.

Finally, as part of the Black Library Celebration there's a special commemorative coin available at Warhammer stores this month.

Image credit: Games Workshop

These are the coins that you get for free when you spend USD $100 or more in a single transaction, and will be available while supplies last. A tri-headed hydra... where have we seen that before? Hydra Dominatus!

Around the webway, Cinderfall Gaming posted ">a review of Death and Duty, an Astra Militarum Anthology awarding it three stars out of five. Mira Manga had a nice chat with Graham McNeill (Forges of Mars, Lords of the Lance) on topics ranging from errant primarchs to... a Disney princess? Trust me, it will all make sense, so make sure to ">give it a watch!

Meanwhile, TTP Field Manual did a book review of John French's Dropsite Massacre audiobook, which they refer to as "a love letter to fans of the Horus Heresy saga." The Fluffenhammer lads continued their issue-by-issue walkthrough of the classic Warhammer Monthly comic series, focusing this time on Dan Abnett's Titan in issue #23.

Last Week's Poll

Last week we asked you about the Warhammer Relics celebration, and it looks like Games Workshop might have a little work to do to make that more of a thing.

Don't get me wrong, something is (usually) better than nothing, and I for one am always happy to keep an eye out for new items to decorate the Black Library Museum with. The biggest surprise for me was that a third of poll respondents hearing about it for the very first time here on Goonhammer.

My free advice to James Workshop? I'd love to see an occasional featurette on Warhammer Community showcasing some of the cool new goodies your merchandise licensing partners have cooked up. Sure I'm on the email list for many, but mileage there varies and email in AD 2026 is at least as much noise as signal.

Take a page from the Black Library, where you get lots of little 'hits' that culminate in an annual Celebration rather than just leaving it up to an annual event to do all the heavy lifting.

Image credit: Aconyte Books

Quick Hits

For you tabletop RPG lovers, something HUGE this way comes! The Godzilla: The Roleplaying Game by IDW Games launched its Kickstarter this week, and it's already more than doubled its target. And given the roster of talent they've lined it, that should come as little surprise. The creative team includes Gav Thorpe (The High Kâhl’s Oath, Angels of Darkness), Mark Latham (Kovos Falls, Judgement), and Blood Bowl creator, Jervis Johnson.
Josh Reynolds (The Lord of the End Times, Soul Wars) has a new Legend of the Five Rings novel coming up from Aconyte Books. Reynolds has already penned the Daidoji Shin series (I reviewed the first one here as part of the Beyond the Black Library series), which brought elements of detective stories to Rokugan. With White Feathers, Crimson Leaves prepare for Scorpion shenanigans and folk horror!
If you find yourself kicking around London this week, you could do a lot worse than checking out the London Book Fair! There are going to be move than a hundred panels and programs held during its three days, and one of those is Manga is Mainstream: Why Japanese Comics Connect With Global Readers featuring none other than Danie Ware (Aestred Thurga: Pyre of Faith, The Triumph of St. Katherine).
Tim Waggoner (Skin Man) sat down with the Writers of the Future podcast to discuss the horror genre's enduring popularity.
Writers take note! Russell Zimmerman (Seven Ships, Resounding) made another vidcast appearance this week, popping up with Rookery Publications to ">discuss do's and don'ts when sitting down to write.
Tripwire Magazine this week ran a feature asking a number of writer and artists what makes a good editor, and Dan Abnett was one of them. "In prose, which I write a good deal of," he notes, "I would be nowhere without my editors, operating as they do as anything from sounding board to mentor to therapist." The article is well worth a read, so make sure to check it out! Abnett also had a new Brink series kick off in the pages of the latest 2000AD.
Finally, I also would like to give a special shout-out to Casey Landreth. Casey maintains a Warhammer 40K art site, a virtual warehouse of all kinds of art both official and fan-made. By making the distinction between the two clear it's helped more than once in finding official art to use for an article. This is probably one of those largely-thankless tasks that make the internet the (occasionally) helpful place it is today, so thank you Casey!

Image credit: Games Workshop

Coming Attractions

Here’s a list of the known 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.

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

(none)

Current PODs in Production

Era of Ruin, by various (POD Special Edition, window end 12/24)
Anarch, by Dan Abnett (POD hardcover, window end 1/12)
Blood Pact, by Dan Abnett (POD hardcover, window end 1/12)
Salvation’s Reach, by Dan Abnett (POD hardcover, window end 1/12)
The Warmaster, by Dan Abnett (POD hardcover, window end 1/12)

Upcoming in 2026

Carcharodons: Void Exile, by Robbie MacNiven (paperback, 3/21) (review)
Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett (hardcover and Premium, 3/28)
Ghazghkull Thraka: Warlord of Warlords, by Denny Flowers (hardcover and Special, 3/28)
Chem Dog, by Callum Davis (hardcover, 3/28)
Grombrindal: The Legend of the White Dwarf, by various (hardcover, 3/28)
The Infinite and the Divine – Illustrated and Annotated Edition, by Robert Rath (hardcover, 3/28)
Faith & Fire (20th Anniversary Edition) by James Swallow (hardcover, 3/28)
The Green Tide, by various (paperback 3/28)
Deathwatch, by Steve Parker (paperback, 3/28)
Grudge Bearer, by Gav Thorpe (paperback, 3/28)
Black Library Celebration 2026, by various (paperback, 3/28)
Carnage Unending, by various (paperback, 4/21)
Legends of the Waaagh!, by various (paperback, 5/19)
Yarrick: The Omnibus, by David Annandale (paperback, 5/19)
Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 6/2)
Tomb World, by Jonathan Beer (paperback, 6/30)
The Remnant Blade, by Mike Vincent (paperback, 6/30)
Voidscarred, by Mike Brooks (paperback, 6/30)
Krakenblood, by Marc Collins (paperback, 7/14)
Vagabond Squadron, by Robbie MacNiven (paperback, 7/14)
Starseer’s Ruin, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (paperback, 7/14)
Siege of Terra: Flames of Betrayal, by various (paperback, 7/28)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The Ultimate Guide (hardcover, 8/4)
Archmagos, by Guy Haley (paperback, 8/11)
Words of Waaagh!, by DK Books (hardcover, 10/1)

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don't forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website, and subscriber-only content covering competitive Warhammer 40K!

Tags: black library | black library weekly