UPCOMING Horus Heresy books

[Wade Garrett]

My problem with The Last Church is that when the Emperor debates faith with Uriah, he doesn't sound like a millenia old scholar general philosopher king who has been around since mankind thought fire was groundbreaking technology.

 

He sounds like a twenty something college squid who just discovered Dawkins and can't wait to yammer about it to everybody.

 

And it's a bit disappointing, because Graham McNeil has managed to hit on the...grandeur is the only word I can think of, that the Emperor should have, in The Outcast Dead and Angel Exterminatus .

 

("Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war, my son...")

[Greyall]

@Kravin: Well put, brother, doesn't matter if we agree or not.

 

A complete, in-depth look into his whole mind would spoil the whole game, sure, but I'd like to see some explanation for some instances of his short-sightedness, naivete or use of monsters like Curze.

 

Though if we get a glimpse of his personality I'd be thankful.

[A D-B]

For what it's worth, I'd never do a novel from the Emperor's point of view. I'm probably the most... conservative (little C) of the team. That's not a criticism of the other guys - especially Dan, who is plainly the least conservative in terms of lore changes - but as a personal angle, I don't like to make that many huge revelations and I change as little of the lore as I can. I don't like to alter Legions' famous roles or positions. Changing stuff and going for revelations makes for some hugely popular novels and some of the coolest moments in the series, but it's not my style and I'm too stubborn to change. I like to show more detail of a famous event, or show that same event from another character's point of view. As far as I'm concerned, that's the main part of my mandate. That, at least for the Heresy, is a big part of my job. 

 

Yes, there'll be some changes, alterations, updates and so on, but I'm of the mind that the lore has rocked for 25 years already, and it's the lore that got us all into the 40K setting. I can tell it in my voice without wanting to change things too drastically. Not because I don't have ideas, and not because I think all changes are evil - it's purely that in terms of the Heresy, I want to write the stuff I've loved for two decades, no differently from how many comic writers aspire to, maybe one day, get to be the in-house writer for Spider-Man or Batman. You work hard to contribute to the famous part of the mythos.

 

So that's why I don't change much, but I do put it in my (writing) voice and see things on the ground level through the eyes of various characters who we may not have known much about before. In Betrayer, f'rex, the World Eaters are the World Eaters, Angron's lore is Angron's lore, but I tried to show how it felt for him to return home, how he felt about abandoning his home in the first place, and how it felt to mutilate yourself to emulate your primarch, with why you'd actually consider do it. Simialrly, The First Heretic has no real revelations. Everything "factual" in it was already in the series or mentioned in the lore, but we saw some of it through different eyes, or a major event was reshaped a little to make more sense. Lorgar, for example, changing everything in his life (including his Legion's tremendous sense of shame and bitterness) was previously based on a conversation - a simple chat - that happened off-screen. That's just not convincing. So we had A Legion Kneeling. That's about the biggest change I can think of, and compared to Legion changes on the scale of the Space Wolves, the Ultramarines at Calth, the Alpha Legion, and various others, it's not much of a change at all. But I don't want to get bogged down in specifics; I'm just trying to make a general point.

 

It's the Emperor. If something's mentioned about him in the lore, it'll be fair game to include in Master of Mankind. The big man himself has a lot of apparent inconsistencies that need justifying and vindicating, but a book from his POV where he walks around apologising or justifying all his decisions would be a thin veneer over a pointless story. I don't want to see inside his head. I don't care what he's thinking, or why. I don't think we deserve to know, or that we could understand it if we did know.

 

What I care about is his impact on the nascent and emergent Imperium, his impact on his sons, and what it's like to be one of those nearby him. What's it like to fight alongside the Emperor of Mankind? What's it like to see shadows and suggestions of his arcane/alchemical/magical/mechanical plots, schemes, and plans? What's it like to have a conversation with him? What would he say? Would you hear what he's really saying, or would your mind filter it into something comprehensible on a mortal level? 

 

This is a man that was almost strangled by an ork, yet whose corpse is powerful enough to scream psychically for ten thousand years and cut a blade of light through the Warp itself. This a man who has seen eras begin and end; cultures rise and fall; who has conquered the cradle-world with techno-barbarians and then conquered the galaxy with supersoldiers constructed with technology reclaimed from a near-forgotten Golden Age by implanting certain aspects that same technology into children and adolescents. He has lied to his sons, and acted in ways that - to all intents and purposes - look like the worst father ever imaginable. He's made decisions that, to us, look like raw madness given the capabilities of the beings he was trying to deceive. Telling the most psychic creature in the galaxy (except himself) "Hey, Magnus, leave the Warp alone now."

 

And so on.

 

Like I said, I don't care about seeing things from his point of view. He's the Emperor. His point of view will never enter into things when it's me setting pen to paper, or fingers to keys. What I'm interested in is how others interpret his presence, and how they interpret what they believe is his point of view. I'm interested in how others see him, and what he chooses to share with them. What it's like to live in the Age of the Emperor, and fight at his side. People who - hopefully - see the logic in his decisions, or at least accept it, rather than being wholly mystified by them. A little context, a little light shone on the ignorant, rather than essays of explanation.

 

If the novel ends up vindicating or justifying a few of his decisions, then that's great. If it raises a few more questions while answering several others, then that's even better.

@Kravin: Well put, brother, doesn't matter if we agree or not.

 

A complete, in-depth look into his whole mind would spoil the whole game, sure, but I'd like to see some explanation for some instances of his short-sightedness, naivete or use of monsters like Curze.

 

Though if we get a glimpse of his personality I'd be thankful.

 

I missed that post. Thanks for saying better in three lines what it took me 20 minutes to type. 

 

Ass.

[Greyall]

I'd at least like to know how canny the Emperor is on matters of the human mind. Is he aware of the effects of his words, or how transcendent he and his decisions are to those who surround him, even the Primarchs?

 

It's pretty strange reading about the Emperor...well...simply talking to someone else. Apart from very deep conversations, like the one he had with Perturabo or the one in "Outcast Dead", it's like reading about a Ferrari weaving through Soviet traffic. It's still a Ferrari, it's a car among cars...but there's nothing in common between them, apart from the general concept.

 

I might be applying my view of the Emperor to what I'm reading, but it still hasn't read like a human vs human interaction whenever he's in.

[helterskelter]

And here's me just trying to figure out how tall he is

[Conn Eremon]

Not yet, too soon. I'm still broken hearted about Lhorke.

And I'm not ready to be broken hearted over Lotara yet! We both know the next heart break will be either her or Guilliman's mam.

[Visitor13]

When it comes to Warhammer stories and broken hearts, I can only quote Typhus: "More."

 

And whatever the new books are, I hope a re-relase (as in a reasonable release) of Tallarn Executioner is among them.

[MasterofMankind]

At the top of my head I can recall vengeful Spirit,Damnation of Pythos,the Crimson King and Nightfall

[GhostMalone]

I'm happy that ADB has this project, "bro fist of respect" I love that you are an avid hobbyist then a writer it earns my respect and that of our peers.

 

 

You keep it up Aaron or I'll hunt you down and send my mate Steve who is a big burly ex con to give you a hug, no prison guards here in Australia ;)

[Relict]

Agreed on the point of not having the story told from the Emperor's perspective. I want him to be mysterious and inscrutable. 

 

The only time I want to see inside his head is when he finally faces Horus aboard the Vengeful Spirit. 

[Kais Klip]

Nah man, the last moment should be Horus looking into the Emperor's deathblow eyes and realising what a terrible mistake he made; the mistake of having so few brothers to sacrifice not for Horus' own ascension, but to stop the terrifying horror he finally sees Him to be. His arms numbing, his mind collapsing and his very soul aflame Horus Lupercal knows what needs to be done. He turns aside as his strength finally falters, braking away with one last surge of effort and sealing his own fate so that he may draw breath for one last final word. In his last moment, he redeems himself as a good man. In his last moment, Horus Lupercal turns to his brother Sanguinius, and bellows at him to run.

 

Ha, you'll never stop my revisionist histor- *BLAM*

[depthcharge12]

+CENSORED BY THE INQUISITION+

 

There. Fixed that for you

[talos402000]

The Templar audio drama, if that hasn't been mentioned yet.

[Razic]

At the top of my head I can recall vengeful Spirit,Damnation of Pythos,the Crimson King and Nightfall

 

Any details on these?

[marshal seanisi]

I would completely agree that trying to write anything from the Emperors perspective would be doing the lore a grave injustice. 

 

I would liken the mind of the Emperor to that of being in the center of a gravitational singularity.  Can you imagine trying to comprehend what's going on while all known laws of the universe cease to exist.

 

When mortal human beings look into the warp their minds melt and they loose all sense of reality.  Now try and write from the perspective of someone who's mind is as complex as the warp itself.  Impossible!

[Visitor13]

I also agree that a novel from the Emp's perspective would be a mistake. After all, you can only read the word 'derp' so many times before it gets old.

[Greyall]

Now Valdor, though...that's a man whose POV would be nice to see, though he might simply be one of those people who simply take orders and follow them to a T, no questions asked, even internal.

[helterskelter]

Didn't we kind of get a teensy bit of valdor in nemesis?

[Praetor of Calth]

Upcoming novel list which I compiled from BL event reports a while back.

 

Novellas

 

Cybernetica -Rob Sanders/John French (Conflicting Info.) Sequel to Mechanicum

Corax: Ravenlord- Gav Thorpe- Next part in Corax's saga (2/3), Raptors are getting more mutated, and the Raven Guard discover the horror of chaos. Something like that anyway. Release Date: May 2nd 2014.

Tallarn Sequel- Rob Sanders. Unsure if Novel/Novella ,but I'm beginning to wonder if this will be a 3 part Novella series too.

Scars Sequel- Chris Wright. Unsure if this is a novel or novella, but by the sounds of things it will just tie up loose ends left by Scars so I'm guessing novella.

Unknown Novella- Graham McNeil. -It's worth noting that Graham has stated on numerous occasion he'd like to go back to Ancient Rylanor.

Prince of Crows- Collectors Edition.

The Crimson Fist- Collectors Edition.

 

Novels

 

Vengeful Spirit- Graham McNeil, Horus takes to the stage once more. Release Date: May 2014

Damnation of Pythos- Debut novel for a new HH author. David Arnandale. Release Date: July 2014

Master of Mankind- Aaron Dembski-Bowden, The War in the Webway. Release date as of Oct 2013 was Late 2014. There is still room in the release schedule this year for this, but I don't think Aaron has started writing it yet. Correct me if I'm wrong. 

Unnamed Death Guard Novel- James Swallow, the fall of Mortarion. Release Date: 2015?

Nightfall- Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Sequel to Prince of Crows.

Dreadwing- Dan Abnett, the Dark Angels unleash their secret forbidden arsenal. Rumoured Release Date: 2016.

The Crimson King- Graham McNeil, Magnus turns traitor. Rumoured Release Date: 2015/16

 

Anthologies

 

The Shattered Legions- Stories about the Shattered Trio. 

The Silent War- Garro stories in prose+more.

Sedition's Gate- Second HH Exclusive Anthology. Stories from Nick Kyme, Rob Sanders +more. Release Date: HH Weekender. Considering Aaron has just written a prequel to MoM, I suspect we'll see this here. (About a group of Space Wolves to Terra.)

 

Audio Dramas

 

Echoes of Ruin- Advent Calander Stories + New Audio: Wolf's Claw. Release Date: Out now.

Vengeance- Sigismund kills some Word Bearers. Release Date: HH Weekender.

[Prodigal Son of Magnus]

Upcoming novel list which I compiled from BL event reports a while back.

 

Novellas

 

Cybernetica -Rob Sanders/John Frech (Conflicting Info.) Sequel to Mechanicum

Corax: Ravenlord- Gav Thorpe- Next partin Corax's saga, Raptors are getting more mutated, and the Raven Guard discover the horror of chaos. Something like that anyway.

 

Novels

 

Vengeful Spirit- Graham McNeil, Horus takes to the stage once more.

Damnation of Pythos- Debut novel for a new HH author. David Arnandale

Master of Mankind- Aaron Dembski-Bowden, The War in the Webway

Unnamed Death Novel-  James Swallow, the fall of Mortarion.

The Silent War Anthology- Garro stories in prose +more

The Shattered Legions- A series of stories on the shattered trio.

Nightfall- Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Dreadwing- Dan Abnett, the Dark Angels unleash their secret forbidden arsenal.

The Crimson King- Grahame McNeil, Magnus turns traitor.

Tallarn Sequel- Rob Sanders

Scars Sequel- Chris Wright

NOOOOOOOOOOO! We need a Death Guard novel before they go Nurgle.

[Greyall]

I think the "fall of Mortarion" Praetor of Calth mentioned isn't in the Nurgly sense of the thing =)

 

So you get your wish. And the series is still far from Terra.

[depthcharge12]

After seeing that Abnett was doing a Dark Angels Dreadwing novel I had to go consult my doctor because my happiness last more than 4 hours.

[Scribe]

Cybernetica -Rob Sanders/John French (Conflicting Info.) Sequel to Mechanicum

 

THIS EXCITES ME.

[helterskelter]

After seeing that Abnett was doing a Dark Angels Dreadwing novel I had to go consult my doctor because my happiness last more than 4 hours.

I find injuring oneself and taking a combo of cocodamol and ibuprofen has much the same effect

[evilmittens]

I must apologise to ADB and everyone else and insist that Master of Mankind be placed on the backburner for a novel starring Grimaldus and Andrej trapped on a planet fallen to Slannesh,  and their attempts to win the planet back for the imperium.