Emperor's Spears covered by A D B

[R_F_D]

By popularity and exposure...should be SW, UM, BA, and DA in that order I think. NL are popular mainly because of you.

 

It might be that I'm a DA fan so don't notice but I haven't seen a huge amount of BA work recently?  Could be that DAs have just had more work published recently with AoC in the HH, Dulan in the Leman Russ Primarch book and the conclusion of Gav's trilogy?

[grailkeeper]

I wonder if ADB will go into Greek style sexuality. Some of the finest Greek warriors like the Spartans were homosexual. The Theban band for example was made up entirely of homosexual couples, the logic being that this would make them fight all the harder. They were destroyed by Alexander the Great- a famous bisexual. Marines and sex is a HUGE no no in BL but if anyone can tackle it it'd be ADB. He's know for his progressive views and has mentioned having a gay character in his writing before, for personal reasons..

Either that or some of the nastier aspects of Greek culture- massacring helots etc.

 

I wonder if this is his long prophesied book about exactly what bureaucracy goes into founding a new chapter- exactly what forms have to be filled out etc etc 

[Nazguire]

I wonder if ADB will go into Greek style sexuality. Some of the finest Greek warriors like the Spartans were homosexual. The Theban band for example was made up entirely of homosexual couples, the logic being that this would make them fight all the harder. They were destroyed by Alexander the Great- a famous bisexual. Marines and sex is a HUGE no no in BL but if anyone can tackle it it'd be ADB. He's know for his progressive views and has mentioned having a gay character in his writing before, for personal reasons..

Either that or some of the nastier aspects of Greek culture- massacring helots etc.

 

I wonder if this is his long prophesied book about exactly what bureaucracy goes into founding a new chapter- exactly what forms have to be filled out etc etc 

 

I don't see it happening. Black Library is happy for gratuitous violence but sex and sexuality, heterosexual or homosexual, is a no-no. It's been mentioned sure, but rarely explored.

[Felix Antipodes]

The Spartans were more pansexual than homosexual, as was much of Greek culture of the time. Since sexual drive is one of the things driven out of Astartes during indoctrination I don't think we will ever see heterosexual, let alone homosexual, storylines in BL stories (unless it's in a Chaos Marine story lol).

 

I have long been an advocate for a story about the mechanisms involved in the foundings of a Chapter so would love that if it happened. However, being ADB I would read it if it was about the Spears conducting their annual weapons stocktake. ;-)

Edited February 18, 2017 by Brother Antipodes

[DukeLeto69]

However, being ADB I would read it if it was about the Spears conducting their annual weapons stocktake. ;-)

That made me LOL

ADB - great to see you tackle an obscure group. Really great actually. We need ,pre of that to flesh out the huge universe that is 40k.

 

Personally I would like to see you one day move back and do another Imperial Guard (oops Astra Militarum) story, or a pure Inquisition story.

[Sete]

By popularity and exposure...should be SW, UM, BA, and DA in that order I think. NL are popular mainly because of you.

Templars have a big following aswell, but no one seems to want to cash on it.

A proper novel, instead of those short stories would be nice.

Unfortunately Helsreach remains one of the must read for Templars and it was released so long ago

Edited February 18, 2017 by Sete

[grailkeeper]

 

I wonder if ADB will go into Greek style sexuality. Some of the finest Greek warriors like the Spartans were homosexual. The Theban band for example was made up entirely of homosexual couples, the logic being that this would make them fight all the harder. They were destroyed by Alexander the Great- a famous bisexual. Marines and sex is a HUGE no no in BL but if anyone can tackle it it'd be ADB. He's know for his progressive views and has mentioned having a gay character in his writing before, for personal reasons..

Either that or some of the nastier aspects of Greek culture- massacring helots etc.

 

I wonder if this is his long prophesied book about exactly what bureaucracy goes into founding a new chapter- exactly what forms have to be filled out etc etc 

 

I don't see it happening. Black Library is happy for gratuitous violence but sex and sexuality, heterosexual or homosexual, is a no-no. It's been mentioned sure, but rarely explored.

 

 

 

I think you are probably right.

 

I wonder what aspects of Greek culture he'll deal with that haven't been touched on already with other chapters? Warrior Philosophers?

[Sete]

They gonna poke Xenos with spears and apply oil to each other in a situation with a clear sexual tension. Edited February 18, 2017 by Sete

[Mellow]

It doesn't matter what it's about or what they do or even if they play cards between campaigns.

 

It's going to be a brilliant read. Period.

[Londinium]

By popularity and exposure...should be SW, UM, BA, and DA in that order I think. NL are popular mainly because of you.

 

Night Lords have long been popular because of their Primarch, awesome lighting colour scheme and being one of the lucky chapters that got a classic BL book during the early days when quality books were few and far between. Lord of the Night tends to be somewhat forgotten these days but there was a looong time where it was the best example of Chaos Space Marine fiction. This being said the First Claw trilogy definitely helped expose them further, to the extent that I rarely hear about Lord of the Night these days.

[b1soul]

I wonder if ADB will go into Greek style sexuality. Some of the finest Greek warriors like the Spartans were homosexual. The Theban band for example was made up entirely of homosexual couples, the logic being that this would make them fight all the harder. They were destroyed by Alexander the Great- a famous bisexual. Marines and sex is a HUGE no no in BL but if anyone can tackle it it'd be ADB. He's know for his progressive views

I don't think homosexual desire (or other forms of sexual desire) fit a loyalist SM story, unless it's something among the mortal serfs or other mortal characters.

 

As mentioned...loyalist SM (with the possible exception of some deviant, near-renegade chapters) essentially know no lust.

 

If ADB does tackle the topic, I'm sure he'll do so in a way organic to the story...and not try to shoehorn in his personal politics.

[A D-B]

 

I wonder if ADB will go into Greek style sexuality. Some of the finest Greek warriors like the Spartans were homosexual. The Theban band for example was made up entirely of homosexual couples, the logic being that this would make them fight all the harder. They were destroyed by Alexander the Great- a famous bisexual. Marines and sex is a HUGE no no in BL but if anyone can tackle it it'd be ADB. He's know for his progressive views

I don't think homosexual desire (or other forms of sexual desire) fit a loyalist SM story, unless it's something among the mortal serfs or other mortal characters.

 

As mentioned...loyalist SM (with the possible exception of some deviant, near-renegade chapters) essentially know no lust.

 

If ADB does tackle the topic, I'm sure he'll do so in a way organic to the story...and not try to shoehorn in his personal politics.

 

While no work is apolitical, my beliefs run the gamut from defending the walls of Care-A-Lot Castle to being some way to the right of Attila the Hun, so I tend not to talk about them online (or all that much at all, in fact) and I can't imagine where they'd fit into a 40K novel in any real context. People assume things with even a little info and use it as evidence for their mythical points, so I bow out of any such stuff before it starts, and try not to feed it.

 

The problem arises when people see anything they don't like or don't understand as an author shoehorning in their personal politics, but I've been spared that by and large so far, as well. (Praise Jeebus.)

 

Moving on...

[b1soul]

Putting it on record now...

 

I haven't read anything by a BL authour so far that I would describe as "shoe-horning in their personal beliefs or politics".

 

I think it's imposssible for authours' personal beliefs/opinions not to enter their works ... but I'm fine with it as long those beliefs/opinions serve the story and not the other way around

[Son of Carnelian]

So I'm basically bleeding out of my eyes from watching a late-night showing of the director's cut of Das Boot, but I'm tremendously excited to hear of new ADB coming down the pipe.

 

I guess I'm wondering, why the Emperor's Spears? Almost nothing about them seems to exist, from what I can tell. Why not create a whole new Chapter rather than drawing from one of the lesser-known existing Chapters? Not a criticism, just curious.  

[Augustus]

He has a chance to explore(write) an entire planet's culture. Heck, he gave us a multiple cultural Nostramo. They could be very Salamander like and live closely with their planet's populace, if they indeed have one. Unique cultural traditions could manifest themselves, albeit possibly vestigially, in the Chapter.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Augustus

[cheywood]

So I'm basically bleeding out of my eyes from watching a late-night showing of the director's cut of Das Boot, but I'm tremendously excited to hear of new ADB coming down the pipe.

 

I guess I'm wondering, why the Emperor's Spears? Almost nothing about them seems to exist, from what I can tell. Why not create a whole new Chapter rather than drawing from one of the lesser-known existing Chapters? Not a criticism, just curious.

I kinda like the idea of taking a chapter that already exists, if only as a name and color palette, and filling in its backstory. Helps give a sense of history to the universe.

Edited February 19, 2017 by cheywood

[b1soul]

Yeah...props to ADB for taking a stab at his own chapter when he could've just went with the £££

[A D-B]

So I'm basically bleeding out of my eyes from watching a late-night showing of the director's cut of Das Boot, but I'm tremendously excited to hear of new ADB coming down the pipe.

 

I guess I'm wondering, why the Emperor's Spears? Almost nothing about them seems to exist, from what I can tell. Why not create a whole new Chapter rather than drawing from one of the lesser-known existing Chapters? Not a criticism, just curious.  

 

That's a good question. 

 

The dream, I guess, is your own Chapter. But that's also the... easy route, I guess? I don't know how or why, but at some point the dream sort of becomes taking a Chapter that's just a scheme and a name from the history of the setting, and making that your own instead. I'm not sure why. It's sort of like... you're not here to invent your own stuff and make it prominent, you're here to illustrate the setting as best as you can, in your own voice. Nothing quite that set in stone, but that kind of angle. You're still in the sandbox.

 

"My" Chapter is already in the lore: I chucked in a few references to the Angels Numinous in the background, and that's that. I put my wife's Chapter in, too: the Shadow Wolves get a few mentions in the background with no real detail, but just so they 'exist', so to speak.

 

It's like Dan with Brothers of the Snake. He invented the Silver Guard, but he took the Iron Snakes from Ye Olde Lore, with nothing much mentioned about them, and made them his own.

 

EDIT: Phone typos.

Edited February 19, 2017 by A D-B

[grailkeeper]

I noticed that the Talon of Horus was very similar to Bernard Cornwall's "the Winter King" which you recommended, Will you be taking inspiration from any other works about ancient Greece/Rome? Maybe sections from the Aenaid or the Iliad? The Odyssey would probably be less suitable. I am also a big fan of the Dictator trilogy by Robert Harris but that would also be less suitable. 

 

Actually given that you live in NI have you ever read the Táin Bó Chúlaigne?

[Mellow]

A new Space Marine book is announced and some of you ask if sexuality will be explored in it?!

 

Have you all gone mad with Warp rifts in your heads!!

Edited February 19, 2017 by Mellow

[grailkeeper]

A new Space Marine book is announced and some of you ask if sexuality will be explored in it?!

 

Have you all gone mad with Warp rifts in your heads!!

 

Well he answered the question. Even though I am the one who brought the issue up I think it might be time to let it go now.

[Son of Carnelian]

 

 

So I'm basically bleeding out of my eyes from watching a late-night showing of the director's cut of Das Boot, but I'm tremendously excited to hear of new ADB coming down the pipe.

 

I guess I'm wondering, why the Emperor's Spears? Almost nothing about them seems to exist, from what I can tell. Why not create a whole new Chapter rather than drawing from one of the lesser-known existing Chapters? Not a criticism, just curious.

That's a good question.

 

The dream, I guess, is your own Chapter. But that's also the... easy route, I guess? I don't now how or why, but at some point the ream sort of becomes taking a Chapter that's just a scheme and a name from the history of the setting, and making that your own instead. I'm not sure why. It's sort of like... you're not here to invent your own stuff and make it prominent, you're here to illustrate the setting as best as you can, in your own voice. Nothing quite that set in stone, but that kind of angle. You're still in the sandbox.

 

"My" Chapter is already in the lore: I chucked in a few references to the Angels Numinous in the background, and that's that. I put my wife's Chapter in, too: the Shadow Wolves get a few mentions in the background with no real detail, but just so they 'exist', so to speak.

 

It's like Dan with Brothers of the Snake. He invented the Silver Guard, but he took the Iron Snakes from Ye Olde Lore, with nothing much mentioned about them, and made them his own.

That makes an enormous amount of sense. Thank you for taking the time to answer that. I'll get greedy and risk another question: do you worry that hobbyists who have taken that existing Chapter in their own direction won't take to your version? If they've built forces around their idea of what that Chapter represents, how will they square that with your take?

[Chapter Master Valrak]

Please let it have an audio version...BL need to do more 40k audiobooks...

[A D-B]

 

That makes an enormous amount of sense. Thank you for taking the time to answer that. I'll get greedy and risk another question: do you worry that hobbyists who have taken that existing Chapter in their own direction won't take to your version? If they've built forces around their idea of what that Chapter represents, how will they square that with your take?

 

 

Not really, because that'll only be like... 3 people worldwide. It's one of the reasons for choosing such a no-name obscure Chapter. And I doubt anything I do will invalidate their army, and... well, if it invalidates their background, that's a famous risk when it comes to choosing existing Chapters, and I've done pretty well (I hope) at avoiding it for the last 12ish novels. 

 

In fairness, as much as I try to get in fan community nods when I can, and as much as I respect anyone's army background and try not to invalidate it, the lore has shifted so often on so many topics that everyone knows the feeling to some degree, and it's not always a bad thing.

[Son of Carnelian]

 

 

That makes an enormous amount of sense. Thank you for taking the time to answer that. I'll get greedy and risk another question: do you worry that hobbyists who have taken that existing Chapter in their own direction won't take to your version? If they've built forces around their idea of what that Chapter represents, how will they square that with your take?

 

 

Not really, because that'll only be like... 3 people worldwide. It's one of the reasons for choosing such a no-name obscure Chapter. And I doubt anything I do will invalidate their army, and... well, if it invalidates their background, that's a famous risk when it comes to choosing existing Chapters, and I've done pretty well (I hope) at avoiding it for the last 12ish novels. 

 

In fairness, as much as I try to get in fan community nods when I can, and as much as I respect anyone's army background and try not to invalidate it, the lore has shifted so often on so many topics that everyone knows the feeling to some degree, and it's not always a bad thing.

 

 

That's completely reasonable. Besides, the setting has established that multiple Chapters of the same name can exist due to poor record keeping and since the setting spans over 10,000 years, their versions of the Chapter can come before or after your interpretation. 

 

Speaking of which, can you tell us the time period of this upcoming book? Is this taking place "one minute to midnight" or, say, M35?