Black Library Weekender 2017 date and tickets are up

[Chapter Master Valrak]

Zero coverage from Warhammer TV or Warhammer Community, we are relying on whatever tidbits come through from our valued twitter guys.

 

What I'm gathering so far is that secrecy reigns. What small snippets I see say the Guy Haley HH book is called Wolfsbane and is rumoured to be released at the HH weekender. John French's full length HH novel is called Slaves to Darkness, which is an awesome title, and it apparently features all the Traitor Primarchs except Curze. It would also show impact of chaos on these Primarchs, just before Terra. This sounds great.

 

What doesn't sound great is that Nick Kyme apparently said there is not going to be any novel on Beta Garmon/Titandeath. Bizarre and unfortunate. Another tweet mentioned that Slaves to Darkness is set "post Beta Garmon". Also not a single mention of a Doom of the Death Guard novel, which is again, odd because clearly word was ok to get out on Wolfsbane and Slaves to Darkness.

 

Last year we got a "book 43 will be this, book 44 will be that" overview at least, which was very nice, I'm hoping we see that before the weekend is over.

 

Could you explain what Beta Garmon/Titandeath is?

[Taliesin]

From Lexicanum:

 

 

The Battle of Beta-Garmon, also known as the Great Slaughter of Beta-Garmon, was a battle of the Horus Heresy.

The battle was waged towards the end of the Heresy in 013.M31[2] as Horus began his drive on the Sol System. Waged on the strategically important world of Beta-Garmon which was known as the gateway to Sol, the battle became one of the largest of the Heresy. The traitor fleet was led by Horus himself.[1]

Ultimately, Horus was victorious and was able to move on the Sol System, culminating in the Siege of Terra

[Tymell]

 

Zero coverage from Warhammer TV or Warhammer Community, we are relying on whatever tidbits come through from our valued twitter guys.

 

What I'm gathering so far is that secrecy reigns. What small snippets I see say the Guy Haley HH book is called Wolfsbane and is rumoured to be released at the HH weekender. John French's full length HH novel is called Slaves to Darkness, which is an awesome title, and it apparently features all the Traitor Primarchs except Curze. It would also show impact of chaos on these Primarchs, just before Terra. This sounds great.

 

What doesn't sound great is that Nick Kyme apparently said there is not going to be any novel on Beta Garmon/Titandeath. Bizarre and unfortunate. Another tweet mentioned that Slaves to Darkness is set "post Beta Garmon". Also not a single mention of a Doom of the Death Guard novel, which is again, odd because clearly word was ok to get out on Wolfsbane and Slaves to Darkness.

 

Last year we got a "book 43 will be this, book 44 will be that" overview at least, which was very nice, I'm hoping we see that before the weekend is over.

 

Could you explain what Beta Garmon/Titandeath is?

 

 

Taliesin may know more than me, but to my understanding it refers to a large engagement during the Heresy on Beta-Garmon. It happened late in the Heresy, as Horus made his push towards Terra, and I believe it is mentioned in both old lore, and referred to in more recent works. It (and Titandeath) also show up on the FW HH timeline.

 

I -think- (though I'm less sure about this) that Titandeath refers to a large-scale titan battle that occurred as part of the wider Beta-Garmon engagement.

 

Given that it's been referred to in other stories, it was suspected there might be a book done on it, but it seems not.

[Felix Antipodes]

If Beta-Garmon doesn't get a book it will be a head scratching decision, since it's one of the largest and most pivotal battles of the HH according to the lore. It was probably responsible for winnowing the traitor forces down prior to the siege of Terra but I guess we will never know now.

[1ncarnadine]

If Beta-Garmon doesn't get a book it will be a head scratching decision, since it's one of the largest and most pivotal battles of the HH according to the lore. It was probably responsible for winnowing the traitor forces down prior to the siege of Terra but I guess we will never know now.

 

I'm pretty sure it's going to be covered by the fluff sections of the upcoming Adeptus Titanicus game. So more the FW black book style covering the macro scale rather than the more personal stories from the BL series.

Edited November 19, 2017 by LetsYouDown

[Ascanius]

I know from podcast interviews that they hashed out what they wanted to cover in the last big story meeting, but that nothing was actually assigned to any writer as a result of that meeting. Guess it's a separate process. So, they may not yet have anything to announce in terms of who's writing the Death Guard novel, for instance.

[Marshal Loss]

Wolfsbane and Slaves to Darkness sound amazing. Cannot wait for more info!

[Felix Antipodes]

 

If Beta-Garmon doesn't get a book it will be a head scratching decision, since it's one of the largest and most pivotal battles of the HH according to the lore. It was probably responsible for winnowing the traitor forces down prior to the siege of Terra but I guess we will never know now.

 

 

I'm pretty sure it's going to be covered by the fluff sections of the upcoming Adeptus Titanicus game. So more the FW black book style covering the macro scale rather than the more personal stories from the BL series.

The personal is what I want to read. I would hate to see a passing line in a future book about 'it was a shame the way Little Horus died at Beta-Garmon' or something similar.

Something like a FW black book approach would be okay as well though.

[DarkChaplain]

I wouldn't be surprised if they come out with some novella or short novel like with Betrayal at Calth once FW/GW actually get around to releasing the new Titanicus game. I mean, we got tie-ins to the Prospero game and Betrayal at Calth already, so it isn't out of the question. Considering that Titanicus was pushed back to some unknown point in hopefully 2018, it wouldn't surprise me if the background wasn't fully sketched out yet and crossover work with BL not decided yet.

 

Either way, I dislike the whole lets-cover-events-in-FW-only stuff. References are all well and good but this wouldn't be the first I'd feel like missing out for not buying ForgeWorld's black books.

[Felix Antipodes]

Outside of the cover art for one incoming HH novel I'm yet to see anything about the event yet. Has it been that lacking in announcements?

[DarkChaplain]

I'm surprised by how... dry the well seems this year judging by twitter reactions. I'll just assume for now that people are busy participating in seminars and don't want to spend too much time on social media.

 

A lot of the schedule has been about seminars on writing topic x, signings or commentary on ongoing series. The actual Coming Soon panel should be running... right now? And that's the final panel going on this year. Here's hoping for some cool confirmations and cover sneak peeks.

[helterskelter]

Robbie macniven looks like he had fun judging by his Facebook photos so there's something!

There's a few b+c folk attending too but maybe they don't venture down Here?

[Tymell]

According to the Black Librarium twitter, Vulkan's Primarchs book is going to be written by David Annandale.

 

An interesting choice, one I'm not too sure about. Happy to see someone new tackling him. I enjoyed Ruinstorm, and plenty of Annandale's other material, but most often he seems to do well with darker/more conflicted stories and characters. And while I didn't think it was terrible by any stretch, Guilliman's was the weakest Primarchs book so far for me.

[Roomsky]

According to the Black Librarium twitter, Vulkan's Primarchs book is going to be written by David Annandale.

 

An interesting choice, one I'm not too sure about. Happy to see someone new tackling him. I enjoyed Ruinstorm, and plenty of Annandale's other material, but most often he seems to do well with darker/more conflicted stories and characters. And while I didn't think it was terrible by any stretch, Guilliman's was the weakest Primarchs book so far for me.

 

If its at least on par with Guilliman, I'll still happily grab it for a look into Vulkan and his legion from a non-Kyme perspective. 

 

On the other hand, if its more in line with The Hunt for Vulkan well... there go my dreams for collecting the full set of them.

[RobMac]

I feel like I shouldn’t be the first to spill anything on here! Edited November 19, 2017 by RobMac

[caladancid]

I feel like I shouldn’t be the first to spill anything on here!

 

No that's not right at all.  You should definitely spill.

 

I mean, I already had to wait too long to find out about the next novel of the Lost Raven Guard.

[deathspectersgt7]

I feel like I shouldn’t be the first to spill anything on here!

Outer Dark  please.

[Petitioner's City]

Warhammer TV's short interview with John French, Nick Kyme, ADB, Robbie and Dan Abnett. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/WarhammerTVteam/videos/478522039209446/

 

War of Sigmar shared this. 

Edited November 19, 2017 by Petitioner's City

[Taliesin]

 

 

 

 

Man I love this artwork:

 

https://twitter.com/blacklibrarium/status/932226708517871616

 

Edited November 19, 2017 by Taliesin

[caladancid]

Just watched the Facebook interview video, and I have to say, every time I see BL authors talk about their work, they seem genuinely happy.  I know I've read stuff about a time when they maybe weren't so happy, and I'm sure that work is work is work even if your work is writing about awesome things, but it makes me want to read more when I see people who are proud and happy about the stories they create. 

[Tymell]

I have a feeling Slaves to Darkness might make good on it's "cover not final" warning, that's the same art as on one of the French editions (can't remember exactly what, want to say Vengeful Spirit? Something like that anyway).

[Sandlemad]

I know I'm linking reddit but here's some other impressions from the weekender, some but not all of which has been mentioned elsewhere: https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/7e1vxy/black_library_weekender_2017_revealations_siege/

 

I've bolded the stuff that seems newest and most interesting. New Bequin, new Cain, more TBA-style delving into the millennia between the heresy and 40k.

 

-Future main HH releases are as follows: Old Earth (Vulkan), The Burden of Loyalty (Anthology), Wolfsbane by Guy Hayley (Russ vs Horus/Wolf Cull), Slaves to Darkness by John French (Sets up beginning of siege of Terra, will feature all traitor primarchs besides Curze). Many short stories and some novellas planned throughout including Guilliman vs World Eaters and lion finding out about Luthers betrayal

-Siege of Terra will be at least 3 books, possibly more. Releases will start towards the later part of 2018

-sadly there will be no titandeath book. Lots of people were bummed over this

-Dan Abnett will be involved in the Siege of Terra books but only the last phase as he's quite busy right now

-Guy Hayley, Christ Wraight, and David Annandale will handle most of the siege of Terra stuff

-The next Primarchs book after Khan will be Vulkan

-Dan Abnetts schedule is the next Gaunts Ghost book anarch, then Bequin, then Horus Heresy

-sandy Mitchell is writing a new Ciaphas Cain novel

-Andy Smilee Fleash Tearers novel

-Soul Bond, Raven Guard audio drama

-Mephiston sequel

-Space Marine Conquests book War of secrets will see Dark Angels/Angels of Absolution vs. Tau and Fallen

-mike lee writing a crimson fist book legacy of Dorn which will take place after dark imperium

-Castellan crow novel

-Horusian Wars sequel

-Carcharadons sequel. Outer dark

-Gav Thorpe Titan novel, Imperator

-Primaris space marine book, Blood of Iax by Robbie macnievan

-Super heavy tank vs Titans book, Titans bane by Chris dows

-Death guard book in modern setting by Christ Wraight, Lords of Silence

-Blackshields sequel by Reynolds

-BL is exploring new beast arises style multi novel "events" with stuff such as Occlusiad, Nova Terra, Moriae Schism, etc

[Xin Ceithan]

Thanks for sharing everyone. There a quite a few things to look forward here.

Pretty hyped for Outer Dark....but... a DG novel by Chris Wraight sounds awesome given the way they portrayed in the HH books :)

[Marshal Loss]

Thoughts:

 

Concerned to see Annandale handling parts of the Siege as I have no faith in his ability to handle it well, having been disappointed by him repeatedly. Was also personally hoping that Mortarion would have his Primarch slot after Khan, but maybe he'll follow soon after.

 

The good news though: a DG novel from Chris Wraight sounds amazing, and is what I've wanted for a very long time. It may not be 30k, but I'll take it!

 

Wolfsbane and Slaves to Darkness sound brilliant.

[MrDarth151]

Concerned to see Annandale handling parts of the Siege as I have no faith in his ability to handle it well, having been disappointed by him repeatedly.

 

I'm inclined to agree. If I could, I would have switched Annandale with French. Haley can handle Blood Angels pretty well, and Wraight's skill with the Scars goes without saying, but I would honestly have French over Annandale, one, because he handled most of the Imperial Fist stuff, and did it pretty well, and two, because I still think he is the best at striking balance in narration of conflict from HH staff, in that he can write both side as convincingly competent while openly favouring neither.

 

It's why I loved Praetorian of Dorn. Excellent work there. Annandale is much more hit and miss.