Black Library Reader's Choice 2020/21

[Roomsky]

Looks like it's that time again:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/05/readers-choice-returns/?utm_source=CUSTOMERS&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BL_5th_August_Readers_Choice&utm_content=&utm_term=_&m_i=5VZMTExVuOcA9SUUVN2lPOrowwnwGM8ssZNFFCksceH7ZjiDrDdrYMn4vhTIYU1afN%2BRsg1BdTh63A93QnJBzpbYb6bMl%2BC55I

 

The 40k options are:

 

Rynn's World

Lord of the Night

Baneblade

Fire Caste

Dead Men Walking

 

They have the audacity to put Fire Caste AND Lord of the Night on there. Just end me now.

 

But if the last few years have been any indication, we might see reprints of some of these down the line anyway. Because you can't just make me choose between those, you mother f-

Edited August 5, 2020 by Roomsky

[Sandlemad]

I don't know if BL actually uses this sort of thing more broadly to gauge interest in other projects but if Fire Caste getting chosen gave even a little bit of a push for an eventual Dark Coil collection/anthology/whatever...

[Lord Marshal]

Fire Caste and Riders of the Dead for me.

 

I doubt it'll win when Lord of Night and Dead Men Walking's on there, but eh.

 

 

I don't know if BL actually uses this sort of thing more broadly to gauge interest in other projects but if Fire Caste getting chosen gave even a little bit of a push for an eventual Dark Coil collection/anthology/whatever...

 

Fehervari's got a new book coming up and Requiem Infernal presumably did quite well, so it may well be.  Might not be a coincidence his stuff's popped up on that Not!HumbleBundle thing recently and Fire Caste was the last Warhammer Legends partworks.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Lord Marshal

[Shinros]

I want Fire Caste to win, but I doubt it will. As Sandlemad said I'm also taking it as a sign that Black Library are aware of the popularity surrounding Peter's books. Hopefully that means a collection of his work might be put together.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Shinros

[Scribe]

I don't know if BL actually uses this sort of thing more broadly to gauge interest in other projects but if Fire Caste getting chosen gave even a little bit of a push for an eventual Dark Coil collection/anthology/whatever...

 

Well you convinced me to vote for it.

[Knockagh]

Fire caste box ticked. Baneblade would have been second choice. I do wish they would do something a bit more imaginative with these reprints. New cover or something novel.

[Fire Golem]

I went for Lord of the Night, because I haven’t read it/don’t own it and would like too, but Fire Caste was a close second. 

[mawhis]

Zso Sahaal and Malekith Darkblade - Both classic characters. 

[DukeLeto69]

Come on brothers and sisters let’s all vote for Firecaste! So many of us love Fehervari and his dark coil. The more promotion his work gets the more chance it will sell and the more chance we will all continue to get great new stories from PF.

[Bobss]

Was really hoping for Battle of the Fang  

[Noserenda]

Went for Fire caste as its the only one i havent read :D 

[DarkChaplain]

Voted Fire Caste, but would have gone for Baneblade if it wasn't on the list. Baneblade, alongside Skarsnik (they released back to back over two months as Haley's debuts, iirc) made me a Haley fan, back in the day. Fire Caste, however, is a book that truly deserves to win and reach more people than it originally did. Can't honestly see a vote for stuff like Dead Men Walking or Rynn's World as worthwhile picks, considering Rynn's World in particular has an omnibus edition.

 

That's the big issue I have with these Reader's Choice things. A lot of the books last time, and this time too, have or had Omnibus editions. Darkblade did, in two volumes. Sigmar still does via Warhammer Chronicles. Warrior Prist is Omnibus'd. The End Times have two. Dead Men Walking is in Honour Imperialis. Instead of including those individual novels, they should reprint the omnibuses, and do so consistently.

[Lord Marshal]

I think similarly a big part problem is that the books which win usually end up being those that're already moderately popular.... but that's probably the point, seeing as what's already doing well might mean a 'safe' wave of sales into BL's pocket. Dead Men Walking's got a strong reputation even if it's a Guard book, whilst Lord of Night's got a similar great rep and an advantage of being a (Chaos) Marine book, nevermind hot on the heels of the Night Lords reprint.

 

It felt like Fire Caste until the last couple of years is largely remembered as, "The book people bought expecting a Tau novel and got a Guard story instead. Also it was confusing." Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the title's curse continues to go against it's favour to those unitiated in the Dark Coil - most people would rather read about Marines or Guard than le BleubErRy sPaCE C0mMunITs(11!11).

Edited August 5, 2020 by Lord Marshal

[Petitioner's City]

I did Fire Caste and (the beautiful) Riders of the Dead, as these are old favourites of mine I'd love in print. But how good is Lord of Night? Edited August 5, 2020 by Petitioner's City

[Noserenda]

Lord of night is great as long as you remember how delusional the narrator is :) 

Also much love for Baneblade, its rare to get a tank based novel that "gets it" tank wise and while a Baneblade is legit huge it still feels like a tank book :) 

[Lord_Caerolion]

My problem with Dead Men Walking was how "tell, don't show" it was. The characterization was great, it was incredibly GrimDark, and the Necrons were terrifying, but there was just so much that could have been actually shown to us, but instead we just got "and then X did/said Y'', or whatever. I still cannot get over the section of "and then the Commissar gave the best speech he ever gave, now let's move on". Nothing about what the speech was on, or what it involved, we don't get shown any of it. We're just blankly told "Commissar X gives inspirational speech".

 

EDIT: Trying to find the exact phrasing, but I remember another passage that was "and then she looked to X to reassure her. He did."

Edited August 6, 2020 by Lord_Caerolion

[Felix Antipodes]

Went with Fire Caste and Riders of the Dead because I will always push anything by Fehervari and Riders was one of Abnett's best WFB tales. My biggest problem though is that there wasn't anything on the lists I didn't already have. Would have gone for Baneblade if there wasn't a PF story on the list; a great tank book.

 

Also wish they did more with these reprints to make them more attractive to those who already them, whether new covers or even incorporating them into their anniversary or masterworks series.

[Petitioner's City]

A lovely thing for Riders would be a reprint of the Empire 6th edition army book, or at least the source material from it and the chaos book. It would help bed the novel in its historical era, include lots of fantastic art, really add to the experience of the novel. And be in print again

[Sandlemad]

I'm feeling pleasantly reassured about the amount of people going for the Fire Caste/Riders of the Dead 1-2 knockout. I know B&C is a very small sample of a sample but still, Fire Caste's cult following seems larger than it once was and RotD is one of Abnett's best.

[DukeLeto69]

It felt like Fire Caste until the last couple of years is largely remembered as, "The book people bought expecting a Tau novel and got a Guard story instead. Also it was confusing." Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the title's curse continues to go against it's favour to those unitiated in the Dark Coil - most people would rather read about Marines or Guard than le BleubErRy sPaCE C0mMunITs(11!11).

Twice Fehervari has been hit by the “BL marketing team want the title of your book to be XYZ” and totally damage the potential market for the book.

 

Firecaste was a totally misleading title. So much so I avoided it as didn’t want a book from Tau pov (I so messed up and ended up couple years later tracking down 2nd hand copy).

 

Genestealer Cults (complete with same artwork as codex) looked like a total tie in but I knew better by then. Glad that got better title on reprint.

[Fire Golem]

It let me vote a second time so I did a vote for Fire Caste too because I felt bad ;)

[Roomsky]

While they’re probably all minority voter pools, if FB, Reddit, and B&C are any indication, Fire Caste definitely has a shot. But then again Storm of Iron won last time for some reason, who knows?

 

It does look like Riders of the Dead is going to blow out the Fantasy options, though.

[DukeLeto69]

While there are some mighty fine books on that list it is Firecaste that is the hidden gem that needs a second chance at awareness with the potential readership!

[WrathOfTheLion]

Looks like the results are now posted:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/09/23/readers-choice-the-results/

 

Dead Men Walking for 40k and The Daemon's Curse for Fantasy.

[Roomsky]

Looks like the results are now posted:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/09/23/readers-choice-the-results/

 

Dead Men Walking for 40k and The Daemon's Curse for Fantasy.

 

*twitch*

 

Well, it was worth a try. Who knows, some of the better books might still be reprinted like last time.