2020 - BL highs and lows, best book/story of the year

[theSpirea]

Hey guys, there are only a few days left in 2020 and no further releases are planned by BL; unless we get a surprise. Let's post your favourite book, short story, audio. What was the biggest let down? How would you rate BL performance in 2020?

 

Not everyone buys Limited Editions, some people wait for ebooks or paperbacks. Not to discourage anyone from participating and to avoid unnecessary arguments what is considered as 2020 release, let's go with any book published this year. Maybe let's just avoid super old re-prints.

 

There were too many 2020 releases I didn't get a chance to read yet or buy. The book I was most excited to read was The Infinite and The Divine since Rath's short story was my 2019 pick as the best BL release that year. Sadly, the book sold out quickly and I'm still hunting for a hardback copy. I also haven't read Manflayer yet and Regent's Shadow.

 

 

From the books I've read I'm going with the following:

• Avenging Son - I wish we got this book instead of the original Dark Imperium series back then. Powerful start of the series, plenty of new characters and storylines to follow in the future.
• Flesh and Steel - it's no secret Wraight is my favourite BL writer and I had high expectations for Bloodlines, and I enjoyed it a lot, but Flesh and Steel was a slightly better. Here's hoping for more in 2021.
• War in the Museum - I already mentioned haven't read The Infinite and the Divine but still Mr Rath made it to my best 2020 list and again with his short story.
• Dredge Runners - I'm a big fan of audio dramas and this one was top-notch. Worley is getting better and better and even my friends started asking if he has a new drama out.

 

Honourable mention:

• Spark of Revolution - never heard of Gary Kloster before and I have a feeling he's quite new to WH universe. His writing doesn't come out as your usual BL novel, feels more like regular sci-fi. Maybe that's why he also started with Necromunda, not to get overwhelmed with 30k/40k lore. I might also be completely wrong and he can be the biggest WH nerd out there. If anyone is considering jumping into Necromunda, I believe this would be a great start.
• Where Dere's da Warp Dere's a Way - I was quite disappointed with all Brooks' previous work, found it average at best, but this story was a pleasant surprise and convinced me to buy Brutal Kunnin' (haven't read it yet).
• The Method of Madness - AoS short story. I love McLean's 40K work and I'm happy he's diving into AoS as well since the setting is lacking quality writers.

 

letdowns:

• Five Candles - I consider He Feasts Forever one of the best BL horror short stories so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, the story turned out to be the weakest one from the 5 we got during the horror week.
• Indomitus - had no expectations yet it still managed to disappoint. Completely pointless book we can do without

 

All and all, it was a pretty good year when it comes to reading time, I believe I read close to 100 books and plenty of short stories. I have focused more on non-WH books this year and if WH, I was trying to catch up on AoS.

 

Now, what I'm starting to hate how limited print of regular hardcovers is. This isn't only due to COVID, this has been happening for at least two years now, COVID has just made it worse. I ordered Regent's Shadow on the day of release from two LGS, both orders were cancelled because GW told them they don't have enough copies and won't be providing them with any. The same happened with Manflayer. By the time GW informed LGSs, all copies were sold out on GW website. It's not even fun at this point. Regular hardcovers sells out on the day it goes on pre-order and only a few copies reach LGSs, forcing people to either get ebook or wait months for paperbacks.

 

I have similar issue with LEs. For some reason GW started cancelling some of the orders and a few days later putting the copies back on sale on the GW website. Some of my friends order Ravenor LE (one copy only, no multiple orders), their orders got cancelled, GW stating "sold out". A few days/weeks later more copies showed up again on GW website (same region it was ordered from).

 

Let's hear your 2020 recap.

Edited December 16, 2020 by theSpirea

[Scribe]

Bloodlines was utterly fantastic. I'm not sure beyond that that anything really stuck.

 

Bloodlines though, wow, I was blown away.

[Roomsky]

I was hoping this thread would pop up. My list’ll be by general releases only. So special editions from last year will be counted if the first widely available release was in 2020. Likewise, things that were only released in special edition this year will not be counted.

 

I did not read the following:

Soulless Fury, Empire of Lies, any of the Novella series, Vaults of Obsidian, Black Stone Fortress: Ascension, Fist of the Imperium, Brutal Kunnin`, Ephrael Stern: Heretic Saint

 

My 5 best:

 

Saturnine – The first Siege entry to really fire on all cylinders, no surprise considering it’s Abnett. Perhaps not the best release of the year, but certainly my favourite.

 

Flesh and Steel – The best Haley book I’ve ever read, just brilliant. Crime is shaping up to be a fantastic imprint, and this is bolstered by two things I love in an Imperial novel: AdMech, and a good pinch of industrial horror.

 

Bloodlines – An easy 10/10. Wraight kicked Crime off with a fantastic little novel that balances genre tropes perfectly with all that makes Imperial stories great. It’s a great piece full of intrigue, ignorance, and excellent world building.

 

The Reverie – It’s Fehervari, what do you expect? While it’s his most straightforward fever dream yet, it’s still fit to burst with beautiful, dreamlike descriptions and creeping dread. He’s also proven himself to be one of the best marine authors at BL with this work.

 

The Regent’s Shadow – Ever does Black Library’s work at salvaging 8^th and 9^th Ed’s fluff continue. Wraight’s by far the best in this regard so far, doing a tonne of legwork to make the Imperium’s new situation believable and in the spirit of the setting. The books succeeds just as well without that context though, full of Wraight’s usual talent for plot and character.

 

 

The Big Disappointments:

 

Black Library’s business practices – You know by now.

 

Lion El’Jonson: Lord of the First – The most disappointing book of the year. I like Guymer, usually, but he fumbled this one badly. No characters, barely a plot, more of an advertisement for the Forgeworld release than anything. It’s a shame, because of all the primarchs, The Lion really needed a solid entry in this series.

 

Indomitus – A let-down to “no expectations” by way of being the worst BL novel of 2020. Reading this overlong nothing of a book after generally enjoying The First Wall was like a brick to the nose.

 

 

Disappointments Runner-up:

 

The Infinite and the Divine – A runner-up because this novel is by no means bad. But, purely personally, I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with a xenos book. Xenos culture doesn’t have the years of development that makes the Imperium so memorable, and the IP overlords don’t seem to have any interest in developing a truly inhuman perspective. Something about writing ageless beings as eccentric humans rubs me the wrong way every time. So again, not bad, but very disappointing for me.

[Fire Golem]

I forgot Regents Shadow was this year. What a book. 

[Sothalor]

Hmm, off the bat, I'll throw up Saturnine, The Regent's Shadow, and Bloodlines for my top BL releases this year.

 

In terms of lows... I think The First Wall for me. What a slog of banal prose, eye-rolling caricatures of characterizations, tepid action scenes, all capped off with the pointless army regiment "what a TWEEST" plot thread. The nicest thing I'll say about that book is that it smelled nice. I mean that literally. My hardcover had this woodsy, clove-note scent when you cracked the pages open, reminiscent of a Highlands scotch.

[RedFurioso]

Saturnine. Not only the best Heresy book, not only the book of the year, but the best BL book ever. Don't @ me.

[bobbybrewster]

Really loved Saturnine and bloodlines amazing books

[Knockagh]

Saturnine, Bloodlines, Flesh and Steel, avenging son, valdor, regents shadow

 

Seige series hasn’t missed yet for me. Even McNeills contributions.

 

Probably going to get shot for this but I didnt enjoy The Reverie as much as I had hoped, actually haven’t even finished it. Wasn’t bad but felt so similar to his other books I was slightly bored. I will finish it though.

The lion was awful. A waste of ink.

 

Also will give a shout out to Stern as it’s the first book by Annandale I’ve enjoyed. It’s over the top comic book hero stuff but I still enjoyed it. Wouldn’t be after it all the time but it fitted.

 

Crime and the siege books made my reading year.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Knockagh

[aa.logan]

I’ve only gotten halfway through The Reverie before hitting a wall; I enjoyed it well enough, but it wasn’t hitting right; I’ve moved onto other stuff and will take another run at it in ‘21.

 

I’ve read a lot of BL’s output this year, and while it doesn’t quite reach, in my eyes, the giddy heights of what they published in 2019 there have been some outstanding stories.

 

Like most folk, Saturnine was an absolute highlight for me- it delivered everything that I want from the Heresy- a good mix of Astartes and mortal storylines, big narrative beats hit and some cracking subversion of expectations. I’m unapologetic in my love for the First Wall, but acknowledge that this topped that. The two Siege novellas were great as well, and felt meaningful to the series- which the LE ones haven’t always. The Luther book is really good, not quite Valdor good, but easily the best Dark Angels book of the year.

 

In terms of 40k books, The Infinite and The Divine was my favourite. Everything about it landed just right for me. I might concede that the Necrons in it had some distinctly human characteristics, but as a (broadly) human reader, I’m happy to see some universality. I guess more than anything, Rath managed to make them distinct from the Imperium in their mindset and attitudes whilst still obviously grounded in the setting. The other Xenos title, Brutal Kunnin’, was also a stand-out, getting the tone right and, again, showing us the universe from a different angle. Manflayer and The Regents’ Shadow concluded or continued their arcs really well and are cracking books in their own right, whilst The Avenging Son bodes really well for the rest of it’s series.

 

I’m grouping Crime, Horror and Necromunda together. No-one can stop me. The Road to Redemption is the pick of this category for me- like last year’s Mak of Faith, in showcasing the best and worst aspects of humanity, the emotional heft of the story transcends it’s relatively mundane plot. The Underhive feels alive. Uprising was an above-average anthology, if a tad repetitive in the middle. Of the Horror novels I actually finished this year, The Oubliette was the best. Last year, I’d say the shorts, especially the audio ones, might have been the Crown Jewels of the imprint, so I’m a touch disappointed that there haven’t been any more of these this time round (On reflection, I’ve encountered most of the Horror titles through my ears- maybe that’s where I went wrong with The Reverie....). Again, I’m going to agree with the consensus- Warhammer Crime has been excellent. All of it. I’m not sure if I prefer Bloodlines to Flesh and Steel but they both were excellent. I’m going to cheat and count the whole range as a single entity in my ranking.

 

I’m currently furiously re-reading Wraight’s Space Wolf books in anticyof Helwinter’s Gate, and am enjoying them immensely, so I won’t rule out that sneaking into my ranking, but as things stand, my top 5 are:

 

Saturnine

The Infinite and The Divine

(Warhammer Crime)

Road to Redemption

Manflayer

[JH79]

Who doesn't love a thread about lists! 

 

So I have to admit right off the bat that I've not read as many new releases as I usually would this year, a handful at most.

 

My hands down favourite has to be The Infinite and the Divine. Close Runners up: Bloodlines, Manflayer & Valedor.

 

My biggest disappointment would have to be Saturnine*. Close Runner up: The First Wall**.

 

-

 

*I should point out that Saturnine taking this spot is largely due to my feelings of nostalgic let-down. The book is brilliantly written, to such a degree that it alienates itself further from the rest of the Siege series. The language, the more human realism with how some characters talk, the last stand action, it was all just so bloody fantastic; hell Abnett even made me enjoy and get behind the biggest Plot Armor weapon of them all, Abaddon! The let down all revolves around the spear tip strike. Loken, Garro, Little Horus, Tybalt Marr... too much happening too quickly. It was somehow like experiencing GOT Season 8 all over again... SHOCK... AWE... *pause*... WOW... *pause*... WAIT... WHAT... *pause*... oh... right...*pause*... these feelings really didn't sink in properly until a few days after I had dwelt on all that had happened. I'd gone into the book having re-read the opening trilogy, the short Little Horus and the Meduson / Marr plot threads following that... it somehow made the disconnect all the more apparent. Maybe if it hadn't of taken so long to get here I would feel differently, but after so many years of speculation, anticipation and build up, the conclusion of certain character arc's, especially Little Horus, just left me feeling empty.

 

**I actually quite enjoyed The First Wall, however half the book about the African Troop regiment should have been removed and given it's own release as a Human Siege Story Novella or something to that effect. An interesting group of characters with an interesting perspective on events, but completely unworthy of being in a main entry novel and did nothing but distract from the actual Siege goings on which needed extra work and development. The same could easily be said for The Lost and the Damned's Human distraction too, and by god did that novel need some help!

[Fire Golem]

The First Wall is probably the only BL book I’ve been disappointed in this year, but I tend to only buy authors I know I’ll enjoy anyway. But that was pretty disappointing. Took me a while to get through and I skimmed my way through a lot of it.

 

Saturnine was probably my favourite. I read it in one day, pretty much stopping just for lunch and dinner.

 

The Regents Shadow, as I mentioned earlier was just so good. I’ll definitely reread it soon. I loved the various Astartes factions involved, and the little twist at the end I really enjoyed in the same way I enjoyed the reveal in ASOIAF that Doran Martell has been planning and scheming the whole time and his weakness is a front.

 

The Reverie was weird and wonderful, as Fehervari always is. Currently re-reading Fire Caste off the back of it.

 

The first Dawn of Fire novel was solid. Not exceptional but I loved some of the Terra world building stuff. I think I said at the time but some of it felt like something out of Dark Souls.

 

I haven’t read Bloodlines yet but I have a copy. I can’t remember what else came out this year!

 

At the start of the year I read the Gaunts Ghosts series and Ravenor which were both excellent also, but obviously not 2020 releases.

[mc warhammer]

the only BL books i read this year were saturnine and manflayer....so...toss a coin?

[Preliminary Bombardment]

Bloodlines is probably my favourite, but Saturnine a close second.

 

I would say Saturnine has my favourite single scene though, the one with Camba Diaz

[Bobss]

I didn't read a huge amount of 2020 publications but Manflayer is the standout entry for me. I didn't expect to see Fabius on the backfoot throughout most of the book, and now that I've dwelled on it I think it was a superb finale for Josh's own pocket of 40k. The epilogue in particular is a masterclass in how to successfully write tie-in fiction

[grailkeeper]

For me Infinite and the Divine. So readable. Despite being necrons the protagonists are much more human than the standard Bl character. The petty squabbling was seriously entertaining. A great change of tone.

 

Not strictly BL but the Marvel Calgar comic is very good.

 

Biggest disappointment was the Reverie. I'm not saying its bad but everyone here loves it and I didnt. I felt disappointed not to enjoy something everyone else likes. I like his earlier books but I find his last too dream like and confusing. Its like entering a fugue state. I like books that take a different angle on 40k, such as the Infinite and the Divine, but here the 40k elements were barely there window dressing in the half I read. They could have been removed entirely and the book wouldnt have been that different.

Edited December 17, 2020 by grailkeeper

[Urauloth]

I read quite a few books this year, but I didn't read anywhere near as many of this year's BL releases as I meant to; I was still catching up on last year's, or making room to read non-warhammer horror novels, or even revisiting older BL books (like Titanicus, which is still fantastic). That means The Reverie and Avenging Son have to wait until next year for me, unfortunately.

 

Favourites:

Saturnine: For my money this is the best of the Heresy so far, and it's also my favourite Abnett book. In any other year I'd say it was head and shoulders above everything else on offer, but...

Bloodlines: This seems to have impressed everyone who read it. Wraight has had an incredible year.

The Regent's Shadow: Maybe the best direct sequel going, this handles enormous implications and changes of macro-level plot direction in a way that doesn't disturb or distract from the character through-lines. Really impressive writing. Like I say, an incredible year.

Flesh and Steel: I'm repeating what I said about this elsewhere, but not only is this a solid adventure spiced with some really gruesome horror, it's a great showcase for how far Guy Haley has come as a writer and how much he can thrive with the right subject matter.

 

Letdowns:

Just some of Abnett's numbers in Saturnine... I jest. I didn't feel disappointed by anything I read from BL this year. Like most readers, I didn't think The First Wall was all that great, but I can't say I was let down by it because I didn't expect it to be.

 

 

[byrd9999]

I didn't read much newly published BL fiction in 2020, I am mostly reading Heresy, so I can catch up with the Siege hopefully by the time Mortis comes out in regular hardback.

 

So, from a very short list:

 

Best Books of 2020:

 

Bloodlines by Chris Wraight.

Seriously impressed with the world-building and the noir crime elements. It wasn't just a good BL book, it was a good book full stop.

 

Brutal Kunnin & Were Dere's Da Warp Dere's A Way, by Mike Brooks.

I've never been that into the Orks until I read these, but they are some of the funniest and most enjoyable BL fiction I have ever read.

 

 

Biggest disappointment of 2020:

 

No Good Men, anthology.

For reasons we all went into at the time in the other thread, this was too samey and repetitive, especially in the light of how good Bloodlines was. A missed opportunity for more world-building on Varangantua.

[sitnam]

I haven't read much 2020 stuff...I think only Manflayer, Infinite and Divine, and The Reverie. I liked all three quite a bit, though I&D takes the cake for me. The early book where they alternate heists on each other, the reluctant team up, the climatic battle. I really want to see a sequel for this novel, or atleast Robert Rath covering some other Necrons lord.

 

I&D might be top of my list for overall 2020 reads, but I also read Requiem Infernal and that was amazing

Edited December 17, 2020 by sitnam

[SkimaskMohawk]

I haven't read a ton of 2020 books so my list is going to be weird and stilted.

 

Best, in order:

 

Bloodlines - you give this book to anyone who likes sci fi and they'll like it. It has its 40kisms but it could literally be any good sci-fi setting. It's a great book and set a great entry point into crime.

 

Manflayer - Josh Reynolds wraps up the excellent series while maintaining the status quo of fabius bile. He keeps continuity in the best ways; respecting every other version and the setting while preserving the character he built.

 

Saturnine - abnett is a highly skilled author and saturnine is a good book as a result. You get a real sense of what he was going for; the crazy medieval siege while being futuristic at the one bastion, the soldier's dazed retreat through a destroyed urban environment, all of that. But it's lower on the list because he doesn't keep continuity with other authors and his decisions on how some characters interact really threw me off. Lack of consistency is a big nitpick for me and while a solid 8/10 I can't understand the praise the book gets as "best of horus heresy" or "best of all BL" .

 

Regent's Shadow - I uh...liked it? It's hard to explain, but basically out of wraight's 4 terra based books, my favorite was Carrion Throne. My favorite of Emperor's Legion was the political maneuvering of Tierion and Aleyas acerbic interactions. I wasn't a fan of how the new regent thought of tierion, but it served to show how green she was by the end of the book. The imperial fist/minotaur parts were great, guilliman power play reveal was great; the book was pretty enjoyable.

 

Dawn of Fire - bolter porn dragged the end of the book. But the scribes journey was one of the most 40k things I've ever read. Couple it with the marine characters parts and you've got Haley's seemingly one-man-mission to make the gathering storm/9th edition transition good.

 

Bad:

 

First Wall - the core premise of the Lions gate space port being left standing by dorn makes no sense. It's so poorly thought out that the entire sequence of events just shouldn't have happened. And then you add some characters that act like completely different people and Khârn salmon flipping.

 

Heretic Saint - it's dragon ball z

[DukeLeto69]

You guys all write such good reviews/rationale for “best of”.

 

I’m going simple...

 

I purchased the following books from BL this year (an R next to title means I read it rather than currently on the shelf)

 

House of Night and Chain ® - PB

Anathemas - PB

WotT: The Regent’s Shadow ® - HB

Cadian Honour ® - PB

Sepulturum ® - HB

Underhive - PB

Terminal Overkill ® - PB

Road to Redemption ® - PB

Wolfsbane ® - MMPB

Belisarius Cawl TGW ® - PB

Saturnine - HB

Valdor ® - HB

Titandeath - MMPB

Slaves to Darkness - MMPB

Heralds of the Siege - MMPB

The Buried Dagger - MMPB

Bloodlines ® - PB

No Good Men ® - PB

Avenging Son ® - PB

Flesh and Steel ® - PB

Mark of Faith - PB

Kal Jerico Sinners Bounty ® - PB

Uprising - PB

The Reverie ® - PB

 

So I haven’t read Saturnine (or TLATD or TFW) yet which I expect would be in my top 5 but...

 

5) Sepulturum

4) Bloodlines

3) Flesh and Steel

2) The Regent’s Shadow

1) The Reverie

 

Honourable mentions:

 

Avenging Son for changing my mind about Primaris and tying into Wraight’s books.

 

Road to Redemption was pure spaghetti western.

 

Terminal Overkill was just so horrible (in a good way)

 

Cadian Honour was a very strong IG book and I want more on these characters.

Edited December 19, 2020 by DukeLeto69

[Scribe]

Dawn of Fire - bolter porn dragged the end of the book. But the scribes journey was one of the most 40k things I've ever read. Couple it with the marine characters parts and you've got Haley's seemingly one-man-mission to make the gathering storm/9th edition transition good.

 

 

Agreed on this. I loved the scribes journey through the 'city' if we want to call it that. Best part of the book.

 

I literally had forgotten I had read Saturnine. Thats about all I need to say about that door stop.

[DarkChaplain]

I just feel extremely out of touch seeing all the praise for Saturnine, to the point of it being called the series best. Seems like I want very different things out of the series from everybody else.

 

Either way, I'll put these on the list as my top reads this year:

 

Top 3 novels:

Flesh and Steel

The Reverie

Bloodlines

 

Top audio drama:

Dredge Runners

 

I literally went through the novels section on BL (which includes novellas, anthologies and omnibuses) and that really hammered home just how few novels they released this year - with a good few of them being general releases of limited stuff from 2019 or paperbacks, or even reprints.

Still on The Infinite and the Divine, but I have to say I'm enjoying it.

[cheywood]

I’ve been focusing on my backlog this year, so I’ve only read a few books published in 2020. I wouldn’t call any of them especially groundbreaking in quality, but they all felt unique and enjoyable so I’ll include them as highs. In the order I read them:

 

Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty - great introduction to Necromunda despite being the 4th book in a series about a character who originated(?) in a comic strip. It covers a lot of ground, utilizes a large swath of characters and factions, and doesn’t get bogged down in the minutia of gang warfare. Read Terminal Overkill recently and I’ve come to the conclusion that, while I love the atmosphere and character of the setting, I just don’t really care about urban-wild-west-fusion gangs fighting each other in corridors.

 

Armageddon Saint: I read the first three Last Chancers novels long ago and I remember liking them but not to a notable degree. Thorpe’s not really my jam most of the time. Maybe it was the Ork on the cover or nostalgia speaking but I felt surprisingly interested in this. Overall I quite liked it. Thorpe hasn’t totally changed his prose style around or anything, but the combination of first person perspective, human characters introspecting, wackiness with Orks and Daemons, and depiction of Armageddon worked well for me.

 

The Oubliette: Not particularly scary, but nicely gory at times. I enjoyed the politicking and inner turmoil of the main character. Haven’t thought much about this since I finished it so I don’t have much to say. I think it benefits from being an early horror title. Not sure it would have the same uniqueness were it to be published a few years from when Horror, fingers crossed, has been established as a consistent presence in the Black Library.

 

Sepulturum: Similar to The Oubliette in that it benefits from being the first zombie horror novel in 40k. It’s generally a pretty standard zombie novel but I like the wider universe elements Kyme works with in parts. Also easily Kyme’s best novel by a million miles. If he sticks to Horror for every future BL novel I could see myself growing less frustrated with him.

 

Overall I like where BL’s at these days for the most part, at least in terms of words being made available for my eyeballs. They haven’t magically become everything I want in a publisher, but I think they’ve effectively continued exploring different parts of their various IPs instead of ‘space marine space marine space marine’. They’re also using more and more new writers, which is great. That said the preview was just about half space marine books, so there’s still more than enough historically-inspired super-soldiers to go around. Hopefully the full year is balanced out better.

I’d love to see the 6 month delay on limited editions end so I don’t feel guilty buying a limited edition, but they seem to be committed to and profiting from the lack of availability.

[b1soul]

I found Saturnine very enjoyable and the best of the SoT miniseries so far (well...at least on par with Solar War), but I don't think it's the best HH novel. I'd pick almost aything by Wraight, ADB or certain other Abnett HH entries over it...Horus Rising for example.

 

Saturnine is like a (wisely) more restrained (but still very busy) version of Unremembered Empire. Dialogue was very Abnett-ian, and that could be jarring.

[caladancid]

I thought about quite a few novels, and I think this year has been pretty good in terms of BL output, but in the end will go with two.

 

1) Saturnine

 

I am an Abnett fanboy, no excuses, and this is one of his best novels.

 

2) The Reverie

 

So the Dark Coil is awesome.  Fehervari is awesome.  Fehervari taking the Dark Coil and somehow writing a space marine novel that is traditional space marines and also full on Dark Coil is something else entirely.  Exceeded my already high expectations.

 

Best AUTHOR of the year though, that goes to Chris Wraight.