2021 - BL highs and lows, best book/story of the year

[Kelborn]

Hello there,

 

thought it might be time to follow our old tradition, eh? ;)

 

Can't say that much about BL releases as I've spent almost no attention to them for about half the year. Can't even say if those, I've read/ listened to are from 2021 or prior to that but I'll just list my personal favorites of what I've managed this year:

 

Horus Heresy:

- Well, there's only the Siege left except for older novels but I haven't managed to finish any of it. So that's a blank slate for me, this year.

- I listened to some novellas and shorts again but nothing worth mentioning here.

 

Primarch series:

- Alpharius; Easily one of the best Primarch entries we had thus far! Was everything I wanted and didn't expect at all! That was a lie. 

- Luther; Say what you want about Gav but holy Emperor, his world-building is magnificent! He did a wonderful job with Lorgar but even exceeded that with Luther. I'd love to have a series of stories set on Caliban as a semi side project or so. Even as its own setting of sorts. Please Gav, give me more!

 

40K:

- The Infinite and the Divine / Twice Dead King - Ruin; I was never into Necrons and their lore. They looked cool but that's it. This changed with these two novels. Can't say that one is superior to the other. They complement each other quite nicely and give us a great insight on the different aspects of the faction itself. The former was funnier and entertaining in a way, while the latter got me more emotionally and gave a better insight in Necron society as a whole.

- The Reverie; I know that this is from 2020 but nonetheless, it's a great one! A mind twisting, frightening horror story which got me on the edge of my car seat. ;) I'm intrigued and eager to descent further into Peters spiral of madness.

 

Honorable mention:

- Eisenhorn - Xenos; I have to admit that there are certain factions within the 40k universe that never (and I mean NEVER) caught my attention at all. The Ecclisiarchy, Sisters of Battle, Necrons, Inquisition and some others. But this year changed a lot (at least for two of those factions :P). Eisenhorn is the reason for one of said changes. I'll certainly continue on Dans work here. He got me hooked for more. 

 

Well, that's it for Warhammer related stuff, I guess. Rest of what I've managed to finish this year is not part of the setting and thus, will not be touched upon.

 

What was your personal highlight or disappointment, this year?

 

Share your thoughts!

 

Cheers,

Kel

[Roomsky]

I’m limiting myself to 2022 releases – and only as best I can, because Black Library can be hard to keep track of sometimes. As always, I didn’t read every book that dropped this year.

 

Favourite of the Year: The Twice-Dead King: Ruin – Nate Crowley

 

Hot damn I love this book. It pushes Necron fiction to a new standard and is wonderfully atmospheric, well-drawn, and dark as all hell. I’m firmly on the Crowley-Train after this one; bring on Reign and Prophet of Waaaaagh! (pleb edition) please.

 

Runners Up: Warhawk, Head of the Hydra – just a couple of good authors who really get the material.

 

 

Best Surprise: Fire Made Flesh – Denny Flowers

 

It’s no sleight at Necromunda when I say I expect enjoyable romps before top-shelf BL fiction from the brand, but this blew my socks off. Maybe I’m just not much one for adventure stories, but this more intrigue-focussed novel really impressed. Much like Crowley, Flowers is one to watch.

 

Runner up: Wolftime. Thorpe thinks the community can have little a quality novel, as a treat.

 

 

Worst Surprise: Urdesh: The Serpent and the Saint – Matthew Farrer

 

Not a bad book, but one that suffers in the shadow of Farrer’s previous efforts. It has moments of brilliance, moments that may be the best of the year, but good moments do not a good story make. Most of it was a slog that seemed to value setpieces first and characters second. Not my cuppa.

 

 

Least Favourite of the Year: Godblight – Guy Haley

 

Not quite sure how Haley writes Avenging Son, then turns around and drops this. Not even counting the insipid fluff which was a step down from the codex’s version of events, not even comparing it to Avenging Son, this is bad. The characters are all flat, Guilliman’s unique POV is barely present, the Ultramarines’ effectiveness sucks all tension from the story, and the tone is just so very off. The best way I can describe my feelings about reading this, is that they matched the feelings I had watching Rise of Skywalker - and it gave me the same trepidation about the franchise’s chronological future that movie did too.

Edited December 11, 2021 by Roomsky

[Knockagh]

This has been the worst BL year in over a decade for me. I’ve a pile of half finished books I struggled through but there has been the odd moment of glory.

 

Ghazghkull Thraka, absolutely loved this. It’s far and away the best depiction of orks in 40K ever. Nate deserves a medal for this.

 

Dan’s The Vincula Insurgency, is a masterpiece. To be able to go back trough a long standing series and pick up loose threads and write this book, starting a whole new thread shows just how fabulous he is. Magnificent. More, more and more.

 

Fire Made Flesh was a great little read. The last third wasn’t superb but overall a great read that expanded necromunda using the brilliant world building we are getting in the game books.

 

Silent Hunters was a fun read, hope to see more from this guy.

 

Like everyone Urdesh was so needlessly bad it made me cross. Less said the better.

[DukeLeto69]

Wow nobody has mentioned Penitent by Dan Abnett yet????

 

For ME this was THE book of 2021 and by some margin.

 

The collective Warhammer Crime releases as a whole marked another highlight with the sum greater than the parts.

[byrd9999]

I'm still playing catch-up with previous years' releases, and focusing mostly on HH anyway, so I think the only 2021 New Release I have read is Mortis, which was.... umm... ah... a transitionary novel...

 

But this year's reading highlights have been:

 

- Ravenor trilogy - Dan is the Man, expanding and improving upon his Eisenhorn series. Seriously readable.

 

- Chris Wraight's White Scars arc, leading eventually up to Warhawk. I am following Wraight's guide on his website to incorporate all the shorts in the right place (basically, read them in the order they were published). I wasn't into the White Scars before, but is there a better, tighter arc in the whole HH than what Chris Wraight manages with the WS?

 

- Discovering Nate Crowley's shorts in Inferno! and his necron novella Severed.

 

- Did I read Brutal Kunnin this year? If so, that was fantastic.

 

- And a special mention also for Mike Brooks' Da Gobbo's Revenge, which is a great novella for grot Revolushun tied in with a few Santa Claus references!

[Chaeron]

I do love this tradition! I’m going to need to fully reflect on this, but I actually think most of this year has been catching up on releases from the previous year (and hoarding the rest :lol:). Typical... normally, I’m reasonably on top of things - so I’ll need to catch-up, and this thread will certainly help me to prioritise!

[Petitioner's City]

Wow nobody has mentioned Penitent by Dan Abnett yet????

 

For ME this was THE book of 2021 and by some margin.

 

The collective Warhammer Crime releases as a whole marked another highlight with the sum greater than the parts.

I've been surprised how forgotten it was here, and the "doom and gloom". We had such amazing releases and yet memories of those have been hushed or the books forgotten, and what feels like a general mood of complainingness instead; it is very disappointing to read this forum sometimes, as I think it creates an echo chamber of discontent.

[sitnam]

Of the books strictly released this year, Twice Dead King is the hands down winner for me. It combined with last year's I&D really build Necrons as a faction with personality.

 

I can't say I disliked a single novel I've read from this year. I wish we got more horror novels, but Deacon of Wounds was a fun story nonetheless. Silent Hunters wasn't MacNiven good, but besides the overly high power scaling for the Marines it had some interesting bits. Gate of Bones rocked,and Traitor Rock...boned? No that's not right.

 

Gotta say though, I also wrapped up Dark Coil this year after reading Reverie and Requiem Infernal, and its hard to get over how good those were. Of the PF stories I read, I might have to give it to Vanguard. Very disturbing

[Roomsky]

 

Wow nobody has mentioned Penitent by Dan Abnett yet????

 

For ME this was THE book of 2021 and by some margin.

 

The collective Warhammer Crime releases as a whole marked another highlight with the sum greater than the parts.

I've been surprised how forgotten it was here, and the "doom and gloom". We had such amazing releases and yet memories of those have been hushed or the books forgotten, and what feels like a general mood of complainingness instead; it is very disappointing to read this forum sometimes, as I think it creates an echo chamber of discontent.

 

 

I somehow completely forgot about Crime and Horror! Just like Black Library! Deacon of Wounds and Grim Repast are also definitely up there for me, worth a read for anyone who's still curious (or forgot to read them in the first place.)

 

To be perfectly honest Petitioner's City, Penitent was really good, but I think I've fallen victim to the effects of an annoying fandom. The amount of KINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOWKINGINYELLOW-posting has legit managed to sour my mood.

 

But yes, it was pretty awesome.

[Petitioner's City]

Oh I've managed to ignore the yellow king theorising somehow; I think joining spoiler dots isn't to my taste, I rather just luxuriate in the flavours of a given text, which in this case was of course very very fine indeed.

 

But yes this year had many fantastic releases, and other very strong ones - kinda nice to see appreciation for these come out of the woodwork :)

[1ncarnadine]

Penitent was pretty awesome overall, but also had a few things that felt a little off. I think the super-magic space marine squad where every member had a super-unique special force weapon was a little OTT and hard to take seriously, for one. And I remember thinking that the naked angel friend was a little too convenient of a way out of too many situations. As the middle act of a trilogy, the last book may change my opinion dramatically and make this one much better or worse, so we'll see.

But I also forgot that I read that one this year. I didn't actually read much in 2021, but this thread is reminding me that I did get through more than I realized. That included Penitent, Godblight, Warhawk, and Alpharius from this year, and catching up on Valdor and The Reverie from my backlog.

So my sample size wasn't huge, but Warhawk was an easy favorite for me. I'm also a big Death Guard fan who had a lot of problems with how they were portrayed in The Buried Dagger, so that's probably not too surprising.

Big honorable mention to Alpharius. I definitely need to check out more Mike Brooks, and it sounds like Fire Made Flesh is right up my alley. Maybe I'll get one more read in before the new year starts...

Meanwhile, my least favorite was definitely Godblight. Hands down one of the most disappointing 40k novels I've read, and probably a big contributor to me burning out with BL fiction for most of the year. I'll just let Roomsky's point here stand because he put to words something that bothered me about this that I couldn't quite articulate myself:

 

The best way I can describe my feelings about reading this, is that they matched the feelings I had watching Rise of Skywalker - and it gave me the same trepidation about the franchise’s chronological future that movie did too.

As an aside, I know it's not 2021, but wow, The Reverie. Tzeentch feels underutilized in general, and this one really hammers home why that entity is often called the most ruinous power.

Edited December 11, 2021 by LetsYouDown

[sitnam]

 

As an aside, I know it's not 2021, but wow, The Reverie. Tzeentch feels underutilized in general, and this one really hammers home why that entity is often called the most ruinous power.

 

Maybe its just me, but much of the weird corruption seemed very Slaaneshy as well. At times I was questioning which entity was behind it all

[theSpirea]

Thank you for opening the thread. I was actually planning to open one tomorrow. Here's a quick recap of 2021 releases

 

The Horus Heresy

Characters: Luther First of the Fallen - Gav Thorpe

Primarchs: Alpharius Head of the Hydra - Mike Brooks

Primarchs: Blood of the Emperor [Anthology] - Various

Siege of Terra #5: Mortis - John French

Siege of Terra #6: Warhawk - Chris Wraight

Siege of Terra: Fury of Magnus - Graham McNeill

 

Horror

Deacon of Wounds - David Annandale

The Accursed [Anthology] - Various

The Harrowed Paths [Anthology] - Various

 

Crime

Broken City [Anthology] - Various

Grim Repast - Marc Collins

Sanction & Sin [Anthology] - Various

 

40K

Bequin #2: Penitent - Dan Abnett

Blood of Asaheim #3: The Helwinter Gate - Chris Wraight

Cadia #3: Traitor Rock - Justin D. Hill

Dark Imperium #3: Godblight - Guy Haley

Dawn of Fire #2: The Gate of Bones - Andy Clark

Dawn of Fire #3: The Wolftime - Gav Thorpe

Gaunt's Ghosts: Sabbat War [Anthology] - Dan Abnett

Inferno! Inquisition [Anthology] - Various

Inferno! Volume 6 [Anthology] - Various

Necromunda: Fire Made Flesh - Denny Flowers

Silent Hunters - Edoardo Albert

The Book of Martyrs [Anthology] - Various

The Gobbo's Revenge - Mike Brooks

The Swords of Calth - Graham McNeill

The Twice-Dead King #1: Ruin - Nate Crowley

Urdesh #1: The Serpent and the Saint - Mathew Farrer

Urdesh #2: The Magister and the Martyr - Matthew Farrer

Volopone Glory - Nick Kyme

 

AoS

A Dynasty of Monsters - David Annandale

Cursed City - C. L. Werner

Dominion - Darius Hinks

Gotrek #2: Gitslayer - Darius Hinks

Realm-Lords - Dale Lucas

Stormvault - Andy Clark

The End of Enlightenment - Richard Strachan

Thunderstrike & Other Stories [Anthology] - Various

 

Adventure

40K #5: Plague of Nurglings

40K #6: Tomb of the Necron

AoS #5: Fortress of Ghosts

AoS #6: Soulspring

 

 

Putting the list together I realised there were actually more books published than I thought. I haven't read as many as I wanted to from the above list. So far my top 3 BL 2021 books are Fire Made Flesh, A Dynasty of Monsters, The Twice-Dead King: Ruin. I'm sure once I get around to read more the list might change (high expectations for Warhawk).

 

Luckily, there wasn't any book I would hate but I was a bit disappointed (that might be an understatement) with Godblight.

 

The year was definitely ups and downs for me with BL, mainly due to their marketing/communication/hardbacks selling out on day one, etc. I have decided to change my approach to BL books. I'm tired and stressed of their business model and it's hurting my enjoyment from reading these books. BL is making it hard for me to give them my money. That's fine by me, there are other publishers and IPs I have started exploring more this year. I'm not saying I'm done reading BL books, I'm just not going to make extra effort to buy them. Luckily, there are other means to read/listen to their books.

 

I want to take more positive approach to this hobby next year and focus more on actual enjoyment of the books and care less whether I get Limited Edition or ebook. And I wanted to thank everyone posting on this BL subsection. Reading your reviews, thoughts on the books is always a joy and something I look forward to.

Edited December 11, 2021 by theSpirea

[Knockagh]

Excellent work Spirea! I hadn’t realised all those came out either. Luther was definitely out in 2020 in limited format, I had thought penitent was too. It was a firm favourite of mine this year and should have gone straight to the top of the list.

 

Traitor Rock was another forgotten book. It has been my least favourite of the series but it was an enjoyable read.

[theSpirea]

I went by general release so yeah, some of the books were originally out in 2020 in Limited Format.

Here's the list I'm trying to keep up-to-date, in case anyone would find a use for it

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16RtTN2s_yZVDsmNa5NiVazJXDkgIsXKz2oW6c7chfMU/edit?usp=sharing

 

Forgot to mention some of the amazing short stories, Bird of Change by Richard Strachan and The Aberration by Jake Ozga were absolute blast and I recommend it to everyone, even if you're not fan of the setting/horror.

[Petitioner's City]

Also no one has talked about Volpone Glory yet; I did a wee search and couldn't see Gilbear! However, new Volpone characters will be interesting too.

[Pariah32]

Top three for me were

 

1.Penitant by Dan Abnett well worth the wait, phenomenal!

 

2.Alpharius by Mike brooks easily one of the top Primarchs novels to come.

 

3.Warhawk by Chris Wraight fantastic depiction of the current state of the siege of Terra with a fresh take on Mortarion that really worked for me.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I don't feel like I read enough books to really rate highs and lows, that said I want to give Gav some credit. I bought wolftime with fairly low expectations and I think it was his best Marine Book. Typically, his marine books have bothered me a bit because some hero of the chapter makes a mistake that comes across as inexcusable for some dude who is like 400 years old. So, having the established characters be involved in a conflict centered around traditions, their chapters honor, their independence vs. pragmatism was nice. 

 

I would recommend Wraight's books over it, but it was a solid book. 

[Petitioner's City]

I don't feel like I read enough books to really rate highs and lows, that said I want to give Gav some credit. I bought wolftime with fairly low expectations and I think it was his best Marine Book. Typically, his marine books have bothered me a bit because some hero of the chapter makes a mistake that comes across as inexcusable for some dude who is like 400 years old. So, having the established characters be involved in a conflict centered around traditions, their chapters honor, their independence vs. pragmatism was nice. 

 

I would recommend Wraight's books over it, but it was a solid book. 

 

It did feel like a novel about old men stuck in their grudges and pride, like Lear.

[Aramis K]

Penitent and Warhawk for me

 

But based on this I'm about to start the Twice-Dead King and keeping an open mind for Wolftime.

[Taliesin]

 

Thank you for opening the thread. I was actually planning to open one tomorrow. Here's a quick recap of 2021 releases

 

The Horus Heresy

Characters: Luther First of the Fallen - Gav Thorpe

Primarchs: Alpharius Head of the Hydra - Mike Brooks

Primarchs: Blood of the Emperor [Anthology] - Various

Siege of Terra #5: Mortis - John French

Siege of Terra #6: Warhawk - Chris Wraight

Siege of Terra: Fury of Magnus - Graham McNeill

 

Horror

Deacon of Wounds - David Annandale

The Accursed [Anthology] - Various

The Harrowed Paths [Anthology] - Various

 

Crime

Broken City [Anthology] - Various

Grim Repast - Marc Collins

Sanction & Sin [Anthology] - Various

 

40K

Bequin #2: Penitent - Dan Abnett

Blood of Asaheim #3: The Helwinter Gate - Chris Wraight

Cadia #3: Traitor Rock - Justin D. Hill

Dark Imperium #3: Godblight - Guy Haley

Dawn of Fire #2: The Gate of Bones - Andy Clark

Dawn of Fire #3: The Wolftime - Gav Thorpe

Gaunt's Ghosts: Sabbat War [Anthology] - Dan Abnett

Inferno! Inquisition [Anthology] - Various

Inferno! Volume 6 [Anthology] - Various

Necromunda: Fire Made Flesh - Denny Flowers

Silent Hunters - Edoardo Albert

The Book of Martyrs [Anthology] - Various

The Gobbo's Revenge - Mike Brooks

The Swords of Calth - Graham McNeill

The Twice-Dead King #1: Ruin - Nate Crowley

Urdesh #1: The Serpent and the Saint - Mathew Farrer

Urdesh #2: The Magister and the Martyr - Matthew Farrer

Volopone Glory - Nick Kyme

 

AoS

A Dynasty of Monsters - David Annandale

Cursed City - C. L. Werner

Dominion - Darius Hinks

Gotrek #2: Gitslayer - Darius Hinks

Realm-Lords - Dale Lucas

Stormvault - Andy Clark

The End of Enlightenment - Richard Strachan

Thunderstrike & Other Stories [Anthology] - Various

 

Adventure

40K #5: Plague of Nurglings

40K #6: Tomb of the Necron

AoS #5: Fortress of Ghosts

AoS #6: Soulspring

 

 

Putting the list together I realised there were actually more books published than I thought. I haven't read as many as I wanted to from the above list. So far my top 3 BL 2021 books are Fire Made Flesh, A Dynasty of Monsters, The Twice-Dead King: Ruin. I'm sure once I get around to read more the list might change (high expectations for Warhawk).

 

 

 

 

Its trrue that overall looking at that output its still significant. Ive never seen an overview for the previous years so cant compare if this is subpar for them or not, but what is obvious is that in the first half of the year, releases still seemed to be at the usual pace, and then it dropped off sharply in the second half.

 

Which is probably to what leads to many feeling its been a slim year when as a whole, it wasnt, its just recently been slim pickings.

[norDrow]

 

 

Thank you for opening the thread. I was actually planning to open one tomorrow. Here's a quick recap of 2021 releases

 

The Horus Heresy

Characters: Luther First of the Fallen - Gav Thorpe

...

 

Its trrue that overall looking at that output its still significant. Ive never seen an overview for the previous years so cant compare if this is subpar for them or not, but what is obvious is that in the first half of the year, releases still seemed to be at the usual pace, and then it dropped off sharply in the second half.

 

Which is probably to what leads to many feeling its been a slim year when as a whole, it wasnt, its just recently been slim pickings.

 

Just some numbers regarding Black Library's output the last 10 years.

 

The table shows the number of new novel-, novella- and short story-length stories released in print each year. The number of new novels is down by 25% since it peaked at 40 in 2019. The decreases for novellas and short stories are even greater. The number of 2021 releases are below the average for all categories.

 

New stories by year

Year	Novels	Novellas	Short Stories
2012	27	16	91
2013	32	10	106
2014	26	22	88
2015	21	16	78
2016	37	5	100
2017	36	2	50
2018	35	14	120
2019	40	15	167
2020	29	10	112
2021	29	7	95

[DarkChaplain]

Are those short story numbers including those from anthologies, or standalone releases only? Because I feel the drastic change away from digital mondays to Inferno! (and then delaying multiple Inferno! volumes) and halving of the advent calendar stories really tanked their short story output, even if they put out more anthologies instead.

[theSpirea]

When it comes to novels, it's actually not that bad. Average up to 2020 was 31 novels, we got 29. When it comes to short stories, average up to 2020 was 101 and we got 95. That's pretty good, if we consider the advent was cut in half and no more Digital Mondays. Even if we take the average up to 2019, the numbers are still pretty good. Average novels 2012-2019 was 32.

[norDrow]

Are those short story numbers including those from anthologies, or standalone releases only? Because I feel the drastic change away from digital mondays to Inferno! (and then delaying multiple Inferno! volumes) and halving of the advent calendar stories really tanked their short story output, even if they put out more anthologies instead.

It's all short stories published in print for the first time that year, whether that was in an anthology, an omnibus, as an extra short in a LE... The 95 shorts published in 2021 include shorts that were published as e-shorts years ago, but exclude things like the Advent shorts and the Gods and Monsters Week shorts.