Upcoming BL Stuff - 2022

[caladancid]

9 hours ago, wecanhaveallthree said:

I think the big issue with the Ynnari - aside from being sabotaged by a difficult to please factional fanbase - was that their books are an introduction to the faction, not a power fantasy or something with finality. They show us the main characters of the faction, explore their general objectives and beliefs, and present them warts and all to go forward into the future. For me, that was the really interesting stuff: exploring the faction, their history, the perspectives that change and get lost over that huge span of time. Are they right? Are they wrong? We don't know, but they're approaching things from a new angle. The 'old ways' got them into this mess, and maybe it's time to try something different. It was fresh! It was exciting! But it wasn't the Eldar people wanted, so it was attacked by the people who ordinarily would be the ones championing it. A shame.

 

 

 

It is actually much simpler than that. Good/excellent products sell copies. Bad product does not sell. Did I think a novel about the Death Guard, a group I had no previous interest in at all, would become one of my favorites- sure did not. But it was Chris Wraight and I heard it was good so I tried it.

 

You can look for reasons everywhere, and I am not entirely discounting what you said or others have said, but Gav Thorpe generally writes mediocre stories and the Eldar novels (I own them btw) are not written well. 

[byrd9999]

A new author, Nate Crowley, got 2 books published on necrons no one had ever heard of before, and they are brilliant.

 

No name author, no name characters, no big 40k plot development, just a great story told in a fantastic way.

 

The same could be done with any faction in 40k, you just need talent/inspiration. I don't think the usual churning out the words will do in most cases except for Ultramarines/Space Wolves/Blood Angels.

[theSpirea]

I'd say it's also important to factor in a rather significant influx of BL buyers. Ynnari books came out in 2018. At that point even Limited editions stayed up for weeks on BL/GW website. I mean, Lords of Silence or Celestine for example were there for very long time for what 65 USD? Now they are selling for around $400.

[wecanhaveallthree]

The 'not written well' I hear so often in relation to these books gives me real Principal Skinner vibes. Am I so out of touch? I still think Ghost Warrior's intro is some of the best writing in the canon with how it plays on (and with) us as readers and frames the book! Perhaps it's because these books are such vigorous deconstructions of myth and divinity that they get such short thrift. I understand it's entirely objective, of course, but I found the writing to be largely competent, playful and keen. Maybe it's that it feels much closer to an Old World romp than dour 40K, with the 'gods' feeling so much closer to the story? I'm seeing some similar feedback in relation to the recently-released 

Spoiler

Shadowsun.

 

Speaking of Necron novels, that just boggles my mind. There is no functional difference between the Watcher in the Dark and what's presented in Infinite and the Divine. When I came out of Wild Rider, I fully expected to see her in memes for the next decade. Girlboss Necrontyr demanding people witness the firepower of her fully armed and operational superweapon had me in stitches. But I think most people had checked out by then, alas.

[cheywood]

I think there’s a lot of factors at play in the lack of successful Eldar novels, but to me the biggest reason is tone. 
 

BL’s found success with xenos novels recently through a pretty straightforward formula: zany characters, over the top plots and a mix of pathos and humor. Necrons and Orks are, seemingly, perfect for this. Both species have viewpoints on the universe that are, from a human perspective, absolutely bonkers insane after all.

 

Craftworld Eldar, on the other hand, are tragic, relatable, and largely humorless. As a faction they don’t suit the tone of The Infinite and The Divine or Brutal Kunnin’. They’re better off in more serious stories, dealing with their efforts to stop the long slow slide into extinction that humanity is similarly facing. But serious war stories are BL’s bread and butter, so the Eldar novels get lost in the shuffle among books with better prose and (probably most important) more popular factions. 

It doesn’t help that Thorpe’s the only one writing about the Eldar consistently. Readers are likely more familiar with his absolutely atrocious Space Marines novels than the quality work he does with other factions. 

 

Personally I think a Harlequin novel, preferably from someone new to the faction, would get a lot of positive attention and show off the potential of the Eldar. 

[phandaal]

2 hours ago, cheywood said:

Personally I think a Harlequin novel, preferably from someone new to the faction, would get a lot of positive attention and show off the potential of the Eldar.

 

A book about the Craftworld Eldar escaping from their empire on the eve of the birth of Slaanesh would be cool.

 

Societal collapse, frenzied debauchery, civilization crumbling around them, massive warp instability caused by Slaanesh's imminent birth. Assuming the Eldar who chose to remain within the empire were not jazzed about a bunch of prudes building themselves giant spacecraft either.

[Noserenda]

I like most of Gav Thorpes work but had no real urge to pick up the Ynnarri books, heard no good buzz about them either, unlike both the recent Necron series where again i wasnt bothered but great buzz meant i picked them up and loved them. Its not the Eldar either, i picked up the Phoenix lord books and enjoyed those, gutted the series is apparently dead half way :/ 

[Sothalor]

1 hour ago, phandaal said:

 

A book about the Craftworld Eldar escaping from their empire on the eve of the birth of Slaanesh would be cool.

 

Societal collapse, frenzied debauchery, civilization crumbling around them, massive warp instability caused by Slaanesh's imminent birth. Assuming the Eldar who chose to remain within the empire were not jazzed about a bunch of prudes building themselves giant spacecraft either.

 

This was kind of the purview of Asurmen and Jain Zar. They were much more focused on the personal stories/experiences, and I think that's a better choice. The scale of the catastrophe is so vast that it would otherwise lose its impact. Like the (in)famous quote by Stalin: "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic."

 

It's partly why disaster movies inevitably focus on a select few core characters. Same for war movies. Even historical books and narratives tend to "zoom in" on anecdotes of individuals to highlight representative experiences for the subject matter they cover.

 

That's just our nature as humans. We identify and empathize with stories about other, recognizable people - and not so much about large chunks of populations.

[Knockagh]

A book on the fall of the eldar would be superb. Loved Jain Zar it was great, the bits of the  story on the pre fall society was something really different for 40K. Somehow I really doubt we will get one anytime soon. The appetite for eldar fiction seems to be very small. 

[phandaal]

18 hours ago, Sothalor said:

 

This was kind of the purview of Asurmen and Jain Zar. They were much more focused on the personal stories/experiences, and I think that's a better choice. The scale of the catastrophe is so vast that it would otherwise lose its impact. Like the (in)famous quote by Stalin: "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic."

 

It's partly why disaster movies inevitably focus on a select few core characters. Same for war movies. Even historical books and narratives tend to "zoom in" on anecdotes of individuals to highlight representative experiences for the subject matter they cover.

 

That's just our nature as humans. We identify and empathize with stories about other, recognizable people - and not so much about large chunks of populations.

 

Small-scale is what I was thinking, not the entire proto-Craftworld society. That would read more like a history book than a novel.

 

Something about a group of Eldar getting the hell out of Dodge right before the End of Days. Maybe a Guardian (or whatever they were called at the time) has to fight through the madness to get his family on board one of the last shuttles out to a Craftworld, classic disaster movie storytelling. Would not have to be groundbreaking in its tropes, it would just be cool to see one of those stories play out from the Eldar's perspective.

[Guest Triszin]

*Tin foil hat*

(black library) What if watchers of the throne 3, and pandemonium (bequin book 3) are the same book

[Noserenda]

Well Aleya would enhance literally any book with her presence...

[System Sound]

Hmmm!

[DukeLeto69]

18 minutes ago, System Sound said:

Hmmm!

Hmmm indeed!

[Ubiquitous1984]

2 hours ago, System Sound said:

Hmmm!

A Sisters of Silence novel?!  Please make it happen!

[skylerboodie]

Underneath the Sister's head there is an Eagle and a Black Templar cross so perhaps this is an amalgam of various new reveals (Genestealers included)? Or all just one book of course!

[SkimaskMohawk]

22 hours ago, Noserenda said:

Well Aleya would enhance literally any book with her presence...

Which version of her? Because watchers 1 aleya and watchers 2 are distinctly different.

[Krelious]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:31 AM, DukeLeto69 said:

Oh if we want fun wild wishlisting then I can play...

 

Abnett = Pandaemonium

Abnett = Interceptor City

ADB = Black Legion 3

Wraight = WotT3

French = Horusian Wars 3

Ferharvari = a new novel

 

I would be happy as a grox in excrement  

 

 

Unfortunately, I think Spear of the Emperor 2 is coming before Black Legion 3. I remember seeing or hearing from an interview that Spear 2 was done and waiting for release and a big tip off are the short stories in the space marine successors anthology. 

[cheywood]

5 minutes ago, Krelious said:

 

 

Unfortunately, I think Spear of the Emperor 2 is coming before Black Legion 3. I remember seeing or hearing from an interview that Spear 2 was done and waiting for release and a big tip off are the short stories in the space marine successors anthology. 

ADB finished Echoes last fall and it was the first novel he’d completed since Spears 1. He tweeted about it right before he quit social media. Maybe’s he’s finished Spears 2 since then, but it didn’t sound that way from his blog post a few months back. I think it’s likely we don’t hear about new work from him until 2023, but I hope I’m wrong.  
 

The Spears short stories originally came out years ago. One was part of the limited edition, the other was in White Dwarf if I recall correctly.

Edited December 2, 2022 by cheywood

[skylerboodie]

On 11/2/2022 at 3:31 PM, skylerboodie said:

Could well be the five short stories previously released separately / digitally:

 

Grandfather's Gift: A Mortarion Story	Guy Haley
The Atonement of Fire	David Annandale
A Lesson in Iron	David Guymer
Ghost of Nuceria	Ian St Martin
Will of the Legion – A Rogal Dorn Story	Andy Clark

 

 

 

The contents of Heirs of the Emperor is now showing on GW (NZ site) and it's not the expected five short stories, the listing includes the following:

 

Grandfather's Gift	Guy Haley
The Atonement of Fire	David Annandale
A Lesson in Iron	David Guymer
Lantern's Light	James Swallow
Will of the Legion	Andy Clark
Embers of Extinction	Brandon Easton

 

So, Ghost of Nuceria is missing, but also weirdly Prince of Blood by L J Goulding that was in the original anthology Sons of the Emperor is also missing; both Angron stories, so perhaps being saved back for a tie-in release when his model comes? Even if so, I still don't think they should have been left out here.

 

 

[chevalierdulys]

So last month the Dark Empirium was 125€.

Gotrek is now 130€ - although we are not paying shipping due to be over 100€ but why the 5€ increase in one month? This is increasing a lot...

I consulted the NZ website and there converted to Euro it costs around 80€ 

Why this difference? Makes no sense. For a guy who earns around 800€ per month I can't really buy all the sepcial editions and so on... Bah It would be nice knowing in advance what are going to be the monthly special editions/releases...

[Lord Marshal]

On 11/30/2022 at 12:32 PM, caladancid said:

 

It is actually much simpler than that. Good/excellent products sell copies. Bad product does not sell. Did I think a novel about the Death Guard, a group I had no previous interest in at all, would become one of my favorites- sure did not. But it was Chris Wraight and I heard it was good so I tried it.

 

You can look for reasons everywhere, and I am not entirely discounting what you said or others have said, but Gav Thorpe generally writes mediocre stories and the Eldar novels (I own them btw) are not written well. 

 

Quality doesn't always equate to sales. Someone keeps writing Phil Kelly checks for Tau books despite them being widely panned.

 

By comparison Peter Fehervari's stuff doesn't seem to shift too many copies despite often being regarded as the best BL has.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Lord Marshal

[chevalierdulys]

Btw, one question regarding their website... why do they remove all information on sold stuff? How can we see what has been sold and so on? Like a history?

[cheywood]

4 hours ago, chevalierdulys said:

Btw, one question regarding their website... why do they remove all information on sold stuff? How can we see what has been sold and so on? Like a history?

That’s pretty normal I think. Many (all?) online stores take down product listings once the product is sold out for good. Otherwise you’d have hundreds of product listings that people can’t do anything but look at. 

[Ubiquitous1984]

Just a reminder everyone that the BL reveal event is at 2pm GMT today.  It is usually streamed on Twitch.