Upcoming BL Stuff 2024

[Felix Antipodes]

8 hours ago, Dzirhan said:

I'll lean to being a little positive on this, Iron Kingdom was decent enough and Kyme seems to have improved from his HH Salamanders book (which was tedious to read IMO). Interesting to see what comes next after DoF, will BL launch another series or call time on that format and just stick to stand alone books or at most a duology or trilogy. Edit: to add also, since it's Kyme, we'll probably see some Marines Malevolent in it, which is not a bad thing IMO

 

I was one of those who was disappointed with The Iron Kingdom but that was because, like several of the later novels, it seemed to be unrelated to the initial plot and storyline of the first novels.  Nothing to do with Kyle’s writing, which has improved in recent times.

Now that they are approaching the series end they seem (from what I’m reading in the promo) to round up and complete as many as the sub-plots as possible before the big finish.  This is a good thing (imho) as it really bugs me when plot lines get forgotten and left unresolved.  Even if I hated the story itself 

Now, where do we think Haley will go in the finale?  Maybe pick up on our favourite Historita’s mission into Nihilis?  An overview of what the other Crusade fleets (besides the two or three we’ve seen) accomplished?

[DukeLeto69]

5 hours ago, Felix Antipodes said:

 

I was one of those who was disappointed with The Iron Kingdom but that was because, like several of the later novels, it seemed to be unrelated to the initial plot and storyline of the first novels.  Nothing to do with Kyle’s writing, which has improved in recent times.

Now that they are approaching the series end they seem (from what I’m reading in the promo) to round up and complete as many as the sub-plots as possible before the big finish.  This is a good thing (imho) as it really bugs me when plot lines get forgotten and left unresolved.  Even if I hated the story itself 

Now, where do we think Haley will go in the finale?  Maybe pick up on our favourite Historita’s mission into Nihilis?  An overview of what the other Crusade fleets (besides the two or three we’ve seen) accomplished?

Y’all know this but…One thing Haley’s final book needs to do is be a bridge to his Dark Imperium trilogy.

[DarkChaplain]

FYI, BL finally realized their Ahriman: Undying blunder and have taken it down from Audible since yesterday. Only took them 5 days.

 

As for the finale, I don't really think we'll see a Nihilus book from Haley; Fabian Guelphrain was sent off already and I think we're due more a book or trilogy about Guilliman crossing the rift after Dawn of Fire and Dark Imperium (since Guelphrain has both a story to tell to Guilliman from his time over, which could be handled in flashbacks, while DI also ends with Roboute wanting to make the crossing, and we have the Devastation of Baal as the next goal post).

 

Instead it's probably more likely we'll see something related to Vigilus, to get Calgar back to Ultramar, though I'd wager we're getting something original for the final book.

 

Spoiler

Again, all artifacts have been gathered, and we're made to believe that Abaddon is about to remake the Anathame.

 

So I expect the Plaguebro on the cover (who may or may not relate to the Martyr's Tomb) may herald the bridge into the Plague Wars, but Nihilus should be a topic for later.

Edited February 15 by DarkChaplain

[DukeLeto69]

33 minutes ago, DarkChaplain said:

FYI, BL finally realized their Ahriman: Undying blunder and have taken it down from Audible since yesterday. Only took them 5 days.

 

As for the finale, I don't really think we'll see a Nihilus book from Haley; Fabian Guelphrain was sent off already and I think we're due more a book or trilogy about Guilliman crossing the rift after Dawn of Fire and Dark Imperium (since Guelphrain has both a story to tell to Guilliman from his time over, which could be handled in flashbacks, while DI also ends with Roboute wanting to make the crossing, and we have the Devastation of Baal as the next goal post).

 

Instead it's probably more likely we'll see something related to Vigilus, to get Calgar back to Ultramar, though I'd wager we're getting something original for the final book.

 

  Hide contents

Again, all artifacts have been gathered, and we're made to believe that Abaddon is about to remake the Anathame.

 

So I expect the Plaguebro on the cover (who may or may not relate to the Martyr's Tomb) may herald the bridge into the Plague Wars, but Nihilus should be a topic for later.

I bow to you Loremaster.

 

I just hope the “blueprint” of making all the Dark Imperium stuff make sense (with time shifts for DI trilogy etc) is something BL stick to and actually finish before getting distracted by something new and shiny!

[Taliesin]

Checked Amazon to see if there is anything coming up this year that we can see but there really seems to be a near complete blackout on upcoming releases.

I see virtually only paperback releases listed for books from 2023, the coming soon section on Warcom is gone and December's preview gave us less than ever before. And that was before they cancelled the BL Celebration 2024.

 

So either there really is something significant coming that various authors are (and have been) devoting their time too, or the blackout is because they have nothing to report.

 

Some people I am curious about:

 

Haley- normally does a few novels, nothing listed, and a quiet 2023 for him as well.

Wraight- Nothing yet. Used to be good for 2 novels a year at least. Had a quiet 2023 also with just Sea of Souls, but in fairness I think he had 2/3 books out in 2022.

ADB- Unknown

Abnett- Unknown, was doing a book in a 40k series so something is coming from him this year it seems, either Pandaemonium, a new Gaunnts Ghosts world book or Interceptor City

Nate Crowley- 3 well received novels, total silence since

 

 

Edited February 15 by Taliesin

[DarkChaplain]

Yeah, I've also been checking once in a while and there's just reprints, omnibus reissues and localizations of old material being listed. The Catachan novel is supposedly due in April, Eidolon in May, but that's about it.

 

....and Horror seems dead. It's still lacking the finale of the quadrilogy, too.

[cheywood]

24 minutes ago, Taliesin said:

Checked Amazon to see if there is anything coming up this year that we can see but there really seems to be a near complete blackout on upcoming releases.

I see virtually only paperback releases listed for books from 2023, the coming soon section on Warcom is gone and December's preview gave us less than ever before. And that was before they cancelled the BL Celebration 2024.

 

So either there really is something significant coming that various authors are and have devoted their time too, or the blackout is because they have nothing to report.

 

Some people I am curious about:

 

Haley- normally does a few novels, nothing listed, and a quiet 2023 for him as well.

Wraight- Nothing yet. Used to be good for 2 novels a year at least. Had a quiet 2023 also with just Sea of Souls, but in fairness I think he had 2/3 books out in 2022.

ADB- Unknown

Abnett- Unknown, was doing a book in a 40k series so something is coming from him this year it seems, either Pandaemonium, a new Gaunnts Ghosts world book or Interceptor City

Nate Crowley- 3 well received novels, total silence since

 

 

BL has been systematically reducing the amount of advance notice they give for new releases for years. I think it’s less a sign of massive things happening and more a result of GW’s pathological need for control of their brand. They want to be the only one to announce books and they don’t want the direct tie-ins to give away model release dates. They tried to get rid of the coming soon section in 2021 or thereabouts but eventually brought it back for instance. Thankfully the lack of previews hasn’t correlated with a lack of novels in my eyes, but we’ll see what the future holds. 
 

Here’s what I know of the authors you mention:

 

Haley - he did have 2.5 novels come out in 2022 (depending on how you count Prince Maesa) and has another one out next week. I think he’s talked on Twitter about slowing down a bit/doing a greater variety of projects, so I’m not surprised to see him cut down his number of projects and dabble in AOS. He’s also almost certainly busy wrapping up DoF, and maybe planning the successor series, if that’s still the plan.
 

Wraight - had two novels out in 2022. Just Sea of Souls last year, but he’s mentioned on his website that 2022-2023 was a very busy year in terms of writing, and that we’ll likely see some sort of continuation of Vaults of Terra at some point. He left Twitter in 2022 so it might seem like he’s been less involved with the community as a result. 

 

ADB - who really knows? We’re all anticipating BL 3 and Spears 2, but the man works at a glacial pace so we’ll get them when we get them I guess.

 

Abnett - seemingly still working away as you mention. He hinted about Interceptor City being his current WIP a few years ago in an interview, no word since. Maybe BL is sitting on it? Authors say that happens sometimes given the nature of BL’s scheduling. 
 

Crowley - another mystery. His Reddit comments suggest he’s still writing for BL though, as does his advent short story from last year. He hinted that he was working on some Kroot fiction at one point. In an ideal world we’ll get a Kroot novel from Crowley to accompany the new models.

 

No, I definitely don’t pay far too much attention to what BL authors say on social media. Why do you ask? 

Edited February 15 by cheywood

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, cheywood said:

No, I definitely don’t pay far too much attention to what BL authors say on social media. Why do you ask? 

 

It's seemingly the only way to figure out what's going on since BL refuses to communicate

[Taliesin]

6 hours ago, cheywood said:

BL has been systematically reducing the amount of advance notice they give for new releases for years. I think it’s less a sign of massive things happening and more a result of GW’s pathological need for control of their brand. They want to be the only one to announce books and they don’t want the direct tie-ins to give away model release dates. 

 

 

I think thats definitely true, they want the customer to have no advance notice and of course induce FOMO . However they seem extremely close lipped the last few months, either there is something serious coming I think, like perhaps that Scouring series, or there is very little output and that explains the silence.

[cheywood]

10 minutes ago, Taliesin said:

 

I think thats definitely true, they want the customer to have no advance notice and of course induce FOMO . However they seem extremely close lipped the last few months, either there is something serious coming I think, like perhaps that Scouring series, or there is very little output and that explains the silence.

I really think it’s neither of those things. This lack of communication is just the new normal and not reflective of any dramatic change in what BL’s publishing.
 

The Scouring series is almost certainly coming, Valrak said that books have already been written, but I’m not sure how that explains the general silence around 40k and AOS releases. No reason the Scouring’s imminent arrival would preclude BL previewing more WFB books for example. 
 

There’s not really any sign of a slowdown either. 2022 was a bit of an outlier with close to 40 titles, but BL has generally put out 30ish new novels a year in recent years. They put out 31 last year and are on pace for 28 this year (and would be on pace for 32 if Morvenn Vahl came out on it’s intended date). To the best of my knowledge none of the writers have mentioned a downturn in work and BL is publishing novels by many new and talented writers. That doesn’t sound like a publisher planning to reduce its output to me.

[Taliesin]

I dont know, it feels to me as if output did reduce last year. Perhaps factually in terms of numbers it didnt, I certainly didnt keep count, but it felt like a slight year.

What have we had in the 6/7 weeks of 2024 so far? Siege of Terra 10 and aside from that I dont even recall any notable release.

I guess we can include the artbook but that is not new work of course. 

 

And then looking at he preview from December....very little stood out there. And that was their moment to announce stuff right, if its true that they want to keep cards to the chest and use their own medium.... then that was their moment to shine and delight. 

 

I guess I am just hopeful that something big will be announced that explains the relative silence surrounding the authors I highlighted above as being curious about.

[cheywood]

7 minutes ago, Taliesin said:

I dont know, it feels to me as if output did reduce last year. Perhaps factually in terms of numbers it didnt, I certainly didnt keep count, but it felt like a slight year.

What have we had in the 6/7 weeks of 2024 so far? Siege of Terra 10 and aside from that I dont even recall any notable release.

I guess we can include the artbook but that is not new work of course. 

 

And then looking at he preview from December....very little stood out there. And that was their moment to announce stuff right, if its true that they want to keep cards to the chest and use their own medium.... then that was their moment to shine and delight. 

 

I guess I am just hopeful that something big will be announced that explains the relative silence surrounding the authors I highlighted above as being curious about.

I think this is mostly a case of perception over reality. A number of fraters believe BL has dramatically curtailed its release schedule but I just don’t see it, at least when it comes to novels. 
 

According to my count 2021 and 2023 had the same number of new novels - 31. 2022 was an outlier with 40. I was not tracking release numbers before 2021, but I believe @theSpirea keeps very accurate records of what BL has published. Maybe they can add more context about earlier years?
 

The reduction in short stories and demise of audio dramas does make the cupboards look rather bare though. But I think there’s a difference between moving away from unsuccessful products (the audio dramas rarely generated as much discussion as the novels and many of the short stories were totally ignored by the community) and cutting core business output. 

fnac has March’s releases listed. Beyond what we’ve already gotten in January and February we have Lazarus, Ahriman: Undying, and Callis & Toll out next month. That’s 7 books in three months, on pace for 28 books over the full year. It would be 32 were it not for Vahl’s delay.
 

I think the preview being smaller is also a reflection of BL limiting the amount of info it gives out in advance. And with the continued use of Warcom to announce new books every few weeks it’s natural for the previews to be smaller. 
 

I always want more 40k fiction too, but I struggle to see Wraight, Haley or Abnett as particularly silent in recent years. Since 2022 each has released at least 3 novels!

 

But we’ll see what time brings. Hopefully we get 30+ novels this year and in all subsequent years until the earth is subsumed by the sun.

[DukeLeto69]

I think the lack of tentpole releases creates the perception of a lean year. If 2024 saw:

 

Abnett = Pandaemonium

ADB = Black Legion 3

Wraight = Watchers of the Throne 3

Fehervari = anything

And the first of The Scouring series

 

Then most folks would think otherwise.

[Taliesin]

I didnt say Wraight, Haley or Abnett have been silent though. 

Abnett clearly hasnt been, we know what he has been releasing and he has something coming up.

However Haley and Wraights output is less than what they averaged for quite a number of years, so that is certainly notable. Haley used to have a batting average of 3-4 novels, Wraight one of 2 to 3 novels a year. And we havent heard anything about what they have scheduled for 2024, plus they had less last year.

 

I also see there is a general reduction going on with BL on every other area. The cancellation of the BL Weekender, the cancellation of BL Live, the non-existent Celebration, the now very limited annual preview, the absence of authors interviews, the cancellation of the Coming Soon page. Less novels for Warhammer Crime, the  cancellation of Warhammer Horror. But that wasnt even what I was getting at, because its still possible all those things are not related to output, just with reduced effort as a whole.

 

Quote

I think the preview being smaller is also a reflection of BL limiting the amount of info it gives out in advance.

 

Maybe, or, there isnt much to say. Or, there is something that several authors have been working on that is as yet unrevealed.

 

I'm not sure about the validity of Valrak saying the Scouring books are coming, did he just say that based on rumors out there or was he actually fed those rumors from his quality sources?

[grailkeeper]

If they do a scouring series would people prefer if it was largely

 

A) a fresh start with entirely new characters 

 

Or 

 

B) A continuation of the heresy?

 

A newnseries that carried on from almost 70 other books with dozens of incomplete plot lines comes with a fair  bit of baggage.

[cheywood]

1 hour ago, Taliesin said:

I didnt say Wraight, Haley or Abnett have been silent though. 

Abnett clearly hasnt been, we know what he has been releasing and he has something coming up.

However Haley and Wraights output is less than what they averaged for quite a number of years, so that is certainly notable. Haley used to have a batting average of 3-4 novels, Wraight one of 2 to 3 novels a year. And we havent heard anything about what they have scheduled for 2024, plus they had less last year.

Err, you definitely said Wraight, Abnett and Haley had been relatively silent, unless I’m misunderstanding. Apologies if that’s the case! Wraight doesn’t always put out 2-3 novels either. Warhawk was his only release in 2021. I’d say 1-2 is closer to his average in recent years.

 

2 hours ago, Taliesin said:

I guess I am just hopeful that something big will be announced that explains the relative silence surrounding the authors I highlighted above as being curious about.

 

1 hour ago, Taliesin said:

I also see there is a general reduction going on with BL on every other area. The cancellation of the BL Weekender, the cancellation of BL Live, the non-existent Celebration, the now very limited annual preview, the absence of authors interviews, the cancellation of the Coming Soon page. Less novels for Warhammer Crime, the  cancellation of Warhammer Horror. But that wasnt even what I was getting at, because its still possible all those things are not related to output, just with reduced effort as a whole.

 

I'm not sure about the validity of Valrak saying the Scouring books are coming, did he just say that based on rumors out there or was he actually fed those rumors from his quality sources?

I thought GW as a whole was struggling to competently host events, but living in the US my knowledge is mostly secondhand. Completely agree about Warhammer Horror and Crime though.

 

I don’t know the provenance of Valrak’s rumors. My understanding is he’s usually pretty on point with his BL reporting though.

[Felix Antipodes]

2 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

If they do a scouring series would people prefer if it was largely

 

A) a fresh start with entirely new characters 

 

Or 

 

B) A continuation of the heresy?

 

A newnseries that carried on from almost 70 other books with dozens of incomplete plot lines comes with a fair  bit of baggage.

 

Since we only have the names of a few of the future Chapter Masters (like Amit, etc) there is plenty of scope to introduce and/or focus on a relatively new cast of characters.  They should also focus on the monumentally big changes happening in the period as well, such as the rise of the High Lords, the segregation of the Imperial Army, etc.

 

While I think it is only logical that there would be some carry over from the Heresy, I hope they limit that to the surviving Primarchs for the most part and their competing visions for the future of the Imperium.

 

Most importantly though, imho, is that they make it a setting where they can jump from one time period/story to another rather than trying to catch lightning in a bottle “we’ve got it sorted this time, really!”.  They should also limit that era to the end of the HH to the disappearance of the last Primarch (Guilliman?) which leaves a gap between the Scouring and the Beast Arises storyline.

 

If nothing else, the HH, Beast Arises, Dawn of Time, etc, has shown is that linear series by multiple authors just doesn’t work.

[WrathOfTheLion]

3 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

If they do a scouring series would people prefer if it was largely

 

A) a fresh start with entirely new characters 

 

Or 

 

B) A continuation of the heresy?

 

A newnseries that carried on from almost 70 other books with dozens of incomplete plot lines comes with a fair  bit of baggage.

They need to do a bit of both. Story-wise, the Scouring itself is a continuation of the Heresy. At the beginning, you'll have the remaining Loyalist Primarchs conducting the campaign, you'll have the interactions with Luther on Caliban, etc. However, as it goes on, a lot of those characters start fading out, and so they have ample opportunity to introduce new characters as well.

[DarkChaplain]

At this point, after TEATD, I think a Scouring miniseries has to happen, if only because of all the things the finale didn't cover, didn't tackle, didn't finish.

 

But I still have no interest in a Scouring as a setting. Do the big events and wrap up loose ends, that's enough for me.

[wecanhaveallthree]

To my mind, the Scouring has a few 'big events' that need to be covered - Caliban, Iron Cage, etc - but I think the biggest issue with it is that it's, well... it's just gonna be 40K but with Primarchs roaming about. The Great Crusade 'setting' is distinct with its lack of Chaos and focus on aliens and divergent human civilisations, but a Scouring series is literally going to be what we've got in the 'now' of the setting: Imperials playing tag with Chaos. At which point I'd infinitely rather authors be writing in the 'now'.

[Nagashsnee]

3 hours ago, wecanhaveallthree said:

 but I think the biggest issue with it is that it's, well... it's just gonna be 40K but with Primarchs roaming about. 

 

LoL no thats what it would have been 10 years ago, now its going to be JUST like 40k. 

 

I can see it now!

Scouring Book 1-The lion heads back to caliban to discover what happened to his sons.

40k random book- The lion heads back to caliban to discover what happened to his sons.

 

40k has become 30k light for a while and becomes ever more so by the day. 

[LemartestheLost]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:24 AM, Roomsky said:

Very much enjoyed Iron Kingdom, quite excited for this. Heresy, I know.

 

I think Kyme's editorial experience is a positive influence on his plotting; he's good at picking up the slack others have left hanging, IMO. Also, there's a bloody Votann on the cover.

 

Iron Kingdom was only okay in my eyes, but I will definitely be picking this up solely due to the fact the Votann are actually getting loreTM.

[theSpirea]

Here are numbers for the past 4 years:

2023: 31 novels (10 AoS, 19 40K, 2 HH), 2 novellas, 35 short stories, 5 anthologies
2022: 38 novels (11 AoS, 22 40K, 5 HH), 1 novella, 46 short stories, 11 anthologies
2021: 26 novels (6 AoS, 16 40K, 4 HH), 6 novellas, 32 short stories, 10 anthologies
2020: 25 novels (5 AoS, 16 40K, 4 HH), 9 novellas, 61 short stories, 10 anthologies, 4 audio dramas

* published year is consider when ebook/hardback came out. For example, Warboss LE was in 2022 and ebook/hardback in 2023 = the book is tracked under 2023 only. Or Astorath LE was in 2020 and general release in 2022, tracked only under 2023
* Necromunda is tracked under 40K and it seems to be dead, last novel published was in 2021

* Crime is under 40K, Horror based on the setting, split between 40K and AoS
* short stories - only counted those published as separate/individual ebooks. Not tracking new stories from anthologies

* Reader's Choice, PoDs and similar reprints are not counted

 

For Chris Wraight output, he started writing for BL in 2008 and since then he has 33 books (28 novels, 5 novellas). 28 novels in 16 years. You can see there's only one novel in 2017 and 2019, it might be also due to how BL postpones and times releases but Wraight isn't averaging 3-4 novels a year and I wouldn't say his output is lower than what it used to be. 

2008 - Masters of Magic
2009 - Dark Storm Gatherin
2009 - Iron Company
2010 - Sword of Justice
2011 - Battle of the Fang
2011 - Dragonmage (novella)
2011 - Sword of Vengeance
2012 - Brotherhood of the Storm (novella)
2012 - Luthor Huss
2012 - Wrath of Iron
2013 - Blood Asaheim
2013 - Master of Dragons
2014 - Scars
2014 - Stormcaller
2014 - The Hunt for Magnus (novella)
2015 - The Fall of Altdorf
2015 - The Gates of Azyr (novella)
2015 - Wolf King (novella)
2016 - Leman Russ: The Great Wolf
2016 - The Path of Heaven
2017 - The Carrion Throne
2018 - Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris
2018 - The Emperor's Legion
2018 - The Lords of Silence
2019 - The Hollow Mountain
2020 - Bloodlines
2020 - Regent's Shadow
2020 - Valdor: Birth of the Imperium
2021 - The Helwinter Gate
2021 - Warhawk
2022 - Sanguinius: The Great Angel
2022 - The Dark City
2023 - Sea of Souls

 

I quickly put this together, please let me know if you notice there's a mistake.

[norDrow]

Here are my numbers. Release year is counted as the first year a story is available, whether that is in electronic or physical format.

[DukeLeto69]

There is definite warp (publishing scheduling) shenanigans when it comes to author output.

 

For example, we know for a fact that Abnett wrote I Am Slaughter a few years before it eventually got published.

 

I believe (hope) BL have had authors writing books that they have been holding off from releasing due to wanting to get HH:SoT done and dusted. Abnett writing a book split into three volumes (and lore ramifications) may have forced some delay/rescheduling.

 

Then again maybe I am just wishlisting?