Upcoming BL Stuff 2025

[FabiusV4lcoran]

Skulls for the Skull Throne!

[Fedor]

18 hours ago, phandaal said:

 

If their recent "lol idk he just teleports or whatever idk man" reveal for the Lion is the quality we can expect, I have no positive anticipation for whatever neat little details they will have Gav Thorpe and Mike Brooks "fill in" for the Dark Angels.

 

Forgeworld Black Books buried the 30k Dark Angels in a sea of cheese anyway. Having the noble Lion-sue be able to largely teleport about bypassing the warp via some vague "watchers domain" is on brand.

[Tolmeus]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/dtvkowlq/sunday-preview-fight-in-dead-silence-and-dont-wake-the-necrons/

 

Going to be a big week for Black Library 

We got Archmagos coming, both as Hardback and Limited Edition 

We got another Limited Edition, Harrowmaster 

We gor the Illustrated/Annotated Edition of Eisenhorn: Hereticus

We got the Omnibus of The Twice-Dead King

[darkhorse0607]

Guess I finally need to finish Genefather

[Krelious]

I feel like instead of making shoddy limited editions of books no one asked for I think it would be better if BL started reprinting all the primarch novels and just in general reprint hardback copies of HH novels that are in high demand. 

[DarkChaplain]

Haha, that Hereticus description ends with:

 

Quote

It will be available to pre-order strictly while stocks last.

 

As opposed to what? Every other BL release that doesn't get a normal retail launch?

They also marked it as getting an ebook and audiobook, despite both already being available. Warcom is so silly.

 

The Twice-Dead King Omnibus is really nice in that it includes both short stories from the limited/special editions, which hadn't been released properly before. It does, however, absolutely suck as far as the cover is concerned. Both novels had excellent cover art, and this is just generic Necron stuff they've still had lying around.

[Tolmeus]

7 minutes ago, Krelious said:

it would be better if BL started reprinting all the primarch novels and just in general reprint hardback copies of HH novels that are in high demand. 

 

You are not wrong in my opinion. Nevertheless, it should be said, that BL already did that a few years back when the re-released all of the HH books as Hardbacks 4 to 5 books quarterly or so. 

And they are even now releasing a German Omnibus Hardback Version for each 3 books.

 

Still, I also wonder that they don't print more paperbacks of the whole series (we got like 10 books available at the moment)

[wecanhaveallthree]

BL need to release McNeill's Horus book so they can sell a full eighteen-book special edition (a twenty book box with two empty places).

[Bestkeptsecret]

Spoiler

Another legion update from the Ashes of the Imperium novel by Chris Wraight from reddit by a lucky German reader.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited November 3 by Bestkeptsecret

[Nagashsnee]

Thank you for using spoilers.

Edited November 3 by Nagashsnee

[Bestkeptsecret]

@Nagashsnee Can you please delete your comment? I was able to fix the spoiler images myself. I fixed my earlier picture post too. All taken care of  :)

[Taliesin]

 

23 hours ago, DarkChaplain said:

Haha, that Hereticus description ends with:

 

 

As opposed to what? Every other BL release that doesn't get a normal retail launch?

They also marked it as getting an ebook and audiobook, despite both already being available. Warcom is so silly.

 

The Twice-Dead King Omnibus is really nice in that it includes both short stories from the limited/special editions, which hadn't been released properly before. It does, however, absolutely suck as far as the cover is concerned. Both novels had excellent cover art, and this is just generic Necron stuff they've still had lying around.

 

Yes. I interpret that line as their way of warning us that this is a book that might sell out in hours, rather than their other hardcovers which sell out in weeks rather than years.

[darkhorse0607]

For the author tracker

 

McNeill posted on X (saw it on Reddit so I cant link it because I won't make an X account) that he has an outline for a new Ventris trilogy, he is just waiting on approval from BL

 

 

[theSpirea]

4 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

For the author tracker

 

McNeill posted on X (saw it on Reddit so I cant link it because I won't make an X account) that he has an outline for a new Ventris trilogy, he is just waiting on approval from BL

 

 

He said after he was fired from Riot that he's ready to work for BL again but wasn't given approached yet.

You'd think BL would go after him right away.

[Nagashsnee]

43 minutes ago, theSpirea said:

He said after he was fired from Riot that he's ready to work for BL again but wasn't given approached yet.

You'd think BL would go after him right away.

100% serious why?

 

Why would BL  run after a former employ who left years ago, they have theoretically moved on from his departure a long time ago. Like sure he msgs them, they respond, maybe they work together. But  'go after him right away.', thats the kind of thing you do for a hot shot author/actor/whatever who is in demand, not a ex employ who left years ago and got fired from his job. 

 

BL is not hurting for authors, or money, or time, or anything, even if they wanted him back chasing after him would be a terrible move if nothing else from a bussiness perspective, as it would give him bargaining power.  They cant struggle to find someone to write Ultramarine stories that much.   And i liked allot of his work, but cant say i have found myself wishing for another one of his books.

 

 

[theSpirea]

Afaik McNeill never left GW/BL because he was always contractor? Getting fired from Riot gave him more time to work for BL again.

Is he in demand? We simply have no idea who is the best selling BL author. We can estimate that since they've done a few McNeill's book as LEs, he might not be the crappiest. Him getting fired from Riot has nothing to do with his ability to write, Riot went full banana firing tons of qualified people.

 

McNeill is an established name in BL, new authors aren't.

[Nagashsnee]

23 minutes ago, theSpirea said:

Afaik McNeill never left GW/BL because he was always contractor? Getting fired from Riot gave him more time to work for BL again.

Is he in demand? We simply have no idea who is the best selling BL author. We can estimate that since they've done a few McNeill's book as LEs, he might not be the crappiest. Him getting fired from Riot has nothing to do with his ability to write, Riot went full banana firing tons of qualified people.

 

McNeill is an established name in BL, new authors aren't.

Oh i see, i had the wrong impression.  But if he was always a contractor why would BL need to go after him?  I keep feeling i am missing something haha, tho honestly its not that important. I am pretty happy with the new Gen of established BL authors (as in at least 2-3 bl books out), but fondly remember some of MNeills work too,  so i dont really care either way. 

[wecanhaveallthree]

Because NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR GRAHAM MCNEILL was a fundamental pillar of the Horus Heresy, and has penned banger after banger for BL. He's worked hard for the company, is a recognisable name in a genre where name moves a lot of product and has delivered consistent work for decades. Clearly, BL was happy to have him fairly recently - they published two of his shorts for the Siege, and a new Ventris book while he was still working with Riot - so what changed?

 

McNeill has been a staple of Black Library for a long time. I can't think of any genuine reason for them not to be eager to work with him again. Even more so after he delivered a lot of good work for Riot Games in literary terms and via Arcane (which might not have made money hand over fist, but clearly drove engagement with Riot products and garnered extensive critical praise). 

 

Maybe there's a concerted effort at a 'changing of the guard'. Maybe McNeill's asking for too many hollow chicken bones or whatever BL pays their authors in. Maybe he's getting frozen out for 'leaving' BL for Riot, or for trysting with Aconyte or the competition at Trench Crusade. IDK. But McNeill's willingness to take risks and write the setting is sorely missed. 

[byrd9999]

We on this forum are a rare bunch. We pay attention to the authors' names. We follow their careers. We recognise new authors.

 

Most BL book sales are to people who don't even know or care who writes the Space Wolves or Blood Angels. They just want pew-pew stories with their favourite toys.

 

Some manage to peek above the parapet, like Dan Abnett, but that is rare and still most people won't care.

 

I'm sure Graham McNeill will always be welcome to write for BL in some capacity, but we don't know any of the details. Is he asking for better terms than the current stable of authors?

 

He has two kids and American health insurance to pay for. He probably needs a massive salary. BL seems to be run on a shoestring budget.

 

I'm personally not interested in a McNeill Horus Primarch book or any Ventris stuff. He is great at big ideas, but terrible on a sentence by sentence level.

[Fedor]

McNeill is stranded in an increasingly demented, unstable Murica. His soul is tainted. Undone by greed and dashed on the  rocky shores of the gaming industry...which way will he turn now? Did Dawkins ever actually read that copy of Tales of Heresy he gave him? Has he ever admitted that he totally did steal John French's already committed to print arc and ideas for his own HH Magnus arc?

 

Ventris is a crap character anyway. If he comes back, I would hope it's to do some new stuff. 

Edited November 4 by Fedor

[FabiusV4lcoran]

1 hour ago, byrd9999 said:

I'm personally not interested in a McNeill Horus Primarch book or any Ventris stuff. He is great at big ideas, but terrible on a sentence by sentence level.

 

Agreed; I'm reading the Iron Warriors Omnibus right now, and I read False Gods shortly before that.  

 

The actions and ideas behind all that's going on are fascinating.  His writing is subpar imo.  A lot of action movie cliche lines like "Don't even think about it"; I keep getting stuck with Dolph Lundgren and Ahnold as space marines.

Edited November 4 by FabiusV4lcoran

[byrd9999]

1 hour ago, Fedor said:

Has he ever admitted that he totally did steal John French's already committed to print arc and ideas for his own HH Magnus arc?

 

I would love to know more about this if you can share, or point me in the right direction!

[Fedor]

30 minutes ago, byrd9999 said:

 

I would love to know more about this if you can share, or point me in the right direction!

 

He takes the shards arc/concept from the Ahriman books (set after the Heresy) and basically repurposes it into his own tale for his post-Thousand Sons HH books. It was like a literal authorial "I've just stole your lunch, son" moment. I still don't understand why the editors allowed it to happen. 

Edited November 4 by Fedor

[DukeLeto69]

6 hours ago, theSpirea said:

Afaik McNeill never left GW/BL because he was always contractor? Getting fired from Riot gave him more time to work for BL again.

Is he in demand? We simply have no idea who is the best selling BL author. We can estimate that since they've done a few McNeill's book as LEs, he might not be the crappiest. Him getting fired from Riot has nothing to do with his ability to write, Riot went full banana firing tons of qualified people.

 

McNeill is an established name in BL, new authors aren't.

Actually I can say with total confidence that THE best selling author for BL is Dan Abnett. By a country mile. That is why he gets a pass so often to do his thang!

[FabiusV4lcoran]

2 minutes ago, DukeLeto69 said:

Actually I can say with total confidence that THE best selling author for BL is Dan Abnett. By a country mile. That is why he gets a pass so often to do his thang!

 

Agreed based on Eisenhorn alone.  Not even considering Gaunt's Ghosts.