Guy Haley Appreciation Post

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

I consider myself fairly picky in regards to authors I read. I gotta say guy Haley has impressed me with his BA books.

 

rereading DoB and he does a great job of making the tyranids feel like an overwhelming force of nature. 

[Nagashsnee]

Guy Haley is on my auto buy list, he rarely blows me away, tho it does happen. But hot damn does he always deliver a enjoyable, well researched, well constructed read. The man knows his lore, he gets the Universe and those two things are the most important to me when reading BL. I dont care if the best book humanity has ever written, if the author starts miss classifying ships (Why fall of Cadia why did you hurt me so), having weapons do things they simply cannot do, or heavens FORBID mention a obscure deep background character/item/place in the wrong way I will not care for it. 

 

He also adds to the lore and universe in respectful and well thought out ways and that too is important to me as a BL reader. While i know many do not care for it (they are of course in the wrong) . I would like to also mention his warhammer fantasy work, Skarsnik was a true Gem of a bl book that hit the holy trifecta. True to existing lore, added new lore without causing any issues, was a fun enjoyable read. And thats all i can ask for really. 

 

My only complaint is that he is TOO much of a company man, and it sometimes causes issues, like the third Dante book suddenly became 40% Dante-60% how mephiston became primaris (buy yours today!) because the model was coming out. 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

7 hours ago, Nagashsnee said:

Guy Haley is on my auto buy list, he rarely blows me away, tho it does happen. But hot damn does he always deliver a enjoyable, well researched, well constructed read. The man knows his lore, he gets the Universe and those two things are the most important to me when reading BL. I dont care if the best book humanity has ever written, if the author starts miss classifying ships (Why fall of Cadia why did you hurt me so), having weapons do things they simply cannot do, or heavens FORBID mention a obscure deep background character/item/place in the wrong way I will not care for it. 

 

He also adds to the lore and universe in respectful and well thought out ways and that too is important to me as a BL reader. While i know many do not care for it (they are of course in the wrong) . I would like to also mention his warhammer fantasy work, Skarsnik was a true Gem of a bl book that hit the holy trifecta. True to existing lore, added new lore without causing any issues, was a fun enjoyable read. And thats all i can ask for really. 

 

My only complaint is that he is TOO much of a company man, and it sometimes causes issues, like the third Dante book suddenly became 40% Dante-60% how mephiston became primaris (buy yours today!) because the model was coming out. 

Was it a ‘dante book’ though?

ill have to go check but I don’t think it says ‘book 3 in the Dante trilogy’ or anything like  that on it.

[Karhedron]

I thought it was just a Blood Angel's trilogy.

[DarkChaplain]

If you loved Guy's take on 'nids, make sure to pick up Death of Integrity (the top Space Hulk book), The Last Days of Ector novella and the sequel novel Valedor.

 

I've been in love with Haley's work since Skarsnik & Baneblade, and would also recommend his non-BL fiction, including his "industrial" fantasy trilogy published under the pseudonym K.M. McKinley (The Iron Ship, City of Ice & The Brass God).

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

Was it a ‘dante book’ though?

ill have to go check but I don’t think it says ‘book 3 in the Dante trilogy’ or anything like  that on it.

 

From a Track of Words interview with Haley on Darkness in the Blood and Astorath

 

"Darkness in the Blood is a direct sequel to Dante and The Devastation of Baal, and continues Dante’s story"

 

To be fair, at the same time a few lines down

"On saying that, it can be read as a standalone story, covering Mephiston’s transformation from Firstborn to Primaris."

 

So it's both, but at the same time I cannot fault the community for thinking it is supposed to be a Dante novel, because it's by the same author as the other two and was touted as a "direct sequel" (using Haley's words) to Dante and Devastation of Baal

[theSpirea]

He gave me Prince Maesa and I'll be forever grateful for that one.

[SvenIronhand]

Valedor was fine. Some weird grammatical errors, particularly with the Exarch-Wraithlord's speech.

[Roomsky]

He's not really my favourite, but in the spirit of the thread I'll post what I like about his writing:

• I think his pacing and plot structure are usually very strong. His books move at a good pace, proper time is given to big moments, and he recognizes when a sizeable B-Plot needs to make up for a thin A-Plot.
• He generally doesn't participate in character shilling, which is especially impressive considering his output a few years ago. He understands that a character's flaws are as important as their virtues when it comes to being interesting.
• His work with Mechanicus characters is usually stellar. He portrays the byzantine nature of the organization without pushing them over the edge into being so needlessly complex you can't appreciate their human qualities. I'd hazard that his writing is the only reason anyone has come to accept Cawl as a character.

I think his crowning jewels are Skarsnik, Flesh and Steel, his entries into The Beast Arises, Prince Maesa, and the last 3rd of Hammer of Olympia.

[DukeLeto69]

For ME his best book is Flesh & Steel

[Nagashsnee]

3 hours ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

Was it a ‘dante book’ though?

ill have to go check but I don’t think it says ‘book 3 in the Dante trilogy’ or anything like  that on it.

 

2 hours ago, Karhedron said:

I thought it was just a Blood Angel's trilogy.

It's not. But it was sold to me as such. Others have beaten to the quotes. 

[DarkChaplain]

Haley is kind of the Anti-Abnett in a sense. Abnett is amazing at laying the ground work and inspire a setting, time period or the likes, but falls off dramatically when he comes back later, because he pays little regard to intervening events and things that influenced the characters in the meantime, and like with the Siege, often resets them back to where he left them.

 

Haley, meanwhile, like Josh Reynolds (bless him, wherever his digital pen is going to take him outside of BL), takes all the various interpretations and depictions and tries to make them fit together. He researches things as much as he can, and puts little nods into his works as well. He's not coming in and saying "my version is the real thing" but instead tries to square all versions into a coherent rendition, before putting his own narrative spin on it.

 

His finale to The Beast Arises suffers only from its poor predecessor (which really only exists because we couldn't have the final battle end in a satisfying and emotional manner in volume 10 yet, but repeats basically all that book did while also breaking the chronology to shill new model kits in an era they didn't exist) and its restricted length. It managed to wrap up a story in far less pagetime than it should have had, while keeping the cast consistent and paying off previous plotlines.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

2 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

From a Track of Words interview with Haley on Darkness in the Blood and Astorath

 

"Darkness in the Blood is a direct sequel to Dante and The Devastation of Baal, and continues Dante’s story"

 

To be fair, at the same time a few lines down

"On saying that, it can be read as a standalone story, covering Mephiston’s transformation from Firstborn to Primaris."

 

So it's both, but at the same time I cannot fault the community for thinking it is supposed to be a Dante novel, because it's by the same author as the other two and was touted as a "direct sequel" (using Haley's words) to Dante and Devastation of Baal

A direct sequel doesn’t necessarily mean about the same person.

and while DoB features dante a lot, I wouldn’t say it’s about Dante, as it features Mephiston nearly as much along with many other captains and chapter masters.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

1 hour ago, Roomsky said:

He's not really my favourite, but in the spirit of the thread I'll post what I like about his writing:

• I think his pacing and plot structure are usually very strong. His books move at a good pace, proper time is given to big moments, and he recognizes when a sizeable B-Plot needs to make up for a thin A-Plot.
• He generally doesn't participate in character shilling, which is especially impressive considering his output a few years ago. He understands that a character's flaws are as important as their virtues when it comes to being interesting.
• His work with Mechanicus characters is usually stellar. He portrays the byzantine nature of the organization without pushing them over the edge into being so needlessly complex you can't appreciate their human qualities. I'd hazard that his writing is the only reason anyone has come to accept Cawl as a character.

I think his crowning jewels are Skarsnik, Flesh and Steel, his entries into The Beast Arises, Prince Maesa, and the last 3rd of Hammer of Olympia.

He’s definitely not my favorite, but he’s in a safe second place for me now.

[LemartesTheLost]

Forever grateful for his writing of the Blood Angels trilogy and how he writes the Blood Angels in general. I also find him to have the magic touch when comes to writing Guilliman. He definitely saved GW as company in 8th/early 9th edition.

 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

1 hour ago, LemartesTheLost said:

Forever grateful for his writing of the Blood Angels trilogy and how he writes the Blood Angels in general. I also find him to have the magic touch when comes to writing Guilliman. He definitely saved GW as company in 8th/early 9th edition.

 

Infinitely better than he who shall not be named ever did.

[Petitioner's City]

16 hours ago, DukeLeto69 said:

For ME his best book is Flesh & Steel

 

100%! 

 

But crime is BL's best recent series or setting full-stop.

[byrd9999]

Guy Haley is a flexible and versatile writer. I would trust him to write a good story set in any of the Warhammer worlds and settings.

 

Some authors have their preferred factions or even their own corner of the setting (this not a bad thing), but Guy can write Orks, 30k Primarchs, 40k Primarchs, Crime, Ad Mech, Aelves, Space Hulks, Heresy, etc... even helm the DoF series,  and always bring something interesting and very readable to the table.

 

He's like the Rodri (football reference for you nerds) of BL. He won't score the flashiest goals, but everyone is better off with him there.

[Felix Antipodes]

Haley’s name is a guaranteed pick-up and read for me, whether on a BL book or his own stuff.  I can be assured that I will be entertained at the very least and blown away at his best.  My only regret is that his being seduced into an editorial role seems to have slowed down his prodigious output 

[skylerboodie]

I've only read his 30K output not 40K yet, but - not to damn him with faint praise - view Haley as a very reliable author. His work is almost always good (and crucially, consistently never bad), invariably enjoyable, and whilst not in my highest echelon he is certainly above the satisfaction threshold. I never see his name attached to a title and feel disappointed or fear disappointment; it gives me more a feeling of relief that it's at least not going to be messed up, and likely will be a good read. I particularly loved his Primarchs novellas for Perturabo and Curze. He is a real asset to Black Library, and does a lot for the wider authorship.

[Bobss]

On 2/5/2025 at 6:19 PM, DarkChaplain said:

Haley, meanwhile, like Josh Reynolds (bless him, wherever his digital pen is going to take him outside of BL), takes all the various interpretations and depictions and tries to make them fit together. He researches things as much as he can, and puts little nods into his works as well. He's not coming in and saying "my version is the real thing" but instead tries to square all versions into a coherent rendition, before putting his own narrative spin on it.

The fact Josh Reynolds could do all of this and write really rich 40k and have solid prose on a technical level just goes to show just what an incredible asset he was for Black Library

 

If all BL was as good as the Bile trilogy I don't think I would even read other books

[Kenzaburo]

Oh man, I really enjoy Haley's stuff. From his renditions of the Scythes of the Emperor beginning in 30k to going full circle in 40k with The Great Work, his Curze novel, his Guilliman in Dark Imperium and Dawn of Fire - I really enjoy reading his stuff. His depiction of 40k Terra in the first Dawn of Fire novel still haunts me. To me he is definitely a quality author with an incredible range and versatility. I might not run out and buy his newest book on release date, but that's more to my overall apprehension towards BL nowadays, as it is currently discussed in the Upcoming BL works thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Preliminary Bombardment]

I really like his Guard books, I hope he does another one.

 

 

[Orange Knight]

I think he is exceptional, and he's also been able to write some of the most impactful lore and developments in the modern 40k setting.

 

A lot of people sing Abnett's praises, but his greatest works are probably behind him, and Pandemonium seems to be lost in the warp.

 

Meawhile Haley has delivered an incredible Blood Angels novel trilogy with "Dante", "Devastation of Ball" and "Darkness in the Blood"

He's also the author of the excellent Ultramarine and Guilliman trilogy of "Dark Imperium" novels.

And now, Haley is 2/3rds done with the hilarious and great Cawl trilogy of books. We've had "The Great Work" and "Genefather" - and I can't wait to read the next one in line.

 

I consider the 8 novels mentioned above to be mandatory reading for any fans of Warhammer 40k. They are probably some of the most important novels in setting as well, not counting the "Watchers of the Throne" series by Christ Wraight.

Edited February 13 by Orange Knight

[LemartesTheLost]

On 2/13/2025 at 6:01 AM, Orange Knight said:

I think he is exceptional, and he's also been able to write some of the most impactful lore and developments in the modern 40k setting.

 

A lot of people sing Abnett's praises, but his greatest works are probably behind him, and Pandemonium seems to be lost in the warp.

 

Meawhile Haley has delivered an incredible Blood Angels novel trilogy with "Dante", "Devastation of Ball" and "Darkness in the Blood"

He's also the author of the excellent Ultramarine and Guilliman trilogy of "Dark Imperium" novels.

And now, Haley is 2/3rds done with the hilarious and great Cawl trilogy of books. We've had "The Great Work" and "Genefather" - and I can't wait to read the next one in line.

 

I consider the 8 novels mentioned above to be mandatory reading for any fans of Warhammer 40k. They are probably some of the most important novels in setting as well, not counting the "Watchers of the Throne" series by Christ Wraight.

 

I'll disagree with you about The Great Work as I thought it was middling at best with decent Cawl moments, but the Scythes' B plot was so uninteresting imo. The end of the book was just "OH! 

Spoiler

WE'RE DOING NOCTILITH RESEARCH PEOPLE! THE RIFT WILL EVENTUALLY GET STABILISED IN SOME FASHION BECAUSE THE STATUS QUO DEMANDS IT!"

 

Massive props to GW & Haley if Cawl eats dirt right before his big success because this is 40k and we can't have nice things, but I doubt it at this point. Haley needs to finish with Cawl and then go start another project beside The Scouring. Hopefully some more Imperium Nihilus shenanigans with Blood Angels/Dark Angels or something completely unrelated. I'd say Votann but I don't know just what his limit is on writing dwarfs so maybe not. Always a possibility though since Haley is the shaman that somehow magically soothes over GW's mismanagement time and again.