Era of Ruin

[Tolmeus]

On 9/5/2025 at 8:50 PM, 63-19 said:

Off topic but are they going to sell the special edition again?

 

I haven't got more knowledge than you yourself about this topic, but I guess they are going to release the LE sometime. Wouldn't make sense for GW to sit on their pile of 2.500 copies and do nothing with them. 

Although I have to admit that I was fond to the fact that for the first time they really got to do something about the scalpers. We all have talked about this countless times but this very very successful company just doesn't get to achieve a solution about this problem when there are definetly easy ways to solve it (just produce more copies/ make them made-to-order)

[DukeLeto69]

Well there we go. Good old BL and their minuscule print runs! My Amazon order of this Std HB to match all my SoT books has been cancelled due to not being able to secure a copy from the publisher.

 

Thing is in the past I would have been upset about not completing my collection but I am strangely ambivalent about it!

[Tolmeus]

And than there is one actual seller of the LE on Ebay. Wonder how he got his copy...

 

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

Has there been any confirmations or rumours of which authors are working on the series?

 

I'm hoping John French and ADB will get to write for the series. I'm assuming Guy Haley will have one (the guy is a machine). 

[Karhedron]

Does ADB still write for BL? I thought that he had stopped (happy to be proved wrong).

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

It does feel like a long time since ADB wrote for Black Library. 

 

I think he became a part of the actual 40k creative team (Head Writer I think) so maybe there's an internal rule that stops him also being able to write for BL at the same time?

 

It's very hard to fathom BL. For all we know Black Legion 3 and a sequel to Spears are done and sitting on a hard drive in a BL office. 

Edited October 21 by The Praetorian of Inwit

[cheywood]

Just now, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

It does feel like a long time since ADB wrote for Black Library. 

 

I think he became a part of the actual 40k creative team (Head Writer I think) so maybe there's an internal rule that stops him also being able to write?

 

It's very hard to fathom BL. For all we know Black Legion 3 and a sequel to Spears are done and sitting on a hard drive in a BL office. 

He’s just busy and a slow writer at the best of times. There’s no internal rule. Lots of GW employees write for BL.

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

On the one hand cheywood you're telling me there's hope ADB may write :) On the other hand, hope is the first step on the road to disappointment :(

[grailkeeper]

6 hours ago, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

It does feel like a long time since ADB wrote for Black Library. 

 

I think he became a part of the actual 40k creative team (Head Writer I think) so maybe there's an internal rule that stops him also being able to write for BL at the same time?

 

It's very hard to fathom BL. For all we know Black Legion 3 and a sequel to Spears are done and sitting on a hard drive in a BL office. 

 

I doubt it's an internal rule. I'd say he just doesn't have time. He used to talk about how slowly he wrote and how he found it a painstaking process.

[DukeLeto69]

ADB became a Dad with responsibilities. He needed a regular paycheck rather than living on commissions with advances and the hope of royalties. He has a “proper” 9 to 5 job now working for GW. That means anything else has to be done in his own time (inc writing for BL). When you have kids, “own time” is a myth!

[Krelious]

On 10/22/2025 at 6:53 AM, DukeLeto69 said:

ADB became a Dad with responsibilities. He needed a regular paycheck rather than living on commissions with advances and the hope of royalties. He has a “proper” 9 to 5 job now working for GW. That means anything else has to be done in his own time (inc writing for BL). When you have kids, “own time” is a myth!

I think it would behoove GW to have a clause in the contract that ADB should be able to prioritize writing novels if its important to major releases while being able to delegate his responsibilities to other staff members.  To me I think its more a matter of GW timing their major releases and tieing in lore to everything else. ie Scouring Series is likely going to have a book where Abbadon enters the Eye of Terror and sets up where he is in Talon of Horus but also has some set up to Black Legion 3. They cant release Black Legion 3 before that book comes out.  As for Spears 2 id imagine it might be a similar circumstance as its possible they have some major story part coming up.

 

Given that ADB is a best selling author I think they can afford to work something out with him. They also likely have to figure out something with the releases of limited editions as its likely anything ADB has coming out will get scalped to hell if the current system is kept in place.  

[DukeLeto69]

11 hours ago, Krelious said:

I think it would behoove GW to have a clause in the contract that ADB should be able to prioritize writing novels if its important to major releases while being able to delegate his responsibilities to other staff members.  To me I think its more a matter of GW timing their major releases and tieing in lore to everything else. ie Scouring Series is likely going to have a book where Abbadon enters the Eye of Terror and sets up where he is in Talon of Horus but also has some set up to Black Legion 3. They cant release Black Legion 3 before that book comes out.  As for Spears 2 id imagine it might be a similar circumstance as its possible they have some major story part coming up.

 

Given that ADB is a best selling author I think they can afford to work something out with him. They also likely have to figure out something with the releases of limited editions as its likely anything ADB has coming out will get scalped to hell if the current system is kept in place.  

I’d like to think you were right but I suspect this overplays how important Black Library is to Games Workshop.

 

My understanding of ADB’s role at GW (which he might have on Linkedin = I should look) is something like Head of Lore or some such.

 

I think the significance of this role comes into play against the background of the Amazon deal and ensuring the “writer’s room” are not playing fast and loose with the lore. That is worth significantly more to GW than a novel by ADB.

 

Also, and this is totally understandable, I think you are overplaying the importance of being a “best selling author” because the reality is that this amounts to small beans. Back when the HH landed several entries on the New York Times Bestseller List it created a bit of buzz. However, somebody did some analysis and the reality was to get a top ten position on that list only required c.10,000 units to shift in a week. That is in the USA, the World’s largest market.

 

Basically what I am saying is ADB generated less income for GW than we might think and Senior Mgt are probably more keen on tapping his brain to ensure we get the best outcome from the Amazon deal.

[darkhorse0607]

I do wonder if he's stepped back from writing full-blown novels right now, with both having his kid a few years ago and the new job

 

As of 2018, he said that by the time Spears of the Emperor released, the sequel would be almost done. He was also said to be writing Black Legion 3 after Spears so who knows

 

"AD-B: I was due to write the next Black Legion Series book after Spear of the Emperor, but after the reactions of my test readers and editors, and riding on my own unexpected enthusiasm, I started the sequel already. It’s a weird feeling, since by the time Spear of the Emperor releases, the sequel will be almost finished."

 

https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/11/24/rapid-fire-aaron-dembski-bowden-talks-spear-of-the-emperor/

 

He wrote the short story for the Dark Heresy game coming out, and the one for Era of Ruin but that's been it since Echoes of Eternity unless I've missed something, which a was finished in September of 2021 according to his blog.  Granted, I assume that the new job takes precedence, but even for ADB that's a while, especially since there's been no word about anything, normally there's a rumor here or there, an interview through third parties, or something.