Upcoming BL Stuff 2026

[grailkeeper]

I find BL depictions of sisters of battle fairly one note. They seem to be fiery and religious and .... not much else.

 

Space marines are indoctrinated supersoldier monks but have very differing personalities.

 

The sister characters in the Cain books are an exception to this, but those are the Cain books.

[wecanhaveallthree]

Is it a character issue, or an author issue or a publisher issue? 

 

Or is it a READER issue? Dun dun dunnn?

 

Swallow's Sisters (take a deep breath) don't have that problem for me. But is that a 'men writing women' issue? The same reason I find all the 'breasted boobily' in Ravenor to be quite effective (because Ravenor is a pervert), but there's quite a lot of pushback, and the same reason I find the deconstruction of the manic pixie mean girls in Fulgrim (and the artist troupe in general) to be very good. Hell, I'll even shout out Redemption Corps here for having fantastic Sororitas antagonists - the awesome torture/trophy room is what people remember, for good reason. In contrast, Harrison's excellent Honourbound is a markedly different style of story and Raine is a markedly different character to Cain or Gaunt or Yarrick. Raine is explored in a way that those characters never were. Is Harrison simply that good (she is), or is there some other aspect at play here (there is)? 

 

That's saying nothing of Fehervari's Sororitas, because bringing Fehervari into any quality discussion is unfair. 

 

My takeaway at large is that it's an author issue but not for the 'obvious' reasons. Everyone ragged on Kyme for writing the Salamanders in the same way over and over again: he had a particular vision, and he got all the books, so if you didn't like that vision you weren't going to resonate with the books (Kelly and Thorpe get this to a somewhat lesser extent). If you've got, say, two authors writing the same books - Reid and Ware - you're going to find them a bit lacking if you're not resonating with those authors.

[grailkeeper]

 

Saw this on facebook. Pretty short notice. He'll be judging a mini painting competition as well.



100% free to attend, no ticket needed.

Will your painted miniature entry wow Dan Abnett, doors open at 10am this Sunday, no need to book, free to attend. Bring along your painted miniature to enter the competition, and of course chill and chat with Dan and the team.

We are proud to announce our Dan Abnett Open Day! Sunday 8th February 2026 from 10am to 2pm. 100% free to attend. Bring along your single miniature and enter the painting competition, judged by Dan Abnett. Win an exclusive Monster Merchants trophy signed by Dan Abnett. Two categories, under 16 & 16 and over.

Bring your merch for Dan to sign.

The Monster Merchants
Unit 13 Tavis House Business Centre
3 Hall Avenue
Sevington
Ashford
Kent

Edited February 6 by grailkeeper

[darkhorse0607]

Death of Integrity is up on Audible early for all my audio amigos

[Bestkeptsecret]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/lke65sad/sunday-preview-huron-blackheart-sets-sail-from-the-maelstrom/  

 

Ghost Legion by Mike Brooks: Alpha Legion warlord Solomon Akurra returns in the follow-up to Renegades: Harrowmaster, as his ambitions grow ever-greater following the unification of many feuding warbands and the conquering of entire star systems. Now he sets his sights on his grand plan – to shatter the Imperium and rebuild a stronger humanity from its pieces – but power such as Akurra’s attracts many enemies, and the God-Emperor’s servants are ready to make their counterattack.

The trials and tribulations of the Alpha Legion continue in Ghost Legion by Mike Brooks, and you can pick it up in a beautiful Special Edition release next week. The striking cover – depicting a hydra coiled around the Pale Spear, purported to be their Primarch’s own weapon – is etched with aqua blue foil and features printed page edges, a matching ribbon page marker, and is signed and numbered by the author. This product is available while stocks last.

 

Death Rider by Rhuairidh James: Most Commissars are concerned with driving their forces into an attack – but not Valian Hesh, who finds himself desperately trying to prevent a suicidal assault by the Krieg 472nd Siege Regiment on T’au Empire lines. The world they’re on is doomed to an agonising death at the hands of an Imperial battleship, and as smoke and poison leeches into the atmosphere, Commissar Hesh knows that the only hope he and the entire regiment have of survival is if he can curtail their zeal long enough to withdraw from the front lines.

 

Edited February 8 by Bestkeptsecret

[Bestkeptsecret]

I am going to try to pre-order the standard hardcover edition of Ghost Legion. I love following @theSpirea's advice and they say that Mike Brooks is not a good author. So, I will go for the standard hardcover because I like getting the perspective of the CSM legions.

[darkhorse0607]

Why 

 

Why have they done audio for almost every new release but not Ghost Legion 

 

ALSO WHERE IS BLACK LIBRARY CELEBRATION GW

[DarkChaplain]

Apparently my post from 45 minutes ago didn't go through this haywire filter they got now, so here's another attempt:

 

It's unbelievable that they're pulling the same stunt with Ghost Legion that they did with the first book years ago, by delaying the audiobook. It's simply stunning how clever these GW/BL folks are these days.

[theSpirea]

1 hour ago, Bestkeptsecret said:

I am going to try to pre-order the standard hardcover edition of Ghost Legion. I love following @theSpirea's advice and they say that Mike Brooks is not a good author. So, I will go for the standard hardcover because I like getting the perspective of the CSM legions.

Don't let my rant on Brooks stop you from giving him a fair shot. I'm in a minority when it comes to disliking his writing

[darkhorse0607]

49 minutes ago, DarkChaplain said:

It's simply stunning how clever these GW/BL folks are these days.

 

At least it's thematic given the main characters of the book.

 

Surprise, no audio version, surprise alpha legion

[grailkeeper]

41 minutes ago, theSpirea said:

Don't let my rant on Brooks stop you from giving him a fair shot. I'm in a minority when it comes to disliking his writing

I also dislike his writing, but credit where its due, he's good when it comes to the Alpha Legion.

 

If he could write like that for other characters, and drop the massive run on sentences, I'd have a different opinion.

[Felix Antipodes]

10 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Why 

 

Why have they done audio for almost every new release but not Ghost Legion 

 

ALSO WHERE IS BLACK LIBRARY CELEBRATION GW

Well it will seem like the BL Celebration here (Oz) as we haven’t had a BL release for awhile due to shipping delays.  I notice none of this week’s pre-orders are marked as  delayed.  If we get the delayed books (as well as the new stuff & the Maelstrom box) next Saturday it will be an expensive day for all, just like the BL celebration week of old. 

[System Sound]

13 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

ALSO WHERE IS BLACK LIBRARY CELEBRATION GW

Probably as good as dead. We had a source book on preorder last Saturday, that they usualy do for BL Celebration... Ghost Legion and Aestred LEs dropping so soon one after another is also a good indicator that they were meant for the BLC. 

 

There's still that rumour engine image of what looks like the pale spear and is speculated that could be Solomon's model... 

[darkhorse0607]

6 hours ago, System Sound said:

There's still that rumour engine image of what looks like the pale spear and is speculated that could be Solomon's model... 

 

That's what is throwing me. Do I expect a week of reveals anymore? No not really, at least not right now, maybe I'll eat my words later this week

 

But Solomon would clearly be a Black Library model, which was teased almost a year ago with the Pale Spear rumor image. So maybe? I don't know.

 

I went back and looked at WHC and the stuff from last year went on pre-order on the 22nd, so there's still a chance that we get something next week or the week after

[Taliesin]

6 hours ago, System Sound said:

Probably as good as dead. We had a source book on preorder last Saturday, that they usualy do for BL Celebration... Ghost Legion and Aestred LEs dropping so soon one after another is also a good indicator that they were meant for the BLC. 

 

There's still that rumour engine image of what looks like the pale spear and is speculated that could be Solomon's model... 

 

What sourcebook?

[System Sound]

1 hour ago, Taliesin said:

 

What sourcebook?

The Witch Hunter's Handbook 

[DarkChaplain]

That one excited-then-happy moment when you read "Horror Returns" in a GW email newsletter, and then realize it says "A Clanking Horror Returns" and is about the new Defiler model...

[System Sound]

2 hours ago, DarkChaplain said:

That one excited-then-happy moment when you read "Horror Returns" in a GW email newsletter, and then realize it says "A Clanking Horror Returns" and is about the new Defiler model...

We need the crying reaction back... 

[wecanhaveallthree]

That one moment of utter insanity when I read 'Horror Returns' as 'Horus Returns'...

[darkhorse0607]

10 minutes ago, wecanhaveallthree said:

That one moment of utter insanity when I read 'Horror Returns' as 'Horus Returns'...

Somehow... Horus Returned

 

And he brought Black Legion 3 with him

[Sothalor]

Technically, didn't he return in Black Legion 1?

 

 

[The Scorpion]

On 2/5/2026 at 7:35 PM, wecanhaveallthree said:

That's saying nothing of Fehervari's Sororitas, because bringing Fehervari into any quality discussion is unfair. 

I had forgotten the absolute tour-de-force that was Asenath Hyades

 

Not just one of the best sororitas characters, but one of the best Warhammer characters, period.

 

Makes me think...

 

I think the problem with the sororitas in BL is that we've had too many paragons. The most interesting characters have ugly sides to them, even when they are not villainous characters.

The best sororitas depictions that I've found have in been in short stories like the SoB Ebook Week or novellas like the second story of "The Book of Martyrs."

 

We've gotten too many hagiographies as of late, which is good for poster launches, but it'd be good to see some unapologetic zealots, some niche cultic ways of living, and some girlfailures (for schola standarts anyways)

 

Emphasis need to be made on subfaction too. I was really dissapointed to see Ware's Bloody Rose sisters act so sensible all the time. of course ppl think, but where is the rage? Where is the thoughtful use of eviscerators to open the minds of heretics? What is this chill? I wanted no chill at all

 

Just my two cents.

[Felix Antipodes]

This is a side of the Adepta Sororitas that we don’t see enough of imho.  They, like most who go through the Scholam system, are hard core fanatics with little time for the sort of niceties we take for granted.  There may be the occasional ‘system failure’ who gets through the process with some semblance of humanity intact but they should be few and far between, not every other Sister.

[DarkChaplain]

I'll throw David Annandale's Canoness Setheno into the ring, too. She's clearly flawed. In Death of Antagonis, she's pretty much manipulating/inspiring the Black Dragons with their horn mutations to embrace being the Emperor's monsters and such. She's also got a bit of history with Yarrick in his novels.

 

She's not a good person, and a controversial Sororitas for sure. But she's interesting because of it. She's just as much of a zealot at the end of the day, but she's not just chanting prayers and ignoring the practicality of things.

 

To this day, I have not managed to finish the Bloody Rose omnibus. I keep washing out at novella 2 from the BL Novella Series 2 (remember when BL actually printed novellas with niche subject matter and factions?), even after reading all the short stories in order, because I'm just plain bored by the Sisters. As much as I enjoy Emma Gregory's narration in general, the audiobook of the omnibus didn't solve the problem either.

 

But as you said, Fehervari's Sororitas are incredible. The order(s) shown are also more fully realized than most, having actual roots, their faith being explored in its stranger aspects, the way they twist it around what they've got in front of them, and they're also shown not just as prayer chanting flamer girls with bob cuts, but a deeply problematic order of fanatics but also healers, teachers, and blatantly insane lunatics.

 

At no point is Fehervari pretending that his Sisters are actually righteous, free of blemish or above pettiness. They're anti-heroes at best, there's nothing truly heroic about them. Which is a big difference when looking at other Sisters fiction. They're too often presented as idols who are just a little too obsessed with their space daddy.

[darkhorse0607]

Apostle is up on Audible