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[Bestkeptsecret]

When do you all predict that we will see Mortarion and/or Typhus in a new 40k novel again? How many years will we have to wait? Either that or a novel similar to the Lords of Silence with the Death Guard as protagonists? I think now with Perturabo being teased, GW will release maybe one or more novels with the Iron Warriors, so the focus will be on other CSM legions. I want your predictions in terms of how many years do we have to wait for a post Dark Imperium 40k novel featuring Morty.

[Tolmeus]

5 hours ago, Bestkeptsecret said:

I want your predictions in terms of how many years do we have to wait for a post Dark Imperium 40k novel featuring Morty

 

Years at least, would even say nothing new till 2030 or so. What is my base for this assumtion?

Regarding demon primarchs we got Mortarion, Angron and most recently Fulgrim covered.
In terms of Warhammer story telling standards their stories have come to an end for now (they each got their codex/campaign books plus standalone Black Library books).

Furthermore, one must consider the rather disappointing state of the Lion’s backstory so far. For Warhammer fans, his release was absolutely mind-blowing. But since his release back in 2023 (three years ago, what the hell!), nothing further has been done with him (apart from a few negligible snippets in the Codex or campaign entries). And his story has definetly not come to end. 

So while I look very much forward to a book of demon Perty (and hopefully one better written than Angron or Fulgrim), I think Warhammer has shown until now that they need a great deal of time for these stories to be written/ published.
 

Edited April 29 by Tolmeus

[Nagashsnee]

5 hours ago, Bestkeptsecret said:

When do you all predict that we will see Mortarion and/or Typhus in a new 40k novel again? How many years will we have to wait? Either that or a novel similar to the Lords of Silence with the Death Guard as protagonists? I think now with Perturabo being teased, GW will release maybe one or more novels with the Iron Warriors, so the focus will be on other CSM legions. I want your predictions in terms of how many years do we have to wait for a post Dark Imperium 40k novel featuring Morty.

 

I mean the characters you mention have gotten ALLOT of attention not that long ago. So you either need GW to focus on Death guard mini/campaign wise and get a commisioned piece. Or for a author to write about them.

 

Lords of Silence 2 is your best bet for actually getting something. As i cant see either of those characters getting a new mini any time soon. 

 

The other issue is they make poor antagonists, as Mortarion is super powerfull and Typhus is also powerfull, neither can die, so would make poor vilains in anything but cameos. 

 

On a meta sense you have run into the CORE problem of having Primarchs be active in the setting. They cant do anything without it being a big deal, and you cant have 5-18 big deals going on all the time.  Its why the Lion came back and got boxed, its why Filgrim came back and did diddly squat. Its why Angron pops up yells and gets banished. And soon perturabo will join the group of people too important to actualy be active all the time. 

 

It will get worse and worse as they add more and more. The fact that the chaos ones cant die, and the loaylist ones will never be allowed to die makes it even worse.  Mortarion CANT be allowed to be in stories that are not chaos fighting chaos. He commands a legion, plus a TON of support/can summon deamons.  He cant just randomly invade a planet or sector in a random novel. Because 10s of thousand of deathguard plus their legion assets moving on the Imperium is the kind of thing that sets alarm bells of across the galaxy. Likewise he is too big and powerfull to have random filler stories.

 

I know allot of people LOVE primarchs and want 40k to just be 30k HH mark 2, but he heresy lasted less then 10 years. And they were constant action years  where everything changes. Suddenly having these beings in 40k where nothing changes TRAPS them better then any deamon ward ever could.  Because if they do something the ripples flow out and affect the entire meta plot. Suddenly fans want to know why x-y-z are doing to stop/counter Mortarion, suddenly other books need changing/etc etc etc. 

 

Likewise the loaylist ones CANT be too active or they will actually FIX things. Its why G man had to get off terra pronto, why he is always on crusade, why he has no time, why the Lion is off who knows where doing NOTHING. They cant just meet up and sort stuff out or the setting CRUMBLES. 

 

GW wont even allow normal characters to change (look at Yarick, Gaz, Ragnar, Dante, anyone really) you think they will ok setting level change? Dont expect much from the primarchs others then WWF fights where no one dies and nothing really changes. 

[wecanhaveallthree]

I will say this again: this problem is two-fold.

 

First and foremost, yeah, nothing can change. I absolutely 100% maintain that if Calgar had died (or gone traitor) at Vigilus, things would have been in an infinitely better position on this front. You just need one big scalp, one big name to bite the dust to put the fear (and anticipation) in everyone else. Even if it's unlikely, you know it might happen, so you tune in.

 

Secondly, the setting has done a wonderful job of killing off or shelving all its 'mid-bosses'. Yes, there are big characters who just roll whatever situation they're in unless they're up against another big character, but I maintain the best stories follow(ed) persistent, intelligent antagonists (and protagonists). Ventris and Honsou, f'ex. The Cawl books are showing the strength of this formula (seriously, they're pumping these out, it's getting to Gotrex & Felix levels which I am totally fine with). I also maintain that the fact Haarken Worldclaimer, mid-boss incarnate, hasn't shown up in print is a tragedy.

 

Quote

the lion

 

I feel like it's been pretty blatant from the start that they were waiting for whatever revelations the Scouring has when it reaches Caliban to follow up on the Lion (and Luther). Feels like there's been some issues getting the Scouring going, which is why Jonson is twiddling his thumbs.

[Krelious]

I think they could easily have Typhus die considering he died before and Nurgle just brought him back in Burried Dagger. You could just say like oh Lion kills Typhus and then some other Nurgle champion goes out and finds Typhus' helmet as a relic and wears it and then he gets possessed by Typhus and becomes him as Chaos is magic and you dont have to explain :cuss: kinda thing. 

 

Even better id just have Mortarion perma kill Typhus in some civil war novel so Mortarion becomes the undisputed master of the Legion and promotes someone else to take Typhus' place.

 

If anything id prefer more lore on Fulgrim as they brought him back and id like to see him and or Lucius presented as a serious threat involved in a major series of battles like another Plague War series but its more that Fulgrim is carving out his own empire of Pleasure Planets and Roboute has to kick him out without the inquisition burning everything. 

[Tolmeus]

1 hour ago, Krelious said:

Even better id just have Mortarion perma kill Typhus in some civil war novel so Mortarion becomes the undisputed master of the Legion and promotes someone else to take Typhus' place.

 

Unfortunately, I share @Nagashsnee opinion on that matter. GW will not kill a character as famous as Typhus is.

 

1 hour ago, Krelious said:

If anything id prefer more lore on Fulgrim as they brought him back and id like to see him and or Lucius presented as a serious threat involved in a major series of battles like another Plague War series but its more that Fulgrim is carving out his own empire of Pleasure Planets and Roboute has to kick him out without the inquisition burning everything. 

 

Would love to see that but it is too similiar to the Pleague Wars so it seems unlikely IMO.

 

(And on a site note regarding the Emperors Children: Would also love to read about First captain Julius. To my knowledge he is still alive and even holds an important position within the hierarchy of the EC.)

Edited April 29 by Tolmeus

[Nagashsnee]

1 hour ago, Krelious said:

I think they could easily have Typhus die considering he died before and Nurgle just brought him back in Burried Dagger. You could just say like oh Lion kills Typhus and then some other Nurgle champion goes out and finds Typhus' helmet as a relic and wears it and then he gets possessed by Typhus and becomes him as Chaos is magic and you dont have to explain kinda thing. 

 

Even better id just have Mortarion perma kill Typhus in some civil war novel so Mortarion becomes the undisputed master of the Legion and promotes someone else to take Typhus' place.

 

 

See you start the classic GW way. Kill someone off only to cancel the death out. Dead = dead or it isnt dead. If they get better, or become primaris, or get their head put on a new body or possess someone else, THEY ARE NOT DEAD. They were just temporaly inconvenienced. 

 

Aside from the Emperor there is not a single character in 40k cannon who cannot easily die, and the changes would honestly be barely felt on a galactic level. It only feels the other way because no one ever dies which makes any death feel like a big deal.

 

Abaddon can be replaced, any single chapter master, eldar, necron, ork, sister, etc. Even primarch, heck the whole point use to be that all the primarchs died/went away and the wheels kept on turning. 

 

GWs obsession with hyping everithing in the setting up as hyper deadly only for no one to ever die has become one of 40ks biggest comedic factors, The orignal indomitus 180 year time skip, where not a single named marine goes down was the HIGHT of gw lore comedy. But even they back tracked on that one (the years of course, not the deaths). 

 

Almost every faction is set up (expect the Emperor) that if anyone dies their replacement naturaly just steps in. Be it marines, guard, necrons, orks whoever (does the hive mind count as a character?).  It just never happens in the now, only in the past. 

 

Look at Dante, he became chapter master when every single other captain and 90% of the chapter died.  System kicked in and bam on we go.

 

When the setting was stuck time wise this was not a problem, but now in a living timeline which is adding bloody new characters and primarchs? Beyond next level parody. 

[darkhorse0607]

3 hours ago, wecanhaveallthree said:

I feel like it's been pretty blatant from the start that they were waiting for whatever revelations the Scouring has when it reaches Caliban to follow up on the Lion (and Luther). Feels like there's been some issues getting the Scouring going, which is why Jonson is twiddling his thumbs.

 

Dunno if I am fully on board with that theory. 

 

Since Son of the Forst came out, zombie Caliban has returned, the Lion has fought Angron, linked up with the Dark Angels/incorporated the Risen, has apparently met the Blood Ravens for a Necron adventure, and is now going to Ultramar to meet Guilliman. 

 

GW is clearly OK with the Lion doing things and advancing the whole Caliban thing given Vashtorrs adventure with zombie Caliban. Likewise, given that he's not even in his protectorate anymore, a Son of the Forest 2 would probably be in a completely different setting or have a different focus. 

 

Then add onto that, that the outline of the Scouring series WHC did didn't mention Caliban at all. 

 

I dunno,  I just think we are using the "they're waiting for this thing before doing this thing" more and more rather than just going "it's not a priority" or that they don't care enough to do it right now. Probably because it gives us hope for a potential release or timeline. Or a reason that BL is dry as a Tomb King right now 

[theSpirea]

Just got my Zardu LE copy and oh boy... paper quality went down and it's incredibly stinky. It smells like cheap glued and the book being locked in the damp attic for years. The price of these went from 45 EUR to 65 EUR and quality dropped. I'm really not having good time with anything GW/BL related this year.

[Krelious]

I had no issue with my Zardu LE and found it to be quite stunning, feels very nice. My one limited edition that actually sucks is the Infinite and the Divine because the binding is so stiff that you couldnt even practically read the book as it does not open all the way. 

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

For the price the LE really shouldn't have these issues. 

 

I tried the BL App. I found it very basic and mediocre. Not comparable to my kobo at all. I checked the kobo store again and the amount of material that's missing is huge. 

 

I want to download an epub and read it when I want, how I want and on a device of my choosing. Seeing as I'm now denied that BL have lost themselves a customer. 

[Felix Antipodes]

Well, that was… interesting.  I logged onto the GW site to see if it was the LE or HB edition of Hive (it was listed as HB edition for those interested).  Guess what, it came up as already sold out - from first listing!  How does something sell out before it is even up for sale?? Guess they didn’t sort out those scalper issues after all.

[Taliesin]

Its available through 3rd party sellers as well, I dont think supply is that limited.

[Tolmeus]

You live in Australia, don’t you? It seems this isn’t an issue for the European allotment. It worked perfectly here.

What’s more, for once I was pleasantly surprised that GW actually went to the trouble of producing a slipcover for the standard hardback edition that actually looks decent.
One may argue that you pay for it, since the package costs 55€ alltogether.

Edited May 2 by Tolmeus

[Felix Antipodes]

Third party sellers are a bit thin on the ground in Oz.  Speaking to some others it seems pre-orders went up about 5 mins earlier than usual which is why it was gone when I clocked on.  The irony is I gave up chasing the LE versions to avoid this sort of thing.  Such is life. 

[Tolmeus]

Just to be sure: You do know that the release is always 5 minutes before the hour, right?
So in Germany the official release time is 11:00am, but in reality it is 10:55am.

[Felix Antipodes]

Yeah, I logged on at minute 55 as usual.  I’ve been told they went live at minute 50 for some reason today.  Not too bent out of shape about missing it though.  Will have a go at the LE when it finally goes up or settle for the digital edition.  Thanks for asking though.

[Taliesin]

10 hours ago, Tolmeus said:

You live in Australia, don’t you? It seems this isn’t an issue for the European allotment. It worked perfectly here.

What’s more, for once I was pleasantly surprised that GW actually went to the trouble of producing a slipcover for the standard hardback edition that actually looks decent.
One may argue that you pay for it, since the package costs 55€ alltogether.

 

That is a nice touch, assuming its a hard slipcase and not one of those soft ones. I love the covers for these 2 books.

[theSpirea]

About the slipcase, I wouldn't get my hopes up

more photos here

 

 

 

Edited May 3 by theSpirea

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

that blurb

 

Abnett is not beating the dime-store Fehervari allegations lmao. Also, why is it written like an RPG sourcebook? Is this a choose-your-own-adventure? Will I finish a few pages, then be told to open HIIVE to page 65 if I choose to shank the overseer? How utterly odd.

 

Quote

it's going to be two tomes of find-replace'd Fragments that got cut from TEATD

 

NOOOOOOOOO

[darkhorse0607]

3 hours ago, wecanhaveallthree said:

 

Abnett is not beating the dime-store Fehervari allegations lmao. Also, why is it written like an RPG sourcebook? Is this a choose-your-own-adventure? Will I finish a few pages, then be told to open HIIVE to page 65 if I choose to shank the overseer? How utterly odd.

 

Honestly, between that and the font choice for the spine, it reminds me of something you'd see walking by the YA section at Barnes and Nobles (or whatever the country appropriate chain of book store someone has is), even down to it being printed in two volumes. 

 

I dunno. I'm interested in the books, but with Abnett I also get the worry that at the end it will turn into the "terrifying threat" being a surprise dictionary of enuncia or something

[Taliesin]

8 hours ago, theSpirea said:

About the slipcase, I wouldn't get my hopes up

more photos here

 

 

 

 

Yeah that doesnt look great. I am not sure why some of the Redditors there think it will have a dustjacket though. I dont see that on the photos in the thread, doesnt look like a dustjacket to me, and then aside from that, BL generally doesnt do that ( which I am glad about).

[theSpirea]

To me, it actually does look like a dust jacket in the HH hardback size and style. But the font is, again, absolutely atrocious. They seriously need to fire whoever has been in charge of fonts lately. They must be trolling us at this point.

 

I pre-ordered it from local stores; we’ll see if they manage to get a copy.

Edited Sunday at 05:30 PM by theSpirea

[DarkChaplain]

Quote

May your light last, pilgrim. If the Emperor protects, perhaps we shall make it out alive.

 

Hmmm.....

 

Quote

Steel yourself, traveller, for the road you’ve chosen won’t be easy. You’ll find no joy and precious little glory along the way, let alone the hope of a better tomorrow at journey’s end.

 

Fehervari for comparison, from Requiem Infernal's Exordium.

 

Sadly, this also made me realize that the Omnibus does not include the "Afterwyrd" from Requiem Infernal's original hardback/paperback/ebook. Which is a flying shame, because it directly addresses a bunch of things about the narrative and should be seen as an extension of it, not a tacked-on Afterword.

 

Completely agree on the font design lately. Whichever intern does that now, he should be replaced by a proper cover designer.

[Felix Antipodes]

I was about to post that there is nothing new this week, then thought maybe I should wait a couple of days noting GW’s recent track record.