Upcoming BL Stuff 2026

[Lord Marshal]

New Knight novel, along with Cypher and Grey Knights re-releases.

 

 

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Though knightly scion Asrien Balateur is only moments away from claiming the throne that is their birthright, the land itself is being swallowed by mysterious snowstorms, and Imperial Knights are disappearing among shattered castles and ravaged realms. 

 

The petty squabbles of quarrelsome barons and pressures of a king’s court are no longer the biggest of Asrien’s worries. Madness rises from the planet’s murky past, and only the future king can hope to rally the land against debts long since forgotten.

 

The land moves, and the Winter Knight rides.

 

With a combination of posturing, intrigue, and action, Throne Questoris by Victoria Hayward offers fresh ways to explore the 41st Millennium.

 

 

Edited October 7 by Lord Marshal

[darkhorse0607]

Throne Questoris sounds interesting, I'll pick it up. Ill take haunted snowstorm as a concept 

 

Couldn't care less about the other two. So over the constant re-releases

[sitnam]

I really liked Haywards Catachan novel and I'm a sucker for Knight fiction. I'll definitely pick that one up

[Lathe Biosas]

This is going to sound really stupid, but I'm definitely going to buy that Grey Knights re-issue.

 

That omnibus got me through a really dark patch of life and I needed something to read that would take me away from the here and now and Ben Counter's books did that for me. 

[Ammonius]

Always neat to see new Knight stories. And a haunted snowstorm is right in line with the season. I'm zooming in and squinting at the cover art. I think all of the mostly-green Knight Houses have some kind of contrasting color on one or both shoulders, and the right side is desaturated by distance and partially hidden by the title. Do we think this could be an all new house? Also "The Winter Knight" sounds nice and Arthurian. I am hopeful for a 40k-flavored chanson de geste!

[DukeLeto69]

Cold Covenant Std HB pre-ordered. Cannot wait to read this!

[wecanhaveallthree]

The GK book looks like my measuring spoons. I gotta squint to see the text.

 

I do have to echo Gravis here, though. I mean, the description isn't sure what a non-binary ruler is called; we just default to 'king's court'. If this is the 'king's court', why are we letting a, hem hem, non-king, take the throne? Is their identity important, or isn't it? Is being the 'future king' saying something about how that resolves, or do we just use gendered language when it suits us? Commit to the bit or begone, say I. I like Knights, I like knightly stuff and court intrigue and all the rest, but that also comes with the very clear expectations and values of the Knights. It's all about lineage and heirs and all the rest. You don't really get a choice: the Throne Mechanicum makes you. It's one of the many things that make Knights cool: they're plugged into a chair full of old ghosts that force them to maintain those traditions, or get driven bugnuts insane.

 

I really don't like the way this is saying 'we've got a heckin' cool enby protag aren't we progressive' without seeming to put any thought beyond that. 

[hd3]

1 hour ago, Lathe Biosas said:

On reddit they are saying that the email sent out said: 

 

I didn't get that email. If someone could verify,  that would put an end to this quickly. 

 

 

 

Though personally I'm more excited about Apostle getting a paperback release. 

Edited October 7 by hd3

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, Lathe Biosas said:

On reddit they are saying that the email sent out said: 

 

I didn't get that email. If someone could verify,  that would put an end to this quickly. 

 

Throne Questoris is actually a followup to a short story (The Feast of Saint Luthera) Hayward wrote in 2024 iirc, with the same protagonist that used they/them (although who knows if they're carrying that all the way forward here or how it'll look) pronouns, again iirc as it's been a while, the main character here is the offspring of the current King and that's why here they're on the precipice of taking the throne.

 

So I am sure we can have a level headed discussion about the merits of the novel when it releases, and we won't have a repeat of the whole Necromancy thread debacle

 

7 hours ago, Lathe Biosas said:

This is going to sound really stupid, but I'm definitely going to buy that Grey Knights re-issue.

 

That omnibus got me through a really dark patch of life and I needed something to read that would take me away from the here and now and Ben Counter's books did that for me. 

 

Books mean things, my comments above aside, I have three different copies of Storm of Iron, including the LE, for the same reason. No shame in it at all. My comment just comes from my general frustrations with BL. 

Edited October 7 by darkhorse0607

[DarkChaplain]

Cypher gets illustrations, huh. An annotations. Will those actually say anything new or relevant beyond the scope of the writing process? Because the novel itself says *very* little, imo. One of the biggest disappointments of its time, that audio box set turned short novel...

[Tolmeus]

This is just my humble opinion, but I’d like to discuss books, new ideas and their blurb, and, where applicable, possible interpretations of them. I respect all opinions, but I find that anything which doesn’t contribute to the content tends to lead us down unnecessary tangents. I really don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but as many threads have already been closed for this very reason, I’d find it unnecessary if that were to happen to this one as well. My request is simply that we focus solely on the topic of this thread, so that everyone can enjoy reading and discussing it together. 

 

If you feel personally attacked by this comment, feel free to write me a personal note anytime 

Edited Friday at 11:52 AM by Tolmeus

[Scribe]

20 minutes ago, Tolmeus said:

If you feel personally attacked by this comment, feel free to write my a personal note anytime 

 

I'm good, you are good. All good.

[Griefbringer]

As for knight novels (as in big stompy knights), how many have there been published so far? I must admit that I have not been following BL much for a while, but they have totally passed under my radar (unlike the actual knight model releases in various scales).

 

And most importantly, what kind of ratios do they have between big stompy action and other kind of content? Naturally a proper knight novel should have a couple of sequences of good big stompy action - otherwise could it be a knight novel in the first place? However, a book focusing almost solely on that kind of action would sound almost as one-dimensional as a snotling that has had a squishy emcounter with a questoris knight foot.

[sitnam]

3 hours ago, Griefbringer said:

As for knight novels (as in big stompy knights), how many have there been published so far? I must admit that I have not been following BL much for a while, but they have totally passed under my radar (unlike the actual knight model releases in various scales).

The Andy Clark novels Kingsblade/Knightsblade are the primary two I can think of, and I quite enjoy them. Clark did a good job of creating appropriate scale for 40k.

 

There was also a knight centric book in the Dawn of Fire series, Iron Kingdom, that was pretty average. It had cool moments but certain elements just didn't sit right with me.

 

Assasinorum Kingmaker by Robert Rath might be the best Knight book, and it isn't a Knight book. Big stompy action, political intrigue, and som espionage thrown in

[Brother Tyler]

Since I don't have time for more, I'm going to put this topic into a timeout over the weekend.

[Brother Tyler]

I've gone through and removed all the [recent] sociopolitical posts. In a perfect world, we would be able to discuss these things without people becoming combative. Unfortunately, this is the real world and people become unnecessarily combative over certain issues. The community rules are intended to keep the peace among members who have diverse opinions on issues, hence our prohibition on sociopolitical discussion. Remember: everyone is welcome here, including people who have views which differ from your own.

 

This topic is now back open for continued discussion within the allowances of the community rules.

 

The content that was removed was removed without any other disciplinary action. Any return to that sociopolitical commentary (or any other inappropriate topics, for that matter) will result in disciplinary action.

[Tolmeus]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/aplo2bxs/revealed-the-new-flight-of-the-eisenstein-cover-for-the-horus-heresy-saga/

 

It comes to no surprise, but here is the next revised edition of the Horus Heresy Saga. 

 

Although this has already been discussed in this very thread, I too think the new cover looks really good. In fact, I’m already really looking forward to the next instalments.

 

Unfortunately, there’s still no update on the ‘Scouring’ series and, for me personally, even more frustratingly, there’s still no further development regarding the Lion in 40k (it’s been three years!).

[grailkeeper]

Leaving aside the issues Brother Tyler has ruled on, and which I won't revisit. The main character of the new knight novel look like they took a fair bit of inspiration from the Joker. Pale skin, black eye make up, chelsea smile facial scars.

 

It's a bit of a  "We live in a society" coded look.

 

Do you see it too?

 

Edited 10 hours ago by grailkeeper

[wecanhaveallthree]

Do not read anything into four Horus Heresy Saga books (so far) being rereleased before we get a second Scouring book (or news of a second Scouring book).

 

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It's a bit of a  "We live in a society" coded look.

 

I wouldn't dare comment. 

 

[darkhorse0607]

6 hours ago, Tolmeus said:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/aplo2bxs/revealed-the-new-flight-of-the-eisenstein-cover-for-the-horus-heresy-saga/

 

It comes to no surprise, but here is the next revised edition of the Horus Heresy Saga. 

 

Although this has already been discussed in this very thread, I too think the new cover looks really good. In fact, I’m already really looking forward to the next instalments.

 

Unfortunately, there’s still no update on the ‘Scouring’ series and, for me personally, even more frustratingly, there’s still no further development regarding the Lion in 40k (it’s been three years!).

 

Again want to state my like for the cover. The first three weren't my thing, but this Id rate higher than the original 

 

[Scribe]

6 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

Leaving aside the issues Brother Tyler has ruled on, and which I won't revisit. The main character of the new knight novel look like they took a fair bit of inspiration from the Joker. Pale skin, black eye make up, chelsea smile facial scars.

 

It's a bit of a  "We live in a society" coded look.

 

Do you see it too?

 

 

I see more "It's not a phase Mom, and I don't want to be King!"

[DarkChaplain]

I'm just glad the weekend ended on a late wednesday evening and didn't extend indefinitely for a change.

 

Anyhow, the Flight of the Eisenstein cover is, in my opinion, as discussed previously weeks ago, excellent and an improvement over the original. Much more suitable, introspective, etc. I've said my piece on it before, though.

 

Reminder: We're two days away from the ebook/hardback release of Fehervari's Cold Covenant - but the audiobook might launch early the night to Saturday on Audible, depending on the unlock time. I for one have my credit ready and waiting for the listing to drop!

[Nagashsnee]

8 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

 

It's a bit of a  "We live in a society" coded look.

 

 

Going by the fact that its the coronation on the cover, and as people on here LOVE to harp on about feudalism and knights (heaven forbid its any other type of knight world/house), he should be covered in makeup, silks (or whatever their expensive fabrics are), fancy robes and jewelry.  The key point would be pagentry and show. A display of wealth, power and status. Silly things that would be 'traditional' would be in abudence, be it relics, regalia, vows or other rituals.  

 

He looks like someone being made to have a very uncomfortable day, that will dictate the rest of his life. Going by the description of a 'dying' world and the poor state of his suroundings, he looks like someone realising exactly what kind of society he is in, and how bad things are. 

 

There is a chance if the book does show the coronation and does go pure feudal nobility that the cover is depicting this houses/worlds ceremony ending or part way, and the specific outfit, sword, makeup, and scaring all playing a significant role in it. Or not at all, this is a BL book, the cover may not even be in the novel at all. 

 

Of course, IF the book does do feudal nobility,  this would present the issue that some fraters dont want 'any of that modern stuff ' coming into conflict with the fact that having say a scene of all the male warrior nobility having their makeup applied just right (least they lose face and status at such a important event) or worrying over their dress and if it is colourfull/frilly/fancy enought could be for any period of human history.Or depending on the period of inspiration, have the knights  talk about their skin care routines, no way being in a knight suit doesnt play havoc on your skin, and balm, salves and skin treatments were big bussiness back in the day.  You know explore the feudal nobility of a knight world in a non modern way so as to not arouse any issues. 

 

Right guys?