Hive by Dan Abnett

[Casual Heresy]

Your first chance to get Hive is next week in a limited edition slipcase set. 
 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/cqdcnxdx/sunday-preview-chaos-and-order-battle-in-the-city-of-ash/

Edited April 12 by Casual Heresy

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

Scalpers going to love that.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I guess that means we'll see the regular release in a month or two, then..? (I'm struggling to remember what the delay was between the limited- and regular release of Interceptor City)

Edited April 13 by Firedrake Cordova

[Alby the Slayer]

Yep, as @Taliesinsaid, probably between may and july now.

 

I think I will wait. I dread the price on this one and I have already a lot to read. I'm a little tired of the extra steps and the price needed to acquire LE books.

[son of the forest]

Preorder is now delayed for this, the Sunday preview article has been updated

[Neil H]

I wonder if they have pulled it in case scalpers crash the website as the City of Ashes release at the same time could really be screwed up?

Just a thought?

Neil

[Sothalor]

At two days from an announced release date? It's far more likely there was some issue in the shipping/logistics chain or a last-minute QC catch on some manufacturing or printing defect.

[son of the forest]

This has been stealth added to the Sunday Preview, not clear whether its the limited edition or standard hardback

[Casual Heresy]

If it is the standard edition this week then I will defiently get that and not pursue the limited edition which seems to have disappeared into the warp.

[Mmmmm Napalm]

On 3/15/2026 at 1:13 PM, Cleon said:

I recognise some of the arguements around the BL authors from ones I've had - personally I've avoided Abnett's books after reading a few because I've never felt he's playing in the same setting as I am - in his hands it's often felt more like a generic version of a Clarke/Asimov sci fi future than the more dogmatic, dark and messy setting I've loved since 2nd ed. 

bit late but now that finals are over i feel more comfortable taking the time to respond on this lol

so I broadly agree that abnetts work as a whole feels slightly disconnected, with the caveat that when he takes less liberties with the setting's mechanics as a whole, I think it still fits comfortably into established canon and I don't mind. As stated in such things as the Dark Heresy core book, the Imperium is host to many, many worlds, and is far from culturally monolithic. So while a world like Gershom is not an oppressively congested claustrophobic Hive City, and its unwilling inhabitant Valeintin Drusher is not a torch wielding zealot, they're both perfectly capable of fitting quite comfortably into the setting. I'd rather we see more deviations from the norm than less, so as to better represent the Imperium's unfathomable diversity of worlds and cultures. Gershom not being a living hell does not invalidate or cancel out the misery of a Hive World nor the dystopian nature of the Imperium on a macro level.

 

Part of the issue with Abnett is that his work varies considerably; compare Horus Rising to Legion, written shortly afterwards. With respect to the 40k era specfically, I think that he takes too many liberties with certain concepts in the setting, such as Rejuvenat effectiveness (the entire eisenhoen cast being 500 is silly imo, remember 300yr old Inquisitor Voke being a shrivelled little cadaver clad in a full body augmetic brace just so he could move?), or there being collars that just turn off a Blank's null field (as a super rare technology that's fine but eisenhorn gave them to hundreds of Blanks). I'm certainly not a fan of Abnetts meddling in macro level narrative stuff, which rank among the negative aspects of his influenxe on the setting imo.

 

But, when hes just telling a localized, typical 40k story he's fine. I'll take Abnett's more frequent depiction of planets slightly nicer than the norm* over "HERESY BLAM XDDDDD" ad infinitum. I understand that for some people, the appeal of this setting is to be as over the top as possible, and while I respect that stance I don't think one tone should cancel out the other. I think the ability of the setting to accommodate a variety of tonal approaches is one of its strong suits.

 

*I actually don't think Abnett's that unusual in his depiction of the Imperium being slightly less dystopian than what is presented in the main Rulebooks and Codices. One of the claims ive seen repeated online, especially hellscapes like reddit, is "the imperium used to be depicted more negatively, now they depict it positively to cater to little timmy!!" frankly, i do not think this is the case. The earlier BL stories (or at least those by authors who gained notoriety like abnett and mitchell) tended to be less over the top in their depiction of the imperium's dystopian nature. It's more recent media that's gone harder on the ultra misery angle

 

I think if I were to pick a BL series that had the most balanced depiction of the setting, and one that I think would set a good standard template (haha) for stories about the more unpleasant planets such as hive worlds, i'd choose Farrer's Enforcer trilogy. Grim, but not "AND THEY SERVITORIZE YOU FOR BEING 30SEC LATE!!! xdddd" tier. Stuff like manufactorum laborers fleeing at the sight of a navy uniform out of fear that they'll be press-ganged, or the ecclesiarchy's courts operating according to the logic of trials of ordeal. Farrer was also very good at flashing out a particular locality. 

Edited May 13 by Mmmmm Napalm

[phandaal]

1 hour ago, Mmmmm Napalm said:

The earlier BL stories from well known authors like abnett and mitchell seem to go less hard on the ultra-misery angle, at least in my experience. 

 

Both Abnett and Mitchell do a good job of showing that there is a human society behind everything in the setting, and that it can vary wildly from place to place. What always comes to mind for me is Ciaphas Cain quoting a popular catch phrase from the "Arbiter Foreboding" holo-dramas. 

 

It also makes the setting feel more realistic when they acknowledge that many places in the Imperium can and do experience peace for centuries or even millennia at a time. Localizing the events actually makes the setting feel larger. It is a good reminder of just how enormous a galaxy-spanning civilization would have to be.

[Mmmmm Napalm]

4 hours ago, phandaal said:

 

Both Abnett and Mitchell do a good job of showing that there is a human society behind everything in the setting, and that it can vary wildly from place to place. What always comes to mind for me is Ciaphas Cain quoting a popular catch phrase from the "Arbiter Foreboding" holo-dramas. 

 

It also makes the setting feel more realistic when they acknowledge that many places in the Imperium can and do experience peace for centuries or even millennia at a time. Localizing the events actually makes the setting feel larger. It is a good reminder of just how enormous a galaxy-spanning civilization would have to be.

100% agree. I've said it here before, but the best thing 40k media can do is flesh out a particular locality and, like you said, paradoxically make it feel bigger. 

 

On the subject of peaceful worlds, i think a moment of silence is in order for once-idyllic (well, relatively speaking) Gudrun from the eisenhorn trilogy; unless I'm mistaken the 8th ed. CSM codex mentioned a chaos invasion of the planet. 

 

I also think that planets and sectors experiencing peace for long periods doesn't take away from the overall dreary or foreboding vibe of the setting, either. As we see with Gudrun, it can all change in a moment. And gudrun being invaded doesn't just affect gudrun, it also means nearby worlds are probably going to get worse as they go into production overdrive for the sake of the war effort.

[Ripper.McGuirl]

8 hours ago, Mmmmm Napalm said:

 

 

I think if I were to pick a BL series that had the most balanced depiction of the setting, and one that I think would set a good standard template (haha) for stories about the more unpleasant planets such as hive worlds, i'd choose Farrer's Enforcer trilogy. Grim, but not "AND THEY SERVITORIZE YOU FOR BEING 30SEC LATE!!! xdddd" tier. Stuff like manufactorum laborers fleeing at the sight of a navy uniform out of fear that they'll be press-ganged, or the ecclesiarchy's courts operating according to the logic of trials of ordeal. Farrer was also very good at flashing out a particular locality. 

I agree, the Enforcer trilogy has really excellent 40k vibes without being completely oppressive to read. I also love Wraight’s Warhamme Crime entries which have a different vibe and are both Grimm and Dark but not necessarily Grimdark. They read as cyberpunk novels that then dip into 40k territory when they want you to remember that things are  Actually Scary.

[Valkia the Bloody]

Looking forward to this and just pre-ordered it for my Kindle on Amazon.

Release date for Kindle is the 16th of May.

Yay for summer reading! 

[Mmmmm Napalm]

about 100pgs into the ebook version

 

not gonna lie the "gutter" lexicon is kind of annoying. they use a total of 10 words and spread them throughout every third sentence. 

I also wish the governors PoV and the other offworld characters were used to explain the local situation and organizations more than they have thus far. What's the difference between LandLas and HiveDef? They both seem to be planetary defence forces; was LandLas referring to the Guard forces which had been used for the Civil War? Ive forgotten if it was explained. 

 

This is a matter of taste, but I miss Abnett's writing style from Eisenhorn, Horus Rising, and Bequin. It's difficult to describe; it's not just the switching PoV's, the pacing of the prose in Hive features shorter, more rapid-fire sentences.

 

I really like the inclusion of a "mundane" (ie not chaos related) imperial civil conflict as a plot element (Sacramentus v Ostrika), there isnt enough of that in 40k stuff. 

 

On 5/13/2026 at 2:31 PM, Ripper.McGuirl said:

I agree, the Enforcer trilogy has really excellent 40k vibes without being completely oppressive to read. I also love Wraight’s Warhamme Crime entries which have a different vibe and are both Grimm and Dark but not necessarily Grimdark. They read as cyberpunk novels that then dip into 40k territory when they want you to remember that things are  Actually Scary.

Yeah i liked the WHcrime book by Wraight as well. Maybe this is a controversial take but I've really come to hate the term "grimdark" lol. much of the time i see it used, its to argue in favor of stuff that seems more deserving of the classic term "GrimDerp" lol.

Edited May 18 by Mmmmm Napalm

[sitnam]

On 5/13/2026 at 5:59 AM, Mmmmm Napalm said:

or there being collars that just turn off a Blank's null field (as a super rare technology that's fine but eisenhorn gave them to hundreds of Blanks). 

 

Abnetts treatment of Pariahs/Blanks is really bizarre and at odds with what we know about them from other sources. When I listened to the Ravenor trilogy it just felt wrong.

[Mmmmm Napalm]

18 minutes ago, sitnam said:

 

Abnetts treatment of Pariahs/Blanks is really bizarre and at odds with what we know about them from other sources. When I listened to the Ravenor trilogy it just felt wrong.

yeah, i'm not too familiar with how well established the concept was when he wrote the first couple eisenhorn novels. I'm sure it was among their earliest depictions, so I could give him a pass there. It seems that as the setting developed, instead of amending his approach to be more in line with how they're depicted elsewhere, he just maintained course. 

Edited May 18 by Mmmmm Napalm

[Firedrake Cordova]

Thanks for reminding me that it was out now ... somehow I'd managed to miss it.  

 

For those who like audiobooks, it's also available via Audible (Toby Longworth is the narrator - for some reason Audible's search doesn't do a good job of finding it (but Google/DuckDuckGo does).  

[darkhorse0607]

13 minutes ago, Mmmmm Napalm said:

 It seems that as the setting developed, instead of amending his approach to be more in line with how they're depicted elsewhere, he just maintained course. 

 

I mean, Abnett tends to do that with a lot of things. He does things the Abnett way regardless of how the setting has changed, or what other authors have done to set up certain arcs/characters

 

If you like it, then you like it. But it can be a bit jarring

[Mmmmm Napalm]

Having progressed further, it's a bit of a missed opportunity that the offworlder characters, so far as I can tell, don't use more conventional 40k terminology to provide further contrast with the denizens of Sacramentus. 

 

18 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

I mean, Abnett tends to do that with a lot of things. He does things the Abnett way regardless of how the setting has changed, or what other authors have done to set up certain arcs/characters

 

If you like it, then you like it. But it can be a bit jarring

Yeah, and it has sort of become more prominent over time. 

[Laurence]

4 hours ago, sitnam said:

 

Abnetts treatment of Pariahs/Blanks is really bizarre and at odds with what we know about them from other sources. When I listened to the Ravenor trilogy it just felt wrong.

Yeah, pariahs are blanks unaffected by psychic powers because they have no soul/presence in the Warp.  To 'nullify' that, a device would have to create a false soul or give off a light in the Warp, and if the Imperium is capable of that sort of technology, then it kinda breaks the setting.  Why fear daemons when you can create angler-fish like soul lures?

[sitnam]

15 minutes ago, Laurence said:

Yeah, pariahs are blanks unaffected by psychic powers because they have no soul/presence in the Warp.  To 'nullify' that, a device would have to create a false soul or give off a light in the Warp, and if the Imperium is capable of that sort of technology, then it kinda breaks the setting.  Why fear daemons when you can create angler-fish like soul lures?

@Mmmmm Napalm made a great point, seeing as how Abnetts was likely one of the first authors to really touch on blanks (though they seem to first appear in a second edition Assasins codex). Maybe it felt right at the time, but it just doesn't align with how the lore evolved. Its been years since I read Eisenhorn, but the Ravenor trilogy really felt like a different setting at times.

[Mmmmm Napalm]

I gotta say, abnett's "badass ex special forces/mercenary man" characters tend to be rather dull imo. Harlon Nayl, this osgood guy whose first name is a liquor brand, . Not as cool as they're clearly intended to be. I didn't think the eisenhorn supporting cast was *amazing* but I liked Fischig (when he actually showed up), Aemos, Bequin, etc. and of course, Eisenhorn himself was cool. and there were side characters I very much enjoyed like the monodominant hardliner Inquisitor Voke, the foppish chartist captain fella, etc. 

 

Nobody from Hive is really doing it for me thus far, and I'm in the last third of the book. They're all just kind of okay. I guess the kind stonemason girl is sweet.

[Matcap86]

So in weird reversal, last sunday GW announced the limited edition of this book would only be available in a (very) select amount of shops face to face, to combat scalpers. People were unhappy, so they've reversed that decision in record time especially by GW standards and are now offering made to orders. 

Let it be shown that personal growth is possible even for a big corp. 

Link to Warcom

[Cactus]

Hopefully this goes smoothly and generates lots of money so GW will make print on demand the standard.

 

The article says that the PoD premium edition won't include the author signature and numbering that were previously advertised. Those books were due to go sale in three days so I assume the signing has been done. Will those copies be pulped? That seems like a lot of wasted effort and resources.