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Friday 24th of December, 2010
The Bloody Handed, and Aenarion!
As everyone was getting ready to head home for the festive season and fill themselves with their favoured foods we started talking about what we were looking forward to reading. Cries of "Purging of Kadillus!" and "Prospero Burns" were made, but one that made everyone intrigued as "Aenarion!". Why? Well, Aenarion is one of our audio dramas (and an excellent one if I may say so), so to say it is on a reading list was surprising ... until we remembered that it is included as a special chapbook with The Bloody Handed collectors' edition novella!
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Thursday 23rd of December, 2010
A Crucified Angel
Santa works in mysterious ways... Literally just through the door, before Nick’s last day in the office, is the first draft of Blood Reaver. Aaron’s been working like a booze-swilling, coffee-slurping, biscuit-eating hack to get this one finished before old Santy comes a-callin’. Truly the spirit of Christmas is alive and well. With matchsticks holding his eyelids open, Nick finished reading the manuscript a few hours ago and after issuing an emphatic two-thumbs up, we have this choice morsel of giftiness to offer. Enjoy – it’s the season of giving after all... Bear in mind, these are Aaron’s pure, mad, undiluted thoughts about the Night Lords Legion; untouched by a copy editor or massaged by a proof reader. Insanity lies within.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Wednesday 22nd of December, 2010
Guess the Gaunt
Darius insisted that we post this awesome piece of artwork from Stef Kopinski with everyone's favourite Colonel-commissar Ibram Gaunt! The question is can you "Guess the Gaunt", which upcoming Ghosts novel will feature this striking pose?
Posted by The Black Library Team : 23 Comments
Tuesday 21st of December, 2010
First Look: Red & Black Cover-art
This great bit of art from artist Slawomir Maniak will appear on the cover of the forthcoming audio drama Red & Black.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Monday 20th of December, 2010
Pre-order February's Releases; 2011 Titles Revealed
As promised on Friday, you can now find a full list of all the titles we’re releasing up until January 2012, in the 'Coming Soon' section.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Friday 17th of December, 2010
New eBooks & audio books; Cover-art revealed
It’s all go here in the Black Library office today. We’ve just eBooked: Bloodstorm, which is book two in the Darkblade series; Skaven Slayer, the second book in the Gotrek and Felix series; Gaunts Ghosts: Ghostmaker, the second book in Dan’s illustrious Imperial Guard series; and Tales of Heresy, the first Horus Heresy short story anthology.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Thursday 16th of December, 2010
Our Biggest Fan?
Jon Simpson sent us an email this morning entitles ‘Dear Wonderful Black Library folk’. Being a cynical lot, we immediately assumed he was after something but really he just wanted to show us some pictures of his impressive ‘man-cave’ (his words), which is bursting with Black Library books, posters and collectors' editions.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 4 Comments
Wednesday 15th of December, 2010
Exclusive Age of Darkness Extract
From the short story ‘Forgotten Sons’, by Nick Kyme: Heka’tan was naked but for a pair of training fatigues. He had prepared the ash and the brazier. He had observed the rites and warmed the branding iron. The flame was born in the cradle, and within its blazing grasp he found purity and a sense of truth. Repressed memory came with it…
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Tuesday 14th of December, 2010
Chris Wraight's Sketches for 'Battle of the Fang'
Our studio manager Darius was sifting through his drawer today and came across Chris Wraight’s sketches for Battle of the Fang. Here, take a look.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Monday 13th of December, 2010
New eBooks; Graham McNeill on BL TV; High Elf Artwork
As promised on Friday, we’ve some new eBooks for you to download today. And not just any eBooks but a fine selection of firsts. There’s Gaunt’s Ghosts: First and Only, the first book Black Library ever printed; Bill King’s Trollslayer, the first book in the Gotrek and Felix series; and The Daemon’s Curse by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee, which is the first book in the Dark Blade series.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Friday 10th of December, 2010
eBooks?; Imperial Glory Cover Art; Prospero Tour Dates; Pre-signed God King
In other news, Dan Abnett will be out and about in January to celebrate the launch of his latest Horus Heresy title, Prospero Burns. He’ll be in Games Workshop Hobby Centres up and down the UK, ready and waiting to sign your books and chat about all things Heresy related. Though, he probably won’t mind if you want to talk about Gaunt’s Ghosts or any of his other books either. You’ll find a list of where and when he’ll be signing below.
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Thursday 9th of December, 2010
First Look: Hammer & Anvil Cover Art
Here’s a first look at Hardy Fowler’s artwork for Hammer & Anvil. The detail in the face (check out those eyes) and on the armour is phenomenal. Hammer & Anvil is James Swallow’s follow up to Faith & Fire.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Wednesday 8th of December, 2010
Excusive Age of Darkness Extract; God King Tour Dates
For today’s treat, we’ve an extract from Rob Sanders’ Iron Within, which features in the forthcoming Horus Heresy anthology, Age of Darkness.
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Tuesday 7th of December, 2010
The Madness Within
More storming Space Marine artwork for you, courtesy of Mr Hardy Fowler. This mean-looking character will be gracing the cover of The Madness Within – an audio drama from Steve Lyons, released next summer. None of us here can remember exactly what a ‘summer’ is, but we’re sure it’s the perfect time to read about Crimson Fists, daemons and lunatic Librarians.
Posted by Forge World : 1 Comment
Monday 6th of December, 2010
New Horus Heresy Book – let the speculation begin.
Here's a look at Neil Roberts’ rough sketch of the cover for Graham McNeill’s forthcoming Horus Heresy title. If you're the first person to guess the title, we'll send you a signed copy of the book well before it's official release date. We might even thrown in a couple of extras. Post your answer by commenting on this post or on our Facebook page.
Posted by Forge World : 203 Comments
Friday 3rd of December, 2010
Prospero Audio Extract; Prospero Burns & God King Tour; More eBooks
As promised yesterday, weve something extra-special for you today - an extract from the forthcoming Prospero Burns audio book.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Thursday 2nd of December, 2010
Last Chance for free eBooks; Atlas Inferno Cover Art
Today is your last chance to download some free Ebooks. So if you haven't downladed all five of them yet, go get them before they disappear. We’ve just finalised the cover for the forthcoming Inquisitor Czevak novel, Atlas Inferno*, and we thought you should be the first ones to see it. Click on the image for a closer look at Stef Kopinski's artwork.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 5 Comments
Wednesday 1st of December, 2010
The Snow Effect; Pawns of Chaos; December Wallpapers
The snow has put us in a festive mood. Every day, from now until Christmas (well, weekdays – we like to sleep and eat cake at the weekend), we’ll be posting a little treat for you here on the blog; starting today with a selection of wallpapers for December.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Tuesday 30th of November, 2010
First Look: Path of the Seer Cover Art.
We originally thought Neil Roberts was just incredibly talented, but his recent covers have been so insanely detailed and lifelike that we started to get suspicious. Turns out that he’s got a magic wardrobe. It leads straight to the 41st Millennium and each time we ask him for a new cover he just sneaks in there with his digital camera and snaps away. I’m not sure it’s totally ethical, but as long as he keeps coming up with gems like this his secret is safe with us.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Friday 26th of November, 2010
eBook friday: The First Heretic; A Thousand Sons; Horus Rising
eBook Friday is back, and with no less than three Horus Heresy titles: Horus Rising, A Thousand Sons and The First Heretic.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 6 Comments
Tuesday 23rd of November, 2010
Graham McNeill & Neil Roberts sighted at Thought Bubble; Evil Crimson Moose...
Graham McNeil and Neil Roberts sign at Thought Bubble.
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Friday 19th of November, 2010
The Bloody Handed – a limited edition novella.
Our latest collectors’ edition, hardback novella is now available to pre-order. Written by Gav Thorpe (Path of the Warrior, Malekith), The Bloody Handed follows the murderous exploits of Hellebron as she kills her way up the ranks of Dark Elf society. We asked Gav why he chose to write about Hellebron, here’s what he said
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Thursday 18th of November, 2010
Christmas sighted.
Christmas Shipping Dates The nights are getting darker, the music cheesier and the amount of chocolate on the shelves growing – yup, it’s almost Christmas. And while on the one hand, you’re likely to get lots of great gifts, it does mean that your postman is about to have some time off. So, to make sure you awake to a pile of Black Library books under the tree, here’s a list of the last shipping dates – miss these and you might have to spend Boxing Day reading the back of a gravy packet.
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Wednesday 10th of November, 2010
Aaron Dembski-Bowden talks about The First Heretic
The First Heretic’s a New York Times Best Seller, but you probably knew that already. So what’s it like to be the man behind such a successful book? Over to The First Heretic author (and excitable chap), Aaron Dembski-Bowden to fill you in.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 4 Comments
Monday 8th of November, 2010
A Thousand Sons Audio - Available Now
Today’s the day – A Thousand Sons Audio is now available for download. This is the first time we’ve ever released an unabridged audio book and what better title to have chosen than Graham McNeill’s New York Times bestselling A Thousand Sons novel. Owing to author privileges, Graham received his copy of the audio book last Friday (you can listen to an extract of it here) and spent the weekend immersed in the Horus Heresy. Here's what he thought...
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Friday 15th of October, 2010
Free eBooks Friday
In case you aren't subscribed to our newsletter or check our new Digital section regularly we have started giving away free eBooks. Yes, completely free full novels available for you to download and use on your choice of ereader device, smartphone or even your own computer!
Posted by The Black Library Team : 13 Comments
Tuesday 28th of September, 2010
Sigvald cover art
For the fourth book in our Warhammer Heroes series we're shining a light on the sinister, depraved world of Prince Sigvald the Magnificent.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Wednesday 22nd of September, 2010
Games Day Battle Map
Download of the floor plan
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Monday 20th of September, 2010
Firedrake Book Trailer
Firedrake Book Trailer
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Friday 17th of September, 2010
Black Library Seminars @ UK Games Day
Black Library Seminars @ UK Games Day
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Tuesday 14th of September, 2010
Black Library at Games Day - Update
With the big day less than a month away, plans are coming together for Black Library at this year’s Games Day.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Monday 13th of September, 2010
Life and Undeath in the Old World: A Seven Point Traveller’s Guide to Not Being Eaten by Zombies
Life and Undeath in the Old World: A Seven Point Traveller’s Guide to Not Being Eaten by Zombies
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Monday 6th of September, 2010
Horus Heresy: The First Heretic - Book Trailer
The next Horus Heresy book trailer.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Thursday 26th of August, 2010
Hammer and Bolter: Black Library announces new download-only short fiction magazine
H&B announcement
Posted by The Black Library Team : 11 Comments
Monday 23rd of August, 2010
Black Library's line-up for UK Games Day
A preview of Games Day
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Monday 16th of August, 2010
US Games Day Update
Are you going to Baltimore Games Day this weekend? Make sure you get to the Black Library seminars where the authors will be reading advance previews from some of next year's releases.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Friday 13th of August, 2010
Caledor cover art
Here are some jaw-dropping early glimpses of the cover for Caledor (the final book in Gav Thorpe's Sundering trilogy). As with all the other Time of Legends artwork, it's by the bizarrely talented Jon Sullivan.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 4 Comments
Thursday 12th of August, 2010
Victories of the Space Marines
More Chaos-stomping fun from cover artist Hardy Fowler. This time it's for the next in our series of Space Marine anthologies: Victories of the Space Marines.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 5 Comments
Friday 6th of August, 2010
Knights of Bretonnia
Our main instruction to cover artist Clint Langley was: 'Make sure he looks nails-hard'. Nicely done, Clint. This fella looks like he ate twelve puppies for breakfast and sharpened his sword on his face.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Friday 6th of August, 2010
Bloodforged cover art
Those of you with oddly pointy teeth have probably already noticed how fangtastic the cover of Nathan Long's Bloodborn novel is. Well, if you thought that was tasty, take a peek at this. It's the cover art for the second Ulrika the Vampire novel, Bloodforged.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 6 Comments
Thursday 5th of August, 2010
Age of Darkness
Age of Darkness heralds an important new piece of the Horus Heresy story arc, so we thought it was time to drag the grumpy old warmaster out into the limelight and drop him on a cover.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 7 Comments
Thursday 29th of July, 2010
Fall of Damnos
There's just one problem with Jon Sullivan's artwork - it really breaks your heart when you have to shrink it down to novel cover size. He puts such a wealth of detail into everything he does, that we may have to start releasing our books in a new shed-sized format, just to show off the artwork properly. The images below are all taken from one piece - the cover of next year's Fall of Damnos book. The boy done good.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 8 Comments
Friday 16th of July, 2010
Interview with the author of Space Marine
Earlier this year, once it had been cleared by the Inquisition, we took time out to ask a few questions to the legend that is Ian Watson, to celebrate the Print-on-Demand re-issue of Space Marine.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Tuesday 6th of July, 2010
Guest Blog from C.L. Werner
C.L. Werner talks about writing Temple of the Serpent, and his love of Skaven.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Friday 2nd of July, 2010
Gav's Eldar guest blog
Black Library veteran author Gav Thorpe talks to us about getting into the eldar mindset.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 7 Comments
Tuesday 29th of June, 2010
Questions with Chris Wraight
Author Chris Wraight returns to answer questions about his novel Sword of Justice.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 0 Comments
Friday 25th of June, 2010
The Redemption Corps inside story
Rob Sanders answers a few questions about his latest novel, Redemption Corps
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Monday 21st of June, 2010
McNeill wins Gemmel Award
Black Library is thrilled to announce that New York Times bestselling author, Graham McNeill, is this year’s winner of the David Gemmell Legend Award, for his Time of Legends novel, Empire. On Friday, at the Magic Circle in London, authors and industry professionals gathered for the awards ceremony, which was to celebrate the importance of fantasy fiction, and promote the genre. There were three categories: best novel, best cover art, and best newcomer. The novel shortlist included many popular writers, such as Robert Jordan and Joe Abercrombie, but it was Graham who came out top of the fan-voted poll. As winner, he received a large Snaga axe, a replica taken from the novels of David Gemmell.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Friday 18th of June, 2010
Guest Blog - Chris Wraight talks about Warhammer Heroes
Today Sword of Justice author Chris Wraight talks about writing for the Black Library and what it means to tell the story of great Warhammer Heroes.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 5 Comments
Thursday 3rd of June, 2010
A Conversation Between Dan And Aaron, part 2
Part two of the conversation between Dan and Aaron is now available for you to read!
So, what you’re saying is, I AM Her Majesty The Queen? You know, young man, I used to be the bad-boy of Black Library too, until I got this trick knee and these dodgy synapses...
And just for the record, I do write pitches, though it IS possible that they may have become more perfunctory over the last few years. I used to say 'the book will go from A to D via B and C' and now I say 'It starts at A, it ends at D, and I’ll work out how it visits C as I go along. Oh, and there may be a B involved'. Flippancy aside, it was my fairly detailed pitch for Titanicus that helped catch
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Tuesday 25th of May, 2010
A Conversation Between Dan And Aaron
Black Library veteran, Dan Abnett, and newcomer Aaron Dembski-Bowden get together to have a chat about all things Warhammer 40,000, as well as writing in general.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Monday 17th of May, 2010
A final reminder to vote for Sigmar
Black Library fans - here's another reminder that we need your vote! Graham McNeill's Time of Legends novel, Empire, is on the short-list for the David Gemmell Legend Award, which is decided by an online poll.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 0 Comments
Wednesday 5th of May, 2010
BLTV : Black Library Live! 2010
Here's the report from Black Library Live! 2010, presented by esteemed authors James Swallow and Sandy Mitchell. As you can see from the first three minutes, they might need to work on their ad-lib skills.
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Tuesday 4th of May, 2010
New artwork
How good do these look? BL artists, Jon Sullivan and Hardy Fowler are clearly at the top of their game at the moment. These two pieces relate to products we haven't actually announced yet, but it seems criminal to keep them under wraps any longer. The Dark Angel is the work of Mr Sullivan and the Raven Guard Scout is the work of Mr Fowler. I think they both deserve a round of applause. And maybe even some high quality biscuits.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 8 Comments
Wednesday 28th of April, 2010
Aenarion and Indraugnir
This October sees the release of our first Time of Legends audio drama: Aenarion. Aenarion's story is one of the cornerstones of high elf history, so we've placed it in the capable hands of Black Library stalwart, Gav Thorpe. As with the ToL novel covers we've managed to rope in Jon 'sleep is for wimps' Sullivan. We reminded him that CD covers are actually quite small, but it didn't stop him layering an insane amount of detail onto Aenarion's armour. It seems a crime that we're going to have to show it so small on the cover, so here's the whole piece in all its unadulterated glory.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 7 Comments
Tuesday 27th of April, 2010
Of wallpapers and awards
Now online are a selection of new wallpapers for your desktop featuring the artwork from next month's releases Legends of the Space Marines, Helsreach, Redemption Corps and Brunner the Bounty Hunter which are available to preorder now. We also want to remind you that Graham McNeill's Time of Legends novel, Empire, has been short-listed twice for the David Gemmell Legend Award, which is decided by an online poll.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 4 Comments
Tuesday 6th of April, 2010
Graham McNeill short listed for Gemmel Award
Graham McNeill's Time of Legends novel, Empire has made the shortlist for the David Gemmell Legend Award. Also, Empire is featured on the shortlist for best artwork, thanks to the skills of Jon Sullivan.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Thursday 1st of April, 2010
Sabbat Worlds Anthology
From Gaunt's Ghosts to the Phantine Air Corp, Dan Abnett's Sabbat Worlds have thrown up a wealth of 40K heroes and villains over the years. This October we're planning to let some of our other authors loose in this brutal warzone, with a Sabbat Worlds anthology. The book will feature stories from some of our most respected authors, including Graham McNeill, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Mr Abnett himself.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Thursday 18th of March, 2010
Graham McNeill on the Gemmel Award
Graham McNeill talks about the Gemmell Award on his blog. It would be a great boon for Warhammer fiction, and for Black Library, if we had a novel feature so prominently. So vote for our novels and help Black Library on the path to World domination...
Posted by The Black Library Team : 0 Comments
Wednesday 17th of March, 2010
BLTV : Q&A with Dan Abnett
Here's the next video on our YouTube channel. This time, Dan answers questions from readers.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 2 Comments
Monday 15th of March, 2010
Graham McNeill becomes a New York Times best selling author!
Graham McNeill's Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons, charted at number 22 on the New York Times mass-market fiction best-seller list. This is the first time Black Library has had a novel hit the NYT best-seller charts, and we celebrated Graham’s success in the office with cake and wizard hats.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 8 Comments
Tuesday 23rd of February, 2010
Cain gets a promotion
Ciaphas Cain has become one of our most popular characters over the last few years, so we thought it was time to give the devious commissar a promotion. The next Cain release will not only have a snazzy new design, but it will be released in hardback too. Here's a sneaky peek.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 8 Comments
Saturday 13th of February, 2010
The Return of Bill King
William King has signed a major new deal with the Black Library, for a trilogy based on the high elf characters Tyrion and Teclis.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 3 Comments
Wednesday 10th of February, 2010
Sandy Mitchell @ GW Ipswich, 20th Feb.
Sandy Mitchell will be at Games Workshop Ipswich on the 20th February. There will be a short story writing competition (submissions to be no more than one side of A4 in a legible font), which will be judged on the day by Sandy Mitchell. He will also be signing books and answering any questions.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 0 Comments
Friday 29th of January, 2010
Black Library Logo v2.0
2010 will see a whole host of exciting new series, ranges and websites from the Black Library, so we decided to celebrate with a shiny new logo. (Well, it's actually more crumbly than shiny, but you get the idea.) Anyway, here it is. We're quite excited about it, so expect to see it plastered all over our foreheads at BL Live.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 4 Comments
Friday 22nd of January, 2010
Prospero Burns update
Due to author Dan Abnett’s health issues, the Horus Heresy novel Prospero Burns will now be published in Jan 2011. This novel chronicles the epic story of the Space Wolves and their dire battle with the Thousand Sons. It provides a counterpoint to A Thousand Sons, which tells the story from the Traitor Legion’s perspective and is published in March 2010.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 1 Comment
Friday 15th of January, 2010
Graham McNeill "A Thousand Sons" signings
Graham McNeill will be signing copies of Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons at the following stores. (More dates to be confirmed.) GW Plaza - Sat 20th Feb GW Liverpool - Sat 27th Feb GW Leeds - Sat 27th Feb
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Thursday 14th of January, 2010
Warhammer Heroes
The Warhammer background has produced a host of unique, iconic figures over the decades, and our forthcoming Warhammer Heroes series will be a chance to portray them in the kind of detail that’s never been possible before. As a result, it seemed obvious that the covers should show them in all their glory, unencumbered by lots of distracting titling and logos. However… when the design team suggested a cover without any text on it, they quickly found themselves dangling from the nearest window, with only a mouse cable between them and certain death. Another solution was hastily suggested. Two covers! One with a wonderful character portrait on it and a second one for the text.
Posted by The Black Library Team : 0 Comments