Happy Anniversary to me! This week’s column is my fiftieth piece for Goonhammer since I joined the team at the end of January. Off to a flying start!
If you were like me this weekend, you were once again playing the preorder sweepstakes, this time for the Special Edition of The Silent King. Those of us who did were in for a bit of a surprise, as it seems Games Workshop has implemented some additional security features in the wake of the problems they faced in the Era of Ruin special window.
Yup, a captcha! I’ll admit this added a little to my blood pressure as I tried to make sure my order was executed on time (it was), but overall I am pleased to see Games Workshop trying to make sure there’s as much integrity as possible in their ordering process.
The other surprise on the day was just how hot a commodity the upcoming Adepta Sororitas anthology was, with Paragon of Faith and Other Stories seeming to sell out even faster than The Silent King. Frustrating for some fans, of course, but certainly an encouraging reception for authors Amanda Bridgeman, Ness Brown, Jude Reid, Kate Flack, John Sollitto, and Nicholas Werner.
Up for Preorder
Nothing! Nada! Zilch! Zip! Although if you were so inclined, you might consider picking up the Skaven Deathmaster plushy, which has previously been available in the wild.
In fact, I have it on good authority that they’re a big hit with certain children who love to build Skaven minis with their dad.
ICYMI
It was a fun-filled week here at Goonhammer. First up was a review of On the Shoulders of Giants and Other Stories, a twelve-story Age of Sigmar anthology led by a novella of the same name by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Those preferring the 40K side of things weren’t left out, with our Lore Friday review appearing for Peter Fehervari’s The Reverie.
Not enough Fehervari for you? Check out the WH40K Book Club podcast, whose latest episode takes a look at Fehervari’s The Dark Coil: Damnation omni. This is also their 150th episode, so big congratulations to Jen and Keri!
Meanwhile, as Warhammerdom awaits the release of the new edition of the Horus Heresy game, Arbitrator Ian and Mira Manga’s latest podcast dropped wherein they review Deliverance Lost by Gav Thorpe. the eighteenth book in the series.
Finally, I was delighted to see Warhammer Community continuing to spotlight Black Library authors as their latest books prepare for launch. This week Guy Haley got a turn before the camera, talking about the Dawn of Fire series in general and The Silent King in particular.
Black Library Writers and Video Games
Warhammer 40K video games are certainly having a moment right now. The buzz over Space Marine II has naturally cooled a bit as time passes, but both Rogue Trader and Darktide have released recent expansions that have breathed new life into the acclaimed games. As it happens, both center around the Adeptus Arbites!
The Lex Imperialis update for the critically-acclaimed Rogue Trader introduces 15 hours of new content, as well as a new Arbites companion and class. Since recently completing my MBA I’ve actually had a bit of time to spend on video games again and have finally been enjoying this one.
Then in the co-op shooter Darktide, the most recent Battle for Tertium update introduced the Arbites as a playable class. Of course, developer Fatshark needed to add in a bunch of new writing as a result, and again turned to Black Library veterans. Jude Reid (Fulgrim- The Perfect Son, Morvenn Vahl: Spear of Faith), Mark Latham (Kovos Falls, Judgment), and Victoria Hayward (Deathworlder, The Feast of St. Luthera) were all involved in creative content for the new update.
Fatshark’s done a great job pulling in the storytelling aspects of their license. Indeed, on the game’s website you can find a quartet of short stories: Aqua Vitae by Jude Reid, Veteran by John French (The Ahriman series, Praetorian of Dorn), Direct Orders by Sarah Cawkwell (Silver Skulls: Portents, Valkia the Bloody), and Loyalty’s Price by Victoria Hayward.
It’s not all good news across the board in the video game world, sadly. Riot Games has pulled the plug on development for Hytale, shutting Hypixel Studios in the process. Amongst the affected is Black Library alum Chris Thursten (Darkoath, The Maker’s Promise), who had been at Hypixel for the last seven years. Chris is a terrific talent, and whatever studio snaps him up will have landed a coup.
Quick Hits
- Are you a list person? Do you enjoy keeping tabs on the books you’ve read and seeing what else you’ve got lined up in a series? If so, you may be excited to see that a fella named Andrew Wilmot has built and released a free Black Library reading tracker. He has the books categorized by series, making it pretty easy to see how you’re doing working through, say, the Horus Heresy.
- Paul Kane (Triggers) was interviewed for the most recent issue of RBZEEN: The Independent Literary Press Journal. This issue was all about writing horror, and Kane had plenty to talk about in that regard. You can read the whole thing here.
- The British Fantasy Award winners for 2025 will be announced this October at World Fantasycon, and a number of familiar names are appearing on the nominee shortlists. The Fight Like a Girl 2 anthology from Wizard’s Tower Press is a finalist for Best Anthology, and features stories from Danie Ware (The Rose in Darkness, The Triumph of St. Katherine) and Juliet McKenna (Fear Itself). McKenna also wrote The Green Man’s War, a finalist for Best Novel.
- Ruadán Books is publishing Spring in the City, an anthology of “dark tales set in cities around the world as Spring arrives.” Maria Haskins (The Jagged Edge) is contributing a story set in Vancouver. No sitting still for this one, she also has a story in the gothic fantasy anthology by Flame tree Publishing, Were Wolf Short Stories.
- Adrian Tchaikovsky (On the Shoulders of Giants, Day of Ascension) has announced the cover reveals for his next two books, both in his Tyrant Philosophers series.
- There’s a columnist named Adrian Chiles who writes a twice-weekly ‘slice of life’ piece for The Guardian, and it sort of gives me Andy Rooney vibes. Things like, “We can go to the moon – so why can’t we stop my glasses sliding down my nose?” Steven Sheil (The Healer, Tithemarked) has been using them as terrific writing prompts for horror flash fiction, and there are some real gems in there. This week’s entry was a perfect example.
- Author retrospectives are often a great way to look at someone’s body of work and how they’ve evolved as a writer over time. (In fact, the book I’m currently enjoying is Wolf’s Path by Joyce Chng, a quick break from the grimdark universe.)Â Nicholas Kaufmann (A Child Foretold) has an upcoming retrospective featuring selected work from his last quarter-century of writing “weird fiction.” Monuments in Darkness will be published by Hippocampus Press. Here’s the link on Amazon, though of course I always recommend using your local, independent bookseller whenever you can.
Writers Are Fans, Too
While I’ll never scorn an author making an honest living selling the fruits of their imagination, I take an extra degree of satisfaction knowing how many of the writers whose stories and words populate the shelves of the Black Library are themsevles genuine Warhammer fans first, and Black Library writers second. Here are some who shared that love this week.Â
This badass band of Tempestus Scions comes to us from the desk of Richard Swan, author of short stories Tears of Raphaela and the superb Blood Harvest. The latter was included in the recent Blood of the Imperium anthology (review here).
This Thanatar-Calix class automata is the work of Guy Haley (Valedor, The Arknaut’s Oath). The wear and weathering on the metal looks superb.
And that’s it for this week! Make sure to take a moment to reassure your wallet that while you might not have need of it this week, you still enjoy having it around.
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