Black Library Weekly: Achievement Unlocked!

At long last, I finally crossed a Rubicon this past weekend and was able to check something off the ol’ bucket list. No, I didn’t scale Everest or canoe the Amazon, but it certainly felt no less momentous despite the comparison.

I played my first game of Warhammer.

I’ve often remarked that one of the key ingredients to the property’s long-term success was how many different things it represents to different people. There’s plenty of overlap between modelers/painters, collectors, wargamers, and readers- but there’s plenty of its opposite as well. For years I’d been firmly in the “reader” camp alone, last year moving slowly into modeler, then collector. Now I’m building something daily for my #HobbyStreak, and Saturday found me at my FLGS throwing dice around like I knew what I was doing as my Astra Militarum Combat Patrol was absolutely punched in the throat by Aeldari. (Shout out to Derby Comics and Games in Shelbyville, Kentucky for their newbie-welcoming Combat Patrol league!)

Although my opponent absolutely ran me through, he was patient and gracious as he spent more time explaining the game to me than actually moving around his own units. I learned a ton and, just as importantly, had an absolute blast doing it- as did my 11-year-olds, Lorcan and Declan.

Take it from a former game store owner- if you want to build a scene that lasts, always be looking for events that welcome new players and serve as onramps to more experienced play. If you don’t have one, perhaps consider building one at your local game store, library, or even helping get one going at your kid’s school.

Hobbies are like gardens, folks- they need a little tending to thrive. Unless gardening itself is your hobby, in which case, I dunno, the metaphor sort of achieves singularity. Or something.

Anyway, onto the books!

The Scouring Begins

Some of the big news this week was- surprise!- the Big Summer Preview Show, which had close to two hours of previews, reveals, and all sorts of other goodies to inspire our imaginations while striking fear into our wallets. It did no favors for my irrational embrace of Kill Team (irrational because despite owning a ton of that stuff I’ve yet to play a single game).

Unlike the last Preview Show, this time around I was delighted to see a brief segment devoted to the Black Library. It wasn’t much in terms of time, but certainly vast in terms of potential scope and promise: The Scouring is getting underway!

Back in 2006 the Black Library kicked off the Horus Heresy series, which has been one of its most enduring successes. Spanning 54 mainline novels and loads of other stories, in 2019 the next chapter was unveiled with The Solar War by John French. The Siege of Terra series comprised a further fourteen releases, culminating in last month’s short story anthology Era of Ruin.

The Black Library hasn’t wasted any time in developing the next grand story arc, unveiling Chris Wraight’s Ashes of the Imperium during The Big Summer Preview last Friday. The Scouring series will explore the Imperium in the aftermath of the Heresy and Siege. What’s next for the Loyalist Astartes? What does fate hold in store for the retreating Traitors? And where does that leave the rest of humanity?

Although no specific release date was revealed, a 2025 release was confirmed.

Up for Preorder

I said “some of” the big news from Games Workshop regarding the Big Summer Preview, because for us Black Library fans there was still more in the tank as the Sunday Preview had a few reveals of its own!

The first amongst these was that we’d be getting another Space Wolves three-novel boxed set. The Spear of Russ follows hot on the heels of last month’s The Young Wolf set, and collects novels four through six. Wolfblade was the last written by William King before being turned over to Lee Lightner for Sons of Fenris (2007) and Wolf’s Honour (2008). Lightner’s only Black Library credit prior to taking on Blackmane’s mantle was a short story in 2004, Engage the Enemy, but in fact “Lee Lightner” was the pen name of two authors, Harry Heckel and Jeff Smith.

The story’s an interesting one. As Heckel tells it₁, he’d submitted a story to Inferno! (the short-story vehicle for the Black Library) but it was rejected. He reached out to the editor to find what he didn’t like about the piece, took the feedback to heart and reworked the entire story. That’s how Engage the Enemy came to be, and as a direct result how he (and Smith) got the gig for the Space Wolves.

The lesson here? “Never give up,” he said.

Also up for preorder is the paperback release of Steven B. Fischer’s excellent Broken Crusade (reviewed here) and a reissue of the Grey Knights Omnibus (collecting Grey Knights, Dark Adeptus and Hammer of Daemons by Ben Counter).

Lost in Translation

Spare a thought for poor Ukraine. On top of everything else it has going on right now, last week saw some corporate drama spill out into the open as Molfar, the company responsible for Ukrainian translations for the Black Library, announced that they’d lost the contract.

“This took us completely by surprise,” said Molfar in a statement₂. “Saying we’re shocked doesn’t even begin to cover it. For us, this was more than just a license. It was a community, readers, and a deep passion for the work and the books we published. We did everything we could to influence the situation, but we weren’t heard. Like you, we are fans of the universes with the same feelings – surprised, upset, and distressed. Unfortunately, we cannot change the rights holders’ decision.”

Then on Friday, Games Workshop posted a short response which went up on Facebook less than an hour before the start of the Big Summer Preview (clearly GW didn’t want this to be the day’s focus).

The main takeaways from GW’s statement were:

• Business would go on in Ukraine as usual- this was not a market exit.
• This was not a contract break. Rather, Games Workshop chose not to renew Molfar’s license.
• GW would not be going into detail as to the reasons behind the decision.
• GW is looking for a new translation partner for the Ukrainian market.

What does this tell us? Not much. There’s a lot of reasons a company may decline to renew a license agreement, from issues of quality or timeliness to disputes over compensation for services. But ultimately, this is a business-side decision. While some fans expressed frustration for GW not sharing their reasons in greater detail, it’s worth pointing out that such actions seldom benefit a company- and can even expose them to greater risk of litigation.

ICYMI

The relentless march of the 40K History of the Black Library continued last week as we arrived at the year 2000. Only the second year with the newly-christened Black Library was releasing novels, a lot of Warhammer’s greats like Gaunt’s Ghosts and Ragnar Blackmane were just finding their footing.

The WH40K Book Club cracked into Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok by Denny Flowers. Find out what Jen and Keri thought of the story, and you can also read our review here.

The 40KLore subreddit has had a longstanding Weekly Novel Discussion Series, and last week they examined Dan Abnett’s The End and the Death vol. III.

Finally, in one of those “list challenges” that sometimes echoes around social media, last week there was one where folks were tasked to name ten authors they’d read five or more books by.

A couple of Black Library writers chimed in, so if you’ve been wondering what sort of book Mike Brooks (Lelith Hesperax, Da Big Dakka) or David Guymer (Realmslayer, Angron: The Red Angel) enjoy (and what writers they might even consider influences), you’re in luck!

Quick Hits

• Si Spurrier (Lord of the Night, Daemonifuge) announced that his run at DC Comics’ The Flash has concluded after 12 issues, ending in issue 25. “How can one person be a hero and a spouse and a parent and a role-model and a mentor and a team-player and an individual and a worker and a leader and a dozen other virtuous roles beside,” noted Spurrier regarding his exploration of the iconic speedster, “without something having to snap?”
• Cosmic Lighthouse, a comic publisher, will be producing Salvation’s Child, a graphic novel written by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Day of Ascension, On the Shoulders of Giants) and set in the world of his Final Architecture series. This will be part of the Comixology Originals series.
• If you’re planning on going to the San Diego Comic Con this year, keep an eye out for Tim Waggoner (Skin Man), who will be part of a panel discussion on media tie-in writing hosted by the Scribe Awards.
• Extra History is launching the Kickstarter this week for its annual calendar, which highlights interesting historical facts and events that are often overlooked. Based on the weekly YouTube series, amongst its terrific contributors is Robert Rath (The Infinite and the Divine, The Fall of Cadia).
• If you’re a fan of speculative short fiction (and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you are), then you might want to check the latest column from Maria Haskins (The Jagged Edge). Written for Strange Horizons, it’s a roundup of some of the truly exceptional stories she’s come across this quarter.

Coming Attractions

Here’s a list of the date-set upcoming releases from the Black Library based on the available preorder information we have. As always, take all of this with a grain of salt unless it’s Games Workshop-confirmed.

Going forward, this section will be updated weekly in this column. Any titles that are announced but without a date will be added once a date is assigned it, and anything highlighted in green is something just added this week.

2025

• The End and the Death: Volume II, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 7/29) (review)
• Broken Crusade, by Stephen B. Fischer (paperback, 8/12) (review)
• Grey Knights: The Omnibus, by Ben Counter (paperback, 8/12)
• The End and the Death: Volume III, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 8/26) (review 1, 2)
• The High Kâhl’s Oath, by Gav Thorpe (paperback, 8/26) (review)
• Final Deployment, by R S Wilt (paperback, 8/28)
• The Legend of Sigmar, by Graham MacNeill (paperback, 9/9)
• Ciaphas Cain: The Anthology, by Sandy Mitchell (paperback, 9/23)
• The Twice-Dead King: The Omnibus, by Nate Crowley (paperback, 9/23)
• Elemental Council, by Noah Van Nguyen (paperback, 10/7) (review)
• Morvenn Vahl: Spear of Faith, by Jude Reid (paperback, 10/21)
• Double Eagle, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 11/18)
• Death and Duty, by Steve Lyons (paperback, 11/20)
• Interceptor City, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 11/18) (review)
• Hell’s Last, by Justin D. Hill (paperback, 12/16)

2026

• Farsight: Blade of Truth, by Phil Kelly (paperback, 1/27)
• Fulgrim: The Perfect Son, by Jude Reid (paperback, 1/27) (review)
• The Shattered and the Soulless, by Graham McNeill (paperback, 1/27)
• Vaults of Terra: The Omnibus, by Chris Wraight (paperback, 1/27)
• Siege of Terra: The Shattered and the Soulless, by Graham McNeill (paperback, 1/29)
• Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom, by Mike Brooks (paperback, 3/10)
• The Green Tide, by Mike Brooks, Nate Crowley, and Justin Woolley (paperback 3/26)
• Carnage Unending, by Dan Abnett (paperback, 4/26)

And that’s it for now, have a terrific week! As for me, I’ll be doing some more work on this Combat Patrol thing to see how next time I can top my personal record of 2 dead Aeldari.₃

Footnotes

1. He shared that story on his blog, here in 2013.
2. As quoted in an article on Root Nation.
3. Yes, really.

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