It’s an all-singing, all-dancing, all-Age of Sigmar week this week for plastic preorders, with plenty on offer for fans of either skyfaring Dwarfs or the children of the Blood God. There was a treat in store for us fans of the written word as well, as the latest story by Gary Kloster was rolled out.
A year ago at this time Kloster was seeing his novel Skaventide release, and now he’s back with a new story featuring Soulblight vampire royalty Nyssa Volari. We last saw her in 2023’s The Last Volari (also by Kloster) as she was carving out a kingdom on the Broken Plains of Aqshy, but as they say the winning is the easy part- it’s the holding that’s the true challenge. When an army of beasts threatens to overrun her fledgling domain, she risks losing everything she’s managed to build.
Queen of the Rose Throne will be available in hardback, eBook, and audio formats. Presumably a softcover release to follow (Skaventide took about four months to see paperback).
Heresy For Your Earholes
This was interesting- a new audiobook compilation series of Horus Heresy novellas will be coming out soon. Each of the eight collections will feature three novellas, all of which have been previously released. For example, Nick Kyme’s Promethean Sun, the opening novella from Collection 1, is already a part of the audiobook version of Born of Flame.
Even if it’s just a thematic restructuring of existing product, it may well prove attractive for those jumping aboard with the new edition of Horus Heresy and the Saturnine release.
For fans of The Old World they also announced that Hammers of Ulric by Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent, and James Wallis was getting a new audiobook release. Originally released in 2000, Templar Knights led by Wolf Company Commander Ganz is all that stands between Middenheim and destruction.
Periodically Periodical
A zine that bills itself as being for “graph paper and bright green flocked base generation” of classic gamers, I picked up the debut issue of Secret Passages recently and what a treat. That’s right, a full feature on Ian Watson’s Inquisitor.
Watson himself loomed large over the first installments of Goonhammer’s ongoing 40K History of the Black Library series (first installment here), so it was fascinating to get another look at how his body of work for the Black Library has been regarded with the benefit of hindsight.
The list of articles in this debut issue reads like catnip to a certain kind of reader (which I most assuredly am), covering topics like the early days of HeroQuest and Mordheim, to the never-published 1983 Australian sourcebook for Shadowrun and that time when the US Secret Service took GURPS Cyberpunk a little too seriously.
Issues are still available here, and as of last May the second issue was successfully crowdfunded! If you’re into vintage gaming, definitely give it a look.
In other magazine news, Gary Kloster had a story published in this month’s issue of Clarkesworld, the Hugo Award-winning monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine (and which I subscribe to). Welcome to Kearney tells the tale of a sentient android arrives in a historic town in need of repair, and finds more than that. You can find the story here.
RPG Corner
Things must be pretty busy over at the offices of Cubicle 7 Games these days, what with Warhammer: The Old World RPG now released for preorder. That doesn’t mean the other game lines are sitting still, as Sea Wardens of Cothique was digitally released for the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play system. This supplement covers the High Elf homeland in the North, aimed at players and GM’s alike. If you’d like a hard copy, the regular and collector’s edition will ship this Autumn.
Worth a reminder- while these are both set in Warhammer Fantasy (albeit different eras), they are not the same core game. Instead, each have different systems and focus.
Going back to the future for a moment, if you’ve been wondering what it’s like to roleplay in the grimdark far future, we released a primer for the Warhammer 40K Wrath & Glory game system this week as well. Keep an eye out for primers for the remainder of Cubicle 7’s Warhammer RPG’s in the near future!
ICYMI
We weren’t wasting any time this week getting you a look at the new Sisters of Battle anthology, Paragon of Faith and Other Stories. The anthology delivers two new novellas as well as the print debut of all five eShorts from last year’s Daughters of the Emperor Theme Week.
One of the things I really enjoyed seeing in this latest release is how many of its contributing authors were relatively new to the Black Library. Australia’s Amanda Bridgeman, for instance, had a short story published back in 2022 with Reconsecration, a story which won a Scribe Award the year following. It was great to see her return, and I’ll never get tired of watching videos of authors unboxing their books for the first time.
Warhammer Community released another Chronicles of Ruin mini-story last week, this one showing a slice of life (ha!) for a cultist of Khorne. Blood for the Blood God, Story for the Story Fans!
u/ava-niht shared a very thoughtful review of Ahriman: Exile over on Reddit this week, reinforcing why I enjoy that sub so much. It’s great to see different perspectives on books I’ve read, whether it’s affirming something I too thought about a book or simply seeing it from a different perspective.
The Poorhammer Podcast released a deep dive into the exceptional Elemental Council by Noah Van Nguyen (review here). One person who enjoyed it? The author himself. “I lol’d throughout that podcast,” he noted. “Found myself nodding and chuckling a bunch, even during the more critical bits. I even agreed with a lot of what you all had to say — and everything else was still very sensible ”
Quick Hits
- While only 9 at the time, I have vivid (and quite fond) memories of the sci-fi miniseries VÂ which debuted in 1983. Thus when James Swallow (Deus Encarmine, Garro: Knight of Grey) noted not only that it had been reimagined as an audio drama set in the United Kingdom, but that he was one of the writers of the second chapter it got my full attention. If that hits your sweet spot like it does mine, you can find out more here as well!
- Big congratulations to Old Moon Quarterly, the dark fantasy literary magazine edited by Graham Wilcox (This Rough Beast, Conn Crowhand’s Last Oath). Their most recent kickstarter was a tremendous success, closing at over 150% of goal. As a backer myself I can’t wait to see what they’ll have coming out later this year!
- Speaking of Kickstarters, Rob J. Hayes (Anarchy’s End, No Quarter) has one coming up right around the corner. This one’s for an omnibus edition of his grimdark fantasy series The Ties that Bind, blending together pirates, demons, and witch hunters into one great-looking book. Make sure to sign up to get notified on launch if that’s your kind of grog!
- Calling all writers! Flame Tree Publishing has put out a call for submissions for their upcoming short story anthology around the themes of crime and revenge. Best Served Cold will be co-edited by Paul Kane (Triggers).
- Longtime readers may recall last May we noted the announcement of an upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Character Encyclopedia from DK Books. Not only would it contain 120 pages of lore but it would also come packaged with an (at the time unspecified) miniature. Well, wonder no more as DK Books has announced that the mini you’ll get with the book is Lieutenant Titus.
- Richard Swan (Blood Harvest, Tears of Raphaela) released the cover of his forthcoming book, Steel Gods, the second in his “dark flintlock fantasy” trilogy The Great Silence. Cover artist Philip Harris absolutely knocked that one out of the park, but don’t take my word for it.
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.
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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom, by Mike Brooks (paperback, 3/10)
Wraight Here, Wraight Now
One keen-eyed French speaker noticed there’s a placeholder now appearing on France’s Amazon page for an upcoming Chris Wraight title. No idea what it’s called yet, but it probably won’t be “Embargo.”
And that’s it for this week, folks, happy reading!
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