Category Archives: Article

Ten Years of Black Library

It’s been almost 10 years since I started Track of Words, and over that time I’ve read somewhere north of 400 Black Library books (not to mention goodness knows how many short stories), and reviewed a large proportion of those! As I draw to the end of this 10-year period, I thought it might be interesting to look back at all those BL books and pick out my personal highlights from the last decade. I’ve gone through each year from 2014 to 2023 and, from the books that a) were published that year, and b) I actually read that year, selected a single book as my pick for each year – and I tell you, that was not an easy task!

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Behind The Scene: Exclusive Excerpt From Do Or Die by Josh Reynolds

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words, where today I’m joined by one of my absolute favourite authors – Josh Reynolds – with an excerpt from the first chapter of his third Zombicide novel Do Or Die. I’ve covered a lot of Josh’s work here on Track of Words, and Zombicide as an IP really feels like an ideal fit for his style – that’s certainly the impression I got from his first novel in this setting, Last Resort. If you’re keen to get a sense of what to expect from Josh’s Zombicide work, this excerpt is exactly what you’re been looking for!

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Five(ish) Stories About Weird Trains – Sarah Brooks Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this extra-special Track of Words guest post; special because I’m delighted to be hosting my very own sister – Sarah Brooks, author of the upcoming novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands, coming in June 2024 from W&N Books! I am, as you can probably imagine, very excited about this particular book release, and I can’t wait to read it (at the time of writing, I’ve just got my hands on an advance copy), and to see it out in the wild in 2024. In the meantime though, I’m so pleased that Sarah has agreed to contribute this guest post, in which she’s going to talk a bit about the magic of strange train journeys in fiction, something that will be relevant for anyone interested in The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands! So without further ado, over to Sarah.

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Best of Black Library 2023

Following on from my Best SFF Books of 2023 article, this time I’m turning my attention to Black Library in particular (as I always do), and picking out the best BL books that I’ve read over the last twelve months. It’s always interesting to go back through and think about what the highlights have been, and as ever there have been some really great releases this year. Compared to previous years (like 2018 for example, when I read a whopping 65 BL books) I haven’t read quite as many BL books in 2023, but the 24 I did read this year still gave me a decent pool to choose from, and all the books I’ve picked out are genuinely fantastic, and very much worth reading!

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The Future of SFF – Sunyi Dean Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post where today I’m joined by the brilliant Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters and cohost of the Publishing Rodeo podcast. Each year as part of the ToW Advent Calendar I invite an author to write about where they see SFF publishing going in the coming year(s), and with her unique perspective from both her writing and her work on the podcast, I couldn’t think of anyone better-placed to talk about this than Sunyi! If you have any interest in SFF publishing (and if you’re reading this then I’m guessing you probably do), read on for some fascinating thoughts about what might be around the corner for both readers and writers.

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Same Stars, New Views: Writing my Second Novel in an Established Universe – Ren Hutchings Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where I hope you’ll join me in welcoming the fantastic Ren Hutchings, author of the brilliant “accidental time travel” space opera Under Fortunate Stars, back to the site! I absolutely loved Under Fortunate Stars, and it’s always a pleasure to be able to host Ren. She’s previously written a great post about why the idea of a ‘ragtag crew’ remains such enduring appeal, but this time she’s back to talk about what’s coming next for her, and what it’s been like writing further stories in the same setting! So if (like me) you loved Under Fortunate Stars and you’re keen to see more of that universe, you’re in luck – read on to find out more.

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Indie Highlights, From This Year to Next – Lyndsey Croal Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m very happy indeed to be joined by Lyndsey Croal, author of Have You Decided on Your Question (along with a remarkable number of short stories), who’s here to talk about a whole host of fantastic indie books. I read and loved HYDOYQ earlier this year, so I was delighted when Lyndsey agreed to write something for the site, and share her enthusiasm for indie publishing! Read on for loads of recommendations for great 2023 indie reads, as well as some fascinating-sounding books due in 2024.

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At the Intersection of Sci-fi and Horror – Alan Lastufka (Shortwave Publishing) Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m really excited to welcome Alan Lastufka to the site! Alan pulls double duty in the world of publishing, as both an author and a publisher, running the independent small press Shortwave Publishing. I’ve read (and loved) two Shortwave books this year, and have been eyeing up more, so I was delighted when Alan agreed to write something for the site. I’m particularly interested in the way Shortwave is able to explore both horror and science fiction in its catalogue, and the way the two genres are increasingly intermingling – and that’s the subject that Alan has tackled in this post! So read on to find out more about Alan, his writing, and the intriguing Shortwave catalogue…

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The End Is Nigh – Shauna Lawless Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, in which I’m thrilled to welcome back the fantastic Shauna Lawless, author of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (2022) and The Words of Kings and Prophets (2023), two phenomenal historical fantasy novels that are out now from Head of Zeus (and are amongst my personal highlights of the year). In December 2022 Shauna wrote a brilliant post about historical fantasy as a genre, and now she’s back to talk about something slightly different – the tricky subject of endings in fiction, which seems appropriate given that the third book in her Gael Song trilogy is due out in 2024. But is that the end of the series? Read on, and find out…

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12 Debuts To Look Forward To In 2024 – Genoveva Dimova Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post from Genoveva Dimova – author of the upcoming Slavic folklore-inspired Foul Days, out in June from Tor Books. I’ve been looking forward to reading Foul Days for a while now, so I was delighted when Genoveva agreed to contribute this guest post, in which she’s looking ahead to 2024 and picking out a dozen upcoming fantasy debuts for us all to look forward to! I had a few of these on my radar already (and I’ve actually read one, and can confirm that it’s brilliant), but lots more are new to me, and sound fantastic – so if, like me, you’re always on the lookout for new books to add to your TBR, this is exactly the right place to be! And it’s just the icing on the cake that they’re all debuts, too.

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