Like Warhammer? Try This: Aconyte Books

I know a lot of Track of Words readers are big Black Library fans, but what if – like me – you’re keen to look beyond the boundaries of Warhammer and find new fantasy and science fiction worlds to explore? It can be tricky to know where to start, and with so many SFF books published each year choosing a new book or series can sometimes feel a bit intimidating. The answer, I think, is to try something by an author you’re already familiar with – so think of your favourite Black Library authors, and look for some of their non-BL stories! Not every BL author writes for other publishers, but plenty of them do, so you’ve got a ready-made list of writers whose work will give you great entry points to the wider world of SFF.

I’m planning on writing a few of these articles, but for this first instalment I’m looking at authors who write novels for both Black Library and Aconyte Books, because if you enjoy fiction set in the worlds of Warhammer then I’ve a feeling you might also enjoy stories set in some of the worlds that Aconyte produces fiction for. I’ve included authors who have written at least one novel/novella for both BL and Aconyte – there are nine authors who fit that bill, so that should give you plenty of choice. These suggestions will lead you to loads more great authors though, so think of this as your entry point, after which you can dig deeper into whichever IP(s) you fancy (and I really recommend you check out the rest of the authors too).

Who are Aconyte Books?

Run by Marc Gascoigne, who you might recognise as the original founder of Black Library (he then went on to found Angry Robot), Aconyte is the publishing arm of Asmodee Games – so sort of the BL to Asmodee’s GW. They publish fiction set in all manner of interesting IPs (I made it 10 at last count), mostly based on well-known board game properties but also including some of Ubisoft’s video game licences and the wild worlds of Marvel.

Aconyte only started publishing books in 2020 but they’ve already built up an impressive catalogue, and so far they’ve racked up quite a tally of authors who also write freelance for Black Library. I’ve been consistently impressed by everything I’ve read, despite only really being familiar with the Marvel setting beforehand – I’m not much of a board gamer or video gamer, but I can confirm that you really don’t need to be, in order to enjoy these stories. Check out the Aconyte Books website if you want to really dig into their list.

One of the great joys of reading Warhammer fiction is that it opens up huge worlds to experience, full of rich histories and great characters. If you’re looking for something similar, chances are you’ll find it in Aconyte’s IPs too. Before I look at the authors, let’s take a very quick look at each of the IPs that fit the bill for this article (I haven’t included KeyForge, Pandemic, Terraforming Mars or Twilight Imperium as there aren’t – yet – any novels by BL alumni in those settings).

If you like a bit of Lovecraftian horror, Aconyte’s Arkham Horror range is well worth a look – they have two slightly different types of books in this range, which you can tell apart by the styles of cover art. The more Art Deco-style covers are for the books that lean the most heavily into the cosmic horror side of things, while those that look a bit more like vintage film covers signify books that are a bit pulpier, and more like occult adventures.

Authors who have written Arkham Horror novels include David Annandale and Josh Reynolds

Check out all of the Arkham Horror content on Track of Words

Covering Journeys In the Dark and Legends of the Dark, Aconyte’s Descent range explores the fantasy world of Terrinoth, and offers probably the closest thing here to your archetypal swords and sorcery style of fantasy. Most of the novels follow characters at least vaguely heroic, although a couple (so far) have explored Terrinoth through the eyes of some of the setting’s notorious villains.

Authors who have written Descent novels include David Guymer and Robbie MacNiven

Check out all of the Descent content on Track of Words

If Japan-inspired fantasy is more your style, complete with rival clans, power struggles, samurai and the occasional creepy demon, maybe try Aconyte’s Legend of the Five Rings range. These books aren’t split up in quite the same way as Arkham Horror, but there is some differentiation with Josh Reynolds’ Daidoji Shin series taking a lighter approach than most of the others, offering Golden Age-esque detective stories which largely eschew the overtly fantasy elements of the setting.

Authors who have written Legend of the Five Rings novels include David Annandale, Evan Dicken and Josh Reynolds

Check out all of the Legend of the Five Rings content on Track of Words

Whether you’re a comics veteran or you only know Marvel from the MCU, chances are there’s something you’ll enjoy in the various sub-ranges that Aconyte publishes. Try Xavier’s Institute for YA-ish X-Men stories, Marvel: Heroines for books about badass female superheroes, Legends of Asgard for tales of Asgardian heroism, or Marvel: Untold for explorations of rather less heroic characters like the Dark Avengers or Doctor Doom.

Authors who have written Marvel novels include David Annandale, David Guymer, Robbie MacNiven, Anna Stephens and CL Werner

Check out the rest of the Marvel content on Track of Words

If you’re a big video gamer then chances are you’ll be familiar with the various game IPs that Ubisoft produce, including Watch Dogs and the Tom Clancy-labelled Splinter Cell or The Division. Even if you’ve never played Watch Dogs and only know Clancy from his classic novels though, you can dig deeper into these modern worlds of espionage and adventure with a range of fun, pacy cyber thrillers.

Authors who have written novels exploring the Tom Clancy settings include Thomas Parrott and James Swallow

Authors who have written Watch Dogs novels include Josh Reynolds and James Swallow (ok, one novel actually, which they co-wrote)

This one kinda does what it says on the tin really! The various Zombicide board games take place in different settings, from contemporary America to outer space, with the common theme being outnumbered survivors taking on hordes of zombies. Accordingly, Aconyte’s novel range includes books set in the real(ish) world and also in fantasy and science fiction settings. Whatever the backdrop, you’re guaranteed plenty of flesh-eating fun.

Authors who have written Zombicide novels include Josh Reynolds and CL Werner

Check out all of the Zombicide content on Track of Words

The authors

As I alluded to earlier, I’ve only included novels here, however several of these authors have written short stories too, across various IPs. If you’re a fan of Black Library though, I’m pretty sure you’ll be familiar with most if not all of these authors, so take a look at what they’ve written for Aconyte and check out whatever takes your fancy! I’ve included the name of the IP for each book, and links out to my reviews and/or interviews.

David Annandale

David’s writing is always at least a little bit horror-influenced (which you’ll definitely have noticed if you’ve read any of his Warhammer Horror fiction), but in his Aconyte novels he really gets to dig into characters, themes and types of story that he clearly has a lot of fun with. Expect demons, antiheroes and darkness aplenty, with books in the Arkham Horror, Legend of the Five Rings and Marvel settings.

Check out my interview with David about Curse of Honor

Check out my interview with David about The Harrowing of Doom

Evan Dicken

Evan has written some of my favourite Age of Sigmar shorter fiction, mostly focusing on very relatable, human characters (his novella The Red Hours is particularly good), while for Aconyte he’s turned his attention to dangerous conflicts between rival samurai clans in a pair of Legend of the Five Rings novels.

Check out my interview with Evan about To Chart the Clouds

David Guymer

Much like for Black Library, David splits his time writing for Aconyte between fantasy and sci-fi(ish) settings, having written a pair of Descent novels and a Marvel novel. If you like Marvel but prefer their less overtly heroic characters, you’re definitely going to want to read The Patriot List, as Norman Osborn and the Dark Avengers are brilliant…and awful…maybe brilliantly awful?

Check out my interview with David about The Patriot List

Robbie MacNiven

Robbie has mostly concentrated on writing Descent novels for Aconyte – in fact he’s written fully half of the published/announced Descent novels so far! He’s kind of the go-to guy for this setting, you know? Don’t worry if you’re not into classic fantasy though, as he’s also written an excellent (and award-winning) X-Men novel, while his first Watch Dogs: Legion novel (titled Cold Reboot) is coming soon.

Check out my interview with Robbie about The Doom of Fallowhearth

Check out Robbie’s guest post discussing First Team

Thomas Parrott

Tom’s Black Library work was all set in the far future of Warhammer 40,000 (including the fantastic Blackstone Fortress novella Isha’s Lament), but for Aconyte he’s been taking on contemporary-ish techno thrillers set in the world of Tom Clancy’s The Division. To my shame I haven’t read either of these yet, but I’m looking forward to them.

Check out Tom’s guest post discussing Recruited

Josh Reynolds

Prolific as ever, Josh has written more Aconyte novels than anyone else – not just in this list of BL alumni, but full stop! I feel like he’s particularly suited to both Arkham Horror and Legend of the Five Rings, which allow him to explore occult adventure and Golden Age-esque detective stories respectively (and if you’re familiar with his other non-BL work you’ll recognise the overlap), and his Daidoji Shin L5R novels are a real joy (the fourth one, Three Oaths, is due in July ’23). They’re all great, though!

Check out my interview with Josh about The Wrath of N’Kai

Check out my interviews with Josh about Poison River and Death’s Kiss

Check out my interview with Josh (and James Swallow) about Day Zero

Anna Stephens

If you’ve read Anna’s Warhammer Horror novel Gothghul Hollow then you’ll be familiar with the sorts of kickass, take-no-shit female characters she can write, so it’s perhaps no surprise that she’s chosen to write about characters like Lady Sif, Brunnhilde the Valkyrie and Hela in her Aconyte novels. Ideal for fans of action-packed historical/mythological fantasy.

Check out my interview with Anna about The Serpent and the Dead

James Swallow

While you might associate James mostly with science fiction in terms of his Black Library work, having exclusively tackled 40k and Horus Heresy stories, away from BL he has an impressive knack for writing blisteringly-paced techno thrillers. He puts this skill to excellent use in his Aconyte novels, with great books set in the worlds of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell and Watch Dog Legions.

Check out my interview with James (and Josh Reynolds) about Day Zero

CL Werner

As far as I’m concerned, Clint is at his absolute best when he’s writing action-packed fantasy novels full of larger-than-life characters, so Aconyte’s Legends of Asgard (Marvel) and Zombicide ranges are absolutely perfect for his style! If you like his Warhammer books (especially those set in the Old World) then definitely check out some of these.

Check out my interviews with Clint about The Sword of Surtur and Three Swords

***

There you go then – loads of options for you to try out some Aconyte novels by authors you’re already familiar with from Black Library. If you’re still keen for more, you can find short stories from most of these authors in various Aconyte anthologies, not to mention some Twilight Imperium short stories by familiar names like Sarah Cawkwell and Danie Ware (in the anthology The Stars Beyond). Keep an eye out as well for Sarah’s first Aconyte novel coming soon: Star-Lord, which looks to be the first novel in a new range entitled Marvel: Wastelanders.

I hope you found this helpful, and enjoyable, and good luck with your Aconyte reading! I’m planning on more articles along these lines, so look out for those coming at some point. In future articles I’ll move away from IP fiction and talk about original SFF from some of your favourite Black Library authors, in both short and long forms, and maybe even some non-SFF stuff too.

If you’ve got any comments or questions, please do get in touch via the comments below or over on Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to support Track of Words, you can leave me a tip on my Ko-Fi page.