Author Archives: Michael

Blood of Asaheim – Chris Wraight

Originally published in 2013, Chris Wraight’s Blood of Asaheim sees him return to the Space Wolves after the excellent Battle of the Fang, this time set in the current 40k era. When the returning Ingvar, back after over fifty years serving with the Deathwatch, rejoins his old pack – Járnhamar – their sense of unity and identity is challenged. Under strength and weary, Járnhamar is sent to Ras Shakeh to prepare the way for a major assault, only to find the world under attack by the Death Guard, so instead stands to defend it alongside the stoic, but wary, SIsters of Battle.

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Forgotten Texts: Dan Abnett Talks Ghostmaker

Regular readers will have seen my recent interview with Dan Abnett, and may also be aware of my Forgotten Texts series, where I look back at stories from the earlier days of Black Library. I recently covered Dan’s short story Ghostmaker for Forgotten Texts – you can find that article here – and while I was chatting to Dan for the main interview I asked a few questions related to that short story to use as an accompanying interview.

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Black Library Weekly – W/C 24/04/17

Hello and welcome to another instalment of Black Library Weekly, my regular look at what’s been happening in the world of Black Library. This week there’s been a lot of talk about what’s happening with the new edition of Warhammer 40,000, but less about what’s going on in Black Library. That being said, we’ve had some nice new releases – so let’s kick things off by taking a look at the first of those…

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Interview with Dan Abnett (April 2017) – Part Two

In case you missed it, I recently posted the first part of an interview with prolific author Dan Abnett, whose work for Marvel, DC Comics, 2000AD and Black Library (among others) has earned him a (much-deserved) huge fan base. In that first part, we discussed Dan’s early career and influences, and looked at the craft of writing, and the implications of working across multiple mediums.

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Forgotten Texts: Orphans of the Kraken by Richard Williams

“For now, any action where no brother is lost must be victory enough…”

The first, and for a long time only, Black Library story focused on the Scythes of the Emperor, Orphans of the Kraken by Richard Williams takes place many years after the loss of Sotha and the Scythes’ near destruction at the hands of the Tyranids. Sergeant Tiresias, commanding the 21st Salvation Team, leads a handful of inexperienced, mismatched neophytes into the depths of a dead hive ship in search of long-lost brothers, or failing that, salvage. Unsurprisingly, things are not all they seem, and their mission takes an unexpected, dangerous turn.

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Eye of Night – Gav Thorpe

Since my review this has since been released as a standalone CD/MP3 audio drama, rather than being split into three parts – so you’ve got options for how to buy it!

The first of two audio dramas by Gav Thorpe to be released over Black Library’s Audio Week 2017 campaign, Eye of Night is also the first 40k story to be set in the wake of the Gathering Storm. It features Inquisitor Kataryna Greyfax as, on the orders of the primarch Roboute Guilliman, she searches for a powerful artefact – the titular Eye of Night. Accompanied by a single squad of Grey Knights she journeys first to the Gothic Sector and then on to the Eye of Terror, and is forced to bargain with unexpected allies in order to achieve her mission.

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QUICK REVIEW: Scrape to Victory – Gav Thorpe

The eighth new Blood Bowl story to come out of Black Library in recent months, Gav Thorpe’s Scrape to Victory follows aspiring lineman (linerat?) Kikkit of the lower-tier Crookback Cretins in his quest to escape a life of grinding monotony and danger for the opportunity to play for the Skavenblight Scramblers. All he needs to do is earn one more confirmed injury as a result of a foul, to claim the all-time record and his place in the big league – easy-easy, surely? Maybe not, with his debts suddenly being called in and only a single match left in the season!

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Black Library Weekly – W/C 17/04/17

Hello and welcome to another instalment of Black Library Weekly, my regular look at what’s been happening in the world of Black Library. The sixteenth week of 2017 started with a bang, kicking off a week that was topped and tailed by surprise releases. Oh, and the small matter of confirmation that 8th edition of 40k is coming soon – I’m not going to focus on that until there’s cool new Black Library fiction released to accompany it, but it’s interesting news for sure! Anyway, let’s start where we usually do…
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Interview with Dan Abnett (April 2017) – Part One

A prolific author of comics and novels, Dan Abnett has been writing in one medium or another since the late ‘80s for publishers including Black Library, Marvel, DC Comics and 2000AD. Since his early work for Inferno! magazine, he has become one of most loved of Black Library’s authors, with the fourteenth novel in his Gaunt’s Ghosts series due to be published later in 2017. That’s not to mention the countless other novels, short stories, audio dramas, comics and so on…

I recently had the chance to chat to Dan and ask some questions about his work over the years. Given that Track of Words is primarily a website dedicated to books (and largely Black Library books) I wanted to focus on that aspect of his writing, but I was keen to talk about his career as a whole and to delve into the craft of writing as he sees it. I didn’t want to focus too much on any one book or series, so while we did chat about things like Eisenhorn, Gaunt’s Ghosts and the Horus Heresy, we covered a wide range of topics that I hope are a little different to the usual interview questions.

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Forgotten Texts: Ghostmaker by Dan Abnett

“You’re Imperial Guard, servants of the Emperor first and nothing else second.”

His second Black Library short story, Dan Abnett’s Ghostmaker introduced the world to Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the proud soldiers of Tanith, who would become Gaunt’s Ghosts. Given the command of three freshly-raised regiments, Gaunt barely has time to reach Tanith before a Chaos splinter fleet forces him to gather whatever fragmentary resources he can and escape to Imperial lines. Haunted by the loss of their world, the Tanith are resentful of not being allowed to stand and fight, but Gaunt is determined to begin the process of putting their unique skills to use on the battlefields of the Sabbat Worlds.

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