Category Archives: Black Library

QUICK REVIEW: Altar of Maws – Peter Fehervari

Released in May 2023 as a standalone Black Library e-short, Peter Fehervari’s Altar of Maws is the 18th instalment in the Dark Coil, and another example of just how dark and interesting 40k can be in the right hands. Set between A Sanctuary of Wyrms and the novel Fire Caste, this sees a flotilla of T’au barges pulled off course as it journeys along Fi’draah’s winding rivers, and confronted with a ghastly enemy in the midst of an impossible, hidden lake. Jhi’kaara, the ‘broken mirror’, has confronted this sort of darkness before, but for her fellow Fire Warrior Tal’hanzo the monstrousness of what they’ve stumbled across is enough to challenge his beliefs at a fundamental level.

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RAPID FIRE: Jonathan D. Beer Talks The King of the Spoil

Hello and welcome to this Rapid Fire author interview here on Track of Words, where today I’m welcoming Jonathan D. Beer to the site to chat about his debut novel – The King of the Spoil, out now from Black Library. The latest novel in BL’s Warhammer Crime range, I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of The King of the Spoil and very much enjoyed it, so I’m delighted that Jonathan was up for talking more about the book. Whether you’re a hardened 40k veteran or this is your first step into the world of Warhammer Crime, read on to find out more about what you can expect from The King of the Spoil, its characters and locations, Jonathan’s writing process, and loads more.

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The King of the Spoil – Jonathan D. Beer

The fifth novel in Black Library’s Warhammer Crime range, Jonathan D. Beer’s The King of the Spoil is another gritty tale of everyday life on the brutal streets of Varangantua, this time exploring the socio-political implications of a power vacuum forming in perhaps the poorest sector of this gargantuan city. When Andreti Sorokin is murdered, the vast gang of which he was the undisputed king – the Har Dhrol – begins to fall apart, bringing chaos to the Spoil. As the shockwaves caused by Sorokin’s death race through the city, information broker Melita Voronova is tasked by the Valtteri cartel (for whom she begrudgingly works) with uncovering the culprit behind Sorokin’s murder. Meanwhile Haska Jovanic, a wannabe ganger on the fringes of the Har Dhrol, finds herself swept up in the upswell of anger forming on the streets of the Spoil, which can only lead to violence and pain.

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Tim van Lipzig Talks The Horus Heresy Omnibus Project

“The Horus Heresy book series is truly epic, but its massive number of stories can be overwhelming to traverse.” This is the opening sentence on a fascinating new website called ‘The Horus Heresy Omnibus Project’, and rarely have truer words been written. I read most of the 60+ Heresy books as and when each one was published, but for readers new to the series I can only imagine how daunting it must feel to try and understand what to read and in which order. That’s where unofficial, fan-driven resources come in though, and in my opinion they don’t come any better than the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, written by Tim van Lipzig, who’s kindly agreed to tell us more about this great new site.

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RAPID FIRE: Dan Abnett Talks The End and the Death Volume 1

Hello and welcome to this Rapid Fire author interview, where I’m delighted to be joined by the brilliant Dan Abnett to discuss The End and the Death Volume 1, the first instalment of the final Siege of Terra novel from Black Library. It’s been a long time coming – Horus Rising, the first Horus Heresy novel, was published in 2006, then the Siege of Terra opened with The Solar War in 2019. Book 8 of the Siege is actually going to be multiple volumes, beginning with this one, but the end is almost upon us, so I felt like I really ought to speak to Dan about this momentous novel. Whether you’ve read it already or you’re looking forward to making a start, I’m sure you’re as excited as I am about the end of the Siege.

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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.

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Black Library Celebrations

Every year Games Workshop puts on what it calls a ‘Black Library Celebration’, which is supposed to be an opportunity for fans to…well…celebrate all things Black Library, but every year it ends up a bit of a damp squib (or should that be a damp squig?). This year, rather than bemoan another missed opportunity and another day of website chaos, I thought I’d do something different and put together my own small celebration of all the things I personally think are cool about Black Library fiction. I’m going to talk about why I read BL stories and what I get out of it, then pick out some highlights from recent years in terms of book reviews, articles and author interviews, all of which I think genuinely celebrate Black Library.

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Writing For Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 3: Writing Samples

Hello and welcome to the third and final instalment of my January 2023 edition of Writing For Black Library here on Track of Words – in this part our nine brilliant Black Library authors are discussing the tricky task of planning out short stories and putting together writing samples. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend checking out the previous two articles first: part one, in which we discussed writing 100-word story pitches, and part two, which was all about what makes a great Space Marine story. If you’ve already read both of those, read on to find out what advice and recommendations our authors have for writing short stories in general.

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Writing For Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 2: Space Marines

Welcome to the second in my three-part series of Writing For Black Library articles released to coincide with BL’s January 2023 Open Submissions window. For these articles I spoke to nine Black Library authors who kindly agreed to share their advice and ideas regarding three topics: pitch summaries, Space Marine stories, and generally writing short stories and samples. In Part 1 we covered writing pitches – if you haven’t already, definitely check that out – while for this second part the focus is on Space Marines. Specifically, I asked each of the authors this question: “What would you say makes a great Space Marine story?”

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Writing for Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 1: Pitching

Every year or two, Black Library announces an Open Submissions Window – a short period of time during which anyone can pitch a short story to the BL editorial team. Towards the end of 2022 BL announced that its next open subs window will begin in January 2023, with a specific theme of stories exploring Space Marine successor Chapters. In previous years I’ve put together articles and interviews full of advice from Black Library authors on how to pitch and write short stories, but it’s been a while since I’ve done that so now seems like a good time to do another one. Or, to be precise, another three! If you’re interested in writing for BL in general, and submitting to this open subs window in particular, I think you’ll find a lot of interest in these articles.

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