Black Library in 2021: Online Preview Reaction

With no Black Library Weekender in 2020 – for obvious reasons – the ‘Coming Soon’ seminar that usually closes the event was replaced by an online Black Library preview from the Warhammer Community team. You can check out all the reveals, and re-watch the whole stream, over on the Warhammer Community website, but in this article I’m going to offer up some of my reactions to the preview and the books announced. I’ll give an overview of the preview to begin with, then go on to cover what was announced for each of the main ranges, including a little bit about which of my predictions/hopes proved accurate.

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QUICK REVIEW: Death by a Thousand Gnaw-Bites – David Guymer

A typically devious tale of warring clans and dubious alliances, David Guymer’s Age of Sigmar short story Death by a Thousand Gnaw-Bites continues to demonstrate his skill at writing skaven. Forced out of their own holdings by the deadly war machines of Clan Zappitch, Things-Master Krowl and the tattered remnants of Clan Grench seek refuge with Clan Fetter and Under-Clawlord Thiskrule, agreeing upon a cunning plan that will benefit them both. Though clans Grench and Fetter have long been allies, the line between ally and enemy is paper-thin, but for Krowl the plan’s risks are outweighed by its potential rewards.

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Spark of Revolution – Gary Kloster

Part of the Black Library Novella Series 3, Spark of Revolution is Gary Kloster’s first Necromunda novella, and makes for an excellent introduction to his writing. Breaker Brass is an ogryn servitor, one of many toiling contentedly in a factorum owned by House Goliath and overseen by the Slag Krocs. When Goliaths start fighting Goliaths and a rival gang takes over the factorum, however, Breaker Brass soon finds himself used up, discarded and left for dead by the callous new gang leader. Against all odds Breaker survives his ordeal, and is reborn with his eyes opened and his mind expanded. Now able to see the world around him differently, he sets out to fight back against his oppressors, determined to find a better life for his fellow ogryns.

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From Humble Beginnings 2: Age of Sigmar Short Stories That Deserve Their Own Series

As I discussed in my article 40k Short Stories That Deserve To Be Series, it’s common in Black Library fiction for characters to be introduced in short stories before going on to have their own series. In the previous article I looked specifically at Warhammer 40,000 stories and characters, but this time I’m going to pick out some Age of Sigmar stories in the same vein. While AoS has much less of a back catalogue (so far) than 40k, by virtue of only being around for a few years, a few new names have already started to become well-known (and loved) – Hamilcar, Gardus, Maesa – alongside some familiar names from the World That Was…but it’s going to be interesting to see which ones go on to become the next batch of recurring characters.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Mike Shackle Talks A Fool’s Hope

Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview – today I’m talking to author Mike Shackle as part of the blog tour for his new novel A Fool’s Hope, which is published tomorrow by Gollancz! As the sequel to We Are The Dead – one of my favourite books of 2019 – I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time, so I’m delighted to be part of the blog tour, and to have been able to chat to Mike about this awesome new book. Read on to find out more about A Fool’s Hope, The Last War trilogy as a whole, and even get a hint of what’s still to come – and then make sure you go out and grab a copy!

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December 2020 Releases From Aconyte Books

A new month means a new batch of cool new novels from Aconyte Books, so today I’m taking my usual look ahead to what’s coming in December, and back at what was published in November. Even after just a few months of releasing books, Aconyte are already one of my favourite publishers, and I’m really enjoying exploring the different IPs that they’re publishing stories in, all of which have (so far) been pretty new to me. I’d very much recommend you check out some of their new releases – read on to find out a bit more about the latest few! I’ve included links to reviews and author interviews where available.

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Monthly Roundup – November 2020

Welcome to November’s Monthly Roundup here on Track of Words, where I’m taking a quick look back over the last month in terms of what I’ve been posting on ToW, and what I’ve been reading. I’ve posted a review, interview or article every day this month, so hopefully there’s been plenty of interest – but I appreciate it might be tricky to keep track of everything! I’ve been making weekly ‘here’s what you might have missed’ posts over on my Ko-Fi page to help with that, but hopefully this article will be useful too. Of the 30 articles published in November (including this one) a few were covered in last month’s update, but otherwise the remaining 24 are all linked out to below.

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Poison River – Josh Reynolds

Josh Reynolds kicks off his ‘Daidoji Shin Mysteries’ series of Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) stories with Poison River, his second novel for Aconyte Books. Sent by his family to the City of the Rich Frog to oversee the Crane Clan’s trade activities, Daidoji Shin relieves his boredom by spending his days drinking and gambling, much to the dismay of his bodyguard Kasami. All that changes, however, when the Imperial governor sets him the task of uncovering the culprit behind a plot that risks upsetting the balance of power in the city. Invigorated by the investigation, Shin throws himself (and Kasami) into his work, in spite of the danger posed by rival clans, court politics and hired assassins.

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The Black Library Online Preview – Hopes and Predictions For 2021

There might not have been a Black Library Weekender this year (it’s 2020 after all – what do you expect?!), but on Saturday 5th December there’s going to be an online Black Library preview, replicating the ‘Coming Soon’ seminar that usually closes each Weekender. I thought it might be interesting to look ahead to the online preview and speculate a little on what’s going to be announced for 2021. It’s all guesswork at this point, but a bit of speculation is always fun, and I’ve thrown in some of my hopes for 2021 as well (i.e. things I’m not expecting to be announced, but that I’d love to see).

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QUICK REVIEW: Sacrifice – Danie Ware

Part of Danie Ware’s excellent series of Adepta Sororitas tales, short story Sacrifice sees Sister Augusta and her squad in dire straits when their shuttle is shot down over a toxic chem-planet. Cut off from Imperial forces in inhospitable terrain, the Sisters need to defend their position until they can be safely extracted, but they’re pinned down and vulnerable with an unarmoured Sister Hospitaller and an injured pilot in their midst. As enemies close in all around, Augusta and her Sisters look to their faith to not just protect them, but also guide them to survival.

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