Black Library Weekender IV

It's the IVth Black Library Weekender this, uh, weekend, and I'll be along as usual talking about my fiction from the worlds of Warhammer 40,000 and the Horus Heresy, joined by a bunch of my fellow authors and artists...

For more details, check out the event website here. My schedule shakes out like this:

Saturday:
11.30am - 12.30am: Signing in the Administratum Room.
1.30pm - 2.30pm: I join Gav Thorpe and George Mann in the Strategium Room to talk about Black Library audio dramas.
4.00pm - 5.00pm: I'm in the Briefing Chamber with Gav and John French talking about scriptwriting for audio.
Sunday:
10.00am - 11.00am: Signing in the Administratum Room.
11.15am - 12.15am: I'll be in the Audience Chamber, discussing "The Emperor's Noble Sons" with Chris Wraight, David Annandale and David Guymer. 

There's also a metric f'ton of new stuff and early releases hitting at the event - and you can see the full list here - but among them is an all-new Warhammer 40,000 audio drama I've written called Corsair: The Face of the Void. 

This is the first in what may be a series of stories following the misadventures of Captain Athene Santiago and the crew of the Rogue Trader starship Corsair. 

We've got a great cast of characters and I've had a great time writing this tale - you can find out more about the audio here.

War Stories

New anthologies and reprints are hitting this month from Black Library, from the might clashes of the Horus Heresy and the grim dark future of Warhammer 40,000...and I got stories in both!

Already out now is Crusade + Other Stories, a collection of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that is designed to act as an introductory volume for new readers looking to get their first taste of the 41st millennium (hence the "Start Here" flash on the cover). 

From a battle between the valiant Ultramarines and their plague-ridden Death Guard foes, to tales of alien enemies and the Imperium's many brave defenders, this anthology brings together a collection of stories perfect for learning about the various factions of the Warhammer 40,000 universe – it's your ideal first step into the adrenaline-fulled fiction of the 41st Millennium.
 

My contribution is the prose adaptation of my Sisters of Battle audio story Red & Black, but you'll also find the titular novella by Andy Clark and other fiction from Dan Abnett, David Annandale, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Peter Fehervari, John French, L J Goulding, Robbie MacNiven, Steve Parker, Josh Reynolds and Gav Thorpe. 

Crusade + Other Stories is available Here in paperback, eBook and audiobook editions. 

Also out this month is the paperback reprint of the Horus Heresy anthology The Silent War, which features three short stories by me - Ghosts Speak Not, Lost Sons and Patience.The collection also includes stories by C Z Dunn, John French, Nick Kyme, Graham McNeill, Anthony Reynolds, Rob Sanders and Chris Wraight.

The Silent War is available Here in the new paperback edition, along with several others.

CORSAIR: THE FACE OF THE VOID cover reveal

It's been a while since I did some new audio stuff for Black Library, so I'm pleased to announce a forthcoming Warhammer 40,000 project...

This full cast audio drama centers on the crew of the Rogue Trader starship Corsair, a rag-tag, eclectic assemblage commanded by Captain Athene Santiago, who travel the forgotten backwaters of the Imperium taking whatever shady commissions keep their vessel running. 

When a bounty mission to capture a pirate vessel turns into a deadly mystery, Santiago discovers something ancient and terrifying that threatens not only her ship but the entire sector...

We've got a great cast assembled, including Beth Chalmers, Barnaby Edwards, Cliff Chapman and more. And I love the cover we've got for this, from the amazing Johan Grenier; check out more of his work at his ArtStation page right Here.

Warhammer 40,000: Corsair - The Face of the Void is out in January 2018 and will be available to pre-order soon from Black Library, so keep an eye on this link.

SISTERS OF BATTLE: THE OMNIBUS is OUT NOW!

One of the most-asked questions I get from fans of Warhammer 40,000 is "When are you going to write more about the Sisters of Battle?" The answer is: "Right now!"

Back in '06 I wrote Black Library's first long-form fiction about one of the most striking factions in the grim dark future of the 41st Millennium, the Adepta Sororitas - otherwise known as the Sisters of Battle. That novel was Faith & Fire, and a few years later I followed it up with an audio drama called Red & Black, and a second novel, Hammer & Anvil. This Battle Sisters have been on the fringes of the worlds of Warhammer for a while, but now they're back in force - and so is a new paperback omnibus collecting all my Sororitas stories in one place...

The Adepta Soroitas, or Sisters of Battle, are the military arm of the Ecclesiarchy, and their remit is to prosecute the enemies of mankind with extreme prejudice. Uniquely among the fighting forces of the Imperium, all the warriors of this organisation are female. Clad in ceramite power armour and armed with and awesome array of wargear, they fight with fanatical fervour for the glory of the Emperor, scourging both xenos and heretic alike with bolter and flamer.
 
Sisters of Battle: The Omnibus features an introduction by me, a prose adaptation of the prequel audio story Red & Black, the novels Faith & Fire and Hammer & Anvil - and in print for the first time anywhere, the all-new short story Heart & Soul, set after the events of the last book, following Battle Sister Miriya and Sister-Hospitaller Verity in a deadly confrontation with a sinister foe known as the Iconoclast, who seems to know their every move before they make it...

This collected is available in paperback from all good bookstores, or directly from Black Library (where you can also get an eBook version).

And my Adepta Sororitas novel Faith & Fire is also a part of BL's 30 Years of Warhammer 40,000 book bundle, 30 eBooks from the past three decades of Games Workshop's available Here until the end of September.




 

Magic Cops & Secret Agents: LIVE!

On October 5th, I'll be taking to the stage with my friend and fellow author Ben Aaronovitch at the Central Library in Bromley for an evening of Q&A, book signing and general hijinks...

If you're not familiar with Ben's acerbic and dynamic brand of urban fantasy, then you should be - his Rivers of London series featuring Met Police mage-in-traning Peter Grant is top stuff and the latest installment The Furthest Station is out this month. 

It's been a decade since Ben and I first met working on the Blake's 7 reboot series, and we regularly spend time chiding, ranting and brainstorming with one another, so getting the pair of us to do the same in front of an audience is going to be fun!

 

The event is being held from 7:00pm to 8:30pm at the Bromley Central Library (map) on Thursday October 5th in the Large Hall on Floor 4; tickets are available for £3.00 via Eventbrite. Numbers are limited, so please book as soon as possible!

Copies of Ben's novels and my Marc Dane thrillers will be available for purchase on the day, and we will both be happy to sign them and anything brought along by attendees.