News de la Black Library (France et UK) - 2011

They grow up so fast. It seems like only yesterday that Hammer and Bolter issue 1 went on sale, back in the golden age when the Soul Drinkers still had more Space Marines than you could fit in a Mini and Kindle was something you did to start fires.

We’ve come a long way since then. Loads of you read your Black Library novels in eBook formats and bits of Soul Drinker are scattered across several start systems.

Today Hammer and Bolter, our monthly eBook magazine, is one year old. To celebrate, issue 13 is a bumper birthday issue filled with almost twice the normal content, including audio extracts, previews, short stories, and the first chapter of a new serialised novel. Here’s a close look at some of the content.

Reparation - The first Warhammer 40,000 story by Andy Smillie features two Space Marines trapped in the fighting pits of Commorragh. Gladiatorial, to-the-death Space Marine action? Yes please.

Extract from Deliverance Lost – Gav Thorpe’s new Horus Heresy novel, following the characters established in the audio drama Raven’s Flight. In this extract we see why, even after Corax’s escape from Isstvan, his Legion is far from safe.

Dead Calm - Josh Reynolds’ short story following a knight in the service of Myrmidia, goddess of war, in the most disreputable and dangerous city in the Old World: Marienburg.

Lesser Evils - Tom Foster’s debut Black Library story, about and Inquisitorial task force extracting a prisoner from a high security facility. Who doesn’t love prison break stories?

Audio extract from The Outcast Dead – Listen to the first chapter of this new novel and see the secrets of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica begin to unfold. If you enjoy the extract, you can download the whole fifteen-and-a-half hour audiobook here.

Hunted - An Imperial Guard squad stalks tau fire warriors on a contested world in this short story by Braden Campbell. Expect tension, bloodshed and action.

Perhaps most excitingly of all, Hammer and Bolter 13 contains the first chapter of our new serialised novel, Gilead’s Curse by Nik Vincent and Dan Abnett. It follows a wandering elven warrior who first appeared in the tale ‘Gilead’s Blood’, published way back in 2001, and will run across the next 12 issues of Hammer and Bolter.

If you’ve yet to read the first 12 issues, you can catch up with all the action so far in Hammer and Bolter: Year One, every single issue from the first year of Hammer and Bolter combined into one glorious mega eBook.

Tune into the blog next week when we’ll be revealing some brand new cover art and extracts from forthcoming books. Have a good weekend.

Accursed Eternity is the second novella in the Architect of Fate series, a set of linked Space Marine Battles stories set around the Eye of Terror.
This particular tale is written by Sarah Cawkwell (a name familiar to fans of Hammer and Bolter) and follows a Space Marine boarding action on a daemon-infested starship. As if this doesn’t sound dangerous enough, Inquisitor Remigius of the Ordo Malleus gets involved, and the Space Marines’ mission becomes much more than just cleansing the vessel of warp-spawned monstrosities.

The second eBook, Knight of the Blazing Sun, follows a young knight as he is sent to investigate the disappearance of a group of fellow knights on a secluded island. Islands come in two flavours in the oceans of the Old World: Dangerous and Deadly. Svunum is an example of both, and soon our hero is uncovering dark secrets and battling hordes of foes who haven’t learned the first lesson of life in the Warhammer World – don’t mess with anyone wearing golden armour.

At some point today the 100,000th Black Library eBook will be downloaded, on the same day, the 7 billionth human will be born.

"Le Sang d'Ænarion", grand format, couverture cartonnée, sortie simultanée en Français et en Anglais... Le livre de toutes les nouveautés !
- Anthony.

There has been a wave of new artwork coming into Black Library this month, and some of it is truly spectacular. We wanted to share some of the best with you.

This cyclopean scene is from the cover of Priests of Mars, the upcoming Graham McNeill novel that follows an explorator fleetinto uncharted space. This is the first Black Library cover from Slawomir Maniak, and it really conveys the scale and apocalyptic darkness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe (expect to see more from Mr Maniak in future).

The central character himself is not your usual Black Library protagonist, no super human warrior in gleaming armour, but a hunched and dishevelled priest who really captures the essence of the techno wizardry of the mechanicum.

Warhammer Heroes. These words evoke many images: mighty warriors leading great armies, shining armour and swinging blades, epic deeds and fabulous triumphs. And also, over the past couple of years, fantastic fiction about some of the best-loved Warhammer characters.

These have ranged from Chris Wraight’s tales of the heroic men of the Empire – Ludwig Schwarzhelm and Kurt Helborg in Sword of Justice and Sword of Vengeance – to Darius Hinks and C.L. Werner’s exploration of sinister antiheroes – Wulfrik, Sigvald and The Red Duke. The series continues next year with Chris Wraight’s tale of warrior priest Luthor Huss and Sarah Cawkwell’s Valkia the Bloody, about the monstrous villainess, chosen champion of Khorne.

Our Facebook fans have voted over the last few days that they’d like to see the Valkia the Bloody cover today, and we hate to disappoint, so...

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The Inquisition is the most powerful and secretive organisation within the Imperium. Its agents, the Inquisitors, are the last line of defence for mankind.
Gregor Eisenhorn, dedicated servant of the Inquisition, takes to the field again in three audio dramas. Regia Occulta finds him on a world wracked by ethereal storms and haunted by a terrifying beast. In Master Imus’s Transgression, the Inquisitor investigates the mysterious affair of a mild-mannered clerk who confesses to a crime.
Gideon Ravenor, once Eisenhorn’s pupil, is now crippled and confined to a life support chair. He uses his powerful psychic talents to enact the Emperor’s will. When he receives a mysterious message, Ravenor and his loyal followers travel to a distant world where they battle fierce cultists. But what are the cultists looking for? And what is the meaning of the message: Thorn Wishes Talon ?

Blood of Aenarion : An epic new trilogy begins, following elven twins Tyrion and Teclis, who belong to the cursed bloodline of Aenarion.

The Gildar Rift : The Space Marines of the Silver Skulls face the might of the maniacal Huron Blackheart and his Red Corsairs.

Hammer & Anvil : Sisters of Battle investigate the scene of a massacre, but soulless nightmares still haunt the shadows.

Faith & Fire : Back by popular demand, the first novel in the Sisters of Battle series. Celestian Miriya and her squad are on the hunt for a dangerous rogue psyker.

Issue 14 of Hammer and Bolter is also available to preorder now and features three new short stories and the second chapter of the Gilead’s Curse by Nik Vincent and Dan Abnett.