Want to Play: Solution

As promised, here is the solution to the wordsearch yesterday. The ten Alpha Legionnaires from my novella The Serpent Beneath have been identified and revealed - as has the Alpha Legion's rather controversial and ironic warcry 'FOR THE EMPEROR'. Thanks all for playing!

Want to Play?

I love playing games. It reminds me that many Black Library readers are Warhammer and Warhammer 40k gamers and computer gamers. A number of the Black Library authors are also former games developers. Authors in general aren't that different. We like to play with the readers' expectations - guiding them down certain paths - narrative and emotional - and sometimes wrong-footing them on purpose for effect. Stories that involve mystery are especially appropriate to game playing. The trick is to calibrate the complexity of the mystery to the audience. If the mystery is suitably complex and the reader guesses it correctly or hits on how the hero will solve the mystery before the hero actually does, then the reader feels appropriately clever. If they fail to do so, at least the reader is left with the feeling that the author put a decent amount of work into constructing the mystery and therefore the fiction was worth the time or the price of its purchase. Quiz shows and puzzles work in a similar way. An illustration: ten Alpha Legionnaires from my my Horus Heresy novella The Serpent Beneath are hiding in plain view in the wordsearch below. Can you locate all ten of them? Also, hidden in the puzzle is a secret message. Can you find it?



ANSWERS. Hydra Dominatus!

Celebrations

Today Black Library has been celebrating the entry of The Primarchs on The New York Times Bestsellers List. Check out their blog here to read what my esteemed colleagues and Horus Heresy authors Nick Kyme and Graham McNeill had to say about it, as well as my own views. Black Library have seen fit to mark this occasion with the release of a new Horus Heresy short story from Graham McNeill called Kryptos. In related news, one of my Horus Heresy short stories, Army of One, is now included in the Horus Heresy EBundle - including seventeen novels, eighteen short stories and four novellas. This EBundle can be found here.

I'm a New York Times Bestseller!

Good news everyone!

I'm absolutely made up to announce that my most recent fiction is a New York Times Bestseller. My latest release is the Horus Heresy series anthology The Primarchs in which my novella The Serpent Beneath features. The Primarchs shot in at Number 29 this week on the Paperback Mass Market Fiction chart.



I'm thrilled to share the pages with Black Library luminaries Graham McNeill, Nick Kyme and Gav Thorpe but there are a few people I should thank. Try to imagine me in a tux in front of a podium. First off, I should thank Christian Dunn - veteran Black Library editor and author - for giving me the opportunity to appear in his brilliant anthology and allowing me to write about two of my favourite Primarchs. Cheers, Christian! I would also like to say a big thank you to the legion of Black Library and Games Workshop staff on both sides of the Atlantic who work hard to make sure Black Library books get noticed and appreciated. Huge respect. Finally I'd like to say a colossal thanks to my Submissions Editor at Black Library - Laurie Goulding. Laurie's my editorial point man - scouting out opportunities, both creative and technical and his are the first pair of eyes to see my work. It was great working with him on The Serpent Beneath and I look forward to more of our adventures.

Well, I'm going off to celebrate. Thanks to everyone who read The Primarchs . I hope you enjoyed The Serpent Beneath. If you haven't checked it out yet, then let me cheekily point you to the side-bar upon which you will find a link and a book trailer.

"An Excellent Story All In. No More To Say."

More news from The Founding Fields . This excellent review site really has its shit together. With Black Library (as well as several other key Science Fiction publishers increasing their range and output, The Founding Fields have recently brought in some new blood to bolster the ranks of their steely-eyed veterans. Shadowhawk and EJ Davies are two such worthy recruits and between them they are already racking up some serious critical output. Today we have an advance review by EJ Davies on my Horus Heresy novella The Serpent Beneath, contained within the collection The Primarchs.

'EJ Davies takes on the latest in the Horus Heresy series with the Christian Dunn edited collection of four novellas entitled The Primarchs focussing on Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus, Lion El’ Jonson, and the twins Alpharius and Omegon.

“A superb collection of stories, with some expansive ideas setting great events in motion for the later payoff in the Heresy. Great stuff.” ~ The Founding Fields

From our friends at Black Library:
“Created in the Emperor’s own image, the primarchs had long thought themselves to be princes of the universe and masters of their own destiny – they led the Space Marine Legions in glorious conquest of the galaxy, and no enemy of the Imperium could stand against them. However, even amongst this legendary brotherhood, the seeds of dissent had been sown long before the treacherous Warmaster Horus declared his grand heresy.
Gathered within this anthology are four novellas focusing on some of the mightiest warriors and leaders that mankind has ever known – Fulgrim, Lion El’Jonson, Ferrus Manus and the twin primarchs Alpharius and Omegon – and the roles that they may have yet to play in a war which threatens to change the face of the Imperium forever.”

...

The Serpent Beneath – Rob Sanders.
My other favourite legion (my other other being VII) gets an outing with Omegon preparing an operation – Operatus Five-Hydra – gathering intelligence, personnel, and materiel as required. We get to see the inner workings of a legion first appearing in, ah, Legion and getting some more great Heresy time. I really enjoyed Rob’s The Long Games at Carcharias which proved he had some excellent ideas for the Alpha Legion in 40K and it was wonderful getting to see him play in the big sandbox of 30K.

This is a wonderfully written, delivered, and planned piece of work. From outset, to completion, this is great stuff. Real ‘A-Team’ kinda stuff, but with Space Marines. The narrative is broken up with scenes of action – so as we see the planning of the operation, we then see the execution. Example: We need this person for this operation – next section: we see that person extracted, or secured. It’s a really nicely put together story that ramps up the action towards the end. AND we get a great twist towards the end, the like of which we expect from the Alpha Legion. At no point did I ever feel myself veering away from the story.

An excellent story all in. No more to say.

Overall.
In terms of an anthology this hangs together well. We start well, we end well, and the two stories in the middle are still very good. Does this further the Heresy for us? Not really, but it does set up some interesting plot threads for the future ... The highlight of all of them was The Serpent Beneath - and I’m hoping the Rob gets the opportunity to write more Alpha Legion, but then after Legion I wanted Dan to write more. So I hope they collaborate and make me a very happy nerd / man.
All in all, this is a great addition to the Heresy saga overall. Well worth the money.

The Primarchs will be available from all reputable (and some baseborn) retailers in June.'



EJ's full advance review of The Primarchs can be found here on The Founding Fields site. In the full review he checks out Graham McNeill's The Reflection Crack'd , Nick Kyme's Feat of Iron and Gav Thorpe's The Lion. Well worth a look. You can find more of EJ's reviews here and his blog here.

Black Library Live! 2012... Bring It!

I am really excited about Black Library Live! 2012. For those who aren't aware, Black Library Live! is an annual event celebrating Black Library novels and their authors. It's in its fourth successful year and Black Library Live! 2012 takes place on Saturday 3rd March at Warhammer World in Nottingham. A range of Black Library authors, artists and editors will be in attendance - as indicated below. I'm looking forward to seeing the noble ranks of the Black Library loyal readership - who are always a joy to meet - and perhaps signing some books while I'm at it. I have several signing sessions during the day and will, of course, be jazzed to sign any of my novels, anthologies or limited releases. My two most recent books, my Space Marine Battles novel Legion of the Damned and the Horus Heresy novella anthology The Primarchs will both be available to buy months earlier than their print release date. You're welcome to bring them along and shoot the breeze while I scribble away.



I'm also fortunate enough to have been invited to sit on the panels of three different seminars during the day. These are indicated below and if you attend I'll try my best to answer questions and not ruin the Warhammer universes for you. I look forward to seeing you.

Black Library Live! 2012 Schedule

Celebrations and Appellations

Happy Birthday, Warhammer! Indeed, Warhammer has reached the grand old age of 25 – which isn’t half bad for a gaming and fiction milieu. It can now legally drink, smoke, drive, impregnate another fantastical universe and marry without our consent (but hopefully not in that order). Past and present devotees are celebrating in different ways. Parent company Games Workshop, for example, held a huge party across its hobby centres – staging timed tabletop battles, painting competitions and releasing limited edition miniatures to mark the occasion.

Warhammer has brought me a great deal of entertainments and enjoyment – both as gamer and author – over those 25 years. I was fortunate enough to spend the celebrations at Warhammer World in Nottingham, where I was signing copies of Legion of the Damned and The Primarchs for eager readers. I was in good company. My Black Library colleagues Graham McNeill and Andy Smillie were also in attendance, signing copies of Iron Warriors: The Omnibus and Gotrek and Felix: The Anthology, respectively. The blogs of both authors can be found on the side bar.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the people who bought and brought books for me to sign. It was brilliant to meet you and chat. Particular highlights for me were an opportunity to sign my entire back catalogue - short stories, limited editions and all - and the opportunity to see fantastic miniature renditions of Bronislaw Czevak and his Inquisitorial retinue from Atlas Infernal, created by one of the competing gaming groups. (Guys – if you are reading this, the photo I took with my iphone is terrible and doesn’t do your work justice, so I won’t post it yet. If you can contact me through the blog and send me another, I’d really appreciate it, because I was seriously impressed!) I’d also like to say thank you to Eddie at GW for all the organising. Cheers!

The Primarchs

I’m really happy to announce my inclusion in the Black Library anthology called The Primarchs. This is really exciting for me, since The Primarchs belongs to the New York Time Bestselling Horus Heresy series. My last contribution to the series was my short story The Iron Within. The Iron Within, as my first foray into the Heresy universe, was very well received and can be read either here as a short story ebook or as part of the Age of Darkness anthology. If listening is your thing then you can listen to The Iron Within here as an audio short, read by the excellent Jonathan Keeble. I really enjoyed the setting and the new possibilities that writing in the Horus Heresy era offered.

I share the pages of The Primarchs with three other great Black Library authors: Gav Thorpe, Nick Kyme and Graham McNeill. Each of these writers has announced their novellas – which you can check out on their blogs, the links to which are situated on the side bar. My novella is called The Serpent Beneath and focuses on the involvement of the twin primarchs Alpharius and Omegon in the unfolding Heresy. I have a real passion for the Alpha Legion and have enjoyed their entries in the series so far. I have written about the Legion in the 40K setting and particularly appreciate their modus operandi. The blurb for the anthology reads as follows:

“Created in the Emperor’s own image, the primarchs had long thought themselves to be princes of the universe and masters of their own destiny – they led the Space Marine Legions in glorious conquest of the galaxy, and no enemy of the Imperium could stand against them. However, even amongst this legendary brotherhood, the seeds of dissent had been sown long before the treacherous Warmaster Horus declared his grand heresy. Gathered within this anthology are four novellas focusing on some of the mightiest warriors and leaders that mankind has ever known – Fulgrim, Lion El’Johnson, Ferrus Manus and the twin primarchs Alpharius and Omegon – and the roles that they may have yet to play in a war which threatens to change the face of the Imperium forever.”

The Primarchs is available from June and can be bought directly from the Black Library website here but if you are attending the 'Black Library Live! 2012' Event in Nottingham on March 3rd then you will be able to pick up a copy a full three months early!