Let’s face it, it was a rough one on the wallets this week as the Black Library Celebration 2025 books hit the shelves. Fortunately, the Emperor protects, as this week there’s very little on the preorder radar for this week.
New Releases
Here’s what landed this past weekend, with a little something for almost everyone.
- Blood of the Imperium, by various authors. An anthology of eleven short stories from across the Imperium, including Tome Keepers: Legacy of Defiance by Jon Flindall, first published in White Dwarf 496-99.
- Fifteen Hours (20th Anniversary Edition), by Michael Scanlon. A classic tale of Imperial Guard against the Orks. “An indispensable part of the Black Library canon,” notes the book’s new Introduction, “its influence bleeds down the years and you can feel the texture of Fifteen Hours in dozens of books published since.”
- Gotrek & Malaneth: the Omnibus, by Darius Hinks and Robbie MacNiven. This collects Ghoulslayer, Gitslayer, and Soulslayer, as well as the novella The Bone Desert and a trio of shorts.
- Grey Seer, by C. L. Werner. I was genuinely surprised that this classic tale- the Reader’s Choice for 2024- was reprinted in mass market paperback form rather than full-size trade. Not sure what our boy Thanquol did to deserve it, but at least it’s back in print.
- Hell’s Last: A Minka Lesk Novel, by Justin Hill. The fifth Minka Lesk book on the heels of 2023’s Shadow of the Eighth, Lesk and the 101st Cadian finds themselves under siege and surrounded by danger. Just another day in the Guard, right?
- Shade of Khaine: A Malaneth Witchblade Novel, by Evan Dicken. The master assassin looks to unravel a conspiracy as the city of Nightcliff collapses into debauchery.
- Titanicus, by Dan Abnett. The other Reader’s Choice for 2024, this tale of Legio Invictus against a force of Chaos Titans gets a new printing.
If you’re after one of everything (as I was), you’ve just goodbye to around $165. Like I said, a rough one on the wallets. But at least one thing was free this week!
What Else?
What’s a celebration without a present? Participating stores had free copies of Black Library Celebrations 2025 to hand out. Each book contained a Horus Heresy short featuring fan-favorite Erebus (ha!) by Rich McCormick (Renegades: Lord of Excess), two tales for Age of Sigmar by David Guymer (Realmslayer: Legend of the Doomseeker) and Adrian Tchaikovsky (On the Shoulders of Giants), and a 40K yarn about an Alpha Legion infiltration by Mike Brooks (Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives).
There was also the Black Library: The Art of Warhammer 40,000. I’m not generally an art book kinda guy myself, much as I love the art of this property. But this one was a collection of Black Library book covers, with write-ups inside for a number of notable characters. I added it to the pile.
Finally, there were some new minis up for grabs, with Black Library tie-ins Malaneth Witchblade and Minka n’ Friends from Hell’s Last.
As a parting gift, spending $100 or more at an official Warhammer store (not hard this week) also gave you the chance to grab a Black Library collectible coin featuring Gotrek’s cheerful visage. At time of writing (Sunday afternoon) it looks like folks are flogging these on eBay for around $25, so if coins aren’t your thing look at it like a rebate coupon with a few extra steps. There’s also an Aeldari one if you’re into that sort of thing.
Coming Up
If your bank account feels like it’s been hit with an Earthshaker Cannon, you’re hardly alone. The good news is that there’s nothing new in the preorder window for this week in the Black Library, unless you’ve been eagerly awaiting some new German translations of Dan Abnett releases. If so, keep an eye out for Der Doppelte Adler und/oder Titanensturm!
New & Notable
Yesterday was the deadline for the Black Library Open Submissions 2025 contest. Best of luck to all who entered!
The Black Library Book of the Year was crowned this week after a reader’s poll, and Siege of Vraks by Steve Lyons was the runaway winner. Every book in the Top Ten was from the 40K side, making one wonder if splitting into two awards might be a better approach next year as AoS continues to be something of a suffering sister.
Since mid-2023, the Warhammer Community site has been running various series of short, unattributed mini-stories similar to those you’ll find in various rulebooks and Codices. The current series is titled Chronicles of Ruin and the fifth tale just dropped featuring Snarlboss Grikka and his Gitmob.
As part of the Black Library Celebration a new short story subscription rolled out this past week, featuring the following five tales:
- A Point of Pride, by Evan Dicken. “Master Assassin Deathmiser Khrut leads a pack of Night Runners to murder a Sigmarite magister who has scryed upon a skaven plot.”
- Cold Vigil, by John Flindall. “In the sinister reliquary of the Consecrators, Brother Raqib undergoes a long, dark night of the soul.”
- Fen Guard, by Justin Hill. “Captain Minka Lesk has a conversation with a Drookian Fen Guard soldier.” (Whoever is writing these summaries isn’t doing Justin Hill any favors here.)
- Finest Hour, by Sam Ryan. “As newly conscripted Cadian infantryman Mathias Thorne prepares to leave his home planet, a betrayal by heretic forces leaves the Astra Militarum on the back foot.”
- The Reservoir of Rot, by Ian Green. “Great Unclean One Suppuratil leads a Nurgle horde to assault Thellasamin, seeking to corrupt the ley lines beneath the fledgling Sigmarite stronghold to help bring Nurgle’s garden further into the realm.”
You have until 24 March to purchase the subscription for $16, which will save you four bucks off of buying them individually afterwards.
Over on social media, Jude Reid (Morvenn Vahl: Spear of Faith) celebrated International Women’s Day by recommending ten books from women authors. It’s a cracking list with one Warhammer book included!
I greatly enjoyed Jen and Keri’s 40K Book Club Podcast discussion this week, centered on Leontus: Lord Solar. It’s always fun to compare book reviews, since my own write-up for Goonhammer went up this past Saturday. We loved a lot of the same things about this one, but they really got into some great details and themes.
Finally, Will McDermott (Kal Jerico: The Omnibus) is contributing a short story to the alternative history anthology Twisting, Turning Timeshifts on Kickstarter. “What if primeval Africans discovered nuclear power before fire? How would that have altered the course of history on humanity’s home continent (and beyond)? Follow the story of Africa’s warrior queen, Amanirenas, as she faces off against the Holy Roman Empire in 40 BCE, but this time backed by a nuclear-powered west African confederation.” It’s already met its goal but if you’re wanting a copy it ends in just a few days!
That’s all for this week. It may have hurt the pocketbooks but at least we’ll have plenty to read to keep us busy!
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