Well... I've come to the end of the (published) Heresy series. I did this once before (when I finished the 'Mark Of Calth' review) but it took me almost 2 more book releases before I actually got this blog up and running. Of course, I'm not an HH authority now by any means. There's a few audio dramas I'm waiting on hearing, due to my preference for getting them on CD rather than just buying the MP3s. And of course, there are limited edition novellas I'm missing, stuff that's only come out on e-Books (which I think I will continue to NEVER buy), and stuff which has only been available at GW/Black Library events.
In keeping with this theme, I got an email today about this, the second Black Library Weekender!!! I'm very conflicted about this. I'd absolutely love to get my hands on the 'Know No Fear' tie-in graphic novel 'Macragge's Honour'. And even more than that, an exclusive Horus Heresy anthology called 'The Imperial Truth'? Sign me up! I'm not really too fussed about 'Visions Of Heresy', though I'm sure I will get that eventually. I feel like I need to explain a bit; it's not that I want to get this stuff before everyone else but I just can't wait too long for more of the HH story.
On the other hand... it is expensive. £70 for a ticket, plus I'd have to get the train up there, and probably stay in a hotel for a few nights - not cheap. Plus all the books there would probably cost a lot. But if I'm completely honest, I'm not as concerned about spending money as I am about travelling out of my 'comfort zone', and going there solo isn't a hugely attractive prospect for me. I'm pretty uncomfortable in crowds, too. So probably I'll just stay home, and wait a few years for all the exclusive stuff to become available to the rest of us shitmunchers.
As for the signings and meet-and-greets with authors... man, I already KNOW I like those guys' work, and I don't feel like I need an autographed book to reinforce that. And I'm not sure I would want to meet them... Then you have this terrifying sounding thing called 'Pitch Factor' wherein you compete against a hall of other attendees to pitch some possible Black Library fiction. Deep down inside (no homo) I'd love to write Black Library fiction but I know from experience that any obstacles I encountered would make me completely forsake this dream. 'Having my ideas criticised by a room full of people who are similarly fond of HH' would definitely count as an 'obstacle' for me. I'd probably grab a corkscrew and attempt some DIY version of the 'forgettingness surgery' from Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.
So yeah, don't expect to see Purple Heresy all up in the VIP at the Black Library Weekender...
Moving on from that downbeat shit. Next in the pipeline for HH? Some shit I'm pretty stoked about. Chris Wraight's 'Scars' e-book series is coming to an end fairly soon. If the release schedule followed for HH so far is kept to, I'm guessing the hardback version of this book will go on sale in early December 2013. I just don't fuck with e-books so I'm holding out for the physical form, but I'm really looking forward to it and I've heard good things. We've barely had any White Scars stuff in the Heresy so far, and Wraight's 'Rebirth' is definitely one of the better HH stories I've read. We also have the 'Thief Of Revelations/Hunter's Moon' audio stories, listed on Amazon as coming out mid-2014 in CD format. Apparently, one story will be about the Space Wolves, one will be about Ahriman and Magnus.
In terms of more HH books, the names of two anthologies, 'The Shattered Legions' and 'The Shadow War', have apparently been announced (according to this old, but very accurate, forum post). 'The Shattered Legions' will focus on Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard. I'd expect that we'll get a continuation of 'shattered legion' survivors we saw in 'Angel Exterminatus', 'Vulkan Lives' and 'The Unremembered Empire'... and I bet Gav Thorpe gives us a bit more setup for whatever the next Raven Guard novel will be. Allegedly, 'The Silent War' will show us the fallout from Magnus' astral-projection craziness on Terra, but I'd also expect us to get a lot more stories along the lines of 'The Sigillite' and 'Grey Angel' / 'Burden Of Duty'. I'm guessing it'll have a bit of an 'espionage' theme, so I'm guessing we may get a bit more Cold War craziness from those creepy Alpha Legion dudes. If they get creative with the title, we might see some more stories from Calth's Underworld War, or Lorgar and Angron's Shadow Crusade... Next up for me, though, will be 'Tallarn: Executioner' which I ordered a little while back and should get to me some time before the end of November. I'm guessing this will also be a bit of a 'full HH novel setup', as I doubt the entirety of Tallarn's fate is going to be dealt with in just one novella.
In terms of non-HH Black Library fiction, I'm psyched for the new Gaunt's Ghosts book, 'The Warmaster', according to Amazon it's out July 2014 (which judging from the Amazon date/BL release date discrepancies I've seen in the past, should mean it's actually out in the first couple months of 2014). I'm eager to see what happens next in this series as the last couple books were brilliant. I'm also looking forward to the paperback of 'Pariah', which seems to have got some criticism from Ravenor/Eisenhorn fans, but I loved it. Bequin Book 2 can't come soon enough for me.
But just because I've read all the HH novels so far, doesn't mean I've reviewed them all. So, I just drew up my "Still To Review" list, of the 'mop-up' reading I have to do for books I haven't yet written reviews for...
Horus Rising - Dan Abnett
False Gods - Graham McNeill
Galaxy In Flames - Ben Counter
Fulgrim - Graham McNeill
Descent Of Angels - Mitchel Scanlon
Battle For The Abyss - Ben Counter
Mechanicum - Graham McNeill
Fallen Angels - Mike Lee
A Thousand Sons - Graham McNeill
Nemesis - James Swallow
The Outcast Dead - Graham McNeill
Deliverance Lost - Gav Thorpe
Two observations - one, it's quite McNeill heavy, and two, it contains some stretches I am NOT looking forward to reliving. From 'False Gods' through to 'Battle For The Abyss' is a run I remember as being some of the dryest, most joyless sci-fi writing I've ever encountered in all my nerdy days. And after the brief highlight of 'Mechanicum', it takes until 'The Outcast Dead' that we hit a sequence of books I actually relish the thought of reading again.
I'm not sure what to feel about the fact Black Library claim the overall series is "about halfway done". I mean, in a way, it feels like shit is rushing towards the inevitable conclusion... how could it really take 25 more books until we get to the point where the Emperor falls? Or even 25 books until the very end of the Great Scouring (is that even gonna be part of the series)? It's like, even after the gloomy tête-à-tête in 'Unremembered Empire', how long is it gonna be until those 3 dudes march on Earth? And even if the Siege of Terra gets a novel for each Legion which takes part, they can't spin that out for too long. Then again, we still haven't had jack shit about the White Scars. We don't know what those slippery bastards in the XX Legion are doing right now. Magnus is still moping around the Planet of the Sorcerors, biting on a pillow, and he's pretty far away from going full-on Fantasia. I still don't have a fucking clue what really motivates Mortarion or what kind of personality he has. "Hates magic, loves poison gases" isn't really much to go on. The Fallen Angels are, as far as can be told, standing around the surface of Caliban scratching their withered empty ballsacks. I'm just saying, for every Garro, Lorgar, Qruze or Fulgrim whose story is pushing onwards into fresh, weird new areas, there are story branches that seem to be in need of a definite kickstart, or perhaps just some STORY - any story at all. AND WHAT THE FUCK IS HORUS DOING RIGHT NOW???
I mean, I kinda hope that they don't decide to use one of the remaining 25 books to have Ben Counter describe in mind-numbing detail the alterations Dorn is making to the Palace, or have some new dude write about the Iron Hands being angsty and sulky about the fact they can't do SHIT anymore... but hell, I'm kinda content. So long as they fall into a 'holding pattern' of Abnett, Dembski-Bowden, Swallow and McNeill dealing with most of the releases (perhaps I'd give Gav Thorpe a place in the winners circle too, as long as he lays off the fucking hair metal references) I'm pretty casual. Shit, if we can get a few more 'Know No Fears', 'Angel Exterminatuses' and 'First Heretics', the series could probably survive some more yawnfests like 'Battle For The Abyss' or 'A Thousand Sons'.
So yeah, I'll keep marking HH release dates on my calendar. I'll even pay 20 FUCKING POUNDS for the hardback version just to read them about half a year earlier... because I'm loco like that.
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