Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 27
March 23, 2019
Wicked Maledictions
Today sees two new efforts from Black Library up for preorder. Maledictions is an anthology of horror stories by a host of authors, including Cassandra Khaw, Peter McLean and myself. And The Wicked and the Damned is a portmanteau novel, made up of a trio of interconnected novellas written by David Annandale, Phil Kelly and myself.
From the blurbs:
Maledictions:
Horror is no stranger to the dark worlds of Warhammer. Its very fabric is infested with the arcane, the strange and the downright terrifying. From the cold vastness of the 41st Millennium to the creeping evil at large in the Mortal Realms, this anthology of short stories explores the sinister side of Warhammer in a way it never has been before. Psychological torment, visceral horrors, harrowing tales of the supernatural and the nightmares buried within, this collection brings together a grim host of tales to chill the very blood…
The Wicked and the Damned:
On a misty cemetery world, three strangers are drawn together through mysterious circumstances. Each of them has a tale to tell of a narrow escape from death. Amid the toll of funerary bells and the creep and click of mortuary-servitors, the truth is confessed. But whose story can be trusted? Whose recollection is warped, even unto themselves? For these are strange stories of the uncanny, the irrational and the spine-chillingly frightening, where horrors abound and the dark depths of the human psyche is unearthed…
These books are part of the first wave of the new Warhammer Horror line. I’m curious to see what readers will make of them. My story for The Wicked and the Damned is a psychological horror tale, making use of the Kafkaesque grimdark elements inherent in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. In contrast, my short story in Maledictions is an Age of Sigmar tale in the tradition William Hope Hodgson.
The Wicked and the Damned and Maledictions are both available to preorder from the Black Library site, as well as Amazon and its subsidiaries.
March 20, 2019
Reader Mailbag #4
@Psyker_Scum asks:
A few for now:
When working for an established IP, what is the process for making a pitch?
Depends on the IP. Most publishers have their own process for pitching. It might take the form of an elevator pitch via email, and then a full write-up later. It might be more involved, requiring meetings, either in person or via Skype.
Once, I pitched a story to an editor over a beer or twelve and had a contract the next morning when we sobered up.
Favourite joke or reference you’ve hidden in a story?
See, I have a bunch, but I hate spoiling them. Maybe the Frankenstein reference in Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix, but only because I’m surprised it made it past the editors.
Are there/we going to see some Royal Occultist stories featuring St Cyprian’s predecessors? Or perhaps Gallowglass when she’s inherited the role?
Yes to both! There are in fact a few stories about St. Cyprian’s predecessors available. There’s a story about the first Royal Occultist, John Dee:
“A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide”, Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu, Snow Books, 2016; The first Royal Occultist, Dr. John Dee, and his assistant, William Sly, investigate a mysterious plague afflicting the playhouses of London.
There are also a few stories about Thomas Carnacki and a younger St. Cyprian:
“Monmouth’s Giants”, Carnacki: The New Adventures, Ulthar Press, 2013; Thomas Carnacki makes the acquaintance of one Charles St. Cyprian as they investigate ghostly giants in Guildhall.
“Hochmuller’s Hound”, Blood Trails, Emby Press, 2014; Thomas Carnacki and his assistant, Charles St. Cyprian battle the monstrous Hound of Mons.
“The Charnel Hounds”, Patreon Backer Story #5, 2017; Thomas Carnacki and his assistant, Charles St. Cyprian confront an infestation of ghouls in the trenches.
“Dead Men’s Bones”, Kaiju Rising, Ragnarok Publications, 2014; Thomas Carnacki and his assistant, Charles St. Cyprian join forces with an American ghost-breaker to battle a giant made from the corpses of fallen soldiers.
There’s a story about Carnacki’s predecessor, Edwin Drood, coming soon:
“The Disagreeable Bridegroom”, Their Coats All Red, 18thWall Productions, TBA; Edwin Drood and his apprentice, Thomas Carnacki, investigate a peculiar haunting, involving the East India Club and a debt generations in the making.
And there’s a Gallowglass story, set in the 1950’s, forthcoming in the next year or so:
“Unquiet in the Earth”, Sockhops & Seances, 18thWall Productions, TBA; Ebe Gallowglass and her assistants investigate ghostly giants and government conspiracies in a Cornish village.
I’ve also got an Aylmer Beamish/Edwin Drood story, tentatively titled “The Flesh Engines”, that I’ve been working on off and on for a while. I’m hoping to get it finished this year, schedule permitting.
End the debate: What is the best cryptid?
The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp, obviously.
Nobody works in a vacuum, so was there anything in particular that influenced your writing in 2018?
Honestly? The imminent birth of my first child. That’s the sort of event that develops its own gravity – all things begin to bend towards it. And now that she’s been born, all things still bend towards her. She has rapidly become the centre of my universe and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
March 11, 2019
For the Empire
Black Library has released a new omnibus, Knights of the Empire, containing my first Warhammer Fantasy novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, as well as all of my ‘Knights of Manaan’ short stories.
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From the blurb:
The Knightly Orders are entrusted with a sacred duty – the protection of the Empire, from a myriad of foes. Clad in gleaming full plate, the Knights are magnificent figures, the elite of the elite. In the midst of war, the Reiksguard Knight Delmar von Reinhardt discovers that his order hides deadly secrets, and must unearth the truth no matter which noble knight he finds at its heart. Hector Goetz, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is sent to investigate the disappearance of a group of comrades, but with disturbing nightmares plaguing him, and a band of northern savages laying siege to the island, Goetz finds himself in a fight for the soul of his order. And, in the city of Middenheim, only a company of the Knights of the White Wolf stand between the city and total annihilation.
These were some of the first stories I wrote for Black Library, almost a decade ago, and I’m still immensely proud of them. Hector Goetz, Dubnitz and all the rest were my first steps on the road to the author I am now.
While Knight of the Blazing Sun was not a successful book by any metric, the Knights of Manaan short stories, featuring side-characters from the novel, proved ridiculously popular for the short time I was allowed to write them. Erkhart Dubnitz and his motley band of bawdy, criminally-inclined comrades face vampire-pirates, weresharks, Firmir, and even the Empire itself.
Sadly, the final fate of Goetz and Dubnitz, as depicted in Lord of the End Times, was not as happy as they might’ve deserved. But they met it as true knights – and, in Dubnitz’ case, drunk as a lord. And that’s really all you can ask.
The omnibus is available in trade or digital format, from Black Library, as well as Amazon and its subsidiaries. You can also find it in the better sort of bookshops.
March 2, 2019
Meteor House Sale
This month, Meteor House is running a sale on my Wold Newton novellas, Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows and Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra. Both are authorised sequels to Philip Jose Farmer’s seminal steampunk novel, The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, following Fogg’s adventures in the aftermath of his famous eighty-day trip.
The sale runs until March 16th, but supplies are limited. If you haven’t had the opportunity to grab either of these, now might be your last chance!
February 25, 2019
Reader Mailbag #3
@BrownDog400 asks:
AOS Question: Among the GodBeasts, there are a number of who are the progenitors of some of the realms species. Is there a GodBeast progenitor for Horses? Or would there be one GodBeast for Horses, Pegasuses, Unicorns and other equine species?
Interesting question. There very well could be.
I can imagine a monstrous figure – a Sleipnir or Uchchaihshravas – sprung from the ocean of stars to gallop endlessly across the realms. A being that moves so swiftly, those who observe it see only a flickering shape, resembling the Uffington White Horse.
Where its hooves touch the ground, mountains are thrown up and valleys dug. It is not always so large, swelling or shrinking according to the path it travels. Maybe it changes shape, depending on the realm. In Shyish, it is a ghostly titan, heralded by thunderous hoof-beats; in Azyr, it is accompanied by hurricane winds and booming thunder; in Aqshy, it draws a hot wind in its wake, setting fire to the dry grasslands.
Regarding its status as progenitor, perhaps the first horses sprang from its blood and sweat, shed in some ancient battle or trial. Maybe the gods tried to tame it, and in doing so wounded it, causing the great beast to shed its blood as it raced across existence, and thus spread the various species of horse to every corner of the Mortal Realms.
I think that’d be pretty cool, myself.
February 22, 2019
Cat, Bag, Out
Cubicle 7 revealed a look at the new Age of Sigmar RPG yesterday, including Johan Grenier’s fantastic cover art, as well as the names of a few outside consultants – myself among them.
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I’ve been contributing to the background sections of the game, alongside fellow Black Library authors CL Werner and David Guymer. It’s been great fun working on the game, and I hope to contribute more to the setting in the future.
Fleshing out the background for my corner o the Mortal Realms has long been a pet project of mine, as evidenced by my last few novels. Getting to do so on a wider scale has been a dream come true.
Anyway, go check out the Cubicle 7’s round-up. And why not check out the newest Age of Sigmar anthology, Gods & Mortals, featuring stories by myself, David Guymer, CL Werner and a host of others to get yourself in the mood for the games to come?
February 14, 2019
A Super Evil Thing
For those interested, there’s a new patron-only short story available over at my Patreon. “Vast, Black, Brooding” finds writer and fashionable weirdo, Charles Fort, investigating a monstrous mystery in a New York speakeasy, alongside Theodore Dreiser. Guest-starring Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel!
I’ve long been fascinated by Charles Fort, and his writings have provided me with a good deal of inspiration over the years. If you haven’t read up on him, I encourage you to do so. While this isn’t the first story I’ve written about Fort, it’s probably the best – and the only one to ever appear in print. That said, I’d like to do more stories featuring Fort in the future, as he’s one of the few real life characters tailor-made for pseudo-historical weird tales.
If you’re not a patron, and you’d like to read this story – or any of the others available there – simply head over to my Patreon, pledge a dollar and you’ll be given access. And if you can’t pledge anything for whatever reason, feel free to enjoy the free short stories I’ve posted. That’s what they’re there for.
February 12, 2019
Reader Mailbag #2
@FoxOfWilliamSt asks:
do you have a favourite chaos god?
Not really. From a writer’s standpoint, they all have interesting aspects worth exploring.
have you read Scourge of Fate by robbie?
Not yet! But I’m hoping to do so soon, once I work through my to-be-read stack.
hypothetically speaking who would win in a fight Balthas Arum or Knossus Heavensen
As with every ‘who’d win’ question throughout history, it depends on context. Why are they fighting? What’s at stake? Who struck first? Are they in their right minds? Where is the fight taking place? Most importantly, who does the writer need to win?
But since coming up with all of that requires me to write a short story for free, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Sorry!
which is your favourite chaos space marine army
I don’t have one. Space Marines, Chaos or otherwise, aren’t really my bag. If I had to pick…Emperor’s Children, I guess? I’ve read enough about them to have some affection for their utterly broken way of existence.
January 31, 2019
Eldritch Encounters
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Last year, I wrote a number of posts about the world and characters of the Royal Occultist series, with the aim of exploring the interesting nooks and crannies of the mythos.
While I intend to continue doing so on a semi-regular basis, for the moment I’m deciding what part of it to tackle next. In the meantime, I decided it might be wise to collect all of those posts into one place for any newcomers. I’ll also be adding these to the Royal Occultist page, as and when I have a spare moment.
And if you’d like to suggest a topic for these posts – a character, an artefact, an organisation, a location or even a closer look at one of the stories themselves, feel free to do so in the comments below!
Who is the Royal Occultist?
The Baron and the Terror
The Cavalier Occultist
Albion Triumphant
The Monas Glyph
Hateful Hound
The Amateur’s Amateur
Under-London
The One-Armed Man
Men from the Ministry
The Westenra Fund
Brotherhood of Shadows
The Black Pharaoh
For more on the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, as well as past and future holders of the office, take a look at the Royal Occultist chronology on this site, as well as a number of free short stories, available only on Patreon. And be sure to ‘Like’ the Royal Occultist Facebook page, in order to keep up with all the latest news and info on the series!
January 28, 2019
Gods and Mortals
Black Library’s newest Age of Sigmar anthology, Gods and Mortals, is now available for preorder. I’ve got no less than five stories in this one – three reprints and two brand-new stories, one of which features Balthas Arum, one of the protagonists of Soul Wars.
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From the blurb:
For too long, the Mortal Realms have suffered under Chaos’ twisted crusade. Tainted lands writhe in agony and once great cities lie in ruins, the hopes of their people extinguished. But the storm winds rise. Sigmar’s greatest creation, the Stormcast Eternals, strike with His vengeance. Their lightning drives the darkness away and their thunder drowns out the screams of the Foul Gods’ acolytes as they fall to sword and halberd. The sons and daughters of the storm know they cannot fail. For now is the time where the fate of a world will be decided. Where Gods and mortals must rise and fight, or face their final damnation.
As mentioned above, I’ve got five stories in this book. Three of them – “Road of Blades”, “Auction of Blood” and “The Tainted Axe” – are reprints of digital releases. But two are brand new!
“The Library of Forgotten Moments” is a sort-of sequel to my novel, Soul Wars. It finds one of the protagonists of that novel, Lord-Arcanum Balthas Arum, in the depths of Shyish, on the hunt for the eponymous library in the wake of the Battle for Glymmsforge. The story *also* serves as a semi-sequel to another novel of mine, but to say more would be spoiling things a bit.
I’m hoping this will be the first of many stories featuring Balthas. The grumpy sod has grown on me – and readers as well, apparently – and I think he has more work ahead of him, especially in the wake of this particular short story.
The second new story is “Tourney of Fate”. This is one I’ve been looking forward to. It’s the first of several stories featuring Carkus Gryme, knight-errant of the Order of the Fly. The Order has appeared in several of my Age of Sigmar short stories and novels, including Nagash: The Undying King.
The Order are remarkably popular for a monstrous band of twisted, weirdly chivalric Chaos knights. Gryme is the newest ‘hero’ to join their ranks, an aspiring knight in search of a dark quest to earn him his spurs. Only time will tell whether he succeeds, but I’m going to have fun putting him through his paces.
Gods and Mortals is available to preorder, and will be released in hardback and digital formats on February 2nd. A softback version will follow later this year, or early next. You can find a review of the anthology at Track of Words.
