Warhammer Fest 2016 – Event Report

I spent the last weekend at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry as one of a number of Black Library guests at this year’s Warhammer Fest. Along with writers David Guymer, John French, Jim Swallow, artist Neil Roberts and editor Laurie Goulding I spent Saturday and Sunday signing books (quite a few copies of Lords of Caliban in particular, which was nice to see) and talking to people about writing.

I had hoped to get out and about in the show and see what else was there but my browsing was curtailed to a few snatched minutes here and there. I’ll share a couple of those minutes at the end. So, instead of the usual style of event report I’d like to cover some of the information that came out during the two seminars, and in conversation with the fans I spoke to over the two days.

Corax – Weregeld

On Saturday we revealed, alongside several other wonderful covers, Neil Roberts’ latest rendition of the Raven Guard Primarch. My picture isn’t the best and I’m sure there will be others around on the internet, but even in this image you can see how well Neil has captured the mood of the Primarch. This is a battle he does not expect to survive…

The illustration will be the cover of a special compilation (or bind-up as we sometimes call them) that will be coming out toward the end of the year. Entitled ‘Corax’, it brings together all of the tales of the Raven Guard since the end of Deliverance Lost – Corax: Soulforge; Ravenlord; The Shadowmasters; Value of Fear; Raptor.

As well as these, the volume will also include a new novella to cap off the series and bring the story of Corax up to the point just before the Siege of Terra. Entitled Weregeld, it is the culmination of many of the storylines prior to that, and sees the return of characters such as the Raptor lieutenant Navar Hef, Commander Branne and Therion Vice-Caesarii Marcus Valerius, Librarian Balsar Kurthuri, Gherith Arendi and, of course, Corax himself. It is a story of endings, in more ways than one, and is, for the foreseeable future, my last contribution to the Raven Guard story in the Horus Heresy (though there will be more appearances in different titles). Like the rest of the numbered series it will be initially released in hardback with an author afterword.

Future Titles

On Sunday we talked a bit about work outside the Horus Heresy series and I was pleased to announce two forthcoming titles. I am, this week, about to hand over the first draft of Azrael, a book for the Lords of the Space Marines series. The story takes us to events on war-torn Rhamiel, during which Azrael must take command of the leaderless Chapter and defeat an infernal enemy.

After that I will be submitting my synopsis for a follow-up book to Asurmen. This Phoenix Lord novel will be full-length (about 90-100,000 words) and if you’re wondering who the titular character will be, let’s just say she makes an appearance in Asurmen: The Hand of Asuryan…

Big Things Hitting Each Other

There was a lot of very cool stuff on display at Warhammer Fest, of which I only saw a small fraction. I was also able to catch up with a few folks I know in various parts of GW – Specialist games, Middle-Earth games, licensing, Design Studio. What snippets I gleaned are very exciting (yeah, yeah, vague promises) and it sounds like there are some exceptionally good projects coming down the line.

I’ll leave you with perhaps the most exciting discovery of the weekend (from a Gamer Gav perspective).

Andy Hoare of Specialist Games confirmed a return to Adeptus Titanicus. This (and its successor Space Marine) was my main game for most of my teenage years. Giant war machines clash in the Horus Heresy. Oh my.

Andy’s plans for the game and range sound fantastic and if I smile enough and look charming I might even be able to take the game for a spin some time in the next couple of months! Thirteen year old me would be very impressed.

More news as and when.

And lastly but most importantly, a big thank you to everyone that came to Warhammer Fest, to talk about books, get stuff signed, discuss the intricate nature of Eldar metaphysics and Imperial faith, and generally hang out. Professionals and readers alike, it was great to see you all.

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