June 2016 – Q&A

This is a compilation of questions that have been emailed and messaged to me recently.

If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).

I’m intending to do a specific Q&A for Angels of Caliban once people have had a chance to read it after release, so if you have any questions then, please send them in!

John Pearl replied to the newsletter with: I’m a big fan of your 40k work, particularly The Emperor Expects and Deliverance Lost! I had a question, when writing a Warhammer story, how much stuff do you have to know on your own and how much support does Black Library provide? For example, if you wanted to describe some sort of complicated system or item that may or may not exist in the fiction do you have to know that yourself or can you ask BL “does this sort of thing exist already and if so, what is the correct terminology?”

Regarding your question, it really depends on the story. With Warbeast, for example, I knew nothing! Age of Sigmar was so new I had to learn everything from scratch. With my latest novel sent to the editors, Azrael, I didn’t need any extra material at all as I have been writing about Dark Angels for some time and already had a PDF of the latest Codex. That tends to be the main research requirement – the latest iteration of the rules and background. Army lists get troops types added, new wargear appears and characterful abilities can change; events appear in the timeline and some characters, or battles and other areas of history, might get expanded upon in different ways.

If you’ve got a basic grounding in the universe and the particular factions involved (you know the difference between the Administratum and the Imperial Guard…) the editors can provide more detailed materials in the form of stories, novels and GW or Forge World books to round out your knowledge in a particular area.

Daniel Burke asked on the website: Hi Gav, Are you working on the hardback edition of Deliverance Lost and what is the process like?

There will be a hardback of Deliverance Lost coming down the line. For the author it’s pretty straightforward – make sure to pass on any corrections or alterations needed (there isn’t scope for anything like a rewrite but where things might get tweaked to sit better with later stories or remove contradictions there’s the option available) and then put together the 1,000 word afterword.

He then asked by email: I am looking forward to the release of Corax as I have never really been able to get into the audio releases and therefore not caught up with Raptor. Coincidentally having just finished the Scars arc with the release of Path to Heaven I am now embarking on the Raven Guard arc as I had gotten to Deliverance Lost when attempting to read the Horus Heresy sequentially for the second time. I am looking forward to see how reading your stuff in an arc goes, are there any other HH works you think would complement a Raven Guard arc?

The Raven Guard arc is pretty self-contained, but you might enjoy the Shattered Legions arc which shows something of what happened to the Raven Guard that didn’t make it off Isstvan V. With Meduson going on general release the full story is a bit more accessible now.

And followed up with: I have a copy of Meduson in the post as we speak, I am looking forward to it! Is Deeds Endure about those who didn’t make it off Isstvan V? I have enjoyed what I have read about the Shattered Legions so far but I think with the latest anthologies I have further reading to do (as ever)!

Deeds Endure features the Salamanders and Iron Hands, rather than the Raven Guard. It was nice to have a look at the other Dropsite Massacre Legions.

Edward Harman commented on Corax’s new cover: Who does his hair? It looks beautiful.

The Watchers in the Dark are surprisingly adept with scissors and a hairdryer. (See the ensuing exchange here).

Also on the Corax blog post, John Smith said: Cool wallpaper – very dynamic and very detailed. Only one thing bothers me – it’s the new armor for Corax. I know, it’s because of Forgeworld’s miniature, but what happened to Corax’s old armor with its massive wings, nice simple etchings and Roc’s skull?

I figure that all of the Primarchs have taken quite a battering over the course of the war – it never sat well with me that they would all have a consistent look and use only one or two named signature weapons (I took pains for Corax to wield a heavy bolter in Raven’s Flight for example). Also, different designers and artists have varying ideas of what the Primarchs should look like. The ‘original’ Corax look was derived from a John Blanche sketch. I don’t think the Forge World look should be considered definitive simply because they are in miniatures.

Tim Duckhouse took a different approach: Got to ask, will Weregeld explain why Corax doesn’t make it to the Siege of Terra? Or does he… Either way, I’m excited!

It will explain a lot of things, I hope.

@DrillAbbot asked On Twitter: Mind blown on p. 272 of The Unforgiven. Did you have this in mind when you wrote The Lion for The Primarchs anthology?

I can’t say I specifically had that in mind but I was setting up a whole range of possible shenanigans, of which this was one.

Billy G asked on the blog (part of a longer discussion): So the Stormcasts are not immortal? (well as long as Sigmar is boss?) They must not always follow Sigmar’s edicts and orders (ie have actual free will?)? They can be corrupted by chaos ?

I would say that their immortality definitely has a cost. If you excuse the plug, but I go into some of this on my Heelanhammer interview – quicker than reading Warbeast! Also, the background and characters for the new Warhammer Quest: The Silver Tower demonstrates that the loyalty line between Chaos and Order is not so well defined as at first glance. We haven’t seen a Stormcast Eternal fall to Chaos, but then again during the Great Crusade there were no traitor legions either… (That’s not a hint of something I know, just putting it out there as a comparison!)

Dominic Gibson asked on Facebook: How are you finding the 1st Legion to flesh out?

Four/ five different authors writing them, in the Heresy alone, as well as shifting image and archetypes from Rogue Trader to the present day. Lack of agreed terminology, numbers, titles etc re: organisation. All of which has been turned into a positive, much by the work of Alan Bligh and made sense of in the context of the Legion’s in-universe history as well as its contradictory real universe iterations.

Dmitry Freyger asked on Facebook: [In Angel’s of Caliban] will we see any interaction between Corax and the loyalist Iron Warriors under his command, the difference in combat philosophy would be utterly interesting.

It’s only briefly addressed in Weregeld, but I’d love to go back to it at some point in another story.

Stephen Gault asked on Goodreads: Hi Gav, I’m a big 1st Legion fan have been since I started collecting and they returned from the warp in the 90’s! (I miss Naaman) Guess my question is when does the legacy of Caliban continue and will it tie in with Wolf Time we have been seeing with Curse of the Wulfen?

Hi, thanks for reading.

As of this moment, bearing in mind plans might change, the Legacy of Caliban trilogy is complete. Which I suppose answers your other questions as well – the Curse of the Wulfen is something entirely separate and comes directly from the Design Studio.

I’m currently writing a book that takes us back to the early days of Azrael’s command, but after that my attention will be turning away from the Dark Angels. (However, I might return to the Consecrators at some point as I had a lot of fun with the Chapter Master in The Unforgiven.)

Craig Eustace sent me a message on Facebook: Hey I don’t know if you remember me but a little while ago I inquired if there was any chance of a novel being written around the inquisitor battle reports and about inquisitor kessel and was wondering if there are any future plans regarding this? Thank you for your time I’m sure you’re busy and have a busy schedule.

Hi, As I mentioned in my previous reply, I would like to come back to the Inquisition in some form and I hadn’t considered a return to Kessel until you mentioned it. There are a few Inquisitor-related works coming from BL in the next couple of years (including John French’s Covenant series which sounds great from talking to him about Thorians and other fun), so I expect it will be a while until I get back to the exploits of the Inquisition.

Mike Posey asked on Facebook: You know, this leads me back to a question I’ve been meaning to ask for awhile. How much canon control do you have in your novels? I mean, if you wrote that Horus channeled Michael Flatley and performed Lord of the Dance with a line of Daemonettes right before his fight with the Emperor, would that fly? Would a (insert less absurd but still questionable event here)? How does that process work since you and all the other great writers, are basically defining

the world that exists within GW’s IP?

If an author was planning on making a significant alteration or addition to the lore, that would be agreed with the editors in advance (if they have any sense). The latitude given to individual authors depends on the author, the subject and how much of a change is being made. It’s the nature of the beast that turning a background into a narrative of a story or novel means that authors are constantly expanding and refining the IP on the hop. If that crosses a boundary the editors will feedback to that effect.

The Emperor Eggspects! Thanks to @Curis for making me chuckle with this brilliantly iced Easter Egg.

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If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).

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