Horus Heresy anyone?

[jurble]

I enjoyed the HH books, but I haven't read any black library stuff since ~2013.

 

At some point I'll pick it back up.  I enjoy the W40k universe, and the Black Library has some entertaining stories.

[Werthead]

Personally I'm not interested in any more Black Library stuff until they stop treating their customers like fucking idiots and ripping them off. The recent decision to delete their omnibuses and re-release the individual volumes at not far off the same price as the whole omnibus is absolute cash-grabbing greed.

I know it's because they are in financial trouble but at this rate GW going bust may be for the best (the novel line is highly profitable on its own and would likely be saved anyway).

If there is a problem it's that Abnett's output for BL has come to a grinding halt

Abnett is also under contract to Solaris for more stand-alone novels and I believe has also been working on his own fantasy series. I get the distinct impression (not from any personal communications, solely from his work output and BL's completely batshit insane decision-making process recently) that Abnett has been unimpressed with how BL/GW have handled recent changes to both 40K and WH Fantasy (i.e. nuking it altogether). It also appears that BL have sidelined non-HH books such as Gaunt's Ghosts and Abnett's third Inquisitor trilogy, to the annoyance of those fans. On top of all that, Abnett has also had health issues.

It's all a bit of a mess, but BL certainly doesn't appear to have been treating their top-selling author (and the UK's second-biggest-selling SF author full stop) with the respect he's due.

[peterbound]

Prolly depends on the author. D&D novelization can range from pretty good to fucking awful too.

Indeed.  From bad to worse.  Really the only range that Tie In's fall into.   

What really bums me out, recently, about the old world of tie ins is the trend of fucking great, but widely unread, authors having to demean themselves and write in those worlds.  Not because of the great space to create in, but rather the knowledge that the quality control and expectations of the genre is so low that they can make a quick buck with little effort.  

[SkynJay]

Indeed.  From bad to worse.  Really the only range that Tie In's fall into.   

What really bums me out, recently, about the old world of tie ins is the trend of fucking great, but widely unread, authors having to demean themselves and write in those worlds.  Not because of the great space to create in, but rather the knowledge that the quality control and expectations of the genre is so low that they can make a quick buck with little effort.  

So great of you, as always, to give us such keen insight into the minds of authors you have had extensive talks with.  Please tell me, which of the authors that are part of this recent trend have personally told you that they choose to write these books due to a lack of integrity and out of a desire to only make a quick buck?

[SkynJay]

...double...

[peterbound]

So great of you, as always, to give us such keen insight into the minds of authors you have had extensive talks with.  Please tell me, which of the authors that are part of this recent trend have personally told you that they choose to write these books due to a lack of integrity and out of a desire to only make a quick buck?

Nobody has told me shit.  However, two of my favorites have been reduced to the tie in bullshit, and that's enough for me.  

[Ser Drizztos]

However, two of my favorites have been reduced to the tie in bullshit, and that's enough for me.  

Who would that be?

[Calibandar]

Personally I'm not interested in any more Black Library stuff until they stop treating their customers like fucking idiots and ripping them off. The recent decision to delete their omnibuses and re-release the individual volumes at not far off the same price as the whole omnibus is absolute cash-grabbing greed.

 

Their cash grabbing has been much lamented by WH fans and readers, it sees to be a few levels above what you normally see in the industry. That won't stop me getting a new HH release when it comes out though. But here as well BL are notoriously awful in that they do not give advance information on when new books will be out. This is where forums and the writers themselves are useful for finding out what is due next year.

[Werthead]

BL doesn't operate in any way that is consistent with the rest of the publishing business. Completely baffling stuff. There's also the big balls up they did this year with the Paul Kearney novel that no self-respecting professional publisher should have done.

[peterbound]

Who would that be?

Not just BL, but Tie In's in general. Kearney with both BL and doing that animorphs shit.  Stover with the Star Wars. Buckell and the Halo books, And Giaman's bullshit Dr. Who work (although i think he enjoys that, I just fucking hate Dr. Who), and Newman's work with your little Warhammer world.  

 

I'd rather have them make money on the worlds they've created, not have to 'pay the bills' by pumping out the shit associated with a less than stellar corner of our genre.  

[Ser Drizztos]

Not just BL, but Tie In's in general. Kearney with both BL and doing that animorphs shit.  Stover with the Star Wars. Buckell and the Halo books, And Giaman's bullshit Dr. Who work (although i think he enjoys that, I just fucking hate Dr. Who), and Newman's work with your little Warhammer world.  

 

I'd rather have them make money on the worlds they've created, not have to 'pay the bills' by pumping out the shit associated with a less than stellar corner of our genre.  

Ah well, none of those are known to me.

I think it's a dilemma most artists of skill face at some point: churn out popular, creatively bankrupt works that pay the bills or pursue their heart's desire at the risk of dying poor. Some, of course, manage to combine both.

[peterbound]

Ah well, none of those are known to me.

I think it's a dilemma most artists of skill face at some point: churn out popular, creatively bankrupt works that pay the bills or pursue their heart's desire at the risk of dying poor. Some, of course, manage to combine both.

Well, If your avatar and handle are any indication of your taste in books, i'm not surprised.  

 

Try Heroes Die from Stover, anything from Kearney, and Ragamuffin from Buckell.  The Anno Dracula series from Newman is awesome as well.  

 

Fucking tie ins.  Bring out the worst in me. 

[Ser Drizztos]

Well, If your avatar and handle are any indication of your taste in books, i'm not surprised.  

 

Try Heroes Die from Stover, anything from Kearney, and Ragamuffin from Buckell.  The Anno Dracula series from Newman is awesome as well.  

 

Fucking tie ins.  Bring out the worst in me. 

Was that a jab at Drizzt, the greatest, most profound character to ever grace the realm of fantasy literature?

Ser, I demand you apologize.

[Darth Richard II]

Stover does Star Wars cause he's a giant giant Star Wars nerd and him and Lucas are buddies. Don't know about the others. 

 

GW is nuking Warhamner Fantasy? Like the whole thing or just the novels?

[Jon AS]

GW is nuking Warhamner Fantasy? Like the whole thing or just the novels?

They blew up the entire world and replaced it with something totally different. And apparently also renamed all things with public domain names to things they could claim copyright on.

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah, that sounds like shit they would do.

[peterbound]

Stover does Star Wars cause he's a giant giant Star Wars nerd and him and Lucas are buddies. Don't know about the others. 

 

GW is nuking Warhamner Fantasy? Like the whole thing or just the novels?

I'm not so sure about that.  I'm not sure where you read that at, every thing i've read from his is that he does it to 'pay the bills' 

[Darth Richard II]

It was an interview in some old Star Wars anthology. *shrug*

[Calibandar]

Yeah, that sounds like shit they would do.

It's called Age of Sigmar. It seems to combine the popularity of the Space Marines with fantasy aspects.

The space marines in the new Fantasy world are called Stormcast Eternals. They did end the Warhammer Fantasy era with a series of novels in the last two years though, the End Times series.

[Werthead]

Not just BL, but Tie In's in general. Kearney with both BL and doing that animorphs shit.  Stover with the Star Wars. Buckell and the Halo books, And Giaman's bullshit Dr. Who work (although i think he enjoys that, I just fucking hate Dr. Who), and Newman's work with your little Warhammer world.  

 

I'd rather have them make money on the worlds they've created, not have to 'pay the bills' by pumping out the shit associated with a less than stellar corner of our genre.  

Kearney is a massive Warhammer 40K fan, he actually went and applied for the gig because he wanted to do it and even had to "audition" for it with a short story. The book was also pretty damn good according to those who've read it, I just hope it actually gets to come out at some point once they've reworked the copyright-infringing stuff. This was also after the Solaris reprints and Solaris bought both the Macht books and The Wolf in the Attic (and, hopefully, his next project), so he wasn't hurting financially.

Gaiman's career began with tie-ins. His second book (after the Duran Duran bio) was a Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy collaboration with Douglas Adams and Sandman is firmly set in the DC Comics Universe.

Kim Newman really didn't need the money. He, David Langford, Ian Watson and Stephen Baxter were all called in by GW to work on the line when it started because they wanted "proper" SF writers on board (Christopher Priest apparently considered it, but M.J. Harrison declined) and they all agreed.