This February, the Black Library Celebration returns! This annual event is your chance to – as the name suggests – celebrate your passion for the fiction of the Warhammer universes.
Spread across two weeks, the Celebration includes articles, videos, a whole array of incredible new reads, and a model based on one of Black Library’s most beloved heroes. Today, we reveal exactly what you can look forward to.
The headline release for the event is the latest entry in Graham McNeill’s chronicles of Uriel Ventris, as The Swords of Calth sets the Ultramarines captain on a new path. After crossing the Rubicon Primaris, Ventris must adjust to his new body even as old enemies return to wage war against Guilliman’s sons.
Alongside the hardback, ebook, MP3 audiobook, and lavish special edition of the novel, you can also get Captain Uriel Ventris himself, available for the first time as a plastic model. The model comes with rules for using Ventris in your Ultramarines army, making him perfect for collectors and gamers alike.
A stylish bookmark featuring Ventris’ heraldry and an inspirational quotation from The Swords of Calth completes the set of themed products, and it’s perfect for keeping your place in the book while you get some paint on your Ventris model.
It’s not just the Ultramarines series getting a new entry for the Celebration. The long-awaited second book in Dan Abnett’s Bequin series – and the ninth overall in his Inquisition saga – is here. Penitent picks up where the action left off in Pariah (which is also returning to hardback, by the way) and sees Bequin exploring the mysteries of the King of Yellow in the service of Inquisitor Eisenhorn. It’s packed with explosive action and even more incendiary revelations that will change the way you look at the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Penitent is coming to hardback, ebook, and MP3 audiobook formats, as well as a stunning special edition.
Fans of the darker corners of the Warhammer 40,000 universe will love Liber Xenologis, an art and reference book by Darius Hinks that looks at the alien races of the 41st Millennium. It explores the many xenos species who lurk in the darkness beyond the Imperium’s borders, through the eyes of rogue trader Janus Draik (who you may recognise from the Blackstone Fortress game and novels). Alongside the hardback book, you can also pick up a set of five pin badges styled after some of the most prominent of these vile aliens.
In addition to all of these new reads, a load of classic titles are getting a refresh, including a 20th anniversary edition of Hammers of Ulric, the second volume of the full-colour Bloodquest graphic novel available to Print on Demand, and Reader’s Choice editions of Dead Men Walking and Darkblade: The Daemon’s Curse.
French- and German-language readers can also pick up translated editions of The Swords of Calth, Penitent, Pariah, and Liber Xenologis, alongside the Warhammer Crime novel Bloodlines, available outside of English language for the first time.
You can pre-order all of these releases from Saturday the 20th of February, and you can find out more about some of them in December’s Black Library Preview round-up, where we revealed covers, blurbs, and more. If your local store is open, head down there from Saturday the 27th of February to grab your copies in person. Every purchase will also get you a free Black Library Celebration anthology in all three languages, packed with five short stories from across the 41st Millennium and Mortal Realms.
In the week leading up to their release, we’ll be bringing you daily articles that delve into the new books and the history behind them. In the week between pre-order and release, you’ll have a new ebook short story to read every day, featuring Ciaphas Cain and Gotrek Gurnisson, among other beloved heroes.
Join the Black Library Celebration, starting on Sunday the 14th of February, right here on Warhammer Community. Let us know on the Black Library Facebook page what you’re most looking forward to.