Did you know that the first Warhammer 40,000 novel published by Black Library, back in 1999, was written by Dan Abnett? And that his first short story from the 41st Millennium was two years before that?* All these years later, he’s still immersed in the grim darkness of the far future, with his new Inquisition novel Penitent coming as part of the Black Library Celebration.
We sat down with Dan to talk about this latest adventure for Eisenhorn, Ravenor, and the mysterious Beta Bequin. Settle down and see what he has to say.
Penitent is the long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s Pariah, which took Dan’s long-running Inquisition series in a radical new direction. Set in a strange city, it showed the universe through the eyes of a character who was seemingly Eisenhorn’s long time ally Alizebeth Bequin… but also wasn’t.
Surprise layered upon surprise, as old friends turned up, tangling with new enemies… and some very, very old ones. Dan tugged on story threads stretching back not only through his previous Eisenhorn and Ravenor novels, but all the way to the Horus Heresy. He ended the tale on a massive cliffhanger, now resolved in Penitent.
In the new novel, Bequin chooses her loyalties and fully immerses herself in the world of the Inquisition, seeking ancient secrets that could also help her discover the truth of her own existence. As you’d expect from Dan Abnett, there are shocks and twists aplenty along the way, and yet another cliffhanger that will simply blow your mind, raising as many questions as it answers.
You can pre-order Penitent tomorrow, in hardback, ebook, and MP3 audiobook editions, as well as a spiffy special edition. Pariah is also returning to hardback with a new cover, so you can catch up on the story (or revisit it if it’s been a while).
Pariah isn’t the only Abnett classic that you can get your hands on as part of the Black Library Celebration. Two of his Warhammer Chronicles collaborations with other authors will take you back to the world-that-was for high fantasy adventures.
Hammers of Ulric is a collection of short stories by Dan, Nik Vincent, and James Wallis, which focus on the Knights of the White Wolf, foremost guardians of the city of Middenheim. In this hardback 20th anniversary edition, you’ll venture into the forests around the city, and deep into the Fauschlag, the great rock spire on which Middenheim sits, as the knights battle the myriad forces of Chaos who seek to destroy their home.
You can also experience the origins of the roguish Malus Darkblade, a dark elf whose destiny became entwined with that of a daemon. Written with Mike Lee, The Daemon’s Curse is filled with dark humour and grotesquery of the sort that only the dark elves can provide. For the first time in years, you can pick up this tale in paperback, in a Reader’s Choice edition, voted for by the community last year.
Which of these books are you most looking forward to getting your hands on during the Black Library Celebration? Head to Facebook to let us know.
* Both were Gaunt’s Ghosts stories – the short story ‘Ghostmaker’ and the novel First and Only, which proved to be anything but.