That book in your hands? Finish reading it, pronto. Clear a space on your shelves – no, you’ll need a bigger space than that. Get a fresh bookmark ready, and maybe even two, no – three! The Black Library Celebration is nearly here, and that means oodles of Warhammer fiction to pre-order on Saturday.
Two of these are extraordinary tales featuring returning characters – Ghosts of Barak Minoz by Guy Haley, starring the impetuous duardin Drekki Flynt, and a second outing for the well ’ard Ufthak Blackhawk in Da Big Dakka by Mike Brooks.
Both titles will be available to pre-order this weekend, and the authors had plenty to say about their upcoming novels late last year.
Guy Haley was characteristically effusive about Drekki, detailing how this down-on-his-luck duardin has found himself back at his ancestral home Barak-Mornar, shortly before sniffing out a lead on the legendary lost sky-city of Barak-Minoz.
Guy also goes into detail on the process of creating a character alongside the sculptors and artists of the Warhammer Design Studio, who turned his creation into a miniature, something he spoke about in an earlier interview – alongside his deep and abiding love of the Age of Sigmar setting.
Mike Brooks also let us know about how easy he finds it to get into the mindset of the Orks of Warhammer 40,000 while writing about Ufthak Blackhawk – purely on the page, he hastens to add.
He was eager to point out that Da Big Dakka let him write a story with essentially no human perspective in it, giving him the opportunity to fully immerse himself in the unique mindset of both the Drukahri and the Orks.
Mike was also the writer behind Lion: The Son of the Forest, in which he got to help bring one of the Primarchs back to the 41st millennium – you can read about his experiences writing such a portentous novel here. You’ll also be able to pre-order Ufthak Blackhawk, who is this year's Black Library Celebration Commemorative Series miniature, alongside the book.
A plethora of other books will also be available to pre-order on Saturday to mark the Black Library Celebration. Make sure you ask your local Warhammer store to find out how they are participating in the festivities, and remember you can get a free digital copy of the Black Library Celebration Anthology 2024 – a free anthology of short stories – added to BlackLibrary.com orders from the 10th of February for a limited time.