Break out your bookmarks, collapse into your comfiest reading chair, and get ready to celebrate everything that makes the literary worlds of Warhammer amazing, as the Black Library Celebration returns this February. We saw a pile of new stories and two stunning models announced back in December, and now the time is nearly upon us.
We’ll be lavishing you with literary love starting from Monday the 14th of February, with pre-orders opening on Saturday the 19th. We’ll release five new short stories throughout the following week, one each day from the 21st to the 25th of February. Readers can look forward to the return of Drekki Flynt, a tale of long-awaited revenge, and a tale from Sandy Mitchell titled The Only Good Ork. We hope it’s about a nice, friendly Ork!*
Stories and articles aren’t the only things headed your way – we mentioned models, and after last year’s look at these mighty Space Marines they need no introduction.
A Blood Angels Crusader who’s more machine than man joins the mightiest moustache in the Imperial Fists, as Dominion Zephon and Fafnir Rann march right out of the pages of the Horus Heresy. These plastic models are packed with detail worthy of two legendary heroes, and they’re an essential part of any Heresy fan’s collection.
Both of these stalwarts can be found chopping up hordes of heretics in Dan Abnett's Saturnine, which returns to shelves in a new paperback format, alongside a gorgeous map depicting the siege of Lion’s Gate. This A2-sized cotton map, bound in faux leather, was originally included only with the limited edition release of Saturnine, but it’s now available for all Siege of Terra fans.
No talk of Heresy-era heroes would be complete without mentioning Sigismund, and the Imperial Fists’ first captain has his history laid bare in Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader. Fittingly presented in a golden-yellow cloth-bound limited edition, the third book in the Horus Heresy Character Series is signed by author John French and limited to only 2,500 uniquely numbered copies.
The Earthquake God is reawakened at last, and the Mortal Realms tremble beneath his hooves. The tale of his terrible return is told in Kragnos: Avatar of Destruction. As the Era of the Beast dawns, Sigmar’s faithful set out from Excelsis to claim new lands in Ghur – but a rising tide of orruks, ogors, and worse is gathering to tear down all they have built, and the End of Empires will test the forces of Order like never before.
This novel by David Guymer is heading to shelves in hardback, eBook, and mp3 audiobook formats.
Classic Warhammer tales are returning in new formats as part of the celebration, including a hardback illustrated edition of the classic Eisenhorn novel Xenos,** and Astorath: Angel of Mercy in hardback. Five Horus Heresy novels will also be available through Print On Demand for a limited time, from the 26th of February until the 13th of March.
Buy any of these Black Library Celebration 2022 releases during this event, and you'll also get a free anthology of five stories from Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and the Horus Heresy – including some previously seen only in Black Library advent calendars from yesteryear.
They’re not the only titles returning, as the Reader’s Choice winners for Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 arrive in paperback from the Black Library vault. Witch Hunter begins C.L. Werner’s excellent Mathias Thulmann series with a murder investigation across Klausberg, while Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Cadian Blood follows the plight of the Astra Militarum as they fight to reclaim a shrine world lost to Nurgle.
French and German readers can also pick up translated editions of Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, The Twice-dead King: Ruin, and Dawn of Fire:The Wolftime, as well as a Black Library Celebration 2022 collection in their native language.
These books will all be available to pre-order from Saturday the 19th of February, and you can pick them up in person by heading to your local Warhammer Store on the 26th of February.
Be sure to hit up the Black Library Facebook page and let us know what you’re most looking forward to – and remember to sign up for the newsletter to keep track of all the upcoming literary announcements.
* So does Commissar Ciaphas Cain, for that matter...
** You can also pick up an Eisenhorn-themed bookmark at the same time.