I’ve been saying for a while that I’ve been working on a new project for Black Library, and it’s just been announced.
Warhammer Adventures is a new range of junior novels set within the Warhammer universes. I’m writing Warped Galaxies, a series set with the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and have been acting as a consultant for Realm Quest, set within the Age of Sigmar universe and written by my old chum and colleague, Tom Huddleston.
The first Warped Galaxies book – Attack of the Necron – is coming out next year, as is Tom’s City of Lifestone.
To find out more about both series, head over to the news story on Warhammer Community and then visit the brand new Warhammer Adventures microsite where you can meet some of the characters, including our heroes Zelia, Talen and Mekki.
More information on both series soon!
Okay, I’ve seen that this idea is getting some grief out there, so just wanted to drop by with my take.
I think that this is a great idea. As a long time Warhammer player and collector, and a father of a seven year old lad, this is very much looked forward to. He’s been painting for a few months now, and starting to learn the basics of the game. However, while he’s an avid reader, there’s not really anything I can give him to read. I showed him the announcement on my phone, and he was really excited! (Although a little disappointed that it was still some time away before he could get his hands on this).
Anyway, just wanted to leave some feedback from someone who would actually be buying these. Please don’t be discouraged by any negative comments out there – I haven’t seen a single one from anyone who these books are actually aimed at!
Cheers – keep up the good work!
Hey Simon,
I’m not discouraged at all. Projects like this are always going to provoke strong reactions, especially from people with an investment in the universe in question. I get that, totally.
But a lot of thought and discussion has gone into these books for a long time now. We’re creating them with the upmost respect for both kids and the fictional universes that has spawned these stories. It’s not something that anyone at Games Workshop has treated lightly, and I for one understand the responsibility of working within a franchise that people love with a passion.
Thanks for your support and I hope your lad likes them when he picks them up.
All the best,
Cavan
I also appreciate your contribution to the 40k universe. My son also appreciates these books and will be reading them.
Fantastic! Thanks Joseph!
Who’s the illustrator?
Hi Michael,
It’s the talented Cole Marchetti.
Many thanks,
Cavan
I appreciate that you have been so courteous with your responses despite the amount of negative responses in other media, many other authors working on different franchises have been much more hostile. I’ve looked at certain concerns (ie:political motivations) and don’t think that this is quite the case here, and despite being a lore focused fan I think I can overlook the fact these characters are the “moral enemies” of the imperium as honestly a child indoctrinated into the imperial cult probably wouldn’t make the best character. So I’ll ask about other things, such as what dynasty are you using for the Necrons? I don’t recognize the color scheme. What kind of units are you planning on including, after all certain Ones are kind of…not kid friendly. I’m assuming this is going to be a puzzle solving book? It should be interesting to see them try and navigate around the super strength, sight, guns, and durability of warriors and such. The website uses a less than kind (and accurate) descriptor of the necrontyr, but do you intend to use one of the nicer nobles to make the enemies more manageable? They have been known to let imperials leave peacefully after all. I would honestly have suggested Zandrekh due to his affliction, but the color scheme is wrong. Trazyn is more or less the perfect cartoon villain and might be willing to ignore them in favor of whatever prize he’s after, and while to color is wrong he has been known to take on disguises. Rakszan might also be an Ok idea due to his anti c’tan obsession. That’s just off the top of my head anyways, any further info is available through just asking online. Don’t trust the wiki’s though they are terrible and riddled with fairly major errors.
Hi there,
Thanks for your comments.
The book has been written for a while now, and, as you’d expect, I can’t reveal any details at the moment. But don’t worry, we haven’t been using the wikis. We’ve been working with Black Library on the background.
Thanks again,
Cavan
Thanks for the reply. I expected you couldn’t reveal much, but I have a bad tendency to ramble. Good luck on the books!
Not to worry. I do the same when you get me on obscure Doctor Who lore! Thanks again!
Hey Cavan – This is a great idea, and I think it will contribute massively to the world of Warhammer.
More power to you – that people would wish death threats upon you is absolutely beyond me.
The clear reason this project is happening is to inspire young people in a way that should hopefully mean they engage more in materials that are exciting, meaningful and may be the facilitator for them to go create something themselves. And more to the point – writing a story centre-staging young people who are relatable and fallible is pretty radical in itself
The very act of doing so is a direct headshot to the people who are wishing horrific things upon you, and such an act is pretty damn cool and important when there are societal/educational/political pressures on young people (all people?) that are pretty bleak, and so providing and cultivating this escapism, creativity and imagination is an active way of supporting YP (AP?) to transcend that nonsense.
In other words – let kids read about other kids fighting monsters and learning about themselves. It’s good for them and will probably be the vaccine for the very same behaviours that lead people to wish death upon others for changing stuff they like.
Thank you. I’m certainly having fun writing them.
I think these are Fantastic idea, the more young people we can get interested in the hobby, the better the hobby will become in my opinion. I’m sorry you have received some horrible abuse from a small section of the hobby, these people that have a go at other people for ruining the hobby, don’t realise it’s Their actions that do the most damage, keep up the good work and I look forward too release dates
Thanks Stewart. I appreciate the message.
Hello Cavan, I love Warhammer 40,000 and the lore, fluff, and setting. Black Library has literally never been wrong in who they choose to write a story; the reader might disagree, but, the disparate and intentionally not always matching stories from within WH30K and WH40K is, I’m sure, intentional.
I honestly wish you all the best of luck, intuition, and above all, creativity, to expand the fluff and lore of the WH40K setting in a way that is both fun, youngster friendly, and a great experience to read.
Above all else, if you’re working with GW’s Black Library subsection to make sure the lore and context of the story fit into the already established WH40K setting, then, I expect your stories will only add to the setting as a whole.
Best of luck, and be well.
Thanks Ryan. Yeah, Black Library have been great. Working with the ace Nick Kyme as editor.