40k - Gaunt's Ghosts

[Mikey]

New update. There is definitely a third omnibus - The Lost - comprising Traitor General, His Last Command, The Armour of Contempt, and Only in Death. It does not include "The Iron Star."

Apparently, Salvation Reach (or whatever it will finally be called) is a real deal, but I don't know when to expect it in print.

[Reliant121]

we can only hope!

[Sionnach Glic]

Awesome. I still need to pick up The Iron Star. Why does everyone I know have their birthdays at the start of the year? I've no money left.

I wonder how Abnett's getting on with the movie's plot.

[Mikey]

we can only hope!

Actually, there is reason to believe that there might be more following Salvation Reach - apparently, there's already a working title for a story arc after The Lost. Supposedly it's called The Victory, and with the new work in progress that would only amount to two novels in the arc.

I still need to pick up The Iron Star.

Good luck. From what I can tell, it was only printed as a 1200-copy run, for sale only at a GW Day in England.

[Sionnach Glic]

Oh, is that the limited edition book? In that case, meh. It won't be all that important to the overall story arc.

[Mikey]

Oh, is that the limited edition book? In that case, meh. It won't be all that important to the overall story arc.

From the synopsis on Wiki, it's apparently about

Gaunt's recovery after his near-death on Jago and mostly internal stuff.

[Sionnach Glic]

Ah, nothing major in that case. And I'm sure it'll become available in some form or another after a while.

[Mikey]

OK, anybody else read Blood Pact yet?

Since the paperback isn't coming out until autumn, I decided to feed my jones and went down for the hardcover. Firstly, Abnett needs to write longer books - it's 316 pp. long; I picked it up Tuesday afternoon, finished it by Wednesday evening.

Secondly - I think Abnett sort of mailed this one in. You have to read it sooner or later if you're a Ghosts fan; there are some pretty ironinc and funny circumstances, some more good one-liners from Ceglan Varl, and some news you have to see, but there was a lot of missed opportunity as well, IMHO.

Mabbon Etogaur, who showed such great potential for a character in Traitor General, basically became an unfinished set piece in this one. There also could have been better exploration of how Rime came to be where he was. Instead, we got a three-page backstory of why Tona Criid likes sweets.

[Mikey]

I've been peeping Abnett's FB page, and I think Salvation's Reach is going to be a good one. Last I heard was an October street date, and Abnett claims (probably truly, based on past performance) that he is going to be far from easy on some popular characters.

One interesting thing I learned is how much Abnett immerses himself in 40k while writing. Apparently, one scene in 'Reach will involve a *ahem* non-standard use of Arvus lighters in an assault capacity. Well, it seems that Abnett had a 40k-scale one done up in and out and sat it on his desk to see how it works, what would happen in different situations, etc.

On an interesting side note, there was an ongoing conversation about who people thought would be cast in an Eisenhorn movie; it's probably just a thought experiment, but one can hope. Many people liked Ed Harris for Gregor Eisenhorn; the only role I felt pretty sure about was Jason Statham as Harlon Nayl. I think his voice carries the exact amount of menace, without actual evil. How about your thoughts on other characters?

[Mikey]

Confirmed at the bookstore a couple of days ago; Salvation's Reach is due on October 4th.