I’ve been knee-deep in work since that last post so I thought I’d write a quick update in case anyone stops by here and thinks I’ve been slacking or gone to the great word processor in the sky. The Ingenious came out earlier this year and had some lovely reviews (see the reviews page) but was mysteriously overlooked for the Booker Prize. I can only assume this was a vendetta-fueled act of sabotage by Salman Rushdie. He’s had it in for me ever since that unfortunate dance-off incident.

So far this year I’ve written two more novels, a whole swathe of short stories and audio dramas and I’m halfway through a third novel. Only two of these releases have been publicly announced. The first is Ghoulslayer, which is my first chance to grapple with one of Warhammer’s loudest heroes, Gotrek Gurnisson (famously narrated by a full-volume Brian Blessed in the audio dramas). It was a really fun, rollicking, gore-fest of a book to write and I’m excited to see what people think of it. It’s released in September.

After that I wrote a book called City of Light, which is my third Mephiston novel set in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe. A lot has happened in the setting since I first started writing about Mephiston and this was my chance to show him getting to grips with the apocalyptic events that have torn his galaxy in half. 40k fans should be able to tell from the title which (wonderfully deranged) location the story takes place in. It works as a standalone novel, but also concludes a lot of the plot threads and character arcs I established in the previous two novels. It’s out later this year.

As I say, I’m also halfway through another Warhammer novel (I’m planning to write five this year) and Games Workshop offered me some really enticing projects that should keep me busy up to Christmas. Then, in 2020, alongside lots more Warhammer fiction I’m going to try and find time to write another ‘original’ fantasy novel in the vein of The Ingenious (although possibly not in the same setting).

On top of that, some of my favourite old Warhammer novels have been collected into a beefy omnibus. The Orion books were planned as one big, fantasy epic, so I’m chuffed that they’ll now be sold as a single book. It goes on sale next month.

All my writing this year has been fueled by one of the best albums I have ever heard. Seriously, I have not been this excited about music since I was a teenager. It’s an album called Fugues by Kogumaza. If you buy it you are guaranteed to write gud.

That’s it for now. More news when I have it. Stay safe, squirrels.