Ragnar eBookmane, and 2015’s End

I didn’t think up that unbelievably tragic wordplay, but it was so deliciously bad that I just had to steal it for a blog post title. You guys and girls know me by now. If I’d thought up something that fucking dire, I’d have been legitimately proud of it.

2016 is going to be a hell of a year, work-wise. I’ll keep you posted, natch, because it all pertains to pretty much every question I’ve been asked in 2015 (“Where is The Master of Mankind?” and “Where is The Black Legion?”

But firstly, as 2015 comes to an end, let me just slide in a quick “Thanks, Gang.”

Thanks, as ever, for liking my work enough to want to read it – and doubly so for every review you leave online, and the feedback you wing my way via forums or social media. Thanks for helping us raise over £1,000 for Ellie’s charity last month. Thanks for being patient with how slow I’ve written of late, too. If it’s any consolation to those of you eager for The Master of Mankind and The Black Legion, I’m powering through at something like my old speed again. (Which, admittedly, was still always pretty slow. But it’s still progress.)

For those of you asking when they could get hold of a non-limited-edition version of Ragnar Blackmane, the answer is… Right now, apparently. I know, right? That took me by surprise, too. It’s good to see it getting out there – I tried a lot of new stuff with that accursed novel and it ended up taking me almost all of 2014 to write.

I managed to squeeze in a vignette story for the Black Library Advent Calendar called ‘Without Fear’, which got a short but lovely review from Track of Words:

“…to illustrate Dembski-Bowden’s personal take on the Ultramarines, their character and idiosyncrasies. He goes far beyond their usual portrayal as being rigid and precise, the ‘perfect Marines’, delving into their linguistics, their pre-battle rituals, and the devastating power that they (and all Marines) possess, and his Ultramarines are at once powerfully human and terrifyingly alien. It’s characteristic of his writing, full of careful little touches that build up a beautifully detailed picture for the reader, and a far more thoughtful and considered tale than most Black Library stories.”

Given the subject matter and how much ground has been trodden with the Ultramarines before, that was a helluva nice review.

But enough of all that.

I owe all you wonderful bastards a Christmas present, don’t I? An extract from The Master of Mankind, right?

I’m sending some stuff in to my editor this week, to help choose which section to post. Maybe some insight into the Emperor’s dealings with Angron. Maybe a little about the Emperor’s supposed childhood on Ancient Terra.