Friday, February 29, 2008

I don't get hand dryers...

...or hamadryads, but they’re another thing entirely. It seems that an awful lot of you experience the same kinds of problems with automatic doors, automatic taps, automatic blowy devices and automatic automatics. We’d all be pretty crap on the Starship Enterprise, wouldn’t we? yes, wait... that was meant to be rhetorical. Why am I expressing my ignoramity out loud. What a loser.

Soapy- I too have stopped peeing in public loos. I now pee in public. It’s just part of my thing. Performance art.

Cor - yes, I have sold my soul to the devil.
Too bad - the sequel to Double Eagle is called Interceptor City and will be with you in a year or so. What books of mine should you definitely read? Eisenhorn, Riders of the Dead , and Fell Cargo.

Xhalax - Do it! Thank YOU for coming along to the signing, it was lovely to see you.

Big - Dancing? In Cambridge? Next weekend? We are so going to capture that!

Toymachine - Yes I am a psyker.

Rory - Seems I might be coming to Edinburgh soon, and Games Day Germany, which might please several of my regular posters.

Jack - I’m the whole silver-skinned, purple afro Magus. I didn’t grow up on Starlin comics without bonding them into my DnA. Trolls? I don’t know anything about trolls.

Dom - Welcome Dom, to this blog. Rooney too.

Big - Thanks for the listing.

Ross - Oskar Viltry is a truly lost hero. Thanks for remembering him.

Kelticemt - Thanks for reading. Beltayn is a wonderful person to be.

One day gingers will rule the earth - Yes, your wife is having an affair. With an insurance salesman.

Xhalax - Do it! is the overall command of the Alpha Legion. You’ll find it in several places.

My local, independent art shop is closing down. I have been frequenting the shop for its entire 19 year tenure, first buying supplies for my mother, the artist, Emma Abnett, and latterly for my wife, Nik, whom you all know.

Lots of stuff in the shop is on sale, and I had my eye on a skeletal wooden hand that I had been admiring for nigh on ten years. Picture the following scenario, bearing in mind that the proprietor’s name is David.

Nik - It’s the fist of Horus.

David - Horus... as in Warhammer?

Dan - Yes.

David - I’m not into the game, but I read a lot of sci-fi and I’ve just been reading a big volume of some of the collected novels.

Dan - That’s my job.

David - ...What’s you’re name.

Dan - Dan Abnett.

David - You’re kidding me!

The rest of the conversation went pretty much as you’d expect. Anyhow, the following day, I popped into the shop with a copy of Legion and duly signed it for him. I still can’t believe, after all these years, that we didn’t know each others’ names.

If you’re there David, say Hi to everyone.

Typed, but not dictated by young Lily. Whoopdy frikkin do!

98 comments:

Anonymous said...

*steals first post, and runs away to...China*

Incidently, have you got any signings planned either in Kent, or north London anytime soon?

Allandaros said...

That is an awesome story.

Also, of course we'd be pretty crap on the Starship Enterprise. That's why everyone should switch over to Firefly or Babylon 5 over Trek. (Or 40K, but that's much less hopeful and much more GRIM DARKNESS FAR FUTURE WAAAAAR, and so less conducive to a happy life)

Anonymous said...

I'd rather not be forced into one of those color coded suits. Give me a lasrifle and a commissar with a gun to the back of my head any day. Or just the lasrifle, impending death seems to kind of put off my game a bit.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dan; went into my local bookstore today and picked up the new Solaris anthology...yes, mainly, I must admit, because I was interested in reading your story "Point of Contact." In fact, I had focused so much on that aspect of the book that I had somehow managed to miss that it had a Jerry Cornelius story in it by Michael Moorcock, which is no mean feat given how much I love the Cornelius books.

As to "Contact" itself, I liked it a lot. I'm trying to put my finger on what it reminded me of as a story; it just seemed like it would've fit in somewhere around the middle of one of the old Dangerous Visions books in terms of tone, but if you asked me to explain that feeling, I couldn't do it. A feeling, I guess. Flat out hilarious commentary on the whole cliche of First Contact, nicely done.

And having Starlin stories wired into your genetic code sums me up pretty well, though in my case there's as much Dreadstar there as there is Warlock and Captain Marvel.

Xhalax said...

I gathered that much Mr. Abnett. And it still makes me a minion.

*pouts*

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOD!

Ooooohhh mmyyy GOD!

Bloody Hell !

Really !?!

Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee!

No .....Yeh!

Ur shitin me ......Yeh

Have trust in Dan!

No i'm Alpharius:)

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOD!

Ooooohhh mmyyy GOD!

Bloody Hell !

Really !?!

Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee!

No .....Yeh!

Ur shitin me ......Yeh

Have trust in Dan!

No i'm Alpharius:)

Anonymous said...

Well i've just finished the book
Wow !

Anyone that has not got it drop what ur doing and go get it ..

NOW PEOPLE !

Yes that means u .Dan is gonna warp ur fragile little minds.

Johan said...

Humm, I do not have any problems with electrical equipment, they all seem to like me, why? I do not know.

allright, Interceptor City, *mental note: remember damn you!*
Allready read Eisenhorn, got the omnibus, truly books of wonder and greatness.
But are not "Riders Of The Dead" and "Fell Cargo" warhammer fantasy novels? never quite liked the fantasy part allthough I love the 40k universe I can not find myself liking the fantasy part, but I will give them a try, promise.

and I'm still wating on the books I orderd, i desperatly want to read Ravenor Rouge, help, my mind is imploding here!

Anonymous said...

Ravenor Rouge??

now THERE'S a nasty mental image ...

Johan said...

aww, crap, spelled it wrong:( darn

Johan said...

ahahaha, just checked the word, rouge... man I messed up good^^
and yes, it would look compleatly wack:)

nemesis749 said...

Yeah well we all know that the unlucky extra fracker in star trek is the sacrifical lamb just waiting to die anyway so im sure that would be me. or cut in half by a malfunction in the transporter...
So did anyone else have a foofrigger of a time beating Credo?.....
-josh

Rory said...

Edinburgh?! Really?1 WHEN? WHEN!?

I hope its a weekend. id happily miss school, but i doubt that my parents would like it.

*Rory is excited and Bounces up and down* Yey! Yey!

Pack_master said...

Yeah... unknown charakters in Star Trek that can talk... you can bet, the odds he survives the episode are... slim...

Toymachine said...

Dan.... please stay away from black ships, ok??

Rob Rath said...

Well, at least none of us have the electrical problems this woman does.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=517487&in_page_id=1770

Not sure I totally believe this one, but it's fun nonetheless.

Xhalax said...

Big - Calm down. Breathe!

But yes, the ramifications over Legion are pretty high in their WHOAness. And I find Legion will be a book that will have me pondering over for about the next three months before I finally manage to form an actual opinion on whether or not I actually liked the book itself.

I read it with all haste, yes and it had be hooked, but due to it's very nature I still find myself completely unsure. Same with at least some of the characters, although by the end, I had a certain disliking for some (namely Peto, Bronzi and Rukhsana.....really really hated them).

*sighs*

Favourite character?

Xhalax said...

Mr. Abnett - Blood and Thunder? Any hints? The people of the Black Library forum are somewhat perplexed, and so am I.

Especially since I've just started reading Wolf's Honour and that's pretty much Berek Thunderfist's current (well then current since he's dead in current fluff) warcry.

Allandaros said...

@Another Dan: That's why I suggested Firefly or Babylon 5. No color-coded jumpsuits there!

@Jack: Hmm. Can you explain to me the point of the Cornelius stories? I've read through the first three, and totally missed the point (if ever there was one). I'm a fan of Moorcock's other work, though, so I'm assuming that they've got some point there which I'm just missing.

I can see Ravenor Rouge happening. Just a little dab of color on that ominous black egg-chair-thing, eh?

Uncle Truth said...

Hey Dan,

I've decided that the fictional character that I was using to leave posts on this blog has divorced his fictional wife after discovering that HE HIMSELF was actually secretly having an affair with his OWN WIFE!

So surreptitious and Machiavellian were their stealthy transgressions that Sleepless in Strathclyde himself was unaware of the betrayal, etc, etc... yeah, yeah, descends into the meaningless 'Letterbocks' grade tripe of my last two posts.

Have you thought about using paper towels instead?

Anonymous said...

James Ferguson - I haven't forgotten. If I can sort something out, I'll let you know, here.

Unknown said...

Dan, question:

For the Malus Darkblade series, you worked with Mike Lee.

How does that work?

How do two people write a story?

Does you just share story progression ideas. Followed by one guy doing the writing?

I am liking the series so far. (on book 4: Warpsword) Which is weird, considering that there isn't a single character that is morally reprehensible.

Still, I keep turning the pages to see what kind of mess Malus gets himself into next...

Unknown said...

(I think I used the word "reprehensible" incorrectly there)

Unknown said...

(I also used the word "Does"... Damn. I am not off to a good start here...)

Jimmi Magnus said...

Finished Legion a couple of days ago. No need to waste people's time by writing loads of praise, so I think I'll just stick to the biggest point:
-I allways enjoy reading a good story I don't know how will be told. The HH series kick arse in this regard.

But Dan I have to ask you: Didn't you make a few mistakes in Legion? I distinctly recall several incidents of Emperor Worship among common troopers. I'm thinking stuff like 'The emperor be with you', 'Emperor watch over you' and so on? These are commonplace 'setting phrases' when you guys write 40k, but here?

Best regards

Anonymous said...

allandaros: thanks. now I have this mental image of Ravenor making some retirement money by endorsing cosmetics.

principally, a sinister armoured life-support chair with big fake eyelashes stuck on its sensor lenses, spinning around and proclaiming "You're Worth It!" in that Stephen Hawking voice ...

Rory said...

Awh! Stop! next the chair will have a Dress on it! :O


And im only on False Gods. :(

I really need to catch up.

Anonymous said...

Xhalax- I'm calm and breathing now!
It took a while to gather my sense's though,What a revalation!
And that was all before i finished the book ,u know what part i mean (A.O.).Also tough choices i know but the future is like a web with many different endings.

Fav chracters-Chayne of the Lucifer Blacks,i'm also gonna ask Dan about the companions background because i thought they were great,hopefully their not just a companion guard but a regiment that can supply commanders with "companions".
Obviously Alpharius...
Hopefully this a new arc for HH. a i am definately doing making a Alpha Legion army,or even the Lucifer blacks.
i also liked the John G. character there is siome real scope an story with that guy.
i hope he will pop up in future books ,including the 40k ones!

Nik Dan -Bought a copy of Ravenor the other day i will be starting it soon.i have read the first part of it already but in the words of Darth Vader
"there will be no one to stop us this time"

Rory said...

Wow, i dont know how many of you are gamers. but ive Just started Playing Mass Effect. its almost like being an inquistor. Hunting down a bad guy, investigating.

You play a spectre. who only has to listen to the council and is about all other ranks. which is also like an Inquistor. Its awsome.

Anonymous said...

rory - i had the exact same feeling when playing Mass Effect 'this is exactly what a inquisitor game would be like' especially as the biotics were very like psychic powers.

All this talk of Legion is very exciing i need to get a copy of that book

Gospog said...

I never got hair dryers, either. Something about the fifth line of the Catechism of Air Expulsion always tripped me up.

I rarely have time to post here so I'm not sure I've mentioned before, but if your tours take you to the Northeast region of the US, you have a standing invitation at my house for a game of 40K RPG.

It's the least I can do for ripping off all of your ideas for my RPG campaign.

But I don't mean to distract you from the topic of hair dryers. It's just that I shave my head and have had to resort to using one but rarely.

Anonymous said...

I've never been given a hair dryer either.

...wait - is that not what this was about?

@Tom - not planning on visiting, but which state? I used to live in Connecticut.

Anonymous said...

Tom - that would be HAND dryers, Dan is also changed in the hair department and shaves rather than do the 'old man fringe' thing.

Rory said...

Yea Cor, its amazing.


Nik,or dan! When you coming to scotland?!

Rory said...

Yea Cor, its amazing.


Nik,or dan! When you coming to scotland?!

Anonymous said...

@Allandaros: The Cornelius books are a bit hard to get into for a few reasons. One, most of them are written as commentary on the state of the world at the time they're being written, so many of the references make little sense unless you're up on the politics of the time. Secondly, the books are set within Moorcock's Multiverse, of course, but the characters travel willy-nilly from one dimension to another, one time to another, and Moorcock doesn't really sign post when this happens. Third; Moorcock deliberately writes the Cornelius books in a fashion where the reader is compelled to connect the dots and figure out what's going on. (The exception to all of the above is the first Cornelius novel, The Final Programme, which is Moorcock doing a sci-fi riff on his Elric stories, re-writing two of them to make up the first two-thirds of the novel.)

Interestingly-had you continued to the fourth novel, The Condition of Muzak, some things would have become clearer, as that book is wrapped around the other three and makes it a bit more obvious that there isn't a storyline throughout the books, merely the same characters in different worlds. I've been reading them for ages and I'm still unsure about a lot of things myself, but that's what I think about them.

Xhalax said...

Big - I liked Chayne a lot too. And I saw him as something of a psuedo-Kasrkin/Stormtrooper. But I wouldn't sniff at more background on the Lucifer Blacks either.

Anonymous said...

There is some background in the book which ,after the amazin revalations i had completly forgot(i'm sure i can be forgivin).But yeh i could stand to read some more of that for sure!
I never nit pick at details but im gona!
A marine that ways about two twenty'two twenty five .Hopefully thats in the imperial equivolent of K.G.s or he might get robbed by the locals on the way home!?!

(Warning for Xhalax random blogg)
do any of u guys just ever hear a tune thats takes u back in time to somewhere else when u were some one else...just been chillin listening to some 80s music, man it took me back .Got me feeling all nostalgic.

Xhalax said...

Big - Yup, there is...same with the Chiliad, but as you pointed out there are other things that seem to sweep all of that stuff out of my head.

Warning for Xhalax random blog?

Huh? What? Huh?

And yes, sometimes I hear the odd song that takes me back, usually to middle school for some reason. But since I was a bit of a musical philestine (and depending on your view, still am)...I can't say that it happens very often.

Anonymous said...

why? what were u into.
The Chiliad are a minor revalation themselves really.They certainly Caught the Emperors eye did'nt they!
I wonder if they will ever do a bunch of books based on the great crusades more importantly the rise of the Emperor and the Earth wars !
Like a "Tales of the Crusade "type book.
Berek Thunderfist ..name i have'nt heard in a while.Dan shouldve done the other Wolf books after Bill king....Lee.Lightner? W.T.F.!
Dan doin a wolf book, Now that would really be something would'nt it .

Xhalax said...

Big - More Lone Wolves to come....hopefully.

And since I love the Wolves of Fenris, Berek Thndefist is a name I know quite well.

Xhalax said...

Also big....the Wolves were offered to Steven Saville....but he turned them down for something new rather than picking up old threads.

Rory said...

when is says typed not dictated by lilly, does that mean you paced up and down the room while she franticly tryed to type what you said as if she was a scribe? or were you lying on a bench while servitors Fed you grapes.... ;D


When you coming Dan? Im all excited and that!

Anonymous said...

Hey Dan, Lightbringer again, the one who occasionally provides unsolicited Corpse Starch ration recipes...

I was wondering - have you ever read the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/ Maturin saga? I know with the Gaunt's Ghosts novels you set out to do a "Sharpe in Space..." Well in my (very) humble opinion, the Aubrey books are far far superior to the Sharpe books.

Don't just take my word for it, the Times called them "The finest Historical Novels ever Written" (although I don't think they used as many capital letters as I just did.) They start off as a tough read but gradually become more fun than anything except eating and reproducing.

I'd love to see your take on the Imperial Navy in WH40K in the same vein as Patrick O'Brian!

(Oh and my secretary has to come and get me to stand in front of the automatic doors to let her into the office because they won't open for her - you are not alone!)

Rob Rath said...

Lightbringer–

From what I understand (never read them myself) the Battlefleet Gothic novels by Gordon Rennie are very fine, and pretty much what you're looking for in an "Aubrey in space." They're titled Execution Hour and Shadow Point.

Like I said, I've never read them, but a friend of mine who's a fan of nautical fiction is nuts about them. I'm a great lover of Aubrey/Maturin as well, but I have to say that I think Flashman takes my prize for the best historical series ever written.

I was devastated when George MacDonald Fraser died in December. And they didn't even feature him in the Oscars "Remembrance" segment.

Bah, Hollywood!

James said...

I got my signed copy of Legion in Waterstones, York on March 1st, but I'm being very disciplined about it and re-reading the other books in the series first. I said it at that signing in York and I shall say again, Riders of the Dead should be reprinted. I have tried and failed to track a copy down.

PS referring to the original post: gingers will one day rule the world.

Anonymous said...

Execution hour was a good book,i would like to see Dan do a big "fleet action" style book.At the end of Legion u get a glympse of how cool that would be!

Also O.D.G.W.R.T.E. Riders Of The Dead is really a cool book and so is Fell Cargo.Dan does for those what he does for 40k books ,he makes them more belivable, an tones them down.Which in the case of Fell Cargo seemed a hard thing to do considering the content.
Saying that the Hammers of Ulric was also a great book writen by Dan and Nik ,from 3 differrent perspectives(its been a long time since i read it mind)
Also Ambassador by Graham McNeil is a good bookbut some of the content matter (in the form of a kiddy fiddleling nonse )offended me slightly...just a warning.
BTW. these are all warhammer Fantasy books.

Xhalax - Steven Savile of the Von Carstein series?
I found them a bit jumpy,but saying that Vamps are imortal so going from period to another must've been a hard thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Legion is on another level, You Sir put the E in Epic.

Too bad, I have only 200, or so, pages left to read.

Xhalax said...

big - Yup...the same. He told me that he was offered the Wolves first but he turned them down because he didn't really want to step into anyone's boots.

And I enjoyed the Von Carstein novels....I'm not all that fond of the Warhammer universe, for some reason it doesn't sit right with me and everyone ends up toting lasguns. But Steven made a really good pitch for his books which is why I picked them up to read (same with my friend).

nemesis749 said...

Maybe im just dense but can anyone explain the color code at the top of the HH novels?

Gospog said...

Hey Lordy,

I'm in Massachusetts.

(sometimes I wonder why) ;)

-T

Anonymous said...

Ah, Massachusetts. Been there at least once, at Martha's Vineyard. Possibly other times as well, though I can't remember.

@Big/Xhalaw - I thought the first two Von Carstein books were great, but the third was pretty disappointing. Too many humans in it. Plus, I know it had to happen, but I still think Mannfred should have won.

I liked the fact it included Aldolphus Krieger though (from the Slayer books).

Anonymous said...

well..unfortunetly Nurgle stoped by my dorm room today and decided to cook rotten fish, and left the smell lingering. i've tried combating it with loads of febreze but it only masks the smell...any advice on how to remove a nurgle fish smell?

I do have a couple of questions for you Dan, The first is what inspired the Blood Pact? i love the Tanith First and only to death (even got many of the tanith models to form a squad + Gaunt and his retune) but i also have a interest in the Blood pact aswell. The second question is will the Dragoons (couldnt spell the first part of there name for the life of me...) ever return to help the Ghosts once again??

Xhalax said...

Lordy - Yeah...Retribution was a bit pants in terms of let down, there could have been so much more in the book itself, but there was too much to cram in.

My favourite was Dominion.

Also, depending on what you read...there's always a chance he might still be undead.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Rob,

re the Execution hour novels, I did have a skim through them... I have to admit I prefer Dan's style, so I'd love to see him have a crack at the Imperial Navy. May be a pipe dream, though! :-(

By the way, Dan, now devouring Legion. Top stuff, some nice pure sci-fi touches there! Clearly the flexibility 30K gives (as opposed to the more restrictive 40K "canon") has got the creative juices flowing! Reading it remains more fun than most human activities.
-Lightbringer

Anonymous said...

Hopefully ill have a copy of Legion today going to try a few bookshops and see if they have it in.

Im thinking of trying the the Von Carstein novels when the omnibus comes out like xhalax the warhmmer fntasy novels never appea;ed to me though i did like Defenders of Ulhan and the slayer series.

Anonymous said...

Yes! I got mentioned in a Dan Abnett blog post!



Well, Legion... What can you say but wow? Just wow, nothing else. I was so gripped I read it in under three hours.
As for the mega-revelations, they were pretty bloody mega (no spoilers here, read it for yourself). Now we have to wait til August for our next outlet of Heresy goodness, bugger.

Anonymous said...

Picked up both a copy of legion and Brothers of the Snake ive been tempted to get it before and couldnt resist buying it, going to plow through Fulgrim and Decent of Angels

Bodjo said...

Wait, Dan wrote Legion? I suppose I'll have to catch up on the Horus Heresy books now.

Oh, and by the way, if I'm like any character in the Ghosts...I hope I'd be Gaunt. Thing is, I'm not blonde, so I must be one of the Tanith. I'm not quite awesome enough to aspire to be Mkoll, but I'm quite scout-ish...can I be Caober? I've always liked him.

the-seventh-son said...

hey there Dan

i have to say i'm a massive fan. have been for a long, long time read First and Only when i was eight and never looked back

love your work, especially Eisenhorn, and i've i get to be a character dibs on Brostin, gotta love his pyromania

the-seventh-son said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brandon Black said...

Hate to interrupt everyone's fun and all, but it's a sad day. Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons died today. Without dnd there probably wouldn't have been a 40K, and i certainly would have never discovered the not-so-wonderful universe of the 41st millennium. He will be missed!

Anonymous said...

@Xhalax "Also, depending on what you read...there's always a chance he might still be undead."

Who - Mannfred? He's definately still undead. It's well known he survived/came back.

Xhalax said...

Lordy - exactly, I just wasn't sure if you were aware of it or not so I erred on the side of caution....just in case.

Anonymous said...

I too am saddened to hear of Gary Gygax's death, his creations have brought me hours (days even) of pleasure, though most people won't realise it, the world has lost a superlative talent.

Deserter said...

I've just ordered Legion for the third time through Waterstones.com :) Stuff went wrong with the first two orders. Bleh. The other-half's parents got me a giftcard and its the only source of book-funding I have at the moment... I'm also stuck in the house courtesy of an operation. So I'm rather excited to receive it!

Just wanted to say that I've been a fan for years, recently read Only in Death and Brothers of the Snake and thought they were fantastic! I also re-read the Inquisitor Gravier stuff, was there ever any details on the storyline that was hinted at in one of the last issues of Warhammer Monthly before it ended(Assassin cuts a wire on servitor that turns out to be Gravier...)?

Cheers, and thanks for many years of thrills with Gaunt, Eisenhorn and Ravenor,
Chris

Johan said...

@kromvolt: aha, well I'm going to be slow about it, I got it yesterday, but im reading ravenor and returned befor I go into rogue, need ti get the stiry back in line.

@dom: a rebreather might do the trick, or an awesome fire, nuke or something else of sufficient destructive force, because the smell of fish is incredebly hard to get rid of.

Johan said...

I spell like crap...:(

Anonymous said...

Xhalax Lordy -who was the White Wolf Grandmaster that got turned,and did his character continue?

Xhalax said...

Big - His name is Jerek and his fate is not a happy one.

Don't want to say too much due to spoilers....but I can ruin it for you if you want.

Bodjo said...

Hey, does anyone have the list of Gaunt's billions of wounds that he's survived? I can't find the post in the hive-sized archives of this blog.

Anonymous said...

Xhalax- yeh go on, tell me.

Whos coming to Cambridge on saturday to see Dan and watch me shake that Ass.

Anonymous said...

Do you have other way we could contact you Big? While you may not mind the spoilers, others on here might, and they're fairly big ones.

Rory said...

its Friday! Does that mean a new Blog? Yey!!! =D


*cough* COME TO SCOTLAND! *cough*

Anonymous said...

Lordy- i hate spoilers to mate ,i just thought the books are so bloody old no one would care...but i hear what your saying mate.

Rob Rath said...

Big–

Legion doesn't release in the US until April, so while it may be old for you, it's an "upcoming release" for us.

Anonymous said...

Rob - were not talking about Legion mate,were talking about a character from a book thats years old.Its about the Von Carsteins....
The other major difference is its
Warhammer fantasy not 40k.
If u look back over my bloggs i never do spoilers.
Any way it would be nice to find out more about him?

Xhalax said...

Big - I believe they're releasing the Von Carstien trilogy in omnibus form next month, so that might rekindle some interest in it.

But to find out what happens to Jerek, you only have to read the last two pages of Dominion....and the last page isn't a full one either.

Anonymous said...

Cheers mate

Xhalax said...

Big - No probs.

And it's taken less time than I thought it would (though technically it may not have if I hadn't have bought my friend a copy) but I find myself in an argument about Legion.

Mob said...

Hey Dan,
Just read the Newsarama interview about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy comic, and it sounds awesome, with a sweet line-up of characters. I'm absurdly pleased that Rocket Raccoon is back and is being written by yourself, although I'm looking forward to reading about them all.

Nova, Annihilation, Legion...cheers for all the great reads recently!

Anonymous said...

Rory - Yes, it's Friday. Unfortunately (or otherwise, if you happen to be in Cambridge) Dan has got a signing tomorrow, and so will not blog tonight.

All things being equal, he will, no doubt, have something to say tomorrow, not to mention shots of Big dancing to post.

Watch this space.

Xhalax said...

So not fair.....all I have is work tomorrow. Dull, boring work where I have to smile and be nice despite the fact I don't want to be.

I'm so so SO not cut out to work in the public sector!

Much rather be seeing Big dance.

Anonymous said...

An overdue request, aka an attempt to justify plagiarism and highway robbery: I have named my new pet cat Mkendrick. I hope this isn't offensive; I just like the sound of the name. That and the Tanith are kinda like cats -- quiet, sneaky, and dangerous when provoked.

There is the problem that none of my friends and family can spell it. My aunt calls him Mac, which seems wrong somehow... and explaining that he's a very minor character who dies messily in the seventh book never goes over well.

Pack_master said...

Well, "Mac" doesn't seem right. As I think, in "Mkendrick" you might say the first part "Mac", but not laying the poweri n the "a". It's a mute letter, if I may call it that...

Gosh, that sounds weird when re-reading that...

Will Wright said...

Wow,
That's all I can say Wow.
Just burned through Legion in a day,You can tell you relly enjoyed writing it.
I sure could not bring myself to put it down.
I've been purposely staying away from the blog so I would'nt catch a hint of a spoiler.
I don't know which is my favorite book now Eisenhorn or Legion.

Xhalax said...

Billwill - Since Legion hasn't been out very long, actual mention of it has been a bit sparse....and all that has been mentioned specifically are names of characters and whether or not we liked the book.

So you would have been safe and would have join in with all the fun fun fun here.

We had pie!

Anonymous said...

Dan,

In Legion Alpharius kneels before Lord Commander Namatjira. As if this wasn't enough of a liberty to take with the background, you proceed to treat Namatjira as the primarch's equal in official rank.

What are you playing at?

Xhalax said...

Well my older sibling surprised me this morning with a grand total of 10 text messages. Each one containing a Gaunt's Ghost question (he replaced his lost copy of Necropolis on the 23rd Feb and got Only in Death the other day so he's riding the Tanith train). And I didn't do too badly on his questions either.

I had trouble remembering which planet His Last Command was set on, I thought a character died elsewhere in the book rather than at the end....and I plucked Sgt. Adare and Retraining, Indoctrination and Punishment (that one I got while indesposed) right out of the ether too.

The Nine got me though....I could technically only remember 2 (though in truth it's six) as did The Etogaur's name in Traitor General.

May have to repay him back with a fiendish quiz of my own.

Any ideas?

Dukeleto said...

I think these devices just don't recognise my existence!

Was great to meet you and Nik at the Cambridge signing today, Dan. If you're curious to see any of the artwork coloured and finished

http://dukeleto.deviantart.com/

ta,
Paul

Rob Rath said...

Sorry Big, got confused about who was talking about what book!

Probably didn't help that I made that particular comment between getting ready and leaving for work.

(Imagine me typing with one hand and threading a tie with the other and you pretty much get the idea.)

Xhalax said...

As anyone ever been so tired it feels like their brains are going to fall out of their nose if they lean forward?

Or is fatigue just making her crazier than I already am?

And I want my copy of Legion back so I can finally have all of my books back in my possession....it's been a long time since that happened.

*pouts*

Rob Rath said...

Dammit...

I got confused about who was talking about which book.

Writing on an author's blog makes me uncomfortably aware of my grammar. Either that, or all the proofreading at work is actually making me more conscientious.

I don't have to listen to Strunk and White if I don't want to. I'm a rebel.

Anonymous said...

@Sorl Kennedy

Not being Dan my opinion isn't worth much here, but I suspect that was more to do with how Alpharius seems to act. Certainly Horus or Fulgrim wouldn't do it, but Alpharius seems much more down to earth - actually talking to regular humans in an almost 'chatty' way.

Don't forget, he was the last to be found - would have spent much longer among normals humans than the other primarchs, and would have had more interaction with them. Plus, due to how he naturally is (vague wording to avoid spoilers) he'd never have grown up with the same superiority complex all the others had.

Xhalax said...

Lordy - Awwwww! Don't say that. You're opinion is as valid as the next persons.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I know that Xhalax - in fact, I think my opinion is worth more than most posters, because I'm a self centered b*st*rd ;).

I just meant for that question, only Dan can really answer it.

Anonymous said...

Art shop incident: I seem to recall a very similar thing happening to your dad in a guitar shop some time in the previous century. Zootlewurdle....