Sunday, May 25, 2008

Well good God damn...

... and other such phrases,
I haven’t heard a beat as good as this in ages!

The immortal words of Scroobius Pip, which brings me neatly to my topic of the day: Things That Will Improve Your Life.

Several things have improved my life significantly in the last week or so, and it would be churlish of me not to share them with you. The first would be the aforementioned Scroobius Pip. I urge you to seek out and buy the album ‘Angles’ by Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. Now, this isn’t my kind of music at all. I believe, he said in a crusty old man voice, that it might possibly be ‘rap’ or ‘hip hop’. It’s certainly one of those new-fangled youth sounds that a man like me is far too old to ‘be down with’. However, it’s f**king brilliant (sorry Xhalax). Quite apart from the fact that it’s exciting and exhilarating and sounds really good played loud, it’s packed full of the cleverest and funniest lyrics since Tom Lehrer was writing songs. Buy it, simply for the outstanding track ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’, which is a small masterpiece. If you can’t be arsed to buy the album, at least look the video up on Youtube. By ‘kill’, Scroobius is referring to the intended aim of all open-mic rappers... to ‘kill’ with his lyrics. Anyway, it’s what Big would call ‘the tits’ and I defy any of you not to be both profoundly stirred and amused by it.

In terms of music more suited to my age and demographic, may I recommend the debut album of the London Bulgarian Choir. It’s called ‘Alyana Galyana’ and you can only buy it on their website. I’ve been aware of Bulgarian choral music for a while, but when I heard this on Radio 4 earlier in the week, I was blown away. It’s quite astonishing and really rather 40K. The sound the choir produces is the sort of thing you might hear on the ‘Gladiator’ soundtrack. Go and get one for yourself: you will be pleased you did.

It’s no secret that H P Lovecraft is one of my favourite authors. I can’t help myself. I own several different editions of his works: the old and dog-eared Panther paperbacks from the 70s, which first introduced him to me, and several hardback Arkham editions. For reading pleasure, I tend to use the satisfyingly fat Penguin classics (there are three volumes, buy them all! You’re doing yourself a favour!) but thanks to a review in the ‘Fortean Times’ (which is a publication you should all subscribe to, because it is simply wonderful) I was made aware of a hard cover commemorative edition of Lovecraft’s works published by Golancz. It’s only £20 and it’s gorgeous, packed full of illustrations. I already own several versions of all the stories, but this was a must-have. It’s called, no surprises here, ‘Necronomicon’. If you own any H P Lovecraft, then this is the deluxe version that you must own. If you don’t own any H P Lovecraft, what the feth’s the matter with you? Any book that contains ‘The Call of Cthulhu’, ‘The Colour Out of Space’, ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ and ‘The Dunwich Horror’ has got to be a keeper.

Also, says Nik, buy cardamom flavoured chocolate made by Rococo. It is also ‘the tits’.

If you seek out the above things, your life will be commensurately better. See what I do? I try to bring a little gleam of betterness into your existences.

And so on to any other business:

Hello Jack.

Rory - Yes we have found a new room. It turned up at the back of our house. Sadly, it had nothing to do with the odd keys and rather more to do with the nice builder we got in to erect a conservatory. Having said that, I walked out into it the other night and heard what I presume was cats fighting in the garden. They made the most alarming, human sounds. For a moment, I thought of opening the back door and looking out, expecting to find my youngest daughter crouched outside, making silly noises. But she was upstairs and the curious verbalisations were coming from cats. Or foxes. Or both. Or the hussar, you never can tell. Will try the keys soon. Am expecting to find access to Narnia, Middle Earth, Hogwarts and Erehwon any day now.

Boom - Will the world that the Ghosts finally win be a Death World? Interesting and slightly cruel suggestion. I think the next Ghost book, ‘Blood Pact’, will answer all sorts of questions like that, in surprising ways.

Xhalax - Eurovision. Song. Contest. Three of the most leaden words in the English language.

Leemxt - You asked if any of us find any pieces of my books emotionally moving. I’m interested in all of the responses you post, but I feel I ought to tell you about ‘Riders of the Dead’. The scene where the rocks and stones in the desert start whistling and speaking to our hero is the only time I’ve written something that has seriously spooked me out. And the ending of the same novel, probably because I knew what the last few words would be, weeks in advance, reduced me to spontaneous tears when I finally wrote them. Nik has just reminded me of the scene in ‘Ravenor’ where Frauka is guarding Zael. That’s got to be up there too, along with Varl’s report of the death of Gaunt in ‘Only in Death’, and the final act of ‘Double Eagle’. I won’t even begin to tempt you with the emotional heart tugging that occurs in the final moments of ‘Titanicus’.

Leemxt (2) - Sithee. Ezrah’s speech pattern is undoubtedly buried in British vernacular. I make no apologies for the fact that he speaks the way he does, because I studied Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. It’s pretty bastardised, but the essence is there.

Courtney - Please e-mail your address to my website and I will be happy to send you a signed copy for your boyfriend. You might also tell me your boyfriend’s name, so that I can dedicate it appropriately.

Sredni - Clone 43 counts my words. He took over from Clone 27, when Clone 27 killed itself out of boredom.


Jeff - I’m Alpharius. I’m delighted your wife likes my books. I wish I was coming to Chicago too, but I will be in Baltimore.

Hiwayrobry - Having done a number of readings to captive audiences, I have been told that I don’t do a bad job of it. I may mention this to the Black Library. I’d love to read some of my stories for audio.

Dukeleto - Moffat rules. We’re in safe hands with him.

Hurrah for the Hussar - ‘Titanicus’ is a great big sprawling epic that has many protagonists. I feel sure, however, that you will warm to Cally Samstag, Erik Varco, Major Gotch, Executor Crusius and Adept Feist.

Hiwayrobry (2) - ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is an ongoing series.

Al and Xhalax - I have it on good authority from someone who knows Rory Bremner that accents are easy to cue-in if you can remember certain key words. As I understand it, Geordie is easy to do if you can say ‘Kawasaki’ and ‘conjunctivitis’. I stand to be corrected.

Veyron, schmeyron... Jaguar, schmaguar... I drive a 300C (f**k it, I’ve earned it). It’s lovely, and a real beast. My daughter’s friend, Sarna, was being driven to school by her dad when I drove past them. “That’s Lily’s dad’s car!” Sarna exclaimed. After a short pause, her dad replied, “What is he, a gangster?”

And yes, I probably am. Or a gunshark, at least. My 300C, black as the ace of spades, is called ‘Ramona’. Is it so odd to name your cars? My last car was called ‘Grace’ and the one before that was called ‘Serena’. The one before that was called ‘Kylie’, because she had a nice bottom and also ‘Jacky’ because of her number plate. When I was a kid, I had a bicycle called ‘Hawkeye’. The first car I ever owned had previously belonged to my maternal grandfather. It was a racing green Ford Escort, and it’s registration number began with ‘KLM’ because of which, my grandad had named it ‘the Flying Dutchman’ (KLM being the Royal Dutch Airlines). Go figure.

Big - SinDex returns to 2000AD shortly, and it will delight you, I’m sure.

And finally...

‘Lamentaly’ Xhalax - that’s a great new word, and I intend to use it. A lot.

Now go to bed. Aren’t you all tired?

171 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chaos never sleeps.

Anonymous said...

...well played, Dan.

Ahh, Lovecraft. I had a phase a couple of years ago when I bought everything I could get my hands on by Lovecraft-"At The Mountains of Madness" is one of my favorite stories ever. I actually saw the Necronomicon book today at a bookstore, but I was in a Doctor Who mood and paid it no mind. More fool me, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the head's up on Scroobius.. suhhhweeet!

Anonymous said...

Haa Haa (Big laughs at at the Cat/Fox situation)So those unearthly noises happen to u to!.
I come home after work at night and hear what can only be described as screaming were their fighting in the car park.I have seen cat on cat, fox on fox, cat on fox!
i promise u this is no bullshit theirs a cat around my way thats just massive!hes got one eye and ive seen him take on dogs ,cats foxes,people everthing.
Shit when he crosses the road
even the cars stop!
He is the Godcat,he is the Guv,nor
He doesnt even move when i walk past .We have give each other the stare like(no one backing down)
and we both got all alpha male with one another,i gotta tell ya
i think he came out on top!

Next day i came down to the car ..
two flat tires dudes ...Two!
I knew then this cat was a real street cat.
I think i am gonna have to call on meet and have a "Sit Down" with this cat.Its to much hes scaring the neighbourhood,an more importantly me!

Anyhow Dans car is the nuts.
I want one ,if he didnt work so hard i would be envious,its the right colour and everything.

Dukeleto-good to c u again the other day mate.

Dju said...

"That’s got to be up there too, along with Varl’s report of the death of Gaunt in ‘Only in Death’"

Oh come on Dan, now YOU throw the spoilers in ?
OK, well. Then at the end of "Kill Bill", the Bride she, erh, she kills Bill.
And at the end of "Titanic", the boat sinks.
Serves you right.

the-seventh-son said...

matt - you are very right, i turly believe that all Chaos Warriors are truly insominacs

Dju - i totally agree with you, but you had to ruin the ending of Kill Bill for me

has anyone here seen 30 Days of Night? what do people think, i have to say the more i watch it the more i like it, beware though it is pretty graphic

Al said...

Just finished Traitor General(Goooood), now on to Armour of Contempt! I feel so behind... I gave up waiting for the next omnibus (if there is gonna be one) because I couldn't wait any longer lol

And yes, shame on you Dan, that is a huuuuuge spoiler you just gave away! :D

I don't know if I've ever heard a Geordie say 'Conjunctivitis' not sure if its in their vocabulary...well, maybe elderly Geordies...

Anyway, one question about Titanicus (It's probably already been asked or explained but I'm lazy) When's it set? I understand it's not HH, is it Gaunt's Ghosts era like Double Eagle?

Dju said...

Seventh son - Sorry... :(
Kill Bill is still real good (even more with all these cross references with the oriental movie industry. I used to watch a lot of these martial arts movies some years ago).
Worst I ever got was people telling me the end of The Sixth Sense. So in the end, I never watched it, but admit it, you have to be evil to tell people when there's such an important twist in a movie. I'm thinking Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, or The Usual Suspects (some long time favourites) ; if anyone had spoiled them for me, that would have been a kick-in-the-nuts case. If anyone has never watched these movies, do it.

Al said...

(Before, I meant 'His Last Command' next, not 'Armour of Contempt')

And yeah those films are awesome, some of my personal favourites too.

Anonymous said...

Hmm. When I started reading this post I thought Scroobius Pip was the Latin relative of the Scooby Doo family.

"Angles"... well, I'll look for it on the basis of the Tom Lehrer comment; I tried Lee Child novels out on Nick Kyme's recommendation, and liked them, but then Abnett also recommended the Transformers movie and that didn't work out so well. This may be why he's paid to write novels and not review movies, though.

Why's clone 43 a "he" and clone 27 an "it"?

Toymachine said...

Thanks for putting me on to Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip Dan!! Not my thing either but it was hilariously entertaining :D

Anonymous said...

The seventh son - 30 days of night is an awesome film and brilliantly gory i loved it so much I’ve started reading the graphic novels which are also awesome

On the subject of accents I though I spoke perfect queens English and didn’t realise I had a accent until I started university and people had trouble understanding me was quite a shock :)

Xhalax said...

Kudos on the 300C Mr. Abnett....but I wouldn't have one if I had the capacity to drive and an untold amount of cash to spend on a car.

It looks a little too lumpen for my tastes.

Give me sleek and utterly smexy every time....and nothing can yet top the DB9.

DBS came close, but I don't like the 'creases' in the bonnet.

Vanquish came close, but I don't like rather more prononunce 'bug-eye' lights (the DB9s are much more subdued).

DB7 has a bit of a cheesy grin.

The Veyron looks too squat...it looks like it was designed to be longer, but they decided to crunch it up a bit. Plus I don't like the two tone paint job.

Porches all look ugly with their humpty backs (same with Audi)

Never liked Ferraris....don't know why, I just don't.

Lamborghinis look like perfectly fine supercars that the makers decided to run over with a tank in a miss guided view to making them better.

The SLR mob.....yuck! Not pretty at all!

But enough about cars.

Funny that you should have used words like 'Lamentably' and 'Conjunctivitis' in relation to replies to my comments Mr. Abnett for two reasons.

One: I use lamentably a awful lot in both the written (online) and spoken media.

Two: I actually have conjunctivitis.
Started on Saturday morning and has completely ruined my weekend. So much gunge......nasty nasty nasty!

Other than that...I really really REALLY want to sit and watch Top Gear now.

Pack_master said...

Oh, I know that... all the cats of the neighbourhood seem to adore to fight and wail below my window. At nightime. After I found sleep.

Rap? Hiphop? Never make me to write those words again. Metal rules ;)
(sorry about that, but I am traumatized about hiphop)

Xhalax said...

Plus I'm always tired....I don't sleep well and I've yet to find the off switch for, at the very least, my brain.

Anonymous said...

just gone half 2 and the cats are at it again.Do cats have a rutting season?

Dukeleto said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dukeleto said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dukeleto said...

Good to see you too, Big.
Guys, I kid you not, Big drives an actual Rhino APC, seems he sometimes has trouble parking it ;)

Unknown said...

I'm not usually a rap/hip-hop fan either: However, 'Letter from God' is an epic. The lyrics are awesome. I'll be keeping an eye (ear?) on them for sure.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dan,

Huge fan of the Ghosts series, and especially enjoyed 'The Lost'!

Just a couple of questions: does the next story arc have a name yet? And also, is there likely to be a follow up to 'The Sabbat Worlds Crusade', possibly even a history of the Tanith First, or a training manual/primer of some sort?

Also, is Titanicus the start of a series or a standalone novel? Sounds great regardless.

Thanks for the stories :D

Anonymous said...

Duke-the jobsworth had it comin!
Ask ChildofNurgle about the TNT driver that one will make u laugh.

Btw Just picked up a new contract.
Its from the Choam Company,any advice?

Xhalax said...

Big - The spice must flow!

Anonymous said...

"It is by will alone i set my mind mind in motion"

might do a guard army based on the Harkonens .That will please O.D.G.W.R.T.E.

heres an odditie ,the older i get the more green i go but i love motors and i dont want to ever get rid of my pick up truck .Any advice?i watched a progame called the 11th hour the other night and it freaked me out.It was some serious enviromental shit !

Anonymous said...

my mind mind ,what the hell is that!

"Dooohhh"

Xhalax said...

Big - I think you need to drink more juice of sappho.

HiWayRobry said...

pack_master
I agree. Metal rules!
It's funny that Dan's blog was primarily about music, me being a (decent) musician and all. I've been working on a song called "First and Only". It's obviously been inspired by Mister Abnett and his GG novels. My only problem is that I'm not sure who owns the IP for it. Is it Dan? Is it the Black Library? Is it Games Workshop? I'm not sure who's permission I would need to post it or use it since I'm not an established artist and I don't have corporate lawyers and such to hold my hand. Dan, if you're interested I could send you a copy when it's finished. But, be forewarned, it's the heaviest of metal (as it should be!) and may not be to your liking.

Anonymous said...

Xhalax- u might just be right ,either that or just stay of the juice completly.
u driving yet ?

Anonymous said...

the-seventh-son: I thought 30 Days of Night was very strong visually but parts of the plot (especially the conclusion) let it down. I did like their vampires a lot (although again, more could have been made of them); the other actors, not so great.

the-seventh-son said...

vashtar - i know what you mean, i found that at first, i have to say though i thought it was better after a couple of viewing

the plot i agree could have been better, but there were some bits which were just awesome, im thinking the store scene and the arial shot during the first attack

oh and i agree with you all, Metal really does rule!

Anonymous said...

Good to see another Lovecraft fan! If you haven't gotten all The Lovecraft Letters volumes yet, start making bids on them with eBay. Worth every penny!

Also, the best Lovecraft book I've found to date is the Library of America collection. They make small hardcover collections of famous authors, use bible paper, and has the little ribbon bookmark in it. Easily the best quality Lovecraft book I've gotten my hands on next to the Arkham House collection.

I have yet to see this Necronomicon version you're talking about, but I'll keep my eyes open!

Xhalax said...

Mr. Abnett - you missed the b out of lamentably.

Big - Only in my head....and in a DB9 no less!

Anonymous said...

Xhalax - I think you'll find that you left the 'b' out of lamentably, and Dan just liked the look of it.

Anonymous said...

Its the Sin Dex countdown, it comes out tommorow and i cant bloody wait.Wonder who the artist is gonna be?

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Scary,those 300c's are biiig cars,although probably would be a good car to put armor plating on-very 'gangstermobily' My Skoda can only fit a 50mil cannon-lame huh

*******HERESY SPOILER ALERT*******
Forewarned? Still reading? STOP!! genuine Horus Heresy Spoiler ahead
*****2nd HERESY SPOILER ALERT*****
Ok-Loken has to come back, he just has to, now if I'm guessing GW's strategy for the final installment they will probably get Mr A to do the death of the Emperor (you know it will happen) and so as a personal plea from me Dan has to HAS TO bring Loken back at the last minute, possibly as the unkown reason why Horus drops his shields? Consider it people, it could happen...

Anonymous said...

Don't have a blog account so this is posted by Elwyn,

Hi Dan, Lovecraft.... I too have just bought Necronomicon: The Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft. I used to have the 3 Lovecraft Omnibus editions, but some chaotic Heathen has walked off with them. Still have "The Haunter of the dark and other tales" knocking about somewhere though...

Being an RPG Gamer, Call of Cthulhu is one of my fave games!!!

I glossed over the references to Gaunts Ghosts, as I am reading The Saint Omnibus at present and the current tale is Straight Silver and I am about to start Chapter 13 (biding my time as waiting for the 3rd Omnibus... hint hint ;)....).

Just wanted to say, really enjoying your novels at the mo and slowly snapping them up... (got Eisenhorn and the first 2 gaunts ghosts omnibuses and have just purchased Ravenor which Is next once I have finished The Saint.

Any how, I shall now leave you in peace, but before I go, do you have an RSS feed for this site???

Anonymous said...

Elwyn - what is an RSS feed, and should Dan have one? (I'm Mrs Dan by the way)

Anonymous said...

Hi Nik. RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It adds a feature to your blog (or journal, or news site or whatever you're running). Whenever a new post goes onto the blog it not only appears here but is automatically distributed through the RSS to whoever's subscribed.

It can appear in people's browsers, in (I think) their email, or in the friends list of their blog or livejournal. If you've ever looked through a friends list on LJ and seen references to a "feed" (such as "Scalzifeed" for John Scalzi's blog) it means tha post has come through an RSS.

Anonymous said...

Gunshark day

Rory said...

Doooooooooood!

Dan le Sac is a wordsmith of legend! hes doing a session on radio 1 this monday night (i think!) on the colin murray show (probly around 11)

"thou shall not question Stephen fry"

possible the best lyric in the song, in my opinion. Dan le sac himself looks alittle strange. i saw him walk through edinburgh a few months ago. he had a huge beard and a baseball camp, he is indeed Gangsta'

Haha, Dan is gangster. i like that idea it makes me smile :D


screw narnia and such. i bet you will find a portal to Tanith (before is 'sploded) or to somewhere the ghosts are/have been. :D


Dan. you really need to come to scotland. we need your presence! =D

Anonymous said...

I was just by Amazon, trying to keep track of when various books I want are coming out, and saw the listing for Titanicus. Clicked on it and saw that it was listed as being 400 pages long...is that accurate or just a ball park guess? Because if accurate, man, that's gonna give Fulgrim a run for the money in length when it gets to paperback. Can't wait for Titanicus, naturally.

Anonymous said...

Jack - 400 pages is about right

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Excellent-the more the merrier :)

Anonymous said...

Xhalax-in my mind i' driving a Bobcat around the countryside,do remember the episode when Hammond took one for a spin, fucking crazy 4x4 ing.

Looks like tommorow is Gun shark day....

Anonymous said...

Xhalax-in my mind i' driving a Bobcat around the countryside,do remember the episode when Hammond took one for a spin, fucking crazy 4x4 ing.

Looks like tommorow is Gun shark day....

Xhalax said...

Big - I remember him racing a motorised kayak in an Icecat. That was all manner of whacked out crazy!

Nik - Curses!

Anonymous said...

Nik-thanks. That's going to be an epic book then.

Anonymous said...

Posted by Elwyn:

Hi Nik, the following may be of interest to you regarding RSS Feeds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)

Anonymous said...

Also forgot to mention that Firefox has RSS Feed Reader built into it and so to do many e-mail programs

Anonymous said...

Hi Dann, I'm trying to conatact you at "info@danabnett.com" do you receive e-mails at this address?

Cheers
Daniel

Dukeleto said...

Vashtu Narada... I bet there were millions of kids last night refusing to turn out the lights! Moffat is a genius, I think this bodes well for Who's future :D

Slightly more on topic, I finally finished Corbec please feel free to comment or criticise, all of you.

Rory said...

Screw the little kids part! i didnt want to turn out the lights >.<

it was a reaalllyyy good episode me thinks! cant wait for next weeks!

Anonymous said...

Dan - is it me or does the later version of Blade runner hint at Harrison being a replicant?just saw the making of B.R. and Harrison
was pissed off because he put alot of humanity into the character.
Crazy...

Dukeleto said...

yeah, definitely a replicant!

Dukeleto said...

oh, apparently Vaastu Narada is a kind of Indian Feng Shui! Not sure what that has to do with flesh-eating microbes tho...

Pack_master said...

The "later versions"? Dunno if you mean the latest, really young version, but even the stone old Director's Cut gave that hint.

Xhalax said...

Well kiddies, I'm off to Hull for the week....be back when I'm blonde.

Toodles.

Anonymous said...

Looks like this subject is an age old one,and i have only just scratched the surface,and theirs me thinking i was bringing something new to the table.I thought the whole Rutger H. speach at the end was just amazing,in fact i thought that about the whole film to be fair.

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

I think it was Rutger Hauer for me that sealed that film, Harrison ford was a bit of an anti-hero at the end. What with him contradicting his values by hooking up with the replicant and getting his arse handed to him by Rutger-blame Ridley Scott for that as they fell out! However I completely agree with big, Roy's speech at the end really sealed it as a brilliant film, not sure about top 5 but very impressive nevertheless.

Dukeleto said...

"I've seen such things, I've seen C-beams glittering in the dark, I've seen ships on fire off the Tanhauser gate..."
Awesome stuff, wish I was seeing it for the first time, it was wasted on teen-me.

Anonymous said...

Posted by Elwyn-- Just finished straight silver... Bleeding Fething Cuu!!!! AAARRRGHHHHH

so who did muril (sp?) connect with when her blade went to the bone, or is that for something later???

Pack_master said...

@ Elwyn

++ Spoiler Straight Silver ++

Wasn't her blade, was Cuu's. Read the text passage again, and you'll see that it isn't as clearly described as you think when you read it first time.

Anonymous said...

Duke it was wasted on teen me too i only really soaked it all up recently.
Hussar,Man thats great subject matter ..
What is everyones all time top five sci fi films or films in general!
i have just read the question so give some time to get a proper list.

Anonymous said...

Duke it was wasted on teen me too i only really soaked it all up recently.
Hussar,Man thats great subject matter ..
What is everyones all time top five sci fi films or films in general!
i have just read the question so give some time to get a proper list.

Pack_master said...

WOOHOO! Just read the audio book anouncement on BL HP. Dan, love you even more. Tell Graham the same, please :)

Anonymous said...

Posted by Elwyn...

ahhh! twas me wishful thinking then hehehe

Many thanks for correcting me... will go back and read that page again

HiWayRobry said...

Blade Runner was an awesome movie. Rutger Hauer at his best, except for maybe the original 'The Hitcher'! Talk about psycho! He was incredible. Every version of BR suggests that Deckard is a replicant. Although the original version less so than the others. And I know I'm in the minority but I liked the version with Harrison Ford narrating. But that's just me.
And xhalax, are you just going to be blonde on the surface, or are you a blonde at heart? :)

LeeMXT said...

now then/sithee dan!

cheers for the previous response in ya last post. i find that quite interesting, think im going to have pick up a copy of riders of the dead now!

i did like the scene nik mentioned with frauka and zael, think theres a bit in ravenor returned where hes pondering what he'll actually do when he wakes. its personally touching, as i worked in ICU's and ABI units in a past life, before moving into disability related work.

here is a crunching question for you then dan, and anyone else for that matter.

the gaunts ghosts books are now so well developed and characters well and truly established and cherished by all. say it was possible to make it a film (just forget the IP police for a moment, stay with me here!), who would you have playing characters?

this is a real favourite discussion of mine, im really interested in peoples responses. some characters i would be thinking of are certainly an actor for cuu (richard brake from doom/muse knights of cydonia video?). also an actor for larkin (possibly an aged steve buschemi?)

bragg poses an interesting debate, depends whether you go with the traditional "get a WWF wrestler cos hes big" approach, or you properly look for someone.

theres other people too, i personally think Ray Winstone would make a bloody fantastic soric! corbec'd be interesting too.

what do you think dan/nik/all?

Lee

Pack_master said...

We had this already, some time ago. You should take your time and browse through the old topics, may be sooome time back. But the discussion was exhausting ;)

Dju said...

Yes, we've been through this discussion already. One first thing we could try to settle on is : who would play Gaunt ? If we stick to living actors (too late for poor James Coburn), I'm saying Hugh Laurie and I can't think of anyone else.

Dju said...

Of course, I'm the ass who had suggested Michael Schumacher at the time...

Anonymous said...

hi quick question. is "thorn wishes talon available in any other way apart from in "what price victory" as i cant get that book into australia wihotu costing me half a weeks pay...keep up the fan-fucking-tastic work.

Bert

Anonymous said...

Posted by Elwyn.

Just re-read that last bit in straight silver.... I see what you mean, I just assumed about Muril connecting her blade with someone....

Note to self... Make damn sure that you read important stuff carefully!!!!

LeeMXT said...

seconded man - Note to self... Make damn sure that you read important stuff carefully!!!!

sorry to bother everyone about it again, you must add that it is a great question. i bet dans had it a million times!

Lee

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Hugh Laurie as Gaunt?I'm a massive fan of house so that might be a problem-the switch wouldbe laughable
Big-5 film list is as follows (flames ready)
-Gladiator
-Matrix
-Hero
-Man on Fire
-300
(Theres an odd trend that i've just spotted-can anyone else pinpoint what all these films have in common?)

Dju said...

Hurrah hussar - That's an easy one, but I think I'd better be careful now with movie spoilers. Yeah, that's an odd trend you have there.
And back on Hugh Laurie as Gaunt, look at the man ! His face is just so grizzled, stern and, ehm, gaunt...

Dukeleto said...

Hugh Laurie as Gaunt? no funtin way! Brits know him as a comedian, plus he hasn't got the build, he's skinnier than I am! (ask Big how skinny I am) I think Daniel Craig or Christopher Eccleston as Gaunt.

Anonymous said...

Duke as i remember i told Dan that Christopher Ecclceston would make a good Gaunt,And bro ur not skinny just whipcord lean!?!
I'm thinkin about doin an Harkonen army full of gingers,and marines as terror troops ,any ideas.
Answers in art please(ha ha).
Did Andy tell u about the TNT driver yet.

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Big, glad you saw it...its a (tragic)illness

But Hugh never would do Gaunt, just wouldn't,true he's grizzled but I cant see wrathful damnation being called from his (slightly Thespian)throat.

It would have to be a sort of Jeremy Irons' face with Hugh Lauries build - he'd scare me if I saw him coming over a trench lip

Anonymous said...

My Gaunt is a lean Goran Vijnic - I know he's not blond, but my Gaunt never was, despite Dan's description. Odd that. I also like the idea of him speaking english with a different accent to the rest of the Tanith crowd.

Magister said...

I hate to say this, but I think you're wrong when it comes to the Gollancz Necronomicon.

The Lovecraft collection to own will be the collection that Barnes & Noble will be publishing this fall, titled simply THE FICTION. It will have EVERY SINGLE story Lovecraft ever wrote that has been preserved -- including stuff he wrote as a kid. It will omit only the ghostwritten stories and collaborations (and I can't comment on those, other than saying that they MIGHT be published by another publisher eventually in a separate volume).

And the great thing about this is that it will have the corrected texts. The Gollancz texts are riddled with errors (such as "air out" for "an ant" in "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath").

And the price -- it's supposed to be only $12.95.

Yrs
Martin

Anonymous said...

Magister - you da man, but don't tell Dan because it's his birthday in the autumn, and I suspect this will be high on my list of presents for him! Thanks.

LeeMXT said...

hmmm.... christopher eccleston as gaunt, interesting - i'd have him down better as varl or someone with a slightly less "starch arsed" attitude (fanboy quote or what!)

i think daniel craig'd be quite good as gaunt, who do you think'd make a good ven, corbec or mkoll?

incidentally, i think im going to be taking a trek up to edinborough sometime soon, anyone care to share any beauty spots along the way?

Lee

LeeMXT said...

nik, did dan use literature to get into your head?

ha ha! absolutely loving that tune!!!! might i add a recommendation - the transplants

thou shalt always, always, kill. thats gotta go into a book dan!!!!

Pack_master said...

"Ven, Corbec or Mkoll"? Well, you should remember that these are completely different types of body biult. Corbec's a bearded giant, very much muscles. Mkoll the complete opposite, small, slender, but bearded too. Ven's kind of average, methinks.

Anonymous said...

Put all thoughts of Daniel Craig out of your tiny little heads. Sorry, and all that, but I can't stand him! Properly horrible. Not my cup of tea at all, or coffee.. or anything. Gaunt should be played by a character actor, so keep thinking, and, for goodness sake, come up with someone with a modicum of sex appeal.

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Sex appeal? Gaunt? Eeewwww...

I think we need Xhalax back nik,we need some female input on this one.

Maybe the actor who plays the cheerleaders dad in Heroes? (See im struggling now)

Dukeleto said...

Ah Nik, I don't think you are with the majority on Daniel Craig's sex appeal, they cast him as Bond, ffs!

Goran Visnic is a good choice, and the accent point is a good one (altho I feel I must point out the Tanith should all be Welsh actors!) but in the end, he's not blond. Jason Statham, perhaps? (altho he's more bald, than blond)

no way to Jack Coleman from Heroes, I'm afraid. He's way too clean cut and all American, and Gaunt's hard edge is dangerous, rather than sinister.

Pack_master said...

Jason Statham? You kidding! Where's the gaunt face? Have seen him in the Transporter movies ans in Snatch - heÄs good that way, but he's more my man vor Ven, I think.

Goran Visnjic... (I had to google that, because the name didn't get me far ;) ) - there's something missing when relating to the gaunt in my head and on the covers of Ghostmaker etc... the "bad" look.

Pack_master said...

Heh, I think Visnjic would be my Varl choice.

LeeMXT said...

jason statham, what a ven he would make, hes already got the martial arts skills for it to boot (pardon the pun).

something tells me that jack coleman wouldnt but it, what about adrian pasdar, i think he'd make a good hark if not gaunt.

bloody hell, i feel like dr frankenstein here... ive created a monster!

NB: thou shalt always kill has been on my ipod for near enough 15 hours now on repeat, both in my car and while out and about. drilled into my head now!!!

Dukeleto said...

nah... Tahmoh Penikett from Battlestar as varl, surely??

Anonymous said...

Och noo u cant have james bond playing Gaunt,Gaunts not ment to have sex appeal! Hes a hard bitten colnel commissar for Emperors sake
This guys had hes eyes cut out ,hes fought all over the galaxy,hes the kinda guy to stick a blade up your ribs and bite off your tounge as u scream,
im not saying hes without ,just when choosing aa actor to play him we dont want George Clooney u know.
I cant see Gaunt wearing bloody speedos for shit,and if he did Dan would have to write me in the books (or just get Gol)to give him a good hiding and put some sense back in his body!

Anonymous said...

Hussar stil working on that list bruv,its hard because of all the
different categorys of film

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Big come on, you've got to have a top 5 ready for dinner parties and 'answers-to-the-questions-paramedics-ask-you-to-keep-you-conscious'

Got it-Damien Lewis,and yes ok thats my personal choice that I'm going to stick with, because he was an absolute genius in Band Of Brothers and aside from the hair (ginger dyes well) looks the part.

Dju said...

Hussar - OK, I can see Damien Lewis as a solid choice (quite similar to my Hugh Laurie). Gaunt just can't be a big heap of muscle. I think Mr Craig Bond is ruled out.
Nik - On the question of sex appeal, I think we should first of all ask Xhalax who she fancies as Ban Daur ; tricky question. I would cast some sort of Ben Affleck, but then that's just me.

Dju (votes Ray Park for Ven)

HiWayRobry said...

For Gaunt I'd go with Keanu Reeves. I can just see him facing off against the hordes of Chaos! "Whoa".
(Ok, I'm just fething around there, but I had you going)
Actually, I would go with either Steven Berkoff or Matt Frewer. And dju beat me to the Ray Park as Ven. I also saw Steve Buscemi as Feygor. But that's probably just me.

nemesis749 said...

Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft are the biggest reason i ever picked up a book... the imagination required to come up with the characters and settings snaged me at an early age. Im sure there is an island in the Dreamlands waiting on me...

the-seventh-son said...

okay my take - with some lesser characters,

General Sturm - the bastard, should be played by Michael Wincott, his voceis the perfect fit

Keanu Reeves should not go ANYWHERE near the Ghost Films!

how about Keira Knightly for Lady Chass (the one that Gaunt sleeps with in Necropolis)

i see Varl as being Ryan Reynolds from Blade Trinity, he pulls of his role in that film really well

Danny Huston would make a great Rawne, with James Wood (from Vampires) or Joe Pantoliano (Cypher from the Matrix) as Feygor

Bragg is a hard one, as you don't want the Harry Potter Guy as it will be to similar, but the fat guy in 30 Days of Night would be a good fit

Steve Buscemi would make a great Larkin - whoever said that was totally right! His role in Con Air - superb

Jack Coleman (Claire's dad in Heroes) i think would make a great Fereyd (Guy from Ghostmaker)

with Laurence Fishburne being Colonel Zoren

i think Gaunt... well i'll leave that until another day... but its not Daniel Craig, and i dont like the idea of Matt Damon in this films either

Inquisitor Series

Joe Pantolaino (Cypher) (again) as Harlon Nayl

Steve Buscemi (again) as Frauka

Jason Isaacs as Ballack

a wize-crackin Ray Parker (Dozer in the Mastrix) i personally think would make a good Zeph Mathuin

Hugo Weaving - Zygmunt Molotch

anyway i'm running low on ideas now...

Dukeleto said...

ok I bow to all your superior casting abilities.

I've been painting Ven using Javier Bardem as reference, which seems to work well (altho he's come out looking a bit more like Rawne, tbh)

I need some help on the details of the picture; what badges or identifiers do the scouts use? I remember something about a lanyard (or is that snipers?) any sleeve badges? I've decided they don't use body armour, for a start...

Anonymous said...

Im positive that the snipers and scouts dont use body armour,it would just be suicide,but the others are light infantry they probably would,being from a company thats all about fieldcraft the less insignia the better but im sure theirs some.

I didnt really help there did i!

Rob Rath said...

Notice how quick everyone is to cast their favorite books and they never seem to care who directs or writes the film?

That's the last I'll say on the film point.

My car just got named the other day. A friend and I were driving home at night, arguing about what to call it. It's a used car and I've only been driving it a two months, and since I didn't really get properly trained on the thing, finding out the vehicle's features has been a continuing process of discovery. Add on to that some minor electrical hiccups and you've got a car that seems to have a personality and a mind of its own. (For example: The interior driver's side door handle ceased functioning. Thankfully, I have a Y chromasome, thus giving me a preternatural ability to ignore and avoid problems. As a result, I simply rolled down the window and opened the door from the outside for a few weeks. This worked wonderfully until the window stopped working.)

Anyway, so as we got out of the car, still arguing, my friend turned around.

"Dude, your lights are still on."

I swore and began digging for my keys.

The lights switched off automatically. A moment of silence passed.

"Thank you Christine."

Rob Rath said...

Er, that would be "so quick to cast actors in the role of their favorite characters."

Dju said...

Hmm, I'd say the "who writes the scenario" is a pretty easy one.

HiWayRobry said...

You know, nobody's touched on the one role that I think would the most difficult to cast: Eszrah.
I have no idea who could pull that off. Maybe whoever played the alien in the original Predator?

HiWayRobry said...

Oh, I keep forgetting. Here's my 5 movies of all time. In order
1. Aliens
2 John Carpenter's The Thing
3. LOTR Trilogy (I get to count them as 1 movie!)
4. Time Bandits
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Not that anybody cares :)

Anonymous said...

What about Sean Bean, as Rawne perhaps?

Dukeleto said...

@Lordy; Sean Bean, nice.
Eric Bana as Ban Daur?

@HiWayRobry; Surely not? Labyrinth is miles better than Time Bandits! otherwise that list's not bad.

Dju said...

Not that anybody cares either, but here's my top 5 movies :
1 - The Shawshank Redemption
2 - Fight Club
3 - The Usual Suspects
And then Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, but not necessarily in that order.

Hussar - SW and LOTR excepted, can you figure what my trend is ? (Whoo, sounds like I'm adressing Dan and Nik's ghost, chilling).

Anonymous said...

I was looking to much into it so here goes
1,Seven Samurai
2,Excalibur
3,The Vikings
4, Star Wars
5,Lord of the Rings

A real mix their we should probably do top 5 in different categorys like top 5 sci fi,top 5 fantasy etc.

Will Wright said...

Hi Dan,
Is there any plans to visit the Unification Wars in greater detail?
Also are you ever going to tell the story of Ravenor's greatest failure when he failed to save Eliena Koi and Will Talohand?

Uncle Truth said...

Hi Dan.

Looking forward to Titanicus. Any plans for a new darkblade novel? I just finished Lord of Ruin and need a fix STAT!

Nik - I agree with you wholeheartedly. Ghosts arouse feelings of pity in me; the thought of a human soul trapped between moments, roiling with confusion and bitterness is not a comforting one.
However, being a habitual and unrepentant coward, I can assure you that if some bugger draped in a big white sheet going 'Wooooo' and waving chains and stuff jumped out on me, then I'd be doing the proverbial Scooby Do backpedal and getting the f**k out of dodge.
Having once been a teenage boy, (albeit a spotty, ginger one that liked comics and wargaming) I can also scientifically confirm that teenage girls are indeed the source of all supernatural evil in the world.

My history's not great and mostly comes from reading Bernard Cornwell books, but have you thought about leaving out prints or effigies of the Napoleonic/Prussian era out and about in the hotspot areas of your house? Might be interesting...

Tom

Xhalax said...

dju - Who would I cast as Ban Daur?

Answer: No one.

I have yet to come across anyone in real life who looks even vaugely like the Ban Daur in my head.

Who would I cast for everyone else?

Answer: No one.

Why? See above.

Everyone in my head is very unique and there isn't a single living person that I have seen that has made me go 'Oh, my god! He/She looks like "insert character"'. True, if I think long and hard and visualise the characters to the point where my head explodes, I might be able to pull out vague similarities between how I see the characters and real people....but the similarities would be thin at best.

Plus I'm very fickle when it comes to celebrities....and my likes and dislikes change, so 'casting' someone in a role of a favourite character may not always work out well in the end.....then that's that character screwed if I stop liking said celebrity.....and I love characters!

Top 5 Films at the moment:
1. Star Wars
2. The Usual Suspects
3. Battle Royale
4. Platoon
5. Plup Fiction

Rob Rath said...

I always have a hard time ranking movies. I've been on a Sergio Leone binge lately, so the Man With No Name Trilogy would make the list.

I will say that every time I list favorites, I always include The Godfather I and II. Every male born during my generation wishes he had the gravitas of Michael Corleone.

"Just don't tell me you're innocent because it insults my intelligence."

Best comeback of all time.

Dju:

Of course you're right, in a hypothetical dream cast Dan would write the screenplay... and have a really cool cameo.

Anyone got a cameo idea for Dan? I figure one of the gangsters in First and Only.

Dju said...

Xhalax - Excellent choices in your list I must say.
Still haven't watched Battle Royale (is it the prequel to Casino Royale ? Ha ha ha. Seriously, someone ruined this one for me too), but I've been a long time fan of Tarantino's movies. And Platoon ? This movie is the reason why everybody likes the Adagio for Strings, I guess. And the reason why Willem Dafoe definitely has to be cast as one of the Ghosts (I was thinking Larkin).
Rob - Yay, great idea, let's do the cameos ! I fancied Mr Dan Abnett as Antonid Biota.

Dukeleto said...

Xhalax, welcome back. You'd never make a casting director.

Anonymous said...

yeh your right about that my fav films tend to be what i am into at the time,although the ones given were ones i have liked for all time.

Dan cameoing with plenty of make up as Dorden(the medic)Nik as Anna Curth.

Did any of u guys see DR Who last night!

Xhalax- welcome back

Xhalax said...

dukeleto - You're right, I'd never make a casting director....or at least not in terms of a 40K film.

Yes Big....I saw Doctor Who last night.

Anonymous said...

Go Who!

Anonymous said...

I saw Doctor Who - it may just be me, but I really want him to end up as a tyrannical dictator in the future. And I could so see it happening.

The Gerg said...

Right, been meaning to post on here for an age just finally getting round to it.

Im gonna start with the usual, love all your books, i own most of them lol been a humongous fan since way back with the start of the ghosts, you've provided me and my mates lots of material for late night drunken discussions on which actor would play who in the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogy's (my personal favourites) You inspired me so much with those series that i have just ran a fairly long Inquisitor roleplay game based on your books and style! It went down quite well of course, though I had to stop one of my players basically making Fischig lol Oh and by the way we have had to shorten your name Dabnett, its much easier to say whilst inebriated.

And one last thing, if you are still doing the inquisitor short stories, I would love it if Bex Begundi got a mention, as I love that cat.

ok rambled enough.

Gerg

the-seventh-son said...

the gerg - isnt it bax begundi, and he is one of the coolest characters


Dan's cameo, i say should be the face of slyte, no offence, hmmm or maybe the colonel at the start of Traitor General that would be cool

Sean Bean as Rawne would be nice touch, theres so many good actors out there, i think that the casting would be the hardest part of the the ghost films!

my five favourite films

1. The Crow
2. The Matrix
3. Con-Air
4. Disturbia
5. Lord of the Rings trilogy

Anonymous said...

finally got my hands on a 2000 ad
for sin dex,and it went all Alan Sugar on me "Your fired"...cool!
Also just picked up a graphic novel
of Durham Red i didnt know Dan wrote so many other stories for the comic but i am catching up.
Also just started Ravenor returns more catch up but i will get there!

just one thing, when he refers to havig a chat with Thorn ,am i missng a short story?
Advice may be needed!

Anonymous said...

Well i shoud've guessed by the fact that Durham is on the opening page!

And Dans mouth moves when u put the cursor on it

Yep really never noticed

Anonymous said...

So, guys from azerbaijan are called azeri, jew know.

It grated. It grates to be this guy, too.

Anonymous said...

Big - Yes you are missing a short story, its in a book of short 40k stories called what price victory i believe, though i could be wrong, i know its got a red chaos marine on the cover if that helps lol The story is called Thorn wishes Talon i think.

The Seventh Son - Pretty sure its Bex Begundi, yep just checked Hereticus, and yes he is awesome hence the plea for more of him!

Gerg

HiWayRobry said...

Ok, huge *SPOILER* alert so anyone who hasn't read 'Armour of Contempt' please stop reading. I just finished reading it and have to chamge my most emotional response to a GG novel moment to the death of Caff. Wow. Dan, you sure know how to hurt a guy.
Beautiful.

I just bought all three Ravenour books and will proceed to plow through those forthwith.

And as to Dan's cameo? How could he be anyone other than Warmaster Macaroth?!?!?

nemesis749 said...

hmmm top movies at the moment Sunshine by danny boyle, pulp fiction, enemy at the gate, chronicles of riddick, 300. explains my frame of mind lately..

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's the one Gerg - you got the book right and all.

Anonymous said...

Gerg-Lordy is it something i should be reading before i carry on reading R.Returned,also is it in the Eisenhorn trilogy book?

Pack_master said...

You should. It takes places between Ravenor and Ravenor Returned.

Al said...

You see, that's why BL should bring out a Ravenor omnibus. Then it could have the short story in like Eisenhorn had it's short stories included.

Also, then I could actually read Ravenor Returned cause I can't find it anywhere lol...

Anonymous said...

Big - Yes, but it's not completely required. I read Ravenor Returned before I got my hands on a copy of What Price Victory, and you can still understand the story perfectly.

Anonymous said...

Lordy - Thats a result

The "Guv,Nor" was out on the tiles again last night ,i left out a tin of tuna for im.It must,ve got him all ryelled up because their was a turn out with a couple of cats from the next block (Which he F**king won)
I have a feeling over the summer i'm going to be discovering dead cats (dogs an foxes)all over the estate,having suffered all manner of gruesome accidents!
The women next door had a cat once....Bear his name was,couple of weeks after he went missing a parcel showed up at her door.....
it was Bears personalized "Bling Bling" flea collar and a Goldfish,it was an old Cat message
"Bear now sleeps in me pond"
I shit u not the cats lethal!
Thats what the Tuna was for,it was a peace offering,now i feel he will think it was a set up .

Well he would'nt be far wrong as it goes!
He was playig it cool this morning,cleaning himself with a paw
and looking at me intently with his one Hate filled eye.
Its gonna be a long Summer!

the-seventh-son said...

Anyone who is interested (ahem big) i have almost finished my first copy of the Blood Pact Codex, it has some nice little details in it as well as lots of special characters including:

Saggitar Slaith
Shebol Red-Hand
Anakwanear Sek
Enok Innokenti

and

Urlock Guar

also included is a special formation for the Nine,

if anyone wants a copy when it is done just let me know

LeeMXT said...

hey seventh ill defo have a copy of it, ive been working with the phoenix club on sculpting blood pact upgrade packs for the GW cadians, so this'd work out very good. im also the proud owner of a brood of loxatl, and some infardi pilgrims too. so you could call me a fanboy gamer i suppose...

im intrigued that you never did heritor ashphodel, and perhaps a datasheet for the spike/other vervunhive seige engines!

Lee

Anonymous said...

Seventh well done trooper!
I will definately take a copy at some point mate(are u at G.Day)
The thing is i know im gonna cop a lotta flak from all the other B.pact codex writers when i start telling them about urs ,u writers get real territorial about this stuff.
Keep ur mind open though remember Dans next G.G. book is called Blood Pact and i think were gonna learn a whole lot more about them!
Perhaps Dan could persuede someone at white dwarf to do an offcial mini codex,after all they did the Death brigade and they were great (albeit a bit exspensive in points)
Also their should be more characters an that i cant wait.
Its good to see u have alota passion about the Pact as most people want Marines an stuff ,i like to be different and go for things less mainstream!

Xhalax said...

Mr Abnett....having just finished listening to the new HH audio book, I find myself somewhat preplexed by my lack of art knoweldge is most annoying.

In The Lightning Tower, what protrait inspired the 'unflinching, rheumy gaze of an old fleshy man, cast in shadow, tabacco brown.'

I worked out the inspiration (which I say inspiration rather than allude to them being the actual ones) for the other two pictures mention, but I can't work out that one.

Nicola Vincent-Abnett said...

Xhalax - I hope that's one of the later Rembrandt self-portraits. I can't believe that Dan and I didn't talk about this, especially since I'm an art student, amongst other things.

Patch Thompson said...

Am I the only one who ever so slightly liked Cuu at some point? If so does it mean I need to go into care or see a doctor?

I'm a huge fan of everything of yours I've read, especialy Gaunt's Ghosts, but then I guesse lots of people say that don't they? One question, how come the Tanith are still fighting on the crusade's second front. They're obviously a vet regiment with lots of experiance so I'd have thought they'd be up at the realy point end of things with Macroth. Or is that an intentional plot type thing?

Go Sscroobuis Pip!

Anonymous said...

Dont worry Patch Cuu's a legend mate!
If i could,ve recruited him into the Blood Pact i would have.
And to all the doubters remember this,Heroes a only as good as the bad guys they face and Cuu was a real Bastard!

all im going to say is

"Haul you ever wanted, Funtwipe"

Xhalax said...

Nik - Kudos has to go to my mum for that one as she was sure that it was a Rembrandt from the description. She'll be pleased when I tell her she was correct.

The other two were pretty easy....a woman with a curious smile and yellow flowers in thick paint.

I love finding modern references in books.

Anonymous said...

A slow and insulting grin curled across her lips...

I've read everything Ravenor and Eisenhorn and can't wait for the book of Inquisition-based short stories to see the light of day. Just hope that Dan will decide to write more, especially about the Ravenor family.

* Big radials *

From Witchy for a Look

Pack_master said...

Huh, sniffed something at Warseer news.



Talked to Dan Abnett and he gave me a basic outline of the next guants ghost novel called blood pact which is due out next year.

Quote:

The Ghosts have been retired behind the imperial lines to the world of Balhaut and are dieing of bordom as Abnett put it, which soon ends as the Ghosts find themselves in the middle of a Blood Pact infiltration raid! He said the book would be similar to traitor general accept the sides would be reversed.


Quote:

Talked to Dan Abnett at gamesday yesterday about the new guants ghosts novel and he mention that the 3rd trilogy in the Eisenhorn series will be focused around Alizebeth Bequin (the blank who fell into a coma after trying to slay a chaos titan). H didn't give much detail accept that it will follow a conflict between Ravenor and his former master Eisenhorn. Release date he didn't mention but iut is the next thing he is working on after the ghost novel.



Dan, I feel all mushy :)

Anonymous said...

Dan thats some good news ...
Now u will just have to bloogg to confirm or deny!
I on the other hand love suprises so deny all u want!

Just saw Cloverfield
I got all f**king Gol Kolea on the misses and started telling her how i would get her an the kids out of the city in graphic detail....
she looked at me like i was a right nut.Women never take the threat of giant monster destroying
the city,or Zombie apocalypse seriously do they lads!

All my thoughts are 2 Para theyve had a hard week, my condoleneces Brothers.

Fantomex said...

Hi Dan and blogsters, long time reader (years) first time poster..

I figure I'll just wade into the maelstrom and throw out a couple of my mulled-over suggestions for Hollywood Tanith..
Dorden would have to be Erwin Leder (werewolf scientist from Underworld)..
Yes, I've watched Underworld and am not proud!
I'd almost want to say Timothy Olyphant for Gaunt, but he did star in Hitman..

Dan, have you read Darwins Radio or Darwins Children by Greg Bear? I can wholeheartedly recommend them to all and sundry, quite excellent books for all here (well if you aren't sci-fi fans, why are you here?!)
Also, having only just introduced it to the missus, I must encourage the world to buy the final cut of Bladerunner, the little extra tweaks make it near-perfect..

Am liking the sounds of the unconfirmed book rumours posted above, but I shall remain sceptical until I hear it firsthand!
Hmm, being quite late, I'm not sure what else I could post. I'm sure I'll be more productive in future, when I haven't worked all day. I feel shamed..

Ah well, goodnight all!

Anonymous said...

!!! WHAT A TWIST that would be. Sweet. Ravenor vs. Eisenhorn and respective kill-teams and agents hunting one another in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Can it get this good? Who would take whose side? With which Inquisitor would each character's loyalties ultimately lie? Given Nayl and Kara's history, that's got to be a tough call.

F**k yeah. Even if this turns out to be rumour or a possible idea bouncing around in plot-meister Abnett's head, this is such an uber premise - makes legions of sense.

Maybe Ravenor's exoneration depends upon him finding his former master and bringing him in: Eisenhorn does tend to hang out with one rather heretical entity - Cherubael. Old Eisy doesn't write or call the boss, Rorken, anymore; man the boss must be pissed with him...

Oh the drama, the sheer genius of it ;)

Looking at the BL website, Blood Pact is tabled for a May '09 release. The earliest I could see the first book of this magenta-level, inquistorial conflict of allegiances and principles is, say, Dec '09, give or take a standard terran month, even after factoring in sidereal differentials.

I'm going to the stasis module, just setting the timer. And there we are. Very comfy.

Witchy for a Look (already)

the-seventh-son said...

big - i know what you mean, but mines just a rtated as being ough draft for now, we should all combine resoures and write the codex together for the final thing, or adding ideas or suggestions

leemxt - no heritor because he command the zoicans not Blood Pact, all the ones i've listen are major commanders of the Blood Pact. but he would be a great character for apoc

Anonymous said...

Fantomex - we are, indeed, fans of Greg Bear.

Anonymous said...

Seventh- Apparently the Guard are just gonna get harder in the new vrsion of 4ok,what we should do is have a chat with Dan and see if we cant get him to do another article in white dwarf about the Pact as a build up to the release of the book and get some of the Pacts fans involved.Perhaps that way we could all share some of our ideas and modelling tips with those other B.P. players and modellers out there .I hope that they take a look at the lost and Damned lists again and perhaps kill two birds with one stone in white dwarf.

Patch Thompson said...

Ghosts at Balhaut.....hmmm, dunno where I stand on that one. Looking forwards to it 'cos I've always wanted to learn more about Gaunt's past/the early crusade and because it sounds fun, concerned purly due to attachment to the characters, the idea of the Tanith being withdrawn all that way and boring themselves silly upsets me deep down..

Lijah Cuu for president!

the-seventh-son said...

patch - i second that vote, probably would do a world of good ;)

big - i know that would be good, erm i have to say though i will still pray that they one-day release a full on codex, with models and the works, i wouldnt mind if it wasn't Blood Pact, but a proper Lost and the Damned with the abilities to make the Sons of Sek and Blood Pact, cult armies such as the Infardi, i think if they did it it could work, but i know they never will *sigh*

HiWayRobry said...

Open heresy?!?!? Here on Tanith ground? Does the Inquisition know about this?
The Imperial Guard take you! We will purge you all!!!

the-seventh-son said...

hiwayrobry - we love the tanith too, just the Blood Pact more :P besides whats not to like about huge red warriors who stink like shit?

Anonymous said...

Seventh u da man tell it how it is !

the-seventh-son said...

you gotta tell it how it is right big?

almost finished my second AT-70

they are called Mandatory Suicide and Dissident Agressor and yes i stole the names from Slayer :P

HiWayRobry said...

Actually, Dissident Aggressor was origianlly a Judas Priest song. But you're probably too young to remember :)
I could never bring myself to play the 'bad guys' in 40K. Although Eldar aren't exactly 'good guys' I've always been drawn more towards the good side.
Are you guys gonna take some pictures of your armies and post them somewhere? I'd like to take a look.

the-seventh-son said...

your right i am to you to remember :P. i never was like that i always collected the dark side

even when i did marines i did dark angels cause of their sinister background.

if you look in the June 07 blog listing there is a load of photos of big's blood pact, i have a photo on coolminiornot if u type in blood pact on there

but i think we'll have to look at setting up a website for the Pact!

Dukeleto said...

7th would you mind awfully posting links to the images/blogs you mentioned, as I have been looking thru the blog archive and I can't find them...

I did however find Dan's opinion on Transformers, which I was pleased to see tallies closely with my own! However as for the shock at Michael Bay making a good film; does nobody else like The Island?

Anonymous said...

yeh the island was cool

the-seventh-son said...

dukeleto - here is the images of Big's Blood Pact
http://theprimaryclone.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

and for my AT-70:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/184625

is the link you need

i also like the island, i thought it was good and had some very good scenes.

Dju said...

Just got my copy of the audio Lightning Tower. Dan, are you pleased of what they made of it ?

Pack_master said...

My bro bought it in London, I will get it in a month :(

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

the-seventh-son and big thats pretty much bang on how i would have imaginied the blood pact in miniature form-kudos, awesome warhound too. Thats gotta be fun in skirmishes right?

I'm still very undecided about the audio book, would everyone recommend it?

i read my books voraciously and can get through about 70 odd pages in 40 minutes,there's a bit of downtime in between now and titanicus and been hearing good things about this 'Lovecraft' fellow. Whenever I branch from BL I seem to pick poor writers/universes-which Lovecraft/other author/book would people recommend while I'm witchy for a book?

the-seventh-son said...

hussar - think you talking about bigs there mate, i dont have enough money for a warhound, but you are right they are damn sweet

Anonymous said...

Hullo. One day gingers, etc... here. Lost my password, so signing in anonymously.

I can't get a copy of Gilead's blood or riders of the dead anywhere.

Got recommendations for websites or mail order bookshops that might stock them?

Tom

Nicola Vincent-Abnett said...

Tom - It's sad, but true, it really is getting difficult to find some of the older titles, especially the Warhammer stuff. Perhaps it is time for BL to publish an omnibus of Dan's Warhammer offerings. It'd make a mighty tome, and would fill the gap. I'll keep an eye out for you, in the meantime, and if I find a source, I'll let you know.

Anonymous said...

Witchy said...

My password evaporated from memory over a year ago. Now I'm just a tragic satelite, encased in ice on a 108 year orbit-cycle around all you lovely people here on dan's blog.

My stint in the cryrogenic module has begun: blood-pressure and heart-rate normal, brain activity sub-normal. I'm writing this using a customised stylus and mind-impulse unit to link to the internet and transmit my dreams and nightmares into text for your reading delight/disapproval.

Via the brain-feed tubes i'm rereading Eisenhorn and loving it. Also dipping into Lovecraft's Dagon and Other Macabre tales whenever i require a sense of creepy stillness to pervade my consciousness.

Report source: Witchy for a Look

Postscript 1: hurrah for the hussar - like the play on words

Postscript 2: pack_master - thanks to your keen intelligence work, i sleep in the hope that there may yet be a future for Ravenor & Eisenhorn; I have my frozen fingers firmly fused together and crossed.

Anonymous said...

Back again.

Go to the Black Library website for a short audio sample from Dan's Lightning Tower story.

Witchy for a Look

HiWayRobry said...

hurrah....anything from the team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (or their solo efforts) is worth a read. Most of their later stuff together needs to be read in order to fully appreciate but it isn't necessary.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Nik.

That's really nice of you!

Tom