Saturday, May 23, 2009

Questions, questions.

Last weekend, I spent time with Adelie High, recording some stuff to camera, where I rambled on about what I do, and answered a few questions sent in via the internet. It seemed to go well. The results, 6 short films, are now up on YouTube. Just go there and put my name into the search engine. A variety of subjects is covered, including the off-cuts and outtakes.

As this dry run was successful, we intend to delve deeper, and we'd like to give you more warning so that you can ask questions. Post them here... Anything you'd like to ask me. Post them up by next Friday night (29th May), and we'll try to include them next weekend when we sit down again. Adelie is quite quick at cutting, so you can expect the next batch of clips by the following week.

Over to you.

87 comments:

Niall Norton said...

What can you tell us about the Horus Heresy Prospero Duology with Graham McNeill and will there be a sequel to Double Eagle>

Anonymous said...

Dan, after having had a hand in everything from Transformers to Mr. Men, I do wonder if there's a property you'd like to work on.

- Stuart

Will Wright said...

Are we going to see the final Eisenhorn/Ravenor trilogy or anything up the pipe with the characters from those two books?

Are there going to be any one off books dealing with the Unification Wars?
Or dare I say a series based during the Dark-Age of Technology?

Big said...

This was definately a great idea and i for one would love to see you do it more often.You set the standard!

Unknown said...

The videos were fantastic!

My Question:

How do you come up with the names of the places and planets that your battles and books take place? Like Fortis Binary and Ouranberg?

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Will we ever see another Iron Snakes or any other Space Marine works 40k not 30k witch if you could make it the way you did with Iron Snakes witch was awesome pure action. I think you could execute a Chaplin, Librarian, or a Apothecary making them the main characters since you did a really good job with Petrok.

Xhalax said...

Bugger - it's times like this when I can't for the life of me think of any questions that aren't the nit-picky questions of a geek.

All I can think of are things like 'Was Inquisitor Roban Ordo Xenos?' 'Did Nathun follow the Xanthanite principals of his master?' 'What was the name of the Princeps they (the squad that was technically full of civilians who's names I can't remember as I've lent my copy out) found in Titanicus?' 'Why was ice sports chosen for the social pass time in Blood Sports?' 'How many people will Leman Russ headbutt in Prospero Burns?' 'And what percentage of the book will contain the quaffing of ale?' 'What colour of Ban's hair?'

All terrible terrible questions to which I don't want to hear being used because they suck.

Although I am loving the vidoes.

Rob Rath said...

I'd like to stick with my question from last post and will re-post it here so you don't have to hunt: Do you write action scenes on the fly, or choreograph them in your head first? And did any particular books teach you how to write action scenes or give you insights into how to stage these scenes effectively?

Matthew Churchill said...

Hi Dan,

These youtube videos have been fantastic, it's always great to hear you talking about your thoughts on writing, characterisation, and your views on the worlds we spend so much time in. It's good to be reminded that you care so much about them, even if that does make you so feminine!

I've left a couple of questions on your FB Wall, one of which was very similar to east1427's. So here's a few more to choose from:

'You've written for several different franchises down the years. Do you find it a help to have been a prior fan of what you're writing for, or is it better to approach work with a clean slate? How do the commissions you're doing for Angry Robot differ from the challenges of writing within existing intellectual properties? Is it more fun to play with the toys that are all your own?'

I suppose I was thinking of Angry Robot & Sinister Dexter etc vs Doctor Who & 40k etc when writing the last question, but I think 40k's an exception to your other franchise work. I think it's definitely passed the point now where you influence the 40k universe more than it sets the parameters for you. Hooray for that!

Anyway, enough wafffle. I'd make a rubbish journalist!
M

P.S. And, for my own titillation, might we ever see Inquisitor Alizabeth Bequin?

sredni vashtar said...

where do babies come from?

sredni vashtar said...

seriously, though:

is it true that in order to successfully write Space Marine characters, you really need a good working knowledge of Freudian psychology?

Roderick H said...

Hola Dan,
I've already asked you about the origins and operations of las-locks on facebook, but thought something a little more personal and intellectual might also be appropriate.

So I'd like to hear about the authors who grabbed your attention when you were in the larval stage of your writing career, who shaped you and inspired you to be the cracking writer you are now, and who out of them would you most like to team up with? Robert Heinlein perhaps?

Also, who would win in a fist-fight between Ravenor and OiD-era Soric? (no psychic powers allowed)

or perhaps more reasonably, who would win in a quick-draw firefight, Ramone Dexter or Midas Betancore?

Oh, and I also wondered if you knew that within two clicks of your youtube videos, this appears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqa08UGZGtk&feature=related
and whether you've already got one on order?

many forms of respect,
Roderick.

Unknown said...

NEW QUESTION!

In any of your future books, will be see a chaos marine with a baby stapled to his forehead?!

Big said...

I personaly think , Dexter would win easy in a gun fight.
The only person who could beat Dex is Larkin ! ...and thats because he would be 2 klicks away in a bush!
Mind you its definately one for Dan to answer i think .

Matthew Churchill said...

B'aple for the Blood God!

M

Oisok Estuvel said...

what were the Orks doing on the ice-world in Ghostmaker when every single other battle was against cultists and rebels?
why do the Vervunhivers and Belladon so easily accept being part of the Tanith First when the Tanith are now a small minority?
when will Meryn DIE?

and largely, how do you make your characters so believable and unique?

Anonymous said...

Hello Dan, how do you think of the names for all the characters in the Gaunt's Ghosts books, considering that there are so many?

Christopher Dwane said...

By the way, the above post was mine, and thank you for answering my question.

Andrew Sparks said...

I really enjoyed reading about Merrt's struggle with his bionic jaw and he and Dalin fighting together. Will you be planning on more Merrt action? and will he ever get his aim back? Maybe he could get his aim back that is slightly worse than Larkins and the rivalry starts up.

meh wishful thinking

Blitzspear said...

Hi Dan, will there be any stand alone books involving Brin Milo and Saint Sabbat or will you be reintroducing them into the ghosts novels. Also the ghosts novels have a degree of detail about the minutia of the average grunts life (Pete Gutes on eternal KP)so i was wondering what sort of books you use as references for this IE 18 patrol by Sydney Jary or The recollections of rifleman Harris or more modern novels written by serving soldiers B 2 Zero or saber squadron (man walking with shovel)spring to mind. Or do you make it up as you go along.

All the best
Rich, the guy that did the other stalk tank. http://blitzspearslab.blogspot.com/2009/05/stalk-tank-mk1.html

McKennsy said...

Is there any other universe/property you would like to write in?.

Looking back at the stories you have written is there any one thing you would have changed?. e.g. Not killed a character, write more of a certain character etc

What are your passions away from writing/reading?. Sport, music, food etc.

Recommend just one book for us all to read by any author.

Cheers,

McKennsy.

Boom said...

Hi Dan, I have found these Q&As to be quite enlightening and great.

Question 1: In the first GG book you had Gaunt having flashbacks to his youth which had pertained to the story line. I found this to be a lot of fun but was somewhat disappointed when it didn't continue through the other books. Why did you abandon this plot device and is there any chance that we will be seeing a young Gaunt/Hyrkan Regiment spinoff?

Question 2: What are your thoughts on a Warhammer/40k visual medium, i.e. movies/tv? Considering that the universe(s) are as in depth if not more so than Star Wars and Star Trek, why do you think such an endeavor has yet to be attempted.

Keep up the great work, can't wait for your upcoming projects...my fingers are crossed for the Ghost's planet.

Pack_master said...

So, knowing me, and to Xhalax' delight, I'll post other questions you shouldn't dare to ignore. You know, Xhalax can be very angry with these things.

- When is your Bequin trilogy going to hit the shelfs... I mean, when are you going to sit down and start writing? :)
- You promised us a short story about Inshabel on Vogel Passionata (almost exactly the title you told us), what about that?
- Will we read more about everybodies darling Harlon Nayl? The last words in Ravenor were not that... nice, and left many questions unsolved. Maybe some earlier doings from him would be nice, if with the Chair or the Old Man is your choosing. We will be happy with both. (to be true, we would be very happy to get both ;))

Pack_master said...

Dammit, you said you would be writing about lil Gaunt sometimes... what about that?

Martin

Adelie High said...

Packmaster - look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTY8lMjd0KE&feature=channel_page

and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDzVwQ36ZkI&feature=channel

With more to follow with the next interview.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dan,

Q1: Who will write the last Horus Heresy book i.e. the final confrontation between the Emperor and Horus? I'm a supporter of the Abnett camp. I think you give the best impression of the primarchs of being god-like beings, and you use the Emperor like a fine spice (not too much and not too little!)

Q2: How do you go about writing female charaters? Are they written the same as male characters or do you require a female insight? Ana Curth and especially Patience Kys are my favourite. Whose yours and why?

Q3: Why did you decide for so many Ghosts to die in Only in Death? There are hardly any left. Will the next Ghosts story arc be the last?

Cheers Dan

Tom

Roderick H said...

big - yeah I know you're right, but as you say Dan's the first and last word on the subject :)

Xhalax said...

Oh oh oh....I have an actual question....as cheeky as it is.

Mr. Abnett, will you be working with Mike Lee again on the new Malus stories/books that will be coming out at some point next year?

Christian Dunn blabbed about more Malus during Black Library Live! and it makes me wonder if the pair of you will be going back to whatever creative processes you used for writing the first five books.

Anonymous said...

This is for the Outtakes:

Would you ever write a character that is as crazy as Silvio Berlusconi, or do you think his essence is too difficult to capture?

Cheers

Tom

Alex said...

Hi there Dan and Adelie !

Many thanks for the videos which provide some great insight into the weird and wonderful mind of Mr.Abnett. Got a couple of longish questions that can be edited down if needbe :)

1)I’m one of the few proud owners of your Sabbat World Crusade background book and it’s a really great companion to the Gaunt books. Are there any plans for a second book covering the next chapter of the crusade?

2)You said in one of last weeks vids that BL have a fairly strict policy about writing 40k from the perspective of other races, but there have been a few novels on the tau (I’m thinking of firewarrior) and the eldar. If you were forced (at gunpoint!) to write about one of the more alien 40k races what would it be? How about a 40k take on Fell Cargo starring dark eldar corsaires!!

3)Do you indulge in any of the other aspects of Games Workshop such as modelling, painting, playing wargames or role-playing?

4)Can you recall what the first short story you sold to BL was? What can you tell us about your first ever meeting with BL (I guess it would of been with Marc, or maybe Andy back in the Inferno! days)?

5)In a previous interview you said you like to have 5 or 6 stories/plots on the go at the same time, but how do you keep track of everything going on in the abnett 40k universe? Do you have reference cards for all the characters and places, a file system, maps, spreadsheets etc that you need to refer to to make sure everything is cohesive?

6)You seem to enjoy coming to France and have strong ties with the chaps over at Bibliothèque Interdite. I myself live in France and was wondering if you have any plans to visit anywhere outside of Paris? There are some great french scifi and “bande-dessiné” conventions, the most noteworthy being the Angoulême comic convention and the Nantes “utopiales”, a massive 5 day convention for all things scifi and fantasy!

7)Have you noticed that your wikipedia photo looks nothing like you whatsoever :) ?

Right that’s it from me - Thanks for all the great stories!

Hastatus said...

Will Loken ever make another appearance?
Would you ever consider killing Gaunt off?
How many more story arcs would you consider doing for the Gaunt's Ghost series?

Jezlad said...

Super videos mate, good to finally get to hear your views and opinions - I'll see you at Games Day!!

HiWayRobry said...

Hey Dan,
Similar to what Boom was asking, why do you think Warhammer 40k (with it's ample supply of background and generous past, present (and future!) has had so much trouble getting a movie (animated or otherwise) produced? Along those lines have you ever, or ever considered, writing a screenplay? If you could do a 40k movie, would it be about the Ghosts or some other 40k storyline?
And lastly, with all the Marvel superhero movies being made why don't you and Mr. Lanning pitch a Nova movie idea to the powers-that-be? That would be awesome!!

And finally:

*zing*

:)

Mark Roberts said...

Have you any intention of, or would you be interested in, bringing back Death's Head II or any of the other characters you worked on during your time with Marvel UK on your current Marvel titles?

Anonymous said...

The beatifull sky filling my view! So dangerous and cancerous they are! Only the fuel and gasoline ignite in my mind - Double eagle spread its wings in my soul. And nobody, and even not the armour of contempt could save me from the speed of his dive!

Sorry for my english - iam from Ukraine and i have only one question. What about Double eagle 2 - Interceptor city. When do we see apostles flying again?

Xhalax said...

Oh....are you currently or planning to do any more stuff with Boom! Studios?

Anonymous said...

Dear Dan,

Will you continue Jagdea's story?
Will she fly the Lightning?

What about Miriael and Lowen Tagget, did they hunt Eldar?

Norse said...

I second HiWayRobry's questions. is there any cinematic/movies/tv-shows in the works? Clone Wars, Avatar, Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel. These things are pushing the envelope on what can be done graphically in big movies/tv, and the big production studios have realized that geeky stuff like X-men and Batman actually can be profitable.

Dan seems to me like the perfect guy to do something like this, so i really hope that we get to see something in the near future.

Xhalax said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HiWayRobry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HiWayRobry said...

But Xhalax, wouldn't you love to see Ibram Gaunt on a 40-foot screen (or better yet, IMAX) hacking through heretics and aliens; hear the haunting sounds of Brin Milo's pipes in Dolby THX; see (or more likely NOT see) the scouts Maggs and Mkvenner as they trespass an alien environment? Just imagine. Doesn't it make you giddy as a schoolgirl? :)

Big said...

Makes me go a giddy as a schoolgirl

Xhalax said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

It would be amazing, But on the other hand. It wouldnt work.

The whole thing with books is in your mind you create an image of that character, who they look, sound etc. If someone tries to make a movie out of it, its THEIR interpretation of the book, so not everyone will enjoy it. Hence the saying, the books always better than the film. :)

Big said...

If done correctly it would be brilliant!
Lord of The Rings was fantastic so was Transformers,Iron man,the first 2 Xmen belive me if they can make Dune then they can make a 40k film, and lets face it who better to write it than Dan or base it on one of his books.

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

I agree with Big, it's happened for other properties, there's no reason a sensitive enuff production couldn't impress sufficient fans to make money. Of course it wouldn't please EVERYBODY but that's not a reason to do it.

GW is very trigger-happy about its intellectual property, they wouldn't risk signing over creative control, and no-one would produce a feature-film without some creative control, so that's why it won't happen, unfortunately.

If it ever WERE to happen, I wouldn't want anyone but Dan to write it, but I'd rather see something focussing on the big stuff, the Astartes, the aliens, the titans and the starships, Dans series thus far have generally been more tightly focussed than that.

Christopher Meyer said...

Very cool videos. Great to get some insight into what you're writing and why.

And I understand that you're more of a sci-fi than fantasy writer...but we still need an wrap up to Darkblade :P not that I'm pushing that, or anything...

Boom said...

Ah...but it's the compelling story telling of such films as star wars, star trek, iron man, batman, ect., that would make a black library story work so well. Right now I'm burning through the inquisition war and while there are a lot of parts that wouldn't work in a movie there is definitely enough to make a very compelling and entertaining movie or movie collection. Think about Ravenor or Eisenhorn. Both are broad but both work on compelling story telling and character development. I would think that what the matrix series did with the animatrix or what riddick did with the in between animated story would work very well in correlation with live action movies. Gaunt's Ghost would be some what hard because it is so extensive but if a stand alone movie were to be made it would do quite well in my opinion.

Rob Rath said...

Dukeleto: Do you mean "gun shy" rather than "trigger happy?" If GW was trigger happy with their IP, it would usually mean they use the IP all over the place.

I stick with my comment on this last post. Go watch the last 40k movie GW did, then ask yourself if you really want something so fraught with mishap as a major motion picture.

I don't think it's a terrible idea, but I'm just as happy without it.

Dukeleto said...

haha I did think gun-shy to begin with, but decided on trigger-happy in that they are quick to come down on any projects that stray to far (i.e. nearly all projects!)

Big said...

Rob mate you cant compare those shitty 2 pound jobs with a real movie hahahahahaha they are absoloutly terrible ,i was gonna list all the things wrong with it
but there are so many i will just stick to the Marine......lol hahahahaha look at him what is he
6ft? and the armour he is wearing hahahaha OMG please dont look at that and compare, even for Dark Angels they were bad.

Xhalax said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Xhalanx and Rob: yeah, the old movies sucked, but what if, with heavy GW oversight (by which I mean being purely anal about it) they utilize the joys of 3-D animation, as we saw in the intro to DoWII (the intro...not the rest of the game), then it would be a beautiful thing. Make two hour episodes instead of movies, like an HBO series or some such, and I think that WH and 40K would have justice done. Not to mention you put it all out on DVD at some point and you fill each disk with tons of extras covering the WH and 40k universes, or just DVD's dedicated to extras.

I think it could be done, albeit carefully.

Xhalax said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big said...

Dan dosnt put the whole 40k universe into one book dos he,and their great!. 40k is made for films 100 percent Absoloutly!
you guys should know... i mean Eisenhorn is a movie right. I cant tell you how many role play scenarios i have played that should have been put straight into a movie.
You dont have to throw it all in at once Dan dosnt in his books, one of his best atributes is he turns the fantastical into grim reality in fact their is so much scope for a film i dont know were to start.
So to all the Filmaphobes calm yourselves
TRUST IN DAN!
think of all the films youve seen that have made great scenarios in 40k......now think of it the other way round...YEH BABY !
To tell you the truth when i attended my "Spirit of Games Workshop" seminar they told exactly what Dukeleto said its all about the intelectual rights, and thats the only reason they havent yet made a film, mind you they make any more pilots like that they should just sign the rights over..lol!

Will Foxton said...

Just watched the videos; excellent!

Best bit was the notion of looking with a culturally relativistic view to Chaos - oooh, Very clever!

Really looking forward to Blood Pact now.

Couple of questions: -

1.) Was the mention of the resistance's problems with mind-switchers, face-changers in Armour of Contempt something you intend to come back to? Particularly in light of Dalin Criid's run in with the Sons of Sek?

2.) When you describe coming back to Gaunt, would you ever write the founding, fall and evacuation of Tanith itself? Or would they focus on "Young Gaunt" with the Hyrkans?

Thanks Dan!

Willard Foxton

PS:- Nayl would totally win! Ven is probably better in a fight; but Nayl is much, much more willing to cheat:)

Xhalax said...

If you say so Buig, I'm not going to argue with you nor say another word on the matter again.

Rob Rath said...

Dukeleto: Yeesh, I must've been pretty cranky to argue over word choice, huh? I see what you meant now. I'm going to chalk my comment up to my unnatural love of the phrase "gun shy."

BIg and Christopher: I actually like the GW short films, if only for their irresistible campiness. In fact, I think the Marine costumes were the one thing about them that was impressive. (Actually the genestealers didn't look that bad until they moved... then they looked like Muppets. "Devour for the brood! Wakka wakka wakka!") For a film with a small budget and what was probably a very tight shooting schedule, they have their moments. If nothing else, it's a glowingly nostalgic part of GW history.

I'm not against a film or TV series, but I think that either of those would cost far more money than Hollywood is willing to wager on a devoted, but fairly small, fan community without widening the appeal by toning down the violence to a PG-13 level or making the material more accessible to non-fans (can you imagine a 120 page script trying to explain the background and name-drop equipment and SM chapters?). If they make a good movie with high production values, fantastic. If they make an OK movie, fine. If they make no movie, well that's alright too. (And I wouldn't bet on HBO either; note the lineup of Emmy-winning shows cancelled due to high budgets: Rome, Deadwood, Carnivale... Band of Brothers was only green lit because it was a single season.) I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not licking my lips in anticipation either.

Still, I'll own that it's fun to think about. It seems all 40k internet discussions inevitably lead to the Movie Question. If I had a nickel for every time it's come up, I'd be driving a Baneblade to work.

Rob Rath said...

Dukeleto: Yeesh, I must've been pretty cranky to argue over word choice, huh? I see what you meant now. I'm going to chalk my comment up to my unnatural love of the phrase "gun shy."

BIg and Christopher: I actually like the GW short films, if only for their irresistible campiness. In fact, I think the Marine costumes were the one thing about them that was impressive. (Actually the genestealers didn't look that bad until they moved... then they looked like Muppets. "Devour for the brood! Wakka wakka wakka!") For a film with a small budget and what was probably a very tight shooting schedule, they have their moments. If nothing else, it's a glowingly nostalgic part of GW history.

I'm not against a film or TV series, but I think that either of those would cost far more money than Hollywood is willing to wager on a devoted, but fairly small, fan community without widening the appeal by toning down the violence to a PG-13 level or making the material more accessible to non-fans (can you imagine a 120 page script trying to explain the background and name-drop equipment and SM chapters?). If they make a good movie with high production values, fantastic. If they make an OK movie, fine. If they make no movie, well that's alright too. (And I wouldn't bet on HBO either; note the lineup of Emmy-winning shows cancelled due to high budgets: Rome, Deadwood, Carnivale... Band of Brothers was only green lit because it was a single season.) I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not licking my lips in anticipation either.

Still, I'll own that it's fun to think about. It seems all 40k internet discussions inevitably lead to the Movie Question. If I had a nickel for every time it's come up, I'd be driving a Baneblade to work.

Big said...

Rob-now thats how to make a point i agree with every word,i think you'll find they had budget problems when making Dune it cost more than it recouperated, the Duke will know.
I wouldnt want to see our beloved hobby cheapend by a low budget movie.....mind you Serenity and Hellboy were both low budget and they were cracking.

HiWayRobry said...

All good points Rob, but I have to disagree on a few points. I don't believe they'd have to dumb it down for non-fans OR tone down the violence. Any movie worth it's salt will explain everything you need to know without taking away from what's happening on-screen. Take 'Chronicles of Riddick' for instance. It had a fairly dense back-story that I don't think interfered with enjoying what was happening in the movie. And as far as being too expensive, that movie (and Pitch Black before it) certainly didn't have huge budgets but both turned out pretty well. Granted, I'd much rather have a kick-ass Space Marine costume with a guy inside, but with what they can do with CGI these days, I bet they could make a WH40K movie, and do it justice, without throwing too much money at it.
Plus, I think it would work better if they used relative unknowns to star in it, thus saving a lot of money on hiring actors. Money that could be used better for effects! Hell, they could even go the Sin City, green-screen route and have everything BUT the actors be CGI.
It's possible. It's just nobody wants to take the risk and DO IT!

Big said...

AHHHH man didnt get my question in on time ....oh well looking forward to hearing your questions answered!
Mine was to do with my favourite Vampire gunner, and character of all time who i would dearly love to see again from Fell Cargo
He goes by the name....
Sheerglas... i would love to read his adventures, such a powerfull imortal must have amazing adventures on the high seas and off it! .As a character the scope he could bring to a book would be amazing even if he has a cameo in all of your warhammer writings!
but considering i have already asked about the Warhammer genre i guess "We'll meet again dont know when dont know where ,but i bet we'll meet again some sunny day".... Doh i guess not, hes a Vampire!...lol

Anonymous said...

Witchy for a Look said...

Glad to hear Ravenor/Eisenhorn trilogy is still alive and kicking in the wings.

Also anticipating the inquisition entourage short-story volume. A Patience Kys tale would kick arse ;)

Hurrah for the Hussar said...

Loved the youtube Q&A, had them playing in the background as i worked. Glad you felt a slight bit of remorse when x died and looking forward to Miss Bequin.

I was expecting a little more MTV cribs camera action but i guess the production values are in the content eh? :)

Laughed rather too loudly in a Cafe Nero's at your submarine pen guided tour, thanks for the odd looks people, its called humor-google it.

My question has been asked-where's Milo and how awesome are you going to make him be when he returns? Im going with Lucifer black-esque High command commando btw

Keep these going if you have the time, good idea indeed, will be looking up sinister dexter in amazon in a moment as well, as long as they arent being sold by an american book hoarder.

Big said...

Hey i was just looking on youtube for your new interview and it got me thinking
Why havnt B.L. done an official B.L. television interview with you yet? i think i like our ones better! you talking to the us directly is fantastic.

Unknown said...

are the new ones up?

Rob Rath said...

Well, it's time to eat my words:

A week ago I went on and on about how studios won't risk money on expensive movies with a small fanbase like 40k, and here I am a week later coming across news that a Solomon Kane movie got a showing at Cannes. Apart from how awesome this is in general, (if you don't know, Kane is a pulp fantasy character from the 1920s created by Robert E. Howard, who also created Conan) I suppose it's a strike in favor of the "it could be done" crowd since Kane has a much smaller following than 40k and did get made. I suppose what you really need is a director and producer passionate enough to carry the project through to completion.

So hope springs eternal in the human breast, I suppose.

Adelie High said...

Sorry, guys, Dan couldn't see me last week, something to do with finishing Blood Pact, but we've rescheduled.

Look at it this way: More of your questions can now get answered :-)

I'll keep you posted.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for asking, but as i understand it is very hard to write about Space Marines for you? But i really hope that in Blood Pact we would saw a confrontaition between Ghosts and Chaos Space Marines, because in Traitor general Gaunt was very lucky.
Real CSM, even a kill team of 6 MARINES, could tear apart dozens of guards and ghosts, before someone killed them with heavy weaponry!

Anonymous said...

Or, and what about Double Eagle 2. Will someone kill full Apostles squadron?

Unknown said...

In your opinion, do you think that entering in short story competitions and hopefully winning is worth a budding writers time or do publishing companies not really care how many of them you've won?

Christopher Meyer said...

Ok, totally off topic, but there's that writing contest on Black Library and...

Iron Snakes question: Scouts. Do they have scout squads? Or are initiates that pass the tests on planet inducted and given Space Marine armor? Just curious.

Will Foxton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Will Foxton said...

Second bite at the cherry, but I thought of some more interesting questions:-

1.) None of the Gaunt's Ghost books have particularly inspiring covers; they usually have a theme of "unidentifiable dirty guardsman in cloaks" or "interchangeable commissar".

Tis a shame, as the books have lots of inspiring scenes; for example, I'd like to see a really good artist draw the drop on Phantine.

If you could pick an artist to draw a comic adaptation of one of the Gaunt novels, who would it be?

(I'd go for SB Davis, personally, but I'm an old fan from 2000ad)

Would you ever consider adapting an existing novel to a comic as a project? Or would you prefer to tell a new story?

Dukeleto said...

I have to agree with Willard, there's not a good cover among them, with the possible exception of Traitor General (and that needs moar Chaos!)

I wonder how much input Dan gets into choosing the cover art?

Specifically regarding the drop on Phantine, Jeenhong had a very good stab at it, on Deviantart.

Matthew Churchill said...

I've just found out Primeval has been cancelled and am rather cross, particularly given the Italian Job-style ending of the last season. Pissing ITV. Excuse my piss.

The production team say they are "devastated" but that they have "every intention of keeping Primeval alive in other ways".

So another question for the interview - would you do another Primeval novel?

M

Big said...

Think they shoulda let Dan write the tv series it was awfull!
Every week the same thing it just wasnt going anywhere fast.It just got interesting though by widening its scope ,so why now?

Matthew Churchill said...

Big,

Rumour has it that ITV doesn't want to spend money on pre-watershed family drama anymore. Primeval may not have been brilliant, but look what's replacing it - ITV announced today that an extra series of 'rival' Peter Andre and Jordan shows will follow each of them through their banal separation.

Sometimes I wish Michael Grade was more like his uncle Lew. ITV used to do some cracking family fantasy drams in the past - look at shows like the Avengers, which I'm sure would never get made now. I can't imagine the kids of the future will look back fondly on their memories of the Peter Andre and Jordan shows.

M

Big said...

Oh God no!...Peter Andre and Jordan
I feel sick....Claire and the kids loved Primevial.As i say it had just found its scope with them being able to open portals at will..
Damn i will have to da the jig to keep the kids entertained.

Anonymous said...

I want to apologies from the begining, but...
Mister Abnett i beg you dont tell me that you dont have Chaos Space Marines and loxatls in Blood Pact!
Where are the real challenge? The blood pact troopers are so dead when they meet the Ghosts, that at least at Armour of Contempt and Only in death i dont feel any real danger for the ghosts. Or and what about the personalities of the enemy. At the last 3 books the enemy has no face. We have no fellings for chaosits, they are weak and pathetic! Make another Saggitar Slaith, show us Anakwanar Sek, Word bearers Dark Apostle, loxatl brood command, something!
Do something before we dont slip from the Tanith serie.

Or at least show us Double eagle 2 - Interceptor city!

Man-child said...

Heard about the new Bequin book and can't wait (She's one of my fav characters. Damn you for putting her in a coma!). I have three questions:

1. When is the book going to hit the shelves?

2. Will it be a trilogy like Eisenhorn and Ravenor?

3. Will Alizabeth wake up from her coma? (It may be implied in the name, but you never know)

Keep up the great work.

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