Herald of Oblivion - A Warhammer 40,000 gamebook

Almost a year to the day since I started work on the proposal for what then went under the working title of TERMINATOR, my very first Warhammer 40,000 gamebook is published today!

You are a veteran Space Marine of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Equipped with powerful Terminator armour and armed with the deadliest weapons that the Adeptus Astartes wield, you are a symbol of the Emperor's might. Trapped aboard the space hulk Herald of Oblivion and the only survivor of your squad, you must fight your way through the aliens and heretics that infest the star vessel and find a way to escape the horror and return to your Chapter.

One year from initial outline to publication. That's right, on Thursday 7 July 2011 I started typing up my proposal for TERMINATOR and on 10 July I emailed it to Black Library's range development editor Christian Dunn.

And now, on Friday 6 July 2012, I'm very proud to announce that HERALD OF OBLIVION is available to buy direct from the Black Library.

If you're a fan of the Imperial Fists Space Marines, buy it! If you loathe and detest the Golden Avengers -  buy it! (Why? Just read the book and you'll soon find out.) If you're a fan of Space Marines - buy it! If you're a fan of Orks, Tyranids, Necrons or Dark Eldar - buy it! If you're a fan of the classic GW board game SPACE HULK - buy it! If you're a fan of the Adeptus Mechanicus - buy it! Even if you are a vehement supporter of the Traitor Legions - buy it! There really is something for everyone in this book!


And if that's not enough to sell it to you, it also features the awesome artwork of Mr Karl Richardson, the artist on Dan Abnett's legendary LONE WOLVES.

I don't know if the idea had been mooted at Games Workshop before (after all, the original founders of the company did also create the Fighting Fantasy series of gamebooks) but what I do know is that Marc Gascoigne and I first pitched the idea of a series of Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 gamebooks to Boxtree back in 1995-96. Obviously nothing came of the idea at the time, but in 2007 Black Library editor Nick Kyme got in touch about the possibility of doing something then. But as things turned out it wasn't until long time FF devotee Christian Dunn was on board (GW having sold the Solaris imprint to Rebellion) that what had been a dream for many (myself included) finally became reality.

HERALD OF OBLIVION may be my first gamebook for the Black Library, but as long-term readers of this blog will know, it's not my first adventure gamebook. It is in fact my fourteenth published adventure in twenty years*. My other gamebook titles include seven Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, two Sonic the Hedgehog adventures, one Doctor Who, one Star Wars The Clone Wars, one Gamebook Adventure app, and the first part in the Warlock's Bounty series.

If you're interested the full list of titles is as follows:

Spellbreaker (Fighting Fantasy)
Knights of Doom (Fighting Fantasy)
Curse of the Mummy (Fighting Fantasy)
Bloodbones (Fighting Fantasy)
Howl of the Werewolf (Fighting Fantasy)
Stormslayer (Fighting Fantasy)
Night of the Necromancer (Fighting Fantasy)
Theme Park Panic (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Stormin' Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog)
The Horror of Howling Hill (Doctor Who)
Crisis on Coruscant (Star Wars The Clone Wars)
Temple of the Spider God (Gamebook Adventures)
Revenge of the Sorcerer (Warlock's Bounty)
HERALD OF OBLIVION (Path to Victory)


If you enjoy HERALD OF OBLIVION and you've not read any of my other gamebooks before, why not check them out? And of course if you enjoy HERALD OF OBLIVION, you'll enjoy my other Warhammer 40,000 book and short stories, including THE ARMAGEDDON OMNIBUS and the novel IRON HANDS.

And lastly, if you do enjoy HERALD OF OBLIVION please post a review on the Black Library website, and drop me a line too, if you like. It's always great to hear from gamebook fans.

* That's right, this summer marks 20 years since my first commission, which just so happens to have been my first gamebook Spellbreaker. And which book is it that's out in time for the 20 year anniversary? HERALD OF OBLIVION - another gamebook! Oh, and my current project is my first Warhammer Path to Victory book SHADOWS OVER SYLVANIA. (What are the chances?)