Blackstone Fortress novelisation?

[Knockagh]

Still very available on Black Library website

[Burni]

ebook is available on the Apple Book Store now. 1 Chapter in and not bad so far.

[Burni]

About half way through and here's a few notes.

 

The navigator is called something different than the game and UR-625 and the Ratlings have just been brief encounters and not part of the story.I really hope that changes otherwise I'll be disappointed as I wanted to get some more snippets on the robot. But I'm enjoying the story overall.

[Panzer]

About half way through and here's a few notes.

 

The navigator is called something different than the game and UR-625 and the Ratlings have just been brief encounters and not part of the story.I really hope that changes otherwise I'll be disappointed as I wanted to get some more snippets on the robot. But I'm enjoying the story overall.

 

It was already known that some characters, including the UR-025, would be only short visitors in the novel and by no means play a bigger role for the story. Don't expect to learn more about them there, the story is not about them.

[Burni]

 

About half way through and here's a few notes.

 

The navigator is called something different than the game and UR-625 and the Ratlings have just been brief encounters and not part of the story.I really hope that changes otherwise I'll be disappointed as I wanted to get some more snippets on the robot. But I'm enjoying the story overall.

 

It was already known that some characters, including the UR-025, would be only short visitors in the novel and by no means play a bigger role for the story. Don't expect to learn more about them there, the story is not about them.

 

 

Ah I hadn't heard that - shame. Still, decent enough story so far.

[Taliesin]

 

About half way through and here's a few notes.

 

The navigator is called something different than the game and UR-625 and the Ratlings have just been brief encounters and not part of the story.I really hope that changes otherwise I'll be disappointed as I wanted to get some more snippets on the robot. But I'm enjoying the story overall.

 

It was already known that some characters, including the UR-025, would be only short visitors in the novel and by no means play a bigger role for the story. Don't expect to learn more about them there, the story is not about them.

 

 

That is indeed a shame. I'll give this a pass.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Taliesin

[Panzer]

lol just because of that? Not sure why you were expecting all of the box characters to play a role in a single story.

[Gederas]

lol just because of that? Not sure why you were expecting all of the box characters to play a role in a single story.

Because it's a novelization of the box game? One would assume it involves all the characters from the boxed game in the book.

[Panzer]

That's a ton of characters. No way that would happen in a single story.

[DarkChaplain]

IS IT a novelization of the boxed game, though? Or just one that ties into that game?

 

For the record, Josh Reynolds' Soul Storm novel DID NOT novelize the Age of Sigmar 2nd Edition starter set, either. It deliberately told a parallel story. Dark Imperium didn't really tell a story about Primaris Ultramarines vs Death Guard, though they featured. The Deathwatch: Overkill tie-in short stories presented a prequel for each character included. The Shadespire novel or short stories didn't prove to be proper adaptations either.

 

While there's always been overlap between tie-in novels and their box sets, the number of actual straight novelizations is slim, and deliberately so. You already get a booklet with the narrative background on the characters and missions in the game.

[cheywood]

Hinks mentioned in the Track of Words interview he’d be interested in writing more about the characters. Maybe false hope but who knows what happens if the sales numbers are good.

 

Edit: and I think there’s gonna be a few stories about the characters in the advent shorts. 3 specifically if I recall correctly.

Edited November 27, 2018 by cheywood

[klisof]

IS IT a novelization of the boxed game, though? Or just one that ties into that game?

 

.

I've not had a chance to have a crack at the board game yet but the book reads like a prequel.

It features the first meeting of several of the characters in the game.

[Gederas]

I guess they should have said it's not a novelization of the boxed game but a prequel, which would have prevented the confusion. Because they kept referring to it as a "novelization of the Blackstone Fortress board game", which apparently made a lot of people, myself included, believe it was exactly what GW said.

 

The Deathwatch: Overkill tie-in short stories presented a prequel for each character included.

Side note: I just finished reading that last night. It was a prequel to the boxed game, not a novelization of the boxed game :lol: And the book's page description on Black Library even says as such :lol:

[Taliesin]

lol just because of that? Not sure why you were expecting all of the box characters to play a role in a single story.

 

Because that is exactly what seemed would be the case, that the book would feature at least the most advertised characters from the boxset.

And if you're wondering what most advertised would be, you would be thinking of the characters highlighted at Warhammer Community articles in the week leading up to the release.

[Panzer]

Well it's on you if you assume things. The cover doesn't show the bot or the Kroot etc and they don't appear anywhere in the description either. I mean I would've loved to have those two as major characters in the story but I never even for one second assumed they are based on the informations we were given.

[Burni]

The Kroot is in it a decent amount.

[Taliesin]

Well it's on you if you assume things. The cover doesn't show the bot or the Kroot etc and they don't appear anywhere in the description either. I mean I would've loved to have those two as major characters in the story but I never even for one second assumed they are based on the informations we were given.

 

I'm fine with not picking this book up, as I said. I disagree with your assessment though that there was no reason to expect that these characters would be covered, there clearly was every reason to think it would be, it just turns out not to be the case. If any book could be expected to do it, it would be the tie-in novel for this boxset ;)

[Burni]

Finished the book now. Not quite what I was expecting but was an enjoyable read.

 

The Kroot, RT, the Priest and Vorne all get decent character plots (the Kroot being the standout for me and definitely comes out on top). Ratlings and UR-625 have a one line mention each (yes really). The Elder Ranger is not mentioned at all. There's a DE it in and some dead Eldar but that's it.

 

But other than the shared character names it doesn't have much to do with the game. Some of the baddies are in there but some are characterised oddly, like the book was written without the author knowing anything about the game apart from a name or image of the mini.

 

The guardsmen in particular felt this way to me. And the small event with the spindle drones seemed dropped in as the majority of the BSF defences are described very differently. There's even a rogue psyker... who it turns out actually looks a Fiend. Odd when there's literally a rogue psyker mini in the game! And he's working with what is described as some Nurgley demon - odd.

 

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it. But it just had a lot of odd choices and a lack of synergy with the game (or in some cases general 40k background)

[sitnam]

Hmm. Seeing as how I picked-up Blackstone for the Kroot model (My favorite Xenos), seems like from the reviews here it'll be worth picking up the novel too just for him

[Byrd]

Ltd edition and normal hardback both sold out in stores and online (GW.com and BL.com) :(

 

It's not going to be reprinted in hardback, so I'll have to wait until May 2019 for the paperback.

 

A popular title, it seems.

[Red_Shift]

I would be interested in a softback but there's too much cool coming out of Gw in general for me to be able to afford it at the mo. I'm a bit disappointed that the robot and ratling s don't feature much, neither have much attention in novels so far.

[shandwen]

I personally loved how each character from the game showed up (if renamed as the navigator was). My highlight was the eldar ranger.

[DarkChaplain]

I would be interested in a softback but there's too much cool coming out of Gw in general for me to be able to afford it at the mo. I'm a bit disappointed that the robot and ratling s don't feature much, neither have much attention in novels so far.

 

Both of them got coverage in the advent calendar, at least!

[cheywood]

Finished this a little while ago. Fun read, especially towards the end. If you want a novel about rogue traders then this probably isn’t the book for you. The main character might be a rogue trader but I’d say Abnett’s Inquistion novels, or the Horusian Wars more recently, offer greater detail about how rogue traders operate (also the rogue trader omnibus, though I can’t say I love the series). On the other hand if you want a book about the Blackstone Fortress’ depths and the lives of those who would plumb them this will more than satisfy. The prose is fluid and unobtrusive, Draik feels well realized as a main character, and the tone does a decent job weaving the aspirations of the adventurers and the alien mystery of the Fortress with the general hopelessness of 40k.

 

It’s a prequel to the game, and Hinks both gives an epic quest to his band of adventurers and leaves plenty of room for further exploration either in the game itself or future books. The story moves quickly and never says too much about the Fortress. The characters all feel distinct enough without overpowering one another, and the ending left me with a nice sense of understated contentment.

 

Unfortunately, there are some minor inconsistencies between the models in the game and their depictions in the book, like a character having slightly different weapons. Most particularly Draik has some household guards with him for a decent portion of the book and beyond the barest of details we never learn anything about them, even their names. I’m not sure they have any dialog either. They’re minor details in a good story, but they standout a little for me. This almost seems like the rare case where GW and BL could’ve benefited from a little more collaboration like we were seeing a few years ago (surprised to find myself saying that).

 

Overall I think Hinks does really well with the subsetting and it plays to his strengths as a slightly more playful story than is typical for 40k that gives him some room to explore within the IP. I’d like to see more from him in the Blackstone, the weirdness seems to work with his sense of fun and structure.

Edited December 30, 2018 by cheywood

[Knockagh]

I haven’t read this book yet, so this could be total nonsense, I’m just going on some of the reviews. I’m slightly disappointed that this doesn’t really seem to be a rogue trader book. I loved the original rogue trader books and the idea of a running series on a rogue trader family really appeals to me. Does anyone who has read the book perhaps see this as a possiblity from the book?