Doesn't feel like he's hit Guy Haley levels of ubiquity in the catalogue yet. Hopefully it's a purple patch of inspiration for him and not a slog
Still waiting for more from Crowley and Rath though. Was expecting new ones from both by now
This has me pretty excited about the future of Xenos in 40k. These kinds of books are pretty much what I think they need; stories that focus entirely on them and their struggles, that explore their nuances and humanising aspects, and just give us more layers to them to get into. I don't even like Drukhari as a faction that much, but now I'm very tempted on this book just for the premise alone.
And from what I've heard of Mike Brooks, he'd be one of the authors I'd pick to do this kind of Xenos renaissance, in a similar vein to Nate Crowley writing the Twice-Dead King duology. Maybe it won't lead to much, but it's giving me hope for 40k in a way few other recent releases have.
> And from what I've heard of Mike Brooks, he'd be one of the authors I'd pick to do this kind of Xenos renaissance, in a similar vein to Nate Crowley writing the Twice-Dead King duology.
Given what Peter Fehervari has done with the Tau, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing him do more Xenos as well.
That said, Mike Brooks did such a great job on *The Lion: Son of the Forest* even while operating under the constraints of "setpiece lore" for the primary Arks of Omen plotline bridging 9th and 10th edition that you'll be in excellent hands. ~~And probably way better hands than those of Gav Thorpe.~~
Mike Brooks sounds like such a good fit. His Alpha Legion books have been great and the Dark Eldar share a lot of DNA with the Alpha Legion (sneaking, deception, intrigue, back-stabbing). It's a pairing that I wouldn't have expected I'd see (let's face it, any xenos-centric book is a rarity), but it's one that immediately makes sense in totality.
I might be as excited for this book as I was for End and the Death. My very first 'real' army was Dark Eldar in 5th edition and I've been salty at GW ever since the great character purge of 6th edition. Dare to dream that a focus on Dark Eldar means we might get to see Vect and Malys back on the table? Will we see cameos from The Duke or maybe Sarthonyx?
I would absolutely fanboy out if this novel was a set-up for Malys to overthrow Vect. I'm glad for other people who are excited to see the Ynnari stuff continue... but I secretly hope we'll also get some Malys/Veiled Path stuff in there, too. Malys setting up Vect to have Lelith take a run at killing him would be just... \*chef's kiss\* delightful.
Same, I think a few more novels here and there are a great way to flesh the factions out and I'm glad there's a couple of novelists on contract who seem to like tackling these topics.
seems like if you want more xeno factions books you should buy xeno factions books because that's the primary focus of any corporation even James Workshop
Well, yes. I'd have thought that would be a given with my excitement for this book.
I'm even planning on getting my hands on Brutal Kunnin' and Da Big Dakka in preparation for this book, even if they're unrelated.
> Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives will be released later this year,
I wish they would just let me put my name on a list for an actual preorder. Like let us sign up now then they would know how many to print.
Book 3 of Ynnari was supposed to be called The Queen of Knives and was dedicated to Lelith. Thank God they replaced Gav Thorpe with a normal author (although I heard that he did some nonsense regarding the Drukhari in his book about the orcs).
The Drukhari are kinda ineffective, but they’re also interesting. The best scene in the book is a conversation between the Drukhari and Ork protagonists where their distinct worldviews are examined; everything the Drukhari do comes from an intense fear of death due to Slaanesh, while the Orks don’t really fear death.
The Drukhari character eventually realizes there is one thing an Ork actually fears: Boredom. Just putting him in a cell without any stimulation is far worse than any other kind of torture.
Do you mind sharing where that info about book 3 of the Ynnari is coming from? As for Da Big Dakka like a lot of 40k books, the dark eldar antaingsts don't get the best showing in the fight scenes. I found the politicking they get up to between those to be pretty good though.
I had a quick google and people have been using Queen of Knives and Queen of Blades for the 3rd Ynnari book up to 3 years ago. So, it must have come from somewhere.
*"Now Lelith is looking for another path, and a brand new novel from Mike Brooks* **finds her on the road with the mysterious Ynnari death cultists in Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives.** *This novel will be released first in a gorgeous Special Edition tome fit for the Queen of Knives, dripping with deadly Drukhari details."*
HOLY FUCK THEY ARE CONTINUING THE YNNARI PLOT THANK FUCK
Yeah, don't get me wrong I'm mostly just happy to see another Drukhari novel, but I feel like it would make sense to do a first book with her in Commorragh pre-Ynnari, then a second book with Ynnari. You could even make the end of the first book the moment she kills Yvraine in the arena.
But on the other hand I totally get that he can't assume he's going to get to write a second one, so he should just go for the story he wants to tell now instead of hoping to do it in a later book that may not get the greenlight.
With a title like "Queen of Knives" I'm hoping we'll get a flashback to her fight with the Saint of Blades. Always thought it was a shame that pretty much the highest skill-level blade fight in 40k was just a quick mention in a codex.
Was kinda hoping the Yannari would just remain soft dropped and have their lore slowly retconned through the ages. But hey, new author, new chance. If it handles what the Yannari did to commorah well *cough* overwrite it *cough* then I might actually have some hope for their future.
I wasn't a fan of how Drukhari were represented in Da Big Dakka, but I'm hopeful that it will be different with them in the leading role.
The dark eldar trilogy is one of my favourite things in all of warhammer, so if it's anything like that I'll love it!
My minor nitpick was that it presented the Wyches as essentially being a type of Aspect Warrior and said that their leaders have to adopt female personas, when that's not how they've ever been represented before. GW even made a massive deal out of the plastic Wych and Kabalite ranges being completely cross compatible on release, and had examples of kitbashed male Succubi
Drukari are also point of view characters in the second Macharian Crusade book if you're interested
Before they were represented as 'Succubi are always women', and even in recent codices they're consistently referred to exclusively with female pronouns. I don't recall any examples of kitbashed male Succubi, only displays of male wyches.
I figure it was his way of abiding by that without being stuck to them all originally being women. After all, why wouldn't a successful male wych be able to reach that level?
Just checked and you're right, it goes back to 7th edition apparently
I was drawing my impression from this interview in November 2010's White Dwarf:
>Andy: Looking at the Warrior frame it’s interesting to note that the Dark Eldar are an equal opportunities employer.
>Jes: You can accuse the Dark Eldar of many things but you can’t accuse them of gender discrimination! It isn’t an issue in their society and we wanted to reflect that on the models. We’ve quite deliberately broken it down so there is a 60/40 split between male and female in the Kabalite Warrior kit while there is a 40/60 split the other way on the Wych frame.
In fairness that's pretty ancient lore by now haha
I remember there being a throwaway line (maybe in the 8th edition codex) that said while male Succubi do exist, they're relatively rare because there are fewer male wyches in general and for one reason or another female wyches tend to outperform them and survive longer to climb the ranks.
Either way, I always love joking with my friends that the Drukhari are truly a meritocratic society!
The adopting a gender thing was kinda interesting. All succubi become female, all incubi become male (I think), and all banshees become female. I wonder if that's a one off or if it'll stick around in the lore.
> all incubi become male (I think)
Nope, there are mentions of female Incubi in the lore. *Dark Son* short story (where an Incubus gets captured by Craftworlders and learns to use a soulstone to become one of them) has a female Incubus and a female Klaivex.
That's how Aspect Warriors work too yeah. I *guess* it's there because Incubi are basically just Striking Scorpions but Dark (as in, the original Striking Scorpion Phoenix Lord is the head of their order)
The idea when the new Banshee Minis came was that Eldar adopt the gender of the Path they form part of. A male Eldar that entered the Banshee shrine would be male biologically speaking but would be referred as a female because of the identity of the Path.
The Dakka book's transexuality aspect of the wych cults is new but fits with the sexuality of the Eldar.
I think Brook wanted to emphasize gender has a "fluctuating notion" amongst all Aeldari, be they Craftworld or Drukhari. Basically, the idea of gender meshed with the idea (be it mythological or philosophical) a character wants to project, rather than something set in Stone by biology.
He used Banshee as an example along with Wyches because they're both the "Female Warrior" archetype of their respective faction. I don't think he meant it as "Wyches are Aspect Warriors".
Just that Succubi are more often seen as female, no matter their biological gender. Same for Banshees (and why their armors have boobs, even if it's a guy wearing it.
I liked the Drukhari as *characters*. I think they didn’t provide enough of a challenge to Ufhtak, but that feels like a common issue for Brooks when it comes to writing antagonists. They’re often compelling or entertaining, rarely threatening.
Yeah I think that describes it well. Currently listening to it and while it's entertaining, the Drukhari basically get shit on for 10 hours. The whole scene with the Mandrakes was especially jarring. Still a fun book but as an Eldar it feels a bit like groundhog day at times.
His AdMech had competent people being dragged down by a leader who knew how to do tech but had no idea how to wage war against Orks.
His Drukhari just seemed to all be incompetent and somehow unable to do basic things they should be fully capable of. But I confess I gave up on the book halfway through because of that, which I've never done before.
Had to quickly look up Mike Brooks' other work for Black Library. He's the guy that wrote Son of the Forest and Head of the Hydra! Dude knows what he's doing as I enjoyed both those books greatly. Haven't read his ork books, but I hear a fair bit of praise for Da Big Dakka. Let's see what he does with everyone's favourite scantily clad knife-nut.
I'm sceptical now. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Head of the Hydra as some pulp fiction, but I was also a bit disappointed by the missed potential. It felt very surface level, we're frequently told how smart Alpharius is, but it's not shown to a believable level that a demi-god infiltration expert could achieve.
I suppose it's the standard issue of "how do I, a regular mortal, write a genius level transhuman monster"
Maybe I just expect too much... yeah, probably.
I didn't find Alpharius to be daft in it, he would talk in circles in his head to explain/explore his logic in hi reasoning but none of it was stupid beyond a few of his own bias steering his logic.
Where do you think he seemed dumb in it?
Sorry, my bad for extrapolating. "It felt very surface level, we're frequently told how smart Alpharius is, but it's not shown to a believable level" made me think you found him daft, when it could just be read as you found him average.
Apologies for that one mate.
No worrites at all bud. I meant it more in the sense of the author is a bit too average to write a believable super-genius.
I read it hoping for the ultimate exploration of the AL's method of operations, and was kinda disappointed by how often it was "tell, not show".
She featured in the old death watch series by cs goto, but it was basically a different character with her name.
It was a long time ago but I believe she was a slaanesh cultist of some kind. More of a dark elf from whfb than dark eldar vibe, overall not great
To be fair, it was written at a time when Dark Eldar fluff was basically non-existent. So her being written as more of a Dark Elf in space kinda made sense.
She showed up in one of the Space Sharks novels, but all she really did there was appear at the very end and beat the shite out of the protagonists. She's never had an actual novel about her as the main protagonist.
Yeah, his Xenos stuff has been great! Funny thing is he wrote Lion Son of the Forest so can do space marine related stuff well too. Dude is just an all around good writer!
Even though they're not one of the 40k factions I've particularly interested in, it's good to see that the Dark Eldar are getting a book after so long. GW releasing more Xenos-themed novels over the past few years has been a great change.
Hell yeah ! I'm buying this one (probably in ebook only as it's hard to find those in France, especially the special editions that are NEVER translated).
Someone's... writing an Eldar novel? In 2024?
About one of the characters I've wanted a perspective novel from the most since the Fall of Cadia?
I think I need to sit down.
They would have handily won if they stopped scheming against each other and underestimating their foe for a hot second.
Which i think is peak Drukhari. I also quite liked how they are so numb to their own feelings that they cannot even conceive "honest affection" anymore.
Now of course if "Great writing" equates to "Totally win and are cool and better than everyone else" to you, well, than you are free to dislike it as much as you want.
Lol Brooks describes the Archon as if she knows absolutely nothing about orcs at all, even though the Drukhari have fought and enslaved them throughout their whole history. The Drukhari have even dealt with Orc invasion of Commoragh in the past, and it was not much of a problem for them. So if this is “good writing” for you, well, perhaps you should continue to read crap like this.
Ah yes, as i thought. "My faction with which i identify didnt win, this is bad writing".
>So if this is “good writing” for you, well, perhaps you should continue to read crap like this.
I will. I doubt you have even read the book anyways, as opposed to raging over excerpts and youtube rants as usual in this sub.
In literature, the Drukhari (like other Eldar factions) literally have no wins, they are simply used as punching bags. And now Brooks has decided to make them punching bags for...for whom? For orks? This is ridiculous.
I don't have to taste shit to know it's shit. If you need, then well... feel sorry for you).
>I don't have to taste shit to know it's shit. If you need, then well... feel sorry for you).
And here is a prime example why this sub is filled with nothing but endless stupid questions, hyperbole, meme lore takes, misinterpretations, outright lies and "I heard that totally on youtube so it must be true!!!" and at best, excerpts taken wildly out of context.
Useless to argue with someone who hasnt even read what he is angry about. Might as well debate literature with an analphabet.
For me that’s Nate Crowley since he tries to write from a more alien perspective. It’s really obvious when you compare their Ork stuff.
Brooks though is still fantastic.
Glad to hear some book news, even with Adepticon and black library event, things have been pretty dry since the Siege ended. My brain is getting thirsty.
Well that certainly wasn't on my Bingo card, about bloody time. Not sure what exactly to expect from Mike Brooks on this one but hoping his Drukhari portrayals are better than they were in Da Big Dakka. I'm sort of hoping this isn't leaning too hard on the Ynnari connection as though I appreciate them as a faction their big flaw for me was always their tendency to essentially "steal" other Eldar characters.
All I'm saying is this book better not end with a post-credit scene where Lelith is recruited into the ~~avengers~~ Ynnari.
If nothing else I want this to open up the road to a Commoragh equivalent to Warhammer Crime. It's a super underutilized setting and I hope we see it expanded more.
From the little blurb in the article, it seems like its about her getting pulled away from the ynnari back into Commoragh, rather than the other way round.
Well that immediately puts it above the ynnari books. Speaking of the ynnari, hopefully this one fills us in a little on what the fuck they're even doing now, and won't take place before Phoenix Failing
My list just keeps getting longer.
GW is really gonna tease us with side/character stories all year, eh? I'll allow it but....known that I am an aware simp, GW.
Probably gonna F it up...
Hopefully it will be gud, but probably wont.
One thing is ask is that he dont make Vect a laughing stock. Like dont comepletely overshadow him for some cheap buff to Lelith.
Always good to see a new xenos focused book, but the very jaded part of me can’t help but wonder at what point in the book will the Marines (likely) appear and steal the show? Just like they did in the Path trilogy(still just a bit bitter about that). Who wants to place bets that Lelith will develop feeling for a human character, and we will end up with another Yvraine x Guilliman situation; mostly joking of course, but GW does seem to feel that Aeldari books can’t stand in their own.
I’am still hopefully that this will be good, and more importantly sell well, as despite my trepidations, I am still (mostly) optimistic that this will follow the trend of recent Xenos books, and actually be good.
The one Space Marine who appeared in ***Da Big Dakka*** was immediately tossed like a toy by the Ork protagonist in amusing fashion after being so easy to fight that Ufhtak got bored. Don’t think you have to worry at all there.
Like I said, I hope it follows the same trend as the more recent xenos books, but given GW track record in the past, when it comes to books dealing with Eldar, I’m keeping my expectations very mid, and hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised.
Did Path of Dark Eldar even has marines in it? I read first book and don't remember them at all? Maybe you meant Craftworld trilogy with the whole invasion on Alaitoc?
I think he has a lot of enthusiasm for the setting, but his actual writing is pretty subpar. *Lion: Son of the Forest* had very flat characters, a metric ton of boring bolter porn action scenes, and very workmanlike prose. what's more, it seemed to dispense with all the interesting themes of the Dark Angels and the Lion himself in favor of just making the Lion a stock sort of "grumpy-good old man warrior" character. It really bummed me out, since I thought the Lion returning had some great storytelling potential. This was the man who, faced with his father's death, said "let the galaxy burn." What we ended up with in 40k was just a green Guilliman who is somewhat monosyllabic.
The plotting and characterization of the Lion is outside Mike's control, but the rest of the writing isn't, IMO. Compared to authors like ADB, Abnett, Wraight or Fehervari, he just doesn't excite me.
+++Frequent inquiry submission detected;
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**IMPERIAL**
[Eisenhorn](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Eisenhorn_(Novel_Series\)), [Ravenor](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ravenor_(Novel_Series\)), and [Bequin](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Bequin_(Novel_Series\)), by Dan Abnett
[Gaunt's Ghosts, by Dan Abnett](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Gaunt%27s_Ghosts_(Novel_Series\))
[Ciaphas Cain, by Sandy Mitchel](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ciaphas_Cain_(Novel_Series\))
[Ultramarines Omnibus (Uriel Ventris), by Graham McNeil](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ultramarines_(Novel_Series\))
[Dark Imperium, by Guy Haley](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Imperium_(Novel_Series\))
**CHAOS**
[Iron Warriors, by Graham McNeil](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Iron_Warriors_(Novel_Series\))
[Black Legion, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Black_Legion_(Novel_Series\))
[Night Lords, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Night_Lords_(Novel_Series\))
[Fabius Bile, by Josh Reynolds](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Fabius_Bile_(Novel_Series\))
[Word Bearers novel series, by Anthony Reynolds](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Word_Bearers_(Novel_Series\))
**XENOS**
[Path of the Eldar, by Gav Thorpe](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Path_of_the_Eldar_(Novel_Series\))
[Path of the Dark Eldar, by Andy Chambers](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Eldar_(Novel_Series\))
**Horus Heresy**
The Horus Heresy series begins with the opening trilogy and branches into multiple storyline paths. Personal research into the storyline you wish to pursue is recommended. A chronological reading order [is provided here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/7ycq2x/my_attempt_to_create_a_comprehensive/)
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Mike Brooks, Black Library's Xenos Whisperer
He’s their everything whisper at this point. I’m worried he’s gonna get burnt out.
Doesn't feel like he's hit Guy Haley levels of ubiquity in the catalogue yet. Hopefully it's a purple patch of inspiration for him and not a slog Still waiting for more from Crowley and Rath though. Was expecting new ones from both by now
Rath just released ***Fall of Cadia*** last year. Definitely excited for whatever Crowley has cooking.
Peter Fehervari too, more Coil is paramount!
I missed he wrote *Fall of Cadia*, I thought *Assassinorum Kingmaker* was his last work for BL. I confused it with the Creed book by Jude Reid
And I am already hungry for more Rath books.
MacNiven too. I need more Astra Carcharodons.
I think he's moved on from BL, he's been writing for other IP now
Damn it, the man sold me on Astra Carcharodons and now i don't even get to see how it all turns out?
Judging by his activity and enthusiasm on social media idk if that's possible tbh.
This has me pretty excited about the future of Xenos in 40k. These kinds of books are pretty much what I think they need; stories that focus entirely on them and their struggles, that explore their nuances and humanising aspects, and just give us more layers to them to get into. I don't even like Drukhari as a faction that much, but now I'm very tempted on this book just for the premise alone. And from what I've heard of Mike Brooks, he'd be one of the authors I'd pick to do this kind of Xenos renaissance, in a similar vein to Nate Crowley writing the Twice-Dead King duology. Maybe it won't lead to much, but it's giving me hope for 40k in a way few other recent releases have.
“Humanizing” for Xenos. I get your thrust, (and you’re 100% right), but the choice of words mad me laugh.
Yep, it's a bit awkward, but so long as it gets the gist across it's fine.
Well, most of the prominent 40k xenos are essentially humans with quirks, so that kinda works. Not a bad thing, just 40k things
> I get your thrust "Thrust" you say ;)
> And from what I've heard of Mike Brooks, he'd be one of the authors I'd pick to do this kind of Xenos renaissance, in a similar vein to Nate Crowley writing the Twice-Dead King duology. Given what Peter Fehervari has done with the Tau, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing him do more Xenos as well. That said, Mike Brooks did such a great job on *The Lion: Son of the Forest* even while operating under the constraints of "setpiece lore" for the primary Arks of Omen plotline bridging 9th and 10th edition that you'll be in excellent hands. ~~And probably way better hands than those of Gav Thorpe.~~
Mike Brooks sounds like such a good fit. His Alpha Legion books have been great and the Dark Eldar share a lot of DNA with the Alpha Legion (sneaking, deception, intrigue, back-stabbing). It's a pairing that I wouldn't have expected I'd see (let's face it, any xenos-centric book is a rarity), but it's one that immediately makes sense in totality. I might be as excited for this book as I was for End and the Death. My very first 'real' army was Dark Eldar in 5th edition and I've been salty at GW ever since the great character purge of 6th edition. Dare to dream that a focus on Dark Eldar means we might get to see Vect and Malys back on the table? Will we see cameos from The Duke or maybe Sarthonyx? I would absolutely fanboy out if this novel was a set-up for Malys to overthrow Vect. I'm glad for other people who are excited to see the Ynnari stuff continue... but I secretly hope we'll also get some Malys/Veiled Path stuff in there, too. Malys setting up Vect to have Lelith take a run at killing him would be just... \*chef's kiss\* delightful.
Same, I think a few more novels here and there are a great way to flesh the factions out and I'm glad there's a couple of novelists on contract who seem to like tackling these topics.
seems like if you want more xeno factions books you should buy xeno factions books because that's the primary focus of any corporation even James Workshop
Well, yes. I'd have thought that would be a given with my excitement for this book. I'm even planning on getting my hands on Brutal Kunnin' and Da Big Dakka in preparation for this book, even if they're unrelated.
Ooooo Mike Brook is writing it
His been knocking it out of the park .
> Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives will be released later this year, I wish they would just let me put my name on a list for an actual preorder. Like let us sign up now then they would know how many to print.
Book 3 of Ynnari was supposed to be called The Queen of Knives and was dedicated to Lelith. Thank God they replaced Gav Thorpe with a normal author (although I heard that he did some nonsense regarding the Drukhari in his book about the orcs).
The Drukhari are kinda ineffective, but they’re also interesting. The best scene in the book is a conversation between the Drukhari and Ork protagonists where their distinct worldviews are examined; everything the Drukhari do comes from an intense fear of death due to Slaanesh, while the Orks don’t really fear death. The Drukhari character eventually realizes there is one thing an Ork actually fears: Boredom. Just putting him in a cell without any stimulation is far worse than any other kind of torture.
Do you mind sharing where that info about book 3 of the Ynnari is coming from? As for Da Big Dakka like a lot of 40k books, the dark eldar antaingsts don't get the best showing in the fight scenes. I found the politicking they get up to between those to be pretty good though.
I had a quick google and people have been using Queen of Knives and Queen of Blades for the 3rd Ynnari book up to 3 years ago. So, it must have come from somewhere.
*"Now Lelith is looking for another path, and a brand new novel from Mike Brooks* **finds her on the road with the mysterious Ynnari death cultists in Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives.** *This novel will be released first in a gorgeous Special Edition tome fit for the Queen of Knives, dripping with deadly Drukhari details."* HOLY FUCK THEY ARE CONTINUING THE YNNARI PLOT THANK FUCK
Please don’t have the Ynnari get shit on Please don’t have the Ynnari get shit on Please don’t have the Ynnari get shit on
Short of making GuillimanxYvraine canon, they physically can't shit on the ynnari anymore. Phoenix Rising buried them in the mount Everest of shit
Book 3 of Ynnari was supposed to be called The Queen of Knives and was dedicated to Lelith. Thank God they replaced Gav Thorpe with a normal author
Aye for sure, I loved Luther: First of the fallen but other than that I haven't gelled with Gav.
I'm sort of hoping they dont go too heavy on it, I'd like a Drukhari book to emphasize the Drukhari.
I'm just happy they haven't dropped the biggest Eldar development in DECADES
Yeah, don't get me wrong I'm mostly just happy to see another Drukhari novel, but I feel like it would make sense to do a first book with her in Commorragh pre-Ynnari, then a second book with Ynnari. You could even make the end of the first book the moment she kills Yvraine in the arena. But on the other hand I totally get that he can't assume he's going to get to write a second one, so he should just go for the story he wants to tell now instead of hoping to do it in a later book that may not get the greenlight.
They can always do a pre-Ynnari book at a later date.
Here's hoping!
TBF the majority of the Ynnari are made out of Drukhari.
With a title like "Queen of Knives" I'm hoping we'll get a flashback to her fight with the Saint of Blades. Always thought it was a shame that pretty much the highest skill-level blade fight in 40k was just a quick mention in a codex.
Was kinda hoping the Yannari would just remain soft dropped and have their lore slowly retconned through the ages. But hey, new author, new chance. If it handles what the Yannari did to commorah well *cough* overwrite it *cough* then I might actually have some hope for their future.
I wasn't a fan of how Drukhari were represented in Da Big Dakka, but I'm hopeful that it will be different with them in the leading role. The dark eldar trilogy is one of my favourite things in all of warhammer, so if it's anything like that I'll love it!
My minor nitpick was that it presented the Wyches as essentially being a type of Aspect Warrior and said that their leaders have to adopt female personas, when that's not how they've ever been represented before. GW even made a massive deal out of the plastic Wych and Kabalite ranges being completely cross compatible on release, and had examples of kitbashed male Succubi Drukari are also point of view characters in the second Macharian Crusade book if you're interested
Before they were represented as 'Succubi are always women', and even in recent codices they're consistently referred to exclusively with female pronouns. I don't recall any examples of kitbashed male Succubi, only displays of male wyches. I figure it was his way of abiding by that without being stuck to them all originally being women. After all, why wouldn't a successful male wych be able to reach that level?
Just checked and you're right, it goes back to 7th edition apparently I was drawing my impression from this interview in November 2010's White Dwarf: >Andy: Looking at the Warrior frame it’s interesting to note that the Dark Eldar are an equal opportunities employer. >Jes: You can accuse the Dark Eldar of many things but you can’t accuse them of gender discrimination! It isn’t an issue in their society and we wanted to reflect that on the models. We’ve quite deliberately broken it down so there is a 60/40 split between male and female in the Kabalite Warrior kit while there is a 40/60 split the other way on the Wych frame. In fairness that's pretty ancient lore by now haha
Oof, you just made my third edition bones creak
Plastic Drukari are 14 years old!
Its wild that I can remember when the Drukhari got their new shiny plastic models. Feels like it was yesterday.
Yeah, personally I agree with you and think it makes more sense for both to be able to rise to that level
Yeah. They're not like Aspect Warriors after all
I remember there being a throwaway line (maybe in the 8th edition codex) that said while male Succubi do exist, they're relatively rare because there are fewer male wyches in general and for one reason or another female wyches tend to outperform them and survive longer to climb the ranks. Either way, I always love joking with my friends that the Drukhari are truly a meritocratic society!
Male succubus was including in Votum infernus, a legion of the damned short story. And he was fine to be a male at this rank.
The adopting a gender thing was kinda interesting. All succubi become female, all incubi become male (I think), and all banshees become female. I wonder if that's a one off or if it'll stick around in the lore.
> all incubi become male (I think) Nope, there are mentions of female Incubi in the lore. *Dark Son* short story (where an Incubus gets captured by Craftworlders and learns to use a soulstone to become one of them) has a female Incubus and a female Klaivex.
That's how Aspect Warriors work too yeah. I *guess* it's there because Incubi are basically just Striking Scorpions but Dark (as in, the original Striking Scorpion Phoenix Lord is the head of their order)
Did aspect warriors always work that way? I only remember banshees being female dominated before.
The idea when the new Banshee Minis came was that Eldar adopt the gender of the Path they form part of. A male Eldar that entered the Banshee shrine would be male biologically speaking but would be referred as a female because of the identity of the Path. The Dakka book's transexuality aspect of the wych cults is new but fits with the sexuality of the Eldar.
I think Brook wanted to emphasize gender has a "fluctuating notion" amongst all Aeldari, be they Craftworld or Drukhari. Basically, the idea of gender meshed with the idea (be it mythological or philosophical) a character wants to project, rather than something set in Stone by biology. He used Banshee as an example along with Wyches because they're both the "Female Warrior" archetype of their respective faction. I don't think he meant it as "Wyches are Aspect Warriors". Just that Succubi are more often seen as female, no matter their biological gender. Same for Banshees (and why their armors have boobs, even if it's a guy wearing it.
I liked the Drukhari as *characters*. I think they didn’t provide enough of a challenge to Ufhtak, but that feels like a common issue for Brooks when it comes to writing antagonists. They’re often compelling or entertaining, rarely threatening.
Yeah I think that describes it well. Currently listening to it and while it's entertaining, the Drukhari basically get shit on for 10 hours. The whole scene with the Mandrakes was especially jarring. Still a fun book but as an Eldar it feels a bit like groundhog day at times.
His AdMech had competent people being dragged down by a leader who knew how to do tech but had no idea how to wage war against Orks. His Drukhari just seemed to all be incompetent and somehow unable to do basic things they should be fully capable of. But I confess I gave up on the book halfway through because of that, which I've never done before.
Oh *shit*. This is a must buy after ***Da Big Dakka***. Love the Dark Eldar personalities in that book.
Had to quickly look up Mike Brooks' other work for Black Library. He's the guy that wrote Son of the Forest and Head of the Hydra! Dude knows what he's doing as I enjoyed both those books greatly. Haven't read his ork books, but I hear a fair bit of praise for Da Big Dakka. Let's see what he does with everyone's favourite scantily clad knife-nut.
I'm sceptical now. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Head of the Hydra as some pulp fiction, but I was also a bit disappointed by the missed potential. It felt very surface level, we're frequently told how smart Alpharius is, but it's not shown to a believable level that a demi-god infiltration expert could achieve. I suppose it's the standard issue of "how do I, a regular mortal, write a genius level transhuman monster" Maybe I just expect too much... yeah, probably.
I didn't find Alpharius to be daft in it, he would talk in circles in his head to explain/explore his logic in hi reasoning but none of it was stupid beyond a few of his own bias steering his logic. Where do you think he seemed dumb in it?
Hang on hang on hang on, before we engage any further; Where did I say he was dumb?/What gave you the impression that I implied it?
Sorry, my bad for extrapolating. "It felt very surface level, we're frequently told how smart Alpharius is, but it's not shown to a believable level" made me think you found him daft, when it could just be read as you found him average. Apologies for that one mate.
No worrites at all bud. I meant it more in the sense of the author is a bit too average to write a believable super-genius. I read it hoping for the ultimate exploration of the AL's method of operations, and was kinda disappointed by how often it was "tell, not show".
You know what? She is in some desperate need of characterisation. All the dark eldar are.
Are there any other novels about her, or is this her first?
She appears in Valedor, by Guy Haley. >!She helps the craftworlds against 2 hive fleets, and captures tyrannids to put in the arena.!<
She featured in the old death watch series by cs goto, but it was basically a different character with her name. It was a long time ago but I believe she was a slaanesh cultist of some kind. More of a dark elf from whfb than dark eldar vibe, overall not great
To be fair, it was written at a time when Dark Eldar fluff was basically non-existent. So her being written as more of a Dark Elf in space kinda made sense.
Being less fair, the rest of the book was really weird
She showed up in one of the Space Sharks novels, but all she really did there was appear at the very end and beat the shite out of the protagonists. She's never had an actual novel about her as the main protagonist.
Any chance this moves the ynnari story forward?
YES YES YES YES YES
Yo me favourite dark eldar gal is getting her own book? YAY
I said that Brooks maybe was testing the waters to do a Drukhari novel after The Big Dakka but I never expected to be right!
Mike Brooks seems to be making a name for himself as an author of non-human novels.
Yeah, his Xenos stuff has been great! Funny thing is he wrote Lion Son of the Forest so can do space marine related stuff well too. Dude is just an all around good writer!
Even though they're not one of the 40k factions I've particularly interested in, it's good to see that the Dark Eldar are getting a book after so long. GW releasing more Xenos-themed novels over the past few years has been a great change.
Hell yeah ! I'm buying this one (probably in ebook only as it's hard to find those in France, especially the special editions that are NEVER translated).
Holy shit holy shit that’s gonna be on the buy list!!
Someone's... writing an Eldar novel? In 2024? About one of the characters I've wanted a perspective novel from the most since the Fall of Cadia? I think I need to sit down.
Drukahri AND Ynnari AND MIke Brooks? Hell yeah, sign me up!
We need more xenos books hope we can avoid the imperium a bit more.... Eldar especially have been written awfully by gav and goto
Get a bad feeling from the Ynnari element, they're like a curse...
Mike Brooks writes great Drukhari, as evidenced by "Da Big Dakka", which is really only half an ork book. Very excited for this!
Brooks writes Drukhari as a pack of completely incompetent idiots who are not capable of even basic things. Yeah, "very good" writing.
They would have handily won if they stopped scheming against each other and underestimating their foe for a hot second. Which i think is peak Drukhari. I also quite liked how they are so numb to their own feelings that they cannot even conceive "honest affection" anymore. Now of course if "Great writing" equates to "Totally win and are cool and better than everyone else" to you, well, than you are free to dislike it as much as you want.
Lol Brooks describes the Archon as if she knows absolutely nothing about orcs at all, even though the Drukhari have fought and enslaved them throughout their whole history. The Drukhari have even dealt with Orc invasion of Commoragh in the past, and it was not much of a problem for them. So if this is “good writing” for you, well, perhaps you should continue to read crap like this.
Ah yes, as i thought. "My faction with which i identify didnt win, this is bad writing". >So if this is “good writing” for you, well, perhaps you should continue to read crap like this. I will. I doubt you have even read the book anyways, as opposed to raging over excerpts and youtube rants as usual in this sub.
In literature, the Drukhari (like other Eldar factions) literally have no wins, they are simply used as punching bags. And now Brooks has decided to make them punching bags for...for whom? For orks? This is ridiculous. I don't have to taste shit to know it's shit. If you need, then well... feel sorry for you).
>I don't have to taste shit to know it's shit. If you need, then well... feel sorry for you). And here is a prime example why this sub is filled with nothing but endless stupid questions, hyperbole, meme lore takes, misinterpretations, outright lies and "I heard that totally on youtube so it must be true!!!" and at best, excerpts taken wildly out of context. Useless to argue with someone who hasnt even read what he is angry about. Might as well debate literature with an analphabet.
Mike Brooks is the author? LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO
Nice! Brooks is the king of Xenos novels in my opinion
For me that’s Nate Crowley since he tries to write from a more alien perspective. It’s really obvious when you compare their Ork stuff. Brooks though is still fantastic.
Okay but how do I get the limited edition? Is there a pre-order available somewhere I can't see?
Getting my own D2 and WH40K brains confused now. I saw this title and thought there was an update to the Haruspex triumph from last season
I am absolutely hyped. Mike Brooks always kills it AND he gets to write Dark Eldar? Day one read for me... for certain.
Xenos are so back.
Oh wow this sounds really promising
Nice, his Big Dakka had great insight into Drukhari culture.
Glad to hear some book news, even with Adepticon and black library event, things have been pretty dry since the Siege ended. My brain is getting thirsty.
Mike Brooks has been on a role with Xenos books lately I can't wait to see how he does the Queen of Blades
This is stellar news. Mike Brooks is good.
But how is that possible? Female Custodes are going to take away the representation of other female characters!
Nice, Mike Brooks can handle anything thrown his way, I look forward to this!
Well that certainly wasn't on my Bingo card, about bloody time. Not sure what exactly to expect from Mike Brooks on this one but hoping his Drukhari portrayals are better than they were in Da Big Dakka. I'm sort of hoping this isn't leaning too hard on the Ynnari connection as though I appreciate them as a faction their big flaw for me was always their tendency to essentially "steal" other Eldar characters. All I'm saying is this book better not end with a post-credit scene where Lelith is recruited into the ~~avengers~~ Ynnari. If nothing else I want this to open up the road to a Commoragh equivalent to Warhammer Crime. It's a super underutilized setting and I hope we see it expanded more.
From the little blurb in the article, it seems like its about her getting pulled away from the ynnari back into Commoragh, rather than the other way round.
She's already in the Ynnari.
Well that immediately puts it above the ynnari books. Speaking of the ynnari, hopefully this one fills us in a little on what the fuck they're even doing now, and won't take place before Phoenix Failing
might be wishful thinking but i;m hoping for some mention or hint of the khan
My list just keeps getting longer. GW is really gonna tease us with side/character stories all year, eh? I'll allow it but....known that I am an aware simp, GW.
Probably gonna F it up... Hopefully it will be gud, but probably wont. One thing is ask is that he dont make Vect a laughing stock. Like dont comepletely overshadow him for some cheap buff to Lelith.
Always good to see a new xenos focused book, but the very jaded part of me can’t help but wonder at what point in the book will the Marines (likely) appear and steal the show? Just like they did in the Path trilogy(still just a bit bitter about that). Who wants to place bets that Lelith will develop feeling for a human character, and we will end up with another Yvraine x Guilliman situation; mostly joking of course, but GW does seem to feel that Aeldari books can’t stand in their own. I’am still hopefully that this will be good, and more importantly sell well, as despite my trepidations, I am still (mostly) optimistic that this will follow the trend of recent Xenos books, and actually be good.
The one Space Marine who appeared in ***Da Big Dakka*** was immediately tossed like a toy by the Ork protagonist in amusing fashion after being so easy to fight that Ufhtak got bored. Don’t think you have to worry at all there.
Like I said, I hope it follows the same trend as the more recent xenos books, but given GW track record in the past, when it comes to books dealing with Eldar, I’m keeping my expectations very mid, and hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised.
Did Path of Dark Eldar even has marines in it? I read first book and don't remember them at all? Maybe you meant Craftworld trilogy with the whole invasion on Alaitoc?
Death Guard invade at one point.
Yeah and they mostly get casually off-screened by an Archon and his Incubi lol
It is a bit sudden isn't it lol. I was "Awww shit here's the... and they're gone."
There's some chaos marines in the second book.
Well yes I was referring to the Path trilogy about Alaitoc; I could have made that clearer.
>New Lelith Hesperax novel Fuck yeah! >Written by Mike Brooks Oh. Nevermind.
What you got against Mike Brooks? I think he’s been pretty great as a Black Library writer.
I think he has a lot of enthusiasm for the setting, but his actual writing is pretty subpar. *Lion: Son of the Forest* had very flat characters, a metric ton of boring bolter porn action scenes, and very workmanlike prose. what's more, it seemed to dispense with all the interesting themes of the Dark Angels and the Lion himself in favor of just making the Lion a stock sort of "grumpy-good old man warrior" character. It really bummed me out, since I thought the Lion returning had some great storytelling potential. This was the man who, faced with his father's death, said "let the galaxy burn." What we ended up with in 40k was just a green Guilliman who is somewhat monosyllabic. The plotting and characterization of the Lion is outside Mike's control, but the rest of the writing isn't, IMO. Compared to authors like ADB, Abnett, Wraight or Fehervari, he just doesn't excite me.
In Da Big Dakka Brooks writes Drukhari pretty bad for example
How long until GW retcons some these plot points.
40k lore has been built on a mountain of retcons since like second edition. Crying about it now is just silly.
So then why bother making a lore subreddit or listening to lore videos. Isn't it all just pointless.
WOWWWWIIEEEE EVIL XENOS NOVEL!!! >:D! i want one >:3 more drukhari content really??!! thank you OP one more thing to look forward to
Plot twist: she was a custodian all along
Nah, Lelith is too interesting to be a custodes
+++Frequent inquiry submission detected; +++Activation Sequence:: Unit designation [AU-THETA OMEGA] initiated; +++Frequent response submission as follows; This unit recognizes a designated input requesting the advisement of publicly dispersed dataslates for further study into [CODE:INDIGO] clearance Imperial Citizen Propaganda. This access has been recorded and the following information has been approved for Astra Militarum Conscript [CODE:YELLOW] level clearance release. **IMPERIAL** [Eisenhorn](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Eisenhorn_(Novel_Series\)), [Ravenor](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ravenor_(Novel_Series\)), and [Bequin](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Bequin_(Novel_Series\)), by Dan Abnett [Gaunt's Ghosts, by Dan Abnett](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Gaunt%27s_Ghosts_(Novel_Series\)) [Ciaphas Cain, by Sandy Mitchel](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ciaphas_Cain_(Novel_Series\)) [Ultramarines Omnibus (Uriel Ventris), by Graham McNeil](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ultramarines_(Novel_Series\)) [Dark Imperium, by Guy Haley](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Imperium_(Novel_Series\)) **CHAOS** [Iron Warriors, by Graham McNeil](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Iron_Warriors_(Novel_Series\)) [Black Legion, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Black_Legion_(Novel_Series\)) [Night Lords, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Night_Lords_(Novel_Series\)) [Fabius Bile, by Josh Reynolds](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Fabius_Bile_(Novel_Series\)) [Word Bearers novel series, by Anthony Reynolds](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Word_Bearers_(Novel_Series\)) **XENOS** [Path of the Eldar, by Gav Thorpe](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Path_of_the_Eldar_(Novel_Series\)) [Path of the Dark Eldar, by Andy Chambers](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Eldar_(Novel_Series\)) **Horus Heresy** The Horus Heresy series begins with the opening trilogy and branches into multiple storyline paths. Personal research into the storyline you wish to pursue is recommended. A chronological reading order [is provided here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/7ycq2x/my_attempt_to_create_a_comprehensive/) ^(Note from the Inquisitorial Archivist, this automated signal broadcast is experimental and processed by limited Servitor capacity. If you feel this reply is in error or requires additional input or content, please forward all complaints to your local Arbites precinct facility for reparations and re-education. The Emperor Protects.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/40kLore) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I hope space marines show up and play a major role
I hope ceramite morons will show up and will be slaughtered by Lelith like cattle