The Rynn's World Cover

Eagle-eyed readers who frequent both red-stevie.com and the Black Library website may have noticed a new blog entry on the latter which talks a little bit more about the Space Marine Battles books, and about the first entry in the series, Rynn's World (see my previous blog entry - 'There is Only the Emperor...' for more details), written by yours truly.

BL decided yesterday that it was time to show the cover. So, here for your delectation are three shots - two zoomed-in, cropped images showing detail, and one of the front cover as it's expected to appear on the final book. Awesome stuff!


The artist goes by the name of Jon Sullivan, and I think you'll agree he's done a bloody fantastic job! Anyone who loves a bit of fantasy artwork (and who doesn't?) would do well to head on over and check out the gallery on his website. Some of his work is, frankly, breathtaking.

As for the book itself, stay tuned. I'll keep you all updated whenever I can.

"There is only the Emperor..."

Well, Black Library have finally announced my next novel, Rynn's World, on their website's Coming Soon page. It's about time, too. From the moment that knowledge of the new Space Marines Battles series was accidentally leaked, fans have been speculating. All you guys who figured out that the first book in the series would be about the Crimson Fists were absolutely spot on. Well done.

Naturally, I was flattered and honoured to be chosen to write the first book in this major new series. It will be the first time I've tackled an entire novel dedicated to mankind's favourite gene-boosted bad-asses.

What's the difference with any other Space Marine book, you might ask. Apart from having the entire series focus on truly Chapter-defining battles in Astartes history, I think you'll see the difference easily enough when you actually have the book in your hands. The production values we're talking about here mean this will be a really beautiful set of volumes that will no doubt take pride of place on many a fan's bookshelf. I've seen the cover art for Rynn's World already. Trust me, it's gonna blow you all away!

I'm in the middle of writing said book right now, and I have to tell you, it's a battle in itself. The events on Rynn's World essentially came to define the Chapter as it stands now. It's a big responsibility, handling a major 'historical' event like this. The writing process is much the same for any Warhammer 40,000 story, of course, with the only difference being a need to stick pretty close to a greater amount of established background (without letting what is already out there get in the way of storytelling, which should always come first before blindly following so-called canon to the detriment of the tale).

Anyway, I look forward to you guys getting stuck into it next spring. I just gotta write it first. ;)

Oh, and look out for my Deathwatch short in Heroes of the Space Marines. That one is out real soon. Enjoy!

Eyes On!

Hello again, folks. I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks, and I apologise for that. But I'm going to make it up to you this time by introducing you to next year's hottest ticket (in terms of animation, anyway).

Red-stevie.com blog-reader... meet Cat Shit One!



I could be wrong (I have been before), but I have a feeling this CG animated series based on the Japanese comic Cat Shit One 80 will be a massive hit when it's released (aired?) in late 2009. It's certain to hit the right note with Call of Duty 4, SOCOM and Metal Gear Solid 4 fanatics.

Some who know me well might be a bit surprised that I'm so excited about this animation. After all, I'm a vegetarian and staunch animal-rights advocate (though I'm certainly no pacifist, you can be sure of that!). But to those surprised people, I'd say, 'No animals were harmed during shooting. It's all computer generated. And it's not about humans killing defenceless creatures. It's about a rock-hard, special ops team taking out merciless terrorists. What's not to love about that?'

The one thing that really ticks me off about it is that I didn't think of it first. ;)