I am a big fan of Gotrek and Felix, and I wanted to thank you for all the pleasure your books have given me. Nathan Long is no replacement. I look forward to checking out the Death Angels. Keep writing!
cheers
Sylvano tW
Black Library have just announced it’s the end of the road for Gotrek & Felix. Thoughts? Personally I thought the series became a total train wreck, with countless short stories by countless unknown authors. I get the feeling you moved on a long time ago, still would have been nice of Black Library to finish the series.
Hey, Steve. To be honest, this is not really a subject I want to talk about. I did move on a long time ago :).
Hello, I wanted to reiterate my appreciation of your writing and sharing of your knowledge on the craft. I’ll buy your new book’s Kindle edition later tonight, I won’t read them right away (too much in line) but will do so soon, and I want to support what you do, even if it’s just a bit.
Hello, Just finished Death’s Angels. Absolutely AMAZING!!! Will there be anymore available on Kindle and will you be writing anymore Ragnar Blackmane books?
Cheers
Scott
Thanks, Scott. Much appreciated! I would be very grateful if you could go on the Amazon site and put that in as a review for Death’s Angels. The book hasn’t got many reviews yet. (No pressure if you don’t have the time!) The Serpent Tower should be available within the next month or so and the remaining two books in the series, The Queen’s Assassin and Burning Shadows, shortly thereafter. There are no plans to do anything with Ragnar at the moment. I am presently working on an Imperial Guard trilogy set during the Macharian Crusades that will keep me busy until the middle of next year. After that, we shall see what we shall see although I strongly suspect it will be back to Tyrion and Teclis.
Hey William just wanted to say thank you for your space wolves novels as i am a huge fan of them. I saw above that another person was wondering if you were going to write more with the character Ragnar and i saw your response. My question is why did you only write four of the six Ragnar novels? Also i was wondering if and when you might consider putting him on paper with some ink? He really is a fantastic character who i very much enjoy embarking on adventures with.
Man i will never regret investing in Space wolf omnibus 1 and 2… i remember reading the very first one some years back when i borrowed it from a library sadly they dont sell em anywhere i know in denmark but blacklibrary came through for me and im having such a blast reading em. for example when something tense is happening i often find myself gripping the book tighter and biting my lip wich to me proves that its written with care. plus who dont love fountains of blood shooting out of the hatch hole in a tank after grenades was lobbed into it. great books love em and im often recommending them to my friends. once again awesome books love em a lot good entertainment so thank you for those. i will perhaps later see what else has been made :> woo
I have really enjoyed The Terarch Chronicles ( all 3 books! ).
I do hope that you will write another part of this saga.
I can’t hardly wait for book No. 4
I am a 19-year-old National Merit Scholar and aspiring author from Houston, Texas. When I was 16, I won a national essay contest hosted by the Scholastic publishing company and was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I met billionaire author J. K. Rowling. My story on this experience can be found at: http://houstonfamilymagazine.com/featured/what-i-learned-about-jk-rowling
I think your books are amazing! Despite all the thousands of stories I’ve read, you are my favorite author of all time (even above Shakespeare and Robert E. Howard). The Gotrek and Felix series has inspired me with its wonderful adventures, and I’ve read each book at least 8 times. My favorites were Trollslayer, Daemonslayer, and Beastslayer.
Honestly I pity Nathan Long, because nobody could adequately satisfy readers after 7 books of sheer awesomeness. You have an amazing talent for blending together the elements of classic literature to create original stories, which I have spent years admiring and trying to analyze. For example, your short story “Wolf Riders” (which is one of my favorites of all time) is reminsicent of Dune, Call of the Wild, and Tolkien, drastically different stories which are beautifully woven together to produce a masterpiece.
Thanks so much for the joy you have brought to my life!
Hey Bill,
I’m a huge fan of Gotrek and Felix series, reading all of those 7 books you wrote numerous times.
I appreciate Nathan Long for his courage to take over the series after you, but It’s no more that joy and fun! Something’s missing in the books.. IS THERE any chance, that you will get back to it? Any involvement, even some short stories?
Thanks for all those nice moments, especially with Daemon Slayer!
I just done a rare thing brought a book from Black library and not as I normally do though Amazon and that book is. Drum roll…………………………….. Blood of aenarion can’t wait till December so brought the advance order missed your writing in the warhammer and 40 k
Just finished Blood of Aenarion. Absolutely amazing book. I cannot wait for Sword of Caledor. In the next 2 Tyrion and Teclis books do you plan on writing about the Battle of Finuval Plain? I hope so. Also we need Ragnar Blackmane back to finish his saga when he becomes a Wolf Lord.
Finuval Plain is the climax of Book Three, a very big battle scene indeed. Book Two deals with the first (triumphant) part of Malekith’s invasion and features the return of N’Kari, the discovery of Sunfang and the Dark Elves’ capture of the Everqueen. There’s a visit to Lustria and a ruined Slann city as well. We also get to see a lot more of Malekith and Morathi and take a closer look at the magical underpinnings of the Warhammer world. As you might expect from the title there is also a guest appearance from the Archmage Caledor as well.
just read Blood of aenarion over the weekend really enjoyed it cant wait for the rest of the trilogy. You made me really interested in Tyrion. I do not think it much of a push to say this book has probably the greatest prologue to a book I have read in a long time. Aenarion just oozed sadness and anger and certain hopelessness and the realization that no matter that he dammed himself by using that dark blade that it was not going to be enough to save his people. That was very interesting It was nice to see the subtle level of wit that was in all your gotrek and felix books is very much still alive in this book as well.
well done
If I say so myself, I am proud of that prologue! The other two books in the series have similar prologues from the point of view of Morathi and the Archmage Caledor.
Thanks,Bobby. Glad you’re enjoying it. The Kindle is a great device. I bought a bunch of e-books for myself on Christmas Day and am working my way through them.
Congratulations to you and your wife on the birth of your son! I’m so excited to hear that you’ve been blessed in such a tremendous way, and I hope that whatever he does, your son impacts the world as powerfully as Gotrek and Felix have impacted me.
Wishing you and your family many years of happiness and health,
congratulations to you and your wife a bit late i suppose but congratulations none the less.
i was wondering and i know your busy but are there any plans to have another ragnar blackmane book as i have read mine so much that i had to go out and buy both omnibuses again. keep up the good work
Apologies Konrad– your comment was caught in my spam filter which I have not checked for several days! Thanks for the congratulations. There are no plans for any new Ragnar books by my at least at the moment. Sorry.
I recently picked “Farseer” up off the shelf again and proceeded to read it through over the course of a weekend (which was supposedly dedicated to thesis writing, so if I don’t manage graduate I guess you’re partially to blame… ). I remembered loving the book when I first read it at thirteen, but I was impressed this time around at how much I enjoyed it still. I see it mentioned here and there that it was intended to be the first of a trilogy; any chance of the other two books finding their way into the black library someday? Thanks for all the enjoyable reads over the years; I remember loving the Space Wolf series as well, and am considering a foray into fantasy with the Tyrion and Teclis trilogy.
Thanks David! Oddly enough I have been reading bits of Farseer myself recently as part of my research for the second book in the Macharius trilogy. This too has navigators and Rogue Traders in it. I did indeed intend Farseer to be the first of a trilogy but it sort of got lost in the shuffle and I can’t in all honesty see myself going back to it after a decade or so. Good luck with the thesis!
Just wanted to say how much I thoroughly enjoy your books. The space wolf omnibus was my first ever introduction into the world of 40k and from there I’ve grown into a hardcore table top gamer. I have all of your books not to mention dozens more. Just finished reading deaths angels and can’t wait to get into the next three books!
Ragnar, Gotrek & Felix and Janus Darke have been my faithful companions on every posting I had in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you for creating a sanctuary of words for my squadmates and I.
Hi just finished Angel of fire and it was a grand read. got though it in two days. must say it was clever and the best way to white the high loard commander by how other pepole around him see him. and not him himself
Your book angel of fire is just AWESOME never before has anyother person started a book with a guards man point of view and you always now how to get the reader involved too its like when I read angels of fire its like I’m in baneblade with the crew as silent observer watching and listing to the men getting battle ready or sitting playing cards you really us the readers feel astho we are part of the story which I don’t think anyother author has yet to do so please keep up the good work and I forward to the next two books over the coming years 🙂
i like the books from you very much, specelly the terrarch cronicals,but in the german lenguage it have only book 1-3. when we can read the book 4 in german ?
hey William, big fan of your man, i havn’t read Angel of Fire yet, but i heard its sweet, so i am gonna pick it up…. Macharius is probably the greatest imperial commander, in the history of the imperium… i don’t think even the primarchs could of achieved what he did, only equal to the emperor, during the great crusade
now what i want to know is…… Did Macharius ever run into Chaos during his crusade, or is strictly xenos? during the macharian crusade
another question i have Will, i was meaning to ask
did Macharius have any relationship with any of the primarchs….. or did the macharian crusade happen much later then the horus heresy, that all the primarchs were dead, or missing?
The Crusade happens roughly 10,000 years after the Heresy, Marcus. As to the eventual fate of the the Primarchs…I don’t think any of them are still around :).
Preordered The Fist of Demetrius. Will it be such a.. erm.. present entity in the book, like the ubiquitous Angel of Fire statues in the previous book? Because if I had to point out one thing I didn’t like in that excellent book, it was reading “Angel of Fire” for the umpteenth time. Don’t forsake BL after the trilogy is done!
The fifth book in the Terrarch series hasn’t been mentioned in quite a while. Is it still going ahead, and if so, when approximately will it be released? 🙂
Hey Katy– various things– new baby, health problems, extended deadlines have slowed everything way down at this end. I am still planning more Terrarch books but every time I try and put a date on things they just seem to get pushed further into the future. Sometime in 2014 is my best guess these days :). Sorry to be so vague.
I never remember to ask about the story you co-wrote, Deathwing. It was divided in two parts, so I assume each of you wrote one part? Which part did you write if so? Also, have you considered a return to penning the tumultuous adventures of the 1st Legion as they spread collateral damage across the galaxy in their quest for redemption?
The sad thing is I don’t remember a whole lot about the writing of Deathwing now, mate. It was a long time ago– 23-24 years or so! If I recall correctly I wrote it as one piece from an idea by Bryan Ansell. I must also confess I have not considered writing about the 1st Legion.
Thanks, Bruni. I have very definite plans for two new Terrarch books but life, in the shape of a lack of sleep brought on by new parenthood, some health issues and some missed deadlines for other projects, keeps getting in the way. At some point in the next year, I will make a start on the next adventure of Rik, Asea and co but right now I could not say exactly when.
Hi William, just to say thanks for intoducing me to Felix and Gotrek a number of years ago. I was in the local library and bored of Discworld (sorry Terry), trying to find something else to read. Picked up Vampireslayer. With me if the book doesnt grab me after a few pages i dont bother.But despite not knowing the back story i was hooked once i read a few pages, and wanting to know more about the 2 chaps, Max, Ulrika, Snorri.as aloved your story telling I have read all the F&G books now, and they now seem to to have finished using a slayer title as they have run out of nasties and now filling in between where you left off and the 20 years Nathan began and could bleed every drop of blood out. My question is you did say once ( apols if you didnt) on a blog you knew how Gotrek would die and would if the circumstances were right would you like to end the story you began. If not, its shame i feel that we will never have a end story although i would love to read a lot more before that. I always thought Gotrek should bow out after defeating a chaos god who is the shape of a man and he sacrifices himself to save the Emperor & the old world.
Thanks, Frank– I have had numerous theories down through the years about how Gotrek would die, as well as numerous theories about how he became a slayer so it’s perfectly possible I made that claim in a blog somewhere. Godslayer would indeed make a fitting title for the end of the series.
I am a huge fan, I’ve read all of the space wolves saga, all of the terrach novels, Karnak books 1-3 just making a start on 4 now. You’re a very good author thanks for the effort
Sir,
Thank you for sharing your imagination with all of us.
Who has control of the Gotrek & Felix characters currently?
All that seems to be “cranked” out of late is “spinning fluff”.
After Zombieslayer by Nathan Long, the actual storyline seems to have quit despite obvious directions where to take it.
Am I missing a book or short story that actually continues it?
Please advise.
Will you be putting your own hand in with Gotrek & Felix in the future?
Thank you for your time.
Good day.
Thanks for the kind words, Douglas. I don’t have any inside knowledge about the G&F stories and I can’t tell you anything about the series after I left off writing it so I am afraid I can’t be of much help there. I can tell you that I have no plans for writing any more G&F stories at the moment.
Thank you Bill for the kind reply. I believe I will move my questions onward to the Black Library for further answers. Best wishes in your future ventures. Good day.
I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for all the great books! I think I started reading your stuff in my early teens, and am still enjoying them now! 😉 I think I actually destroyed my first copy of ‘Trollslayer’ by carrying it around on every holiday I ever went on- although now e-readers exist, it’s nice to know that my hard-copy books will never be subjected to that kind of abuse again. I’ve just picked up the Terrach Chronicles, and they’re fantastic.
I also wanted to say how glad I was to see your name on the Tyrion and Teclis books when they were announced- as my favourite Warhammer characters, I was terrified they would end up in bad hands. 😉 The series is fantastic, and it’s amazing to see them brought to life so clearly, as people as well as larger than life heroes. I can’t think of many other authors who could have managed that quite so well!
Thanks for all the kind words, S R. I wanted the Tyrion and Teclis books to be quite epic and high fantasy in feel which is not my usual style so its nice to hear that you liked them :).
Like the others before, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Space Wolf and Gotrek series and your creative pricing with some of the ebooks have allowed me to dabble with and then purchase all new series (like the Death’s Angels books that I absolutely devoured).
I spend a lot of time in transit – planes, trains and automobiles – and I listen to a lot of audio books. Do you plan to have audio versions of your books available through something like Audible or other channels? I enjoyed the first Kormak book and was thinking I’d like to option to listen to one or two of the following editions.
Thanks for the kind words. I currently have no plans for audiobooks. It’s one of the long list of things I intend to get round to looking at when I have some time. Unfortunately that always seems to be in short supply around here.
I get that, it reminds me of a comic’s discussion about time “Time is relative, and when my relatives come over I have no time.”
After listening to hundreds of audio books I’m very curious of the process to turn the written word into audio from an author’s perspective. I’m guessing there are many decisions to be made and I’m sure money to be spent making the right cinematic or character choices. A good narrator can make a book great and sometimes the opposite can happen too. I’ve not had a narrator wreck a book for me (unless they change mid-series) but you sometimes have to seek the gem inside the vocals instead of having the audio enhance the performance.
Anyway, I’ll keep hoping you find some time to lend some voices to your work so I can enjoy while in my car otherwise I’ll have to wait until I’m motion-free.
I suspect you know more about the audiobooks side of this business than me, Jay. I’ve heard a number of people say there is good money to be made in the field but I’ve never listened to them myself so they are off my radar. Hopefully I will get round to investigating them at some point. Right now, I am way behind with my plans to bring out print books so that’s job one when I get some time.
Hi Bill, the first books of yours that I read was Trolslayer and it still holds a prized place in my collection as it introduced me to your work. I often feel like read Kormak’s stories that he is the until Gotrek/Felix hybrid. Now that Kinslayer has been released I was wondering how you felt about what seems to be the impending doom of (in my opinion) one of the greatest fantasy characters ever created!
Hi Balall. Thanks for the kind words. I don’t really have an opinion on Kinslayer since I don’t know anything about it. I think your idea about Kormak was spot on. He’s sort of what Felix might be if he was as tough as Gotrek and almost as well armed.
Hi,
I’ve just got through reading your Gotrek and Felix books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was just wondering why was the series passed onto Nathan Long. Although his books are good, they lack the character of your earlier works in the series in my opinion!
Ah, ok. Sorry to hear it sounded like a bad experience.
Anyway, I’d like to thank you for those nooks. I, to my shame, haven’t read a book in over a decade. Your Gotrek & Felix books made me fall in love with reading again.
Hi William, with the rumour that Gotrek will meet his doom in the next book, will you give it a read to see how David Guymer finishes the saga off? Also what do you think of the End times that are killing off characters left right and centre.
Do you see this an exciting opportunity for writing new characters and new heroes to be written if asked by the BL?
I have not read any of the Gotrek and Felix books since I stopped writing them. I don’t want to second guess the authors and I doubt they would want me looking over their shoulders. The End Times sounds exciting.
I along with several others would love to see some more books on Ragnar. He’s a very interesting character. I did have a question, however, what kind of liberty are you given in regards to the 40k universe when writing a book? Say for example you did another Ragnar book would you be able to utilize any characters from the lore such as Bjorn – The Fel Handed? I know with the Star Wars Universe you had to go through a whole review board to ensure the book was in sync with Canon.
On that topic I’d of always loved to see someone utilize Bjorn’s character more in the 41st millenium per se. The only book that really talked about him was Battle of the Fang.
Regardless good work on those novels even though they were awhile ago. I loved them.
Thanks for the kind words, Bradley. Basically everything has to be approved by GW when you are writing these books. Normally this is done by the editor assigned to the book. They are people steeped in GW lore. Back in the day, I was pretty familiar with it– I wrote part of the original Space Wolf Codex– but the lore has a tendency to evolve over time. I dare say I could have slipped Bjorn into any Space Wolf book I was writing back in the day. He is a popular and fascinating character.
I would agree… I think he’s a heavily under utilized character from the perspective of written novels. Like I mentioned he’s only ever used in Battle of the Fang in ‘more modern times’. Still hoping someone takes his character and does something with it in the 41st Millennium instead of the 31st or 34th in the case of the Battle of the Fang.
So you helped write the original Space Wolf codex? If you don’t mind me asking did you work for GW at the time or did you work contract to just help flesh out the lore. I was always curious how they fleshed out the immense amount of lore there is behind the 40k universe.
By the way thanks for taking the time to write back to me and to the others above. That is a nice touch and very much appreciated. Have a wonderful rest of the evening.
I worked on many a Codex and Warhammer Army book back in the day. I was a full time employee of GW back in the late 80s and early 90s. You can still see some of my work in the various army books today, most notably the High Elf book.
Hi,
My friend recommended me your book Death´s angels and I love this tetralogy. It’s so awesome. I don´t read other books (but I have it in my reading plan). I want met you and you sign my books. Have you got plan action where you will sign books?
Thanks for answer.
Sorry for my english
Hey Magdalena, thanks for the kind words. If you happen to be in the Prague area I am happy to meet up and sign books. I also sign books at conventions when I attend them.
Hey David– I am very happy myself. I’ve been a WoW player for close on 10 years, and there were times when I put in more hours playing in a week than most people put into their jobs. I finally managed to justify all that research to my wife!
I’ve been a fan for a long time and am starting to shift to paperless books. I’d like to know how you’d like me to buy your books. I have a Kindle but I’d like to support you by buying from the group that gives you the best terms.
Thank you for producing great stories. I love your sword and sorcery so keep up the great work.
Hi. I will probably drop you an email, but I also wanted to leave a note here. First, let me say I’m a fan of your GW writings…novels, short stories, Warhammer Army books, and White Dwarf contributions as well as your current literary forays. My question: Is the Kormak Saga at allavailable in print form? I would love to have hard copies sitting on my book shelf…
Hi Rick. Stealer of Flesh is currently available in print. I have the PDFs of the other books ready to go but real life has prevented me from getting to grips with this over the past few months. Hopefully some time in the New Year I will get the next six books uploaded. After that my plan is to do the print books at the same time as the ebooks. In practise this probably means they will appear a few weeks after the ebooks. Hope this helps.
Why isn’t Space wolf a major blockbuster movie? I’m an old guy who has read everything in sci fi and this is one of the gems that fits all the points in sci fi book made into a movie and with CGI tech this could really work. Hollywood ruined Dune by not investing enough and with all the millions spent on garbage why can’t this work? Sorry for the rant… Just want real sci fi to make a comeback. This has nothing to do with my recent disappointment in the new Star Wars movie. 😉
Derek Beasley
I discovered your books about Ragnar when I was a kid, and lunged head first into books 3 and 1 and 2 of the series. (In that order)
The most enjoyable part of your writing is the intense moments with very real portraits of characters’ physical experience of any situation. You write about hairs prickling in the back of Ragnar’s neck, a dry tongue sticking to the pallet and intense sensory input, as a spacewolf has much keener senses than the average human.
When a reader immerses himself in this kind of writing, it all becomes quite real. Years later, I read the SW Omnibus, and I could literally smell the minty oils in tech priests’ machinery, hear the servos of the power armour whirr, stick my tongue out and taste the humid jungle air(!)
Also, in the first book I really like how you portrayed Ragnar’s experience of technology. As he was a simple tribal man, he didn’t feel the G-force as it took off, but rather a giant invisible hand pressing him into his chair.
Just wanted to drop you some lines of appreciation, and and say hi =)
Hello William,
I’ve just finished the Terrarch Chronicles and I’m now moving onto the Kormak Saga. I suppose I needn’t write praise to your work here, having done so on Goodreads and such, but I do have a question for you.
How is giving away the first part of a series of books working out for you ?
I’m asking because I probably would’ve missed reading your books otherwise, sick as I am of spending money on fantasy novels I end up feeling dissapointed in.
Anyhow, keep it up.
Kindest regards from France,
Nick
Thanks for the kind words, Nick. The giveaways used to work a lot better before Kindle Unlimited, but they still get results, particularly when I advertise them. Like yourself, I’ve bought many a novel and not finished it. The free books give readers a chance to decide whether they like my writing or not.
I am a big fan of Gotrek and Felix, and I wanted to thank you for all the pleasure your books have given me. Nathan Long is no replacement. I look forward to checking out the Death Angels. Keep writing!
cheers
Sylvano tW
Thank you, Sylvano.
Black Library have just announced it’s the end of the road for Gotrek & Felix. Thoughts? Personally I thought the series became a total train wreck, with countless short stories by countless unknown authors. I get the feeling you moved on a long time ago, still would have been nice of Black Library to finish the series.
*to let you finish the series*
Hey, Steve. To be honest, this is not really a subject I want to talk about. I did move on a long time ago :).
Hello, I wanted to reiterate my appreciation of your writing and sharing of your knowledge on the craft. I’ll buy your new book’s Kindle edition later tonight, I won’t read them right away (too much in line) but will do so soon, and I want to support what you do, even if it’s just a bit.
Godspeed,
F. Arriaga
Thank you, Franz, that is much appreciated!
Hello, Just finished Death’s Angels. Absolutely AMAZING!!! Will there be anymore available on Kindle and will you be writing anymore Ragnar Blackmane books?
Cheers
Scott
Thanks, Scott. Much appreciated! I would be very grateful if you could go on the Amazon site and put that in as a review for Death’s Angels. The book hasn’t got many reviews yet. (No pressure if you don’t have the time!) The Serpent Tower should be available within the next month or so and the remaining two books in the series, The Queen’s Assassin and Burning Shadows, shortly thereafter. There are no plans to do anything with Ragnar at the moment. I am presently working on an Imperial Guard trilogy set during the Macharian Crusades that will keep me busy until the middle of next year. After that, we shall see what we shall see although I strongly suspect it will be back to Tyrion and Teclis.
Hey William just wanted to say thank you for your space wolves novels as i am a huge fan of them. I saw above that another person was wondering if you were going to write more with the character Ragnar and i saw your response. My question is why did you only write four of the six Ragnar novels? Also i was wondering if and when you might consider putting him on paper with some ink? He really is a fantastic character who i very much enjoy embarking on adventures with.
Thanks, Joseph. No plans to do any more Ragnar novels I am afraid. I just ran out of steam with them.
Man i will never regret investing in Space wolf omnibus 1 and 2… i remember reading the very first one some years back when i borrowed it from a library sadly they dont sell em anywhere i know in denmark but blacklibrary came through for me and im having such a blast reading em. for example when something tense is happening i often find myself gripping the book tighter and biting my lip wich to me proves that its written with care. plus who dont love fountains of blood shooting out of the hatch hole in a tank after grenades was lobbed into it. great books love em and im often recommending them to my friends. once again awesome books love em a lot good entertainment so thank you for those. i will perhaps later see what else has been made :> woo
Thanks, Rebecka– glad to hear you are enjoying the books so much!
All the best,
Bill
Dear Mr King,
I have really enjoyed The Terarch Chronicles ( all 3 books! ).
I do hope that you will write another part of this saga.
I can’t hardly wait for book No. 4
Kind Regards,
Monika
Dear Bill King,
I am a 19-year-old National Merit Scholar and aspiring author from Houston, Texas. When I was 16, I won a national essay contest hosted by the Scholastic publishing company and was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I met billionaire author J. K. Rowling. My story on this experience can be found at: http://houstonfamilymagazine.com/featured/what-i-learned-about-jk-rowling
I think your books are amazing! Despite all the thousands of stories I’ve read, you are my favorite author of all time (even above Shakespeare and Robert E. Howard). The Gotrek and Felix series has inspired me with its wonderful adventures, and I’ve read each book at least 8 times. My favorites were Trollslayer, Daemonslayer, and Beastslayer.
Honestly I pity Nathan Long, because nobody could adequately satisfy readers after 7 books of sheer awesomeness. You have an amazing talent for blending together the elements of classic literature to create original stories, which I have spent years admiring and trying to analyze. For example, your short story “Wolf Riders” (which is one of my favorites of all time) is reminsicent of Dune, Call of the Wild, and Tolkien, drastically different stories which are beautifully woven together to produce a masterpiece.
Thanks so much for the joy you have brought to my life!
Best Regards,
Shane A. Healy
Thank you, Shane. I am very flattered!
Hey Bill,
I’m a huge fan of Gotrek and Felix series, reading all of those 7 books you wrote numerous times.
I appreciate Nathan Long for his courage to take over the series after you, but It’s no more that joy and fun! Something’s missing in the books.. IS THERE any chance, that you will get back to it? Any involvement, even some short stories?
Thanks for all those nice moments, especially with Daemon Slayer!
Best regards
Jan
Thanks Jan,
There are no plans for any involvement with G&F at the moment and my time is booked up till the end of 2012. You can never rule anything out though.
I just done a rare thing brought a book from Black library and not as I normally do though Amazon and that book is. Drum roll…………………………….. Blood of aenarion can’t wait till December so brought the advance order missed your writing in the warhammer and 40 k
welcome back
Thanks, Bobby,
I hope you enjoy the book. It was a blast to write and I think the cover is absolutely stunning!
Hello
Just finished Blood of Aenarion. Absolutely amazing book. I cannot wait for Sword of Caledor. In the next 2 Tyrion and Teclis books do you plan on writing about the Battle of Finuval Plain? I hope so. Also we need Ragnar Blackmane back to finish his saga when he becomes a Wolf Lord.
Best
Scott Mcsloy
Thanks Scott,
Finuval Plain is the climax of Book Three, a very big battle scene indeed. Book Two deals with the first (triumphant) part of Malekith’s invasion and features the return of N’Kari, the discovery of Sunfang and the Dark Elves’ capture of the Everqueen. There’s a visit to Lustria and a ruined Slann city as well. We also get to see a lot more of Malekith and Morathi and take a closer look at the magical underpinnings of the Warhammer world. As you might expect from the title there is also a guest appearance from the Archmage Caledor as well.
hello
just read Blood of aenarion over the weekend really enjoyed it cant wait for the rest of the trilogy. You made me really interested in Tyrion. I do not think it much of a push to say this book has probably the greatest prologue to a book I have read in a long time. Aenarion just oozed sadness and anger and certain hopelessness and the realization that no matter that he dammed himself by using that dark blade that it was not going to be enough to save his people. That was very interesting It was nice to see the subtle level of wit that was in all your gotrek and felix books is very much still alive in this book as well.
well done
Thanks Bobby,
If I say so myself, I am proud of that prologue! The other two books in the series have similar prologues from the point of view of Morathi and the Archmage Caledor.
morning hope you had a fine xmas just wanted to say got a kindle from my brother and Death’s angels was my first download and it a good read so far
Thanks,Bobby. Glad you’re enjoying it. The Kindle is a great device. I bought a bunch of e-books for myself on Christmas Day and am working my way through them.
Congratulations to you and your wife on the birth of your son! I’m so excited to hear that you’ve been blessed in such a tremendous way, and I hope that whatever he does, your son impacts the world as powerfully as Gotrek and Felix have impacted me.
Wishing you and your family many years of happiness and health,
Shane A. Healy
Thank you, Shane,
Much appreciated! Happy New Year when it comes!
congratulations to you and your wife a bit late i suppose but congratulations none the less.
i was wondering and i know your busy but are there any plans to have another ragnar blackmane book as i have read mine so much that i had to go out and buy both omnibuses again. keep up the good work
Apologies Konrad– your comment was caught in my spam filter which I have not checked for several days! Thanks for the congratulations. There are no plans for any new Ragnar books by my at least at the moment. Sorry.
its alright had to ask hehe thanks for responding though
i enjoyed your book the inquiry agent! thanks for such an enjoyable read!
Thank you, and thank you for the nice comment!
I recently picked “Farseer” up off the shelf again and proceeded to read it through over the course of a weekend (which was supposedly dedicated to thesis writing, so if I don’t manage graduate I guess you’re partially to blame… ). I remembered loving the book when I first read it at thirteen, but I was impressed this time around at how much I enjoyed it still. I see it mentioned here and there that it was intended to be the first of a trilogy; any chance of the other two books finding their way into the black library someday? Thanks for all the enjoyable reads over the years; I remember loving the Space Wolf series as well, and am considering a foray into fantasy with the Tyrion and Teclis trilogy.
Thanks David! Oddly enough I have been reading bits of Farseer myself recently as part of my research for the second book in the Macharius trilogy. This too has navigators and Rogue Traders in it. I did indeed intend Farseer to be the first of a trilogy but it sort of got lost in the shuffle and I can’t in all honesty see myself going back to it after a decade or so. Good luck with the thesis!
Just wanted to say how much I thoroughly enjoy your books. The space wolf omnibus was my first ever introduction into the world of 40k and from there I’ve grown into a hardcore table top gamer. I have all of your books not to mention dozens more. Just finished reading deaths angels and can’t wait to get into the next three books!
Thank you, Jaycob. Hope you enjoy the next three books!
Dear William King.
Ragnar, Gotrek & Felix and Janus Darke have been my faithful companions on every posting I had in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you for creating a sanctuary of words for my squadmates and I.
Thanks, Christian. I am boggled to realise the books were read so far afield.
Hi just finished Angel of fire and it was a grand read. got though it in two days. must say it was clever and the best way to white the high loard commander by how other pepole around him see him. and not him himself
Thanks, Bobby. Glad you enjoyed the book :).
Your book angel of fire is just AWESOME never before has anyother person started a book with a guards man point of view and you always now how to get the reader involved too its like when I read angels of fire its like I’m in baneblade with the crew as silent observer watching and listing to the men getting battle ready or sitting playing cards you really us the readers feel astho we are part of the story which I don’t think anyother author has yet to do so please keep up the good work and I forward to the next two books over the coming years 🙂
Thanks Edward :).
i like the books from you very much, specelly the terrarch cronicals,but in the german lenguage it have only book 1-3. when we can read the book 4 in german ?
Unfortunately, I don’t know Sabine. The German rights were sold but I have not had any word on a translation. Sorry!
thank you very much for your anthwer. i hope we can read more new books from you.you are great
🙂
Thanks, Sabine :).
hey William, big fan of your man, i havn’t read Angel of Fire yet, but i heard its sweet, so i am gonna pick it up…. Macharius is probably the greatest imperial commander, in the history of the imperium… i don’t think even the primarchs could of achieved what he did, only equal to the emperor, during the great crusade
now what i want to know is…… Did Macharius ever run into Chaos during his crusade, or is strictly xenos? during the macharian crusade
Thanks, Marcus– he does indeed run into Chaos in Angel of Fire no less.
another question i have Will, i was meaning to ask
did Macharius have any relationship with any of the primarchs….. or did the macharian crusade happen much later then the horus heresy, that all the primarchs were dead, or missing?
The Crusade happens roughly 10,000 years after the Heresy, Marcus. As to the eventual fate of the the Primarchs…I don’t think any of them are still around :).
hey William, i was wondering,The Fist of Demetrius when does that come out
It should be this summer, Marcus, July I think.
Preordered The Fist of Demetrius. Will it be such a.. erm.. present entity in the book, like the ubiquitous Angel of Fire statues in the previous book? Because if I had to point out one thing I didn’t like in that excellent book, it was reading “Angel of Fire” for the umpteenth time. Don’t forsake BL after the trilogy is done!
Thank you :). I don’t think the Fist is quite so omnipresent since the book is mainly about the quest to find it!
The fifth book in the Terrarch series hasn’t been mentioned in quite a while. Is it still going ahead, and if so, when approximately will it be released? 🙂
Hey Katy– various things– new baby, health problems, extended deadlines have slowed everything way down at this end. I am still planning more Terrarch books but every time I try and put a date on things they just seem to get pushed further into the future. Sometime in 2014 is my best guess these days :). Sorry to be so vague.
I never remember to ask about the story you co-wrote, Deathwing. It was divided in two parts, so I assume each of you wrote one part? Which part did you write if so? Also, have you considered a return to penning the tumultuous adventures of the 1st Legion as they spread collateral damage across the galaxy in their quest for redemption?
The sad thing is I don’t remember a whole lot about the writing of Deathwing now, mate. It was a long time ago– 23-24 years or so! If I recall correctly I wrote it as one piece from an idea by Bryan Ansell. I must also confess I have not considered writing about the 1st Legion.
Hello! Huge fan of the Terrarch Chronicles and was wondering if you were ever going to re-visit Rik, Weasel, the Barbarian, and all them! Hope you do!
Thanks, Bruni. I have very definite plans for two new Terrarch books but life, in the shape of a lack of sleep brought on by new parenthood, some health issues and some missed deadlines for other projects, keeps getting in the way. At some point in the next year, I will make a start on the next adventure of Rik, Asea and co but right now I could not say exactly when.
Hi William, just to say thanks for intoducing me to Felix and Gotrek a number of years ago. I was in the local library and bored of Discworld (sorry Terry), trying to find something else to read. Picked up Vampireslayer. With me if the book doesnt grab me after a few pages i dont bother.But despite not knowing the back story i was hooked once i read a few pages, and wanting to know more about the 2 chaps, Max, Ulrika, Snorri.as aloved your story telling I have read all the F&G books now, and they now seem to to have finished using a slayer title as they have run out of nasties and now filling in between where you left off and the 20 years Nathan began and could bleed every drop of blood out. My question is you did say once ( apols if you didnt) on a blog you knew how Gotrek would die and would if the circumstances were right would you like to end the story you began. If not, its shame i feel that we will never have a end story although i would love to read a lot more before that. I always thought Gotrek should bow out after defeating a chaos god who is the shape of a man and he sacrifices himself to save the Emperor & the old world.
Thanks, Frank– I have had numerous theories down through the years about how Gotrek would die, as well as numerous theories about how he became a slayer so it’s perfectly possible I made that claim in a blog somewhere. Godslayer would indeed make a fitting title for the end of the series.
I am a huge fan, I’ve read all of the space wolves saga, all of the terrach novels, Karnak books 1-3 just making a start on 4 now. You’re a very good author thanks for the effort
Thanks, Kyle, much appreciated.
Sir,
Thank you for sharing your imagination with all of us.
Who has control of the Gotrek & Felix characters currently?
All that seems to be “cranked” out of late is “spinning fluff”.
After Zombieslayer by Nathan Long, the actual storyline seems to have quit despite obvious directions where to take it.
Am I missing a book or short story that actually continues it?
Please advise.
Will you be putting your own hand in with Gotrek & Felix in the future?
Thank you for your time.
Good day.
Thanks for the kind words, Douglas. I don’t have any inside knowledge about the G&F stories and I can’t tell you anything about the series after I left off writing it so I am afraid I can’t be of much help there. I can tell you that I have no plans for writing any more G&F stories at the moment.
Thank you Bill for the kind reply. I believe I will move my questions onward to the Black Library for further answers. Best wishes in your future ventures. Good day.
Hi William,
I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for all the great books! I think I started reading your stuff in my early teens, and am still enjoying them now! 😉 I think I actually destroyed my first copy of ‘Trollslayer’ by carrying it around on every holiday I ever went on- although now e-readers exist, it’s nice to know that my hard-copy books will never be subjected to that kind of abuse again. I’ve just picked up the Terrach Chronicles, and they’re fantastic.
I also wanted to say how glad I was to see your name on the Tyrion and Teclis books when they were announced- as my favourite Warhammer characters, I was terrified they would end up in bad hands. 😉 The series is fantastic, and it’s amazing to see them brought to life so clearly, as people as well as larger than life heroes. I can’t think of many other authors who could have managed that quite so well!
Thanks for all the kind words, S R. I wanted the Tyrion and Teclis books to be quite epic and high fantasy in feel which is not my usual style so its nice to hear that you liked them :).
Like the others before, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Space Wolf and Gotrek series and your creative pricing with some of the ebooks have allowed me to dabble with and then purchase all new series (like the Death’s Angels books that I absolutely devoured).
I spend a lot of time in transit – planes, trains and automobiles – and I listen to a lot of audio books. Do you plan to have audio versions of your books available through something like Audible or other channels? I enjoyed the first Kormak book and was thinking I’d like to option to listen to one or two of the following editions.
Keep up the great work.
Hey Jay,
Thanks for the kind words. I currently have no plans for audiobooks. It’s one of the long list of things I intend to get round to looking at when I have some time. Unfortunately that always seems to be in short supply around here.
I get that, it reminds me of a comic’s discussion about time “Time is relative, and when my relatives come over I have no time.”
After listening to hundreds of audio books I’m very curious of the process to turn the written word into audio from an author’s perspective. I’m guessing there are many decisions to be made and I’m sure money to be spent making the right cinematic or character choices. A good narrator can make a book great and sometimes the opposite can happen too. I’ve not had a narrator wreck a book for me (unless they change mid-series) but you sometimes have to seek the gem inside the vocals instead of having the audio enhance the performance.
Anyway, I’ll keep hoping you find some time to lend some voices to your work so I can enjoy while in my car otherwise I’ll have to wait until I’m motion-free.
I suspect you know more about the audiobooks side of this business than me, Jay. I’ve heard a number of people say there is good money to be made in the field but I’ve never listened to them myself so they are off my radar. Hopefully I will get round to investigating them at some point. Right now, I am way behind with my plans to bring out print books so that’s job one when I get some time.
Hi Bill, the first books of yours that I read was Trolslayer and it still holds a prized place in my collection as it introduced me to your work. I often feel like read Kormak’s stories that he is the until Gotrek/Felix hybrid. Now that Kinslayer has been released I was wondering how you felt about what seems to be the impending doom of (in my opinion) one of the greatest fantasy characters ever created!
Hi Balall. Thanks for the kind words. I don’t really have an opinion on Kinslayer since I don’t know anything about it. I think your idea about Kormak was spot on. He’s sort of what Felix might be if he was as tough as Gotrek and almost as well armed.
Hi,
I’ve just got through reading your Gotrek and Felix books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was just wondering why was the series passed onto Nathan Long. Although his books are good, they lack the character of your earlier works in the series in my opinion!
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Kal, glad you enjoyed the books. The reasons for the change are a long story and not one I particularly want to revisit. Sorry :).
Ah, ok. Sorry to hear it sounded like a bad experience.
Anyway, I’d like to thank you for those nooks. I, to my shame, haven’t read a book in over a decade. Your Gotrek & Felix books made me fall in love with reading again.
Looking forward to reading your other works! 🙂
Books*
Really shouldn’t type whilst tired… x)
That’s very nice to hear Kal– about you getting into reading again. Glad to hear it :).
Hi William, with the rumour that Gotrek will meet his doom in the next book, will you give it a read to see how David Guymer finishes the saga off? Also what do you think of the End times that are killing off characters left right and centre.
Do you see this an exciting opportunity for writing new characters and new heroes to be written if asked by the BL?
Hi Frank,
I have not read any of the Gotrek and Felix books since I stopped writing them. I don’t want to second guess the authors and I doubt they would want me looking over their shoulders. The End Times sounds exciting.
I along with several others would love to see some more books on Ragnar. He’s a very interesting character. I did have a question, however, what kind of liberty are you given in regards to the 40k universe when writing a book? Say for example you did another Ragnar book would you be able to utilize any characters from the lore such as Bjorn – The Fel Handed? I know with the Star Wars Universe you had to go through a whole review board to ensure the book was in sync with Canon.
On that topic I’d of always loved to see someone utilize Bjorn’s character more in the 41st millenium per se. The only book that really talked about him was Battle of the Fang.
Regardless good work on those novels even though they were awhile ago. I loved them.
Thanks for the kind words, Bradley. Basically everything has to be approved by GW when you are writing these books. Normally this is done by the editor assigned to the book. They are people steeped in GW lore. Back in the day, I was pretty familiar with it– I wrote part of the original Space Wolf Codex– but the lore has a tendency to evolve over time. I dare say I could have slipped Bjorn into any Space Wolf book I was writing back in the day. He is a popular and fascinating character.
I would agree… I think he’s a heavily under utilized character from the perspective of written novels. Like I mentioned he’s only ever used in Battle of the Fang in ‘more modern times’. Still hoping someone takes his character and does something with it in the 41st Millennium instead of the 31st or 34th in the case of the Battle of the Fang.
So you helped write the original Space Wolf codex? If you don’t mind me asking did you work for GW at the time or did you work contract to just help flesh out the lore. I was always curious how they fleshed out the immense amount of lore there is behind the 40k universe.
By the way thanks for taking the time to write back to me and to the others above. That is a nice touch and very much appreciated. Have a wonderful rest of the evening.
Thanks Bradley,
I worked on many a Codex and Warhammer Army book back in the day. I was a full time employee of GW back in the late 80s and early 90s. You can still see some of my work in the various army books today, most notably the High Elf book.
Hi,
My friend recommended me your book Death´s angels and I love this tetralogy. It’s so awesome. I don´t read other books (but I have it in my reading plan). I want met you and you sign my books. Have you got plan action where you will sign books?
Thanks for answer.
Sorry for my english
Hey Magdalena, thanks for the kind words. If you happen to be in the Prague area I am happy to meet up and sign books. I also sign books at conventions when I attend them.
Do you speak Czech? 🙂
Unfortunately, nemluvim Cesky!
Oh my, I just heard about Dark Horse, WoW and the new novel about Illidan “by William King”. Couldn’t be happier about the author there 🙂
Hey David– I am very happy myself. I’ve been a WoW player for close on 10 years, and there were times when I put in more hours playing in a week than most people put into their jobs. I finally managed to justify all that research to my wife!
FYI, I’ve heard about it on Wowhead.com, their weekly recap video #52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5V0xePXCnw at 35:15 in.
Looking forward to it 🙂
Thanks, Davide! Sorry I misspelled your name above!
William,
I’ve been a fan for a long time and am starting to shift to paperless books. I’d like to know how you’d like me to buy your books. I have a Kindle but I’d like to support you by buying from the group that gives you the best terms.
Thank you for producing great stories. I love your sword and sorcery so keep up the great work.
Thanks, Aaron. Ebooks are pretty much always the best way. The royalty rate can be as high as 70%, compared to far less on print.
I would love to see your work done as movies most of all gotrek and felix
Me too, Bryan :).
Hi. I will probably drop you an email, but I also wanted to leave a note here. First, let me say I’m a fan of your GW writings…novels, short stories, Warhammer Army books, and White Dwarf contributions as well as your current literary forays. My question: Is the Kormak Saga at allavailable in print form? I would love to have hard copies sitting on my book shelf…
Hi Rick. Stealer of Flesh is currently available in print. I have the PDFs of the other books ready to go but real life has prevented me from getting to grips with this over the past few months. Hopefully some time in the New Year I will get the next six books uploaded. After that my plan is to do the print books at the same time as the ebooks. In practise this probably means they will appear a few weeks after the ebooks. Hope this helps.
Why isn’t Space wolf a major blockbuster movie? I’m an old guy who has read everything in sci fi and this is one of the gems that fits all the points in sci fi book made into a movie and with CGI tech this could really work. Hollywood ruined Dune by not investing enough and with all the millions spent on garbage why can’t this work? Sorry for the rant… Just want real sci fi to make a comeback. This has nothing to do with my recent disappointment in the new Star Wars movie. 😉
Derek Beasley
I’ll let you know if Hollywood comes knocking on my door, Derek!
Hi William,
I discovered your books about Ragnar when I was a kid, and lunged head first into books 3 and 1 and 2 of the series. (In that order)
The most enjoyable part of your writing is the intense moments with very real portraits of characters’ physical experience of any situation. You write about hairs prickling in the back of Ragnar’s neck, a dry tongue sticking to the pallet and intense sensory input, as a spacewolf has much keener senses than the average human.
When a reader immerses himself in this kind of writing, it all becomes quite real. Years later, I read the SW Omnibus, and I could literally smell the minty oils in tech priests’ machinery, hear the servos of the power armour whirr, stick my tongue out and taste the humid jungle air(!)
Also, in the first book I really like how you portrayed Ragnar’s experience of technology. As he was a simple tribal man, he didn’t feel the G-force as it took off, but rather a giant invisible hand pressing him into his chair.
Just wanted to drop you some lines of appreciation, and and say hi =)
Thank you. I have always tried to make my writing vivid. It’s nice to know I sometimes succeeded.
Hello William,
I’ve just finished the Terrarch Chronicles and I’m now moving onto the Kormak Saga. I suppose I needn’t write praise to your work here, having done so on Goodreads and such, but I do have a question for you.
How is giving away the first part of a series of books working out for you ?
I’m asking because I probably would’ve missed reading your books otherwise, sick as I am of spending money on fantasy novels I end up feeling dissapointed in.
Anyhow, keep it up.
Kindest regards from France,
Nick
Thanks for the kind words, Nick. The giveaways used to work a lot better before Kindle Unlimited, but they still get results, particularly when I advertise them. Like yourself, I’ve bought many a novel and not finished it. The free books give readers a chance to decide whether they like my writing or not.