A few exciting things to cover since my last update, so let’s kick it off with, appropriately enough, The First. Yes! THE LION: SON OF THE FOREST has been voted Black Library’s Book of the Year for 2023! This is absolutely amazing (and only happened because all three parts of The End And The Death counted as separate entries, but I’ll take it). I’m so glad that so many people liked my take on the return of Lion El’Jonson, Primarch of the First Legion, to the galaxy of Warhammer 40,000. Maybe there’s something relatable about feeling old and tired and waking up to realise that your children ar ..read more

For those of you who missed the big news at the weekend, you can catch up with it here. For those of you who don’t like following links, here’s the first part: THEY MADE A MODEL OF UFTHAK. MY BIG GREEN SON EXISTS IN THE FLESH (well, plastic). I’ve been sitting on this news for a while now (writing for IPs really tests your ability to keep secrets), and it’s so fantastic to finally be able to talk about it. Ufthak Blackhawk – the star of Brutal Kunnin – is a creation from my own brain (albeit within the pre-existing world of Warhammer 40,000), and it’s incredibly exiting and gratifying that Ga ..read more

This coming Saturday, the Black Library preview will be live (well, I know for a fact that some of it was pre-recorded) to give you the lowdown on what’s coming in the first half of 2024! You can watch the teaser here, wherein you will see that I’m a part of it! So tune in to find out what I’m talking about, and a bit about what you can expect from me next year (as well as a host of other stuff from other amazing authors). The post Black Library preview, 9th Dec! appeared first on Mike Brooks ..read more

Last weekend (18-19th November) I was lucky enough to be a guest at Heroes Dutch ComicCon (winter edition), thanks to the American Book Center of Amsterdam. This necessitated my first flight this century, which in turn necessitated a fair bit of “watch what the person in front of you in the queue is doing and, if it seems like they know what they’re doing, copy them”. Happily, although my carry-on bag failed its initial security check at Manchester (I forgot that my eye drops weren’t in the sealable clear plastic bag with the rest of the fluids, pastes, and gels), no one arrested me for being ..read more

Batten down the hatches, Europe, because guess who’s coming? I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve been invited by the American Book Center of Amsterdam to appear at Dutch ComicCon in Utrecht on 18-19 November! My timetable is as follows: Saturday 18-11 11:00 – 12:00 Signing at the ABC stand 13:30 – 14:30 Signing at the ABC stand 15:00 – 15:30 Q&A – Tales From the Black Library: writing novels in the Warhammer 40K Universe with author Mike Brooks 15:30 – 16:30 Signing at the ABC stand Sunday 19-11 11:00 – 12:00 Signing at the ABC stand 13:30 – 14:30 Signing at the ABC stand 15:30 -16:30 P ..read more

It’s that time of year again, when the grizzled veterans of the UK (and beyond) fantasy scene descend on grim and blasted lands (Birmingham, this time) to discuss all things fantasy (and sci-fi. And horror). I’m going again this year, and you can find me in two scheduled places: – Other People’s Worlds, Saturday 12 noon: a panel about writing to contract in someone else’s IP – Making Worlds, Sunday 2pm: a panel about worldbuilding So basically: worlds. I’ll also probably be knocking around at the karaoke on Friday night, giving my traditional performance of ‘With Or Without You’, which has bee ..read more

Hahaha, pun time. So, I wrote a book called The Lion: Son of the Forest, about Lion El’Jonson returning to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I thought it might be popular. I didn’t realise exactly how popular. It went to #1 on Audible. Not #1 in Warhammer books, or even #1 in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but #1. Overall. It out-sold Prince Harry and JK Rowling. Not necessarily for very long (I don’t know how regularly Audible update their best-sellers list), but even so, that’s quite an achievement. I even have the proof, thanks to someone at Black Library who noticed and took a screenshot: That’s… spect ..read more

A little late to the write-up (about a month late, actually), but I had an excellent time at FantasyCon 2022, despite it being held at the Park Inn at Heathrow, which is a generally uninspiring venue. It was great to see people again, and I even got to participate in a last-minute-organised game of Dungeons & Disorderly on the Friday evening, run as always by David Moore of Rebellion, and joined by Stewart Hotston, Anna Smith-Spark, and Maya Evan. This one took the form of an urban fantasy-type game, in which (thanks to audience suggestions) I played an shapeshifting archaeology professor ..read more

I am absolutely delighted to announce that my epic fantasy debut, The Black Coast, has been shortlisted for Best Fantasy Novel for this year’s British Fantasy Awards. This an incredible honour, especially given the quality of the rest of the shortlist (which includes the ‘Sapphic Trifecta’ of The Jasmine Throne, The Unbroken, and She Who Became The Sun; as well as Sistersong by Lucy Holland, whom I first met in a Game of Thrones panel at Nine Worlds back in 2015 at the same time as I first met Anna Smith Spark; and This Is Our Undoing by Lorraine Wilson). Even if I don’t win (and honestly, loo ..read more

On 23rd June (in the UK), The Godbreaker is released. This is the third and concluding volume in my epic fantasy series, The God-King Chronicles. This is a very long blog post about how I got here. Back in the 90s, I was reading fantasy literature like my life depended on it. I’d polished off The Lord of the Rings before I finished primary school, but then I found the big, chunky series: The Belgariad and The Mallorean, The Elenium and The Tamuli; the never-ending Wheel of Time; The Dragonlance Chronicles and The Death Gate Cycle; Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, one of my all-time favourites; but a ..read more