My next project? · 2:53am Jan 11th, 2018
Sooooo, I just learned The Black Library just put out an open call for submissions based on Games Workshop IP. 'Official' fanfic, basically.
And hey, I'm kind of good at fanfic.
The kicker is, I'm fairly certain they won't let me write Ciaphas Cain-- not right off the bat, at least. More's the pity. Still, Games Workshop's got a pretty deep sandbox to play in, so that's a plus.
Other authors have done takes on Sharpe and Flashman, sure ... but now I'm wondering if anyone's tried doing a Battlefleet Gothic version of Hornblower. Of course, Hornblower in SPAAACE has been done before in Weber's Honor Harrington books, but ... well, it should be easy to add skulls and spiky bitz to that, right?
OR, since I'm reading an Agatha Christie novel right now, perhaps some kind of mystery? Inquisitor Poirot! "Murder on the Emperor's Express."
OR, for a more American take ... maybe Space-MASH? I mean, someone's got to patch up all those brave guardsmen who get themselves shot in service of the Emperor, right? Could make for an interesting take on the "In the Grim Darkness there is only war" bidness. Then again, GW's an English company, so I'm not sure if they'll deign to accept the work of peasanty colonials such as myself. Hmmm.
OR, I'd love to do a ridiculous 80's action movie homage starring none other than SLY MARBO. Which ... miiiight be my best bet, now that I'm thinking about it.
Really, I'd write about just about anything but Space Marines, which again means I'm out of the running. Still, I've got 'til April to cook up a decent-sounding pitch and 500 words of a sample manuscript, so I might as well give it a go, right?
And heck, I've seen enough 40k/pone crossover floating around on this site to know some of you nerds might wanna give it a go yourselves, so the best of luck to you!
It's MASH, except there are commissars in the camp who are there to laspistol anyone who looks like they've been exposed to genestealers or Chaos. And Hawkeye's always one step ahead of Commissar Burns.
Honor Harrington in Grimdark...
I'm down!
Still have my Eldar fleet.
I would love for them to re-release Gothic sometime.
--Spade
If you wanted to make it a bit "less" grim and a bit more scifi-y, you could set it during the Great Crusade.
4771195
Oooooh, that is a really, REALLY good take on it.
Which, sadly, probably won't be the route I take. But, after brainstorming (read: drinking) for the last few hours, I have the vaguest of ideas.
Basically? Predator ... IN REVERSE.
It's gonna be super rad, yo.
I'm not 'up' on much of Games Workshop IP, but 40k, hm.
Rules to live by:
The good guys always have less ammo, lousier weapons, more corrupt leadership, and win anyway.
See if I can rattle up a potential story outline:
Renyard's Research and Salvage was not exactly the bleeding edge of combat tech or leadership in a universe of vastly more powerful forces. Instead, it was a mobile company where several veterans had found a use for their skills in survival to thrive in the dark places where cracks in the pillars of power gave opportunity a place to knock, even if it was only once, and involved a lot of running afterward.
Pierson's World was not exactly a thriving megaplex of modern civilization, but it was a peaceful farming colony with nothing worth stealing, exploiting, or bombing in a small out-of-the-way system. The problem they had was some nosy farmer had uncovered an ancient temple complex, and unless Renyards could somehow destroy it or otherwise neutralize it, the small farming colony was about to become the center of far more firepower than sense.
Thankfully, Renyards crack team of alcoholics, paranoids, idiots and violent psychotics was on the case.
They're all doomed.
Why would Cain be off limits?
If he's off limits, is Mitchell's corner of 40K entirely off limits? Because man it would be cool if someone wrote a story based entirely around Jurgen.
Seriously, a story whose main character is literally a sidekick/plot device/Deus Ex Machina/plot armor for heroes in other stories.
What causes his ridiculous BO? How exactly does he manage to find anything and everything he and Cain need at a given posting regardless of difficulty? Why is he so good at everything and yet manages to seem like he's a terrible soldier?
These are questions I've needed answered for a very long time!
Never got into the setting beyond the Cain novels and 1d4chan, but I hope you have fun with it.
As a side thought, canonically, Cain had students.
4771261
Let me stop you there. There are no good guys in 40K.
--Spade