And so on. That’s why this book was the hardest yet, because I had to stop so often and check so much. I have tested the patience of my fellow authors and the editorial team, especially continuity guru Laurie Goulding, past the point of destruction. Their responses have never been less than generous.
But really, I don’t want you knowing that, gentle reader. I’d prefer it if you didn’t know it at all. If I’ve done my job right, there should be zero sense that this book was arduous and demanding to compose. You shouldn’t be aware of the individual bricks, just the handsome aspect of the building as a whole. And if there are occasional moments when you stop, smile and think, ‘Wow! That was a really smart cross-reference to that other thing!’ or ‘Crikey! I didn’t expect him to turn up, but it makes great sense!’ then those, my friend, are what DVD people call Easter Eggs.
So I hope this afterword hasn’t in any way spoiled your enjoyment of The Unremembered Empire. And I’m definitely not going to mention how many different directions the story strands of this book will now take us in, and how much industrial grade, but mercifully secret, sausage-making that’s going to require…
Dan Abnett
Maidstone, June 2013
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the following, variously, for ground work laid down in other novels and stories, for plot threads, for brainstorming, for questions answered… and in many cases all of the above – Graham McNeill, Gav Thorpe, Jim Swallow, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, John French, Rob Sanders, Graeme Lyon, Alan Merrett, Nick Kyme, Neil Roberts, Alan Bligh and Laurie Goulding.
Thanks, love and appreciation to Nik for her supportive work editing copy, delivering feedback, and generally putting up with me and the whole process.
About the Author
Dan Abnett is a multiple New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning comic book writer. He has written almost fifty novels, including the acclaimed Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies. His Horus Heresy novel Prospero Burns topped the SF charts in the UK and the US. In addition to writing for Black Library, Dan scripts audio dramas, movies, games, comics and bestselling novels for major publishers in Britain and America. He lives and works in Maidstone, Kent
For Eve and Rich.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Published in 2013 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK
Cover illustration by Neil Roberts
Internal illustrations by Karl Richardson.
Map by Dan Abnett and Adrian Wood.
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ISBN 978-1-78251-152-6
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Dan Abnett, The Unremembered Empire
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