# [News] Holy Emperor, WHAT IS THIS HERESY?!



## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

https://www.warhammer-community.com...-tales-for-younger-readersgw-homepage-post-1/

https://warhammeradventures.com/warhammer-40000/



*Warhammer Adventures: Tales for Younger Readers*











The 41st Millennium and the Mortal Realms are fantastical places, ripe for adventure. 


Like you, we love these worlds, and we’re always looking for new ways to share them with all kinds of fans. Today, we’re delighted to announce a new type of Warhammer fiction and 2 new series that are sure to excite young readers and parents* eager to introduce the next generation to the joy of Warhammer.






















We often hear from hobbyists whose kids are eager to learn and read more about the rich worlds of Warhammer. At doubles events the world over, it’s a common sight to see parent-child teams having a blast and sharing their love of Warhammer gaming. 

We wanted a way for these young Warhammer fans to explore the settings, so we’ve created a brand new fiction series:












Warhammer Adventures is an exciting new range of books coming next year for boys and girls aged 8-12 years old featuring younger protagonists having thrilling adventures and facing off against dangerous enemies.


Warhammer Adventures stories are written by best selling authors with experience of writing fantastic fiction for younger readers, and will be the perfect way to introduce your children, siblings, nieces, nephews and other young fans in your life to the hobby you love – and to give them their first look at the awesome worlds of the 41st Millennium and the Mortal Realms.












The first title for Warhammer Age of Sigmar will be _Realm Quest: The City of Lifestone_ by Tom Huddleston, and the first title for Warhammer 40,000 will be _Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron_ by Cavan Scott. Both Tom and Cavan have written extensively for younger readers, including collaborating on a popular Star Wars series.

We talked to Cavan about _Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron_, and he had this to say:


*Cavan:* “I’m delighted to be bringing the adventure, excitement and thrills of life in the 41st Millennium to a new generation. There are going to be space battles and monsters, fearsome aliens and dangerous villains. But there will also be friendship and bravery in the form of our three lead characters; ganger Talen, Martian Mekki and explorer Zelia. They already know that life in the Imperium is tough, but they never expected that it would be this challenging, that they would find themselves lost and alone. As their quest begins, they will have to quickly learn who they can trust and what risks are worth taking. Above all, they will learn that need each other to survive.”


We’ll be bringing you more information about Warhammer Adventures in the coming months, and the new Warhammer Adventures website is live now – head over there to check it out.













_*Parents understandably unsure about recommending the Horus Heresy series to their children, it being a series about 9 sons trying to tear down their father’s empire…_

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I.......I am utterly and totally speechless. Warhammer made kid friendly?! It utterly beggars belief. Not a shred of grimdark in this at all..
Such incredible heresy. The Emperor would weep on the Golden Throne.


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium there is only sunshine and lollipops!


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## Shandathe (May 2, 2010)

Well, there's friendship at least. Though this sounds like another of those 'kid-friendly' things where even kissing is forbidden but violence is just fine. And that's also why they're tossing NECRONS into the mix. Everybody knows it's not REAL violence if the other guy doesn't bleed.

Just think of the lessons kids can learn!



> As their quest begins, they will have to quickly learn who they can trust and what risks are worth taking.


-Remember, if your parents trust your priest, be wary. NO ONE IS ABOVE SUSPICION.
-Don't take candy from strangers, Magos Biologis Renner is looking for test subjects again and you WON'T like what has happened to you when you wake up again.
-Be very, very afraid of clowns.

See? 

Kid-friendly should be fine.

Me, I'll start to panic if they ever announce the universe being adapted to fit the worldview of the modern-day SJW, with Horus rebelling only because he wanted to be a girl and the evil white male Emperor wouldn't pay for the operation...


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Yeah, no fear of a Slaaneshi cult showing up in either series, I wouldn't think.


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Hah, good one, good one! Hearing -this- heresy is getting memed to the Eye of Terror!


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I've been telling people this for days now... it's fine. They're going to gloss over the genocide and religious warfare and sodomy daemons-- all that stuff that makes it absolutely inappropriate for kids. It'll be like Star Wars, where they do all that stuff, but they just brush it under the rug and are like "Yeah, we just blew up a planet. But nobody important got hurt, so we're not going to acknowledge that thirteen billion people just died on screen in a PG-rated film." It'll be fine. The aliens will just be scary evil monsters that can be overcome by the power of friendship instead of righteous prayers to the God-Emperor and proficiency with the holy instruments of His work. At no point will Commissars, the Adepta Sororitas, the Grey Knights, The Holy Ordos of the Emperor's Inquisition, Slaanesh (and maybe Chaos in general), the Dark Eldar, servitors, the realities of the Imperial Navy (re: press ganging people who literally die firing a single broadside from blowback and plasma venting), or anything else that will require any sorts of uncomfortable ethical questions from 8 year olds appear. Although I think it'd be hilarious if they went the "My First Cthulhu" route with it, and just had the books go along the lines of, "See Sister Verity. Verity is very angry with Tobias. Tobias said he did not love the Emperor. This made Sister Verity very sad, and very mad. So Sister Verity tied Tobias to a stake and set him on fire for not believing in the God-Emperor the right way. All that was left were ashes and bone. Sister Verity was still very angry, and went to find more naughty children who don't love the Emperor, and set them on fire too. The end."


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

I admit I'm curious about this. Rather than taking away the grim dark, maybe it's a way to steadily inure children to the grim dark? 



After all, just because something is made for kids doesn't mean it won't or can't be full of tragedy, horror and death. Anyone old enough to remember The Animals of Farthing Wood will know this. 



It could also be a great method for teaching kids moral ambiguity.


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

Honestly even if it is Friendship is Magic levels of silly I feel this is a good thing. It is a draw to the younger generations, a way to get them interested. As they grow older they will step into a store with an actual invested interest in the game and lore. It is then, when they are starting to mature that they will actually dig into the real aspects of the game. Finding out that there is actually something called Grimdark and it means something will hook the majority of them into the whole thing even more. These books are not in any way shape or form targeting the older groups, it is a developmental draw for the younger population.


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

A pound to a penny folks on this forum will read them and like them! The artwork with 3 kids kinda of reminds me of "the mysterious cities of gold" with tau zia and estaban for some strange reason. May give them a blast myself, can't be worse than what the heresy series turned into


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## Shandathe (May 2, 2010)

Can't help but remember the short part of "Our Friend Promethium" in Caves of Ice right now. I wonder if they'll ever publish an Imperial children's book... The reviews certainly seem good!



Amberley Vail said:


> Of course it's the illustrations which are the real charm of this little book, particularly those of its narrator, Pyrus the Flame. Even now I can't help smiling at the expressions on the faces of the heretics he's burning on page twenty-eight, just as I did as a child all those years ago.


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## Roganzar (Feb 16, 2014)

I would have loved these as a kid. Darker fantasy like Elric of Melnibone, and other Michael Moorcock stories, hooked me into being a voracious reader. These books would have been welcome additions to what I was reading then. (Regardless of what kind of fantasy genre they end up belonging to.) I have every intention of getting these and reading them. Both by myself and with my son.


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)




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## 2DSick (Sep 24, 2017)

XD What next? Game of Thrones adventure books?


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## jamesvalentine (Mar 28, 2017)

I don't see the problem. 40k is not grimdark at all. So it's hardly dumbing anything down.
And most older players don't really give a damn about the background and fluff. So it's not an issue.
You've gotta give someone the attention. 
After all the London GT has taught us the modern generation GW fan has no self respect or standards.


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

jamesvalentine said:


> I don't see the problem.


Gonna have to disagree with pretty much everything you just said.





jamesvalentine said:


> 40k is not grimdark at all. So it's hardly dumbing anything down.


Mankind still stands at the brink of destruction, with the Imperium now torn in half and the forces of chaos no longer held within the eye of terror. Guilliman may be able to make a number of sweeping changes to hold the line and even push it at times, but he is still only one primarch and his forces cannot be everywhere they are needed.




jamesvalentine said:


> And most older players don't really give a damn about the background and fluff.


Uh yeah, most older player still do care about the background and fluff. Thats why older players had a few issues with the introduction of the primaris marines at first. Thats why the events leading up to 8th edition meant a lot to some people.


Perhaps you do not care about the background and fluff, but you dont speak for all older players.





jamesvalentine said:


> After all the London GT has taught us the modern generation GW fan has no self respect or standards.


 I think perhaps you need to explain this one a little.


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## Shandathe (May 2, 2010)

@darkreever - he's likely referring to the London Grand Tournament's problems (at least some of which are likely due to it being their first time). One issue was the 'terrain'... The majority of tables had 7 bits of glued-together polystyrene. Some sponsored tables looked quite a bit better, but... not a great impression. Some pics at St. Andrew's Wargaming's review.

Mind you, if he's doing the tournament scene he's likely running into people who care more about list optimizations than lore, so he's probably correct in stating those older gamers not caring about lore


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