The world's first academic conference celebrating all things Warhammer
Abstract The name Warhammer 40,000, with its aesthetics and, above all, the incredibly detailed background, is now a fixture in pop culture. This epic, supposedly monolithic narrative is actually a piece of work by different artists, designers and authors. The unifying element of these different media and narrative styles is the depiction of war and …
Abstract Julia Kristeva’s poststructuralist concept of intertextuality applies to the creation of all genres and formats of texts, but when it comes to working within an existing universe such as Warhammer, the relationship with what has come before and, challengingly from wider narrative and character arc perspectives, what may come in the future, takes on …
Abstract Worldbuilding is an integral part of the science fiction and fantasy genres. A major challenge of these genres is introducing the setting to readers in a way that is natural and doesn’t overwhelm them. This can be done through a reader surrogate character, a character that is either new to the setting (such as …
Catachans and Tyranids are two of Warhammer 40K’s most identifiable factions. But what is it like to write them? Using the example of her debut novel, Deathworlder, Black Library author Victoria Hayward shares her creative process to writing these iconic factions, her approach to writing Warhammer 40K, character development, world-building and writing the first full …