Special Report PCG INVESTIGATES
BOOK SMART
Best-selling 40K novelist DAN ABNETT is co-writing WARHAMMER 40,000: DARKTIDE
A rare look at the homes of ordinary people in 40K.
Ask a Warhammer 40,000 fan which books to read, and they’ll recommend Dan Abnett’s. His stories of morally compromised Inquisitor detectives and soldiers bonding behind the razorwire are a great entry point, starring relatively ordinary characters rather than armoured giants. He’s a perfect choice to join Fatshark as co-writer on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, a co-op game that casts players as regular grunts investigating cult-related goings-on.
“I love the universe as a whole, obviously,” Abnett says. “I’ve spent a lot of time there, so I love all the stuff to do with it. Obviously there are iconic elements like Space Marines that represent 40K in a nutshell, but I’ve always gravitated towards human characters because they seem to me to give the best place for a reader, or a player in this case, to relate to. The human condition and that kind of stuff. Just a regular person who’s not augmented or empowered by Astartes gifts or anything like that. It’s something to identify with and to relate to, but also a great place from which to see the universe, because you are the smallest thing in it.”