Mephiston: Lord of Death - David Annandale, Review part 1

My copy of the latest "Limited Time Novella" from Black Library: Mephiston: Lord of Death by David Annandale arrived yesterday and I could barely contain my excitement as I opened the  parcel. This review will be in two parts; part one will focus on the product itself, basically what you get for your £35. Part two will be a review of the actual story contained within. Here is my full list of Limited Edition Novellas, Chapbooks and Anthologies published by Black Library for reference.

Details

Authour: Annandale, David
Format: Signed, jacketed hardback with slipcase
ISBN-13: 9781849703734
Product Number: 60040181040
Print Line: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Published: 2013 (Feb or Mar)
Pages: 128
Number of Copies: 2434

Dedication: For Margaux, for her strength.  

The Package

In my previous blog post here I discussed what it was that the Mephiston: Lord of Death limited time novella included. There has been a lot of complaining regarding the cost of these novellas and the fact that Black Library are denying stories to people who can't afford the high prices. I would draw peoples' attention to other limited edition fancy packaged editions form other publishers and you would see that there is little difference between them and Black Library's output.

Without further ado I give you some pretty pictures (and some words too)

The slipcase

From the front

Angled spine view

Books sitting inside the slipcase

This is the first Black Library novella published with a slipcase. It is described as "faux leather" but I don't think anyone would have trouble distinguishing it from the real thing. It matches the book cover under the dust jacket both in colour, layout and material. Lettering and design is in silver and has a very slight indentation feeling on the front and spine which is a nice touch. The "faux leather" wrap does not continue inside the slipcase, ending about one centimeter inside and the back cover is blank. The three items fit snugly inside.


Inside the Slipcase

The contents of the slipcase, left to right: Eclipse of Hope Chapbook, Mephiston: Lord of Death Novella and the Artwork Postcard

The artwork postcard

Artwork postcard showing Mephiston

Not much to say here, an A5 artwork postcard of the cover art by Hardy Fowler. It's relativly high quality printing, if I had one criticism it would be that it would have been nice to have the artist's name on the back and perhaps a title there as well. Not a major complaint at all. 


The Chapbook

From the front

Angled view

The reverse

The title page (and my thumb)

The chapbook is 32 pages, unsigned and staple bound like all of Black Library's chapbooks. Eclipse of Hope was first published as an eBook in 2012 and this is almost certainly the only hard copy printing that will be made, outside of an anthology. Cover art is the same as that used for the eBook. Page 32 is a full page illustration of Mephiston by Alex Boyd, one of Games Workshop's house artists, shown below.

Page 32 of Eclipse of Hope, art by Alex Boyd

The Novella
Dust jacket:

Dust jacket front

Dust jacket angled

Dust jacket reverse

dust jacket spine

Whole dust jacket

The artwork used, by Hardy Fowler is a beautiful piece of work in my opinion, capturing both the nature of Mephiston and the fluidity of the scene. The dust jacket is a full wrap around with plain black flaps with the front flap reaching around to the last page of the book, in the style of all the other limited novellas. The paper used feels durable and thick, similar to that used for "The Unkindness of Ravens" and "Traitor's Gorge", more "plasticy" than what is used for regular Black Library jacketed hardbacks, the Horus Heresy Collector's Hardbacks and even the Horus Heresy Limited Novellas. Defiantly feels good and durable.

 Prominent at the top of the front cover is the "Lords of the Space Marines" logo, similar in size to the "Space Marine Battles" logo. This is accompanied by a darker band that runs around the whole jacket at the same level, this would be the only down side as it feels rather out of place, especially on the back cover, breaking up the artwork somewhat.

Under dust jacket book cover:

Book cover angled

Book cover spine

 Pretty much exactly the same as the slipcase, red"faux leather" with slightly inset silver lettering and design like the slipcase. Binding is high quality, alternate red and white thread with a red page ribbon about half again as long as the book in the same colour as the cover.

Internals:

Copyright page

Signature and numbering page, not great quality, but mine is 555 of 2434

Title page and my grubby thumb

rear pullout front

Rear pullout reverse

 The inside of the book looks nice and the paper feels thick and of high quality. Black Library stated the the book would have six internal art pages. these are in the form of a double sided pullout at the back of the book. The front has a close up of Mephiston from the cover art. The reverse is "Lord Mephiston's Wargear" by Sam Lamont, who also does graphics and designs for Forge World and Fantasy Flight Games, showing weapons, syringes/exsanguinators and armor, plus accompanying text. Again quality of the Artwork and Design is good, although pullout pages tend to weaken along the folds after handling. I guess its a trade off for having large artwork.

The signature page is just the standard template used for all Black Library Limited Editions: Book symbol, signature, printed name, copy number, total number of copies. Two things here, firstly I'm disapointed to see that Black Library have moved away from the hand numbering of each copy, even Brotherhood of the Storm was hand numbered (all 5764 copies!). Hopefully they will realise that the hand numbering adds that extra touch of desirability to the books. Secondly, the page itself could do with some work, it seems a bit "basic" in my opinion. Here's an example from a similarly limited edition book from PS Publishing I received recently:

Vault of Deeds - James Barclay, PS Publishing (Sep 2008)

As you can see it is stylistically superior:

• Good use of font
• Book title printed
• Brief description of its limited nature, number of copies etc. at the top 
• Authour signature in pen, not felt tip, and on a line
• Hand numbered and with the publishers logo.

Compare this to the Black Library version:

• utilitarian font & writing
• No text about printings or copies beyond the number 2434
• Copy number printed not hand numbered
• Authour signature in felt tip, which is ok, since most black library authours tend to do this, but if it was on a line it would look much better
• No publishers logo.

I would prefer:
use of book logo as they are at the moment at the top and then something like the following:

This edition of

MEPHISTON: LORD OF DEATH

available only between 25th January 2013 and 1st February 2013

is limited to 2434 jacketed, slipcased hardcovers

featuring exclusive artwork by Hardy Fowler and Sam Lamont

signed by David Annandale

It will not be reprinted in any format until two years from this date

and will never include this artwork again

          "authour signature"          

David Annandale

This is copy number: "hand numbered"

Then the Black Library Logo at the base. I would look a hell of a lot better I think. The same would have been nice for the copy of "Eclipse of Hope" I think a signature is perhaps too much to ask for, but prehaps a title page that says 

"this is one of only 2434 copies published to be included with the limited time novella Mephiston: Lord of Death. It will never be printed in this format again"

Just a little something to make it feel more special.

 Sometimes the back page of these books is take up with an advert e.g. "Brotherhood of the Storm", "Aurelian" and"Promethean Sun". No such advert in either the Novella or the Chapbook here. feels good not to have it because you're paying £30-35 for these books, you don't need an advert for the latest release since you probably already check upcoming releases anyway if you're buying the collectors editions. Plus adverts in a book, especially a limited edition are the height of poor taste.

Overview

Overall I'm going to say that at £35 this is a far more delux package than the £30 "standard limited editions". for an extra £5 you get the slipcase, chapbook and art postcard, along with all the usual novella features. As a comparison, "Traitor's Gorge - Mike Lee (2013)" is limited to 1000 copies and event only, is unsigned and has 4 internal art pages with no pullout, slipcase, chapbook or art postcard and is £30. You get a lot of extra quality for £5.

Despite a couple of complaints I would say that this is the best book that Black Library have ever put out (story not withstanding as I haven't read it yet!). I hope Black Library continue to up their game with these releases because it really does make them seem worth the money when you see the quality. 

On a final note, this is the second of black libraries "Limited Time Novellas" and 2434 copies were printed. this compares to the 5764 of Chris Wraight's Brotherhood of the Storm (Sep 2012) which was a Horus Heresy related novella. That's less than half the number. Interestingly it is also less than the 3000 copies of George Mann's Unkindness of Ravens (May 2012) the last non Horus Heresy Limited Edition on general sale through the Black Library website. This shows that the demand for these books isn't that high.

 Checking Ebay currently the one copy to be sold went for £40 + postage, which wouldn't have turned a profit for the seller after fees considering the £35 retail price. "Jizzlefinger", perennial Black Library seller who I think I saw at Black Library Live! 2013 getting about 12 copies of the chapbook signed, has four listed at £80 + postage and sold one more for the same. Who else will be suckered in I wonder?


If you want to check out my full list of all Black Library Limited Edition Novellas, Chapbooks and Anthologies, go here