Paul Kearney's UMBRA SUMUS delayed due to title clash

Paul Kearney's first Warhammer 40,000 novel, Dark Hunters: Umbra Sumus, was originally announced for publication by the Black Library for May of this year. It was then sneakily brought forward to the start of this month, meaning that it should have been out already. Unfortunately the book was pulled at the last moment due to a problem with its name.

Not Umbra Sumus, which is fine, but the series title, Dark Hunters. In WH40K lore, the Dark Hunters are a Space Marine chapter tasked with tracking down and destroying a Chaos Marine chapter known as the Punishers. Even by the grim standards of the setting, the Hunters are noted for being resolute and not much fun at parties.

The problem with this is that there is a quite well-known series by American  urban fantasy superstar Sherrilyn Kenyon, also known as Dark-Hunter (I'm assuming the hyphen and singular title is what BL missed when seeing if the term was already copyrighted). It began in 2002 and now comprises 26 novels, accounting for the majority of Kenyon's 30 million+ sales. Although not often discussed on genre websites, it's one of the biggest series in the genre with sales far outstripping that of the likes of The Dresden Files.

Even the mighty Games Workshop knows better than to take on the legal forces of an author so popular she can make a logo out of her initials.

Umbra Sumus and the previous Dark Hunters WH40K material has been withdrawn and will be reissued after a title change, hopefully later this year. It's unclear at the moment if the BL will have to completely rename the Dark Hunters chapter in all of the lore as well.

Paul is also working on a new novel for Solaris, The Wolf in the Attic, which is now looking like an early 2016 release.

Release date for Paul Kearney's next novel

Dark Hunters: Umbra Sumus is the title of Paul Kearney's next novel. Set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the novel expands on elements in Kearney's previous short story in the setting, The Last Detail.

The sigil of the Dark Hunters, for in the grim darkness of the far future, where a technologically-advanced humanity fights on a thousand fronts against aliens, heretics, mutants and demons, everyone still thinks axes are cool.

The novel focuses on the battle between the Dark Hunters, a chapter of genetically-engineered Space Marines, and their deadly rivals, the Punishers. Unusually for a debut novelist in the setting, the Black Library will be publishing the novel in hardcover, presumably out of recognition for the quality of Kearney's former work. The title of the novel suggests that sequels are hoped for.

The novel will be published on 7 May 2015.