Warhammer 40,000 Children's Books - A Few Thoughts

By now you have likely all heard one particularly odd bit of news: Games Workshop is to start publishing books set in its universe which are written with 8-to-12-year-olds in mind. Titled Warhammer Adventures, the two announced books feature younger takes on typical Imperial characters across a variety of factions and settings. Thus far two have been established for readers to delve into - City of Lifestone for Age of Sigmar, and Attack of the Necron for Warhammer 40,000.

It sounds like a parody, doesn't it? Warhammer books for younger ages, the grim darkness of the far future for under thirteens, a tamer and more open take on many factions to make them more open to people. More than a few thought it was just this at first, and after they realised that this is serious things began to turn ugly. Very quickly. You had the usual pushback from the people who wished that this setting was as grim and dark as possible. Some had valid points, most were complete morons, and a few were stupid enough to try and bring up race because two characters were dark skinned. It's M41 folks, people have bigger things to worry about, or are more likely to regard the folks about too many angles or skulls with greater distrust than someone with darker skin.

Normally that would be it. An announcement is made, there is a mixed reaction and I wait until the full release to give my thoughts. However, it then it apparently began to attract outside attention of the worst kind. The sort of people who have not been in this franchise for over two decades, who think that everything after the Second Edition was wrong, and if anything story related is not 110% bold-faced satire then the writers aren't doing their jobs. Naturally, these people started yelling about "Think of the children!" and how they wouldn't understand the satire of the setting which has been lost since they last bothered to show any interest in Games workshop. They then tried to portray half the fandom as basement dwelling neckbeards, racists, and neo-nazis, emulating the worst traits of Disney era Star Wars fans. 

Oh dear. 

Yet, stupidity aside, there were a few relevant points raised amid the sheer venom spewed from these individuals. Trying to introduce a younger generation to such a setting can be difficult, and there is no shortage of more adult-themed concepts even in the most basic lore. While said criticisms typically fell into the old misconception that Slaanesh was the "God of Rape", there's no denying this. In one case the world is an absolute hellhole which was completely overwhelmed by things which would make Diablo their plaything, and who often twists their followers into abominations. In the other, there is no good faction and humanity only endures thanks to a mass slave trade, purges and constant warfare. While some of this can be written around, and there's no inherent need to focus on the worst of the setting, both are unavoidably dark. The trouble of introducing someone of that age to such subject matter goes beyond simple cries that they are not ready for it, and into the realm of misconceptions and problematic introductions.

For example, we already know that one character featured in the book is a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Even if you ignore their more ruthless streak, Machiavellian ways or their treatment of technology, their core ideology is typically problematic. It encourages adherence to dogma, typically shuns creativity in favour of replication, and then there's the whole issue of lopping parts off of your body to create machine bits. Worse still, if subjects such as the Warp are dealt with, that can easily lead to weapons-grade nightmare fuel. The description of even a relatively safe Warp jump can be harrowing, and some of its sights are utterly maddening to say the least. If it refuses to pull its punches, then you end up showing a child something their parents will have a hard time explaining. Especially when it comes to the actions of the "good guys". If it does pull things back and tries to soften the depiction to a supposedly acceptable point, then you give a child an impression of a much tamer fascistic nightmare state which the book tries to get them to root for. One that they have been raised in.

This is also without getting into the problem of how the reader might regard this. Children do not enjoy being talked down to, or being regulated to what they see as a lesser or lower tier version of the franchise. This is especially true after a certain age, and I would be worried that the older end of the intended age group is pushing things a bit too far. Diluting Warhammer too much for their benefit or even trying to explicitly utilise a younger group of characters might be a step too far. While this isn't universally true - and one such example will be cited in the later paragraphs - I can think of a fair few children's franchises which found success in bypassing this. Either by refusing to talk down to children about the subject matter in question - which loops back round to the problems cited above for in-universe reasons - or specifically using older characters to try and avoid this.

It's a difficult thing to manage to say the least, and even if you accept that Age of Sigmar might be able to step around the more obvious problems, it's still something of a minefield to manage. Plus, atop of this, you then have the whole issue of who they will face as an enemy and how they might justify the characters surviving it. Thinking of both settings for a moment, there are very few figures which can be easily singled out as something they can survive without it seriously underplaying the capabilities of a faction. The Necrons are the only defined ones we have thus far, and their armies, tombs and fleets are a near impossible challenge for centuries-old soldiers who were trained from childhood to fight against daemonic entities. In most situations, this would result in a very bleak and very bloody ending to say the least.

Yet, after some consideration, there is still certainly a few ways to execute this properly. It needs to be handled very carefully, and very directly, but even with a setting so grim and dark as this one there are ways around the narrative issues. Most of these boil down to making the story as self-contained as possible. Even with Guilliman's changes, the Imperium of Man is still a dystopia, and the government itself is certainly a tyrannical one. Yet, it has always been the case that more hopeful individuals have existed within this empire. There are no true good guys, but there are still good individuals, even factions within them. It's easy to see the Imperium as a despotic hegemony but still call Ibram Gaunt a genuinely good figure, for example. By following the characters over the factions that they represent, the book has far more leeway to tailor itself to a younger audience, and serve as a gateway entry into the universe as a whole.

Equally, the enemies presented in these books could easily serve as threats which are not at full strength. One focuses on a city, a possible abandoned location, prowled only by scavengers or what few defenses have survived the ravages of time. This turns it into more of an adventure story if this approach is taken. Equally, the book where we know the Necrons will be the main villain shows them facing off against Ultramarines on the cover. The children might be only on the fringes of a campaign, outside the direct combat, or even only a short distance from the true frontlines, but that doesn't mean that they need to face a swarm of scarabs on their own. Plus, let's face it, it's Necrons so there's a chance this could be set in a ruined tomb as well.

This is all besides the point many keep asking, however, as they wonder if this is right. The questions which arise are if this is too dark, if children should be encouraged to look into the franchise as a whole or that the material is too complicated even when lessened. My answer to these points is simply this: Go back and look at any past decade, and you will find successful franchises being sold to children which show far, far worse things.

Take my own experiences, for example. Even ignoring my Star Wars: X-Wing obsession of that time, there was the likes of Animorphs to keep me entertained. A franchise which not only focused on Invasion of the Body Snatchers attacks, but commonly delved into physical horror, threats and psychological damage. One which plunged a few teenagers into a guerilla war against a slowly invading alien race. By the end, it was clear that there were no true good guys, and more than a few of the heroes ended up dead.

Before that? Believe it or not, but older issues of 2000AD. At the time, I was more aware of Judge Dredd than I was Superman, and many characters I read about were quite happy to kill their opponents or even served as guns for hire. Oh, and when I did get into DC superheroes, that was through Batman: The Animated Series. You know, the children's cartoon known for this sort of thing. Even Warhammer Fantasy had its fair share of younger readers, and more than a few ten or twelve-years-olds I knew spent their free time delving into Trollslayer or the Ragnar Blackmane saga. Oh, and that was when they weren't reading Redwall AKA A Song of Ice and Fire with rats. Or even getting themselves repeatedly killed in Ian Livingston's Fighting Fantasy stories.

As for gateway continuity, even for a decades-old franchise, it is possible to introduce children to it through well-written novellas. The Young Jedi Knights franchise alone is proof of that, which used many tie-ins to older stories and was steeped into Expanded Universe lore, but presented itself well enough to draw in a brand new audience. It did so largely by making things clearly explained, detailed and properly promoted to its readers. Even the late great Terry Pratchett once stated that "Writing for children is more a matter of tone rather than whether it's got drug references".

Because of all the points listed above, I honestly don't think that the content in question is the problem. Even without a softer looking series, you still end up with children walking into Games Workshop all the time, each invested in the models on display. It can be done, but it just needs to be executed in the right way, by only showing enough of the universe and perhaps offering a somewhat tamer take on things. It just needs to play it somewhat safe and not take too many risks to start with, while also depicting the right parts that younger readers will become hooked by. It still sounds like an odd joke, but there is a solid chance that this can be done well. Plus, anything which does open up this franchise to a new audience without sacrificing what makes it great is something to be celebrated.

As with all things, however, this is pure speculation. It's best to wait and watch for the time being, and then judge the end result. There's enough proof in nerd culture alone that this shouldn't be discarded merely out of hand, and there are definite risks present, but there is enough potential for me to wait things out to see how it shapes up in the end.