I wanted to turn it down. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have a lot of time for short fiction these days, but hey, the chance to return to a setting and characters I’d written so much about so long ago was too tempting for me to pass up. So I wrote “The Hack Attack,” in which Jim Johnson and Bob Bifford of Cabalvision fame interview Dirk Hoffnung for a special live edition of their show Where Are They Now? As it says on the tin:

The top-ranked Cabalvision show Where are They Now? is turning its attention to one of the greatest Blood Bowl teams of the past — the Bad Bay Hackers. What are the players up to now — did Dunk and Spinne ever tie the knot, did Edgar ever put down roots, and what possible employment could the ogre M’Grash K’Thragsh find after retiring from the game? As for Dirk, now team captain and co-coach, what are his plans once he retires and how will these impact on Jim and Bob, the eternally cheerful Cabalvision co-presenters?

Catch up with the stars of the Bad Bay Hackers in this wonderful retrospective by Blood Bowl novels author Matt Forbeck.

The story, which debuts today, is on sale now for $4.99. It’s a great way to catch up with the characters from the novels and comics and learn what they’ve been up to since we last saw them. And, as you should know if you love Blood Bowl like I do, it’s full of bad jokes and over-the-top violence as well. I hope you enjoy!

For those who don’t know, Blood Bowl is GW’s game of fantasy football, which is slated for the release of a brand-new edition soon. In this case, the “fantasy” comes from playing the game not with pro athletes but dwarves, elves, vampires, skeletons, trolls, and the like. It’s ludicrously violent, but it’s also funny/punny in a silly way. The players and fans drink Bloodweiser and Killer Genuine Draft, for instance, and the team featured in the books is the Bad Bay Hackers.

The boxed includes all four of my Blood Bowl novels, all of which came out between 2005 and 2007. They include:

• Blood Bowl
• Dead Ball
• Death Match
• Rumble in the Jungle

These are all available as ebooks now, of course, and you can grab the entire digital collection at once too.

Now, for the first time ever, each book comes in a beautiful hardcover edition, and they look gorgeous, with a fantastic, spot-varnished painting that crosses all four spines. The box itself is even better, with wonderful details embossed into the exterior.

The set is limited to 500 copies, plus the one sitting on my bookshelf right now. (I might need a trophy case for this one! Honestly, it seems like a pity to put it on a shelf where you can’t see the sides.)

They ship out on November 28, so they should arrive in plenty of time to make a great holiday gift for your favorite Blood Bowl fan–which is maybe you!

All in all, it is a very entertaining read, and has remained a firm favourite of mine along with the rest of its series. I would especially recommend it to fans of the game, and to fans of Terry Pratchett’s books, as well as anyone who is just looking for something of a more light-hearted nature to read.

Sadly, the book and the omnibus that contains it are both out of print at the moment. I’ve heard rumbles that the Black Library might bring them back soon as e-books, but nothing’s been confirmed yet. A “new” copy of the book is currently up for sale for $117.03 on Amazon (does anyone pay that much except by mistake?), but you can find used versions for much cheaper than that.

Jennifer clearly didn’t know much about the history of Blood Bowl as a game, and I suspect many comic-book fans might not either. I enjoyed having the chance to set things straight and give credit where it was due: to the mad mind of my friend Jervis Johnson!

Sometime in the next week, I’ll spend an afternoon signing the tip-in plates (an extra page to autograph) for inclusion in the hardcover, which I presume will eventually be both signed and numbered. If you’re so inclined, be sure to put in an order for the collection of your choice soon. Thanks!

Again, I had a fantastic time working on this project, which serves as a direct sequel to Rumble in the Jungle, the fourth (and currently last) of my Blood Bowl novels. Seeing Lads’s hilarious interpretation of the characters who have been bashing about in my head for the last few years made it all that much better. I hope you enjoy it too. Be sure to ask for it at your friendly neighborhood comic-book store.

I’m told that issue #5 is already off to the printer too, which means this warped and twisted tale should wrap up soon. I’ll be sorry to see it all come to an end, but I hope you enjoy the story as a whole once you get to read it all. It’s been a great ride for me.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the free, nine-page preview of this issue, courtesy of Comic Book Resources.