It’s February already – we’re a full month into 2018, and in that first month I’ve posted no fewer than sixteen reviews of books, short stories and audio dramas on Track of Words. I thought it might be fun this year to take a regular look back at what I’ve read each month, and pick out some highlights – for the time being I’m just going to call this Monthly Highlights but I’m open to suggestions for a catchier title! I’ll try to keep things reasonably brief, focusing on the one story each month which I feel was a particular highlight, as well as a couple of notable mentions.
For this, the inaugural Monthly Highlights for January 2018, I’m going for an audio drama, rather than a book – Titans’ Bane by Chris Dows. Click on this link or the image below to check out my review.
Ok, so I’m sort of cheating a bit here, considering that Titans’ Bane isn’t actually available for general release until March – I was lucky enough to pick up a copy at a Warhammer World event in January. Apologies if you’re really looking forward to getting hold of this…it’ll be worth the wait, I promise!
So why have I picked this as the best story out of everything I’ve read or listened to in January? Well, it’s quite simple really. Titans’ Bane is probably the most powerful, effective audio drama I’ve ever listened to, and in my opinion at least it’s the standard by which Black Library audios will be judged now. It really is that good. I think it comes down to a few things – the concept of setting a story entirely within the confines of a tank, and telling it via the audio medium; the almost-complete absence of narration, in favour of pure dialogue; and just the way in which Dows writes the characters – flawed, human and utterly believable.
There’s so much to enjoy about Titans’ Bane. The claustrophobic atmosphere within the tank, and the tension which rapidly builds as a crew member bravely exits the vehicle to perform running repairs, communicating only by choppy, distorted vox signal. The sense of determination from (most of) the characters to strike a serious blow in revenge for the loss of Cadia. The way the SFX build texture and realism to the proceedings so that all the usual description and narration can fall away allowing the listener to focus entirely on the dialogue and the fantastic performances. The list goes on – it really is that good. If you’re a fan of the Imperial Guard and/or Black Library audio dramas then I would go as far as to say that this is an absolute must buy.
Honourable mentions should also go to two other stories that I read in January, beginning with Josh Reynolds’ novel in the Horus Heresy Primarchs series – Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix. Click here to check out my review, and indeed here to read a quick interview with Josh about this book. Suffice to say it’s another fantastic instalment in this series, which feels noticeably different to the first few books – for various reasons – but is still perfectly in keeping with the series’ aims. It might not change anyone’s opinion of Heresy- or 40k-era Fulgrim, but over the course of the book it does make him a genuinely likeable character, as well as offer a whole raft of opportunities for typical Reynolds dark humour and sharp dialogue.
Lastly, and rather neatly considering I’ve so far looked at a 40k audio drama and a Heresy-era novel, I’d like to mention The Path to Glory by Evan Dicken. A (long) short story in the Age of Sigmar setting, it’s actually set pre-Age of Sigmar as it tackles the fall of the Lantic Empire across a surprisingly extended plot and three interesting characters. You can read my review of it here. It’s not perfect, but if this had come from an established BL author I would be talking about how (largely) well-written it is, and how well it tackles a lot of interesting ideas…but considering that it’s Dicken’s first Black Library story that all feels even better for being a debut! If you liked old-school Warhammer and fancy seeing the Age of Sigmar setting stretched a bit, then this might just be the story for you.
So there you have it, my Monthly Highlights for January 2018 as well as two honourable mentions. I’d love to know what you thought of these stories, if you’ve read or listened to any of them, so let me know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll write another one of these posts at the start of March, looking back at what I’ve read and reviewed in February!