After many years in the wilderness, September 2018 saw the return of Inferno! to Black Library, with a new format – a paperback anthology instead of the old magazine format – and a load of cool new stories. I celebrated this momentous occasion with an article in which I took a quick look at each of the stories in Inferno! Volume 1, and also asked the authors to give a little insight into their stories and how it felt to be included in this new anthology. Fast forward a few months and the second instalment of the new Inferno! is now available to order, so I felt it was only appropriate to put together something similar.
This time around I’m not going to wax lyrical about the legacy of Inferno!, as you can read about that in the previous article. Instead I’ll take just a quick look at the contents of Inferno! Volume 2 before I let the authors take over. Much like the first volume, this anthology features a wide range of stories from lots of different authors, although this time around it’s sticking to just Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar. There’s a brilliant range of topics and characters, however, from bitter Space Marines to conflicted drukhari, and from cunning skaven to aquatic sylvaneth.
Continuing one of the themes (something that I think it very important) from the first volume, this features the Black Library debuts for several authors – Thomas Parrott, Robert Charles and Jamie Crisalli (plus the BL print debut for Jaine Fenn) – alongside a couple of names we’ve seen once or twice before, in the shape of Miles A. Drake and JC Stearns. Of course there are some Black Library regulars featured here too, with stories from Guy Haley, Peter Fehervari, Steve Lyons and CL Werner, and as you can imagine there’s some real variety amongst the ten short stories included here.
Similarly to last time around, I asked the featured authors to talk a little bit about their stories, and where appropriate to mention a little bit about what it means to them to be included in this anthology. The only author I haven’t been able to include is CL Werner, but if fate is smiling on us we might yet get a few words from this BL veteran in due course. Read on, then, for a little bit of information from me about each story, and some intriguing details from the authors themselves.
(I’ve reviewed a few of the stories featured here already, so where appropriate I’ve linked out to those reviews as well. Keep an eye out for more coming soon…)
At the Sign of the Brazen Claw Part Two: The Merchant’s Story by Guy Haley
Where the first part of the ongoing story of Prince Maesa and Shattercap finished off Volume 1, the second part kicks off Volume 2, and this time around it’s the turn of a taciturn duardin to regale us with his tale. I’ve included a snippet of Guy’s comment from the previous article as well as an interesting new update on this ongoing Age of Sigmar series.
Guy: The Sign of the Brazen Claw sees Prince Maesa stuck in an inn in the middle of a raging storm waiting for a Kharadron packet ship. To pass the time, the travellers within relate tales to one another from all over the Realms.
It was originally going to be three parts long, but like most tales it grew in the telling. It is now five parts, all but the last of which I’ve written. For those who were wondering, the advent audio drama Hungerfiend takes place after the Brazen Claw sequence. That’s a bit weird, I’ll admit, but in a few years when the whole saga is out it won’t matter, and it was the only way I could get the ongoing story to work.
Click here to read my review of At the Sign of the Brazen Claw Part Two: The Merchant’s Story.
The Thirteenth Psalm by Peter Fehervari
A new Peter Fehervari story is something to be cherished for fans of the strange, twisted corner of the 40k universe that he’s gradually unveiling. I’m not going to say anything more about this, as Peter has gone above and beyond to provide something a little bit special for us with his thoughts on this story…
Peter: The Thirteenth Psalm is a tale I’ve wanted to tell for a long time, even if its final form only revealed itself this year. It was born of two parallel ambitions whose confluence wasn’t immediately obvious.
Firstly, I’ve always wanted to tell a full-blooded 40K ‘haunted house’ story that reveled in all the classic tropes – dark secrets and darker rituals…a rambling, labyrinthine building haunted by things that may or may not be ghosts…where insidious voices prey on the desires and fears of intruders…even when those intruders are meant to be free of such weaknesses.
That’s when I realized who the intruders had to be if I truly wanted to embrace this challenge. Which brings us to the second strand.
Since I first made the acquaintance of the Angels Penitent in The Crown of Thorns I’ve known there was more to say about this bitter, yet bleakly honourable Chapter. As an occasional visitor to the fjord-riddled mountains of Malpertuis, the Chapter’s ancestral homeworld, I’ve glimpsed more of their ways than most outsiders, even if I haven’t entirely won the confidence of its Chaplains. Much remains a mystery to me even now, including the rituals of the Trial of Thorns and the fate of those aspirants who fail it. Nor have I been granted an audience with the Undying Martyr who presides over the Chapter, or learnt anything of what lies behind the Wailing Door atop the monastery’s highest tower, where even the Chaplains Castigant may not pass.
Perhaps with time, courage and a measure of cunning I shall uncover more of the Chapter’s secrets, but for now I only have one tale to tell. I ask that you do not pass it on lightly, for its incautious proliferation would surely aggrieve these grimmest of angels and evoke their ire. You see, they are wary of anything that might inflame the rumours of their corruption, for whispers of heresy circle them like vultures and their foes would seize upon this tale with fervid delight!
Are the Angels Penitents tainted? Is the Undying Martyr an Arch Heretic or perhaps even a daemon in human guise?
Do you honestly believe the answers could ever be so narrow and unequivocal when you enter the Dark Coil?
No, all I can offer you is a measure of evidence to lend weight to one theory…or another. So let me tell you of the Undying Martyr’s Thirteenth Psalm and the deeper darkness its emissaries unveiled on a frozen, rebellion-wracked world.
And as fate would have it, this is also the thirteenth tale I’ve unraveled from the Coil. After all, nothing is chance.
Click here to read my review of The Thirteenth Psalm.
Spiritus in Machina by Thomas Parrott
This is Thomas’ debut Black Library contribution, an Adeptus Mechanicus story with a fabulous couple of opening lines and which offers an intriguing look at what happens if you take a Skitarius out of his comfort zone. It’s also just a fun little adventure story.
Thomas: Spiritus in Machina is the story of a Skitarii Alpha-Primus who wakens from stasis to find that his mission has failed while he slept. There’s still a tiny chance to turn things around, but it will demand everything he has. It’s also a story exploring the idea of absolute loyalty – of being willing to sacrifice everything for an idea, a belief, a cause, and then being forced to confront whether that sacrifice was worth it. It also has cyborgs and spaceships.
My first introduction to 40k was the short story anthology Dark Imperium [ToW: a classic!], which I discovered in a bookstore when I was 12. I stumbled across it while browsing the shelves, was mesmerized by it, and bought it immediately with my pocket money. I had no background in the universe, so it was like reading a grimdark Jabberwocky, piecing together what bolters and geneseed and Chaos were by context alone. I loved it. I genuinely didn’t realize there was a wargame that went with all of this until years later. Being in an anthology myself now is a dream come true. If it fires the imagination of even one reader the way that set of stories did for me, I will be ecstatic.
Click here to read my review of Spiritus in Machina.
From the Deep by Jaine Fenn
Jaine’s Black Library debut (though she’s a successful author with other publishers) was first released as an e-short but now gets a print release for the first time. Tying in with CL Werner’s Wardens of the Everqueen, this takes an unusual but intriguing look at some of the Mortal Realms’ residents who we haven’t seen before.
Jaine: From The Deep shows a different perspective on a dramatic incident from the War of Life, when Queen Alarielle and her forces fled across the Sea of Serpents pursued by Torglug the Despised and his Chaos hordes. One passing reference in the Realmgate Wars books – ‘briny reefcastles’ – started me wondering what was going on below the sea while those desperate battles were being fought on the ice overhead. From The Deep was the eventual result.
I’ve been aware of Warhammer since I started gaming, but most of my time and energy went into tabletop RPGs – so back in the day it was White Dwarf and Dragon magazine rather than Inferno. I did like painting my own miniatures, and I still have a box of treasured characters and favourite NPCs somewhere, but other bits of my life have largely crowded out my gaming hobbies (except for the eternal Forgotten Realms campaign – that’ll go on forever). I admit to being a bit daunted at stepping fully into this rich and incredibly detailed world – or rather worlds – but the Age of Sigmar provides a fresh setting ripe for new battles and new stories, and I love that I might be able to have some fun in a corner of it.
Click here to read my review of From the Deep.
Faith in Thunder by Robert Charles
Another Black Library debutant, Robert has tackled a story which looks at Sigmar and the Stormcast Eternals in a fresh new way. If you like stories set on the fringes of the Mortal Realms, this is one to check out.
Robert: Faith in Thunder is a tale about strength, and its many forms. But it’s also a story (unsurprisingly, given the title) about belief, and the pressures on that belief when you live in a world where deities – and their chosen heralds – are physical facts that don’t always match your expectations. And because it’s Warhammer, both are tied up in a battle for survival!
I missed Inferno! the first time around, but I think its return is hugely important. There are so many settings (and so many writers!) within the Black Library family that it’s a wonderful place for readers to discover new passions and new favourites in an ever-growing world.
Click here to read my review of Faith in Thunder.
What Wakes in the Dark by Miles A. Drake
Miles’ first Black Library story – The Flesh Tithe – was a really dark story which featured the Death Specters Chapter of Space Marines, who feature heavily in this story once again. As you’ll see from Miles’ comments below, it’s set quite a long time back from the ‘current’ 40k timeline, and in an unusual location.
Miles: What Wakes in the Dark is a ‘first contact; story, where a semi-reckless Inquisitor delves too deep into a mystery he doesn’t fully understand, and unwittingly ends up unleashing an ancient, buried horror onto the galaxy. Given that the story will involve the necrons (which isn’t much of a spoiler, as it should be pretty evident from the architecture of their ruins), this first contact will take place only shortly after the Sanctuary 101 incident.
With the Imperium’s vast scale, it is reasonable to deduce that just because first contact occurred at one place in the galaxy, the rest of the Imperium might not yet be aware of what happened. This is the case here, as the story is set on the fringes of the Ghoul Stars, thus making it a rather remote and distant portion of the Imperium anyways. As for the actual specifics of what the story is dealing with, in many ways, it’s a prequel to the Flesh Tithe, and it involves the Bone Kingdom of Drazak once more (although this is not mentioned by name).
I’ll admit that I was not aware of the original Inferno! magazine when it came around, but when it was re-announced, I did some research and learned just how influential it was. This was, of course, before I realized my piece would be involved. When I learned that What Wakes in the Dark would be featured, I was both surprised and deeply honored. Given that it’s only my second story for the Black Library, I am beyond happy to see it come into print, and in Inferno 2.0, no less.
Click here to read my review of What Wakes in the Dark.
Solace by Steve Lyons
Regular Black Library readers will be familiar with Steve’s writing from a host of short stories and novels, mostly featuring the Imperial Guard. This story continues that theme, and in my opinion is one of Steve’s best.
Steve: I was asked to do a 40K story with a Wild West feel to it, so that’s what Solace is. A Mordian Iron Guard squad is lost in the forest when they stumble upon a mysterious village. The people of Solace take them in and offer them shelter, but it’s clear that they’re hiding a dark secret.
I always like telling stories of the ordinary members of the Astra Militarum, and their human reactions to the horrors of the 40K universe…
I wasn’t aware of Inferno! the first time around, I’m afraid, as it ended just before I was introduced to the worlds of Warhammer. I know the name has a history, though, and I’m proud to be a part of its latest incarnation.
Click here to read my review of Solace.
Ties of Blood by Jamie Crisalli
The final Black Library debut, Jamie’s story pits warriors from two rival Chaos gods against each other in an intriguing Age of Sigmar story. That’s not something we see a lot of, so it’s great to see the subject tackled here
Jamie: Ties of Blood started off with a simple question. What does a Champion of Slaanesh actually value? Well, Slaanesh first of course but second is people that they can rely on, such as family. In that vein, Savrian sets out to rescue his only child Verigon from a massive gladiatorial arena devoted to Khorne in a daring heist. However, in the milieu of Chaos, nothing is ever that straight forward.
The first stories I ever read from Warhammer were from Inferno! and they have stuck with me ever since. Really, they are what started my descent into Warhammer in earnest. From that point on, I wanted to write a story for Black Library, but never summoned the nerve to actually send something in (which was probably a good thing given my skills at the time). Then Inferno! was discontinued and writing for Black Library went firmly into the pipe dream category. When this new opportunity came, I jumped on it with the idea that I would get a cool rejection letter to show all my friends. Well, that kept not happening and the pipe dream became a reality. It’s somewhat surreal seeing my story alongside the work of authors I’ve been reading and admiring for years. It’s been amazing working with Black Library and I hope to continue to do so for many years.
Click here to read my review of Ties of Blood.
Turn of the Adder by JC Stearns
We haven’t seen all that much of the Ynnari yet in Black Library fiction, so it’s great to see JC Stearns tackling the big topic in the aeldari background – and from a rather different angle to what Gav Thorpe has been looking at.
JC: Turn of the Adder is a story about the Ynnari schism dividing a family. The Drukhari and the Craftworlders have always had more in common than they want to admit, but the rise of Ynnead gives us a chance to see some huge differences that have always been dormant in aeldari society but are only now becoming relevant. I like the idea of people discovering that they have more in common with hated enemies than they realized, or looking at intimate friends and realizing they never really knew each other at all.
Before Games Workshop announced they were doing Inferno! again, I don’t remember ever hearing of it. (I started playing 40k very casually in high school, but didn’t get into the game hardcore, including the lore, until after Inferno! had stopped being published.) I started doing some research when I heard it was going to start up again, though, and I was blown away: everyone seemed so excited for it to come back! With as much support as it seemed to be getting, I assumed it would be something I would be excited to read, but that I probably wasn’t going to be working on. Finding out that Turn of the Adder was going to be included was a complete surprise, but it feels like a huge honor to be part of something the community is so passionate about.
Click here to read my review of Turn of the Adder.
No Honour Among Vermin by CL Werner
The anthology concludes with a tremendously entertaining skaven story which very much plays to CL Werner’s strengths and – interestingly – could just as easily be an old-school Warhammer story as an Age of Sigmar tale.
Click here to read my review of No Honour Among Vermin.
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I hope that’s whetted your appetite for this anthology; with ten new stories across a wide range of characters, there should be something for pretty much everyone within these pages! If you’re anything like me, you’ll be heading online or to your nearest bookshop and getting hold of a copy right away. As with last time, don’t forget that for a limited time only (about three weeks, I think, so that’s until about the 18th January) you can order Print on Demand copies of issues 6 to 10 of the original Inferno! Magazine.
Click here to buy Inferno! Volume 2.
If you’ve got great memories of Inferno! from back in the day, or have comments or questions about this second instalment of the new incarnation, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below, or get in touch via Facebook or Twitter, and join in with the conversation around Inferno! and Black Library.