A Traveller’s Guide to Peter Fehervari’s Dark Coil

With the release of the short story Altar of Maws (May 2023), Peter Fehervari’s catalogue of Warhammer 40,000 fiction – known informally as The Dark Coil – currently totals 18 stories. Every piece of 40k fiction is linked by taking place within a single shared universe, but The Dark Coil goes way beyond that. These stories share much deeper connections, between them forming a web of characters, locations, themes and recurring motifs that is gradually becoming more and more apparent as additional stories are published. One of the joys of reading Fehervari’s work is in unpicking these subtle connections, but it can be daunting to know where to start looking.

Welcome, then, to A Traveller’s Guide to the Dark Coil.

Consider this a useful resource for any Coil Traveller, whether as a starting point for those taking their first steps along the Coil, or a point of reference by which experienced travellers can reorient themselves. The scope of the Coil is such that it’s impossible to examine every link individually, but here you can find an overview of the two clearest types of connection – the worlds of the Dark Coil, and the main factions that inhabit, visit or invade them. I’ll leave the specifics for you to discover yourself, so you need not fear that any secrets will be revealed, but this should see you onto the right paths.

Of course, no guide is complete without a map or two, and here you’ll find charts illustrating as best as possible how the various worlds and factions are interlinked. They might not serve you well as maps to follow literally, as the Coil transcends space and time in unexpected ways, but they should help nonetheless.

This guide would not have been possible without the generous help of Peter Fehervari himself, Tim van Lipzig, Yury Voytko, Rostislav Markelov and Nine.

NOTE for Ukranian readers: you can find a Ukranian translation of this article here, courtesy of @st_neOh on Telegram

NOTE: you’ll find quotes scattered throughout this guide – some are taken from previous Track of Words interviews with Peter Fehervari, while others are from various Fehervari stories (and credited accordingly).

What is the Dark Coil?

In simple, real-world terms the Dark Coil is a growing collection of linked 40k stories, currently spanning four novels, one novella and 13 short stories. These are not necessarily sequentially connected, but rather tied together by all manner of intriguing links and connections, some obvious and some much more subtle.

The Coil is a vast tangle of plot threads that extends across space and time, connecting characters, places and events, often in bizarre ways, with people ‘slipping’ from one story into another, occasionally via fissures in the skin of reality. Some worlds are riddled with these faults…hence why Phaedra, Vytarn, Sarastus and Oblazt [and more] recur throughout.

The Dark Coil can also be considered an expression of Chaos – a fourth-wall bending manifestation that has infiltrated our universe via its constituent tendrils. After all, belief shapes the world and stories can shape beliefs…

Think how the Sabbat Worlds forms a universe-within-a-universe within Warhammer 40,000 – the Dark Coil is like that to a certain extent, only in a more abstract way.

The worlds of the Dark Coil

The Dark Coil stories take place across a range of worlds, with several either regularly recurring or holding particular importance. “Every world is a character – usually an unpleasant, but hopefully compelling one.

Here, presented for the first time, is a visual guide* to how each of the key worlds within the Dark Coil connects across the various stories. Some only feature in a single story (thus far), while others appear in multiple tales.

(Please note this guide was created before the release of The Sins of My Brothers, Aria Arcana and Altar of Maws – I’ll add those at some point if I can – ToW 07/23)

Click image to expand

*Note that this is an entirely unofficial visualisation, created by fans of the Dark Coil and not Black Library itself

You’ll notice that Requiem Infernal sits across multiple worlds. “Requiem Infernal is the most central of the Coil stories – a philosophical nexus of sorts, where the protagonists become aware of the Bigger Picture and actively confront it.

Read on for more details of each of these key worlds…

Sarastus
A backwater hive world, eternally shrouded in darkness, Sarastus was the first world of the Dark Coil to be visited. So far, the only part of Sarastus that has been explored is the city of Carceri, the greatest – and now last – of the world’s hives.

“There was a curse upon Sarastus, old and devoid of bite save for the blight of absolute darkness, but that had been enough to sour the world’s soul.

From The Walker in Fire by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2016

You’ll find Sarastus featured in several Dark Coil stories. It is the setting for Nightfall, The Walker In Fire and Nightbleed, and also appears in Requiem Infernal. Across these stories you’ll meet all manner of characters and factions – terrifying Traitor Astartes, the servants of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and members of the Deathwatch drawn from the Angels Resplendent, Brotherhood of a Thousand, Black Wings, White Consuls, Salamanders and Carcharadons.

Phaedra
The second world to be explored, and the first in real detail, for many Coil Travellers this is where the fascination began. Phaedra, or Fi’draah as it’s known to the T’au Empire, is a world of tangled island chains and foetid fungal jungles, at the heart of which lies a labyrinth of tributaries known as the Dolorosa Coil.

“You’ve come to a water world and found a grey-green hell like no other. The oceans of Phaedra are choked with islands and in turn the islands are overrun with a wildfire cancer of vegetation – a morass of stinking kelp, strangling vines and towering fungal cathedrals. Worse still, the islands themselves are alive. Just look beneath the waterline and you’ll see them breathing and pulsing.”

From Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2013

As well as its introduction in Fire Caste, Phaedra is the setting for the short stories A Sanctuary of Wyrms, Altar of Maws and Vanguard, which respectively serve as prologue(s) and epilogue to the novel. We also visit it briefly in Requiem Infernal. Within its tangled coils you’ll find various regiments of Astra Militarum soldiers, the forces of the T’au Empire, and even an outpost of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Keep your eyes peeled for other factions and characters making brief appearances as well.

Vytarn/Redemption 219
An Imperial shrine world, Vytarn – known as the Candleworld – was a water world, afflicted by lethal tempests and hiding a long-buried darkness. Its main physical feature is the Koronatus Ring, an archipelago consisting of a central cathedral built into a mountainous island, surrounded by seven smaller spires/islands, each named after one of the Imperial Virtues.

“None who have wandered among the seven temple-clad spires of the Koronatus Ring or gazed upon the cathedral-topped mountain that presides over them could doubt the integrity of their architects.

From Requiem Infernal by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2019

Following an apocalyptic event Vytarn became a soot-choked wasteland known as Redemption (technically Redemption 219 because the worlds of the Imperium include many ‘Redemptions’), wracked by volcanic activity, upon which The Koronatus Ring formed the planet’s sole continent, standing amidst a sea of lava.

“A broken ring of spiny mountains beyond which there was only burning death.”

From Cult of the Spiral Dawn by Peter Fehervari (originally titled Genestealer Cults), Black Library, 2016

The stories Requiem Infernal, Aria Arcana, Cast a Hungry Shadow and Cult of the Spiral Dawn all take place on Vytarn/Redemption, across multiple points in the planet’s history. Battling for the heart and soul of the planet in the name of the Imperium you’ll find the Adepta Sororitas – both the Last Candle and the Sisterhood of the Thorn Eternal – along with Astra Militarum regiments drawn from the Exordio Void Breachers and Vassago Black Flags, and warriors of the Angels Resplendent. Arrayed against them are the sinister cult of the Spiral Dawn, as well as the Scorched Creed, a Khornate warband.

Malpertuis
The homeworld of the Angels Resplendent…and subsequently the Angels Penitent…Malpertuis has thus far been explored very little beyond a glimpse of Kanvolis, the Angels’ fortress monastery. That is due to change, of course, with The Reverie. On the surface at least, it appears to be an unusually idyllic world…

“The planet was a verdant jewel, free of the monolithic manufactoriums or continent-spanning nutri-farms that despoiled so much of the Imperium. So many worlds existed only to serve mankind’s perpetual wars, like cogs in a voracious machine that devoured itself to feed its own expansion, blind to the absurdity of the endeavour.

By decree of its elusive custodians, Malpertuis was governed with a benign but firm hand by a council of mortal delegates who’d lived and learned amongst the Resplendent from childhood. Vast tracts of land were left wild and population levels strictly regulated, seemingly without incurring the displeasure of the people, who were as varied as they were vibrant.”

From The Reverie by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2020

As the homeworld of an Adeptus Astartes Chapter, Malpertuis is largely populated by the warriors of the Angels Resplendent/Angels Penitent and their vassals. Look for mention of this world in The Crown of Thorns, The Sins of My Brothers and The Reverie.

Oblazt
An ice world, Oblazt is home to floating hives built into platforms suspended over the surface of the ice. It is a heavy exporter of promethium and…fish.

“Oblazt was a world of darkness, but its ice wastes shimmered with a dull, diffuse light, like the last flicker of a failing lumen bulb spun out eternally.”

From Fire and Ice by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, first published 2015 in Shas’O

You’ll find Oblazt as the main setting for the novella Fire and Ice, while it also appears in Requiem Infernal and The Thirteenth Psalm, with a mention or two in Cult of the Spiral Dawn. Upon its frigid surface walk the T’au Empire, the Iwujii Sharks regiment of the Astra Militarum, the mysterious figures of the Inquisition, and even the Angels Penitent.

Providence
Homeworld of the Arkan Confederates regiment of the Astra Militarum, Providence (both the world and the system) has a relatively low level of technology for an Imperial world, with steam powering much of its mechanical workings. Though once the site of a fierce rebellion against the Imperium, it is considered a loyal world…although in the case of the town of Trinity, a taint perhaps lingers.

“The locals call this hovel Trinity, perhaps because it is ruled equally by ice, wind and snow, or perhaps because it once harboured something more than misery.”

From Requiem Infernal by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2019

Providence has thus far only been explored in passing, first in Fire Caste and then subsequently in Requiem Infernal. It is home to a troubled alliance of diverse nations collectively known as the Arkan Confederation.

The Rat’s Cradle
An artificial habitat (or skyhive) orbiting the planet Scitalyss in the Yuxa system, whose other prominent world is Phaedra. The skyhive’s formal designation is Scitalyss-Altus, but few use this name. To its current masters it is ‘The Unfolding Nexus’, while the scavengers who eke out a living there call it The Rat’s Cradle.

“A sprawl of interconnected metal modules of varying size and shape. A monolithic spindle rose from the centre of the tangle, towering over the other structures and trailing titanic extraction pipes into the world below.”

From The Greater Evil by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2017

At present our only glimpse of the Rat’s Cradle has been in the short story The Greater Evil, which features the forces of the T’au Empire and a former member of the Exordio Void Breachers.

Oberai
Perhaps the most obscure of the Coiled Worlds, Oberai – or Oba’rai as the T’au know it – was an Imperial world until the T’au conquered it with uncharacteristic savagery and swept away its human inhabitants (Out Caste). It was the homeworld of the Oberai Redeemers, an Astra Militarum regiment mentioned in Fire Caste and Requiem Infernal.

“A small planet on the fringes of the Second Expansion, Oba’rai was uncannily beautiful, its arid plains reminiscent of revered T’au itself. It was a natural home to the people, worthy of risk.”

From Out Caste by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2012

The factions of the Dark Coil

The worlds of the Dark Coil all fall within the bounds of the Imperium – to a greater or lesser extent – which means they are subject to all the various races and factions present within that galaxy. As yet, however, the stories have focused on a specific range of factions – several different strands of the Imperium, the xenos T’au and the insidious Genestealer Cults, and, usually obliquely, the forces of Chaos. Understanding how these factions connect across the stories is a major part of unravelling the Dark Coil.

Within these recurring factions there are also characters who appear in multiple stories. Sometimes they slip from one world or time to another, disappearing “in strange, deliberately unresolved ways”. In the Dark Coil there are other paths than those visible to the naked eye, although what toll they take on those who walk them – either by choice, chance or fate – remains to be seen. It is up to each Coil Traveller to tease out those connections themselves, however, so this guide will focus predominantly on the overarching factions rather than individual characters.

Read on for more details of each of these factions, and perhaps a few of the characters therein. In the same vein as the ‘map’ of worlds, presented within the following sections is a guide to how one of the key Dark Coil factions is connected to the various stories. Once again, this is an entirely unofficial visualisation, created by fans of the Dark Coil and not Black Library itself. Keep an eye out for more visual guides coming soon, for some of the other factions…

Note, this is by no means an exhaustive analysis. Look closely at the stories and you’ll find many more subtle links, but this should serve as a helpful starting point.

Astra Militarum
The glorious regiments of the Astra Militarum are as varied as can be imagined, but within the Dark Coil you won’t find many of the more famous names – few Cadians, Catachans or Mordians have walked its twisting paths. Instead, it attracts the less familiar – though no less glorious – names, in regiments whose unique identities are indelibly linked with the Coil.

Here you can find a list of the main regiments which appear in the Dark Coil, and the stories in which they primarily appear. Be aware, however, that if you look hard enough you may find subtle references to some of these regiments in other stories too…

– Arkan Confederates
“They came late to the Emperor’s Light and they didn’t come quietly.”

From Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2013

The Confederates are a product of the relatively low-tech Providence, and most regiments have largely fought at home on Providence during the civil war. Those seen in Fire Caste at least are prone to clinging to old superstitions, and find Phaedra a daunting challenge. Harking back to traditions of cavalry, the Confederates field a large number of Sentinels, and are led by an aristocratic officer class, many of whom take to the field in steam-powered Stormsuits.

– Verzante Konquistadores
“Oh, they were called the Verzante Konquistadores back when they were still a regiment unbroken by Phaedra’s wiles. Now they’re little more than relics left to rot.”

From Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2013

By the time of Fire Caste there are only a scattered handful of Verzante left on Phaedra, but the Konquistadores were once a proud regiment, driven by the fiery oratory of their religious figurehead.

– Exordio Void Breachers
“Blood-tight and void-sealed, spirit-locked to purge!”

From Requiem Infernal by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2019

Veterans drawn from other regiments, the Breachers are specialists in void-based operations. Bulked out with vat-grown muscles and genhancements, they are heavily armed and armoured in void-sealed carapace with built-in oxygen tanks, to allow for deployment in hard vacuum.

– Vassago Black Flags
“The survivors of broken armies, warriors without hope or purpose, sometimes even renegades seeking a second chance. All are reborn beneath the Black Flag of Vassago.”

From Cult of the Spiral Dawn by Peter Fehervari (originally titled Genestealer Cults), Black Library, 2016

The Black Flags are a regiment of cold, hard warriors originally hailing from Vassago’s Sunken Worlds – Verzante, Lethe, Szilar, Cantico and Ctholl. Though founded on these worlds, they draw new recruits from the survivors of other, broken regiments.

– Iwujii Sharks
“Savagery runs dangerously deep in the blood of the Iwujii Sharks. After all, they’ve been bred for it.”

From Fire and Ice by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, first published 2015 in Shas’O

Hailing from Iwujii Secundus, this regiment takes the unusual approach of fast-tracking young recruits through sanctioned, if barbarous, conflict amongst themselves. Though fierce warriors, in terms of loyalty they are Iwujii first, Astra Militarum second.

Lastly, some regiments make their mark on the Coil not by actions and deeds, but through words and ideas, arguably shaping the Coil more than any lasgun could. Look out, for example, for the Lethean Penitents and their idiosyncratic creed…

Adepta Sororitas
“The Last Candle was lit from the flame of the Eternal, but it casts its own light.”

From Requiem Infernal by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2019

The shrine world of Vytarn (later Redemption) is home to the Last Candle, an esoteric and unorthodox sect of the Adepta Sororitas which itself stemmed from the Order of the Eternal Candle. Within the Last Candle are separate Militant, Hospitaller and Dialogus orders – the Iron Candle, Bronze Candle and Silver Candle.

“The Crucible Aeterna was an esoteric relic that placed Him at the centre of an orrery of stars bound by thorns…it was a harsh idol, but the woman felt it possessed a rare honesty.”

From Cult of the Spiral Dawn by Peter Fehervari (originally titled Genestealer Cults), Black Library, 2016

By the time Vytarn has become Redemption, the Last Candle no longer holds sway over the Koronatus Ring, but rather the Sisterhood of the Thorn Eternal, a much colder and harder sect with a clearer awareness of the darkness that lurks beneath the surface of its world. See also Cast a Hungry Shadow for another appearance of the Adepta Sororitas.

Adeptus Astartes
“None fall as far or as fatally as those who soar the highest, for pride does not precede the fall. Pride is the fall.”

From The Crown of Thorns by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2013

There are very few references in the Dark Coil to the well-known Chapters of Space Marines, but one particular Chapter has a considerable presence – the Angels Resplendent. Or, as they would eventually become, the Angels Penitent. A successor Chapter of the Blood Angels, the Angels Resplendent were the only one of Sanguinius’ sons to never lose a brother to the Flaw, but instead they suffered a different sort of fall from grace. Once renowned for the beauty and quality of their artistic creations as much as for their martial prowess, now they follow a darker path.

“The Emperor condemns!”

From The Thirteenth Psalm by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2019

In the following image you can see how the Angels Resplendent/Angels Penitent connect across various stories of the Dark Coil.

Click image to expand

The Inquisition
“Here on the margins of the Damocles Gulf we are embroiled in a cold war, an intricate game of deceit, manipulation and coercion waged against a master player.”

From Fire and Ice by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, first published 2015 in Shas’O

As you might expect, the Inquisition are present within the Dark Coil, but their agents move in suitably mysterious ways. Inquisitors Escher (or is it Aescher?) and Mordaine haunt the margins of various stories, along with the sinister presence of a being known only as ‘the Calavera’. You’ll find the Inquisition most notably in Fire and Ice, but their presence is felt across many more.

Adeptus Mechanicus
“Our presence alone brings death to the unclean…we wear the purifying fire of the Omnissiah like an invisible cloak.”

From Vanguard by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2015

Amongst the worlds of the Dark Coil, the forces of the Omnissiah stand as a bastion of order, logic and machinic purity…or at least so they believe. While not as prevalent as, say, the Astra Militarum, the Adeptus Mechanicus are present on a number of worlds, openly or otherwise. Look to the stories Vanguard and The Walker in Fire for their main appearances thus far.

Chaos
“Believe something fervently enough and you’ll make it your truth. Proclaim it passionately enough to sway others and you’ll make it theirs too. Achieve a critical mass of minds and truth becomes The Truth. That’s when it’ll wake up and start to shape the world in its own image.”

From Requiem Infernal by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2019

In this galaxy, Chaos is an ever-present constant in one form or another. The same is true in the Dark Coil, if you look carefully enough. Sometimes its presence is obvious and easily noted, such as with the Traitor Astartes in Nightfall or the Scorched Creed in Cast a Hungry Shadow. At other times, as in Requiem Infernal, it lurks beneath the surface and is only slowly revealed. Sometimes it is not even clear whether certain characters are forces of Chaos or not…but then that’s just another challenge for Coil Travellers to face.

T’au Empire
“I have little time, but even in extremis one must observe the correct protocols. That is what it means to be a tau among savages. Whatever else I have lost to this diseased planet, I will not lose that.”

From A Sanctuary of Wyrms by Peter Fehervari, Black Library, 2013

The xenos T’au Empire are present in a number of Dark Coil stories, beginning with their war against the Imperium for Phaedra – or Fi’draah in their tongue – and extending to Oblazt, the Rat’s Cradle and Oberai. On the surface their actions appear to be relatively straightforward, but appearances can be deceiving and mysteries abound as to what is really behind their presence in the Dark Coil.

Genestealer Cults
“The hunters always moved by night, only emerging from their lair when the darkness was absolute. They had no memory of where they had come from, nor had they the capacity to care, but the imperative that drove them was clear.”

From Cult of the Spiral Dawn by Peter Fehervari (originally titled Genestealer Cults), Black Library, 2016

The insidious Genestealer menace lurks beneath the surface of the Dark Coil, with its tendrils particularly deep within the world of Redemption. To say more risks revealing secrets best left for Coil Travellers to discover themselves, while reading Cult of the Spiral Dawn and Cast a Hungry Shadow.

As for the other players in the Warhammer 40,000 galaxy? Look close enough and perhaps you’ll see the shadow of other factions or races upon a story or two. And who knows what might be revealed in tales yet to come?

Reading order

For anyone who wants to know where to start and in which order to read these stories, there is a ‘suggested’ reading order…however there are no right or wrong orders in which to read these stories. Depending on how you choose to read them, you’ll inevitably reach varying conclusions and recognise different connections, as “each path will offer a different perspective on the greater geography of the Coil.”

Nevertheless, here is a chronological order for the stories, based on when each story takes place in-universe. Here’s Peter with a little more context:

“This is a logical way to read them, but not the only one. For example, time doesn’t run entirely linearly in the Coil so characters might slip backwards, however the stories in the Phaedra strand are definitely best read in chronological order. The numbers in brackets are the order they were written in, which I don’t particularly recommend.”

1. Nightbleed (14th) – short story
Factions: Civilian; Location: Sarastus
2. The Reverie (15th) – novel
Factions: Angels Resplendent; Location: Malpertuis
3. Requiem Infernal (12th) – novel
Factions: Adepta Sororitas & Astra Militarum; Location: Vytarn; Sarastus; Oblazt; Phaedra
4. Aria Arcana (17th) – short story
Factions: Angels Resplendent; Location: Vytarn
5. Nightfall (1st) – short story
Factions: Night Lords; Location: Sarastus
6. The Walker in Fire (8th) – short story
Factions: Deathwatch & Adeptus Mechanicus; Location: Sarastus
7. The Crown of Thorns (7th) – short story
Factions: Angels Penitent; Location: Malpertuis
8. The Sins of My Brothers (16th) – short story
Factions: Angels Penitent; Location: Malpertuis
9. The Greater Evil (11th) – short story
Factions: T’au Empire; Location: The Rat’s Cradle
10. Out Caste (4th) – short story
Factions: T’au Empire; Location: Oberai
11. A Sanctuary of Wyrms (3rd) – short story
Factions: T’au Empire; Location: Phaedra
12. Altar of Maws (18th) – short story
Factions:  T’au Empire; Location: Phaedra
13. Fire Caste (2nd) – novel
Factions: Astra Militarum & T’au Empire; Location: Phaedra
14. Vanguard (6th) – short story
Factions: Adeptus Mechanicus & T’au Empire; Location: Phaedra
15. Fire and Ice (5th) – novella
Factions: Inquisition & T’au Empire; Location: Oblazt
16. The Thirteenth Psalm (13th) – short story
Factions: Angels Penitent; Location: Oblazt
17. Cast A Hungry Shadow (10th) – short story
Factions: Genestealer Cults & Chaos Cults; Location: Vytarn
Read with Cult of the Spiral Dawn, before or after
18. Cult of the Spiral Dawn (9th) – novel
Factions: Astra Militarum & Genestealer Cults; Location: Vytarn

Additional resources

If you would like to know more about a particular story, clicking on the links in the reading order above will take you to the Track of Words review for each story.

You may also be interested in two in-depth Track of Words interviews with Peter:

A fascinating set of interviews/articles written by Tim van Lipzig explores the Dark Coil from a psychologist’s perspective:

For yet more information about the Dark Coil, I can recommend the following videos from some of the amazing Fehervari fans in Russia (via Rost-Light on Reddit):

  • August 2019 – Peter Fehervari in conversation with The Station, in Russia
  • October 2020 – Peter Fehervari in conversation with Nemo, via video call (split into 3 parts)

So there you have it, Coil Traveller. I hope this guide has been of help and of interest – if you’re an existing Fehervari fan then hopefully this has inspired you to go looking for connections you might have missed in the past, while if you’re new to the Dark Coil I hope this helps you find a suitable place to begin your journey!

***

Travelling the Dark Coil and exploring these stories may not be a journey for everyone, as there’s no doubt that Fehervari’s style asks of the reader a degree of patience, trust and concentration greater than most. For those of us who appreciate the Dark Coil’s merits, however, the rewards are greater still!

Once again, I must say a wholehearted thank you to a few people who have contributed to this article. To Peter Fehervari for the amazing stories, and for helping me fill in some gaps while planning and preparing both the article and the images. To Tim for the expert advice of a seasoned Coil Traveller, and his all round enthusiasm for these stories and this article. To Yury and Rostislav for laying the foundations of the visual elements with their excellent original map. To my friend Nine for the wonderful design work, bringing the new maps to life.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article so please do leave comments below, or come and say hi on Twitter and kick off a conversation.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to see more like this, you can support Track of Words by leaving a tip over on my Ko-Fi page!

9 comments

  1. Thank you for this interesting traveller’s guide. I read and enjoyed Firecaste long ago, Requiem Infernal much more recently. Which of Peter Fehervari’s other tales of the “Coil” are available in good, old-fashioned hard copy (my preferred format!)?

    1. No problem, I hope it’s useful! I imagine it’s only Requiem Infernal and The Reverie which are available in physical format at the moment – I think the other two novels will be long out of print (BL don’t tend to reprint books very often), unless you can find a copy of them in the Hachette ‘Warhammer 40,000 Legends’ series somewhere. The Shas’O anthology was also featured in that series, and it contains a few of the shorter pieces. Not sure whether there are any copies still available, though…

  2. An amazing article. Your dedication as a Coil Traveller has done the Grand Master Fehervari proud. Seriously good stuff and now a permanent bookmark for me because the coil spins such a complex web that even a fellow veteran like myself can often get lost!

    1. Thanks Jay, I’m so glad you like it 🙂 I’m pleased with how it’s turned out, but as I say in the article I can’t take all the credit! I hope you continue to find it useful as you read more of Fehervari’s stories 🙂

  3. Hey bro, its been a while since you wrote the reading order and there has been some new content out. Any chance you can update the Dark Coil reading order with the new stuff?

    Specifically:
    Aria Arcana, Altar of Maws, Genestealer Cults, and The Sins of my Brothers. Don’t know if I missed any.

    1. Hi Alex. I’ll try to get around to updating this when I can, yeah. Can’t make any guarantees though, as it’s hard to find time for going back to old articles. From your list, I can at least say that Genestealer Cults was the original title of Cult of the Spiral Dawn, so that’s actually already included in the article. Roughly speaking I’d say Aria Arcana is pretty much a sequel to Requiem Infernal, Altar of Maws sits alongside Fire Caste and the other stories set on Phaedra, and The Sins of My Brothers sort of follows on from Crown of Thorns. Hope that helps a little.

  4. Hi Michael, thanks for taking the time to update this article and supporting my darker, stranger take on 40K. This is pretty much the definitive guide to the tangled threads of the Dark Coil so it’s a valuable resource.

    Keep up the great work on Track of Words!

    PF

    1. Thanks Peter, and thanks as always for your continuing work in the Dark Coil! We Coil Travellers truly appreciate it.

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