Welcome to this 40k Reading Order article, where this time I’m taking a look at Danie Ware’s Sister Augusta series of Adepta Sororitas stories. This is part of an ongoing set of articles where I’m looking at a range of Black Library series and providing recommended orders in which to read the various stories. At the time of writing there are three novellas and a range of short stories available in the Sister Augusta series, and with a little help from Danie I’ve put together two reading lists – one for a recommended reading order, and one for the chronological (in-universe) order in which the stories take place. If you’ve ever wanted to read this series but haven’t known where to start, then look no further than this article!
As well as the recommended reading order, I’ve also included a breakdown of each story with the publisher’s synopsis, suggestions of the best way to get hold of each one, and links out to my reviews where they’re available.
Who are the Order of the Bloody Rose?
Before we go any further you might be interested to know a bit about Sister Augusta herself, and the order of Adepta Sororitas that she belongs to – the Order of the Bloody Rose. Here’s Danie to give you a quick lowdown:
Danie Ware: The Order of the Bloody Rose are followers of Saint Mina, and one of the younger Orders, founded by Deacis VI some two centuries after Sebastian Thor. I chose them initially because there was very little Sisters fiction about at the time (James Swallow’s two books, and a handful of shorts) and everything was Our Martyred Lady – I just wanted to take something else. Find a little corner that I could understand.
Sister Augusta Santorus is a veteran Sister Superior of the Order of the Bloody Rose. She’s in her late forties, has served Throne and Emperor for more than twenty Terran years, and has been decorated numerous times. In that characteristic, scarlet armour, she’s become iconic of her Order, the personification of its anger – and long may her wrath and ruin last!
When I first started writing Sisters of Battle, I made the choice to take an older character – something to reflect my own age, perhaps, but more to give her the background and gravitas to be a butt-kicker entirely in her own right. She’s not meant to be young and inexperienced (though you do see the younger side of her in some of the flashback stories), she’s meant to stand as a warrior proud, on her own two boots, and lead her squad into the Eye of Terror itself, if that’s what He commands. More, than anything, she’s a soldier – yes, a ‘nun-with-a-gun’ – but she’s a military vet, and hard as ceramite
By contrast, I wanted to give her squad personalities of their own. Within the Sisters of Battle remit, obviously, but they’re not just cardboard cut-outs of more Sisters who open fire when they’re told – they’re human. They think and feel and pray and rage. And I think is part of what has made the stories so popular.
Amazing artwork of the Order of the Bloody Rose by Jamie Martinez (copyright Games Workshop) – click to expand
Reading order
The Sister Augusta series is essentially built around a single ongoing narrative, with a range of additional stories that you might think of as ‘flashbacks’ to earlier moments in Augusta’s career. To begin with, here’s Danie’s recommended reading order for the ongoing narrative:
- Mercy (short story)
- The Bloodied Rose (novella)
- Wreck and Ruin (novella)
- The Rose in Anger (novella)
- Da Big Mouf (short story)*
- The Sisters of Death (short story)
*I’ve included Da Big Mouf here because, while it’s written from an ork POV, it does feature Augusta and her squad, and takes place between The Rose in Anger and The Sisters of Death.
Once you’ve read all of the ‘main narrative’ stories, you can then go back to the young(er) Augusta stories:
- Forsaken (short story)
- The Crystal Cathedral (short story)
- Sacrifice (short story)
- The Moon Mines of Sciara Lone (short story)
- Blasphemy of the Fallen (short story)
If you’re interested to know the chronological order of the stories, here’s how they all fit together – but be aware that it does probably make more sense to start with Mercy and then go on to the novellas, rather than actually reading the series from scratch in chronological order.
- Forsaken
- The Crystal Cathedral
- Sacrifice
- The Moon Mines of Sciara Lone
- Blasphemy of the Fallen
- Mercy
- The Bloodied Rose
- Wreck and Ruin
- The Rose in Anger
- Da Big Mouf
- The Sisters of Death
I’ll keep both of these lists updated as and when additional stories are published in this series! (Note that Danie’s story as part of The Book of Martyrs is not a Sister Augusta story, hence why I’ve not included it here.)
Update as of July 2022: a hardback omnibus named The Rose at War has now been released, featuring “three novellas and six short stories”. Its contents are a little odd, as it doesn’t feature all of the short stories that had been released already – it contains Da Big Mouf, but not Sacrifice or The Moon Mines of Sciara Lone, for example. Still, it’s a good way to get most of the Augusta stories in one volume.
Story breakdown
In this section I’ve gone through each story, adding in the synopsis from the Black Library website and offering my own suggestions on the best way(s) of picking up each story. I’ve reviewed most of these stories on Track of Words too, so where reviews are available I’ve included links as well.
Mercy
Sister Superior Augusta of the Order of the Bloody Rose has been called to a planet in the far reaches of the Imperium, a world where no Imperial foot has stepped in thousands of year, save a missionary sent to bring the Emperor’s light to the natives. On the world is a cathedral, ancient and run down – but with an icon at its heart, a warrior-woman with a bloodied rose on her chest. Is this a symbol that Saint Mina, founder of the Order, once walked on this world? Augusta is determined to find out…
If you’re just looking for this particular story then you’re best off grabbing the standalone e-short. If you fancy a wider range of BL stories as well, however, then you could pick up either The Hammer and the Eagle (for this and 26 additional 40k and AoS tales) or Inferno! Volume 1 (this and 10 additional stories).
The Bloodied Rose
At the edge of the Imperium sits the fetid jungle world of Lautis. Amidst the creeping foliage and ancient monuments, a horror is rising. From the depths of a crumbling cathedral come bloodied nightmares, intent on fulfilling their dark purpose by any means necessary. Only one thing stands in their way: the wrathful, holy fire of the Adepta Sororitas. Filled with the light of the Emperor, Sister Superior Augusta and her squad are a force to be reckoned with. They are here to purge the darkness from Lautis with prayer and bolter, and nothing will stop them. But the things that dwell in the darkness aren’t afraid. Augusta must put her trust in her Battle Sisters and lead them into the shadows of the crypts in search of the truth. Faith and fire are powerful weapons, but will they be enough to defeat the sinister powers that lurk in the deeps?
Check out my review of The Bloodied Rose.
The easiest and cheapest way of getting hold of this is to pick up the ebook, which is decent value at virtually the same price as a short story. Alternatively, you could go for the Servants of the Imperium omnibus which includes this alongside two additional 40k novellas (featuring Imperial Guard and Adeptus Custodes), but is as far as I’m aware only available digitally.
Wreck and Ruin
Having returned from their desperate mission on Lautis, the Sisters of the Bloody Rose are bound for the Covent Sanctorum on Ophelia VII when an urgent and undeniable summons reaches them. One of the Holy Ordos of the Inquisition needs their assistance and will brook no argument. With little choice and even less knowledge of the mission at hand, Sister Superior and her squad make for the heavily industrialised world of Lycheate and an audience with Inquisitor Istrix. A hunt then begins for the heretic and dangerous psyker-witch known as Scafidis Zale, a task difficult enough without the fact that Lycheate is a den of renegades and Imperial secessionists. Augusta and her Sisters of Battle will need to hold onto their faith and their fury if they are to prevail, but what secrets is the Inquisitor keeping from the Adepta Sororitas, secrets that could damn them all…?
Check out my review of Wreck and Ruin.
If you want a digital copy this is available as an ebook, again at a decent price. Sadly the physical edition is no longer available, although it may yet be included in a future omnibus.
The Rose in Anger
Returning to the forge world of Lycheate, Sister Augusta and her squad are deployed as part of their Order’s battle muster. But will the wrathful fire that burns from the battle tanks of the Bloody Rose be enough to face the heretek’s Mechanicus army? And what if something even more malign already inhabits the planet?
At the time of writing this is available in both ebook and hardback editions – the ebook via BL and Amazon/Apple etc., and the hardback via the Games Workshop website. Note that while the first two novellas came out as paperbacks, this got the (more expensive) hardback treatment.
Da Big Mouf
On the space hulk Da Big Mouf, the Deathskulls reign supreme. Among these bold greenskin lootas, few are as respected as Grimdak – after all, he’s one of the biggest AND he has the best shoota. But when invaders board the hulk, Grimdak and his fellow orks find themselves in the fight of their lives. They’re facing humies in heavy armour with bolters – but they’re not Space Marines. These warriors are something the orks have never seen before… Can Grimdak, his boss, and his boyz survive the holy wrath of the Sisters of Battle?
This is currently only available as an e-short, via the usual channels.
The Sisters of Death
On the cemetery world of Letum, hidden by deadly storms, an ancient and mysterious sisterhood venerates the Emperor in their own esoteric manner. For Sister Superior Augusta of the Order of the Bloody Rose, sent to retrieve a sacred text from a vessel crashed upon the planet, these strange sisters are disquieting. Yet when events spiral out of control, Augusta may discover that they all work to the God-Emperor’s great design in their own ways.
Again, this one’s only available as an e-short.
Forsaken
The Imperial cruiser Santa Xenia hangs silent in the void, abandoned and lifeless. Or so it seems… Sister Augusta and her squad, Battle Sisters from the Order of the Bloody Rose, investigate the stricken hulk, but it seems that their search for survivors fruitless – until an ambush is sprung. Xenos foes infest the once-noble ship, and the Adepta Sororitas’ mission turns from one of rescue to simple survival as monstrous enemies close in.
Check out my review of Forsaken.
Once more, only available as an e-short.
The Crystal Cathedral
On Caro, the smallest moon of the planet Lena Beta, there stands a miracle. In a gorge on the moon is a cathedral to the Emperor made from pure, black glass. Sister Augusta and her fellow Battle Sisters from the Order of the Bloody Rose stand guard over this most unexpected find, taking joy in its presence – for this place was built to honour fallen sisters of their order more than a millennium ago. Yet their peace cannot last. As they mark the moment with a solemn service, an unexpected attack leaves the sisters forced to bring death to this holy place, whether they want to or not.
Check out my review of The Crystal Cathedral.
This one is available either as an e-short or within the Nexus and Other Stories anthology (which is only twice the price in ebook, and contains a novella and fourteen additional short stories). You can currently pick up Nexus in ebook, paperback and audiobook editions, which I believe makes The Crystal Cathedral the only Sister Augusta story to have got the audio treatment so far.
Sacrifice
When their lander crashes, Sister Superior Augusta and her Sisters are saved from death by the Emperor’s mercy – but thrown into an industrial hellscape. With an injured Sister Hospitaller in tow, the five Battle Sisters from the Order of the Bloody Rose must navigate the chem-shrouded streets of an industrial world as they seek salvation. Surrounded by enemies and with no idea of where safety lies, the challenge before them is great, and may require sacrifice if their goal is to be met.
Check out my review of Sacrifice.
If you were lucky enough to get hold of the Black Library Events Anthology 2019/20 then you’ll have a copy of Sacrifice in physical format, otherwise this is only available as an e-short.
The Moon Mines of Sciara Lone
When Sister Augusta and her squad crash land upon an Imperial mining planet, they soon realise not all is as it seems – and a dark enemy lurks deep within the tunnels.
I haven’t read this one yet, and BL’s synopsis is pretty brief, so I don’t have a lot of information about it for you. What I can say is that this is currently only available as an e-short.
Blasphemy of the Fallen
A squad of Adepta Sororitas delves into a ruined desert city in search of a mysterious relic that is corrupting the locals.
Another one that I haven’t read yet, and with such a short synopsis it’s hard to know what to make of this one! It’s currently only available as an e-short, released as part of Black Library’s ‘Character Week’ 2022.
Further reading
That’s the full series as it stands, although I’ll update this article if and when any additional stories are published. In the meantime, if you’ve read all of these stories and are still looking for more then I’ve got a few suggestions for you…
More Sisters of Battle
There are plenty more Sisters of Battle stories out there, including the (upcoming, at the time I’m writing this) portmanteau novel The Book of Martyrs, which includes a novella from Danie – as far as I’m aware, that novella is Danie’s only Sisters story to not feature Augusta! If you’d like to check out Sisters stories from other authors though, here are a few recommendations.
- From Alec Worley: check out the Sister Adamanthea stories Whispers, Repentia, Martyr’s End and Broken Saints (also see this interview with Alec).
- From Rachel Harrison: the novel Mark of Faith is excellent.
- From James Swallow: the classic novels Hammer & Anvil and Faith & Fire, and short stories Red & Black and Heart & Soul, are collected together into The Sisters of Battle Omnibus.
Also check out these two interviews with Danie that I’ve previously published:
- Danie Ware Talks Sisters of Battle and Women in 40k
- Author Spotlight: Danie Ware (which includes a discussion of Wreck and Ruin)
More from Danie Ware
For more Black Library stories from Danie you can check out the following:
- The Book of Change: an Inquisition short story available as an e-short.
- The Rage of the Mountain: a Warhammer Underworlds short story included in the Direchasm anthology.
Danie has written lots of stories for publishers other than Black Library too, so also check these out:
- Children of Artifice: “an LGBT urban FANTASY tale about love, family, and metallurgical magick” published by Fox Spirit Books.
- The Ecko Trilogy: “a fabulously sarcastic, cyberpunk/fantasy mash-up from Titan Books.”
- Bigger Than Biggs: “a Judge Anderson: Year Two novella from Rebellion Publishing.” See my review here.
Check out Danie’s website for details of all of these stories, and more.
***
I hope this is useful, for anyone keen to check out Danie’s Sister Augusta stories! If you haven’t already, do take a look at my reviews of these stories where I’ve linked out to them, and remember that you can always check out the samples on the BL website if you want to try before you buy.
See also: 40k Reading Order: Silver Skulls – Sarah Cawkwell.
Keep an eye out for more Reading Order articles as well, and please do let me know if there are any series that you would like me to cover! Feel free to leave a comment below, or come and find me on Twitter.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to support Track of Words, you can leave a tip on my Ko-Fi page.
Helpful article, thanks Michael. Rather than internal-chronological or ‘recommended’ reading order, I’m always keenest on the publication order the most when reading personally, as that’s the way that I feel it was originally meant to be read (and would’ve been by those who read them upon release).
Glad it’s helpful! That’s an interesting point about publication order, although I don’t necessarily agree that pub order is always the way a series is meant to be read. I think there are probably lots of reasons why stories are published out of order, and certainly in the case of this and my Silver Skulls article I spoke directly to the authors to find out their recommended reading orders – so I think it’s pretty conclusive that these are the way each series is ‘meant’ to be read. If I cover any series where it’s not possible to speak to the author then I might consider including release order too, however.
Where does “The Moon-Mines of Sciara Lone” fit in this list?
That’s a good question. I’ll try to find out!
FYI I’ve updated this article to include The Moon-Mines, which is a prequel story that fits between Sacrifice and Mercy!
Just wanted to give a heads up that Moon Mines fits between Crystal Cathedral and Sacrifice.
Great article as always. However, I should point out that contrary of the description of most sites, Imperium at War sadly doesn’t contain Wreck & Ruin and neither Isha’s Lament – only the other three 40K stories from the second novella series.
Thanks! That’s interesting to hear, about Imperium at War – do you have a copy of it? I’ve only seen images in the book trade.
Yes, I have it. It was pretty misleading, as the site where I got it from listed all five authors (although with a “cover not final” warning), and stated that it’s 512 pages (like on Goodreads), but in reality it’s 400 pages.
I got you some pictures:
https://ibb.co/YyDBQDX
https://ibb.co/r4b4b2h
https://ibb.co/1Rtvq7r
That’s outrageous, really! Everywhere it’s for sale online, it has that ‘not final’ cover showing all five authors. I can only imagine the disappointment of receiving it and finding that it only has three of the novellas. Thanks for letting me know, and for the photos. I’ll update the article accordingly.
Well, yes. I was indeed pretty disappointed. I mean, it was a good deal, but still…
One could argue that Isha’s Lament is a Blackstone Fortress novella, so it should appear in a BF anthology but after what happened between BL and Parrott, it seems highly unlikely that it will ever appear in print again.
The same with the next Space Marine Conquest novel… and that series seems pretty dead now. It would be good if at least the First Founding chapters got a novel. But BL made and still makes some strange moves, like only Apocalypse got a Limited Edition while it had a rough writing process from what I’ve heard about it.
Well, at least I hope we will get a decent Sister Augusta omnibus some day, which will contain everything.
Absolutely. A good deal, but not as good as you’d been led to believe!
That’s fair re. Isha’s Lament maybe being more suited to a BSF omnibus, and I know what you mean about Tom. I’ve not heard anything about his SMC book, and it dropped off Amazon listings quite a while ago. Not holding out much hope for that.
I’m sure there will be a Sister Augusta omnibus, it just seems like such an obvious thing to release. Just a matter of time, I think!
Hello! Wanted to point out that Sacrifice is after Moon Mines and Blasphemy of the Fallen chronologically. In Sacrifice Augusta is a Sister Superior, while in Moon Mines and Blasphemy of the Fallen she is just a standard Sister.