Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of Black Library Weekly, my regular look at what’s been happening in the world of Black Library. It’s been an interesting week on the BL front – not the busiest in terms of brand new releases (next week looks good for that) but with plenty to talk about nonetheless. Let’s get cracking, from the top (and back to the usual layout)…
A collection of three Shadespire-set Age of Sigmar audio dramas, each released initially as part of the 2017 Advent Calendar, The Darkness in the Glass consists of Doombound by David Annandale, A Place of Reflection by David Guymer and The Autumn Prince by Guy Haley. With a collected running time of around 70 minutes, each of the audios is only short, but they tell three standalone, unconnected stories featuring a range of different characters – Stormcast, Bloodbound, and an aelven prince among others. Set within the confines of Shadespire, they each show a different aspect of the Mirrored City.
A multi-part League of Legends audio drama, Legends of Bilgewater: Tall Tales of the Deep Sea consists of a series of interlinked stories by Anthony Reynolds that are equal parts superstitious sailor tales and moral stories. In a busy dockside bar in Bilgewater, old seadog Lars spins stories of meeting legendary figures like Nautilus and Tahm Kench in exchange for keeping him in his cups. Though he keeps his audience entertained with fantastical stories of his youthful exploits, there’s a darkness running through his tales – these legends of the sea rarely end well, after all.
A short story in his Imperial Knights series, Andy Clark’s Defiant sits somewhere between Kingsblade and Knightsblade and sees Lady Jennika Tan Draconis still coming to terms with her role as First Knight of Adrastapol. The darkly pious Imperial world of Pyrodiah burns under the assault of endless waves of necrons, but the Knights of Adrastapol walk in its defence. Tasked with retrieving the planetary governor before the capital city is overrun, Jennika leads several lances of Knights into battle, however she faces not only the soulless necrons but the prejudices of her own warriors.
Graham McNeill’s Horus Heresy novel Mechanicum is book nine in the series, and McNeill’s third contribution, but it’s a book of firsts as well – the first proper look at Mars and the Mechanicum (ever, really, but certainly in the Heresy series), the first depiction of Imperial Knights in Black Library fiction, and the first female-led Heresy novel. Young scribe Dalia Cythera is whisked off to Mars by Adept Koriel Zeth, who puts her innate understanding of technology to use working on a ground-breaking project. Meanwhile tensions are mounting between rival factions on Mars, even bringing the Titan Legions into conflict.
Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of Black Library Weekly, my regular look at what’s been happening in the world of Black Library. After the contention of last week things have calmed down a bit on the Black Library front, but despite only a single brand new release it’s actually been quite a busy week. With a seriously dark short story, a couple of author interviews, a bunch of paperbacks, a surprise audiobook and another month’s worth of upcoming releases…there’s plenty to look at.
Another month gone by, another month’s worth of reviews to look back on and pick a few highlights to round up. I’ve slightly slowed down in terms of writing and posting reviews on here, but there’s still been plenty of great stories to choose from. In fact, so many of the stories I read in May were genuinely excellent that it was quite a tough decision to pick just one as an overall highlight…but I managed, just about! I’ve also picked out a couple more choices that deserve a mention, as usual, and as with last month all three are from Black Library. It’s perhaps no surprise that two of them are Age of Sigmar stories, as I’ve been making a concerted effort to catch up on stories set in the Mortal Realms.
The third book in James Swallow’s high-tech thriller series featuring ex-MI6 agent Marc Dane and the Rubicon Group, Ghost provides another relevant, contemporary story as Dane tackles a mysterious hacker collective tapping into the world’s digital weaknesses. Marc is mid-mission gathering information on a link to the sinister Combine when sudden new orders arrive, sending him to Malta to investigate an unusually public assassination. Who the victim is, why he was killed and what it means for Rubicon all come to light as Marc, Lucy and co. chase digital ghosts and fight back from a devastating betrayal.
A dark, uncomfortable Black Library debut from Peter McLean, Baphomet By Night is an Astra Militarum short story which takes place after the dust has settled on the Imperial campaign to cleanse the world of Baphomet of a Chaos cult. The Reslian 45th are sent in to garrison the world once the fighting is over, which to Corporal Cully and Sergeant Rachain seems like an easy duty after their last action, despite the inexperience of their new platoon. When unexpected resistance breaks out and the green troopers start dying around them, it becomes clear that Baphomet isn’t the break they expected.
Nick Horth’s Age of Sigmar book City of Secrets, set in the city of Excelsis in the realm of Ghur, was the first to deal predominantly with mortal characters rather than Stormcast Eternals. Armand Callis is a corporal in the Coldguard, one of only three Freeguild regiments left behind to defend Excelsis while the majority of its forces march to deal with a vast gathering of Orruks. After stumbling upon a sinister plot and accidentally experiencing a powerful prophecy, Callis finds himself working alongside the Witch Hunter Hanniver Toll as they race against time to prevent the city’s destruction.