Author Archives: Michael

QUICK REVIEW: The Librarian’s Acolyte – Graeme Lyon

Day one of Black Library’s 2016/17 12 Days of Christmas campaign brings us a free 40k micro-short story in the shape of Graeme Lyon’s The Librarian’s Acolyte. In the Ultramarines’ Librarium within the Fortress of Hera, Acolyte Loraeus is welcomed into the Librarius by Chief Librarian Tigurius himself. With his training due to start soon Loraeus is given a fairly straightforward first task, but events quickly spiral out of control and he’s forced to rely on his wits as well as his newfound power to deal with the escalating situation.

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QUICK REVIEW:The Last Son of Prospero

The final instalment of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, Chris Wraight’s Horus Heresy short story The Last Son of Prospero follows on from The Path of Heaven with Revuel Arvida finally having succumbed to the flesh change after guiding the White Scars back to Terra. While one war is fought deep within Terra, Malcador the Sigillite battles to save Arvida from his legion’s curse at the request of Jaghatai Khan. While the White Scars primarch feels honour-bound to help the Thousand Sons legionary, Malcador’s aims and motivations remain obscure, as ever.

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QUICK REVIEW: Da Bank Job – Andy Hall

The penultimate story in Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar and the last of three Blood Bowl tales, Andy Hall’s Da Bank Job sees Brobag, captain of disastrously bad orc team Brobag’s Big ‘Uns, offered a risky but lucrative opportunity to reverse his team’s poor fortunes. After a victory-less first season Brobag is in a tricky position, but is an invitational game against the famous Reikland Reavers the answer to his problems? If he can keep his team alive and on the pitch long enough, maybe he’ll have a chance to keep the Big ‘Uns going for another season…

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QUICK REVIEW: Unearthed – Rob Sanders

The twenty-second of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar stories is Unearthed by Rob Sanders, an Inquisition tale which pits the rash Interrogator Kiefer against the Alpha Legion warband which proved the death of his former master. Having tracked them to the ravaged agri-world of Grendl’s World, he’s certain that he has them where he wants them, so pushes on accompanied by Attillan Rough Riders and ogryn auxilia. You can probably see where this is going, given the Alpha Legion’s deserved reputation for trickery…

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QUICK REVIEW: Pantheon – Guy Haley

On the 20th day of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar it’s back to the Mortal Realms for the third and final Age of Sigmar story – Pantheon by Guy Haley. On the highest peak in the realm of Azyr, Sigmar waits amidst the remnants of past glories for a visitation from a fellow deity. With his Stormcast Eternals taking the fight to Chaos across all of the realms, he’s now turning his mind to a later stage of his plans. Hoping to sway Alarielle to his cause, he shows her an ancient story from a time before the Age of Chaos.
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QUICK REVIEW: Exocytosis – James Swallow

On the nineteenth day of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, James Swallow’s short story Exocytosis oozes onto our e-readers, the penultimate Horus Heresy story in the collection. Amidst the forests of Zaramund, Luther and his Dark Angels offer aid to the battered forces of First Captain Calas Typhon, but there’s little trust between the Angels and the Death Guard. Plagued by unsettled, troubled thoughts and unsure what to make of the slow changes coming over his body, Typhon waits while repairs are made, whiling the time away in restless contemplation. Meanwhile the Dark Angels watch and listen, making their own plans.
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Black Library Weekly – W/C 12/12/16

Hello and welcome to another instalment of Black Library Weekly, where I take a look at the Black Library-related news from the week just gone – announcements, pre-orders and new releases.

Christmas is fast approaching, so the Advent Calendar has been in full flow once again with seven more stories this week. There’s not been a vast amount of news or further releases though, so it’s going to be a slightly shorter instalment than usual. As with last week, I’ll take a look at all of the week’s Advent Calendar content first, then move on to the rest of the news and releases. Let’s get started…
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QUICK REVIEW: Valerius – Gav Thorpe

Day sixteen of the 2016 Black Library Advent Calendar gives us Valerius by Gav Thorpe, a Horus Heresy audio drama that continues a specific arc on from the novella Weregeld. As the title suggests it follows Marcus Valerius, Vice-Caesari of the Therion Cohort, as he leads his forces into battle at Beta-Garmon. Looking to the words of the Lectitio Divinitatus for guidance and holding tight to his faith in the Emperor, he continues to believe – despite the odds stacked against them – that he and his Therions are serving a higher purpose…
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QUICK REVIEW: Becoming – Andy Clark

Two weeks into Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, day fourteen brings us an Imperial Knights story in the shape of Becoming by Andy Clark. Setting things up for the upcoming novel Kingsblade, we’re introduced to the knightly houses of Adrastrapol and their rituals, as veteran Knight pilot Sire Markos tells the story of his first battle to two young squires on the eve of their coming of age ritual. Thrust straight into battle without time to prepare, the young Markos had to learn quickly in order to survive, and in doing so forged himself a legend. It wasn’t all glory though…
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QUICK REVIEW: Prodigal – Josh Reynolds

The tenth story in Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar is Prodigal by Josh Reynolds, a Fabius Bile story which sees the apothecary musing on the nature of his work and what his legacy will be. When his pensive mood is shattered by a daemonic attack launched directly into his laboratorium, he’s surprised to find that not all of the daemons are trying to kill him, or at least not yet. Faced with the return of one of his earliest (and perhaps greatest) creations bearing riddle-like warnings, an unexpectedly paternal side of Fabius is revealed.
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