Author Archives: Michael

QUICK REVIEW: Void Crossed – JC Stearns

Probably as close as we’ll ever get to a dark eldar love story from Black Library, JC Stearns’ Void Crossed deals with the fallout from the broken relationship between two ambitious drukhari corsairs. For Archon Melandyr, the chance to claim a webway gate on the world of Dunwiddian – abandoned after the humans died and the orks got bored – is of little interest until he hears who’s leading the force sent to take control of it by the craftworld Tir-Val. Sensing an opportunity for vengeance long sought-after, he pours all his spite into hunting down the person most important to him.

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Warhammer Adventures: Claws of the Genestealer AND Secrets of the Tau – Cavan Scott

Cavan Scott’s Warped Galaxies series continues to impress (and entertain) with books two and three – Claws of the Genestealer and Secrets of the Tau. With the necron Hunter taken care of (for now, at least), Zelia, Talen, Mekki and Fleapit search for a way off the snow-bound planet they find themselves stranded on, before braving the unfamiliar confines of a frontier space station. With dangers all around, from lethal aliens to the elements themselves, they need to put their differences aside and find ways to work together if they’ve any hope of finding their way to safety, and a distant rendezvous with Zelia’s mum.

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Bigger Than Biggs – Danie Ware

Danie Ware’s Judge Anderson novella Bigger Than Biggs follows on from Alec Worley’s three Year One novellas, and sees the Psi-Judge tackling biker gangs and delving into dark secrets in the Big Meg. On secondment to the uncompromising Chief Johnson in Sector-19, Anderson stumbles upon something big when the rescue of a kidnap victim leads to hints of sinister goings-on beneath the Eee-Zee Rest block. Johnson won’t sanction an investigation due to the political connections of the block’s owner, but Anderson’s gifts tell her something terrible is about to happen, and it’ll take someone with her talents to stop it.

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RAPID FIRE: David Annandale Talks The Dominion of Bones

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.

In this instalment I spoke to Black Library author David Annandale about The Dominion of Bones, his second Age of Sigmar novel featuring the vampire Neferata, which is available to buy in hardback, ebook and audiobook right now!

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RAPID FIRE: Guy Haley Talks The Lost and the Damned

In this instalment I spoke to Black Library author Guy Haley about The Lost and the Damned, the second book in the Siege of Terra miniseries which is closing off the long-running Horus Heresy. It was first released back in July as a high-end Limited Edition hardback, but the ‘standard’ hardback, ebook and audiobook editions are now available to order as well – so if you’ve been waiting with bated breath since finishing The Solar War, you don’t have much longer to wait. In the meantime, here are a few more details of what to expect.

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Peter Fehervari Talks Requiem Infernal and The Dark Coil

Even amongst the considerable variety of authors writing for Black Library, one voice stands out in particular – the unique storytelling talents of Peter Fehervari, author of (among other things) the novels Fire Caste, Cult of the Spiral Dawn and 2019’s Requiem Infernal. Back in May 2018 I spoke to Peter about his influences and style of writing, and his unique outlook on Warhammer 40,000, in what was intended to be the first of a two-part interview. Fast forward a year and a bit, and the second instalment of the interview is here, in which (in his own words) Peter “unveils the dark secrets of the Requiem Infernal and the deeper abyss of the Dark Coil.”

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QUICK REVIEW: The Strong Among Us – Steve Lyons

Steve Lyons is one of the few Black Library authors to have tackled the Death Korps of Krieg, and he continues his exploration with the typically bleak short story The Strong Among Us. Blackfire Forge has fallen to Chaos, and been besieged by the implacable Death Korps. Ex-forge worker Jarrah mans an Earthshaker cannon on the ramparts, not in service of the invading cultists but simply as a means to stay alive. As the siege drags on and he does what he must to survive, he’s forced to consider whether the Death Korps are really the face of Imperial salvation.

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Monthly Highlights – September 2019

After last month’s bumper collection of my highlights from July and August, it’s back to a single month for the latest roundup of the best things I’ve read of late. September was a busy month for my reading schedule, so I had plenty to choose from! I spoke last month about broadening out my reading a bit, and I’ve certainly done that (including a couple of non-SF titles that I won’t cover on Track of Words), but this month all but one of my highlights have been Black Library releases – there’s been a lot of good stuff coming out of BL recently, even if their marketing hasn’t always done such a great job of publicising it.

As with last month I’ll go through each of my highlights in turn, talking a little about why I enjoyed each one so much and linking out to my reviews. If you read through to the end you’ll also see a quick section where I look ahead to some of the books (and a book-related event) that I’m particularly looking forward to in October. Without further ado, then – let’s get straight on with the highlights. I’ll start with the one non-BL book that I’ve picked out.

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Ghoulslayer – Darius Hinks

The first novel since 2015 in Black Library’s much-loved ‘Nounslayer’ series, Darius Hinks’ Ghoulslayer picks up after the events of the Realmslayer (see the theme there?) audio dramas and sees Gotrek – minus Felix – roaming the Mortal Realms in a typically bad mood. This time he’s in Shyish, accompanied by the aelf Maleneth and troubled Stormcast Trachos, with his sights set on a confrontation with Nagash himself. A chance encounter with a mysterious magician leads them to the hidden underworld of Morbium in the Amethyst Princedoms, where they battle vast numbers of the titular ghouls as an army of mordants threatens to sweep all before it.

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Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work by Guy Haley

Prolific Black Library author Guy Haley continues to explore the ‘Dark Imperium’ era of Warhammer 40,000 with Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work, tackling not just the titular Archmagos Dominus and his idiosyncratic adventures but also the fate of the remaining Scythes of the Emperor. On the dead world of Sotha, Cawl meets with Tetrach Felix of the Ultramarines and Chapter Master Thracian of the Scythes to uncover the secrets of the Pharos, searching for knowledge amidst the ruins of the Scythes’ homeworld. Between Cawl’s apparently reckless pursuit of information and Thracian’s secretive motive for being there, Felix has a hard time keeping the mission on track and ensuring the safety of all parties as the dead world proves to still contain considerable dangers.

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