Author Archives: Michael

RAPID FIRE: Justin D Hill Talks Terminal Overkill

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 Justin D. Hill about his latest Black Library novel, Terminal Overkill – a Necromunda novel which is available to order now in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats.

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RAPID FIRE: Mike Brooks Talks Rites of Passage

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 Mike Brooks about his first Black Library novel, a Warhammer 40,000 book called Rites of Passage which delves into the murky world of the Navigator Houses. It’s available to order in ebook, hardback and audiobook formats right now.

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QUICK REVIEW: Dead Drop – Mike Brooks

Mike Brooks’ Necromunda short story Dead Drop continues his impressive run of Black Library stories featuring strong characters with powerful familial bonds. Danner Grimjack and his Road Dogs, a close-knit gang of Orlocks, launch a carefully timed ambush of a rival gang, the Steel Crescents. Their goal is to relieve the Van Saars of what they hope is a valuable piece of cargo, recently arrived on Necromunda through illicit channels, and sell it on for a tidy profit. As ever in the underhive it’s a case of risk versus reward, but the Road Dogs trust each other to get the job done.

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QUICK REVIEW: Forsaken – Danie Ware

Danie Ware’s third Black Library story featuring the Adepta Sororitas of the Order of the Bloody Rose, Forsaken features a younger version of Sister Augusta as she and her Sisters search for survivors in the darkness of a drifting Ecclesiarchy vessel. When the sepulchral quiet is shattered by alien ambush, Augusta finds herself cut off from her Sisters and lost deep in the bowels of the ship. Faced with endless emptiness stretching away all around, Augusta falls back on her faith to sustain her and drive her on, but what she finds down there in the darkness tests even that.

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QUICK REVIEW: Fangs of the Rustwood – Evan Dicken

Evan Dicken’s Age of Sigmar short story Fangs of the Rustwood continues his approach of exploring the lesser visited corners of the Mortal Realms, this time featuring the sinister dangers of Chamon’s grot-infested Rustwood. Seeing opportunities for advancement in his future, witch hunter Kantus Vallo escorts a trio of prisoners, each a suspect in a high-profile murder, to face the judgement of his superiors in the Order of Azyr. As the forest’s lethal flora and fauna take their toll, however, he’s forced to free the prisoners and put his trust in them in order to survive and escape the Rustwood.

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The Ruthless – Peter Newman

Book two in Peter Newman’s The Deathless series, The Ruthless takes place sixteen years after the events of the first book, as Lady Pari Tanzanite is finally reborn and Lord Vasin Sapphire is almost ready to make his play for power. In the years that Pari has been away, the demons of the Wild have grown bolder while the cracks have widened between the Deathless houses. In the castle of Lord Rochant Sapphire, young Satyendra searches for a way to avoid sacrificing himself for Rochant’s rebirth, while deep in the Wild the semi-feral Sa-at watches the human Gatherers and dreams of belonging.

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Gloomspite – Andy Clark

Andy Clark’s Age of Sigmar novel Gloomspite is straight-up disturbing…and the best thing he’s written yet. A tale of family, loyalty and heroism as the Bad Moon rises over Aqshy, it’s crammed full of insects, spiders, lurking horrors and stomach-churning fungus-based disgustingness. Grief-stricken Hendrick Saul and his Swords of Sigmar make for Draconium to deliver a hard-earned warning of dark omens and death to the city’s protectors, and honour a fallen comrade. Finding themselves trapped in a city beset by sinister disturbances and dire portents, the mercenaries begrudgingly join the defences but aren’t prepared for the darkness that’s rising to engulf Draconium.

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Three Crows Magazine – Issue 4

Edited by Alex Khlopenko, Three Crows Magazine is a quarterly online speculative fiction magazine, still relatively new to the SF&F community but growing quickly, aiming for cultural diversity and tackling big, challenging subjects. Issue 4 features compelling stories by Avra Margariti, Stephen Couch and Eliza Chan, fabulous interviews with Evan Winter and G.V. Anderson, several thorough book reviews, and a thought-provoking essay on desert-influenced writing comparing Frank Herbert’s Dune with recent novels by Tasha Suri and Bradley P. Beaulieu. For genre fans looking to broaden their horizons, there’s entertainment, information and inspiration aplenty to be found amongst these 66 pages.

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Writing for Black Library – Summer of Writing 2019

The 2019 Black Library open submissions window has been officially confirmed – with the tagline “comrades in arms”, no less, as part of a summer of writing – and it’s running from the 26th August to the 23rd September. Check out my article Black Library Open Submissions – 2018 Recap for a look back at 2018’s open submissions window, including thoughts on some of the authors who successfully made it through, but in this article I’m going to talk a little about the guidelines for the 2019 window, and provide some useful resources for anyone interested in submitting including nterviews with some of the authors who successfully made it through and had stories published by Black Library.

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QUICK REVIEW: Empra – Nate Crowley

Nate Crowley’s second Black Library short story, Empra offers a unique take on 40k and a rare perspective on the Imperium. Toa is a Shellmaker, daughter of the chief shaman; she and the tribe her mother oversees toil to forge great shells that they send up to the Body of Empra in return for food and protection from the poisons of their world. When Toa finds an Angel out in the manhills, her world is turned upside down as she learns that everything she had been told – about Empra, his servant Two-Bird and her entire religion – has been a lie.

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