Author Archives: Michael

QUICK REVIEW: City of Blood – Matt Smith

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume Three.

Matt Smith’s short story City of Blood is a Necromunda-esque tale of fast-paced underhive action in the 41st millennium, just not set on Necromunda. In the labyrinthine slums beneath Obergard Secundus, Jesca Veil – deserter, formerly of the 151st Hadran Rifles – has made a deal to get herself off-world. If she’s to see the deal through and make it to safety, however, she’ll have to contend with not just the untrustworthy nature of her shady contact but also the vengeful presence of the Officio Prefectus and the many and varied dangers lurking in the darkness of the underhive.

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The Deathless – Peter Newman

The first book in a series of the same name, Peter Newman’s The Deathless is a gripping, fascinating fantasy tale of intrigue and political manoeuvring in a world of demons, magic and undying dynasties. Safe in their castles in the sky, the immortal lords of the seven royal families watch over their people and protect them from the demons of the Wild. When treachery strikes at the moment of Lord Rochant’s rebirth, however, cracks are revealed within House Sapphire, and loyalties are tested as long-gestating plans come to fruition and various players make their moves to grasp what power they can.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Prince’s Tale (At the Sign of the Brazen Claw Part Three) – Guy Haley

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume 3.

The third instalment of At the Sign of the Brazen Claw, Guy Haley’s serialised story of a group of strangers swapping stories while waiting out a storm, The Prince’s Tale sees aelven Prince Maesa tell the tale of how he met Shattercap. As the storm rages, Maesa relives a time of heartache and loneliness as he wandered the Mortal Realms aimlessly, haunted by the loss of his beloved Ellamar. Only when he finally encountered a match for his own grief did the exiled prince find himself drawn back into the lives of mortals, and set against the pitiless sylvaneth.

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The Imprecations of Daemons – Nick Kyme

Nick Kyme’s first Age of Sigmar audio drama, The Imprecations of Daemons sees a Stormcast Eternal revisit the birthplace of her former self to aid her family and confront an old enemy long thought defeated. Over a decade after being borne away by Sigmar to become a Stormcast, Malleon – formerly Mallaeh – returns to the Iron Fastness at the request of her sister Galaeda, to assist their father with a task too great for the old warrior-priest. She finds her home much changed from what she remembers, both the land and the people turned bitter and in great need of Sigmar’s light.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Price of Duty – Matt Smith

A standalone Imperial Guard short story by Matt Smith, The Price of Duty takes a familiar setup – a straight-laced commissar serving with an ill-disciplined regiment of Catachan Jungle Fighters – and delivers a slightly different take to usual. For young Commissar Jasper Nevin, serving under a Lord-Commissar whom he idolises is a dream come true, however the soldiers of the Catachan 64th don’t seem to hold him in much regard. Surrounded by warriors of strength and fortitude, Nevin finds his own skill and bravery lacking, but to survive he’s going to have to find a way to earn at least someone’s respect.

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Vaults of Terra – The Hollow Mountain by Chris Wraight

Book two in Chris Wraight’s Vaults of Terra series featuring Inquisitor Crowl and Interrogator Spinoza, The Hollow Mountain picks up pretty much straight away after the end of The Carrion Throne. Though disaster was averted on the throneworld, Crowl believes that the powerful people behind the conspiracy to bring a xenos creature to Terra are still at large and need to be brought to justice for their crimes. Despite Spinoza’s misgivings, they continue to investigate – albeit in secret, fully aware of the dangers involved in doing so – even while Terra seethes in a worrying atmosphere of unusual friction and unease.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Spirit of Cogs – John French

A short story in John French’s ongoing Horusian Wars series, The Spirit of Cogs is a sinister little ghost story told by Glavius-4-Rho to Severita while the ex-magos is working on a repair. Casting his machinic mind back to his first experience on a true forge world, Glavius-4-Rho tells a tale of his younger self being recruited into a mysterious project, swathed in secrecy, which requires his expertise. He and another magos throw themselves into their work, despite the strange phenomena plaguing their efforts, but before long they start to question the consequences of the Mechanicus’ thirst for knowledge at all costs.

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Master of Sorrows – Justin Call

Book One in the Silent Gods tetralogy (that’s a four-book series to you and me), Justin Call’s Master of Sorrows offers a clever take on a tried-and-tested fantasy trope. In the hidden village of Chaenbalu, orphan Annev de Breth trains hard to earn his place amongst the warrior-thieves of the Academy. In a society which abhors both magic and physical impurity of any kind, however, Annev – born with only one hand and mentored by a somewhat mysterious priest-slash-magician – finds himself pulled in different directions by conflicting loyalties. As his last chance to become an Avatar looms large, Annev faces a choice which might determine the shape of his life to come.

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QUICK REVIEW: Blessed Oblivion – Dale Lucas

Dale Lucas is an established fantasy writer, and for his Black Library debut – Age of Sigmar short story Blessed Oblivion – he delivers a fresh, assured look at the cost paid by the Stormcast Eternals for their Reforging. Klytos is a Liberator of the Celestial Vindicators, bound by brotherhood and duty, his Stormhost tasked with protecting refugees fleeing through Shyish from the predations of rampaging Khornate hordes. Before each battle he holds tight to his few remaining memories from his first life, and when an unlikely alliance offers the opportunity to reclaim his memories in full he can’t help but put himself first for once.

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Coming Soon via Black Library Live (June 2019)

Saturday the 1st June saw 2019’s Black Library Live event take place at Warhammer World in Nottingham, and I was there to enjoy a day of seminars, signings, chatting to authors and editors and generally just hanging out with and other Black Library fans. In the end I only went to two of the seminars (plus the final one), and I didn’t find time to visit the Editors’ Corner section, as I was busy talking to authors and having fun catching up with friends – but for me half the fun of these events is getting to spend time with other people who are as enthusiastic about Black Library as I am!

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