Author Archives: Michael Dodd

Parting of the Ways – Chris Wraight (audio drama)

The first in Black Library’s Echoes of War collection, a week’s worth of new audio dramas, Parting of the Ways continues Chris Wraight’s fine work in chronicling the sagas of the Space Wolves, the Vlka Fenryka. Set post-Heresy but pre-current 40k, it offers a close look at Bjorn the Fell-Handed in the days leading up to his interment in the dreadnought with which he’s so closely associated. The character of Bjorn is well-established in the 40k lore, but since his inclusion in Dan Abnett’s Horus Heresy novel Prospero Burns we’ve seen him in a different light; impulsive, solitary, sullen, stubborn. After the release of a handful of short stories and quick reads, Parting of the Ways offers the most detailed look so far at this increasingly fleshed out and intriguing character.

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Books Or Films First?

Recently I signed up to a free one-month trial of Netflix, the online film and TV streaming service. My main motivation for this was so that I could binge my way through several seasons of Battlestar Galactica without having to buy them on DVD, which I did in shamefully short order. Having greedily plowed through Battlestar and two seasons of Heroes, I began to explore more of what Netflix had to offer. For those who haven’t used Netflix before, while you can search through to see what takes your fancy, you are also given a number of recommendations by Netflix based on what you have watched so far. Unsurprisingly I was recommended all sorts of sci-fi and fantasy films and TV shows, but one in particular kept popping up, which was one of the Hunger Games films.

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Thief of Revelations – Graham McNeill (audio drama)

Released alongside Hunter’s Moon by Guy Haley, Thief of Revelations is Graham McNeill’s latest contribution to Black Library’s range of Horus Heresy audio dramas. Running to just under 40 minutes, it features the welcome return of Ahzek Ahriman, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, tragic hero (anti-hero?) and without a doubt one of Warhammer 40,000’s greatest characters. We see Ahriman post-the burning of Prospero, living on the Planet of Sorcerers and working on what will become the infamous Rubric of Ahriman.

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Pyramids – Terry Pratchett

First published in 1989, Pyramids was the 7^th Discworld book to be released; since then the series has grown and grown, now numbering 40 novels. While it may not have been clear at the time, this was the first standalone Discworld book, not part of a wider character arc such as Rincewind and the wizards, Death or the witches. Pratchett went on to write Moving Pictures and Small Gods which are sometimes combined with Pyramids as a sort of ‘Gods’ trilogy, but they’re very much independent novels. Set mostly in the ancient kingdom of Djelibeybi (read it out loud) this follows the story of Teppic who, fresh out of his exams at the Guild of Assassins in Ankh Morpork, receives an unusual summons to return home and take up the country’s throne.

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Hunter’s Moon – Guy Haley (audio drama)

Audio dramas (not audio books, there’s a difference) are a relatively late addition to the Black Library stable, but have nevertheless become an established format, especially within the Horus Heresy series where there are now more than 20 of varying lengths. Guy Haley’s second, Hunter’s Moon, is a 35-minute piece available either as a standalone MP3 download or in CD format accompanied by Thief of Revelations, by Graham McNeill. It concerns the Space Wolves of the Vlka Fenryka, specifically one particular squad who were sent to ‘watch over’ the Alpha Legion and their primarch Alpharius. Three guesses as to how well that went.

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The Ideas Book

On a mid-morning visit to the Horniman Gardens in Forest Hill, I stumbled upon a child’s exercise book abandoned on a wall, its bright blue cover incongruous against the grey stone. Imagine my delight when, upon closer inspection, this turned out to be not a Geography book or a History book but an Ideas book! What a wonderful concept, a book purely for the purpose of recording ideas. Surely it must have been full to brimming, for there are few places as fertile as a child’s imagination.

Ideas Book

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The Norfolk Mystery – Ian Sansom

Classic literary detectives are often dreadful know-it-alls. Hercule Poirot? Know-it-all. Sherlock Holmes? Definitely a know-it-all. It’s no surprise really, as their extreme levels of intelligence, which endow them with the required powers of observation to fulfil their roles, result in a propensity to be insufferable windbags. It’s hard to imagine sometimes how difficult it must be for their long-suffering assistants to put up with them. Ian Sansom has channelled this very problem in his novel The Norfolk Mystery, as Stephen Sefton, traumatised and shaken from his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, struggles to cope with the eccentricities of his new employer, Professor Swanton Morley.

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Why Books Make the Best Presents

I’m a serial book buyer, both for myself and as gifts for friends and family. The vast majority of presents I give, for birthdays or Christmas, include at least one book. One Christmas I was working at a (now-defunct) book shop – never before has a staff discount been so thoroughly utilised!

There’s something lovely about receiving a book as a present; a real, physical, dead-tree book. I’m all for e-books, they’re incredibly practical, but I still much prefer reading an actual analogue book. One particular friend of mine reads everything on her Kindle now, to the point that she replies in percentage terms when asked where she’s up to in a book! I take great pleasure in buying her physical books as presents, if nothing else just so that she has to put her Kindle down once in a while.

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On The Map – Simon Garfield

Nowadays we take maps for granted; they’re an everyday part of life and something that most of us have grown up with without giving too much thought to. We use maps all the time without really thinking about it; when we use a satnav to get from A to B, when we check a weather app that uses GPS to find our current location, when we’re trying to work out how to get from Charing Cross to South Kensington on the tube. It wasn’t always this way however; in his book On The Map, Simon Garfield takes us on a tour through world history charting the way in which maps have evolved over time and what they can tell us about the way the world has changed with them.

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Warhammer : The End Times – Nagash

The Warhammer world came into being in 1983, and by 1987 had developed into its recognisable form. Since then there have been minor changes along the way as the tabletop game has developed and grown, but things have essentially remained the same since the late ’80s. With the release of Warhammer : End Times – Nagash, that’s all about to change. The first in an expected series of expansions detailing the events of the coming End Times, this is the start of a new era for Warhammer, shaking up the old order and breathing new life into a world which has existed for over thirty years.

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