Category Archives: Black Library

QUICK REVIEW: Stormseeker – Alec Worley

For day four of Black Library’s 2016 Summer of Reading campaign we’re introduced to Alec Worley and his first story for Black Library, Stormseeker. When dark eldar pirates attack an Imperial world, the Space Wolves of the Deathwolves Great Company launch a counter-attack and Anvarr Rustmane leads his fellow Iron Priests in piloting the airborne elements of the assault. Forced to go into battle without placating the machine-spirit of his Stormwolf, Anvarr finds himself in a desperate fight against the dark eldar’s own flyers where he needs all of his skill, and the cooperation of his gunship, to survive.
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QUICK REVIEW – Deathwatch: Swordwind – Ian St. Martin

Day three of Black Library’s 2016 Summer of Reading sees Ian St. Martin tackle the Deathwatch again after City of Ruin with Deathwatch: Swordwind. Adoni of the Mortifactors returns to his Chapter’s fortress monastery at the conclusion of his secondment to the Deathwatch, oathbound to not speak of his experiences but bearing with him a chapter relic. As he rejoins his brothers he recalls the fateful mission where he fought alongside a hero of his Chapter against the eldar of Biel Tan, a battle which will have a profound impact on his Chapter.
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QUICK REVIEW: Gates of the Devourer – David Annandale

The second of Black Library’s 2016 Summer of Reading short stories is Gates of the Devourer by David Annandale, a story of Imperial Titans and Tyranid swarms to whet our appetite for his upcoming novel Warlord: Fury of the God-Machine. When the Great Devourer assails the Imperial world of Khania the Imperium responds by sending the Astra Militarum…and the Adeptus Titanicus. Two demi-legios from different Titan Legions lead the Imperial response, but Princeps Ferantha Krezoc of the Legio Pallidus Mor has reservations about the arrogant commander leading the other Legio.
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QUICK REVIEW: Blackshield – Chris Wraight

The first short story in Black Library’s 2016 Summer of Reading campaign, Chris Wraight’s Blackshield follows Khorak, a Death Guard legionary commanding an old and battered warship and a handful of legionaries. Pursued by unknown enemies and forced to set down on the murky, toxic world of Agarvian he leads his men in the sort of stoic, stubborn slog typical of the Death Guard, determined to stay alive long enough to blood his pursuers. All the while the identity of his enemies remains unclear, while Khorak’s loyalties are…uncertain.
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QUICK REVIEW: The Heart of the Pharos – L.J. Goulding

Originally published as The Dark Between the Stars before being swiftly renamed, presumably for copyright reasons, L.J. Goulding’s Horus Heresy audio drama The Heart of the Pharos fits neatly between the novels The Unremembered Empire and Pharos, narratively. Set on Sotha, it sees the Ultramarine Scout Tebecai remembering the mission he was on with his fellow Scout Oberdeii, deep within the tunnels beneath Mount Pharos. Down there in the darkness with just each other for company, the two scouts find something…and Tebecai’s commanders want to know about it.
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The Beast Must Die – Gav Thorpe (The Beast Arises Book Eight)

IMPORTANT: This is book eight in a series – there will be spoilers unless you’ve read I Am Slaughter; Predator, Prey; The Emperor Expects; The Last Wall; Throneworld; Echoes of the Long War or The Hunt for Vulkan.

We hit book 8 in Black Library’s The Beast Arises series with Gav Thorpe’s second in the series, The Beast Must Die. We’re two thirds of the way in now, and with the return of the primarch Vulkan the Imperium finally has a chance to strike a decisive blow against the invading orks. With a withdrawn and brooding Vulkan as figurehead and Koorland reluctantly calling the shots, a combined force the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Heresy besieges legendary Ullanor in an attempt to bring The Beast to battle and kill the ork warlord. Simultaneously, unwilling to trust to brute force Vangorich secretly makes his own plans for dealing with The Beast.
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The Horus Heresy: Tallarn series – Interview with John French (July 2016)

Within Black Library’s epic and ever-growing Horus Heresy series there are a few sub-series, collections of stories which fit together to form a story arc in their own right as well as contributing towards the whole series. One such arc is the story of the Battle of Tallarn, as told (primarily) by John French, and with the release of the short story Tallarn: Siren this arc has now come to a close.

EDIT (July 2017): a year after writing this review, the collected Tallarn stories (most of them, anyway) are now available in a single volume – appropriately just named Tallarn – which forms book 45 of the Horus Heresy series.
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Xenos – Dan Abnett

Widely held as a Black Library classic, Dan Abnett’s Xenos is the first installment in his Eisenhorn trilogy and the first novel to take a close look at the workings of the Inquisition. First published in 2001 following the release of the Inquisitor game by Games Workshop (in which the character of Eisenhorn was briefly introduced), it sees the young Gregor Eisenhorn closing in on a target only to realise he’s just beginning to scratch the surface of a much, much wider conspiracy involving the noble Glaw family and a foul xenos race.
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Medusan Wings – Matt Westbrook

EDIT: since writing this it’s come to light that Matt Westbrook is in fact a pen name, and the actual author of this novella is Ian St. Martin, he of the excellent Deathwatch short story City of Ruin. Given that the name on the cover hasn’t changed I’m going to leave both the title and body of this review as it is, but please feel free to substitute Ian’s name for any mention of Matt Westbrook! I’ve also inserted an occasional comment here and there, marked in red italics.

Following the tried and tested route, Matt Westbrook’s novella Medusan Wings is released to tie in with a new Games Workshop game, in this case Stormcloud Assault. The focus is on Atraxii, an Iron Hands Techmarine just returned from his tenure on Mars who joins his mentor Oblexus and the fighter squadron the Medusan Wing in the defence of an Adeptus Mechanicus forge world against an ork invasion. As their relationship with the Mechanicus gradually sours, Atraxii is forced to learn how to combine the strengths of the flesh and iron like never before in order to succeed in his mission and survive against endless waves of ork fighters.
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The Hunt for Vulkan – David Annandale (The Beast Arises Book Seven)

IMPORTANT: This is book seven in a series – there will be spoilers unless you’ve read I Am Slaughter; Predator, Prey; The Emperor Expects; The Last Wall; Throneworld or Echoes of the Long War.

Black Library’s ongoing The Beast Arises series moves one step closer to completion with book 7, David Annandale’s The Hunt for Vulkan. Annandale’s second contribution to the series, it focuses primarily on Chapter Master Koorland of the Imperial Fists who, after forcing the Adeptus Mechanicus to reveal the origin of the ork invasion – legendary Ullanor, calls for aid from other First Founding chapters. Recognising that the Imperium needs a powerful figurehead if they are to strike at the heart of The Beast’s forces, an unlikely source points him in the direction of a mythical figure who might just fit the bill.
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