Category Archives: Black Library

I Am Slaughter – Dan Abnett (The Beast Arises Book One)

With the Horus Heresy series at 30+ books and counting the last thing anyone expected Black Library to do was to start a brand new headline series, but that’s exactly what they’ve done, with Dan Abnett’s I Am Slaughter providing the opening book in a 12-strong series entitled The Beast Arises. Set after the Heresy but thousands of years before the main 40K timeline, with an Imperium essentially at peace, it sees almost the entire chapter of Imperial Fists in action on Ardamantua against the xenos Chromes. With the Fists fully occupied and Terra left unguarded, Grand Master Vangorich of the Officio Assassinorum watches and analyses the Imperial Senatorum, concerned about the petty politics which he believes risk the safety of the Imperium.
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QUICK REVIEW : City of Ruin – Ian St. Martin

After a break for the 24 stories in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar, the Deathwatch series continues with part seven, in the form of City of Ruin by Ian St. Martin. When Rodricus Grytt of the Imperial Fists leads his squad to their deaths fighting to clear an Imperial system of orks, he readily accepts a commission in the Deathwatch as his own form of penance. The reckless Marine soon finds himself butting heads with his new squadmates as they launch a mission to rescue a captured member of the Navis Nobilite from the clutches of the invading orks.
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Black Library Advent Calendar 2015 – Recap

With Christmas over for another year, Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar has come to a close in a flurry of bolt shells and Tzeentchian spells. It’s been a little different this year with the combination of Black Library and Warhammer Digital, but as usual I’ve been concentrating on the fiction as opposed to the gaming supplements, and while the standard has been pretty good across the board I’d say that there has been a little bit of a sense of disappointment compared to 2014’s Advent Calendar.
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QUICK REVIEW : Lord of the Cosmic Gate – Gav Thorpe

Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar comes to a close with Lord of the Cosmic Gate by Gav Thorpe, the twelfth and final Age of Sigmar short story in the series. Rikjard of the Many Numbers, mathemagician and sorcerer of Tzeentch, masses his forces within the bizarre, enclosed land of the Thousand Portals as he enacts a plan to draw forth the armies of the Slann and learn the final part of the Eternal Equation. With that arcane knowledge he hopes to open the Cosmic Gate and break through to the Crystal Labyrinth of Tzeentch, returning the Thousand Portals to their rightful place and raising himself up above even the Everchosen.
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QUICK REVIEW : The Staff of Asclepius – Graham McNeill

The final 40k story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar comes from Graham McNeill, who returns to the Ultramarines with the micro-short The Staff of Asclepius. Fleeing through his ship carrying the precious gene-seed of his fallen brothers, apothecary Isstvan Cantaro races against time to keep his cargo from the grasp of the Emperors Children fleshsmith Dzyban and his horde of cultists. With hope fading fast, Cantaro faces the possibility of failing in his duty to safeguard the chapter’s future.
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QUICK REVIEW : The Sacrifice – Graeme Lyon

Day twenty-two of Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar brings Graeme Lyon’s third contribution, the Age of Sigmar short story The Sacrifice. This time round events take place in the Shyish, the realm of Death, where the Tzeentchian sorcerer Arioso sacrifices a defeated vampire in order to summon a daemon and learn about his glorious future. Acting upon the information he acquires, he sets out to fulfil his destiny and reach the prophesied moment of his ascension, never considering the accuracy of the prophecy.
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QUICK REVIEW : Without Fear – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The Ultramarines show up for day twenty-one of the Black Library 2015 Advent Calendar, in Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s micro short Without Fear. Brother Aeneas joins his squad in an aerial insertion to break the back of a Chaos force and reclaim a defaced relic, and we watch as he prepares himself for battle before (literally) throwing himself into the fray. With his weapons sanctified and his brothers around him, nothing is going to stand in the way of their victory.
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QUICK REVIEW : Godless – David Guymer

David Guymer contributes the twentieth story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar with Godless, an Age of Sigmar short story dealing with the search for the missing Chaos god Slaanesh. The decidedly ambiguous Shahleah leads her fellow champions and their collective warriors to seek out a daemonic oracle, whose guidance leads them to a seemingly abandoned temple where they hope to find a trace of their absent deity. Despite its outward appearance the temple proves to still have its guardians, while the oracle’s trustworthiness is definitely in question.
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QUICK REVIEW : Midnight Rotation – Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett joins the party on day nineteen of Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar with Midnight Rotation, a 40k short story that takes place within his Sabbat Worlds setting. Trooper second class Cawkus, of the Fiftieth Urdesh Regular, offers his take on the events he witnessed in the run up to the destruction of a Munitorum facility under his squad’s watch. Being only a trooper second class he might not have the most strategic overview of events, but he knows what he saw.
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QUICK REVIEW : The Eighth Victory – Graeme Lyon

On the eighteenth day of Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar it’s time for The Eighth Victory, an Age of Sigmar short story from Graeme Lyon. Krev Deathstalker, another wonderfully titled champion of Chaos, has led his forces to seven mighty victories against the invading Stormcast Eternals, spilling much blood for Khorne. The eighth victory promises to bring him glory and power untold, but to achieve it he has to keep his battered army together and inspire his eight champions to one last slaughter. Meanwhile some within his army are starting to question their role in his upcoming glory.
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