Category Archives: Black Library

The Infinite and the Divine – Robert Rath

For his debut Black Library novel, Robert Rath goes big with The Infinite and the Divine, a grand tale spanning thousands of years of bitter rivalry between two virtually immortal Necrons. Trazyn the Infinite (archaeovist and Overlord of Solemnace) and Orikan the Diviner (Master Astromancer of the Sautekh Dynasty) have been rivals since their days of flesh and blood, opposites in both outlook and temperament. After Orikan steals the Astrarium Mysterios from Trazyn’s galleries on Solemnace, their enmity escalates into a deadly feud as, over the course of millennia, each attempts to outdo the other in pursuit of the ancient artifact and the power (or in Trazyn’s case, the collectible history) they hope it can unlock.

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From Humble Beginnings: 40k Short Stories That Deserve Their Own Series

There’s a long history in Black Library fiction – and Warhammer 40,000 in particular – of characters who started off in short story form and went on to bigger things. From the early Inferno! days of Gaunt’s Ghosts and the Last Chancers, to Severina Raine and Sister Augusta more recently, characters who started off in a single short story have regularly gone on to feature in novels and novellas of their own, or simply long-running series of short stories. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some recent-ish 40k short stories and pick out a few which seem ripe for developing into longer stories, and whose characters (or settings) could go on to be the fan-favourites of the future.

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Author Spotlight: Gary Kloster

Welcome to this instalment of my Author Spotlight series of interviews, in which I’m chatting to author Gary Kloster to find out a bit more about his work, especially the writing he’s done for Black Library in the Necromunda setting. With his first BL novella – Spark of Revolution – available to order now, there’s no better time to take a look at it, and what makes Necromunda such an interesting setting to explore.

Without further ado, let’s get straight into the interview and over to Gary.

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Blood of the Everchosen – Richard Strachan

The debut Black Library novel from Richard Strachan, Blood of the Everchosen is labelled as a Warcry Catacombs story but in truth is simply a fantastic Age of Sigmar novel which offers the best depiction yet of life for the mortal followers of Chaos. In the benighted lands of the Eightpoints, a child is born beneath a savage storm, his destiny entwined with that of Archaon himself. As the boy’s father races for safety, powerful forces converge from across the Bloodwind Spoil. Some, like Burak the Bloodseer and his Untamed Beasts, or Lord Rakaros’ Scions of the Flame, seek to kill the child while others, like the Splintered Fang of Ashrath Silenthis, hope to protect him. All hope to gain Archaon’s favour through their actions, except for the hunters in gold who search out the child for their own mysterious purpose.

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RAPID FIRE: Jamie Crisalli, Liane Merciel and Anna Stephens Talk Covens of Blood

Welcome to this slightly unusual instalment of my Rapid Fire series of quick author interviews, in which I chat to a trio of fantastic authors – Anna Stephens, Liane Merciel and Jamie Crisalli – about their new portmanteau Covens of Blood. Part of Black Library’s Age of Sigmar range, this comprises three linked novellas featuring the Daughters of Khaine, each focusing on different characters but tied together by an overarching theme. It’s available to buy right now, and it looks like being the perfect read if you fancy learning a little more about these intriguing characters in the Mortal Realms.

Without further ado, on with the interview…

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QUICK REVIEW: Duty Unto Death – Marc Collins

Few things are as bleakly heroic as a desperate stand against overwhelming odds, and in his Warhammer 40,000 short story Duty Unto Death Marc Collins ramps the concept up to eleven with a tale of the Adeptus Custodes standing against the ravening tyranid hordes. Stranded on the burning surface of a volcanic death world, a handful of Custodians make what preparations they can before the numberless swarms of alien monstrosities crash down upon them. As they stand their ground, determined to protect their precious cargo, the battlefield comes to represent the distant fortress the Custodes were engineered to defend.

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Danie Ware Talks Sisters of Battle and Women in 40k

Hello, and welcome to ‘Danie Ware Talks Sisters of Battle and Women in 40k’, in which I’m chatting to the fantastic Danie about her Adepta Sororitas fiction for Black Library, and her thoughts on the importance of female authors and characters in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. With her third Sisters of Battle novella – The Rose in Anger – just released, there’s no better time to find out more about this particular story, the Sister Augusta stories overall, and what it’s like being a woman writing badass 40k fiction!

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QUICK REVIEW: Five Candles – Lora Gray

Lora Gray continues to explore the quiet, melancholic fringes of the Mortal Realms with their Warhammer Horror short story Five Candles, a tale of Aqshian fire and dark, troubling death magic. Having grown old when all her friends died young, Havisa now lives by herself, scorned by the youthful inhabitants of the nearby village. When disaster sees her humiliated even further, she unexpectedly finds the old fire of her Aqshian spirit burning once more, and alongside a kind but mysterious stranger she embarks on a mission to warn the village of dark tidings to come in the wake of Nagash’s necroquake.

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A Traveller’s Guide to Peter Fehervari’s Dark Coil

With the release of the short story Altar of Maws (May 2023), Peter Fehervari’s catalogue of Warhammer 40,000 fiction – known informally as The Dark Coil – currently totals 18 stories. Every piece of 40k fiction is linked by taking place within a single shared universe, but The Dark Coil goes way beyond that. These stories share much deeper connections, between them forming a web of characters, locations, themes and recurring motifs that is gradually becoming more and more apparent as additional stories are published. One of the joys of reading Fehervari’s work is in unpicking these subtle connections, but it can be daunting to know where to start looking.

Welcome, then, to A Traveller’s Guide to the Dark Coil.

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QUICK REVIEW: Nightbleed – Peter Fehervari

The first of Peter Fehervari’s short stories officially released under the Warhammer Horror label, Nightbleed lives up to expectations as both a creepy, low-key horror story in its own right and an intriguing addition to The Dark Coil. In Carceri Hive, on the night-shrouded world of Sarastus, two souls find themselves bound together. Reduced to applying her skills for a dubious synth-protein supplier, ex-medicae Chel forces herself not to question where the raw materials come from, but suffers dark dreams nonetheless. In shadowed alleys, street prophet Skreech plans his next offering to the Night Below. As True Night approaches, the two spiral ever closer to a fateful meeting.

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