Category Archives: Black Library

QUICK REVIEW: Divine Sanction – Robert Rath

A tale of the Officio Assassinorum, Robert Rath’s short story Divine Sanction (his first 40k story) offers a close look at the dangerous final stages of a Callidus assassin’s mission. The city of Veridian is wracked by unrest as the sermons of Confessor Illsandor spread the insidious influence of the xenos T’au and set the city’s factions against each other. Sent to infiltrate the city and find a way to remove and impersonate the Confessor, the assassin Sycorax closes in on her target only to face a last-minute challenge that forces her to improvise and start to question her mission.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: The Test of Faith – Thomas Parrott

Thomas Parrott’s first foray into tales of the Adeptus Astartes, The Test of Faith is a Dark Angels story exploring the strained relationship between two generations of Space Marines. Interrogator-Chaplain Raguel and the younger, second-generation Chaplain Hadariel lead a squad of Primaris Marines into battle aboard a vast, mobile mining vehicle, sweeping through its aged corridors and crushing the resistance of its mortal defenders. As they approach the heart of the vehicle and the nature of its crew is revealed, the bonds between the Dark Angels are tested in the heat of battle and Raguel’s true purpose is challenged.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: Skull Throne – Jake Ozga

Jake Ozga’s second Black Library short story, Skull Throne is a brave, hypnotic, intense Age of Sigmar story that could only exist as part of the Warhammer Horror imprint. In a silent, desolate part of Shyish, a young woman drifts through what’s left of her life in a distant haze, detached from the world around her and caught in a strange loop of indecision and what might be madness. When her routine is broken by a new presence that forces her to act, she feels something stir within that reawakens her mind and opens up a new path before her.

Keep reading…

Broken Saints – Alec Worley

Alec Worley’s 40k Sisters of Battle series moves into audio territory with Broken Saints, a gripping audio drama (originally released as three individual instalments) in which Sister Adamanthea, no longer a Repentia and now considered a Living Miracle, finds her faith tested like never before. Troubled by rising doubts during a holy day for the garden-temple of Concordia, when disaster strikes Adamanthea is quick to put aside her religious responsibilities and throw herself into the fray. Her presence is meant to help unify the fractious factions on Concordia, but first she must come to terms with her own faith, and lead her sisters to victory against a worryingly co-ordinated heretic uprising.

Keep reading…

The Court of the Blind King – David Guymer

The Idoneth make their Black Library novel debut with David Guymer’s The Court of the Blind King, a tale of power, privilege and intrigue amongst the dysfunctional aelven families of the Deepkin. After the death of his mother, the spoiled and sheltered Prince Lurien naturally assumes that the throne of Briomdar will be his…right up until it’s taken from him. Escaping Briomdar with the unlikely assistance of a manipulative, ambitious namarti named Namaríel, he sets out in search of allies from distant enclaves, determined to take back what was his by right. To the isolated, suspicious Idoneth, however, Lurien is young and untested, and any offers of alliance come with steep prices.

Keep reading…

Alec Worley Talks Battle Sisters and Broken Saints

With a new three-part audio drama – Broken Saints – being released as part of Black Library’s 2019 Advent Calendar series, there’s no better time to hear from the fantastic Alec Worley about his ongoing series of Sister Adamanthea stories. If you haven’t read (or listened to) any of these stories so far, now is a perfect time to check out a series that’s continuing to grow and explore more angles of this intriguing character. I wanted to talk to Alec about this series, who Adamanthea is and what readers can expect from these stories, but also get his thoughts on the Sisters of Battle in general…

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: The Sanguinalia Day Massacre – Justin D. Hill

Justin D. Hill’s Necromunda short story The Sanguinalia Day Massacre tells a tale of greed, power and uprising in the underhive, a grimdark retelling of Spartacus with the violence and brutality turned up to 11. Pitboss Barras has everything in place for the big showdown, pitting Thrax’s crew of low-hive scummers against the pick of his prized Goliath fighters, but when things don’t go quite to plan a chain reaction is triggered that leads inexorably to rebellion. For Thrax, condemned to die in the pits for the killing of his parents, a lifetime of suffering is about to boil over.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: The Age of Enlightenment – David Guymer

Picking up after the novel Champion of the Gods, David Guymer’s short story The Age of Enlightenment sees Hamilcar, no longer a Lord-Castellent, led to the Unchained Lands in Ghur by his Knight-Questor geas. Arriving at a strange, shrouded fortress besieged by the endless forces of Nagash, he begrudgingly joins the dour, gloomy Lord-Celestant Settrus and his Imperishables in its defence. Electing to search for its secrets rather than stand on the walls alongside its defenders, Hamilcar unearths an ancient and troubling mystery at the heart of the fortress, which he’s then forced to protect against a worryingly powerful enemy.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: Champions, All – Marc Collins

A story of duty, faith, sacrifice and really big swords, Marc Collins’ Champions, All (his second short story for Black Library) is a tale of the Black Templars with bonus Sisters of Battle. As the battered remnants of the Edioch Crusade prepare a head-on assault against an ork-held fortress, once protected by the Order of the Valorous Heart, Emperor’s Champion Cenric receives a vision from the Emperor Himself. When he’s separated from his brothers during the battle he finds his faith tested, but his purpose is renewed by striking at the heart of the orks alongside a lone Sister Repentia.

Keep reading…

Heirs of Grimnir – David Guymer

David Guymer’s three-part Age of Sigmar audio Heirs of Grimnir revisits a character from Realmslayer and explores the dynamic between the quarreling Runesons of the Unbaki. Disaster has struck the lodge, as its Runefather and eldest Runeson have been found murdered and Aruk-Grimnir’s legacy chest – the means for deciding succession – stolen. The Unbaki’s enemies are legion, but only a great power could have committed such a terrible crime. Alongside his remaining brothers and the elderly Battlesmith Firebrand, sixth and youngest Runeson Forn sets out to retrieve the chest, discover who is to become the new Runefather of the Unbak lodge, and take revenge for the dead.

Keep reading…