Category Archives: Books

Legends of the Dark Millennium : Space Wolves – Black Library Anthology

Originally serialised in eight separate short stories spread out over a period of months, Legends of the Dark Millennium – Space Wolves now collects together these stories from four Black Library authors into a single volume. Not so much an anthology as a collective novel, it focuses on Ulrik the Slayer and Krom Dragongaze as they embark on a desperate search for Logan Grimnar after the Great Wolf fails to return from his Great Hunt. Each author tackles two parts of the wider story, beginning with Ben Counter and moving through Steve Lyons and Rob Sanders before finishing off with CL Werner.
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Nomad – James Swallow

Perhaps best known for his work in sci-fi universes such as Star Trek and Warhammer 40k, James Swallow’s latest novel Nomad is book one in the Marc Dane series, a global spy thriller featuring a betrayed MI6 agent fighting to survive and clear his name. Marc Dane, a MI6 support agent used to a role away from the line of fire, finds himself the sole survivor of his team as they investigate a lead on a terrorist attack only to walk into a deadly trap. With the blame for the disaster laid at his feet he soon finds himself on the run, on a desperate mission to expose the real traitor in MI6’s ranks and prevent an even worse act of global terrorism.
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The Last Wall – David Annandale (The Beast Arises Book Four)

IMPORTANT: This is book four in a series – there will be spoilers unless you’ve read I Am Slaughter, Predator, Prey or The Emperor Expects.

For book four in Black Library’s The Beast Arises series – The Last Wall – the baton passes to David Annandale to carry on the story started by Dan Abnett and continued by Rob Sanders and Gav Thorpe. At this point in the series Terra’s reeling from the shock of an ork moon appearing in orbit – with the Navy much too far away to intervene and the Imperial Fists wiped out, the home world is left essentially defenceless. Much to the relief of the population, and the bafflement of the High Lords, the orks don’t immediately attack, which gives Juskina Tull – Speaker for the Chartist Captains – the opportunity to put into action an audacious plan to arm the population and take on the attack moon with sheer weight of numbers.
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The Calling – Neil Cross

The ninth novel from author and screenwriter Neil Cross, The Calling is an unusual book in that it’s the prequel to the TV show Luther, which was itself written by Cross. Sensibly avoiding anything in the way of an origin story, here we see the earlier but still fully-formed character of John Luther taking on the case of an appalling double murder and the theft of a baby, a crime which drives the troubled detective to spread himself dangerously thin. Driven to applying sometimes questionable methods, he not only attracts the attention of an internal investigation, but sees his marriage slipping further away from him with every day, while the man responsible spreads terror throughout the city.
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Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All – Jonas Jonasson

Jonas Jonasson, author of The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared and The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden, continues his trend of long book titles with his third novel – Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All. Beautifully translated into English by Rachel Wilson-Broyles, it deals with the trials and tribulations of a misanthropic hotel receptionist who finds himself in an unconventional business relationship with an equally embittered, atheist ex-priest and the titular Hitman Anders. Generally befuddled but still intimidatingly dangerous, the hitman proves to be both a lucrative cash-cow and an unpredictable liability.
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The Emperor Expects – Gav Thorpe (The Beast Arises Book 3)

IMPORTANT: This is book three in a series, so if you haven’t read I Am Slaughter or Predator, Prey you may find spoilers below.

Book three in Black Library’s The Beast Arises series, The Emperor Expects sees the reins handed over to Gav Thorpe for the first proper look at the Imperial Navy during this time of intense upheaval for the Imperium. The spotlight falls on Captain Rafal Kulik of the Colossus as he navigates the treacherous waters of naval politics, caught between two antagonistic fleet admirals as the Navy launches a desperate assault on an ork attack moon. Meanwhile the politicking continues amongst the High Lords back on Terra, while Second Captain Koorland – sole surviving Imperial Fist – calls a gathering of power that hasn’t been seen for a thousand years.
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The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth – Katherine Woodfine

After the success of her debut The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, Katherine Woodfine’s second novel – The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth – comes barely six months after its predecessor and picks up the story of Sophie, Lil and co. as life has settled back to normal. It’s not long however before they are approached by a young debutante to find and retrieve the titular jewelled moth, a valuable brooch which has mysteriously gone missing. Meanwhile across the other side of London in Chinatown (which at this point was in the East End, history fans!), Mei Lim and her family find their lives becoming complicated as The Baron starts to squeeze local businesses, and a photograph in the newspaper sheds unexpected light on the family’s own history.
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Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan – Gav Thorpe

The first novel in what will, hopefully, eventually be a full Phoenix Lord series, Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan sees Gav Thorpe delve into the mythology of the eldar to tell the tale of the titular Asurmen, first and greatest of the fabled Phoenix Lords. Set in the midst of a conflict against the chaos forces of the Flesh Thieves, instigated by a Farseer of Anuiven craftworld in order to reclaim an artefact of great power, it sees Asurmen co-opting a peaceful eldar pilot to help him as he steps in to try and avert a disaster unforeseen by the reckless Farseer. Realising his warrior spirit is troubling the pilot, Neridiath, he talks to her of his path and the events which saw him take his first steps along it.
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Curse of the Wulfen – David Annandale

Released to tie in with Games Workshop’s latest 40k campaign supplement of the same name, David Annandale’s short novel Curse of the Wulfen sees him tackling that rare beast – an event which moves the 40k storyline forwards. In this case it’s the return to the Imperium of Man of the Space Wolves 13th Company, long-lost heroes from ten thousand years ago who emerge from the Warp much-changed, as the Wulfen. When Harald Deathwolf leads his Great Company to the rescue of a world plagued by daemons and finds aid from feral, beastly creatures still clad in scraps of slate-gray ceramite, the Space Wolves welcome their ancient brethren back (with some reservations) and proceed to seek out as many of the Wulfen as they can. Meanwhile other elements of the Imperium don’t see things in quite the same light.
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Predator, Prey – Rob Sanders (The Beast Arises Book Two)

IMPORTANT: Don’t read this review if you haven’t yet read I Am Slaughter – there will inevitably be spoilers.

Following on closely from I Am Slaughter by Dan Abnett, Rob Sanders’ Predator, Prey is the second novel in Black Library’s 12-book The Beast Arises series. With the Imperial Fists annihilated on Ardamantua and the High Lords of Terra preoccupied with jockeying for political power, the Imperium is unprepared for the sudden assault of The Beast, quickly finding itself beset on all sides by the impossible arrival of colossal attack moons. No world is safe, even space marine chapter homeworlds and Adeptus Mechanicus forge worlds coming under devastating attack as the orks rampage through the Imperium. In amongst the devastation however, there are still some Imperial forces fighting back and clinging desperately to survival, and vengeance.
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