Category Archives: Reviews

The Glorious Tomb – Guy Haley (audio drama)

Originally released back in 2014 as part of the Echoes of War collection, Guy Haley’s audio drama The Glorious Tomb shows a little of what life is like for a Space Marine who has resided within a dreadnought for 500 years. Seeing through the eyes (well, sensorium) of Invictus Potens we’re shown the cold, stark realities of life as it is for the man who was once Brother Adelard; intense, confusing bursts of sensations and information discernible only from the long stretches of nothingness by the presence of constant pain. Adelard recognises his constraints as the pilot of a dreadnought, understands the limitations of his life as it now is, and accepts this by channelling his ever-present rage and his faith in The Emperor.

Keep reading…

Parting of the Ways – Chris Wraight (audio drama)

The first in Black Library’s Echoes of War collection, a week’s worth of new audio dramas, Parting of the Ways continues Chris Wraight’s fine work in chronicling the sagas of the Space Wolves, the Vlka Fenryka. Set post-Heresy but pre-current 40k, it offers a close look at Bjorn the Fell-Handed in the days leading up to his interment in the dreadnought with which he’s so closely associated. The character of Bjorn is well-established in the 40k lore, but since his inclusion in Dan Abnett’s Horus Heresy novel Prospero Burns we’ve seen him in a different light; impulsive, solitary, sullen, stubborn. After the release of a handful of short stories and quick reads, Parting of the Ways offers the most detailed look so far at this increasingly fleshed out and intriguing character.

Keep reading…

Thief of Revelations – Graham McNeill (audio drama)

Released alongside Hunter’s Moon by Guy Haley, Thief of Revelations is Graham McNeill’s latest contribution to Black Library’s range of Horus Heresy audio dramas. Running to just under 40 minutes, it features the welcome return of Ahzek Ahriman, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, tragic hero (anti-hero?) and without a doubt one of Warhammer 40,000’s greatest characters. We see Ahriman post-the burning of Prospero, living on the Planet of Sorcerers and working on what will become the infamous Rubric of Ahriman.

Keep reading…

Pyramids – Terry Pratchett

First published in 1989, Pyramids was the 7^th Discworld book to be released; since then the series has grown and grown, now numbering 40 novels. While it may not have been clear at the time, this was the first standalone Discworld book, not part of a wider character arc such as Rincewind and the wizards, Death or the witches. Pratchett went on to write Moving Pictures and Small Gods which are sometimes combined with Pyramids as a sort of ‘Gods’ trilogy, but they’re very much independent novels. Set mostly in the ancient kingdom of Djelibeybi (read it out loud) this follows the story of Teppic who, fresh out of his exams at the Guild of Assassins in Ankh Morpork, receives an unusual summons to return home and take up the country’s throne.

Keep reading…

Hunter’s Moon – Guy Haley (audio drama)

Audio dramas (not audio books, there’s a difference) are a relatively late addition to the Black Library stable, but have nevertheless become an established format, especially within the Horus Heresy series where there are now more than 20 of varying lengths. Guy Haley’s second, Hunter’s Moon, is a 35-minute piece available either as a standalone MP3 download or in CD format accompanied by Thief of Revelations, by Graham McNeill. It concerns the Space Wolves of the Vlka Fenryka, specifically one particular squad who were sent to ‘watch over’ the Alpha Legion and their primarch Alpharius. Three guesses as to how well that went.

Keep reading…

The Norfolk Mystery – Ian Sansom

Classic literary detectives are often dreadful know-it-alls. Hercule Poirot? Know-it-all. Sherlock Holmes? Definitely a know-it-all. It’s no surprise really, as their extreme levels of intelligence, which endow them with the required powers of observation to fulfil their roles, result in a propensity to be insufferable windbags. It’s hard to imagine sometimes how difficult it must be for their long-suffering assistants to put up with them. Ian Sansom has channelled this very problem in his novel The Norfolk Mystery, as Stephen Sefton, traumatised and shaken from his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, struggles to cope with the eccentricities of his new employer, Professor Swanton Morley.

Keep reading…

On The Map – Simon Garfield

Nowadays we take maps for granted; they’re an everyday part of life and something that most of us have grown up with without giving too much thought to. We use maps all the time without really thinking about it; when we use a satnav to get from A to B, when we check a weather app that uses GPS to find our current location, when we’re trying to work out how to get from Charing Cross to South Kensington on the tube. It wasn’t always this way however; in his book On The Map, Simon Garfield takes us on a tour through world history charting the way in which maps have evolved over time and what they can tell us about the way the world has changed with them.

Keep reading…

Warhammer : The End Times – Nagash

The Warhammer world came into being in 1983, and by 1987 had developed into its recognisable form. Since then there have been minor changes along the way as the tabletop game has developed and grown, but things have essentially remained the same since the late ’80s. With the release of Warhammer : End Times – Nagash, that’s all about to change. The first in an expected series of expansions detailing the events of the coming End Times, this is the start of a new era for Warhammer, shaking up the old order and breathing new life into a world which has existed for over thirty years.

Keep reading…

Rebirth – Nick Kyme

Hot on the heels of The Talon of Horus comes the second of Black Library’s exclusive First Editions, in the form of Rebirth by Nick Kyme. Following on from his Tome of Fire trilogy (plus accompanying anthology), this shifts the action over to Captain Ur’zan Drakgaard and his 6^th Company of Salamanders as they face the Black Legion on the Imperial world of Heletine. While a few familiar faces return from the events of the original series, for the most part this is a distinct story which doesn’t require the reader to be familiar with the previous novels. That being said, it certainly makes sense to read these in order, so readers who pick this up first would be advised to go back and start with Salamander.

Keep reading…

The Greater Good – Sandy Mitchell

Now onto its ninth novel, Sandy Mitchell’s Ciaphas Cain series is one of Black Library’s longest running and most well loved ranges. Since the publication in 2003 of his first adventure, Cain’s memoirs have seen him fighting all sorts of menaces across the galaxy, from orks to tyranids, necrons and the forces of Chaos. In the latest novel, The Greater Good, we see him facing an old foe in the shape of the tau, as he bravely (sort of) defends the world of Quadravidia from the upstart aliens. The situation soon changes however, as the threat of a new tyranid hive fleet forces the Imperium and the tau into an uneasy alliance. Caught in the middle of this, Cain’s reputation as a Hero of the Imperium sees him called to act as intermediary between the Imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the tau.

Keep reading…