Category Archives: Reviews

The Mirrored City – Josh Reynolds

Published in 2018 as a tie-in to the then-new Warhammer Underworlds sub-setting of Age of Sigmar, Josh Reynolds’ The Mirrored City introduces the city of Shadespire, exploring the curse laid upon it and its Katophrane rulers by Nagash, and the damned souls caught within its tangled streets. Seguin Reynar is one such soul, a deserter from the Freeguild who made his way to Shadespire seeking his fortune only to find himself hunted, trapped, and caught up in the schemes of one of the city’s ancient, bitter ruler-spirits. As he explores the city, battling its many and varied denizens and doing his best to avoid the attentions of the blood-crazed Chaos worshipper tracking him, Reynar searches for a way to escape both the attentions of Katophrane Sadila and the cursed city itself.

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QUICK REVIEW: Blood of the Flayer – Richard Strachan

After a few Warhammer Horror short stories, Blood of the Flayer is Richard Strachan’s first main-range Age of Sigmar story for Black Library, an intriguing tale of an unusually non-committal Chaos warlord. In Chamon, the realm of metal, Lord Huthor gathers warriors to his banner and dreams of power and purpose. When a Slaaneshi seductress lures him away from Chaos Undivided, Huthor leads his warband into the service of the god of excess, but never truly embraces that path. As the years pass and his armies grow, Huthor walks many different paths in search of his destiny, confidently taking only what he needs from each.

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The Head of Mimir – Richard Lee Byers

The first novel in Aconyte Books’ new Marvels: Legends of Asgard series, Richard Lee Byers’ The Head of Mimir is a fun, fast-paced fantasy adventure. With Asgard under siege by armies of Frost Giants, and Odin trapped in an unusually long Odinsleep, the thoughtful young warrior Hemidall worries that his fellow Asgardians are underestimating their enemies. Speculating that something supernatural is affecting his king’s sleep, Heimdall and his sister Sif slip into Odin’s inner sanctum and find that the Head of Mimir, a powerful relic said to possess great wisdom, has been stolen. Despite the evidence of an intruder, and the suggestion of a traitor in Asgard’s court, Heimdall and Sif soon find themselves on the path to Jotunheim alone, desperate to recover the relic, foil the Jotuns’ plans, and redeem themselves in the eyes of Asgard.

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Domino: Strays – Tristan Palmgren

Aconyte Books’ Marvel: Heroines range – one of several new series of Marvel prose novels – kicks off with Domino: Strays by Tristan Palmgren, an action-packed blast of balletic violence and snappy dialogue with an unexpectedly thoughtful, psychological core. Mercenary Domino, otherwise known as Neena Thurman, has a history with cults and dangerous idealogues, so when she’s offered a job to extract a pair of twins from a dubious religious sect in Chicago, she takes it on despite all of her concerns. With the aid of a few fellow mercs she sets out to get the job done, but she can’t help to draw parallels between the task at hand and the lasting impact of her own painful upbringing as part of the secret genetics experiment known as Project Armageddon.

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The Doom of Fallowhearth – Robbie MacNiven

Robbie MacNiven’s first novel for Aconyte Books, The Doom of Fallowhearth is the first in a new series of novels set in Terrinoth, the world of Descent: Journeys in the Dark. When Lady Kathryn, the Baroness of Forthyn’s daughter, disappears under strange circumstances, three of the legendary Borderlands Four reunite to search for the missing noblewoman. While their best years might be behind them, these most famous of adventurers bravely (or rather reluctantly, in the case of ageing rogue Logan Lashley) head north to the town of Fallowhearth to search for signs of what caused Lady Kathryn’s disappearance. Little do they appreciate the danger they’re stepping into, however, as their search brings them into conflict with suspicious locals, lurking monsters and a powerful darkness hiding in the sinister Blind Muir forest.

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Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott – via Grimdark Magazine

Happy UK publication day to Unconquerable Sun, the fantastic first instalment in a new sci-fi trilogy from Kate Elliott! Published by Head of Zeus, this is billed as ‘gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space’, which is a great elevator pitch if ever I heard one. I was delighted to receive an advance copy of this brilliant book, and my review is live over on the Grimdark Magazine site. I’d love for you to head over there and check it out, but if you just want my essential thoughts on the book then how about this: I spent virtually an entire day unable to put this down, and my overriding thought upon finishing it was a desperate frustration at knowing that the second book isn’t available yet!

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XX – Rian Hughes

Part modern ‘hard SF’ novel, part homage to vintage SF, part intertextual blend of traditional narrative, epistolary sources, visual media, graphic design and much more, Rian Hughes’ debut novel XX is not for the faint-hearted, but rewards a brave reader with a genuinely unique, utterly mind-blowing experience. Take a mysterious signal from outer space, a bunch of senior scientists from assorted space agencies, and a cutting-edge tech startup staffed by a trio of fearless young innovators, and throw in the possibility of first contact with an alien species (in a very modern way). Filter this story through the lens of augmented reality, fold in a strong theme of modernism, lashings of mind-bending maths and science and even a story within a story, and what you get is out of this world in theme, style, intent, complexity and – ultimately – impact.

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No Good Men – Warhammer Crime Anthology

Taking its place in the first wave of Black Library’s Warhammer Crime releases (alongside Chris Wraight’s Bloodlines and Alec Worley’s Dredge Runners), short story anthology No Good Men explores some of the different ways in which Imperial justice is loosely interpreted on the mean streets of Varangantua. Eschewing the usual battlefields and familiar tabletop characters in favour of ordinary citizens simply trying to survive the brutal realities of Imperial life, these stories all explore Varangantua’s atmospheric, cyberpunk-esque stylings and the towering inequalities corroding the heart of the Imperium. As the title suggests, there are no heroics here – just regular people doing what it takes to get by, whether that falls within the remit of the law or not.

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Notes From Small Planets – Nate Crowley

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you crossed a travel guide with a load of well-trodden sci-fi/fantasy tropes and the wild imagination of a born storyteller…it turns out you’d get Nate Crowley’s Notes From Small Planets! Spanning eight fictional worlds, from the high fantasy Mittelvelde to the hard sci-fi SPACE¹ and so much more in between, it’s both a loving homage to and merciless satire of the highs and lows of genre fiction. Coming from a writer capable of work as dazzlingly diverse as revolutionary zombie novel The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack and alternative gaming history 100 Best Video Games (That Never Existed) it’s exactly as bonkers and brilliant as you’d imagine.

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QUICK REVIEW: Watch The Flank – Thomas Parrott

Thomas Parrott’s first story published via his Curious Fictions page, Watch The Flank introduces his The Sundering War setting with a punchy, action-packed military science fantasy tale of giant warmachines and aetheric energy. Cocooned within the huge frame of her Stormcaller giganphract, Bond-Pilot Leyna Raskin roams ahead of her regiment as they make for the safety of Fort Rigour. What started off as a tedious, dull posting, however, quickly becomes a frantic struggle for survival as Leyna finds herself facing off against a mysterious enemy every bit as massive and powerful as her own phract.

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