Category Archives: Reviews

QUICK REVIEW: The Hand of Harrow – Denny Flowers

Denny Flowers makes his Black Library debut with The Hand of Harrow, a snappy, fast-paced Necromunda short story which looks back to some entertaining old lore for inspiration. His reputation as the ninth most dangerous man in the underhive preceding him, Caleb Cursebound takes on what appears, on the surface, to be a low-risk and high-reward job – stealing a family heirloom from the private museum of the elderly Lord Harrow. Concerned that something isn’t quite right, however, Caleb and his ratskin companion Iktomi proceed with caution which proves well-founded as the job starts off well, before spiralling out of hand.

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QUICK REVIEW: A Tithe of Bone – Michael R Fletcher

The Black Library debut for both author Michael R. Fletcher and the Ossiarch Bonereapers as a faction, A Tithe of Bone is a cleverly thought-out and constructed Age of Sigmar short story which introduces something new to the setting without compromising on the quality of storytelling. Chaos champion Lord Markash has conquered the city of Knazziir at the edge of Nagash’s domain, in the name Tzeentch. Utterly loyal to his god, and with total confidence in himself and his destiny, when faced by the Ossiarch legions come to claim their bone tithe Markash strides out to confront them head on.

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Rites of Passage – Mike Brooks

Rites of Passage isn’t only Mike Brooks’ debut Black Library novel, it’s also the first 40k novel ever to focus entirely on the Navigator Houses, a crucial but previously under-explored element of the Imperium of Man. Returning home to Vorlese after the death of her husband (which she herself arranged), Chettamandey Brobantis’ careful plans for the future of her house are interrupted by inter-house politics, mysterious disappearances and the looming threat of warp-based disaster. As danger builds, Chetta comes to realise that all of her meticulous planning and all her skill in diplomacy might not be enough to save her house, and Vorlese itself, from what’s coming.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Karsharat Abomination – George Mann

Marking the first prose appearance of Inquisitor Sabbathiel (who previously appeared in various comics from Titan), George Mann’s Black Library short story The Karsharat Abomination sees the inquisitor on the hunt for a renegade Mechanicus priest in possession of a dangerous weapon. Exploring an abandoned Ecclesiarchy outpost on the moon Karsharat, interrogator Bledheim wonders why Sabbathiel has included him in the group alongside her other, more militaristic, companions. As they get closer to the heart of the citadel, the specifics of what they face gradually become clearer, and Bledheim finds his mind being tested as much as his body.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Serpent’s Bargain – Jamie Crisalli

In her second Black Library short story, The Serpent’s Bargain, Jamie Crisalli explores the consequences of making unwise alliances in the Mortal Realms. After her village is attacked by Slaaneshi raiders, Laila fears that the seekers aren’t done yet with Varna and will return to inflict even more damage. Against the wishes of the village elders, she sets out with just two companions to find the Valley of the Oracle’s Eye and petition the Fair Ones to come to their aid. Little does she realise, however, that the cost for their protection may be more than she’s willing to pay.

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The House of Night and Chain – David Annandale

David Annandale’s Warhammer Horror novel The House of Night and Chain is a bleak tale of trauma and the spiralling descent into paranoia and madness, a 40k haunted house story set far away from the big plotlines. Wounded, traumatised, widowed and grieving, Colonel Maeson Strock returns to the agri-world of Solus to take up the governorship, and the city of Valgaast to take up residence in his family’s ancestral seat, Malveil. Duty-bound to stamp out the growing corruption in the ruling council and determined to rebuild his fragmented family upon Solus, Maeson soon finds himself drawn into a sinister mystery with Malveil at its heart.

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QUICK REVIEW: Runner – Alan Bao

Marking his Black Library debut, Alan Bao’s Warhammer Horror short story Runner takes a close look inside the head of a lone Guardsman faced with a long, dangerous journey. Taking his role in the regiment entirely literally, the unnamed runner races across the endless tundra of a frozen world, carrying a desperate message of warning to regimental command. Behind him lies a broken hive, the bodies of his comrades and things in the fog. As the journey takes its toll on his body, familiar voices pursue him and long-forgotten memories surface in his mind, but he knows he must endure.

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Angel Mage – Garth Nix

Set in a world of angels, monsters and musketeers, Garth Nix’s standalone fantasy novel Angel Mage cleverly transposes the essence of The Three Musketeers into a beautiful tale of magic, adventure and friendship. Over a century after fleeing her homeland of Ystara in the wake of a great tragedy, the powerful mage Liliath wakes in Sarance and begins the next stage of her grand plan. She seeks out four individuals – a musketeer, a scholar, a clerk and a doctor – who find their paths converging and who feel an unexplained connection between themselves. While Liliath spins her web for them, the four companions are swept up in events of great import and placed in danger they can’t begin to comprehend.

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QUICK REVIEW: Doom Flight – Cavan Scott

A high-octane aerial combat story, Cavan Scott’s Doom Flight sees Sergeant Kerikus of the Doom Eagles piloting his Stormtalon gunship in battle against the orks in the skies over the embattled Imperial world of Quadcana. Facing appalling odds after losing his entire squadron to the guns of the greenskins’ ramshackle dakkajets, the dour Kerikus is determined to sell his life dearly and make his death count for something. When hope returns and the opportunity arises to complete his mission after all, Kerikus prepares to strike a telling blow against the orks even if the prospect of survival remains unlikely.

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The Lost and the Damned – Guy Haley

Book two in Black Library’s Siege of Terra mini-series concluding the Horus Heresy, Guy Haley’s The Lost and the Damned picks up where The Solar War left off as Horus Lupercal launches his assault on Terra itself. Reinforced by thousands of conscripts and protected by ancient shield technology, the outer walls of the Imperial Palace bear the brunt of the initial attacks as the Warmaster tests the physical defences with brutal bombardments and assaults from the dregs of his forces. The loyalists know they need only endure until salvation arrives, but time is of the essence for the traitors. While the legions wait to take to the field on both sides, egos clash as the traitor primarchs vie for position, bickering amongst themselves in the name of pride, glory or their new gods.

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