Category Archives: Reviews

QUICK REVIEW: Ties of Blood – Jamie Crisalli

This short story is featured in Inferno! Volume 2, which is out now.

The Black Library debut for Jamie Crisalli, Ties of Blood is an action-packed short story exploring the rivalry between the Chaos gods and their champions, and the fickle nature of loyalty for those who follow the dark gods. Slaanesh-worshipper Savrian’s devotion to his absent god(dess) is complete, and he risks his life to rescue his son, long thought lost, from the clutches of Khorne-worshipping warlord Chagorath. His plan is simple – infiltrate the Khornate fortress, find his son and leave with the savage warriors none the wiser. When things don’t quite go to plan, his faith is tested as much as his blade.

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Maledictions – a Warhammer Horror Anthology

One of the first releases for Black Library’s brand new Warhammer Horror imprint, Maledictions features eleven stories across both Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar which dig a little deeper than usual beneath the surface of the settings. There are contributions from a range of authors both familiar and new (to Black Library, at least), covering an expansive array of topics and characters, united by a focus on the more personal and less militaristic aspects of Warhammer fiction. From dense jungles to rural communities, enginseers to dryads, it’s a characterful and wide-ranging anthology packed full of strange, unsettling stories.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Wrath of Khârn – William King

First published in issue 231 of White Dwarf way back in 1999 before being included in 2001’s Dark Imperium anthology, William King’s classic 40k short story The Wrath of Khârn is now available as a standalone e-short. As well as having a pun-tastic title it’s a bloody, all-action story showing Khârn where he’s most comfortable – in the thick of the fighting, claiming skulls for Khorne. As he leads a frontal assault on the walls of a Slaaneshi temple he revels in the slaughter inflicted on his foes, but the decadent temptations of Slaanesh test even the Betrayer’s loyalty to his god.

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QUICK REVIEW: Solace – Steve Lyons

This short story is featured in Inferno! Volume 2, which is out now.

Steve Lyons has written plenty about various Imperial Guard regiments over the years, and with his short story Solace he’s tackled the Mordian Iron Guard in a 40k equivalent of a Wild West tale. Guardsman Maximillian Stürm and the remnants of his squad are lost in the forests of Silva Proxima after a devastating aeldari ambush, wounded and weary, when they stumble upon a backwater village apparently untouched by the xenos. The villagers seem welcoming at first, but Stürm is suspicious of their reasons for living in the forest, how they’ve managed to survive, and what they might be hiding.

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Eight Lamentations: War-Claw – Josh Reynolds

After the excellent novel Spear of Shadows, Josh Reynolds’ Age of Sigmar series Eight Lamentations continues with the audio drama War-Claw. When one of the infamous Eight Lamentations is located in Aqshy, the Realm of Fire, Grungni sends Owain Volker and Zana Mathos to retrieve it in his name. Before they can lay claim to the weapon, however, Owain and Zana are forced to find refuge with the tattered survivors of a devastated outpost. Tension and mistrust grows as it becomes clear that there are agents of other powers also seeking the same prize, and their survival hangs by a thread.

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QUICK REVIEW: What Wakes in the Dark – Miles A Drake

This short story is featured in Inferno! Volume 2, which is out now.

Miles A Drake’s second Black Library short story (after 2017’s The Flesh Tithe), What Wakes in the Dark is another dark and sinister story of the Death Spectres, set over a hundred years before the Great Rift opened. After receiving an ominous warning foreshadowing darkness and death, Sergeant Achairas joins his forces with those of radical Inquisitor Astolyev to investigate the sudden loss of contact with a secret Inquisitorial outpost. What they find beneath the surface of Thirsis 41-Alpha is worse than anything they could possibly have imagined, as an ancient alien menace comes to wakefulness…and the rest is pretty much history.

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QUICK REVIEW: Faith in Thunder – Robert Charles

This short story is featured in Inferno! Volume 2, which is out now.

The first Black Library contribution from Robert Charles, Faith in Thunder is an Age of Sigmar story dealing with questions of redemption, faith and how to maintain hope in the face of terrible odds. Niara Sydona battles for survival in an ogor fighting pit alongside a handful of other wounded and weary prisoners, including the last remaining Freeguild soldier under her ill-fated command. Each of them copes in their own way, as influenced by their upbringings and outlook, but if they’re to have any chance at not just survival but also escape, they’ll need to cooperate despite their differences. Keep reading…

Our Martyred Lady – Gav Thorpe

A four-part, four-and-a-bit hour Warhammer 40,000 audio drama, Gav Thorpe’s Our Martyred Lady sees Inquisitor Greyfax and Saint Celestine working together (begrudgingly, in Greyfax’s case) to combat a far-reaching plot that harks back to the Reign of Blood. When the head of the Ecclesiarchy makes an unprecedented decision, the consequences are far-reaching – including a very public attempt on the Ecclesiarch’s life. It falls to Celestine and Greyfax to protect the Ecclesiarch, uncover who (or what) was behind the attack, and ensure that nothing – neither the politics of the Ecclesiarchy nor the machinations of Chaos – can undermine the stability of the Imperium.

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The Buried Dagger – James Swallow

Book 54 in the Horus Heresy, James Swallow’s The Buried Dagger brings the main-range series to a close as the final book before the Siege of Terra begins. It’s a deserved moment in the spotlight for the Death Guard both past and present, told across two narratives with similar themes. One strand features the long-awaited ‘doom of the Death Guard’, the moment when Mortarion and his sons are becalmed in the Warp and turned to Chaos, while the other focuses on ex-Death Guard Nathaniel Garro and Malcador’s Knights Errant as they unravel a series of complex, unexpected mysteries back on Terra.

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QUICK REVIEW: Redeemer – Guy Haley

A short story examining one of the core aspects of the Blood Angels’ character in Warhammer 40,000, Guy Haley’s Redeemer sees High Chaplain Astorath the Grim on a mission to find a brother lost to the Black Rage, and end his suffering. Following a call that only he can hear, Astorath seeks out his lost brother on a world plagued by strange xenos creatures, where he finds the surviving Blood Angels, Primaris Marines who appear unaffected by the flaw yet troubled by what they’ve seen. Astorath’s duty is an onerous one, to preserve his Chapter’s secrets and save his brothers’ souls.

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