Category Archives: Reviews

Corax: Lord of Shadows – Guy Haley

For Guy Haley’s second novel in the Horus Heresy Primarchs series, he’s tackled the conflict at the heart of the Raven Guard primarch in Corax: Lord of Shadows. The 27th Expedition has stalled attempting to bring the Carinae Sodality – a civilisation spanning a thousand artificial moons – to compliance. While the Expedition’s commander requested assistance from the Night Lords, Corax answers instead and is determined to succeed without resorting to Curze’s tactics. The Sodality’s stubborn resistance forces Corax into escalating levels of violence, while back on Kiavahr conflict is brewing as resentment towards the Guilders spills over into bloodshed.

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Gods & Mortals – an Age of Sigmar anthology

In three and a half years the Age of Sigmar setting has grown from fairly humble beginnings into something wild and imaginative, with vast scope for storytelling and almost unlimited potential. In that time, alongside a couple of dozen novels we’ve seen a whole host of short stories published, some tying in with ongoing narratives and others standing alone. Over a whopping 400+ pages Gods & Mortals collects together eighteen short stories into an impressive anthology, eight of which are brand new while the other ten are drawn from those previously-published tales. Eighteen stories, nine authors, and lots to enjoy.

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Death Knell – Phil Kelly

Released under the Space Marine Heroes label, Phil Kelly’s novella Death Knell takes a close look at a single squad of Ultramarines in action against overwhelming Chaos forces led by the Crimson Slaughter. After a direct assault against the enemy-held island of St. Capilene fails miserably, the Ultramarines change tactics, with Sergeant Sevastus and his Tactical squad hoping that stealth will see them safely past the island’s outer defences. With a pair of guardsmen in tow, Squad Sevastus infiltrate the haunted island and seek out its defenders, but even for the hard-bitten Tactical Marines the odds of success are steep.

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Celestine: The Living Saint – Andy Clark

Initially available as a rather beautiful Limited Edition hardback before the standard editions arrived six months later, Andy Clark’s short novel Celestine: The Living Saint offers the most thorough exploration yet of the realities of life (and death) for the legendary Saint Celestine. It’s a dark, occasionally unsettling story of sacrifice, faith and duty with two strands split between a desperate battle in Imperium Nihilus and a journey of discovery set…somewhere else. Equal parts conventional 40k action story and allegorical journey, it explores both the trials that Celestine faces in return for her power, and the different ways she affects the Imperial citizens she fights alongside.

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Nightfane – Nick Kyme

Picking up where Red-Marked left off, Nick Kyme’s Horus Heresy audio drama Nightfane continues the story of Aeonid Thiel as the Ultramarines Sergeant and his men investigate the hidden threats lurking in the shadows of the Five Hundred Worlds. After a somewhat bumpier landing than expected, Thiel and a small group of Ultramarines find themselves on an apparently abandoned rigging station in the midst of the acidic oceans of Bael. As they explore the station in search of its secrets – and its crew – the Red-Marked begin to uncover a darkness that lies beneath the surface of Ultramar.

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Heart of Winter – Nick Horth

Nick Horth’s Age of Sigmar novella Heart of Winter features the aelf Fleetmaster Arika Zenthe – originally introduced as a secondary character in City of Secrets, she’s now front and centre in her own story. A Scourge Privateer of considerable reputation, Zenthe leads her crew into Ghur, the Realm of Beasts, intending to kill her father and see out a decades-long grudge. Little does she know that her mission will eventually take her from her father’s Black Ark to the frozen darkness of a sylvaneth-infested forest in search of a powerful artefact known as the Heart of Winter.

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The Bone Desert – Robbie MacNiven

Following on from where David Guymer left off with Realmslayer, Robbie MacNiven’s novella The Bone Desert follows Gotrek Gurnisson and his reluctant companion Maleneth as they weather assassination attempts, the elements and each other’s company. Having learned of an inscription hinting at the location of Gotrek’s axe, the unlikely pair are travelling through the arid Bone Desert, heading for the distant city of the Eight Pillars. Despite Maleneth’s attempts to steer them towards an outpost of her Order, Gotrek single-mindedly sets his sights on the city, however it seems there are others who don’t want them to reach their goal.

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The Red Hours – Evan Dicken

The Red Hours is Evan Dicken’s longest Black Library story to date, an Age of Sigmar novella set in a bleak outpost in Chamon, the Realm of Metal. Disgraced and discredited in the eyes of his Freeguild commanders, Captain Byrun Hess is unceremoniously posted to the ominously named Grave of Heroes, where he finds his new command to be somewhat smaller and less orderly than he’s used to. When a brutal shardstorm sweeps in out of nowhere and forces them into hiding, Hess and his newfound comrades quickly find themselves facing much more than just the natural dangers of Chamon.

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Warqueen – Darius Hinks

An action packed tale of the Chaos-worshipping Darkoath tribes, Darius Hinks’ Age of Sigmar novella Warqueen takes place on the Arad Plains in Aqshy, the Realm of Fire. Warqueen Vedra has united the Darkoath tribes into a great host – the Untamed – with just one more battle required to finish driving the forces of Khorne from their lands. When treachery within the tribes is revealed on the eve of that final battle, Vedra only becomes more determined to fulfil her destiny and lead her people into a future of endless war in the name of their god, Tzeentch.

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QUICK REVIEW: A Rose Watered with Blood – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Picking up where LJ Goulding left off in Prince of Blood, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s A Rose Watered with Blood is a story of Lotara Sarrin and the Conqueror as the World Eaters – and what was once their primarch Angron – make for Terra. Twisting under the influence of the monster chained deep within its hold, its crew butchered by the legionaries who were once their protectors, it’s increasingly clear that the Conqueror has a mind of its own. As they inch closer to Terra, Lotara faces up to the ugly darkness growing within her ship and within the hearts of its crew.

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