Category Archives: Reviews

QUICK REVIEW: Blacktalon: When Cornered – Andy Clark

The first Black Library appearance of Knight-Zephyros Neave Blacktalon, Andy Clark’s Age of Sigmar short story Blacktalon: When Cornered is a tale of Stormcast tenacity, duardin stubbornness and Chaotic deviousness. Having finally cornered the Chaos sorcerer Xelkyn Xerkanos after months of pursuit, only for a clan of duardin to capture him before she could strike the killing blow, Blacktalon cuts a frustrated figure as she accompanies the duardin on their slow march home. Xerkanos is to be tried and executed in front of the clan’s Grudgekeepers, but Blacktalon rankles at the delay, keeping a suspicious eye on the tricksy sorcerer.

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QUICK REVIEW: Two Metaphysical Blades – Chris Wraight

Chris Wraight’s Horus Heresy short story Two Metaphysical Blades is a strange beast, an episodic story about a matched pair of weapons and an unlikely pairing of characters, which spans the lifetime of the Imperium. From deep within the Earth prior to even the founding of the Imperium and then out across the galaxy, before returning to Terra for the Siege and its aftermath, this is the story of those two weapons and their wielders – “opposites…in some ways”. Wrapped in mystery and questions of destiny, it’s a tale whose complexity matches that of the two weapons’ creator.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Waaagh! Faker by Guy Haley

In The Waaagh! Faker by Guy Haley, the final instalment of the three-part Prophets of Waaagh! story, Uggrim and Bozgat are hard at work keeping Fat Mork walking so that they can join in with the Waaagh! as it gathers momentum. Snikgob and Talker, however, aren’t so sure it actually is a Waaagh! so decide take a closer look at just what’s causing a strange noise and weird ork behaviour. There they find a bunch of sneaky humies playing around with some strange technology, and realise that this isn’t a natural Waaagh! but an artificial one – it’s a humie trap!

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QUICK REVIEW: Playing Patience – Dan Abnett

Set between Hereticus and Ravenor, Dan Abnett’s short story Playing Patience introduces us to the character of Patience Kys and shows how she came to be part of Ravenor’s entourage. On dismal Sameter, three sisters live austere lives in the Kindred Youth Scholam, and the eldest – Patience – has both a particular gift and a knack for getting in trouble. Meanwhile Ravenor and his companions, reeling from a desperate setback, are on the hunt for clues that might set them back on track. The trail leads to the Kindred Youth Scholam, some unwholesome practices, and an untrained, unlicensed psyker.

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QUICK REVIEW: Bozgat’s Big Adventure – Guy Haley

The second short audio of Guy Haley’s Prophets of Waaagh! collection, Bozgat’s Big Adventure follows on from The End of Daze and sees the titular Bozgat setting off in search of his madboy friend/pet Talker. Accompanied only by the grot Frikk, Bozgat rides out across the dunes and finds his way to a crashed ork ship, where the tracks of a single ork lead. While the cowardly Frikk waits for him outside, Bozgat explores the crashed ship which, upon further examination, appears to be surprisingly devoid of actual orks. Plenty of grots, though…

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QUICK REVIEW: The Curiosity – Dan Abnett

First published in 2003 in Inferno! magazine, Dan Abnett’s short story The Curiosity offers the first glimpse of Valentin Drusher, magos biologis. After seven years of determined study, Drusher’s work to create a complete taxonomy of Gershom’s indigent flora and fauna is almost complete. Dispatched to a bleak, distant province to investigate sightings of an unknown beast that’s left a trail of corpses behind it, it’s not long before he realises this is more than just an apex predator he somehow missed. Caught up in the hunt for the beast, Drusher is out of his league and in terrible danger.

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QUICK REVIEW: The End of Daze – Guy Haley

The first of three short 40k audio dramas making up the Prophets of Waaagh! collection, Guy Haley’s The End of Daze continues the story of Big Mek Uggrim and his Red Sunz boys. After having crashed onto a “squig’s arse-end of a planet”, Uggrim is desperate to get his beloved stompa Fat Mork back operational and walking again, but a lack of decent grots is hampering his repairs. It’s not long, however, before rival mek Grimgutz shows his face, and Uggrim realises that there’s more going on than just useless grots letting him down.

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Hereticus – Dan Abnett

The third instalment of Dan Abnett’s classic Eisenhorn trilogy, Hereticus shows us Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn in his darkest moments. Tasked with conducting a tedious series of hearings, Eisenhorn envisages endless weeks of boredom, but when evidence arises that an old enemy is nearby he drops everything and races off to a confrontation that will have horrifying consequences. Thus begins a journey that sees Eisenhorn and a handful of companions reeling and on the back foot, desperately calling on a few remaining contacts and all their determination in order to get back on track and seek out the culprit behind all their woes.

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Adrift – Rob Boffard

A classic ‘lost at sea’ story, just set in space instead of on the ocean, Rob Boffard’s Adrift is a far-future tale of a group of people trapped in a tiny ship with little food, no comms, and nowhere to go. It’s Hannah Elliott’s first day on Sigma Station and she’s not doing great with her now job as a tour guide. After the station is attacked by a strange and powerful warship, leaving her ship – the Red Panda – stranded and alone having somehow escaped the destruction, Hannah finds herself trapped alongside a handful of strangers with little hope of survival.

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QUICK REVIEW: Klaw of Mork – Guy Haley

A 36-minute 40k audio drama set during the Sanctus Reach campaign, Klaw of Mork takes the bickering, backstabbing orkish entertainment of Engine of Mork and Evil Sun Rising and turns the volume up to eleven. Following on from the events of Evil Sun Rising, Uggrim and Snikgob are happily working away on Big Mek Mogrok’s new weapon – a traktor kannon that’s slowly pulling a comet down to the surface of Alaric Prime. After their peace is disturbed by the presence of a rival mek, it’s not long before an opportunity arises to get their own back on the annoying Dagogg.

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