Category Archives: Reviews

QUICK REVIEW: Confessions of a Broken Blade – Ariel Lawrence

A three-act League of Legends short story set in Ionia after the conclusion of the Noxian invasion, Ariel Lawrence’s Confessions of a Broken Blade features Riven and Yasuo, a pair of characters haunted by events in their pasts. The main focus is on Riven, who when we meet her is hurting, repressing memories, trying to live a quiet life. Before long, however, she’s confronted with the consequences of actions she can no longer remember, and the fragile peace she had managed to find is shattered. The emotions of those around her are running hot as her past catches up with her.

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QUICK REVIEW: Missing in Action – Dan Abnett

Set between Xenos and Malleus, Dan Abnett’s short story Missing in Action sees inquisitor Eisenhorn returning to the field having recovered from the events of the Necroteuch affair. Sent to Sameter for a routine mission to ease him back into work, when bodies start appearing with signs pointing to ritual killings he realises there’s a much bigger puzzle for him to solve on Sameter. As he digs deeper into the horrifying crimes being committed a pattern begins to emerge, but it seems to point in an unexpected direction.

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QUICK REVIEW: Deus Ex Mechanicus by Andy Chambers

An Inferno! magazine classic given the e-short treatment, Andy Chambers’ Deus Ex Mechanicus sees an Adeptus Mechanicus explorator mission delving into the supposedly dead world of Naogeddon. An expert in cryo-stasis, Lakias Danzager joins the mission just as the unusually charismatic Magos Egal succeeds in finding a way into a necron tomb complex. With his suspicions already roused by absent members of the mission and the eerily regular attacks by the tomb’s strange, metallic defenders, Lakias reluctantly joins Egal in exploring the tomb and facing its many horrifying dangers.

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Warlord: Fury of the God-Machine – David Annandale

Anyone familiar with David Annandale’s writing for Black Library will know he likes to tell big stories. There’s not much bigger in 40k than a Warlord Titan…except lots of Warlord Titans, which you’ll find in David’s novel Warlord: Fury of the God-Machine. The legios of Pallidus Mor and the Imperial Hunters couldn’t be much less alike in philosophy or approach to warfare, but on Khania they forge an uncomfortable alliance against the tyranid hordes. When rebellion arises on nearby Katara they’re forced further still into uneasy cooperation, exposing dangerous cracks even as Chaos rises and a world falls.

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QUICK REVIEW: Nightfall – Peter Fehervari

Nightfall is Peter Fehervari’s debut Black Library story, originally published in the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology. On Sarastus, a dying world which sacrifices its youths to monstrous masters, True Night falls and the Night Lords descend to collect their tribute. Among the ghouls left to fight for survival in the abandoned heights of the last remaining hive, young Zeth unconsciously understands that something sets him apart from his fellows. While bitter rivalries twist the Night Lords even as they make bloody sport culling the weakest of the sacrifices, Zeth sees opportunity in amongst the danger.

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Cult of the Spiral Dawn – Peter Fehervari

Peter Fehervari’s Cult of the Spiral Dawn comprises a short but powerful novel – originally released with the bland title of Legends of the Dark Millennium: Genestealer Cults – plus an accompanying short story, Cast a Hungry Shadow (or Casts…depending on which version you read). You can find reviews for both of these elsewhere on Track of Words (click the links in the previous sentence) from their original releases, while this article aims to take a wider look at what this book offers across both stories. Suffice to say, whether as an introduction to Fehervari’s writing or part of an ongoing exploration, it is – quite simply – essential reading for any 40k fan looking to dig beneath the surface a little.

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QUICK REVIEW: Vanguard – Peter Fehervari

A sort-of sequel to his novel Fire Caste, Peter Fehervari’s short story Vanguard sees Magos Caul, leader of the Adeptus Mechanicus contingent on Phaedra, send his skitarii into battle against what remains of the T’au forces. Tasked with retrieving ‘Objective Skysight’ from within a well-defended T’au enclave, Caul’s skitarii push on through everything the T’au throw at them without questioning exactly what their objective is or why it’s so important, but as the battle continues small scraps of their original personalities begin to show through their machinic logic and programming.

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QUICK REVIEW: Wrathspring – Gav Thorpe

One of five short stories first published in the Legends of the Age of Sigmar: Sylvaneth anthology, Gav Thorpe’s Wrathspring features Alarielle herself and sees the sylvaneth battling the forces of Chaos in the Jade Kingdoms of Ghyran. Led by Leafmaster Diraceth, the tree spirits of Clan Arleath defend their Glade against endless hordes of plague-ridden skaven, but the tide of pestilence is taking its toll on both the sylvaneth and the land itself. It takes Alarielle’s intervention to drive out the taint of the skaven, and set the sylvaneth on the path to reclaim their lands from Chaos.

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Fire Caste – Peter Fehervari

Despite its bland, misleading title, Peter Fehervari’s debut Black Library novel Fire Caste is a captivating tale of damaged, haunted characters spiralling into hell. The Imperium and the T’au Empire are locked in an endless stalemate over the planet Phaedra, into which stumble the 19th Arkan Confederates, still haunted by the trauma of their world’s recent rebellion. Commissar Holt Iverson – twisted and troubled from years spent on Phaedra, sees in the Confederates the possibility of redemption. The Confederates, however, are soon suffering under the troubling influence of Phaedra and find themselves drawn ever deeper into the tangled conflict taking place.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Sands of Grief – Guy Haley

Guy Haley’s short story The Sands of Grief returns to the characters of Prince Maesa and Shattercap from the excellent Shadespire audio drama The Autumn Prince. This time they set out from the city of Glymmsforge in the Realm of Shyish and travel deep into the eponymous Sands of Grief as Maesa continues his quest to find a way of returning his beloved Ellamar to life. Beyond the borders of Glymmsforge and the protection of Sigmar they encounter nothing living, but as they head further from the core of Shyish they increasingly see the dark hand of Nagash at work.

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