Category Archives: Reviews

QUICK REVIEW: Prince of Blood – LJ Goulding

There’s more to the World Eaters than the Butcher’s Nails, and in Prince of Blood LJ Goulding explores the strange relationship they have with their primarch in a dark companion piece to Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Heart of the Conqueror. To the exhausted crew of the Conqueror the presence of daemon Angron is affecting the very nature of the ship and their difficult existence, while to Khârn the impact cuts deeper, to the heart of his identity. Seeking out Angron in the bowels of the ship, he risks everything in a desperate attempt to connect with what’s left of his primarch.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Emperor’s Architect – Guy Haley

A companion piece to the Primarchs novel Hammer of Olympia, Guy Haley’s short story The Emperor’s Architect is an interleaved tale combining glimpses of Perturabo’s earliest days with a Crusade-era story of two Remembrancers attempting to write the definitive history of the Iron Warriors’ primarch. Until now the Lord of Iron’s story began on the Phyrgean cliffs, but here we see Perturabo’s first days on Olympia and his earliest, almost-forgotten interactions with humans. Meanwhile Olivier and Marissa LeBon’s unusual mission provides a personal drama tackling faith, relationship troubles and different perspectives on the truth as they delve into Perturabo’s complex and challenging character.

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QUICK REVIEW: Shadow of the Past – Gav Thorpe

A rare post-Heresy Primarchs story, Gav Thorpe’s Shadow of the Past takes place on a moon in the Eye of Terror, where Dark Apostle Kalta-Ar of the Word Bearers supervises the building of a grand monument to the dark gods. Protected from the dangers of the warp by ritual means, the Word Bearers nevertheless find themselves under attack by something that bleeds out of the shadows to rend and tear. When they at last bring their monstrous attacker to bear only to find their weapons useless, Kalta-Ar entreats the daemon primarch Lorgar to aid him and his surviving warriors.

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QUICK REVIEW: Mercy of the Dragon – Nick Kyme

In his Primarchs short story Mercy of the Dragon Nick Kyme tackles the introduction of Vulkan to the Great Crusade in a tale of two interwoven strands. In one we see the Emperor explain Vulkan’s place amongst the primarchs to his son, attempting to convince the lord of drakes to leave Nocturne and take his place alongside his brothers. In the other we’re offered glimpses of Vulkan’s first engagement as part of the Crusade, observed by the Emperor and Ferrus Manus. Between them, both strands demonstrate Vulkan’s character and his value to the burgeoning Imperium, and his primarch brothers.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Abyssal Edge – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

A slow, quiet tale of perspectives and choices, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Primarchs short story The Abyssal Edge features two primarchs and two First Captains, but is told from the perspective of a crippled human archivist. Desk-bound after a terrible crash, former fighter pilot Orthos Ulatal finds the tedium enlivened by a report implying conflict between the Night Lords and the Thousand Sons. His investigations lead him to the threatening company of Jago Sevatarion, the truth of what happened between Konrad Curze and Magnus the Red, and a glimpse behind the facade of the ongoing Great Crusade.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Passing of Angels – John French

A typically thoughtful and evocative John French short story, The Passing of Angels – included in the Primarchs anthology Sons of the Emperor – takes a close look at Sanguinius’ understanding of the role he was created to play. Leading the Blood Angels’ Destroyer Host into battle against a human world which deployed proscribed weaponry against the Imperium, he takes upon himself the burden of unleashing such devastation, while allowing his sons to absolve themselves of the deaths they cause. Across a non-linear story we get a few glimpses of what Sanguinius and those around him think of the nature of angels.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Son of Sorrows – John French

A tale of the Horusian Wars, John French’s short story The Son of Sorrows offers a dark and at times harrowing look at another of Covenant’s warband, the ‘specialist’ Koleg. Tasked with a preemptive strike on an early-stage heretical cult, he approaches his task – sowing terror, and making a statement – in a methodical, emotionless fashion, the perfect weapon for the job. As we watch him prepare for his mission and then calmly slaughter his way through the reeling cult members we see his thoughts turn, impassively, towards the man he used to be and what made him who he now is.

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QUICK REVIEW: Blood Games – Dan Abnett

The opening story from 2009’s Tales of Heresy, Dan Abnett’s Blood Games was the first real exploration of the Adeptus Custodes in the Horus Heresy, and set the standard not just for Custodes stories but for Heresy short stories in general. It opens as a veiled cat and mouse story with a dangerous intruder breaching the security of the Imperial Palace, before widening in scope and showing the Custodes in action, enforcing their remit elsewhere on Terra with skill and nerve. Along the way it explores the people, sights and dynamics of regions right across the Throneworld, not to mention the Custodes themselves.

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Survival Instinct – Andy Chambers

Andy Chambers’ classic 2005 Necromunda novel Survival Instinct is the story of spire-born noblewoman turned underhive legend D’onne Ulanti, otherwise known as ‘Mad’ Donna. After receiving a message which dredges up ancient history, Donna finds herself on a danger-filled journey that leads ever-deeper into the underhive, and the dark corners of her past. Braving the attentions of merciless bounty hunters and all the many and varied dangerous inhabitants of the underhive, and with a little help from friends in low places, she uses her wits, charm and copious weaponry to blaze a trail from Glory Hole (ahem) to the sump.

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QUICK REVIEW: Shiprats – CL Werner

A prequel to Overlords of the Iron Dragon, CL Werner’s Kharadron Overlords short story Shiprats sees Captain Brokrin Ullissonn and the crew of the Iron Dragon battling an infestation of rats that threatens their cargo and even – to their horror – their beer. Desperate for a solution for their rodent problem they seek the assistance of the Kheitar lamasery, where they hope the lamas (monks, not cute animals) will be persuaded to offer both their help and, because these are duardin we’re talking about, their goods to trade. When the lamas prove willing, something in their eagerness seems a little strange…

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