Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of Black Library Weekly, my regular look at what’s been happening in the world of Black Library. This week there’s been something of a Horus Heresy focus, along with some exciting news for fans of Dan Abnett and the Inquisition. Let’s dive straight in and take a look.
It’s February already – we’re a full month into 2018, and in that first month I’ve posted no fewer than sixteen reviews of books, short stories and audio dramas on Track of Words. I thought it might be fun this year to take a regular look back at what I’ve read each month, and pick out some highlights – for the time being I’m just going to call this Monthly Highlights but I’m open to suggestions for a catchier title! I’ll try to keep things reasonably brief, focusing on the one story each month which I feel was a particular highlight, as well as a couple of notable mentions.
For this, the inaugural Monthly Highlights for January 2018, I’m going for an audio drama, rather than a book – Titans’ Bane by Chris Dows. Click on this link or the image below to check out my review.
Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.
In this instalment I spoke to Laurie Goulding about the latest Horus Heresy anthology – The Burden of Loyalty, which is available to order right now. As most of you will probably know, Laurie was until recently the series editor for the Horus Heresy at Black Library, and this is the final anthology that he edited while he was in that role.
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.
Twelve books in and the Warhammer 40,000 Legends Collection turns to one of the longest-running 40k series – Space Marine Battles – for the first time, with Architect of Fate. Comprising four novellas from Sarah Cawkwell, Ben Counter, Darius Hinks and John French, it’s a four-part exploration of just how dark and creepy the 41st millennium can be, as a range of Space Marine chapters tackle enemies both seen and unseen as they struggle unknowingly in the strings of Tzeentch’s greatest manipulator, Kairos Fateweaver. It’s not what you’d call the template for Space Marine Battles books, but it’s certainly an interesting one.
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.
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.
Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of Black Library Weekly, my regular look at what’s been happening in the world of Black Library. It’s been another reasonably quiet week for the most part, although a few weekend releases provided an extra burst of excitement towards the end of the week. As usual, let’s begin with the earliest activity in the week…
With three novels, two novellas and a handful of short stories to his name, and a very exciting novel currently in development, Andy Clark is probably at the point where it’s not really appropriate to think of him as a new Black Library author any more. With that in mind, and considering that I’ve read and reviewed almost everything he’s written for Black Library (the exception so far being Knightsblade), I thought it might be fun to take a closer look at his stories and writing style, and talk a little about what you can expect if you pick up something with his name on it.
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…