RAPID FIRE: Ian St Martin Talks Lucius: The Faultless Blade

Welcome to Track of Words presents Rapid Fire, the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors focusing in on brand new releases. As the name suggests, these interviews are going to be short and sweet, with the idea being that I’m going to ask more or less the same questions to each author – 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 it.

In this first instalment I asked Ian St. Martin about his new novel Lucius: The Faultless Blade, which you can pick up online and in bookstores now. Without further ado, over to Ian.

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QUICK REVIEW: Auction of Blood – Josh Reynolds

Day Five of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

The book trade is a dangerous business, at least in Josh Reynolds’ Age of Sigmar short story Auction of Blood. Palem Bok, bookseller and spy, is tasked with attending an auction of rare items and acquiring what turns out to be a remarkably dangerous artefact for his mistress, the Mortarch Neferata. Danger abounds in the streets and houses of Greywater Fastness, and in order to complete his mission Bok must exercise all of the caution, judgement and skill a bookseller needs, along with a judicious serving of violence and death.

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QUICK REVIEW: Death Warrant – Robbie MacNiven

Day Four of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

The third in a growing series of stories featuring the Carcharadon Astra, Death Warrant sees Robbie MacNiven continue to explore this most unusual of Space Marine chapters. Two months after landing on the jungle moon of Terix IX, Rogue Trader Anjelika Trayn and her crew are getting close to finding what they came for, when the unexpected appearance of a force of terrifying grey-clad Space Marines changes everything. Journeying alongside the Carcharadons into the depths of an ancient temple whose guardians are slowly rousing, Trayn learns that even her Warrant of Trade can’t protect her from some things.

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QUICK REVIEW: Shadows of Heaven – Gav Thorpe

Day Three of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

Labelled as part of the Rise of the Ynnari series, Gav Thorpe’s short story Shadows of Heaven takes the character of Aradryan from the novel Path of the Outcast and brings him up to date in the new 40k setting. Now a Guardian of Alaitoc, he takes his place in the craftworld’s armies as they defend an Imperial world against a common enemy – the Black Legion. Troubled by memories of his previous paths and his fear of the eldar afterlife, he hopes to find clarity of purpose in the fires of battle.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Hardest Word – David Guymer

Day Two of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

Set in and around the fortress known as The Seven Words, in the Realm of Ghur, David Guymer’s Age of Sigmar short story The Hardest Word is a typically boisterous tale of Hamilcar Bear-Eater of the Astral Templars. When word arrives that his recently-conquered fortress may be under threat from the insidious skaven, Hamilcar bids his warriors to search for the source of the danger, while he offers up an unconventional distraction. Not one for the subtle option, his choice is bold, brash and surprisingly effective.

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QUICK REVIEW: Grandfather’s Gift – Guy Haley

Day One of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

Unexpectedly branded as a Horus Heresy Primarchs series short story (the first one ever!), Grandfather’s Gift by Guy Haley is an entertaining and surprisingly light tale of Mortarion, primarch of the Death Guard. After waking within the Garden of Nurgle with no memory of how he got there, Mortarion sets off along its paths to discover – or maybe rediscover – how he came to be there, while marvelling at the wonders he sees along the way. To avoid giving anything away let’s just say he’s not alone in the Garden, and during his time there we gain an insight into his place within Nurgle’s ranks.

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Agent of the Throne: Blood and Lies – John French

The opening instalment of John French’s Agent of the Throne audio drama series, which ties into the wider Horusian Wars arc, Blood and Lies sees Ianthe (first seen in the short story The Purity of Ignorance) recounting the tale of her first solo mission for Inquisitor Covenant. Dispatched to Mithras to deal with a troublesome cult before it becomes too much of a problem, only to find a deeper darkness lurking beneath, she has to use of all the tools – human and otherwise – at her disposal in order to fulfil her oaths and complete her mission.

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Carcharadons: Red Tithe – Robbie MacNiven

Carcharadons: Red Tithe is Robbie MacNiven’s second Black Library novel (after the serialised Legacy of Russ) and the first novel to really focus in on the Carcharadons as a Space Marine chapter. On the penal world of Zartak, deep within the dwindling adamantium mines, thousands of convicts toil under their arbitrator overseers’ supervision. Only young Skell, gifted with the mixed blessing of foresight, understands that darkness is approaching Zartak. Two fleets of predators, each intent on the same objectives – slaves, materiel and Skell himself. Caught between the Carcharadons and the Night Lords, the Imperial defenders see little to choose between the two.

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QUICK REVIEW: Hidden Treasures – Cavan Scott

Not quite a micro-short, Cavan Scott’s Warhammer 40,000 short story Hidden Treasures provides a brief, bleak look at life away from the battlefield in the 41st millennium. For brothers Elias and Marco, scavenging in the dark corners of Manos City and trying to avoid the attention of the local gangs, life is hard. When they stumble across an unexpected bounty, the ever-present dangers are increased exponentially as the line between their world and the Imperium’s eternal, ongoing war is somehow blurred.

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