Infestation (S-Squad #1) – William Meikle

The first book in William Meikle’s S-Squad series, Infestation is a short, snappy creature-feature packed full of action, danger, sweary soldiers and swarms of disgusting (and worryingly large) creepy-crawlies. Captain John Banks and a hand-picked team of soldiers are dispatched to investigate reports of a Russian boat in some kind of trouble in Canadian waters, their mission simply to drop in, find out what’s going on and report back. When they’re greeted by scenes of bloody devastation on arrival, however, it quickly becomes clear that there’s more going on than just a few Russian spies lurking where they shouldn’t be.

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QUICK REVIEW: Child of Chaos – Chris Wraight

One of the most notorious figures in the Horus Heresy, the much-loathed Word Bearer Erebus is the subject of Chris Wraight’s fascinating character study Child of Chaos. From the arid streets of a forgotten Colchisian village to the ruins of an ancient temple to the Ruinous Powers on Davin, Erebus calmly and succinctly tells his own story of single-minded determination and dedication, speaking directly and unashamedly to the reader of his childhood, his journey, his beliefs and the vital role he played in the Heresy.

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RAPID FIRE: Gav Thorpe Talks Indomitus

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with 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 Black Library author Gav Thorpe about his latest Warhammer 40,000 novel, Indomitus, which pits Ultramarines against Necrons and has been released in hardback, ebook and MP3 formats alongside not one but two different special editions. If you want the lowdown on the Indomitus Crusade and how the Necrons get involved, this is a good place to start.

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Road to Redemption – Mike Brooks

Mike Brooks’ second novel for Black Library, Road to Redemption swaps Navigator Houses for Necromunda in a dark and character-driven story about faith, atonement, buried secrets and impossible decisions. For Zeke, once of House Cawdor, a quiet life of hard work, hard liquor and honest friendship provides a way of silencing his demons, right up until it’s burned out from under him. With that life destroyed, and his friends’ children taken, all he has left is the drive to find the culprits and either rescue or avenge the children, but to do so he’ll need to face not just the risk of death but a return to the life he tried so hard to escape.

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Monthly Highlights – June 2020

With another month gone by, the end of June brings us to the halfway point of 2020 – a very strange year, I’m sure you’ll agree. I hope you’ve all been coping with the lockdown and the weird restrictions on day to day life we’re all dealing with, and where possible have been getting some good reading time in. As usual, for this Monthly Highlights article I’m going to take a look back through what I’ve been reading and listening to over the last few weeks – in this case I managed 15 books (four of which were audiobooks) across a slightly wider range of genres and topics than I usually go for.

I’ll keep things as succinct as I can, and link out to reviews where they’re available; as with last month I chose quite a lot of these books for the purpose of escapism rather than to review, and quite a few were re-reads. Without further ado, however, let’s get straight on (in the order in which I read them) with June’s books…

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RAPID FIRE: Will McDermott Talks Soulless Fury

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with 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 author Will McDermott, who’s back writing for Black Library after a 13 year hiatus with a brand new Necromunda novel – Soulless Fury, featuring the legendary D’onne Ulanti, more commonly known as Mad Donna. It’s available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats; read on to find out more about this story, its inspirations and why Necromunda stories are so much fun to write.

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RAPID FIRE: CL Werner Talks Lady of Sorrows

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with 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.

For this interview I spoke to veteran Black Library author CL Werner about his new book Lady of Sorrows, his seventh novel for the Age of Sigmar setting (eighth if you include the Warhammer Horror imprint). It’s available to pre-order as of the 4th July, and if you’re interested in learning more about the Mortarch of Grief – or just exploring more of the Realm of Death – then this promises to be right up your street.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex – Tamsyn Muir

Tamsyn Muir’s short story The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex, part of the Locked Tomb series, is a prequel of sorts to the fantastic Gideon the Ninth, featuring the thirteen year-old incarnations of the Sixth’s House’s Camilla Hect and Palamides Sextus. When the study of a long-dead Library tutor (the brilliantly-named Doctor Donald Sex) is finally reopened, 460 years after his death, Camilla and Palamides are among the lucky few to examine the dusty, intriguing old office. What they find within reveals an unexpected locked-room mystery, and while their elders proceed to trawl through academic bureaucracy the two youngsters set about unravelling the puzzle themselves.

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RAPID FIRE: David Annandale Talks The Heretic Saint

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with 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 Black Library author David Annandale about his new novel The Heretic Saint, which revisits a character who made her first Black Library appearance over 20 years ago – Ephrael Stern, the Daemonifuge. It was initially only available in a very nice but very expensive limited edition boxed set, before the ‘standard’ editions were published a few months down the line. If you’re interested in knowing more about this most unusual of Battle Sisters and her role in the new Warhammer 40,000 narrative, read on!

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Sons of the Selenar – Graham McNeill

While Black Library’s Siege of Terra series is closing off the Horus Heresy with eight novels covering the major story beats, Graham McNeill’s Sons of the Selenar marks the first in an additional set of novellas which tackle slightly smaller subjects within the context of the Siege. In this case, the story of Sharrowkin, Wayland and the Sisypheum continues as, returning to the Sol System, loyalties within the crew begin to fracture. Drawn to embattled Luna, the few remaining Shattered Legionaries must put division aside and act as one if they’re to ensure vital secrets remain out of the traitors’ hands.

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