Tag Archives: Peter McLean

Priest of Lies – Peter McLean

Many thanks to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

A sequel to the fantastic Priest of Bones, and book two in Peter McLean’s War for the Rose Throne series, Priest of Lies is another brutal, brilliant fantasy tale of gangsters, spies, violence and intrigue. Life is complex for Tomas Piety, self-made prince of Ellinburg and reluctant servant of the Queen’s Men. For all his successes, he’s still driven – largely by the demands of his wife, the Queen’s Man Ailsa – to keep fighting for his city, and for the crown. As the situation in Ellinburg deteriorates and Tomas is drawn into the murky political waters of the capital, Dannsburg, he finds himself increasingly out of his depth and troubled by the consequences of power.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Peter McLean Talks Priest of Lies

Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, my ongoing series of quick interviews with science fiction and fantasy 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 is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.

In this instalment I spoke to Peter McLean about his new novel Priest of Lies, which is available now from Jo Fletcher Books in the UK and Ace Books in North America. I’m a big fan of Peter’s writing, and his current series is one of the best I’ve read in a long time!

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QUICK REVIEW: Blood Sacrifice – Peter McLean

The fourth and final short story in Black Library’s Digital Horror Week 2019, Peter McLean’s Blood Sacrifice returns to the story of Corporal Cully and the Reslian 45th as a sequel to Baphomet By Night. Digging in on a dreary hive world under the watchful eye of a new, by-the-book sergeant, the endless waiting is wearing on Cully and bringing back painful memories. When the opportunity arises to make a little money off the books Cully jumps at the chance, but what should be a straightforward job becomes something much worse when an abandoned medicae facility turns out to be anything but.

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Drake – Peter McLean

Peter McLean’s debut novel, Drake is a dark urban fantasy complete with cowardly night creatures, demon mobsters, a faintly inept demonologist, a snarky bound demon and an almost-fallen angel, all wrapped up in a gritty, sweary, fast-paced thriller. When Don Drake, the aforementioned demonologist, winds up owing a gambling debt to a deeply unpleasant ‘businessman’, his already seedy life quickly goes from bad to worse. He soon finds himself with a problem that even the power of his bound demon – the Burning Man – might not be enough to help him with, involving exceedingly dangerous magical enemies and dubious allies who might just be even worse.

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QUICK REVIEW: Sand Lords – Peter McLean

Peter McLean continues to impress with his fourth Black Library short story, this time tackling the Tallarn Desert Raiders. On the arid world of Marbas II, the Tallarn 236th Sand Lords have deployed in force, an armoured column storming into the ork-held city of Iblis Amrargh intending to reclaim a lost relic of their regiment. The story begins as Captain Amareo Thrax is leading the battered remnants of his force in a desperate retreat through the baking desert. As they race for safety, Thrax bitterly recalls the horrors that took the lives of so many of his warriors.

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Priest of Bones – Peter McLean

Peter McLean’s fourth novel, Priest of Bones is the first in a ‘grimdark fantasy’ series featuring crime lords, turf wars, secret police and the effects of PTSD on veteran ex-soldiers. Having survived the horrors of Abingon, Tomas Piety – once a ‘businessman’, now an army priest – returns to his home city of Ellinburg to retake his position, and his streets. What he finds there are businesses taken over in his absence, streets no longer safe for the people living in them, and a new war brewing that promises to be as dark and harrowing as the one he’s just returned from.

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QUICK REVIEW: No Hero – Peter McLean

Peter McLean returns to the Reslian 45th for his third Black Library short story, No Hero. Abandoning the jungle world of Vardan IV to the rampaging orks, Imperial forces are pulling out and redeploying elsewhere. The troopers of One Section, D Company are finally on their way to being evacuated when their Valkyrie is hit, and the survivors must slog through the jungle on foot to try and reach the landing fields before the orks do. For one young Guardsman keeping a journal of events, it’s a journey that tests him body, mind and soul.

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The Return of Inferno! to Black Library

Way back in the mists of time (well, 1997 to be precise) the first publication for the newly-created Black Library was a bi-monthly magazine called Inferno!, which featured short stories, comic strips and artwork all bringing the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 to life. Inferno! ran to 46 issues over seven years, and introduced fans to a whole host of names who would go on to be regular Black Library authors. Dan Abnett, Gav Thorpe, William King, Ben Counter and a whole host of other authors published their first Black Library stories in the pages of Inferno! magazine.

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QUICK REVIEW: Lightning Run – Peter McLean

Peter McLean’s second Black Library short story, Lightning Run is an Imperial Navy (Aeronautica Imperialis in modern parlance) story which, while not quite as grim as Baphomet by Night, is still a powerful demonstration of the bleak realities of 40k life. On the corrupted world of Elijan III, Flight Officer Salvatoria Grant finds herself tasked with a mission vital to the flagging war effort. Piloting her Valkyrie towards a distant Imperial base and a faint glimmer of hope, she trusts to her own skills and her faith in the Emperor to see her through to survival and Imperial victory.

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QUICK REVIEW: Baphomet By Night – Peter McLean

A dark, uncomfortable Black Library debut from Peter McLean, Baphomet By Night is an Astra Militarum short story which takes place after the dust has settled on the Imperial campaign to cleanse the world of Baphomet of a Chaos cult. The Reslian 45th are sent in to garrison the world once the fighting is over, which to Corporal Cully and Sergeant Rachain seems like an easy duty after their last action, despite the inexperience of their new platoon. When unexpected resistance breaks out and the green troopers start dying around them, it becomes clear that Baphomet isn’t the break they expected.

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