Tag Archives: Warhammer 40k

QUICK REVIEW: Trials – Rachel Harrison

The fourth of Rachel Harrison’s Severina Raine short stories to get a digital release, Trials keeps the ongoing narrative of the 11th Antari Rifles in the background and focuses on the relationship between the Commissar and Captain Andren Fel. The storm trooper captain is the only member of the regiment who Raine can truly trust, the two of them sharing similarities despite their different roles. Over the course of a quiet conversation, while the war rages on around them, they each tell the story of the final trial they faced at the end of their time in the Schola Progenium.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Mistress of Threads – John French

One of a growing number of Horusian Wars short stories each focusing on a different member of Inquisitor Covenant’s warband, John French’s The Mistress of Threads is a compelling, if unusually constructed, story centred on Viola von Castellan. Told through the medium of correspondence between Viola and (mostly) a wayward member of her extended family, it’s the tale of a commercial empire’s ups and downs in the wake of the Great Rift, a sinister cartel, and the strange relationships that underpin the von Castellan dynasty. Plus a typically dark glimpse of a mystery lurking beneath the surface of the Imperium.

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Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron – Cavan Scott

The Warhammer 40,000-set Warhammer Adventures series Warped Galaxies (for readers aged 8 and above) opens with Cavan Scott’s Attack of the Necron, a planet-hopping tale of action, danger and bravery in the face of an ancient alien menace. Zelia Lor and her mother, along with Lexmechanic Erasmus and young Martian tech-savant Mekki, travel the galaxy excavating ancient technology and unearthing pre-Imperial history. When their latest expedition is curtailed by a devastating alien invasion, Zelia finds herself torn from her familiar life and thrown into a perilous journey through the void of space with the relentless Necron threat looming ever-present.

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RAPID FIRE: James Swallow Talks Red & Black

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 slightly longer than usual instalment I spoke (in places at length) to James Swallow about his classic 40k Sisters of Battle audio drama Red & Black, which has just been reissued several years after its original release, and is once more available to order in CD and MP3 formats.

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Death Knell – Phil Kelly

Released under the Space Marine Heroes label, Phil Kelly’s novella Death Knell takes a close look at a single squad of Ultramarines in action against overwhelming Chaos forces led by the Crimson Slaughter. After a direct assault against the enemy-held island of St. Capilene fails miserably, the Ultramarines change tactics, with Sergeant Sevastus and his Tactical squad hoping that stealth will see them safely past the island’s outer defences. With a pair of guardsmen in tow, Squad Sevastus infiltrate the haunted island and seek out its defenders, but even for the hard-bitten Tactical Marines the odds of success are steep.

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Celestine: The Living Saint – Andy Clark

Initially available as a rather beautiful Limited Edition hardback before the standard editions arrived six months later, Andy Clark’s short novel Celestine: The Living Saint offers the most thorough exploration yet of the realities of life (and death) for the legendary Saint Celestine. It’s a dark, occasionally unsettling story of sacrifice, faith and duty with two strands split between a desperate battle in Imperium Nihilus and a journey of discovery set…somewhere else. Equal parts conventional 40k action story and allegorical journey, it explores both the trials that Celestine faces in return for her power, and the different ways she affects the Imperial citizens she fights alongside.

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RAPID FIRE: Dan Abnett Talks Anarch

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 Dan Abnett about Anarch, the fifteenth novel in his epic, much-loved Gaunt’s Ghosts series. Anarch is available to order right now in hardback and ebook – so check out the interview and then go get hold of the novel!

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Black Library Advent Calendar 2018 – Recap

We’ve reached the very end of 2018, and now that the Black Library Advent Calendar has finished for another year, I’m taking my usual look back at what the series contained and whether there’s anything we can extrapolate from what’s been included. As with previous years I’m not going to go into too much detail about each story in this article, as you can check out links to all of my reviews by clicking here. Instead I’m going to have a look at each of the different settings in turn, and think about things as a whole.

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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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QUICK REVIEW: Purity is a Lie – Gav Thorpe

Gav Thorpe’s Blackstone Fortress short story Purity is a Lie features several of the same characters as Darius Hinks’ novel Blackstone Fortress, and sees the firebrand priest Taddeus the Purifier join Rogue Trader Janus Draik on an expedition to the Fortress itself. Taddeus despises the faithless masses surrounding him on Precipice, but when he’s invited by Draik to join the expedition he recognises the need to rise above his distaste in order to enact the Emperor’s will. Battling through the Fortress, he’s begrudgingly forced to accept that perhaps his faith isn’t the only thing he needs in order to succeed.

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