Tag Archives: Warhammer 40k

QUICK REVIEW: The Greater Evil – Peter Fehervari

Continuing his exploration of the shadowed corners of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, The Greater Evil is a typically dark tale from Peter Fehervari, digging beneath the surface of the T’au Empire to a strange truth beneath. Accompanied by an enigmatic Ethereal, a small T’au embassy investigates the reappearance in the Damocles Gulf of an emissary long thought lost, and the possibility of bringing an Imperial world into the Greater Good. One of the embassy’s human auxiliaries, Ulver Voyle, carries with him a darkness from the days before his conversion that sees him drawn deep into the web of coming events.

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Ghostmaker – Dan Abnett

Book two of Dan Abnett’s long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Ghostmaker – not to be confused with the short story of the same name – is an unusual book in that it’s essentially a series of short stories framed by a single loose narrative, rather than a full novel. In a lull between actions on the jungle world of Monthax, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt walks the line sharing a few words with his men, each conversation prompting a new story. Beginning with Gaunt’s recollection of Tanith’s fall, it continues with tales showcasing the exploits of Corbec, Larkin, Rawne, Milo and more.

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Forgotten Texts: First and Only by Dan Abnett

“Men of Tanith! Do you want to live forever?”

Unlike other Forgotten Texts articles, this time I’m taking a look at a book that I’ve reviewed separately – in this case First and Only by Dan Abnett. If you haven’t already, you might want to take a look at that review first, which you can find here. As a quick recap, however, First and Only is book one in the still-running Gaunt’s Ghosts series, first published in 1999 as – I believe – the very first ‘original’ Black Library novel. Nearly twenty years later (as I write this) the fourteenth book in the series is due out imminently, with the fifteenth already in the pipeline!

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First and Only – Dan Abnett

First published in 1999, Dan Abnett’s First and Only is book one in the epic Gaunt’s Ghosts series, following on from several short stories in Inferno! magazine. On the forge world Fortis Binary, the Tanith First and Only are one of many Imperial Guard regiments arrayed against the once-loyal population, now turned to Chaos. As Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and the Ghosts are drawn deeper into the brutal conflict, they’re faced with not just the forces of Chaos but enemies within the ranks of their allies, as a horrifying conspiracy is gradually revealed within the ranks of the Sabbat Crusade itself.

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QUICK REVIEW: Exodus – Steve Lyons

Steve Lyons’ short story Exodus is a bleak tale of an Imperial world falling under the shadow of a Hive Fleet, and the varied way its defenders react to the impending doom. With the evacuation underway, Arch Teilloch of the Katraxis Home Guard clings to the comfort of following orders as his world falls apart around him. Meanwhile sergeant Konrad Ven Mikkelson of the Valhallan Ice Warriors leads his squad in an inglorious retreat through a city gripped by panic, as the population begins to tear itself apart.

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The Eye of Medusa – David Guymer

The Iron Hands are generally under-represented in Black Library fiction, but with The Eye of Medusa, his first full 40k novel (excluding The Beast Arises), David Guymer tackles de facto Chapter Master Kardan Stronos, back when he was only a sergeant. The Adeptus Mechancius world of Thennos lies under the aegis of Medusa, so when its population turns traitor the Iron Hands fall upon it with crushing, calculating brutality. Stronos, newly inducted into Clan Garrsak, leads his squad into battle but soon finds himself frustrated by the secrets Thennos holds, and the unthinking obedience expected of him by his new clan.

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Josh Reynolds Talks Humour, Horror and the Age of Reynolds: Part Two

In the first part of my interview with prolific, dark-humoured author Josh Reynolds we discussed his early career, and looked at his work for Black Library in the Age of Sigmar setting as well as a little bit about old-school Warhammer. If you haven’t yet checked that out, click here to go back and have a read of part one.

In this, the second part of the interview, Josh talks about his Warhammer 40,000 and Horus Heresy writing, including Fabius Bile, Lukas the Trickster and the primarch of the Emperor’s Children – Fulgrim. If you’ve read any of his Fabius stories then you’ll know just how good they are, and hopefully this will provide a little extra insight, but if you haven’t…firstly, what are you waiting for?! Read on to learn what influenced Fabius’ tone of voice, and get a bit of a sense of what you might be able to expect.

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RAPID FIRE: Robbie MacNiven on The Last Hunt

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their 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 it.

In this instalment I spoke to Robbie MacNiven about his new White Scars novel The Last Hunt, which is available to buy right now.

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Cadia Stands – Justin D. Hill

Justin D. Hill’s previous Black Library works have included three Ursarkar E. Creed short stories, including The Battle of Tyrok Fields – the story of a key event at the outset of the 13th Black Crusade. His novel Cadia Stands tells (some of) the story of what happened next, although it’s a very different beast, not least because it isn’t Creed’s story. Instead it tells the tale of Cadia’s stubborn defence against the Black Legion, during the events of the Gathering Storm, via a wide spread of characters across the breadth of the Cadian forces.

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Josh Reynolds Talks Humour, Horror and the Age of Reynolds: Part One

From his early work in the Old World through the End Times and beyond, and onto more recent work on Age of Sigmar, Fabius Bile and even the Horus Heresy, Josh Reynolds has for a long time been one of the most prolific Black Library authors. If you’re a Black Library fan, chances are you’ve read at least a few of Josh’s stories.

I’ve been following Josh’s career for a few years now, mostly through his Black Library work but also with a couple of other publishers, so I was delighted when he agreed to an interview. Rather than focusing in on one specific book or series, I wanted to cover quite a wide range of topics so we bounce from Josh’s early short stories to his most recent work, by way of music (including the soundtrack to Fabius Bile), invasive plants, Cryptids, the question of faith in Warhammer, and Space Wolf ‘knock knock’ jokes.

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