Tag Archives: Warhammer 40k

Gav Thorpe Talks Twenty Years of Black Library – Part One

From games design and White Dwarf to freelance Black Library author, Gav Thorpe has had a huge impact on Games Workshop and its intellectual properties over the years. September 2017 marks the twenty year anniversary of Gav’s first Black Library short story – Birth of a Legend – while 2017 has also seen Gav receive a prestigious Gemmell Award for his Age of Sigmar novel Warbeast.

With both of those milestones firmly in mind, I spoke to Gav about his twenty-year career as a Black Library author and how that fitted in with his time at Games Workshop, along the way discussing his first two Black Library stories, his work in the audio medium, and loads more.

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QUICK REVIEW: Pride and Fall – Ian St. Martin

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

Lucius the Eternal – the guy who, any time he’s killed and his killer takes satisfaction in the act, comes back to life in a rather gruesome fashion. How does that work if he’s not killed by a person, but rather a thing? That’s the question asked by Ian St. Martin in his short story Pride and Fall, an unusual and unexpectedly horrifying tale set relatively early on in Lucius’ eternal-ness. Without giving too much away, much to Lucius’ surprise he meets his temporary end not at the hands of a mighty warrior, but in an altogether more humble way. Continue reading →

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: 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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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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Architect of Fate – Cawkwell, Counter, French and Hinks

Part of Black Library’s Space Marine Battles series, Architect of Fate is made up of novellas from Sarah Cawkwell, Darius Hinks, Ben Counter and John French featuring various Space Marine chapters and members of the Inquisition battling against daemonic plots and manipulations on the fringes of the Eye of Terror. Four quite different stories told in each author’s distinct style, they nevertheless fit together nicely with common themes, the occasional bit of connective tissue, and a consistent tone.

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Legends of the Dark Millennium: Ultramarines

Collecting together stories about the boys in blue from five different authors, Legends of the Dark Millennium: Ultramarines features two novellas, prose versions of two audio dramas, and five further short stories. The emphasis is on named characters, with such Ultramarines luminaries as Marneus Calgar, Chaplain Cassius, Cato Sicarius, Torias Telion and Varro Tigurius shared out across four stories by Graham McNeill, two by Nick Kyme, and one each from Steve Lyons, Josh Reynolds and Gav Thorpe. Lyons’ novella Knight of Talassar is exclusive to this collection, while the remaining stories are available elsewhere as well.

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