I’ve already written articles about the best Black Library novels, audio dramas and anthologies of 2019 so far, so this time around I’m picking out my personal favourite short stories released from January to June. For me personally the first couple of months of 2019 were a bit disappointing from the perspective of BL’s Digital Monday short stories, as the vast majority of them were pulled from older anthologies rather than being brand new stories. That changed as the year moved on, however, and looking back now there have been some fantastic tales released over the first half of the year.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big fan of Black Library short stories – I’ve loved them ever since getting hooked on Inferno! magazine back in the 90s, and I particularly enjoy the opportunity they provide to dip in and out of settings, factions and characters. While it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with all of the new books and audio dramas BL are releasing, I still do my best to read as many of the new short stories as possible – which means for this article I had A LOT to choose from. To complicate things even further, some BL’s short stories are released in anthologies and then subsequently as digital e-shorts, while others take the reverse route.
To keep things as straightforward as possible, here’s the criteria I settled on for this article – if a short story was released in any way during the first half of 2019 (even if it was previously available elsewhere) it’s eligible for inclusion on my list! With that in mind, I’ve split this article out into two sections; one covering stories which have (so far) only been released in anthologies, and another looking at stories which are available as digital e-shorts (although one is available in an anthology as well, and I expect most of the others will be in the near future).
As with the previous articles, for each of my top three short stories (under each category) I’ve included a quick snippet from my original interview as well as a few additional thoughts on what I particularly enjoyed with each one. I’ve also included a few honourable mentions for each category, stories which I’d highly recommend you check out as well. Even splitting things out like this it’s been exceptionally tricky to decide upon my favourites, and I’ve probably forgotten at least one which I’ve absolutely loved!
Anthology Stories
All of these stories are currently only available in anthologies; my three main picks cover 40k, Necromunda and the Horus Heresy, while the honourable mentions also cover Age of Sigmar (by way of Warhammer Horror) and Blood Bowl…so I’ll refer you back to my earlier comment about short stories offering a variety of settings and characters!
Track of Words’ Top Choice – The Thirteenth Psalm by Peter Fehervari
On the frozen, rebellion-wracked world of Oblazt, while exploring the decadent halls of a noblewoman’s seemingly undefended estate, Chaplain Castigant Bjargo Rathana and his brothers endure trials of the soul which test their commitment to the Angels Penitents’ ideals, and force Rathana to question the consequences of his past deeds.
That’s right, another Fehervari story! One of my all-time favourite 40k short stories – The Crown of Thorns – introduced me to the Angels Penitent, a Chapter descended from the Blood Angels who were once known as the Angels Resplendent, but who have since fallen to a particularly toxic interpretation of Imperial dogma. Since then the Angels Resplendent/Penitent have captured my imagination like no other Chapter has, and while this particular story doesn’t dig too deep into their backstory it nonetheless offers an as-yet unparalleled insight into the mindset of one of their senior members. It’s currently available in Inferno! Volume 2, and is an absolute must-read for anyone who loves Fehervari’s Dark Coil and hungers for more details.
Crucially, however, it’s not just about providing information for fans of this particular Chapter. For all that I love the textured and interconnected nature of his stories, Fehervari is also just a damn fine writer, and so even if you came into this cold I’m confident that there would be more than enough here to enjoy as a standalone story. While Rathana is clearly a tormented soul with a particularly unpleasant worldview, he’s still a Space Marine, and this is very much a 40k story with a pitch-perfect sense of the setting’s tone. Sure, it’s weird – and about as far away from a straight-up Space Marine action story as you can get – but it’s just so good!
Check out my quick review of The Thirteenth Psalm here.
A Common Ground by Mike Brooks
Jaxx is a member of House Goliath, and has chosen to make a name for himself fighting in the arena of impresario Drost Khouren rather than work in the foundries. Shortly after discovering that Khouren rigged his last contest, costing him a shot at a lucrative fight, Jaxx is offered an opportunity to claim one last paycheck, but at a high cost.
Available in both Inferno! Volume 1 (from 2018) and Underhive (2019) anthologies, what I absolutely love about this story is the way it takes a known trope of the Necromunda setting – Goliaths are big, slow and stupid – and completely turns it around. On the face of it this is a straightforward action story with (quite literally) two fights and a conversation, in which Jaxx lets his fists do most of the talking…but it’s also a story about legacies, about the realities of life in the Underhive and the choices people are forced to make. Sure, Jaxx is explosively violent and talks a bit funny…but this gives the best in-setting explanation for WHY that’s the case that I’ve ever come across. Oh, and it also connects to Mike’s upcoming novel Rites of Passage!
Check out my quick review of A Common Ground here.
The Emperor’s Architect by Guy Haley
An interleaved tale combining glimpses of Perturabo’s earliest days with a Crusade-era story of two Remembrancers attempting to write the definitive history of the Iron Warriors’ primarch. Until now the Lord of Iron’s story began on the Phyrgean cliffs, but here we see Perturabo’s first days on Olympia and his earliest, almost-forgotten interactions with humans.
Have you read Guy’s Primarchs novel Hammer of Olympia? If you have, I think you’ll get a lot out of this story and the way it extends Guy’s depiction of Perturabo, but even if not there’s a lot to enjoy in this unusual story. It’s not often we get to read about the marital squabbles of a mortal couple in BL fiction, but that character dynamic works beautifully in this story, providing one compelling thread while the early – and previously unseen – days of Perturabo’s time on Olympia provide the other thread. It’s not the most conventional of BL stories, but then that’s part of what makes it so interesting! Currently it’s only available in Sons of the Emperor, although at least that anthology is now available widely, and not just at BL events. (I first read this in 2018 when the event-only anthology was released, but as per my criteria above it counts here because the anthology got a full release in 2019)
Check out my quick review of The Emperor’s Architect here.
Honourable mentions
My shortlist of anthology stories to include was three or four times longer than the list I settled on, and any of those stories would have been worthy inclusions (including almost everything from Inferno! Volume 2 and 3). For the sake of brevity, however, I’ve narrowed that down to three more excellent stories – one 40k, one AoS (and Warhammer Horror) and one Blood Bowl. They’re all fantastic, and well worth checking out.
Spiritus in Machina by Thomas Parrott – available in Inferno! Volume 2, this clever little Adeptus Mechanicus story opens with a brilliant couple of lines which set the tone of the whole thing: “There is an old saying that war is diplomacy by other means. The Adeptus Mechanicus might say instead that war is data collection by other means.” Pacy and entertaining, it’s one of my favourite AdMech depictions yet!
Last of the Blood by CL Werner – a hugely enjoyable Warhammer Horror story featured in Maledictions, this is a great example of an Age of Sigmar tale which eschews pretty much all of the usual trappings of the setting but still feels appropriate. While I would have happily read a much longer version of this, exploring the East Asian-influenced characters and their history in greater detail, as it is it’s a short but compelling story of family treachery and a ghostly curse.
Dismember the Titans by Graeme Lyon – I bloomin’ love Blood Bowl, and Lyon’s previous story Mazlocke’s Cantrip of Superior Substitution was a favourite of mine from 2017. Available in Inferno! Volume 3, this is the sequel – and while it’s a very different type of story (which takes place far from the pitch) it’s another wildly entertaining romp through this sort-of-old-school-Warhammer setting.
Digital Short Stories
For the second part of this article I’m looking at short stories which have only (so far) been released as digital e-shorts. This time around I’ve gone for two Warhammer Horror stories – one Age of Sigmar and the other 40k – along with one standalone Age of Sigmar tale, all three of which absolutely blew me away!
Track of Words’ Top Choice – He Feasts Forever by Lora Gray
Dedric works as a cook in the king’s kitchens, content to be surrounded by friends and comfortable with his place in the world. While helping prepare a feast for the king’s return, the familiar routine of his work is broken, triggering a chain of events which cause Dedric to feel his certainties begin to fade. As long-buried memories surface, the truth of his past and present slowly comes into horrifying focus.
I’ve read one of Lora’s Warhammer Horror stories before – Crimson Snow from Maledictions – and enjoyed it, but this one…this absolutely blew me away! It’s a touch tricky to talk about because I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so rather than focus on what happens I’ll talk instead about what it made me feel. I used the term “Gormenghast-esque” in my review, and I really can’t think of a better way of putting it – that mixture of crumbling splendour and slightly unsettling domesticity which feels quietly sinister and leaves your skin gently crawling even though you’re not quite sure why. It’s set largely in a kitchen, and right from the off there’s something creepy about the location…
It’s a sensation which proves accurate as the story progresses, exploring the everyday side of the Mortal Realms in a way that most BL stories – which understandably focus on the war in Warhammer – tend not to manage. It’s absolutely appropriate to the setting, and deals with one of the most fascinating (in my opinion, at least) and least explored ideas in the background, and while the absence of anything resembling big battles and the like might dissuade some readers, for anyone who enjoys the quietly creepy elements of the setting this should be at the top of your list. If this is a sign of what’s to come from Warhammer Horror, I’ll be very pleased indeed.
Check out my quick review of He Feasts Forever here.
The Garden of Mortal Delights by Robert Rath
Branchwych Kurdwen has been held captive for a full season, serving the whims of Revish the Epicurean and tending to his pleasure garden. Grown bored of the more visceral excesses, Revish has turned to culinary pleasures to sate his desires, utilising Kurdwen’s talents to nurture his garden. As he increasingly relies upon her skills, however, Kurdwen has plans of her own.
For me this is one of the most impressive Black Library debuts in recent times, an Age of Sigmar story which feels beautifully plotted and structured, and which puts together two factions – Sylvaneth and Slaanesh – in a way that I wouldn’t ever have expected…but which works beautifully. I talked in my review about these being “familiar archetypes seen from unexpected angles”, and that’s a big part of what makes this work so well; it’s dark and thought-provoking and poses some questions which remind the reader that the Mortal Realms are anything but black and white.
Check out my quick review of The Garden of Mortal Delights here.
Blood Sacrifice by Peter McLean
Digging in on a dreary hive world under the watchful eye of a new, by-the-book sergeant, the endless waiting is wearing on Corporal Cully and bringing back painful memories. When the opportunity arises to make a little money off the books he jumps at the chance, but what should be a straightforward job becomes something much worse.
Ever since his first Black Library story – Baphomet By Night – blew my mind and creeped me out in equal measures, I’ve been following Peter’s BL career with interest…in particular the various exploits of Corporal Cully and the Reslian 45th. They’ve all been horror stories to a greater or lesser extent, but this one…this gets back to Baphomet levels of sinister, disturbing, psychological grimdark. It’s genuinely powerful stuff, which fully deserves the Warhammer Horror label, and will have particular impact if you’ve followed Cully’s tale through all of the previous stories. Just don’t expect to feel clean afterwards.
Check out my quick review of Blood Sacrifice here.
Honourable mentions
Once again I could have chosen so many stories to talk about here, but I settled in the end upon one Age of Sigmar tale, one 40k story and one Heresy story. All three could easily have been in my top picks on a different day, and in my opinion they represent three authors at the top of their game.
Force of Personality by David Guymer – easily my favourite of David’s Hamilcar short stories, if you haven’t yet delved into the exploits of Sigmar’s mightiest Stormcast Eternal and you’re keen to see what all the fuss is about, this is the place to start. Laugh-out-loud funny AND a great story in its own right? What’s not to like about that?!
The Mistress of Threads by John French – one of several fascinating Horusian Wars short stories (which I assume will feature in the upcoming Divinations anthology) this is a little different to the others in the series. It’s essentially a found-footage short story, made up of letters between the characters which combine to tell a typical smart French story.
Bringer of Sorrow by Aaron Dembski-Bowden – two of the most memorable Horus Heresy characters for me personally are Arkhan Land and the Blood Angel Zephon, from Aaron’s The Master of Mankind. Here we see the continuation of their story, exploring the unconventional relationship they share in a beautiful little character study.
There you have it, my pick of the best Black Library short stories of 2019 so far – both from anthologies and standalone e-shorts – along with a few more worthy inclusions. If you haven’t already, do make sure to check out my previous articles looking at my personal favourite novels, audio dramas and anthologies from the first half of 2019.
If you’ve read any (or all) of these short stories and have got any comments, or would like to share with me what your own favourites are, please do get in touch and let me know! You can leave a comment below, or find me on Twitter or Facebook.