Edoardo Albert makes his Black Library debut with Born of the Storm, a 40k short story offering a characterful view of the Fulminators Chapter’s recruitment process. Even at an early age, listening to his father read stories of angels, dragons, wolves and knights, Augustin knew he wanted to grow up to fight monsters. From battling ambushing gangers as a cadet in the Astra Militarum to surviving hardships under the storm-ridden skies of Mars, he must overcome challenge after challenge, endure brutal hardships and sacrifice much – even the last links to his family – for the chance to attain his dream.
While the physical trials required for an aspirant to become a Space Marine have been written about many times before, this particular depiction has plenty of personality, largely because Albert spends time early on setting up Augustin as a strong character with clear stakes. It’s a story about Augustin’s challenges rather than the minutiae of the Fulminators, cramming a lot of character into a short space of time and remaining focused on the human cost of the process. An entertaining, characterful debut, this is a satisfying story in its own right with just a few hints of what to expect from this Chapter when Albert takes a longer look in his novella Lords of the Storm.
Thank you! What a great review. I hope you’ll get a chance to read ‘Lords of the Storm’ when it comes out.
I’m very much looking forward to it! I’m hoping to pick up copies of the whole novella series as soon as it’s out, and I’ll be sure to post a review once I’ve read Lords of the Storm 🙂