Regular readers of Track of Words will probably know how much of a fan I am of John French’s Warhammer 40,000 series of Ahriman stories. I remember reading Ahriman: Exile back in 2012 and just being blown away by the atmosphere, the storytelling and the depth of this intriguing character, and as the trilogy progressed it developed into one of my all-time favourite Black Library series. It might not be for everyone, but I just love the narrative complexity and the detail of these characters! There’s more to this series than just a trio of novels (and counting) though, and one of its strengths is the way the books are complemented by a host of additional short stories. The only problem is, it’s not necessarily easy to know where to start – so that’s where this article comes in!
If you search on the Black Library website for “Ahriman” you’ll see more than 30 listings – some of those are French and German editions of the novels, some are parts of other series (like the Horus Heresy), and mixed in there somewhere are the 13 individual stories (in English) that make up this series…plus an omnibus, an anthology and a separate audiobook listing. That’s understandably quite daunting, so to help with that I’m going to talk you through a suggested reading order for the series, and link out to my reviews of each and every story, with a few additional thoughts added in for some of them.
It’s also worth noting that since the trilogy concluded in 2015 with Ahriman: Unchanged I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed for more Ahriman stories – and I’m sure I’m not the only one! A couple of more recent releases (an audio drama and a short story) have hinted that Ahriman’s tale isn’t over yet, which is excellent news, and you can rest assured that I’ll keep this article updated as and when any further stories are published, and/or I hear any news about what John might be planning.
UPDATE: to my absolute delight, John has written a new Ahriman novel – Ahriman: Eternal – and I can confirm that it’s excellent! It was originally only released as a ‘Mega Edition’ boxed set (which I was lucky enough to be given as a birthday present), but the regular hardback and ebook (no word yet on audiobook, but maybe) editions are due out in June 2022. I’ve added Ahriman: Eternal into this article in all the relevant places.
Reading Order
If you just want to know the best order in which to read the various Ahriman stories, here’s John French’s recommended reading order:
- All is Dust
- Ahriman: Exile (novel)
- The Dead Oracle
- Fortune’s Fool
- Hounds of Wrath
- The First Prince
- Gates of Ruin
- Ahriman: Sorcerer (novel)
- Hand of Dust
- King of Ashes
- Ahriman: Unchanged (novel)
- Key of Infinity*
- A Coin for the Carrion Thieves*
- Ahriman: Eternal (novel)
*Note that I’ve included the three most recent stories on this list in the order in which they were published. When I originally spoke to John to ask for his recommended reading order these hadn’t yet been released, but as they take place after the events of Unchanged it’s safe to say they’re best read last (so far).
Next up, I’ll take a look through all of these stories with a few observations and links out to my reviews. I’m not going to list these following the reading order, but rather break them up into first the novels and then the short stories.
The Novels
The three novels are the main focus of the series, but that’s not to say they’re the only things worth checking out. You could certainly stick to just these three books and get a lot out of the series, but I would personally recommend you pick up the short stories too. The reading order above is probably the best order in which to read them, but I would say you’d be fine reading the novels first and then going back and adding in the short stories to fill in the gaps, if necessary.
Ahriman: Exile
This is where it all started for me, and it’s still one of my favourite Black Library books of all time. Rich, evocative, totally different to anything I’d read before, it gets right inside the head of this intriguing character and charts the beginning of his journey from lowest ebb back to reclaiming his powers and rebuilding himself. It’s probably the most straightforward of the three novels, as you might expect from French’s debut, but in hindsight it’s clear to see how cleverly the seeds of the rest of the series were sown in this story.
Check out my review of Ahriman: Exile
Ahriman: Sorcerer
With most of the key characters introduced and plot arcs set in motion, the second novel broadens the scope of the series as Ahriman starts getting properly ambitious with his plans. Where Exile got right into his head, this marks the start of a process of pulling back and showing Ahriman’s actions and schemes from other perspectives, which changes the tone of things a little but allows French to get more ambitious as well. If Exile was about Ahriman finding himself and taking his first steps on a new path, this shows him gathering knowledge and preparing for something big.
Check out my review of Ahriman: Sorcerer
Ahriman: Unchanged
Everything comes to a head in the final part of the trilogy, as French reveals the full scope of Ahriman’s ambition – and his flaws. If it hadn’t become clear before, by now it’s impossible not to see that however relatable Ahriman might have appeared at the start, and however noble he might consider his goals, this is a proper villain we’re dealing with. It’s hard not to root for him still, but Ahriman at the peak of his powers and the height of his arrogance is a pretty scary proposition! Everything wraps up beautifully in terms of the overarching story, but there’s scope for a lot more from Ahriman…now that it’s clear exactly what he’s capable of.
Check out my review of Ahriman: Unchanged
Ahriman: Eternal
A new series begins, as Ahriman and his Exiles seek out xenos technology which they hope will give them the power to control time – a power which Ahriman believes will allow him to finally undo the damage he’s done to his legion. Time is something the Thousand Sons don’t have, however, as the after-effects of the Second Rubric reach out to them from the warp, in the shape of the Pyrodomon. I absolutely loved this fourth novel, which delivers something a little different to what’s gone before but still retains the core elements that make the Ahriman series so good. As the start of a new series, it really sets things up nicely for what’s to come, too.
Check out my review of Ahriman: Eternal
The Short Stories
When they were first published, most of these short stories came along as individual releases, so I ended up reading them just as and when they arrived. I don’t think that’s a problem really, so if you’ve done the same thing then I wouldn’t say you’re missing out. Ideally they’re probably best read in the order shown earlier, but they also have their own groupings too if you want to try something different.
When the Ahriman: Exodus anthology was released it collected together the eight Ahriman short stories that had been published up to that point, labelling five of them as The Tale of Ctesias and the other three as Voices of Fate. I’ve used those groupings below, but there are also some newer stories which don’t yet have a clear theme, so I’ve included them separately at the end. I won’t go into much detail for the short stories as there are so many to feature, instead I’ll just give a very quick one-line overview and link out to each review.
For an overview of the first eight short stories, check out my review of Ahriman: Exodus.
The Tale of Ctesias
These five short stories all feature Ctesias, a daemonologist of the Thousand Sons whose reflective, embittered nature makes for an interesting viewpoint on Ahriman, and they all take place at some point between the events of Exile and Sorcerer. Ctesias is a great character who goes on to play an important part in the series as a whole, and these are some of my personal favourites from the series.
The Dead Oracle
The first appearance of Ctesias, as Ahriman pays a visit to another of his old Legion brothers in search of answers.
Check out my review of The Dead Oracle
Fortune’s Fool
Pitting Ctesias against another one of his former brothers, this starts to delve a little deeper into the daemonologist’s unusual set of skills (note that it doesn’t have a dedicated cover as it’s not available as a standalone ebook).
Check out my review of Fortune’s Fool
Hounds of Wrath
This one sees Ctesias forced – begrudgingly – to work alongside the swordsman Sanakht, in a tale with a bit less of the usual psychic weirdness and a bit more ground-pounding action.
Check out my review of Hounds of Wrath
The First Prince
Available in both audio and prose formats, this is probably my favourite of the short stories, featuring Ahriman bargaining with Be’lakor of all people (is he a person? I don’t know!) for the soul of Ctesias.
Check out my review of The First Prince
Gates of Ruin
Overlapping ever so slightly with Sorcerer, this is one of several payoffs for Ctesias’ role in the series and the part Ahriman expects him to play.
Check out my review of Gates of Ruin
Voices of Fate
The next three short stories are all rather more abstract, told from a range of interesting perspectives and exploring a little of the Thousand Sons’ post-Heresy nature. Ambiguous, atmospheric, they’re very much the sort of thing French enjoys writing, and while they might be a bit too weird for some readers, I absolutely love them!
All is Dust
Helio Isidorus has been reduced from Legion brother to dust-filled Rubricae, and this micro-short offers a brief glimpse into what’s left of his fractured mind.
Check out my review of All is Dust
Hand of Dust
Ahriman is in reflective mood here, looking back over some of the terrible events he’s been involved in, and exploring the tragedy of his Legion.
Check out my review of Hand of Dust
King of Ashes
There aren’t many stories told from Magnus’ perspective, but this one offers a flash of metaphor-laden insight into the Crimson King’s history and his relationship with Ahriman.
Check out my review of King of Ashes
The new stories
Several years after Unchanged was published, a couple of new Ahriman stories have started to appear – so far just one audio drama and a single short story, but they’re enough to give some hope that French might be working on some new, longer-form stories too. SPOILER WARNING: if you haven’t read the Ahriman novels and don’t want to know which characters may survive them…you might want to stop reading now!
If and when it becomes clear that these stories are part of something wider I’ll make sure to update this article, but until then I’ve included them in the order in which they were published.
Key of Infinity
With typically impressive production values, this short audio drama sees Ahriman interrogating a necron Cryptek, with the help of Master of Ruin Ignis…and some interesting time manipulation ensues.
Check out my review of Key of Infinity
A Coin for the Carrion Thieves
Ctesias is back, and putting his special set of skills to good use once more in order to help Ahriman in some unusual negotiations.
Check out my review of A Coin for the Carrion Thieves
How to get hold of these stories
As usual with Black Library there are, theoretically at least, three formats that some or all of these books are available in – physical, ebook and audio. However, because this series has been out for a while, and was first released quite a long time ago, the available formats aren’t quite as consistent as they are with some more recent series.
NOTE: the following sections relate primarily to the original trilogy and short stories. The fourth novel, Ahriman: Eternal, is due out in hardback and ebook (possibly also audio) in June 2022.
Physical copies
If you prefer actual paper books, your best option is going to be Ahriman: The Omnibus, which contains all three novels AND (despite the BL website not listing them) all of the short stories from Ahriman: Exodus. I had to double check my own copy, as the BL site doesn’t mention the short stories, but rest assured they are all included! It’s great value, especially if you can find it somewhere that offers discounts, and while at the time of writing it’s showing as ‘Temporarily out of stock Online’ on the Games Workshop website, there appear to be copies available at various online bookstores.
If you would prefer individual copies of the three novels, it’s going to be trickier. It’s worth pointing out that all three came out in paperback first, as this was before BL started releasing (virtually) everything in hardback initially, so the only hardback copies published were 500 or so of the limited edition hardback box set released back in 2017. The only one of the three novels currently available in paperback is Exile, as that was re-released for BL’s ‘Character Week’ back in 2020 – it had previously been long out of print, as are Sorcerer and Unchanged. Sadly, if you do want individual paperbacks you’ll need to resort to the secondary market.
Ebooks
Most of these stories are available as individual ebooks if that’s a format you like – from what I can see on the BL website, the only one not released in ebook is Fortune’s Fool, which is only available within the Ahriman: Exodus anthology.
I seem to remember there having been a bundle deal collecting the whole series at some point, but that doesn’t appear to be available any more, so your best bet if you did want the whole series would once again be to buy Ahriman: The Omnibus, which thankfully is also available in ebook. It’s quite handy that the short stories are mostly available individually, in case you’ve got some of them and just want to pick up the odd one to fill in the gaps in your collection. If that’s the case though, the ebook of Ahriman: Exodus is also an option…although it would only cost a bit more to just get the omnibus.
Audio
Black Library wasn’t regularly producing full, unabridged audiobooks when the Ahriman novels were published, so none of them received the audio treatment at the time. BL has since released Exile as an audiobook, but not the other two (yet). Your other audio options are The First Prince and Key of Infinity, both of which are available as audio dramas.
Other appearances
To finish off, here are a few more of Ahriman’s appearances elsewhere in 40k and (mostly) the Horus Heresy, if you’ve read and enjoyed John French’s series and want to find out more about this fascinating character.
- A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill
- Thief of Revelations by Graham McNeill (audio drama)
- The Crimson King by Graham McNeill
- Fury of Magnus by Graham McNeill (Siege of Terra novella)
- Atlas Infernal by Rob Sanders (in which Ahriman is the antagonist)
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There you go, then – I hope this has been useful, whether you’ve read most of this series already or you’re planning on making a start with it. If you haven’t already, do take a look at my reviews of these stories, and give them a go – you can always check out the samples on the BL website if you want to try before you buy.
Have you read some or all of these stories? Do you have a favourite, or are you looking forward to seeing what Ahriman gets up to next? Let me know in the comments below, or over on Twitter.
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