40k Reading Order: Silver Skulls – Sarah Cawkwell

Welcome to this 40k Reading Order article, the first of many where I’ll be taking a look at a range of Black Library series and providing recommended orders in which to read the various stories – in this case Sarah Cawkwell’s excellent Warhammer 40,000 Silver Skulls stories. If you’ve ever wanted to read this series but haven’t known where to start, then look no further than this article! With a little help from Sarah, including a handy page on her website, I’ve put together a comprehensive list of all of her Silver Skulls stories, along with a couple of other stories that link off at a bit of a tangent and some suggestions for what to read next.

As well as the recommended reading order, I’ve also included a breakdown of each story with the publisher’s synopsis, suggestions of the best way to get hold of each one, and links out to my review where they’re available.

Who are the Silver Skulls?

Before we go any further you might be interested to know a little bit about who the Silver Skulls are, so I asked Sarah for a few of her thoughts on this unconventional Chapter of Space Marines, and what drives them.

Silver Skulls art by Clint Langley

Sarah Cawkwell: The Silver Skulls are best described as highly superstitious, extremely zealous but undeniably loyal. Their entire ethos is driven by their Prognosticators, psykers who read signs and omens from the Emperor, sometimes channelled through runes, tarot or other physical means, but also through visions and ‘feelings’. To defy a Prognosticator’s decree is considered an act of heresy within the chapter and more than one promising warrior has found this out the hard way.

A successor of the Ultramarines, the Silver Skulls have been in existence for a long time but even so, their warriors are comparatively young. They are based on the ice world of Varsavia, from whose local tribes they draw most of their intake. As such, they are quite diverse and there is more than a little friction between them at times.

Reading order

Sarah’s recommendation is to read these stories chronologically, so while you could read them in any order and still enjoy them, following this order should give you the best possible reading experience.

You’ll note that I’ve included a pair of Sarah’s Red Corsairs short stories as well (marked below, appropriately, in red) as these offer nice additional links to the antagonist of her novel The Gildar Rift. If you’re only interested in Silver Skulls stories then don’t worry, you don’t have to read these two to enjoy the novel, but I thought they’re worth including for the sake of completion!

• Bitter End (Red Corsairs short story)
• Primary Instinct (short story)
• Action and Consequence (short story)
• Cause and Effect (short story)
• The Gildar Rift (novel)
• The Tyrant’s Champion (Red Corsairs short story)
• The Pact (short story)
• Skin Deep (short story)
• Portents (novel)

There’s a real variety of stories here, from a micro-short (i.e. about 1,000 words) up to the two novels, and many of them have been released in multiple editions – as standalone releases, in anthologies, even in BL’s now-defunct monthly Hammer and Bolter magazine. As far as I can tell, none of them are currently available in physical format, but they’re all available as ebooks.

Story breakdown

In this section I’ve gone through each story, adding in the synopsis from the Black Library website and offering my own suggestions on the best way(s) of picking up each story. I’ve reviewed a few of these stories on Track of Words too, so where reviews are available I’ve included links as well.

Bitter End (Red Corsairs)
Following the Star Phantoms’ attack on the Palace of Thorns, a grievously injured Huron Blackheart survives only through making a pact with a mysterious creature known as the hamadrya. While the hamadrya imbues Huron with its strength and protection, the further from the Maelstrom he travels, the weaker its blessings become. What solution can Huron find for this conundrum, and, more importantly, what price will he have to pay for it?

This has been released in all sorts of editions, starting with Hammer & Bolter (issue 12) and then at least two different anthologies, along with a standalone e-short as well. If you’re on the lookout for a great value anthology, I would recommend There Is Only War, which contains no fewer than 41 short stories (including this one)!

Primary Instinct
Investigating a crashed ship in an alien jungle, the Silver Skulls encounter monstrous aliens that threaten even the mighty Space Marines. When a battle-brother dies, his corpse desecrated, they discover a horrifying truth about the vile beasts.

Pick this up as an e-short if you’re only looking for this story, but if you’re interested in a range of other 40k stories as well you can find it in the Victories of the Space Marines anthology (which is only just more than twice the price of the e-short, for 9 stories).

Action and Consequence
Newly promoted to leader of his squad, Silver Skull Gileas Ur’ten must prove himself both to his battle-brothers and his peers. When a mission to protect their recruiting grounds against the dark eldar goes wrong, Gileas must lead a force to locate the missing Space Marines, and go to their aid. However, the need to protect the eldar’s human prisoners poses extra complications on an already tricky mission.

This is available in Hammer & Bolter issue 5 alongside an eclectic mix of other stories, but chances are you’re best off picking it up as a standalone e-short.

Cause and Effect
The Silver Skulls Chapter of Space Marines place great value on the visions of their psykers, and follow their guidance in all matters. When Chapter Master Argentius seeks advice on whether to promote battle-brother Gileas Ur’ten to Captain of the Eighth Company, the Prognosticators are unable to provide a clear answer. While Gileas is an extremely capable warrior, he is also prone to fits of temper. Will his current mission against the eldar prove beyond doubt his capacity to lead?

Once again, this is available in Hammer & Bolter (issue 8 this time), or as a standalone e-short.

The Gildar Rift
When the ancient warship Wolf of Fenris emerges from the warp, Imperial forces find that it has been overrun by the dreaded Red Corsairs. However, this is no mere raiding party – Huron Blackheart and his entire renegade fleet soon follow, intent on conquering the Gildar Rift and tightening their grip on the sector. Lance batteries and torpedo salvos burn fiery contrails through the void, and only Captain Arrun of the Silver Skulls Space Marine Chapter can halt the renegades’ advance. The fate of the Rift will not be decided in the heavens but on the surface of Gildar Secundus below.

This is long out of print as a physical book, but the ebook is still available (and there’s also Warriors of the Imperium, an omnibus including this alongside Andy Hoare’s White Scars novel Hunt for Voldorius).

The Tyrant’s Champion (Red Corsairs)
Huron Blackheart, Master of the Red Corsairs, is a warlord without a champion. Several hopefuls wish to claim the honour of fighting at the side of the Tyrant of Badab. Sent to battle one another in the twisted depths of Blackheart’s realm, Who – if any – will emerge victorious and claim the title of Tyrant’s Champion?

Check out my review of The Tyrant’s Champion. As far as I can tell, this has only ever had a standalone e-short release.

The Pact
The Space Marines of the Silver Skulls make the planet of Varsavia their home, but this was not always the case. Once, they were resident on Lyria, and now, the elite Talritug Terminator squad returns to that benighted place at the behest of Prognosticator Bhehan. But all is not well, and an enemy awaits them… along with an unexpected ally. But can Sergeant Kerelan and his allies trust the perfidious aeldari to honour their pact?

Check out my review of The Pact. Another Hammer & Bolter alumnus, this one is available in issue 15 or as a standalone e-short.

Skin Deep
Amongst the Silver Skulls, great deeds are commemorated with victory tattoos. Lord Commander Argentius, Master of the Chapter, visits the aged Cruor Primaris to have his latest exploits added. But Argentius is uneasy and as he talks with his old friend, he bares his soul as well as his tattooed body.

This was originally released in an anthology called Space Marines: Angels of Death containing nearly 30 different 1,000 word short stories, but I think that was a limited release. You can still pick this up as a standalone e-short, though.

Portents
The Silver Skulls Space Marine Chapter deploy on the world of Valoria Quintus to combat an insurrection backed by the dread forces of the Traitor Legions. Sent there by the visions of their Prognosticators, the mysterious psykers whose premonitions decree the path forged by the Chapter and the wars that they wage, they expect victory to be swift and easy. But they have not reckoned with their own allies, the servants of the Inquisition who are interested in the Prognosticators, their importance within the Chapter and the possibility that the Silver Skulls may be being manipulated by the very powers they fight against…

Check out my review of Portents. As far as I’m aware this has only ever been released in the standard paperback and ebook formats, with the ebook still available.

Further reading

That’s the full series as it stands, although I’ll update this article if and when any additional stories are published. In the meantime, if you’ve read all of these stories and are still looking for more then I’ve got a few suggestions for you…

More Silver Skulls
If you just can’t get enough of the Silver Skulls, you’re in luck as there’s one additional short story available – The Twisted Runes by Matt Smith. It’s not directly connected to Sarah’s stories, but it’s the same Chapter.

More from Sarah Cawkwell
Sarah has written plenty of Silver Skulls stories, but they’re not the full extent of her Black Library fiction. Here’s a quick rundown of what else you might want to check out:

• Space Marines: for more Astartes action check out Sarah’s novella Accursed Entity, which is included in Architect of Fate, and her Deathwatch short story Awakened in the anthology The Long Vigil.
• Valkia the Bloody: Valkia is a classic Warhammer character, who you can read about in Sarah’s novel Valkia the Bloody, and the short stories Bloodraven, Blood Blessing, Reaper, and The Siege of Naggarond.
• Warcry: if Age of Sigmar is your thing, check out Sarah’s Warcry short stories The Heart of the Fallen and Proving Ground (featured in Warcry: The Anthology).

Sarah has also written an assortment of stories outside of the Black Library stables, including:

• Heirs of the Demon King: Uprising: an alternative history take on what could have happened if the Plantagenet family had not lost the battle of Bosworth field (published by Rebellion).
• Two separate comedic tales of a hapless adventurer named Gilrain appearing in the Fox Spirit anthologies Tales of the Nun and Dragon and Tales of the Mouse and Minotaur.
• A number of freely available ‘vignettes’ for characters from Warcradle’s tabletop game ‘Wild West Exodus’

You can find links to all of these stories over on Sarah’s website!

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I hope this is useful, for anyone keen to check out Sarah’s Silver Skulls stories! If you haven’t already, do take a look at my reviews of these stories where I’ve linked out to them, and remember that you can always check out the samples on the BL website if you want to try before you buy.

Keep an eye out for more Reading Order articles as well, and please do let me know if there are any series that you would like me to cover! Feel free to leave a comment below, or come and find me on Twitter.

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