Author Archives: Michael Dodd

Arjac Rockfist: Anvil of Fenris – Ben Counter

For some, limited edition books exist purely to make the publisher money. Others enjoy the rarity and the collectible aspect of them. Whatever your opinion on the topic, there can be no doubt that a physically beautiful book is a lovely thing to own and read. Black Library have been publishing ‘exclusives’ for a while now, in various release formats, the latest being Arjac Rockfist: Anvil of Fenris. Written by Ben Counter as part of the Lords of the Space Marines series, this is a novella-length book available in two formats – the ‘deluxe limited’ edition complete with additional audio drama and ornate case, and the standard ‘limited’ edition as reviewed. Bound underneath the dust cover in grey leather-effect and embossed with Fenrisian runes, as limited editions go this is an absolute beauty. Unlike ebooks, physical books offer a wonderfully tactile experience, and this one takes things one step further in its sheer luxuriousness.

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The Fall of Five – Pittacus Lore

2010’s young adult novel I Am Number Four introduced us to the Lorien Legacies series, charting the struggle between the Mogadorians (boo-hiss baddies) and the numerically named Garde (teenage good guys with latent super powers who can only be killed in order of their numbers), both of whom have infiltrated Earth for reasons of destruction or survival. Written by Pittacus Lore (technically James Frey and Jobie Hughes) it’s a good concept for a series, starting with a fairly standard good guy/bad guy setup in the vein of Transformers’ Autobots vs Decepticons backstory, where the protagonists end up marooned on Earth facing an against-the-odds battle to survive and hopefully rebuild their world. Despite having spawned a critically-maligned film version the book series is still going strong, with The Fall of Five being the (confusingly) fourth novel in the series so far.

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Knights of the Imperium – Graham McNeill

Released to tie in with the cool new Imperial Knight miniatures from Games Workshop, Knights of the Imperium is a brand new novella by Graham McNeill, who given his track record with Heresy-era knights (Mechanicum) and the Mechanicus (the …of Mars series) was surely the only author ever in the frame to write this book.

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Catechism of Hate – Gav Thorpe

Space Marine Battles books are tricky beasts. On the one hand they cover some of the coolest events in 40k history and give us the chance to see a range of different chapters in action, while on the other hand the authors writing the books are constrained by the nature of the series – they are after all, Space Marine battles, so they need to be based heavily around some pretty big scraps. The best of the bunch balance the action with a healthy dose of insight into the chapter(s) in question, and Catechism of Hate just about manages to achieve this balance.

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Renegades of the Dark Millennium – Black Library Anthology

We all love a baddie, right? Fans of Black Library probably do more than most, given the proliferation of great bad guys (and girls) in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. If that’s you, if you’re a fan of the dark(er) side, then Renegades of the Dark Millennium is for you. Unsurprisingly given the title, this is a celebration of all things dark, twisted and evil in the 40k universe, and is very much a Space Marines release.

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Vengeful Spirit – Graham McNeill

From humble beginnings in 2006 Black Library’s Horus Heresy series has grown and grown, and we now have the 29^th book in the series in the form of Graham McNeill’s epic novel Vengeful Spirit. Epic in both scale and physical size, over 500+ pages we get titans, Imperial Knights, five (yes, five!) primarchs, Malcador’s Knights Errant and the return to the printed page of a fan favourite from the original trilogy. Speaking of the original trilogy, Vengeful Spirit is the first novel since those heady days where we see Horus as a main protagonist – after 20-odd books of lurking in the shadows he has finally come out into the spotlight once again. And boy, has he come out swinging!

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Fortunately, The Milk – Neil Gaiman

It’s a rare author who can move seamlessly between adult and children’s fiction and produce top work in both genres. One such author is Neil Gaiman, whose dark, twisted and magical style of writing works beautifully in any genre he chooses to use. One of the (many) great things about Neil Gaiman is his ability to remember what it’s like being a child and inject this into his writing, as shown to full effect in the daft but highly entertaining Fortunately, The Milk.

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Headhunter – Michael Slade

Some books are initially deceptive, and deliberately don’t give you much in the way of clues to their contents from their title, cover or blurb on the back. Others are completely up front about what you will find within their pages. With a title like Headhunter, and a cover showing a severed head on a spike, this one falls firmly into the second category, and it’s not too hard to work out that this book is going to be a little bit gruesome.

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Thorgrim – David Guymer

Fans of Black Library’s Warhammer novels may be familiar with the four-way contest for Karak Eight Peaks, as previously handled in Skarsnik (by Guy Haley, concerning the titular goblin boss) and Headtaker (David Guymer). Following on from his previous novel taking on the insane skaven warlord Queek Headtaker, David Guymer now gives us a novella-length story showing things from the dwarf viewpoint. It’s their city that’s being contested after all, so it’s about time we got their point of view.

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Crown Fire – David Annandale

A crown fire is a specific type of wildfire where it’s specifically material at the canopy level that burns, such as tall trees or vines. It’s an apt name for David Annandale’s first Jen Blaylock novel, the focus of which is Blaylock’s pursuit of those at the top of the corporate tree responsible for the deaths of her family.

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