Author Archives: Michael Dodd

Gotrek and Felix: City of the Damned – David Guymer

For the fourteenth novel in the much-loved Gotrek and Felix saga, David Guymer sends the doom-seeking dwarf slayer and his human rememberer to Mordheim, the City of the Damned. Unlike the ‘Nounslayer’ books (the first 12 novels, from Trollslayer to Zombieslayer) this one doesn’t follow on chronologically, so it’s not clear exactly at what point in their careers we’re seeing them, and none of the cast of old friends that pop up throughout the other novels make an appearance (other than a brief mention for one).

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Religion for Atheists – Alain de Botton

In today’s increasingly secular world it’s worth posing the question of whether the non-religious among us (be they atheist, agnostic or simply not interested) might be missing out on something. After all, religions must be doing something right for people to remain involved despite the way in which science and technology have changed our world. Alain de Botton has clearly given this question some thought, the result of which is a beautifully written, clear and articulate book that proves genuinely thought-provoking at every turn.

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Redshirts – John Scalzi

Ever wonder what goes through the minds of the disposable extras in sci-fi TV shows? You know, the expendable security staff you’ve never seen on screen before, whose sole purpose is to die so that the main characters can survive? Well John Scalzi, creative consultant on Stargate: Universe, has obviously given it some thought, the result of which is the Hugo Award-winning Redshirts.

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All Gone to Look for America – Peter Millar

It’s approximately 3,000 miles from the east coast of America to the west, about 5 times the distance from Lands End to John O’Groats. Go back 150 years or so to the early days of the USA, and it was pretty much an insurmountable distance. That is, until the advent of the railway. Given America’s history with the railroad it seems a crying shame that only about 10% of rail journeys nowadays are made by passengers – all the rest is freight. In writing All Gone to Look for America, Peter Millar has given us a beer- and music-fuelled insight into the America of today as seen from the windows of the Hiawatha, the California Zephyr and the Empire Builder, grand old dames of the American railroad.

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Word Bearers: The Omnibus – Anthony Reynolds

Comprising the books Dark Apostle, Dark Disciple and Dark Creed, as well as the short story Torment, this hefty tome collects all of Anthony Reynolds’ Word Bearers saga into one place. Charting the rise of First Acolyte Marduk through the ranks of the Word Bearers legion, as a set this is a solid slab of typically grim and dark Warhammer 40k action. There’s a neat arc running through the series as we watch Marduk step out from under the wing of his mentor, Dark Apostle Jarulek, and strike out on his own quest for power and glory.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Wolf of Ash and Fire – Graham McNeill

Black Library’s Horus Heresy series is a big beast, there’s no doubt about it. From fairly humble beginnings it’s grown and grown, to the point that there have now been over 50 separate releases in the series. As a nice gesture to those die-hard fans who have invested big bucks for the beautiful limited edition of the new graphic novel, Macragge’s Honour, each person who has bought a copy has received a free short story in ebook format. That story is a pre-Heresy tale featuring Horus and his Luna Wolves legion taking on an enormous ork scrapfleet. With the help of The Emperor of Mankind. And yes, it’s brilliant.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Tyrant’s Champion – SP Cawkwell

It’s good to see Sarah Cawkwell back on the Black Library radar after a fairly quiet year in 2013. The Tyrant’s Champion, her latest short story, returns us to the world of Huron Blackheart and his Red Corsairs, pretty much following on from the events of The Gildar Rift. Blackheart was the antagonist in that novel, providing a good mixture of moustache-twirling criminal mastermind and scary, anger-fuelled power maniac. As the title suggests however, this new story is concerned with his champion, or rather the selection of a new one after the last one met a sticky end at the hands of the Silver Skulls.

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Straken – Toby Frost

SHORT REVIEW :

For readers who know the 40k background and hold a special place in their heart for the classic Imperial Guard special characters, the appeal of this book can basically be summarised in three names : ‘Iron Hand’ Straken, Nork Deddog and ‘Sly’ Marbo. If those names mean anything to you, you’ll be heading out to get this book right away, and you won’t be disappointed.

LONG REVIEW :

In his first novel for Black Library, Toby Frost – author of the entertaining Space Captain Smith series, tackles the Imperial Guard, specifically the Catachan 2nd regiment. A staple of the Imperial Guard on the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop, this characterful regiment of jungle fighters has been strangely under-represented by Black Library in the past. No longer, however. Straken bursts out of the page from the get go and hits the ground running, the first alien gribbly receiving the shotgun-to-the-face treatment within three pages. You know straight away that this is going to be about Catachans going toe-to-toe with whatever the galaxy throws at them, which is exactly as it should be.

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