Category Archives: Black Library

QUICK REVIEW: Illyrium – Darius Hinks

A quiet, low-key 27-minute Horus Heresy audio drama featuring Barnaby Edwards, Jonathan Keeble, Penelope Rawlins and Andrew Wincott, Darius Hinks’ Illyrium explores the character of Rouboute Guilliman through the memories of his chamberlain, Tarasha Euten. With the Macragge’s Honour under attack, Euten and Ultramarines Sergeant Ammon find themselves cut off and trapped as fires rage all around. While they wait for assistance to reach them, Euten tells Ammon the real story behind one of Guilliman’s early campaigns on Macragge, demonstrating how the reality of Guilliman’s genius differs from the official history books.

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Invocations – Warhammer Horror Anthology

Black Library’s second Warhammer Horror-branded short story anthology, Invocations features twelve stories from ten different authors, four of which have previously been released as individual digital-only shorts while the other eight are presented here for the first time. All twelve explore the darker corners of the 41st Millennium and the Mortal Realms, with established names like David Annandale, Justin D. Hill, Nick Kyme and CL Werner joined by newer (to Warhammer) but still familiar authors Lora Gray, Peter McLean and Richard Strachan. Meanwhile Ray Cluley, Jake Ozga and Steven Sheil all make their Black Library debuts.

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QUICK REVIEW: Salvage Rites – Thomas Parrott

Low-key but satisfying, Thomas Parrott’s Warhammer 40,000 short story Salvage Rites adds a small but valuable extra layer of detail onto the non-military side of life in the Imperium. Having stumbled across what promises to be a life-changingly valuable derelict in orbit around Effandor, Captain Ved Tregan leads his small salvage crew onto the ship to assess their find, keen to get the job done before his rivals appear. In the silent, strangely sterile corridors of the vessel, however, bonds between the crew start to fray as the ship proves to not be quite as lifeless as it seemed.

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QUICK REVIEW: Journey of the Magi – Jonathan Green

A deceptively clever and satisfying short story by Jonathan Green, Journey of the Magi follows a trio of Thousand Sons sorcerers as they mount a magically-assisted incursion into a vast necron artefact known as the Godstar. Though the sorcerers’ powers grant them swift access, it’s not long before the necron defences are alerted to their presence, and they find themselves embattled with ever-growing numbers of increasingly lethal guardians. To Prototokos, Opados and Tritos of the Sect of the Crimson Scarab, however, the prize that waits for them at the heart of the Godstar is worth any sacrifice to claim.

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Dark Harvest – Josh Reynolds

An Age of Sigmar novel released under Black Library’s Warhammer Horror imprint, Josh Reynolds’ Dark Harvest is a sinister, atmospheric tale of old gods and lost faith in the grey swamps of Ghyran. Once a warrior priest of Sigmar, now reduced to scraping a living as hired muscle, Harran Blackwood finds his quiet life in Greywater Fastness rocked when he receives a message which stirs up painful memories from his past. Setting out with violence in his heart, Blackwood travels to the squalid town of Wald to seek the message’s sender, but finds a deeper and older darkness lurking in the wilds.

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Where to Find a Little Humour in Black Library Fiction

Reading Nate Crowley’s fantastic 40k novella Severed I was reminded that Warhammer fiction isn’t generally known for its humour. The clue is in the title, really (WARhammer), and certainly Warhammer 40,000 is renowned for being properly dark. The commonly-used term grimdark comes from a core tenet of 40k, after all – “in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war”. In amongst the grim, the dark and the downright nasty, however, I think there’s room for a bit of humour now and then, and certain authors – Nate included – seem to have the knack for adding a little (or a lot, in some cases) of levity into some ot their Warhammer stories.

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Severed – Nate Crowley

It’s a rare Warhammer 40,000 story that’s told from a necron viewpoint, however Nate Crowley’s novella Severed achieves the unexpected – adding a fascinating sense of character, pathos and even soul to the supposedly soulless necrontyr. Vargard Obyron has fought beside Nemesor Zahndrekh for millennia, applying his loyalty and skill at arms in concert with Zahndrekh’s unrivalled strategic insight despite his lord’s idiosyncratic, troubled world view. Tasked with a mysterious mission to the Ghoul Stars alongside an old and dubious ally, they find themselves confronted by a darkness that profoundly challenges the bond between them, and Zahndrekh’s already tattered sanity.

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The First Wall – Gav Thorpe

Following on from The Solar War and The Lost and the Damned, Gav Thorpe’s The First Wall tackles the next brutal stage of the Siege of Terra as the traitors push hard against Terra’s defences, both physical and metaphysical. Determined to prove himself to Horus and humble his loyalist brother Dorn, Perturabo tasks the blunt instrument of Warsmith Kroeger with taking the Lion’s Gate spaceport. As the Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists clash in their thousands, Custodian Amon Tauromachian investigates the growing influence of the Lectitio Divinitatus within the Palace, while in distant Afrik proud volunteers of Addaba Hive join the muster, and embark on an epic journey to Himalazia.

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QUICK REVIEW: Path of Grief – Adrian Southin

Adrian Southin makes his Black Library debut with Path of Grief, a Warhammer 40,000 short story in which a grieving Aeldari of Saim-Hann relives the trauma that set her on a dangerous trajectory. Itheiul has walked many paths alongside her brother, Arsan, but after his death she has become absorbed by the Path of Grief. As she meditates over the singing spear he used in life, she recalls the desperate battle by his side against the tyranids on a ravaged Exodite world which led to his death, struggling to reconcile herself to the price they paid for victory.

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Author Spotlight – Denny Flowers

Welcome to this instalment of my Author Spotlight series of interviews, which aim to give an overview of each author’s background and approach to writing, and a slightly more detailed look at one of their books in particular. In this instalment I spoke to Denny Flowers about his background, influences and route to writing for Black Library, some great writing advice, Drukhari love stories (…sort of), and his new Necromunda novella Low Lives (which is available to buy right now).

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