Category Archives: Black Library

RAPID FIRE: James Swallow Talks The Buried Dagger

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.

For this instalment I spoke to veteran Black Library author James Swallow about The Buried Dagger, his latest Horus Heresy novel – the 54th and final book in the main-range series! As befits the book that closes off the Horus Heresy this is a somewhat longer interview than usual, so settle down with a mug of recaff and enjoy!

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RAPID FIRE: Rachel Harrison Talks Honourbound

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.

In this instalment I spoke to Rachel Harrison about Honourbound, her first 40k novel which follows on from a number of excellent short stories featuring the same characters. Honourbound is available to order this weekend, so check out the interview and then you can look forward to picking up copy of the book very soon!

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QUICK REVIEW: Trials – Rachel Harrison

The fourth of Rachel Harrison’s Severina Raine short stories to get a digital release, Trials keeps the ongoing narrative of the 11th Antari Rifles in the background and focuses on the relationship between the Commissar and Captain Andren Fel. The storm trooper captain is the only member of the regiment who Raine can truly trust, the two of them sharing similarities despite their different roles. Over the course of a quiet conversation, while the war rages on around them, they each tell the story of the final trial they faced at the end of their time in the Schola Progenium.

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QUICK REVIEW: Lantern’s Light – James Swallow

Ostensibly about how, when and why Mortarion received his pistol, the Lantern, James Swallow’s Horus Heresy short story Lantern’s Light is really an exploration of the Death Lord’s relationship with and attitude towards the Emperor. For a year after their first meeting, Mortarion has been learning the ways of the Imperium and beginning to bond with his new legion, but has not been permitted to lead his sons into battle. When the Emperor returns to Barbarus to meet with him once more, Mortarion finds himself questioning his new life and the role he sees for himself in his father’s empire.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Mistress of Threads – John French

One of a growing number of Horusian Wars short stories each focusing on a different member of Inquisitor Covenant’s warband, John French’s The Mistress of Threads is a compelling, if unusually constructed, story centred on Viola von Castellan. Told through the medium of correspondence between Viola and (mostly) a wayward member of her extended family, it’s the tale of a commercial empire’s ups and downs in the wake of the Great Rift, a sinister cartel, and the strange relationships that underpin the von Castellan dynasty. Plus a typically dark glimpse of a mystery lurking beneath the surface of the Imperium.

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QUICK REVIEW: Bringer of Sorrow – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Following on from his novel The Master of Mankind, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Horus Heresy short story Bringer of Sorrow continues the story of two unlikely friends – the Technoarchaeologist Arkhan Land and the crippled Blood Angel Zephon. In the wake of the Webway War, as the Blood Angels and Sanguinius return to Terra, Land turns his genius to the problem of how to permanently repair Zephon’s failing bionics, which his own battlefield fix has further degraded. Ever the risk-taker, he’s supremely confident in his ability to succeed where all others have failed, but his solution is not without dangers of its own.

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Warhammer Adventures – The Adventures Begin

Back in May 2018 Black Library announced the first details for Warhammer Adventures, a new range of novels aimed at younger readers. Fast forward to February 2019 and the first two books are in stores and available to download online – Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron by Cavan Scott and Realm Quest: City of Lifestone by Tom Huddleston. There’s been plenty of conversation along the way, from the community’s initial thoughts about the idea through to news about famous names narrating the audiobooks, but now that I’ve read the first two books I thought I’d do a quick recap of the range’s purpose and talk a little about what these stories are actually like.

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Scions of the Emperor – Anthology

Continuing with the template (and naming convention) laid down with 2018’s Sons of the Emperor anthology, Scions of the Emperor is a Primarchs anthology featuring eight Horus Heresy short stories from eight different authors. Where it differs is that these stories are almost all from authors not normally associated with their chosen characters. There’s a mixture of stories from across the breadth of the Heresy timeline, from young Ferrus Manus and Roboute Guilliman on their respective home worlds to Rogal Dorn on Terra on the eve of the Siege, via the highs and lows of the Great Crusade and onwards.

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Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron – Cavan Scott

The Warhammer 40,000-set Warhammer Adventures series Warped Galaxies (for readers aged 8 and above) opens with Cavan Scott’s Attack of the Necron, a planet-hopping tale of action, danger and bravery in the face of an ancient alien menace. Zelia Lor and her mother, along with Lexmechanic Erasmus and young Martian tech-savant Mekki, travel the galaxy excavating ancient technology and unearthing pre-Imperial history. When their latest expedition is curtailed by a devastating alien invasion, Zelia finds herself torn from her familiar life and thrown into a perilous journey through the void of space with the relentless Necron threat looming ever-present.

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Hamilcar: Champion of the Gods – David Guymer

After appearing in various audio dramas and short stories, Hamilcar Bear-Eater – mightiest of Sigmar’s Stormcast Eternals (and modest, as ever) – gets his own novel in David Guymer’s Hamilcar: Champion of the Gods. Taking place in the Realm of Ghur, this sees the Astral Templars’ Lord Castellant boldly set out to drive the forces of Chaos from the region surrounding the ancient fortress known as the Seven Words. He soon realises that the real threat is actually from the skaven, and is forced to pit his strength – and his wits – against Ikrit, a worryingly powerful warlock engineer with designs on Sigmar’s secrets.

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