Category Archives: Books

XX – Rian Hughes

Part modern ‘hard SF’ novel, part homage to vintage SF, part intertextual blend of traditional narrative, epistolary sources, visual media, graphic design and much more, Rian Hughes’ debut novel XX is not for the faint-hearted, but rewards a brave reader with a genuinely unique, utterly mind-blowing experience. Take a mysterious signal from outer space, a bunch of senior scientists from assorted space agencies, and a cutting-edge tech startup staffed by a trio of fearless young innovators, and throw in the possibility of first contact with an alien species (in a very modern way). Filter this story through the lens of augmented reality, fold in a strong theme of modernism, lashings of mind-bending maths and science and even a story within a story, and what you get is out of this world in theme, style, intent, complexity and – ultimately – impact.

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No Good Men – Warhammer Crime Anthology

Taking its place in the first wave of Black Library’s Warhammer Crime releases (alongside Chris Wraight’s Bloodlines and Alec Worley’s Dredge Runners), short story anthology No Good Men explores some of the different ways in which Imperial justice is loosely interpreted on the mean streets of Varangantua. Eschewing the usual battlefields and familiar tabletop characters in favour of ordinary citizens simply trying to survive the brutal realities of Imperial life, these stories all explore Varangantua’s atmospheric, cyberpunk-esque stylings and the towering inequalities corroding the heart of the Imperium. As the title suggests, there are no heroics here – just regular people doing what it takes to get by, whether that falls within the remit of the law or not.

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Notes From Small Planets – Nate Crowley

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you crossed a travel guide with a load of well-trodden sci-fi/fantasy tropes and the wild imagination of a born storyteller…it turns out you’d get Nate Crowley’s Notes From Small Planets! Spanning eight fictional worlds, from the high fantasy Mittelvelde to the hard sci-fi SPACE¹ and so much more in between, it’s both a loving homage to and merciless satire of the highs and lows of genre fiction. Coming from a writer capable of work as dazzlingly diverse as revolutionary zombie novel The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack and alternative gaming history 100 Best Video Games (That Never Existed) it’s exactly as bonkers and brilliant as you’d imagine.

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The Colonel’s Monograph – Graham McNeill

Released as part of Black Library’s 2019 Novella Series 2, Graham McNeill’s Warhammer Horror novella The Colonel’s Monograph is a quiet, creepingly sinister portrayal of the slow road to corruption. Grieving in the wake of her husband’s death, retired archivist Teresina Sullo takes on a private commission to catalogue the library of a celebrated war hero, the late Colonel Elena Grayloc. As her work progresses Sullo fixates on finding one particular book, which she hopes might shed light on the mysterious circumstances of the colonel’s return to Grayloc Manor and subsequent death. The deeper she digs, however, the more it becomes clear that something sinister lurks behind the colonel’s heroic facade, and that Sullo’s obsession with finding answers is leading her down a dark path from which she might not return.

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Bloodlines – Chris Wraight

The first Black Library novel published under the Warhammer Crime label, Chris Wraight’s Bloodlines is a tale of corruption, brutality and rampant inequality which takes a close look at the gritty realities of life for everyday Imperial citizens. In the vast, continent-sized hive city of Varangantua, Probator Agusto Zidarov is tasked with investigating the apparent disappearance of a spoiled scion of one of the city’s most powerful families. Despite his initial misgivings, it gradually becomes clear that something vile and deeply dangerous is going on in Varangantua. In order to get to the bottom of it Zidarov must navigate vicious cartels, the over-privileged ruling elite, and the corrupt systems of law and bureaucracy in which he himself works.

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Curse of Honor – David Annandale

David Annandale’s novel Curse of Honor kicks off the new range of Legend of the Five Rings fiction from Aconyte Books with a sinister tale of duty, ambition, misplaced pride and monstrous darkness. Lieutenant Hida Haru is destined to one day become the daimyō of Striking Dawn Castle, but before then he has to somehow prove himself to his family, a task at which he has spectacularly failed thus far. When he stumbles upon a foreboding city hidden within the Twilight Mountains, he sees a chance to make a name for himself and strike a blow against the Shadowlands, but his ill-timed actions only lead to disaster. With cracks forming in the fragile alliances within Striking Dawn, and a horrifying evil unleashed upon the castle, its defenders must find a way to guard against terrible enemies both within and without.

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Soulless Fury – Will McDermott

Thirteen years after the publication of Lasgun Wedding, Will McDermott returns to Black Library and Necromunda with Soulless Fury, moving his focus from Kal Jerico to one of the underhive’s other famous names – D’onne Ulanti, otherwise known as Mad Donna. While the estranged daughter of House Ulanti tears through the underhive in search of a young man captured by Cawdor gangers, Scrutinator Primus Servalen is dispatched by Lord Helmawr to reel her in once and for all. As the two women embark on a lethal cat-and-rat chase, it becomes clear that there’s more at stake for both of them than just survival and the death of an enemy, and chaos ensues in the underhive.

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Terminal Overkill – Justin D. Hill

Justin D. Hill’s Necromunda novel Terminal Overkill is a grim tale of survival and the search for revenge, which leans hard on the darker side of life in the underhive. The Wild Hydras of House Escher scraped a living controlling territory in the Dim Zone bordering the underhive, until the rise of brutal Goliath overlord Fettnir and the death of their leader, Red Tori. Escaping into the darkness of the underhive, Brielle – teenage daughter of Red Tori – must first learn to survive on her own, before clawing her way back to a position from where she might strike back against Fettnir and claim revenge for what he took from her.

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Gods of Jade and Shadow – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A darkly beautiful fairy tale set in 1920s Mexico, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow melds fantasy with Maya mythology in a gorgeous story of quiet dreams, unexpected adventure and fratricidal gods. Living a quiet life of drudgery tending to the needs of her unkind grandfather in a drab, nowhere town, young Casiopea Tun keeps her hopes and dreams pragmatically simple. That all changes when she accidentally frees Hun-Kamé, the dethroned Mayan god of death, from where his spirit has been kept prisoner for decades. With her life bound to Hun-Kamé, the two of them embark on a quest to retrieve the dark and brooding god’s throne from his brother, an adventure that takes them from rural Yucatán to Mexico City and beyond.

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Indomitus – Gav Thorpe

Gav Thorpe’s Warhammer 40,000 novel Indomitus, released in July 2020 to coincide with the latest edition of the tabletop game and its ongoing background, pits the Ultramarines of Crusade Fleet Quintus – considered a cursed fleet by some – against the nightmarish Necrons led by Overlord Simut. After years of uphill struggle against the forces of the Archenemy, the Ultramarines onboard the Ithraca’s Vengeance are in dire need of a comprehensive victory to lift morale and spur the fleet’s momentum. When the strangely becalmed Warp strands them in a system afflicted by a bizarre psychic malaise, they’re drawn into a desperate defence against the undying Necrons, whose relentless assault and terrifying abilities threaten the Indomitus Crusade and the Imperium as a whole.

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