Category Archives: Books

Old Earth – Nick Kyme

Nick Kyme’s third full-length Horus Heresy novel, Old Earth is book 47 (!) in the series, and the third and final book in the Salamanders arc that began with Vulkan Lives. If you haven’t yet read Deathfire, be warned – spoilers abound. The main thrust of the novel is the journey from Nocturne to Terra made by the reborn Vulkan, accompanied by just three Salamanders, his Draaksward. Meanwhile Shadrak Meduson tries to hold his Shattered Legions together in the fight against the Sons of Horus, while Eldrad Ulthran pulls strings (as usual) working towards his own hidden goals.

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Necropolis – Dan Abnett

Book three in Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and the final part of the first The Founding arc, Necropolis is widely cited as many fans’ favourite of the entire series – it’s also the highest-rated on Goodreads. On the Imperial world Verghast, the inhabitants of Vervunhive are stunned when their old-enemy-turned-ally hive Ferrozoica launches an all-out assault. As Imperial Guard reinforcements, including the Ghosts, join in the defence of Vervunhive, it becomes clear that this is much more than a trade war – Ferrozoica has been turned to Chaos.

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Ghostmaker – Dan Abnett

Book two of Dan Abnett’s long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Ghostmaker – not to be confused with the short story of the same name – is an unusual book in that it’s essentially a series of short stories framed by a single loose narrative, rather than a full novel. In a lull between actions on the jungle world of Monthax, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt walks the line sharing a few words with his men, each conversation prompting a new story. Beginning with Gaunt’s recollection of Tanith’s fall, it continues with tales showcasing the exploits of Corbec, Larkin, Rawne, Milo and more.

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Forgotten Texts: First and Only by Dan Abnett

“Men of Tanith! Do you want to live forever?”

Unlike other Forgotten Texts articles, this time I’m taking a look at a book that I’ve reviewed separately – in this case First and Only by Dan Abnett. If you haven’t already, you might want to take a look at that review first, which you can find here. As a quick recap, however, First and Only is book one in the still-running Gaunt’s Ghosts series, first published in 1999 as – I believe – the very first ‘original’ Black Library novel. Nearly twenty years later (as I write this) the fourteenth book in the series is due out imminently, with the fifteenth already in the pipeline!

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First and Only – Dan Abnett

First published in 1999, Dan Abnett’s First and Only is book one in the epic Gaunt’s Ghosts series, following on from several short stories in Inferno! magazine. On the forge world Fortis Binary, the Tanith First and Only are one of many Imperial Guard regiments arrayed against the once-loyal population, now turned to Chaos. As Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and the Ghosts are drawn deeper into the brutal conflict, they’re faced with not just the forces of Chaos but enemies within the ranks of their allies, as a horrifying conspiracy is gradually revealed within the ranks of the Sabbat Crusade itself.

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The Eye of Medusa – David Guymer

The Iron Hands are generally under-represented in Black Library fiction, but with The Eye of Medusa, his first full 40k novel (excluding The Beast Arises), David Guymer tackles de facto Chapter Master Kardan Stronos, back when he was only a sergeant. The Adeptus Mechancius world of Thennos lies under the aegis of Medusa, so when its population turns traitor the Iron Hands fall upon it with crushing, calculating brutality. Stronos, newly inducted into Clan Garrsak, leads his squad into battle but soon finds himself frustrated by the secrets Thennos holds, and the unthinking obedience expected of him by his new clan.

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Ruinstorm – David Annandale

Sixteen books and three years after The Damnation of Pythos, David Annandale’s second Horus Heresy novel is Ruinstorm, book forty-six in the series overall. Signalling the end of the Imperium Secundus arc (therefore NOT to be read before Angels of Caliban), it sees the Triumvirate of primarchs – Guilliman, Sanguinius and the Lion – setting out from Ultramar to defy the Ruinstorm and find their way to Terra. Each chooses an approach based on their own approach and inclination, but can they find a way through? Most 40k fans know the answer to that, but now we can find out just what happened and why.

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Angels of Caliban – Gav Thorpe

Book 38 of the Horus Heresy series, Gav Thorpe’s Angels of Caliban continues the Dark Angels’ involvement in the series that began with Descent of Angels, and caps off the ongoing Imperium Secundus arc. In his role as Lord Protector of Ultramar, Lion El’Jonson focuses his attention on what he considers the gravest threat – the continued survival of his wayward brother, Konrad Kurze. Meanwhile back on Caliban, the Dark Angels tasked with garrisoning the homeworld, led by Luther, Astelan and Zahariel, are a mess of conflicting loyalties, ambitions and mysteries. Secrets abound and questions of loyalty become ever more important.

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Cadia Stands – Justin D. Hill

Justin D. Hill’s previous Black Library works have included three Ursarkar E. Creed short stories, including The Battle of Tyrok Fields – the story of a key event at the outset of the 13th Black Crusade. His novel Cadia Stands tells (some of) the story of what happened next, although it’s a very different beast, not least because it isn’t Creed’s story. Instead it tells the tale of Cadia’s stubborn defence against the Black Legion, during the events of the Gathering Storm, via a wide spread of characters across the breadth of the Cadian forces.

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Jain Zar: The Storm of Silence – Gav Thorpe

2015’s Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan, the first Phoenix Lords novel, was a short, tightly-written book from Gav Thorpe that gave us the first proper glimpse of both a Phoenix Lord’s thought processes and the time immediately before and during the Fall – the pivotal moment in eldar history. Fast-forward to 2017 and Jain Zar: The Storm of Silence carries on the series with a tale of the first Howling Banshee as she uses any means necessary to reach the craftworld Ulthwé and prevent them starting on a path that will lead to disaster far in the future.

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