Category Archives: Reviews

QUICK REVIEW: Lepidopterophobia – Dan Abnett

First released in the special edition hardback of Penitent and then included in the Inferno! Presents: The Inquisition anthology, Dan Abnett’s Lepidopterophobia is a slow, sinister tale featuring Medea Betencore, and a welcome addition to the large collection of short stories that support and enhance the Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin trilogy of Inquisition trilogies. Best read after Pariah to avoid spoilers for that novel, it sees Medea scouring the city of Queen Mab for information that might help her and her master Gregor Eisenhorn understand or even locate the mysterious King in Yellow. When the discovery of an unusual tome in one of Queen Mab’s many book markets leads her into the maze-like stacks of a dark and dust-laden store, little does she realise she will soon have to face her oldest fear, amongst other things, simply in order to stay alive.

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Queen of Eventide – Matthew Ward

First released in 2015 but with a nice new cover and an audiobook edition published in 2022, Matthew Ward’s Queen of Eventide explores the history, folklore and mythology of Nottingham in a bleak and mist-shrouded tale of the fantastical bleeding over into the real world. Returning to Nottingham in search of a fresh start, Maddie Lincoln finds only painful memories and unsettling dreams. Those dreams come to terrifying life when she finds herself drawn into a strange world of fearsome hunters and mythical figures, as the hidden realm of Eventide begins to overlap with her own comfortable reality. Nothing has prepared Maddie for being caught up in a magical conflict spanning centuries, but the strange laws and terrible truths of Eventide reveal in her a strength she didn’t realise she possessed.

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The Twice-dead King: Ruin – Nate Crowley

Having tackled necrons once already in his phenomenal Black Library novella Severed, it felt inevitable that Nate Crowley would turn his hand to a full-length novel exploring this lesser-seen (in BL terms) 40k faction, so it’s a welcome bonus that The Twice-dead King: Ruin is in fact the first volume in a necron duology! After three hundred years of exile to a dismal outpost of a once-great dynasty, necron lord Oltyx is mired in bitterness at his reduced circumstances. When a vast ork invasion turns out to be the sign of an even greater doom to come however, Oltyx realises that his only hope – for himself, and for the dynasty itself – is to return home and break his exile. Determined to at least make the attempt, he sets out to rouse his brother and father on the dynasty’s homeworld, regardless of the personal costs he knows he will incur.

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Outgunned – Denny Flowers

Denny Flowers’ second Black Library novel Outgunned takes to the skies with a tale of picts, propaganda, underestimated xenos and the aerial might of the Aeronautica Imperialis. On the agri world of Bacchus – famed for its wine production – an infestation of orks has rapidly progressed from a minor irritation to all-out war, and Imperial forces are making slow progress. When Imperial Propagandist Kile Simlex arrives on Bacchus, tasked with recording a motivational pict to inspire confidence and aid recruitment, he finds little as he expected. His intended subject – Flight Commander Lucille von Shard – proves not quite the dashing hero he imagined, while the orks are far from the mindless wretches portrayed in the picts he’s seen. As he wrestles with questions of how to capture his pict and how to craft a suitable narrative, the war for Bacchus becomes increasingly desperate.

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The Black Locomotive – Rian Hughes

Following the bold, ambitious statement of his debut novel XX was always going to be tricky, but with The Black Locomotive Rian Hughes has shown that he can turn his hand to a shorter, more focused story while retaining the same wild invention, visual flair and knack for combining different media that he displayed before. When the construction of a top-secret Crossrail extension is halted by the discovery of a strange buried structure which hints at a new understanding of London’s distant past, project manager Austin Arnold is called in to oversee proceedings, accompanied by the unusual presence of artist Lloyd Rutherford. Commissioned to document the Crossrail project, Rutherford is obsessed by his relationship with London and its architecture, and finds himself increasingly drawn to the mystery of the subterranean anomaly. When something wakes within the anomaly though, Austin has to turn to older, more reliable technology to ensure London’s safety.

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The Wraithbone Phoenix – Alec Worley

After 2020’s excellent audio drama Dredge Runners, Alec Worley returns to the ratling/ogryn duo of Baggit and Clodde for a full-length Warhammer Crime novel in The Wraithbone Phoenix, a fun crime caper that’s deceptively dark beneath the surface. Baggit and Clodde are hiding out in a reclamation yard, trying to avoid the unwelcome attention caused by a hefty bounty on their heads, and the ire of their yard’s stuck-up steward. When word reaches Baggit of a wrecked Imperial starship beached in a neighbouring yard, with a legendary artefact hidden somewhere within its bones, he realises his prayers might just have been answered. If he and Clodde can retrieve it, the Wraithbone Phoenix could get them out from under the bounty and set them up for life, not to mention offer Baggit the chance of a little tasty revenge. The problem is, they’re far from the only ones hunting for the Phoenix.

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Planet Havoc – Tim Waggoner

The second Zombicide novel from Aconyte Books, Tim Waggoner’s Planet Havoc explores the science fiction setting of Zombicide: Invader, pitting two opposing groups of humans against an insidious, lethal alien menace in an action-packed tale of soldiers, mercenaries, monsters, artificial life and corporate greed. Recruited by the deeply dubious Leviathan Guild for a dangerous mission to a forbidden world, Luis Gonzalez and his team of mercenaries are intercepted by Coalition soldiers patrolling the off-limits system, both crews soon finding themselves stranded on the desolate PK-L10, or Penumbra. As each side waits for reinforcements they’re forced into a wary truce when the planet is revealed to be home to a ferocious breed of aliens known as Neo-Xenos, and the folly of ever venturing into this interdicted system is made abundantly clear.

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Priest of Crowns – Peter McLean

The fourth and final book of Peter McLean’s phenomenal War for the Rose Throne series, Priest of Crowns concludes the story of Tomas Piety – gangster, army priest, Queen’s Man, politician, heartless killer, caring father – in bleak, brutal but satisfying style. After the events of Priest of Gallows, Dannsburg is boiling over with civil unrest as religious fervour vies with xenophobia and nationalistic fury, and the prospect of war with Skania looms over everything. Increasingly uncomfortable with the machinations of the Provost Marshal Dieter Vogel, Tomas (now Councillor Sir Thomas) finds himself torn between pride at his lofty position and loathing of what he’s become. With suspicion tainting his every move, and unsure of who he can truly trust, Tomas plans a careful opposition of Lord Vogel, knowing full well that any wrong move will see him and everyone he cares about dead.

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IN BRIEF: The Triumph of Saint Katherine – Danie Ware

The Triumph of Saint Katherine sees Danie Ware step away from her ongoing Sister Augusta storyline but remain with the Adepta Sororitas, exploring the life and exploits of the legendary Saint Katherine through tales told by the Sisters who bear her remains into battle. In the midst of a furious campaign, young Sister Avra finds herself chosen to take the place of a fallen Sister in the funerary procession of Saint Katherine. Over the course of the following night, each of her new sisters relates a tale of the saint that represents the ethos of each of the Major Orders of the Adepta Sororitas. While the armies of the Imperium prepare for war around them, the Sisters talk of the past and Avra wrestles with the questions of why she was chosen, and whether she is worthy of the honour.

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Prince Maesa – Guy Haley

Prince Maesa (along with Shattercap the spite) first appeared in Guy Haley’s 2017 Age of Sigmar audio drama The Autumn Prince, which was followed by several short stories and a further audio, all of which have been combined, updated and expanded to form Prince Maesa, a full-length novel exploring the aelven Wanderer’s quest to return his beloved Ellamar to life. From their visit to ill-fated Shadespire, through Shyish and out across the Mortal Realms, Maesa and Shattercap travel far and wide as they search for the knowledge and the magic that will reunite Maesa with his long-dead human love. Eternally grief-stricken, Maesa finds solace along the way in companionship and in his attempts to teach Shattercap to be good, but his journey is filled with deadly enemies to face, and the prospect of Nagash’s wrath should he succeed in his quest.

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