Category Archives: Short Stories

QUICK REVIEW: The Battle of Blackthunder Mesa – Phil Kelly

A sequel to Blades of Damocles and a companion piece to the various Farsight stories, Phil Kelly’s short story The Battle of Blackthunder Mesa tells a tale of the fundamental differences between the T’au and Imperial ways of war. On the embattled world of Dal’yth Prime, the T’au forces are being pushed back by endless numbers of Imperial tanks, but Commander Bravestorm is determined to strike a telling blow before withdrawing. With a new weapon at his disposal – the Onager Gauntlet – he has a tool to do just that, but its use seems to go against the T’au’s very ethos.

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QUICK REVIEW: One, Untended – David Guymer

A sequel of sorts to the epic audio drama Realmslayer, David Guymer’s short story One, Untended sees dwarf-out-of-time Gotrek Gurnisson embark on a perilous quest into the tunnels under Hammerhal Ghyra in search of a lost child. Despite being somewhat worse for wear after a heavy night, when Gotrek hears of a fearsome spirit said to haunt the catacombs he immediately joins the search alongside a party of humans, dragging Maleneth along for the ride. The aelf is none too keen to be accompanying Gotrek, but down amongst the darkness she sees an opportunity waiting to be grasped.

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QUICK REVIEW: Motherlode – Nick Kyme

Nick Kyme’s Motherlode is a cheeky, irreverent little Blackstone Fortress short story featuring the ratling brothers Rein and Raus, ex-Militarum auxiliaries who survive by virtue of nimble fingers, sharp wits and brotherly teamwork. After ditching their last client and returning to Precipice with valuables to sell, the brothers’ celebratory mood doesn’t last very long. When an attempt to offload their prize goes awry, it soon becomes clear that enemies from their shady past are returning to haunt them, and their survival instincts are going to be sorely tested if they’re to find a way out of this particular pickle.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Last Council – LJ Goulding

Occupying an interesting point in the Horus Heresy timeline somewhere between The Binary Succession and The Solar War, LJ Goulding’s short story The Last Council tackles the final session of the Council of Terra before it’s disbanded in anticipation of the Siege. As High Lords posture and bicker over costs, priorities and jurisdictions, Malcador finds himself dwelling on the purpose of the Council and his role as Regent. While the debate continues, the Sigillite looks to both the past and future, his mind occupied by Horus of course, and also by buried secrets and unpalatable truths.

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QUICK REVIEW: A Lesson in Iron – David Guymer

A Horus Heresy Primarchs story set during the Great Crusade, A Lesson in Iron sees David Guymer tackle his favoured Iron Hands and give their primarch Ferrus Manus a little more time in the spotlight. Pursuing the fleeing remnants of the greenskin Rust empire and determined to finish them off, Ferrus takes his flagship – the Fist of Iron – into a strange warp rift. Instead of orks waiting for them, the Iron Hands find an unknown Imperial ship which appears to belong to their legion. What they find upon boarding that ship appears impossible, though it hints at a strange future.

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QUICK REVIEW: Acts of Sacrifice – Evan Dicken

Evan Dicken’s second Black Library short story, Acts of Sacrifice takes a similar approach to his debut The Path to Glory and tells a tale set before the Age of Sigmar. This time it takes place during the Age of Chaos, as the Order of the Ardent Star faces total destruction at the hands of a horde of Khornate ravagers. With the Order’s fortress besieged and its Master dead by the blade of the horde’s champion, Sir Anaea leads a handful of her remaining knights out in search of a more defensible holdout, hoping to find safety and a chance of survival.

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QUICK REVIEW: Abyssal – David Annandale

A rare Horus Heresy short story featuring entirely new characters, David Annandale’s Abyssal takes place deep in the bowels of the Black Ship Irkalla. Aveth Vairon has lived his whole life driven and influenced by visions of a singular rune. Even after being taken from his home world and imprisoned within the Black Ship, Vairon clings to his belief that the rune is guiding his path, and follows the route it lays out for him. Tormented by the horrors of the ship and the terrifying Sisters of Silence, Vairon follows the rune’s imperatives, trusting it to see him to safety.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Deeper Shade – CL Werner

There’s room in the Mortal Realms for all kinds of stories in all sorts of locations, and with his short story The Deeper Shade CL Werner gives us a classic villainous tale of deceit and treachery, set on a desolate stretch of haunted coastline. The Tzeentchian sorcerer Thalinosh of Charr has led his warband to the shores of Gharn in search of a lost artefact of great power, which he intends to reclaim and exploit. Putting his magics to good use, Thalinosh ventures deep beneath the water despite the threat of a horror that even the wild creatures fear.

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QUICK REVIEW: Man of Iron – Guy Haley

Guy Haley’s Blackstone Fortress short story Man of Iron focuses on the intriguing character of UR-025, and offers a short but entertaining insight into what goes on behind the blank facade of this ‘Imperial Robot’. We’re first introduced to UR-025 through the eyes of Rein the ratling, before the robot joins with a party of Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priests and heads into the Fortress in search of archeotech. Once within the shifting halls of the Fortress the priests are reliant upon UR-025 for both directions and protection, all the while unaware of its real reasons for choosing to accompany them.

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QUICK REVIEW: Fire and Thunder – Rachel Harrison

One of several excellent 40k short stories featuring Commissar Severina Raine and the 11th Antari Rifles, Rachel Harrison’s Fire and Thunder is a bleak and powerful examination of the grubby, confused horror of war in the 41st millennium. Raine and the Antari are redeploying from the cathedral city of Whend when they find themselves under heavy fire and cut off from Imperial lines. With walking wounded and no chance of extraction, their only hope is a dangerous forced march through enemy-held territory, but with ammunition running low and enemies pressing in all around, the odds are heavily set against them.

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