Category Archives: Short Stories

QUICK REVIEW: Duty Waits – Guy Haley

The worst part is the waiting…right? In his Horus Heresy short story Duty Waits, Guy Haley explores the effect on Dorn’s Imperial Fists of the interminable waiting as they man the walls of the Imperial Palace in expectation of Horus’ armies reaching Terra. With security tighter than ever after the Alpha Legion’s infiltration of Terra (you’ve read Praetorian of Dorn, right?), and civilians suffering the side-effects of a total focus on war, tensions are high and an outlet is going to be needed, sooner or later. For Captain Maximus Thane (sound familiar?) the enemy can’t come soon enough.

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QUICK REVIEW: Endurance – Chris Wraight

An appetiser before his upcoming novel The Lords of Silence, Chris Wraight’s short story Endurance takes place (mostly) on the besieged Imperial world of Lystra, where the shattered remnants of the defenders continue to battle on against the endless hordes of walking dead. The situation for the Imperials is bleak, even with a scattering of loyal Space Marines bolstering the defences, and that’s before the Death Guard arrive. Dragan, known as the Gallowsman, leads his warband on the hunt for slaughter, and Lystra is in his sights.

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QUICK REVIEW: Killbox – Dan Abnett

A follow-up short story to Salvation’s Reach, book thirteen in Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Killbox sees Scout Sergeant Mkoll of the Tanith First and Only prowling the quiet, forgotten depths of the Highness Ser Armaduke. Down amongst the dust and the punishing heat, something is tracking him…hunting him. Even among the stealth specialist Ghosts, however, Mkoll is a peerless huntsman, and knows better than any the relationship between hunter and hunted. In the forgotten darkness of the old ship, a game of cat and mouse develops.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Greater Evil – Peter Fehervari

Continuing his exploration of the shadowed corners of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, The Greater Evil is a typically dark tale from Peter Fehervari, digging beneath the surface of the T’au Empire to a strange truth beneath. Accompanied by an enigmatic Ethereal, a small T’au embassy investigates the reappearance in the Damocles Gulf of an emissary long thought lost, and the possibility of bringing an Imperial world into the Greater Good. One of the embassy’s human auxiliaries, Ulver Voyle, carries with him a darkness from the days before his conversion that sees him drawn deep into the web of coming events.

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QUICK REVIEW: Exodus – Steve Lyons

Steve Lyons’ short story Exodus is a bleak tale of an Imperial world falling under the shadow of a Hive Fleet, and the varied way its defenders react to the impending doom. With the evacuation underway, Arch Teilloch of the Katraxis Home Guard clings to the comfort of following orders as his world falls apart around him. Meanwhile sergeant Konrad Ven Mikkelson of the Valhallan Ice Warriors leads his squad in an inglorious retreat through a city gripped by panic, as the population begins to tear itself apart.

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QUICK REVIEW: Heartwood – Robbie MacNiven

Robbie MacNiven’s first Age of Sigmar short story, Heartwood is a tale of the sylvaneth exploring one branch (sorry) of their arboreal kingdom, and the role branchwyches play in their society. When Nellas the Harvester is wounded defending the Wyldwood from invading Rotbringers, she returns to the heart of her domain bearing with her the lifeseeds of fallen sylvaneth to be planted and born anew. The question remains, however, whether she also bears with her a taint that might yet spell doom for the Wyldwood and her household.

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QUICK REVIEW: Execution – Rachel Harrison

The first Black Library short story published under the name Rachel Harrison, rather than Ray Harrison, Execution is a powerful depiction of the human cost of war for the Imperial Guard, and the burdens placed upon their political officers. Having executing the captain of the 11th Antari Rifles for refusing to follow orders, commissar Severina Raine takes command of a daring mission to break the siege of a rebel-held fortress. After her uncompromising show of authority, Raine has to maintain her grip on the morale of her troops while leading them into ferocious battle.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Path Unclear – Mike Brooks

The debut Black Library story from Mike Brooks, The Path Unclear is an Inquisitorial tale of action and intrigue that bodes well for future stories. Told from the perspective of Alyss Nero, newly recruited acolyte of Ordo Xenos inquisitor Zaretta Ngiri, it sees the inquisitor and her retinue investigating a mysterious artefact recently uncovered from an archaeological dig amongst xenos ruins. While Ngiri is determined to ascertain the artefact’s true provenance, Nero is keen to prove her value to her new mistress and companions, but things are never simple when xenos are involved.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Laurel of Defiance – Guy Haley

Available as a standalone e-short or within the Sedition’s Gate and War Without End anthologies, Guy Haley’s The Laurel of Defiance sees Ultramarines Captain Lucretius Corvo honoured by Guilliman for his role in the defence of Ultramar. As he mingles with the great and good of the realm, uncomfortable with the esteem in which he’s held and the message behind his recognition, he recalls the events which led there. Events, on the world of Astagar, which saw him lead his men against the forces of the Word Bearers and World Eaters, and their horrific allies.

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QUICK REVIEW: Vox Dominus – Anthony Reynolds

Five years after its publication in Treacheries of the Space Marines, Anthony Reynolds’ short story Vox Dominus is now also available as a standalone e-short. Carrying on the story of Marduk from Reynolds’ Word Bearers trilogy (and very spoilerific if you haven’t read at least Dark Apostle) it sees the Word Bearers clashing with their cousins in the Death Guard over the unexpected arrival of the corpse of XVIIth Legion battleship. While a combined force of Word Bearers and Death Guard investigate the stricken Vox Dominus, Marduk sees the opportunity to further his own plans, complete with a little treachery.

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