Category Archives: Short Stories

QUICK REVIEW: The Battle of Tyrok Fields – Justin D. Hill

The third of Justin D. Hill’s Creed short stories, and the longest of the three, The Battle of Tyrok Fields tells the story of a particularly dark moment in Cadia’s history, at the beginning of Abaddon’s thirteenth Black Crusade. Gathering en masse at Tyrok Fields, the armies of Cadia are caught unprepared when the newly-arrived Volscani regiments treacherously open fire. Having survived the initial exchange, Creed reacts quickly to pull together a coordinated response and lead the Cadians in a desperate defence of their own world.

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QUICK REVIEW: Lost Hope – Justin D. Hill

One of three Ursarkar E. Creed short stories by Justin D. Hill, and the second to be released as a standalone e-short, Lost Hope sees Creed looking for a new way to win the war he’s embroiled in, desperate to return to Cadia. When he and Sergeant Kell head to the ice world of Lost Hope in order to conscript its population of penal workers, what appeared to be a straightforward mission quickly becomes far more dangerous as they stumble upon evidence that the enemy is already ahead of them.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Flesh Tithe – Miles A. Drake

The Flesh Tithe represents the Black Library debut of Miles A. Drake, a dark and powerful short story which pits Sister Hospitaller Lucia against the horrors of an invading necron army. In the dark reaches of the Ghoul Stars, the Imperial world of Sygera is rapidly falling to ruin as its defenders are scattered and massacred. As guardian of her city’s cathedral, Sister Lucia rallies a few surviving soldiers in a desperate attempt to hold out as long as possible in the midst of the chaos, although even with some unexpected allies there appears to be little hope of survival.

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QUICK REVIEW: Whispers – Alec Worley

Alec Worley’s third Black Library short story, Whispers sees the Adepta Sororitas in action, responding to the summons of missionary Marcus Amouris to a backwater world whose tribes he hopes to bring into the fold of the Imperium. Something has been hunting the tribespeople and Amouris needs it removing but as he and the Sisters of Battle, led by Dominion Superior Adamanthea, venture into the deep forests and reach the City of Whispers, his assertion that it’s merely a dangerous indigenous predator is quickly challenged.

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Forgotten Texts: Birth of a Legend by Gav Thorpe

“A small gift hardly compares to the life of a Dwarf King, now does it?”

Gav Thorpe’s first ever Black Library story, first published twenty years ago, Birth of a Legend is an old-school Warhammer story featuring an early incarnation of one of the setting’s greatest characters. When King Kurgan and his retainers are captured by the Orc warlord Vagraz Head-Stomper, things look bleak for the Dwarfs. That is, until the local human huntsmen arrive to investigate the intrusion into their territory, led by a young man with a powerful destiny. Determined to drive them off and free the Dwarf captives, he leads his men into battle against the Orcs…and the rest is history.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Volturung Road – Guy Haley

First published within the Fyreslayers anthology before getting the standalone ebook treatment, Guy Haley’s Age of Sigmar short story The Volturung Road has one foot in the Mortal Realms and the other back in the World That Was. As the Slaanesh-worshippers’ siege of his family’s hold approaches its one hundred and first year, runeson Ulgathern grows increasingly concerned, fearing that a prophecy deemed unreliable by most is coming to fruition. When tragedy strikes and his personal circumstances change, he sets out towards the Volturung lodge to reach his people’s ancestral home and escape the fate he sees approaching.

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QUICK REVIEW: Restorer – Chris Wraight

Day Seven of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

Chris Wraight’s White Scars stories are rightly acknowledged as some of the best in the Horus Heresy, but if you thought that arc was over after The Path of Heaven, the short story Restorer is a reminder that their story isn’t finished. Entirely spoilerific if you’re not up to speed with events – be warned – it sees Shiban Khan back on Terra, attempting to recover both physically and psychologically from the various traumas he’s suffered since Prospero. Taking in the corridors of the Imperial Palace and the wilds of pre-Siege Terra, it’s a story of reflection and atmosphere as much as action.

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QUICK REVIEW: Pride and Fall – Ian St. Martin

Day Six of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

Lucius the Eternal – the guy who, any time he’s killed and his killer takes satisfaction in the act, comes back to life in a rather gruesome fashion. How does that work if he’s not killed by a person, but rather a thing? That’s the question asked by Ian St. Martin in his short story Pride and Fall, an unusual and unexpectedly horrifying tale set relatively early on in Lucius’ eternal-ness. Without giving too much away, much to Lucius’ surprise he meets his temporary end not at the hands of a mighty warrior, but in an altogether more humble way. Continue reading →

QUICK REVIEW: Auction of Blood – Josh Reynolds

Day Five of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

The book trade is a dangerous business, at least in Josh Reynolds’ Age of Sigmar short story Auction of Blood. Palem Bok, bookseller and spy, is tasked with attending an auction of rare items and acquiring what turns out to be a remarkably dangerous artefact for his mistress, the Mortarch Neferata. Danger abounds in the streets and houses of Greywater Fastness, and in order to complete his mission Bok must exercise all of the caution, judgement and skill a bookseller needs, along with a judicious serving of violence and death.

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QUICK REVIEW: Death Warrant – Robbie MacNiven

Day Four of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

The third in a growing series of stories featuring the Carcharadon Astra, Death Warrant sees Robbie MacNiven continue to explore this most unusual of Space Marine chapters. Two months after landing on the jungle moon of Terix IX, Rogue Trader Anjelika Trayn and her crew are getting close to finding what they came for, when the unexpected appearance of a force of terrifying grey-clad Space Marines changes everything. Journeying alongside the Carcharadons into the depths of an ancient temple whose guardians are slowly rousing, Trayn learns that even her Warrant of Trade can’t protect her from some things.

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