Category Archives: Short Stories

QUICK REVIEW: Becoming – Andy Clark

Two weeks into Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, day fourteen brings us an Imperial Knights story in the shape of Becoming by Andy Clark. Setting things up for the upcoming novel Kingsblade, we’re introduced to the knightly houses of Adrastrapol and their rituals, as veteran Knight pilot Sire Markos tells the story of his first battle to two young squires on the eve of their coming of age ritual. Thrust straight into battle without time to prepare, the young Markos had to learn quickly in order to survive, and in doing so forged himself a legend. It wasn’t all glory though…
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QUICK REVIEW: The Painted Count – Guy Haley

It’s back to the Horus Heresy for day thirteen of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, with The Painted Count by Guy Haley. Picking up where Gender Skraivok left off at the end of Pharos, we see him back on the Nightfall among his fellow Night Lords, embroiled in a power struggle for the leadership of the Legion. Deeply troubled by the clinging presence of the daemon weapon that he acquired on Sotha, Skraivok nevertheless finds himself in a position where he may well need every source of power he can lay his hands on if he’s to survive.
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QUICK REVIEW: Bear Eater – David Guymer

Day eleven in Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar brings a second Age of Sigmar story – Bear Eater by David Guymer. Following on from the events of Guymer’s Knights of Vengeance audio drama series, it sees Lord Castellant Hamilcar of the Astral Templars, known as the Bear Eater, leading a handful of Stormcast to meet with the ruler of a nation seemingly untouched by Chaos. Still hunting for Mannfred von Carstein, Hamilcar hopes to warn the people of Jercho (yep, subtle…) of the vampire’s trickery, but even in a realm of constant sunlight he finds that darkness is already waiting for him.
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QUICK REVIEW: Prodigal – Josh Reynolds

The tenth story in Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar is Prodigal by Josh Reynolds, a Fabius Bile story which sees the apothecary musing on the nature of his work and what his legacy will be. When his pensive mood is shattered by a daemonic attack launched directly into his laboratorium, he’s surprised to find that not all of the daemons are trying to kill him, or at least not yet. Faced with the return of one of his earliest (and perhaps greatest) creations bearing riddle-like warnings, an unexpectedly paternal side of Fabius is revealed.
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QUICK REVIEW: Wraithbound – JC Stearns

The eldar arrive on day eight of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar in Wraithbound by JC Stearns, in which a combined force of craftworld and corsair eldar make a daring webway assault onto an Imperial world that’s been overrun by orks. Among the first wave is Crimson Hunter pilot Seoci, firmly on the path of the hunter but not yet lost to it. Donning his war mask as he goes into battle, he pushes aside thoughts of his previous path until his past comes back to haunt him when his craftworld’s wraith constructs take to the field.
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QUICK REVIEW: The Grey Raven – Gav Thorpe

Day seven of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar features The Grey Raven, the first of two Horus Heresy Raven Guard stories from Gav Thorpe. Closely linked to the novella Weregeld (part of Corax, book 40 in the numbered series) it picks up the story of Balsar Kurthuri, Chief Librarian of the Raven Guard, as he returns to Terra to face the Sigillite’s judgement having broken the Edict of Nikaea. Accompanied by the rest of the ‘Long Shadows’, those who Corax couldn’t or wouldn’t count on, he finds little in the way of welcome from the defenders of the Sol system.
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QUICK REVIEW: Fixed – Robbie MacNiven

Fixed by Robbie MacNiven is the sixth story in Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar, and the first of three Blood Bowl escapades. When Nordland Raiders star blitzer Greig Garr undergoes unorthodox surgery after suffering a potentially career-ending injury, he’s approached by a decidedly shady character who offers to have him back on his feet in no time…for a price. With the Raiders’ promotion to play for in a crucial match against arch rivals the East End Boyz, and his own career at stake, Garr is faced with a tricky decision to make.
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QUICK REVIEW: The Howling Ship – Josh Reynolds

Included in the Limited Edition hardback of Fabius Bile: Primogenitor, Josh Reynolds’ The Howling Ship sees Fabius launch a daring attack on the Black Ship Savonarola as it returns to Terra carrying amongst its cargo of psykers a particularly nasty specimen known as The Howling Man. As the crew work to fight off the void assault, Inquisitor Borja races to where The Howling Man is being held, determined to use any means necessary to prevent the psyker being taken. Faced by the Butcher of Terra however, all of his certainties are challenged and his willpower tested to the limit.
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QUICK REVIEW: Argent – Chris Wraight

Originally released as part of the event-only Black Library Live! 2016 chapbook alongside A Memory of Tharsis by Josh Reynolds, Chris Wraight’s Argent is an Inquisition short story that links in with his excellent novel Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne. In it, Interrogator Luce Spinoza tells a tale of joining the Imperial Fists in an assault on a traitor-held hive, during which her perception of the Angels of Death is profoundly affected. Fighting alongside the Fists as part of a wider mission to cleanse the hive, she faces both the horror of corruption and the ferocity of the Space Marines’ ardent faith.
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QUICK REVIEW: A Memory of Tharsis – Josh Reynolds

Currently only published in the Black Library Live! 2016 chapbook (alongside Argent by Chris Wraight), Josh Reynolds’ short story A Memory of Tharsis sees Fabius Bile paying a visit to Lady Spohr, Magos-Queen of the forge world Quir, to make a trade. He needs her services to repair his ancient medicae equipment in order for him to continue his grand work, but if he’s to succeed he knows he will have to offer her something new and unique. If he fails to provide something suitable he might not survive the visit, but he has something up his (rather disturbing) sleeve.
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