Category Archives: Short Stories

QUICK REVIEW : Marienburg’s Stand – David Guymer

In the first of his short story contributions to the End Times series, David Guymer steps away from Gotrek and Felix to pick up a thread from the Glottkin background book, in Marienburg’s Stand. Before they could march on Altdorf the brothers Glott needed to fight their way through the independent city state of Marienburg, whose powerful fleet and strong sea defences were bolstered by unexpected allies. Here we see how that engagement plays out, as the vampire Mundvard the Cruel emerges from the shadows to fight for the city alongside its human defenders.

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QUICK REVIEW : With Ice and Sword – Graham McNeill

While it’s perhaps surprising that the short story With Ice and Sword is Graham McNeill’s only contribution to the End Times series, it’s no surprise to see him involved in some way. Here he draws upon characters from his Ambassador Chronicles novels as he tells a tale of Kislev’s final days, as a ragged band of survivors reach the shelter provided by the Ice Queen and her remaining forces. Vast numbers of beastmen are drawing close even as the Kislevites reach the ruins of Erengrad and a potential lifeline.

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QUICK REVIEW : The Siege of Naggarond – SP Cawkwell

In typical Black Library fashion, the End Times series of novels now gets a range of supplementary short stories, filling in some of the gaps left by the books. Set immediately prior to the events of The Curse of Khaine, SP Cawkwell’s short story The Siege of Naggarond details the Chaos assault on the druchii city, led by Valkia the Bloody. After the destruction of one of the northern watchtowers, a single elf survives to carry a warning back to Naggarond, where Kouran Darkhand waits to lead the defence of the city in Malekith’s absence. Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW – Tallarn : Witness – John French

Beginning with the first novella Tallarn : Executioner, the story of the Battle of Tallarn has developed into a mini-series of its own within the Horus Heresy, with John French’s micro-short Tallarn : Witness capping everything off. Set in the aftermath of the battle’s conclusion, it sees the new governor of Tallarn surveying the desolate surface of his world from the bridge of a Titan, and considering the cost that the victors have paid for their success.

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QUICK REVIEW : The Kaban Project – Graham McNeill

A prequel to the novel Mechanicum, available as a standalone ebook after previously being released in both Collected Visions and Shadows of Treachery, Graham McNeill’s The Kaban Project is a tale of loyalty and what it means to be human, even amongst the ranks of the Mechanicum. It features Adept Third Class Pallas Ravachol, a low-ranking tech priest on Mars who accidentally strikes up a friendship of sorts with an artificial construct that he fears has broken the Emperor’s ban on the creation of artificial intelligence.

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QUICK REVIEW : Heart of the Conqueror – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Recently released as a 99p ‘quick read’, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Heart of the Conqueror was first printed in the 2014 Horus Heresy Weekender programme where it sat alongside game rules for Heresy-era Navigators. That was surely no coincidence, focusing as it does on Nisha Andrasta, the Navigator responsible for Angron’s flagship The Conqueror. Set in the aftermath of Betrayer, it sees Andrasta looking back at her purity of purpose when she first joined the ship, and struggling to reconcile that with where she finds herself now. Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW : The Devine Adoratrice – Graham McNeill

Originally part of 2013’s Limited Edition The Imperial Truth, Graham McNeill’s The Devine Adoratrice is one of only two of the included stories to have found a general release so far, alongside Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Lord of the Red Sands. A direct prequel to Vengeful Spirit, it follows the young siblings of House Devine as they prepare for the ceremony that will bond the brothers with the warrior-spirits of their Knight armour. Meanwhile, hidden factions on Molech work to direct events to their own ends, and the day doesn’t go quite as smoothly as all involved had hoped.

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QUICK REVIEW : Army of One – Rob Sanders

Released back in 2012 as part of Black Library’s 15th birthday celebration, Rob Sanders’ Army of One was one of the first (perhaps actually the first) Horus Heresy short stories to be released as a standalone ebook. Very much a ‘quick read’, it takes a whistlestop tour of one man’s history as he relives the unexpected way in which he was caught up in the Heresy. Unwanted by the Imperial Army, he finds his place in the war in a less obvious role.

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QUICK REVIEW : Wolf Mother – Graham McNeill

Graham McNeill’s Horus Heresy novel Vengeful Spirit spun together a huge number of character threads, some of which were left crying out to be followed up in later stories. With Wolf Mother, McNeill picks up a few of those characters in the immediate wake of Vengeful Spirit’s conclusion, focusing on Alivia Sureka as she is forced to work alongside the Knight Errant Severian in order to rescue her adopted daughter from a resurgent fragment of Molech’s Serpent Cult.

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QUICK REVIEW : Chirurgeon – Nick Kyme

Alongside their primarch Fulgrim, Apothecary Fabius is perhaps the most important member of the Emperor’s Children legion, his flesh-craft driving them ever onwards on their dark path. In Chirurgeon, Nick Kyme looks a little closer at what drives Fabius himself, and why. As he operates on a living legionary in order to understand the blight affecting his body, he thinks back to pivotal events that took place before Fulgrim had taken up his position at the head of the legion.

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