Tag Archives: Aaron Dembski-Bowden

QUICK REVIEW: The Abyssal Edge – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

A slow, quiet tale of perspectives and choices, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Primarchs short story The Abyssal Edge features two primarchs and two First Captains, but is told from the perspective of a crippled human archivist. Desk-bound after a terrible crash, former fighter pilot Orthos Ulatal finds the tedium enlivened by a report implying conflict between the Night Lords and the Thousand Sons. His investigations lead him to the threatening company of Jago Sevatarion, the truth of what happened between Konrad Curze and Magnus the Red, and a glimpse behind the facade of the ongoing Great Crusade.

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Black Legion – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The long-awaited sequel to The Talon of Horus, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Black Legion continues where its predecessor left off in terms of tone, style and characters. Once again narrated by Iskandar Khayon, it picks up some time after The Talon of Horus and sees the burgeoning Black Legion asserting their strength within the Eye of Terror. While rival warlord Thagus Davarek opposes them at every step, despite Khayon’s assassination attempts, Abaddon’s gaze turns to a power that will set him on his fateful path. A path that leads, inevitably, out of the Eye and to a confrontation with an old enemy.

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Helsreach Animation

The best Black Library books are often really cinematic, jam packed with scenes that play out in the mind’s eye of the reader as though they were taking place on the big screen. With that in mind, many a fan has wondered why the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 haven’t been translated into films or TV shows, with the exception of the poorly-received Ultramarines movie. It’s a good question, although the answer is probably something to do with Games Workshop’s (perfectly understandable) desire to keep a tight rein on their intellectual property – if they’re going to do it, they’ll want to make sure it’s done their way. I can see how that might not appeal to film and TV studios keen to make as much money as possible.

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QUICK REVIEW: Extinction – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

After its initial publication in the limited-run Games Day Anthology 2012/13, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Extinction is finally available as a standalone e-short. Set shortly after the Heresy it sees the Sons of Horus scattered throughout the Eye of Terror, leaderless and embattled against the remnants of the other Traitor Legions. With Horus dead, his sons are the next best thing when it comes to finding someone to blame for the Heresy, so they bear the brunt of the other legions’ ire. As his former brothers are slowly wiped out, where is First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon?

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QUICK REVIEW: Into Exile – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Day three of Black Library’s 2016 Advent Calendar takes us back to the Horus Heresy with Into Exile by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, in which technoarchaologist Arkhan Land finds himself caught up in the rebellion on Mars. With the red planet burning around him and enemies keen to either capture or kill him, Land has to abandon his home and put his faith in the Imperial Fists to see him safely off the surface. His flight is not unopposed however, as a hunter is on his trail, and even his vaunted intellect can’t protect him.
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The Master of Mankind – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The clue is in the title. Book forty-one of Black Library’s colossal Horus Heresy series, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s The Master of Mankind brings The Emperor front and centre. Set five years after Magnus the Red’s intrusion into the Great Work it sees the forces of the Imperium losing the webway war against the endless hordes of daemons and traitors pouring in. Even the combined might of the Custodes, Sisters of Silence and the Mechanicum isn’t enough to avoid being them pushed ever further backwards, as long as The Emperor remains away from the front lines. Meanwhile something stalks the fringes of the conflict, unseen.
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QUICK REVIEW: Massacre – Aaron Demsbki-Bowden

Also available in the Eye of Terra anthology, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Horus Heresy short story Massacre takes a quick look at the cast of the Night Lords trilogy in their pre-40k incarnations. That’s right, it shows Talos, Xarl, Cyrion and even the Exalted as they all were back in the days of the Heresy, pre- and during the Dropsite Massacre. Seen through Apothecary Talos’s eyes it’s a rare chance to see these fan-favourite characters in their prime – cynical, callous warriors given to black humour, snide commentary and an unfair fight.
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Warhammer 40,000 Legends Issue One – First Impressions

The Warhammer 40,000 Legends collection from Hachette and Black Library has officially launched, and I’ve got my hands on Issue One to take a close look at, featuring fan favourite The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Before we take a look at the book itself though, let’s take a step back and talk about the collection as a whole…
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Ragnar Blackmane – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The first Space Marine Legends title – not to be confused with the Lords of the Space Marines series – Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Ragnar Blackmane is a short novel tackling perhaps the most well known of all Space Wolves, the titular Ragnar. Released in Limited Edition hardback and standard ebook formats back in 2015, it takes the form of two interlinked stories set approximately 40 years apart but both taking place towards the very end of the 41st millennium. In one strand we see Ragnar as Wolf Lord, leading his Great Company in the defence of Cadia against the 13th Black Crusade, while in the other we see him as a newly promoted Wolf Guard, still headstrong and clashing variously with Dark Angels, Flesh Tearers and his own packmates.
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QUICK REVIEW : Without Fear – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The Ultramarines show up for day twenty-one of the Black Library 2015 Advent Calendar, in Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s micro short Without Fear. Brother Aeneas joins his squad in an aerial insertion to break the back of a Chaos force and reclaim a defaced relic, and we watch as he prepares himself for battle before (literally) throwing himself into the fray. With his weapons sanctified and his brothers around him, nothing is going to stand in the way of their victory.
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