Tag Archives: Chris Dows

Augur of Despair – Chris Dows

A three-part Blackstone Fortress audio drama, Chris Dows’ Augur of Despair is an action-packed adventure featuring an odd-couple pairing of protagonists facing off against all manner of potentially deadly denizens of the Blackstone. Rogue Trader Neyam Shai Murad and crusader Gotfret de Montbard make their way back to Precipice in the possession of an artefact which might change the balance of power in the Fortress. To unlock its potential they must escape the attentions of an Ambull, enlist the help of a deeply untrustworthy genetor, battle mutants and cultists, and put their trust in a creation of the Fortress itself.

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Chris Dows Talks Audio, Comics and Augur of Despair

Chris Dows is a hugely experienced writer across multiple formats, publishers and settings, on top of being a university lecturer, and he’s been writing for Black Library for a few years now. Over that time he’s tackled stories in both prose and audio about Elysians, Cadians, World Eaters and most recently explorers in the Blackstone Fortress, and I’ve been meaning for a while now to get him on Track of Words for a proper interview. With his latest audio drama, Augur of Despair, being released in three parts over the 2019 Black Library Advent series, now seems like a perfect opportunity.

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Martyrs of Elysia – Chris Dows

Chris Dows’ audio drama Martyrs of Elysia is the third and final instalment in the series that began with Scions of Elysia and continued with Renegades of Elysia, detailing the dangerous accusations levelled against Veteran Sergeant Zachariah and his efforts to clear his name. As he’s questioned by the relentless Commissar Mastroval, Zachariah relives a frenetic, fateful assault on the rebel-held world of Veyland Sinestre and the culmination of his ongoing feud with a senior officer, whose murder he’s been accused of. All the while Mastroval keeps digging – into Zachariah’s actions, his loyalties, and his history.

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RAPID FIRE: Chris Dows Talks Martyrs of Elysia

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.

In this instalment I spoke to Chris Dows about his latest 40k audio drama Martyrs of Elysia, the third and final instalment of his Elysian Drop Troops audio drama series. It’s available to order as of tomorrow, so get ready to pick it up very soon!

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RAPID FIRE: Chris Dows Talks Titans’ Bane

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their new releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read or listen to it.

In this instalment I spoke to Chris Dows about his latest 40k audio drama, Titans’ Bane, which is available to order right now. I picked this up at a Black Library event a while ago, and I’m really excited to see the response it gets once it’s released. You can have a read of my review as well – suffice to say I absolutely loved this!

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Titans’ Bane – Chris Dows

Chris Dows is developing a fine reputation for writing Imperial Guard, and with his audio drama Titans’ Bane he turns his attention away from Elysians and towards Cadians, with a story focusing on the crew of a Shadowsword super-heavy tank. Having taken a beating by the forces of Nurgle, Lieutenant Quiller and the crew of Titans’ Bane limp back to Imperial lines, desperately trying to repair their wounded tank even as its machine spirit ails. To make matters worse, frictions within the tank threaten to boil over as Quiller attempts to integrate two non-Cadian replacements into her veteran crew.

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Renegades of Elysia – Chris Dows

The second instalment of Chris Dows’ three-part Elysian Drop Troops audio drama series, Renegades of Elysia follows on from Scions of Elysia and continues the story of Sergeant Zachariah and the 158th Elysians. This time around Zachariah is ordered by the power-hungry Captain Bandrac to ramp up the speed and intensity of the regiment’s training, in order to recover from losses incurred in the previous mission. After clashing with Bandrac over supposed accidents during training, Zachariah and Adullam are tasked with leading an inexperienced squad of Elysians on a reconnaissance mission with little chance of success or survival.

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RAPID FIRE: Chris Dows Talks Renegades of Elysia

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, my ongoing series of quick interviews with Black Library authors talking about their releases. These are short and sweet interviews, with the idea being that each author will answer (more or less) the same questions – by the end of each interview I hope you will have a good idea of what the new book (or audio drama) is about, what inspired it and why you might want to read it.

In this instalment I spoke to Chris Dows about his new audio drama Renegades of Elysia, the second instalment in a series after Scions of Elysia, which is available to buy now.

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Scions of Elysia – Chris Dows

Scions of Elysia is Chris Dows’ first audio drama for Black Library, and returns to his Elysian Drop Droops characters previously covered in the short stories The Mouth of Chaos and Monolith. This time around the action takes place in the Elysia system itself, as Sergeant Zachariah and what remains of his squad are recalled to aid in a campaign to rid the system of dangerous pirates. Under the erratic leadership of the rash and inexperienced Captain Bandrac, the first mission goes horribly wrong, leaving Zachariah to find a way to salvage some kind of success from the ensuing chaos.

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The Red Path – Chris Dows

Also available as eight individual eshorts, The Red Path is Chris Dows’ first full novel for Black Library after a raft of White Scars and Imperial Guard short stories. Its focus is on Khârn the Betrayer, tying in with the new miniature and the current 13th Black Crusade story arc, as Abaddon the Despoiler dispatches one of his lieutenants to find Khârn and bring him back to the Warmaster. Meanwhile a living saint of the Imperium is returning to the planet Salandraxis after campaigning near the Eye of Terror, while Khârn himself is merrily taking skulls with his warband.

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