Tag Archives: Graham McNeill

Sons of the Emperor – Anthology

First released at the Horus Heresy & Necromunda Weekender in February 2018, Sons of the Emperor is a Horus Heresy Primarchs anthology comprising eight brand new short stories, one each from Dan Abnett, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, John French, LJ Goulding, Guy Haley, Nick Kyme, Graham McNeill and Gav Thorpe. These tales range from the earliest days of the Great Crusade to long after the end of the Heresy, each taking a different approach to representing one (or more) of the primarchs and their legionary sons. Featuring eleven primarchs and even the Emperor, chances are there’s a story here for every Heresy fan.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Ancient Awaits – Graham McNeill

In Graham McNeill’s Primarchs short story The Ancient Awaits, set centuries after the Heresy, a trio of Thousand Sons are commanded by Magnus the Red to seek out the source of a faint prophetic vision. Eventually reaching a barren, unnamed world Vistario and his brothers find the remnants of a city long destroyed, beneath which waits the origin of the faint psychic beacon which has drawn them inevitably across time and space. Venturing down beneath the ruined city they find the truth of what happened to the devastated world, and an unexpected presence.

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Warhammer 40,000 Legends Issue Eleven – Mechanicum by Graham McNeill

For issue eleven of Hachette’s Warhammer 40,000 Legends Collection it’s back to the Horus Heresy with Mechanicum by Graham McNeill, the third Heresy book to be included so far. While it’s not the first in that series to be included in the collection, it is the first to tackle one of the most iconic, but least-represented factions in 40k – the Mechanicum, or in 40k terminology what became the Adeptus Mechanicus. Since its publication back in 2008 we’ve seen a raft of new stories featuring this faction, in both 40k and the Heresy, but at the time it was the first real opportunity we’d had to delve into the history and character of Mars and its denizens.

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Legends of the Dark Millennium: Ultramarines

Collecting together stories about the boys in blue from five different authors, Legends of the Dark Millennium: Ultramarines features two novellas, prose versions of two audio dramas, and five further short stories. The emphasis is on named characters, with such Ultramarines luminaries as Marneus Calgar, Chaplain Cassius, Cato Sicarius, Torias Telion and Varro Tigurius shared out across four stories by Graham McNeill, two by Nick Kyme, and one each from Steve Lyons, Josh Reynolds and Gav Thorpe. Lyons’ novella Knight of Talassar is exclusive to this collection, while the remaining stories are available elsewhere as well.

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The Crimson King – Graham McNeill

Black Library’s Horus Heresy series reaches book forty-four with The Crimson King by Graham McNeill, the long-awaited follow up to 2010’s A Thousand Sons. With Prospero sundered by the Wolves, the Thousand Sons are adjusting to life on the Planet of the Sorcerers, and their new status as outcasts. Magnus mourns the loss of so much knowledge from Prospero, but his sons fear for his fractured soul – while Ahriman seeks out ways to help his father, Amon remains at Magnus’ side, ever the faithful son. Meanwhile Malcador sends his own warriors to deny Ahriman and the Thousand Sons their prizes.

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Magnus The Red: Master of Prospero – Graham McNeill

In the third of Black Library’s Horus Heresy Primarchs series, Graham McNeill’s Magnus The Red: Master of Prospero, we’re transported to a time not long after Magnus and his sons were first brought together on Prospero. On the doomed Imperial world of Morningstar, Magnus and his brother Perturabo lead their Legions in an attempt to rescue as many civilians as possible before the planet tears itself apart. While Perturabo and the Iron Warriors focus on the logistics of the mission, Magnus and his Thousand Sons are more concerned with searching for answers as to what’s happening on Morningstar, and why.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Corpse Road – Graham McNeill

Graham McNeill’s short story The Corpse Road does for Honsou what Do Eagles Still Circle the Mountain? did for Uriel Ventris, picking up after The Chapter’s Due and showing us what the Warsmith did next. While Ventris went off hunting orks, Honsou took an unusual route out of the Ultramarines’ domain…in a corpse-hauler. His mission to see Ultramar burn may not have ended how he’d hoped, but his ‘failure’ certainly hasn’t dented his ambition. Here we get a sense of what he’s got his sights set on next…

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QUICK REVIEW: Do Eagles Still Circle the Mountain? – Graham McNeill

The second story from the Honour of the Space Marines anthology to get a standalone e-short release, Graham McNeill’s Do Eagles Still Circle the Mountain? picks up the story of Uriel Ventris between the end of The Chapter’s Due and the as yet unreleased The Swords of Calth. Engaged against the orks on Sycorax, when circumstances change and the Ultramarines’ mission changes from assault to survival, Ventris and his warriors of the Fourth look for refuge away from the sucking mud flats. A Mechanicus facility offers shelter, but it also provides a troubling mystery for the captain to consider.

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Warhammer 40,000 Legends Issue Three – Warriors of Ultramar by Graham McNeill

The Warhammer 40,000 Legends Collection from Hachette continues with Issue Three, featuring Warriors of Ultramar by Graham McNeill. First published way back in 2003, it sees Captain Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines 4th Company leading his men in defence of Tarsis Ultra against the numberless monstrosities of Hive Fleet Leviathan. While not quite such a classic as Issue Two’s Xenos, it’s a popular title from a much-loved series, although there’s one oddity immediately obvious about choosing this for Issue Three…
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QUICK REVIEW : Luna Mendax – Graham McNeill

NOTE : If you haven’t read Vengeful Spirit, this review will contain spoilers.

Originally only available in the event-only 2013/14 Black Library Anthology, Graham McNeill’s short story Luna Medax follows on from the Garro audios Legion of One and Grey Angel, and fits in before McNeill’s own novel Vengeful Spirit. It finds the former Luna Wolf Garviel Loken in sombre mood, having found a measure of peace in solitude away from Malcador and the war in which he no longer understands his role. Troubled by gaps in his memories, when he is visited by an uninvited guest Loken fails to recognise him at first, though when he does at last realise who his visitor is he struggles to understand how it could be possible.
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