Tag Archives: Inferno! 3

QUICK REVIEW: Empra – Nate Crowley

Nate Crowley’s second Black Library short story, Empra offers a unique take on 40k and a rare perspective on the Imperium. Toa is a Shellmaker, daughter of the chief shaman; she and the tribe her mother oversees toil to forge great shells that they send up to the Body of Empra in return for food and protection from the poisons of their world. When Toa finds an Angel out in the manhills, her world is turned upside down as she learns that everything she had been told – about Empra, his servant Two-Bird and her entire religion – has been a lie.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Weight of Silver – Steven B. Fischer

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume 3.

His second Black Library short story after debuting with The Emperor’s Wrath, Steven B. Fischer’s The Weight of Silver is another Imperial Guard story, this time featuring a young Cadian officer wrestling with questions of confidence and authority. The Cadian 900th are newly arrived on an embattled Imperial world, and newly-promoted Lieutenant Glavia Aerand faces dissent within the ranks of her platoon as well as the dangers posed by the enemy. After her first mission ends in disgrace she questions her abilities and the merit of her rank, and she’ll have to dig deep if she’s to survive and thrive.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Book of Transformations – Matt Keefe

Matt Keefe’s first contribution to the Age of Sigmar setting – and first Black Library short story for some years – The Book of Transformations takes the feel of an old-school Warhammer story and updates it for the Mortal Realms. In the magic-infused streets of a Chamonite city, the alchemist-turned-apothecary Mehrigus practices his art and dreams of greater things. To Mehrigus, the pinnacle of the apothecary’s arts would be to meld art, science and magic and achieve transformation as a cure. Though scorned by the Collegiate Arcane, his obsession continues to deepen, and as plague wracks the city his efforts appear to be rewarded.

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QUICK REVIEW: In the Mists of Chaos – Rik Hoskin

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume Three.

The Black Library debut for Rik Hoskin, Age of Sigmar short story In the Mists of Chaos is a grim little story of human bravery and faith in the face of the twisting nature of the Ruinous Powers. Having played a crucial role in the defence of his village against a Chaos warband led by the sorcerer Ty’Gzar, Freeguild soldier Uffo Weisz finds himself with a legend to live up to. When the forces of Ty’Gzar return, Weisz leads his men in a confident defence of the village and its people, but the influence of Chaos can be dangerously subtle.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Unlamented Archpustulent of Clan Morbidus – David Guymer

A tale of scheming skaven in the Age of Sigmar, David Guymer’s wonderfully-titled The Unlamented Archpustulent of Clan Morbidus reimagines the political maneuvering of a papal conclave as the vicious, backstabbing process of electing the new spiritual leader of Clan Morbidus. As the voting draws nearer, several candidates for the position of Archpustulent employ bribery, cunning and violence to ensure they, and only they, are elevated to this vaunted – and dangerous – position of power. In typical skaven fashion, however, each candidate’s devious schemes clash, backfire and generally get in each other’s way causing carnage in the depths of Blight City.

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QUICK REVIEW: Dismember the Titans – Graeme Lyon

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume Three.

A much-deserved sequel to the excellent Mazlocke’s Cantrip of Superior Substitution, Graeme Lyon’s Blood Bowl short story Dismember the Titans returns to the characters of Juliana and Johann, now the Talabheim Titans’ star Blitzer/Catcher duo. Death is a workplace hazard for Blood Bowl players, but it usually happens on the pitch and in front of a crowd, not in secret. When their fellow players start turning up very dead, and minus some body parts, it falls to Juliana and Johann to investigate and try to find out who it is that has a grudge against the Titans, and why.

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QUICK REVIEW: City of Blood – Matt Smith

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume Three.

Matt Smith’s short story City of Blood is a Necromunda-esque tale of fast-paced underhive action in the 41st millennium, just not set on Necromunda. In the labyrinthine slums beneath Obergard Secundus, Jesca Veil – deserter, formerly of the 151st Hadran Rifles – has made a deal to get herself off-world. If she’s to see the deal through and make it to safety, however, she’ll have to contend with not just the untrustworthy nature of her shady contact but also the vengeful presence of the Officio Prefectus and the many and varied dangers lurking in the darkness of the underhive.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Prince’s Tale (At the Sign of the Brazen Claw Part Three) – Guy Haley

This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume 3.

The third instalment of At the Sign of the Brazen Claw, Guy Haley’s serialised story of a group of strangers swapping stories while waiting out a storm, The Prince’s Tale sees aelven Prince Maesa tell the tale of how he met Shattercap. As the storm rages, Maesa relives a time of heartache and loneliness as he wandered the Mortal Realms aimlessly, haunted by the loss of his beloved Ellamar. Only when he finally encountered a match for his own grief did the exiled prince find himself drawn back into the lives of mortals, and set against the pitiless sylvaneth.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Spirit of Cogs – John French

A short story in John French’s ongoing Horusian Wars series, The Spirit of Cogs is a sinister little ghost story told by Glavius-4-Rho to Severita while the ex-magos is working on a repair. Casting his machinic mind back to his first experience on a true forge world, Glavius-4-Rho tells a tale of his younger self being recruited into a mysterious project, swathed in secrecy, which requires his expertise. He and another magos throw themselves into their work, despite the strange phenomena plaguing their efforts, but before long they start to question the consequences of the Mechanicus’ thirst for knowledge at all costs.

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