Mike Brooks’ Necromunda short story Dead Drop continues his impressive run of Black Library stories featuring strong characters with powerful familial bonds. Danner Grimjack and his Road Dogs, a close-knit gang of Orlocks, launch a carefully timed ambush of a rival gang, the Steel Crescents. Their goal is to relieve the Van Saars of what they hope is a valuable piece of cargo, recently arrived on Necromunda through illicit channels, and sell it on for a tidy profit. As ever in the underhive it’s a case of risk versus reward, but the Road Dogs trust each other to get the job done.
Tag Archives: Necromunda
Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty – Josh Reynolds
With Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty, Josh Reynolds takes the reins from Gordon Rennie and Will McDermott and reintroduces the suave bounty hunter for a new generation of Necromunda fans. Accompanied by put-upon partner Scabbs and sort-of-but-not-really wife Yolanda, Jerico is on the trail of Desolation Zoon, a Redemptionist zealot whose bold behaviour has roused the ire of the Guilders. With every other venator worth the name on the same trail, however, they must keep ahead of the competition and survive the many and varied dangers of the underhive – including a worrying number of muties on the move – if they’re to claim this bounty.
QUICK REVIEW: Bonegrinder – Josh Reynolds
This story is currently only available within Inferno! Volume 3.
A sequel to 2018’s Death’s Head, Josh Reynolds’ Necromunda short story Bonegrinder continues to follow the exploits of smarter-than-the-usual Goliath ganger Topek Greel. Now a full member of the Steelgate Kings under the watchful leadership of Irontooth Korg, Greel is a dangerous combination of brawn, brains and ambition, and he’s got his sights set on consolidating his position through the manipulation of the Kings’ rival gangs. When Korg brings him along as a second in a parlay with an opposing gang leader, however, it begins to look as though Greel’s ambition might have got the better of him.
Black Library Advent Calendar 2018 – Recap
We’ve reached the very end of 2018, and now that the Black Library Advent Calendar has finished for another year, I’m taking my usual look back at what the series contained and whether there’s anything we can extrapolate from what’s been included. As with previous years I’m not going to go into too much detail about each story in this article, as you can check out links to all of my reviews by clicking here. Instead I’m going to have a look at each of the different settings in turn, and think about things as a whole.
QUICK REVIEW: Half-Horn by Josh Reynolds
Life’s tough in the underhive, especially so for anyone foolish enough to kill a Guilder. In his short Necromunda audio drama Half-Horn, Josh Reynolds takes a quick look at what might happen in such a circumstance…with predictably unpleasant results. Three disreputable characters are searching for a safe haven, bickering over who’s to blame for their unhappy predicament, driven by fear of who (or what) might be hunting for them. One particular name inspires genuine terror – Gor Half-Horn – but what are the chances of the legendary bounty hunter even being real, never mind being on their trail?
Wanted: Dead – Mike Brooks
After a recent-ish set of Necromunda short stories teased us with brief glimpses of the underhive, Mike Brooks’ novella Wanted: Dead finally affords us a longer visit. This tells the story of Jarene, a hardened Escher ganger and member of the Wild Cats gang, who finds herself in a tight spot when an ambush goes awry. Life in the underhive is tough at the best of times, but when the Wild Cats find wind up outlawed, hunted and on the run, Jarene has to dig deep and make some difficult decisions if she’s to survive, and protect those she loves the most.
QUICK REVIEW: Expectatio – Matt Keefe
Twelve years after his novel Outlander, Matt Keefe returns to the underhive with a Necromunda audio drama – Expectatio. The bounty hunter Arturos is ready to claim a bounty, but it turns out Guilder Meriko doesn’t have the credits to settle up…so he takes his payment in the form of a Spiraptor – a rare piece of technology in the form of a mechanical bird. After learning a little of its secrets, Arturos hatches a plan to put his newfound acquisition to good use and claim a different prize, one which comes with considerable risk but which promises rich rewards.
QUICK REVIEW: The Deserter – Justin D Hill
Justin D. Hill’s 27-minute audio drama The Deserter holds the honour of being the first ever Necromunda audio drama from Black Library, and delivers a character-driven story that cuts to the heart of life in the underhive. Corenne and her mother have been driven out of their home and forced to scrape a living in Dust Falls, scrabbling in the dust and hawking what few possessions they still have. Starving and desperate, Corenne turns to a strange, barely-lucid ex-soldier in the hope that he can help her reclaim her home, but the Deserter seems bound to let her down.
Black Library Advent Calendar 2018
December has come round once again, which means it’s time for the 2018 Black Library Advent Calendar! As is the Black Library tradition, there’s going to be 24 days of Black Library fiction in the run up to Christmas, with a new* short story or audio drama revealed each day. This year it’s mostly short stories, with just six of the tales coming in as audio dramas (compared to 10 audios in 2017), and things are split across 40k (including Blackstone Fortress!), Age of Sigmar, Necromunda and the Horus Heresy.
QUICK REVIEW: A Common Ground – Mike Brooks
Mike Brooks’ first Necromunda story for Black Library, released before his novella Wanted: Dead, the short story A Common Ground is a tale of pit fighters and blood-sport brutality, but also of careful planning and lasting legacies. Jaxx is a member of House Goliath, and has chosen to make a name for himself fighting in the arena of impresario Drost Khouren rather than work in the foundries. Shortly after discovering that Khouren rigged his last contest, costing him a shot at a lucrative fight, Jaxx is offered an opportunity to claim one last paycheck, but at a high cost.