Low-key but satisfying, Thomas Parrott’s Warhammer 40,000 short story Salvage Rites adds a small but valuable extra layer of detail onto the non-military side of life in the Imperium. Having stumbled across what promises to be a life-changingly valuable derelict in orbit around Effandor, Captain Ved Tregan leads his small salvage crew onto the ship to assess their find, keen to get the job done before his rivals appear. In the silent, strangely sterile corridors of the vessel, however, bonds between the crew start to fray as the ship proves to not be quite as lifeless as it seemed.
Tag Archives: Thomas Parrott
Isha’s Lament – Thomas Parrott
Thomas Parrott’s first longer-form Black Library story, Isha’s Lament is a Blackstone Fortress novella, an entertaining and insightful tale of survival, exploration and the after-effects of trauma. Brakus Andradus – once a soldier, now a hunter – is part of a group of explorers who find a ruined, dead ship within the fortress, and in doing so unwittingly trigger a calamity that endangers everyone on both the fortress and Precipice. Despite his failing health Brakus ventures back in search of a way to prevent disaster, accompanied by a motley group of uneasy companions, and in the darkness faces up to his fears.
Author Spotlight: Thomas Parrott
Welcome to this Author Spotlight interview, in which I chat to Thomas Parrott about his writing for Black Library, including his new Blackstone Fortress novella Isha’s Lament which, at the time of writing, has just gone up for pre-order. Having had a few stories published now, with plenty more still to come out, Tom’s name is becoming increasingly familiar to BL fans, so this is a great time to get to know him a bit more. Here he talks about his early inspirations and how he ended up working with Black Library, and gives us the lowdown on the new novella.
Writing for Black Library – Thomas Parrott Talks the Open Submissions Window
Welcome to this first instalment of Writing for Black Library, a new series of quick author interviews in which I chat to Black Library authors about how they got started with writing for the worlds of Warhammer. Whether you’re actively hoping to be published by Black Library yourself, or just interested in getting a peek behind the scenes, these interviews will offer insights into the backgrounds and working processes of some of the authors who are lucky enough to contribute to the ongoing development of Games Workshop’s various worlds and settings.
In this interview I chatted to Thomas Parrott, one of Black Library’s newest authors, who made it through the 2018 open submissions process to have his debut short story – Spiritus in Machina – published in Inferno! Volume 2.
Inferno! Volume 2 – in the Authors’ Words
After many years in the wilderness, September 2018 saw the return of Inferno! to Black Library, with a new format – a paperback anthology instead of the old magazine format – and a load of cool new stories. I celebrated this momentous occasion with an article in which I took a quick look at each of the stories in Inferno! Volume 1, and also asked the authors to give a little insight into their stories and how it felt to be included in this new anthology. Fast forward a few months and the second instalment of the new Inferno! is now available to order, so I felt it was only appropriate to put together something similar.
QUICK REVIEW: Spiritus in Machina – Thomas Parrott
This short story is featured in Inferno! Volume 2, which is due out at the very end of 2018.
Thomas Parrott’s debut Black Library story, Spiritus in Machina is a smart story of obedience and loyalty among the Adeptus Mechanicus. Skitarius Alpha-Primus 7-Cyclae wakes from stasis aboard a Mechanicus Ark ship to find he’s the only survivor in his maniple after a rebellion amongst the ship’s crew. Guided by a servo-skull operated remotely by Magos Explorator Aionios, Cyclae braves the dangers of the damaged ship to try and restore power and allow the Magos to complete his mission. Despite an unsettling absence of data, Cyclae willingly obeys the Magos’ instructions, but gradually realises things aren’t quite what they seem.