Tag Archives: Ultramarines

Cassius – Ben Counter

The second short novel in the Space Marine Legends series, Cassius sees Ben Counter return to take a longer look at the titular Ultramarines Chaplain after having previously tackled the character in the Deathwatch short story One Bullet. Here we see the contemporary Cassius, grizzled and scarred after centuries of war, leading two companies of Ultramarines against endless waves of Tyranids on the strategically important world of Kolovan. Situated perilously close to Segmentum Solar, if Kolovan were to fall then the Tyranids would have a route into the heart of the Imperium, so who better to put a stop to that than the hero of the Tyrannic Wars?
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Blades of Damocles – Phil Kelly

The first full-length Space Marine Battles book from Black Library since 2015’s Damocles anthology, Phil Kelly’s Blades of Damocles takes us back to before the time of its predecessor to look at the events of the first Damocles Gulf Crusade. Here we see sergeants Numitor and Sicarius of the Ultramarines 8th Company, still young and prior to their ascension to company captaincy, taking the fight to the Tau on the sept world of Dal’yth. As the headstrong assault marine sergeants lead their forces into battle, Commander Farsight leads the Tau defence in the name of the Greater Good.
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Pharos – Guy Haley

Please note, if you haven’t read The Unremembered Empire then this review will contain spoilers.

Mysteriously numbered as 34 in Black Library’s Horus Heresy series despite Deathfire coming in at number 32, Pharos by Guy Haley continues the wider Imperium Secundus arc, picking up plotlines from Dan Abnett’s The Unremembered Empire as well as Haley’s own short story A Safe and Shadowed Place (from Death and Defiance). While the new Emperor Sanguinius sits uneasily upon the throne, Guilliman continues to tend to the Imperium Secundus with the aid of the alien artefact discovered on distant Sotha, as directed by the unlikely pairing of Barabas Dantioch and Alexis Polux. Meanwhile the Night Lords have been watching from the shadows, and choose their moment to launch an attack on Sotha.
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The Honoured – Rob Sanders

Released to accompany the new Betrayal at Calth Horus Heresy board game, Rob Sanders’ The Honoured is one half of a pair of short novels that tell the story behind the game, set on Calth in the aftermath of the Word Bearers’ surprise assault on Roboute Guilliman and his Ultramarines. As the Veridia star dies, irradiating the planet’s surface and forcing the remaining combatants of both sides underground, Ultramarines Captain Aethon rallies his troops in defence of what remains of Calth, facing off against his old friend Kurtha Sedd of the Word Bearers.
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QUICK REVIEW : The Staff of Asclepius – Graham McNeill

The final 40k story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar comes from Graham McNeill, who returns to the Ultramarines with the micro-short The Staff of Asclepius. Fleeing through his ship carrying the precious gene-seed of his fallen brothers, apothecary Isstvan Cantaro races against time to keep his cargo from the grasp of the Emperors Children fleshsmith Dzyban and his horde of cultists. With hope fading fast, Cantaro faces the possibility of failing in his duty to safeguard the chapter’s future.
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QUICK REVIEW : Without Fear – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The Ultramarines show up for day twenty-one of the Black Library 2015 Advent Calendar, in Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s micro short Without Fear. Brother Aeneas joins his squad in an aerial insertion to break the back of a Chaos force and reclaim a defaced relic, and we watch as he prepares himself for battle before (literally) throwing himself into the fray. With his weapons sanctified and his brothers around him, nothing is going to stand in the way of their victory.
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QUICK REVIEW : The Gates of Terra – Nick Kyme

Nick Kyme’s ‘quick read’ The Gates of Terra follows Captain Arcadese of the Ultramarines as he stubbornly defends the Ardent Reef from the forces of the Warmaster, in spite of his growing confusion at what’s happening around him. To abuse a famous line : it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Horus Heresy short story, even one apparently standing on its own, will in some way be linked to at least one other existing story. This story is a great example, as while fundamentally it stands as a single story it is in fact linked with Forgotten Sons from the Age of Darkness anthology, as well as the Garro arc, albeit loosely.

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QUICK REVIEW : Brethren – Phil Kelly

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Black Library gave to us…a Space Marine Battles audio short by Phil Kelly. Brethren looks back to an early conflict between the Imperium and the Tau Empire and offers a comparison of sorts between the two. As the Ultramarines descend upon the world of Vespertine and battle the tau, sergeants Numitor and Sicarius lead their assault squads in vicious close-quarters fighting against the disciplined and technologically advanced xenos.

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QUICK REVIEW : Stratagem – Nick Kyme

On the fifth day of Christmas Black Library gave to us…a Horus Heresy audio drama by Nick Kyme. Following on from Censure and The Unremembered Empire, Stratagem features Aeonid Thiel (for real this time) on his return to Macragge, as he meets with the primarch Roboute Guilliman to discuss his place within the Ultramarines legion. His unconventional mindset and methods have served him well so far, but what will his purpose be in the new Imperium Secundus?

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Catechism of Hate – Gav Thorpe

Space Marine Battles books are tricky beasts. On the one hand they cover some of the coolest events in 40k history and give us the chance to see a range of different chapters in action, while on the other hand the authors writing the books are constrained by the nature of the series – they are after all, Space Marine battles, so they need to be based heavily around some pretty big scraps. The best of the bunch balance the action with a healthy dose of insight into the chapter(s) in question, and Catechism of Hate just about manages to achieve this balance.

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