Welcome to this 40k Reading Order article, where today I’m actually looking at two series which intersect and overlap, both by Graham McNeill, as part of an ongoing set of articles in which I’m providing recommended orders for various Black Library series. The Ultramarines series – (mostly) featuring Uriel Ventris – and the Iron Warriors series – featuring Warsmith Honsou – can be read separately, but fit together brilliantly to form one larger whole, and between them they include almost 30 stories. Graham has kindly provided his suggested (in-universe chronological) reading order for the whole lot, so if you’ve ever wanted to read these series but haven’t known where to start, look no further than this article!
Continue readingTag Archives: Uriel Ventris
RAPID FIRE: Graham McNeill Talks The Swords of Calth
Welcome to this instalment of my Rapid Fire series of author interviews, where today I’m talking to veteran Black Library author Graham McNeill about his new novel The Swords of Calth, the long-awaited return of Uriel Ventris to 40k. Whether you’re a long-term fan of the series or this is your first introduction, read on to find out more about Uriel Ventris, who this character is within 40k, and how he fits into the changing universe! I also asked Graham for a series reading order, so anyone who wants to check out the whole thing can do so in chronological order.
It’s been over a decade since the previous book in this series was released, so it’s great to see such an iconic character return – The Swords of Calth goes up for pre-order on the 20th February, in Special Edition hardback, standard hardback, ebook and audiobook formats.
Continue readingQUICK REVIEW: The Death of Uriel Ventris – Graham McNeill
Graham McNeill’s provocatively-titled short story The Death of Uriel Ventris, available in Warriors and Warlords or the Black Library Events Anthology 2018/19, revisits a much-loved Black Library hero in a thoughtful, action-light story of consequences and change. As Uriel Ventris lies dying, the Captain of the Ultramarines 4th Company finds his mind disassociating, and he relives – in a way – the pain and suffering that forged him into the Space Marine he would eventually become. Unaware of what’s happening to his physical body, he’s tested in spirit by not just physical and emotional pain but also the manifestation of his greatest fears.
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…
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.