Tag Archives: Warhammer 40k

The Wraithbone Phoenix – Alec Worley

After 2020’s excellent audio drama Dredge Runners, Alec Worley returns to the ratling/ogryn duo of Baggit and Clodde for a full-length Warhammer Crime novel in The Wraithbone Phoenix, a fun crime caper that’s deceptively dark beneath the surface. Baggit and Clodde are hiding out in a reclamation yard, trying to avoid the unwelcome attention caused by a hefty bounty on their heads, and the ire of their yard’s stuck-up steward. When word reaches Baggit of a wrecked Imperial starship beached in a neighbouring yard, with a legendary artefact hidden somewhere within its bones, he realises his prayers might just have been answered. If he and Clodde can retrieve it, the Wraithbone Phoenix could get them out from under the bounty and set them up for life, not to mention offer Baggit the chance of a little tasty revenge. The problem is, they’re far from the only ones hunting for the Phoenix.

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RAPID FIRE: Denny Flowers Talks Outgunned

Hello and welcome to this Rapid Fire author interview where today I’m chatting to the excellent Denny Flowers about his new Black Library book Outgunned, which is a 40k novel exploring the Aeronautica Imperialis from an unexpected angle. Outgunned is out now, and I would urge you to check it out – I was lucky enough to get hold of an advance copy (thanks Denny!) and I loved it, and I think this is really going to be one to watch for a lot of Black Library fans keen to get something a little different to what’s gone before. Luckily, you don’t have to take my word for it, as you can read on to find out more from Denny about what to expect in this fast-paced story of planes, picts and propaganda (including the influence of Blackadder on both characters and tone)!

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IN BRIEF: The Triumph of Saint Katherine – Danie Ware

The Triumph of Saint Katherine sees Danie Ware step away from her ongoing Sister Augusta storyline but remain with the Adepta Sororitas, exploring the life and exploits of the legendary Saint Katherine through tales told by the Sisters who bear her remains into battle. In the midst of a furious campaign, young Sister Avra finds herself chosen to take the place of a fallen Sister in the funerary procession of Saint Katherine. Over the course of the following night, each of her new sisters relates a tale of the saint that represents the ethos of each of the Major Orders of the Adepta Sororitas. While the armies of the Imperium prepare for war around them, the Sisters talk of the past and Avra wrestles with the questions of why she was chosen, and whether she is worthy of the honour.

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QUICK REVIEW: Daemonologie: A Question Asked of Darkness – John French

Currently only available within the ‘Mega Edition’ boxed set of Ahriman: Eternal, as its own beautifully bound little book, John French’s short story Daemonologie: A Question Asked of Darkness is a typically dark and richly detailed addition to the ongoing Ahriman series. Told from the bitter, brutally honest perspective of the daemonologist Ctesias, it represents a written record of the rituals he undertook – at Ahriman’s request – in order to learn more about the doom bearing down on the Thousand Sons, consuming the Rubricae and remaking the living sorcerers. In his attempt to draw knowledge from the warp, Ctesias calls upon his skills as a summoner, binding and questioning daemons…and worse.

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Ahriman: Eternal – John French

Seven years after Ahriman: Unchanged brought the first trilogy to an end, John French returns with Ahriman: Eternal, a new novel detailing the great sorcerer’s ongoing attempts to undo the damage he’s unwittingly caused to his Legion. In the aftermath of the Second Rubric, Ahriman and his Exiles find themselves pursued by the Pyrodomon, a force released by the Rubric which reaches out from the warp to consume the Thousand Sons, sorcerers and Rubricae alike. With cracks widening in the alliance of his followers and the Pyrodomon on their heels, Ahriman looks to techno-arcane xenos abilities – via a captured Necron called Setekh – for the power to control time itself. As the Exiles seek out this power, the Harlequins intervene in their unique fashion, determined to shape events to their own ends and avoid a tragedy only they can foresee.

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[IN BRIEF] Assassinorum: Kingmaker – Robert Rath

Three Imperial Assassins have to work together to pull off an audacious, fiendishly dangerous mission in Robert Rath’s Warhammer 40,000 novel Assassinorum: Kingmaker. Their task: to infiltrate a Knight world, instigate a succession and avert a secession, bringing the Knights of Dominion back into line with the Imperium. Pulled out from their existing missions, Sycorax (Callidus) and Avaaris Koln (Vanus) are hand-picked by the veteran Vindicare assassin Absolom Raithe for their complementary skills (if not complementary personalities), and under Raithe’s fragile leadership the somewhat dysfunctional team plans and executes a daring mission with a bewildering array of moving parts. Inevitably things end up coming down to bullets, blades and the terrifying power of the Knights, but along the way there’s infiltration, impersonation, social engineering, data manipulation, document forgery and lots more.

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A Few Thoughts On The Successors – Black Library Anthology

A collection of 13 short stories from 10 different authors, Black Library’s Warhammer 40,000 anthology The Successors looks beyond the usual First Founding Chapters of Space Marines and sets out to explore some of the Chapters who haven’t been seen as often in 40k fiction. It does actually feature some Chapters who have had plenty of their own stories before (Crimson Fists, Flesh Tearers, Soul Drinkers), but the majority of the stories focus on Chapters from the semi-familiar (Angels Penitent, Black Dragons, Carcharadons, Emperor’s Spears, Mortifactors) to the new or much more obscure (Consecrators, Iron Lords, Wolfspear). There’s even a rare Exorcists story, and most – although not all – of the stories take place in the ‘current’, post-Great Rift era of 40k.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Sins of My Brothers – Peter Fehervari

Available in Black Library’s The Successors anthology, The Sins of My Brothers is the 11th short story in Peter Fehervari’s Dark Coil series, and serves as both a fascinating companion to his novel The Reverie and a revelatory extension of his short story The Crown of Thorns. High up on the walls of Kanvolis, the ancient fortress of the Angels Resplendent – now the Angels Penitent – a warrior walks alone, and recounts his story of betrayal, grief and determined purpose. Through his recollections he confesses the part he had to play in his Chapter’s fall, and reveals more of the truth behind this bleak tragedy.

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Warhammer Horror – The Range So Far

Since its launch in 2019, Black Library’s Warhammer Horror imprint has grown in fits and starts into quite a considerable range spanning novels (and one novella), audio dramas and short stories across both the Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Age of Sigmar settings. Having already published something similar for Warhammer Crime, I thought it was about time I put together an article gathering all of the Warhammer Horror range in one place with the publisher’s synopsis for each title along with links to my reviews and author interviews where available. As the range continues to grow, I’ll try to keep this updated so that it remains an accurate and useful hub for anyone interested in Black Library’s horror-focused offering.

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Day of Ascension – Adrian Tchaikovsky

Prolific, award-winning science fiction author Adrian Tchaikovsky makes his long-form Black Library debut with Day of Ascension, a Warhammer 40,000 novel which pits the cold, academic machine logic of the Adeptus Mechanicus against the insidious alien threat of a Genestealer Cult. Genetor Gammat Triskellian is an ambitious man, but the organic focus of his work is out of favour with the priestly hierarchy of the forge world Morod, and Triskellian is frustrated at every turn by his superiors. When he stumbles across evidence of a xenos taint lurking amongst the poorest inhabitants of Morod he sees an opportunity to further his own goals and undermine his rivals. To the downtrodden members of the Congregation of the Divine Union though, Triskellian is merely another oppressor to be endured and overthrown on the path to their destiny.

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