Tag Archives: Warhammer 40k

QUICK REVIEW: The Vorago Fastness – David Annandale

David Annandale’s short story The Vorago Fastness, available either in the Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters anthology or as a standalone ebook, brings together Space Marines of some of the most unusual Chapters, including the Black Dragons and the Sons of Antaeus. Tasked with recovering an ancient relic from within the Vorago Fastness, a city-sized prison-turned-mining facility, the Deathwatch kill team must battle against the (at that point) still mysterious Necrons to reach their prize. Along the way they see up close what happens when a world offers up its services as a prison for hire…

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Thoughts on The Ahriman Boxed Set by John French

Yesterday, out of the blue, Black Library released a limited edition boxed set of John French’s Ahriman trilogy. 500 copies only. It wasn’t on the Coming Soon section of the website, it hadn’t been hinted at or teasered…it was a complete surprise. Well. It is, after all, Tzaanuary – according to Games Workshop – so in hindsight it’s not actually surprising that a series of novels featuring Tzeentch’s favourite 40k pawn should get the posh hardback treatment in a month dedicated to the Changer of Ways…

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QUICK REVIEW: Above and Beyond (Episode 3) – Aron Nemeth

Áron Németh’s four-part novella set within the Inquisitor: Martyr ‘sandbox’, Above and Beyond continues with Episode 3 as Mercer and his team attempt to dig beneath the surface of Rengris VII’s government. Using the cover of an elaborate reception to spend some time investigating the planet’s ruling elite, Mercer looks for allies in his mission but soon finds that there’s more going on than he realised at first.

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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…

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Forgotten Texts: Jonathan Green Talks Salvation

The first of my Forgotten Texts reviews, looking back at vintage Black Library short stories from the days of Inferno! Magazine, was for Jonathan Green’s classic Ultramarines vs Tyranids short story Salvation. As an extra treat, Jonathan has kindly agreed to talk a little about this 20 year old short story and the process of writing it! Without further ado, over to the author…

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Forgotten Texts: Salvation by Jonathan Green

“Left behind, as he himself had been…”

A classic short story from way back in 1997, Jonathan Green’s Salvation follows Brother Rius of the Ultramarines’ 1st Company as he and his brothers battle the Tyranid menace on Jaroth, a newly rediscovered Imperial world. After chancing upon the planet during a routine patrol, the Ultramarines acknowledge their duty to protect its natural resources and defenceless population, despite facing appalling odds. Brother Rius and his squad find themselves in the thick of the action, determined to wipe the Tyranids out to the last creature, but when Rius is badly wounded he earns a newfound respect for the honest, hardy locals.

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QUICK REVIEW: Fatespinner – Chris Wraight

Another story* originally published in the event-only Honour of the Space Marines anthology, Chris Wraight’s Fatespinner pits two ancient enemies against each other as Rune Priest Thorskir Helsturjm pursues Thousand Sons sorcerer Ramon to the world of Rigo V. Hidden deep beneath the surface is a darkness from an older time that Ramon seeks to unleash, while Thorskir leads his pack in hurried pursuit, determined to finally bring his nemesis to heel and prevent his plans from coming to fruition. As their fates converge, it becomes clear that these two warriors are linked by more than just their age-old enmity.

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Silver Skulls: Portents – SP Cawkwell

Sarah Cawkwell’s Silver Skulls: Portents is her second novel featuring the Silver Skulls chapter of Space Marines (after The Gildar Rift), and features characters who have previously shown up in various short stories. The main protagonist is Sergeant Gileas Ur’ten, considered something of a rogue element by his superiors as a result of his fiery temper and unusual heritage, who leads his squad into battle against the archenemy on Valoria Quintus at the behest of the chapter’s Prognosticators. With the Inquisition involved in the mission however, there’s more at stake than just Gileas’ place in the chapter.

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Warden of the Blade – David Annandale

David Annandale’s Warden of the Blade is the first novel in a new trilogy from Black Library featuring Castellan Crowe of the Grey Knights, beginning the series by showing how Garran Crowe came to wield the Black Blade of Antwyr. The Grey Knights are sent to Sandava II to prevent or halt a daemonic incursion, Crowe and his fellow Purifiers following the then-Castellan Gavallan in the righteous prosecution of a daemonic plague afflicting the once-loyal world. Forced to battle both the daemons and the insidious power of the blade, Crowe and Gavallan lead their brothers into a battle only the strongest and purest could hope to survive.

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QUICK REVIEW: Above and Beyond (Episode 2) – Aron Nemeth

The second Caligari Archivum story tying in with the upcoming release of the Inquisitor – Martyr computer game, Above and Beyond (Episode 2) sees Áron Németh continue the story of Captain Theoden Mercer as he and the crew of the Stormskipper brave the warp to reach Rengris VII. When their journey is interrupted by a troubling encounter it begins to look as though there might be more going on than Mercer and Prefectus Stolde originally thought, and that Rengris could be the centre of something that endangers the entire sector.

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