'Blood Sands' – Victoria Hayward (Black Library)


The weekend was a number of things (mostly making sure my kids each got a fair go on the PS4, easier said than done, with occasional breaks for food) but one thing it certainly wasn't was conducive to actually getting any reading done. I wouldn't swap it at all but sometimes, all I want is some time to myself where I can really make a dent in the TBR pile... But anyway.

I got the bus back last night and used the time to get stuck into another Black Library short story on the ol' Kindle. The Imperial Guard (yeah I know but it's late and I have a habit of 'overspelling' Militarum if I'm not careful...) have a few new stories out and doing the rounds and I never need much of an excuse to read a 'Guard' book. I'd also never read anything by Victoria Hayward so 'Blood Sands' pretty much chose itself as my next read. And once I'd finished 'Blood Sands', I went straight back to Amazon and bought 'The Carbis Incident', same author, so that ought to tell you what kind of a read 'Blood Sands' was. If you need a little more than that though, keep reading... ;o)

The 'Dune Eagles' regiment are fighting a losing battle on a desert world, against a Genestealer Cult that seem to know the regiment's movements before they are made. Has the regiment itself been infiltrated by the Cult and if so, how far does the corruption spread?

I've always enjoyed short stories and am in awe of the ones where the writer throws as much as they can at the page, and it all sticks. 'Blood Sands' is very much one of those stories and yes, everything that Hayward throws at the page not only sticks but all works together to provide a thoroughly engaging tale that's fronted up by a just as engaging lead. You're left in no doubt what it means to Itoh to complete this mission and I couldn't help but get behind that. Well played 'Blood Sands', well played...

One part war story, one part mystery and one glorious part a little homage to the 'Alien' movies. You never go into the infirmary but I'm glad Itoh did, those scenes absolutely played me like a... I'm not really good at naming instruments, lets just say I had no choice but to keep reading.

That was the case for the whole thing though. The mystery kept me intrigued and the war story kept things moving along nicely from 'Alien' moments to the eventual conclusion. It was just what I was after :o)

I already mentioned that I've gone and found myself a copy of 'The Carbis Incident', I'll be sure to let you know how that pans out and sooner rather than later I reckon. What I haven't said though is that 'Blood Sands' looks like it has deliberately left open-ended and with a Commissar who looks like she just wants to shoot someone and two soldiers with a score to settle... I hope we get to hear more from the 'Dune Eagles'...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘The Long and Hungry Road’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Black Library)

Image
After not finishing ‘Witchbringer’ (not the book’s fault, I still think it could be worth your time), I thought I’d change pace a little and go for a short, sharp burst of something instead. Something that would blow a few cobwebs away and wake me up a bit :o) Now in my experience, there’s nothing shorter and sharper than a Warhammer short story so that was the direction of my reading taken care of. And as far as the focus went… I’ve read a few Warhammer tales, in my time, but I’ve never read a tale that looks at the events of the 41st Millennium through the eyes of the rapacious Tyranids. So when I saw ‘The Long and Hungry Road’ on Amazon, it pretty much chose itself. To face a Tyranid invasion is a waking nightmare. The skies darken with spores, your mind echoes with alien screeches, and countless weapon-organisms descend upon you with razor teeth and claws. How much greater would your horror be, to realise that the hive ship above thinks nothing of your fate – that it crushes you
Read more

'Mad God' (2021)

Image
It's that time again where Youtube throws me a 'Shudder' advert and I think to myself, 'I'm paying five quid a month for this, I really should watch something, lets give it a go...'   This time round, 'It' was the film 'Mad God' and the trailer was this mad batshit crazy shot of stop-motion horror that was over before I'd had a chance to get my head round it; leaving me pretty unsettled but with no clear idea just why that was... That's all I need sometimes, I was in... It's almost an hour later and, damn, that was grim, bleak and... What the hell just happened? A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city and the Assassin emerges from it to explore a labyrinth of bizarre landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens. That is about all I can tell you about 'Mad God' and that's only because I had a quick look on IMDB and that was all IMDB could tell me... 'Mad God' is any number of things but it's not
Read more

‘Worms of the Earth’ – Robert E. Howard.

Image
Page Count: 27 Pages I have a copy of this on my shelf and the plan was to pick it up for a read on the way into work this morning. Well, that was the plan but I was half asleep, leaving the house, and totally forgot… No matter though, that’s what the Kindle app is for (although if I’d been a little more awake, I’d have read it off Project Gutenberg instead, you can find ‘Worms of the Earth’ Here ). 99p later and my ‘commute reading’ was secured 😉 I always seem to fall into the trap of just reading ‘Conan’ stuff whenever I fancy reading a little Howard. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that there’s a lot of his other stories out there that are more than worth your time when you come across them. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much one of those tales but you knew that already, didn’t you? You didn’t? You should do something about that, take it from me… After witnessing one of his subjects die at the hands of Roman governor Titus Sulla, Bran Mak Morn vows vengeance on Sulla but at w
Read more