'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

‘Deathworlder’ – Victoria Hayward (Black Library)

Image
Before I get into the review proper, thank you Black Library for sending me a copy of ‘Deathworlder’ in return for a fair and honest review. Talking of ‘fair and honest’… There will be loads of the latter but I enjoyed the hell out of ‘Deathworlder’ so… We’ll see how being fair goes ;o) That’s your only warning, lets talk ‘Deathworlder’… Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed. The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System. Facing insurmountable odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way ...
Read more

‘Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth’ (1992)

Image
Every time Halloween comes round, I promise myself that I’ll watch more horror films and read more horror fiction; we’re halfway through the month and you can see how that’s going so far… There’s still plenty of October left though so lets see how I do from now until the end of the month ;o) First up is ‘Hellraiser 3’ which I watched last night, mostly because I love it (you can tell how this post is going to go, sorry…) but also because it was cheap on Prime and I’m still just on the wrong side of payday. Here goes… TV reporter Joey Summerskill’s life is changed forever when she witnesses the horrific death of a teenager, torn apart by bloody chains. Joey’s search for a story leads her to the Lament Configuration Box but it has already been opened, waking an old evil from its slumber… Now Pinhead walks the earth once more, creating a new army of Cenobites from the transmuted flesh of his victims; his one desire to reclaim the Box. Even with help from an unexpected source, Joey Summers...
Read more

‘Cursed City’ – C.L. Werner (Black Library)

Image
I always have these vague ‘reading resolutions’, for the New Year and without fail, they all come to absolutely nothing. I still read loads, just none of the books that I meant to… This year is panning out slightly differently and I think I’m going to enjoy it. All the books that were originally ‘out of sight, out of mind’, in the loft at my old place, are now all over my new place and wherever I look, I’m constantly discovering books that I totally forgot I had but now quite fancy reading. Books like ‘Cursed City’ for example… I’m not going to tell you how long ‘Cursed City’ was sat in my loft, lets just say it was long enough for me to totally forget it was there and buy myself another copy… Oh well. I found it on the shelf the other day (only the one copy now) and figured it was way overdue a read, let me tell you about it… Ulfenkarn is a city of nightmares. Its vampiric rulers have indulged their bloodlust in every shadow-clad alley, turning the once-proud metropolis into a charnel...
Read more