A couple of Warhammer 40K short reads… ‘The Long Promise’ and ‘Eradicant’ (Black Library)




It’s the end of the week… finally. Just a few more hours to go but we’re pretty much there so we can all breathe a sigh of relief. It’s been a while since I’ve read any Warhammer 40K short stories, and payday wasn’t too long ago, so I thought I’d treat myself to a couple of reads as a way of winding down yesterday. The method behind the choosing was not scientific at all; it’s been years since I read an ‘Alpha Legion’ book, hence ‘The Long Promise’ and ‘Eradicant’ has a very cool cover (which blogger won't let me show here, check it out on Amazon), that’s all it took ;o)

Quick thoughts today as I’ve got a fair bit of work to get through. If you want an even quicker thought though… Both were great reads and if you’re a fan of the setting, you could do a lot worse than pick these up.

‘The Long Promise’ – Mike Brooks

Solomon Akurra, Chaos Lord of the insidious Alpha Legion, infiltrates a Deathwatch watch station. When this most elite and pious of kill teams returns, Akurra offers them the real truth…

I suspect you’re going to get a lot more out of this story if you’ve already read ‘Harrowmaster’ (and I haven’t, that’s on me) but for those of us who haven’t, there is still a lot here that’s worth getting your teeth into. In true Alpha Legion style, the story you think you’re reading isn’t actually the story you think you’re reading… or is it (sorry, couldn’t help myself)? Either way, it’s a joy watching two seemingly different strands of plot come together to form a story that’s part revenge but mostly loyalist Space Marines thinking that they’re hunting an Alpha Legionnaire when that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It’s a bit creepy but somehow a little but heartening to see that even a heretic Space Marine can be trusted to keep his word… If it suits him to do so.

‘Eradicant’ – R.S. Wilt

A squad of Tempestus Scions is deployed on a covert mission to rescue the planetary governor of a planet fallen to Chaos.

This tale is a little more straighforward but still has a little sting in its tail that possibly hints that we haven’t seen the last of this Eradicant. I hope there’s more to come as quite apart from all the cool pyrotechnics (and regular humans, albeit highly trained, facing off against World Eaters, damn that was cool), there’s a really interesting discussion brewing about how the Emperor’s will should be divined and followed. I wouldn’t mind seeing that discussion play out a little more but for now, I’m more than happy with what we get in ‘Eradicant’. If you like your Imperial Guard (sorry, Astra Militarum…) then you really need to check out ‘Eradicant’ if you haven’t already.

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

‘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

‘Day of Ascension’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Black Library)

Image
Page Count – 196 Pages There isn’t a lot that’s good about moving house (especially when it slowly dawns on you just how much the new place is going to cost to run, I need to get another job…) but there are some good bits if you look for them. For me, it was mostly around getting all my books unpacked and back on shelves around me again, not stuffed up in the loft where I couldn’t see them. Old favourites were back within easy reach, along with a whole load of new books that I really should have read ages ago. You can probably guess what my main New Year’s resolution will be… ;o) ‘Day of Ascension’ was one of those new books and I figured it was as good a place as any to start over in making a dent in the ol’ TBR Pile. And I’m really glad I did. On the forge world of Morod, the machines never stop and the work never ends. The population toils in the mines and factoria to protect humanity from the monsters in the void, while the Adeptus Mechanicus enjoy lives of palatial comfort. Gene...
Read more