‘Pain Engine’ (Chris Thursten) & ‘Chains’ (Jonathan D Beer) - Black Library Celebration 2024


You can find ‘Pain Engine’ and ‘Chains’ as eBooks but not here, not today :o)

I was poring over my shelves the other day and came across a copy of the ‘Black Library Celebration 2024’ free anthology. ‘Doubly Free’ for me as I picked it up from the free book library at Lewisham station. When there was a free book library at Lewisham station… I miss it :o( But anyway…

In the spirit of ‘reading the books on my shelves first’ (payday today, we’ll see how much longer that lasts…) , I thought I’d forego the usual ‘quick read for the commute’ post and have a night in with a couple of these tales instead. And that is exactly what I did, it wasn’t all smooth sailing though…

‘Pain Engine’ – Chris Thursten

A drukhari haemonculus searches for the pain engine of a renowned master. Venturing into the depths of Commorragh, he must complete a series of horrific trials in the hope of proving himself an equal in the art of fleshcraft.

I’ve read about the drukhari, in 40K, but I’d never actually read a drukhari story, if you know what I mean, so when I saw ‘Pain Engine’, it was an easy first choice to kick things off with.

Having read it though… I don’t know. Maybe this is one for drukhari fans and I just haven’t read enough of those books? I don’t know, maybe?
I was just bemused really. ‘Pain Engine’ is superbly written as far as getting a feel for the setting goes; there’s atmosphere in almost every word, but the plot (such as it is) is far too lightweight to be interesting and I just couldn’t see the point to it in the end.

Having said that, I would read more from Chris Thursten, I think his style would sit really well with an ‘Inquisitor’ or ‘Mechanicus’ tale, just not any more drukhari stuff.

‘Chains’ – Jonathan D Beer

Melita Voronova is sent to negotiate with Andreti Sorokin, the controlling gang-lord of the Spoil, on behalf of the Valtteri cartel, for the release of a man with information the cartel wants…

Now this was more like it. All the atmosphere of ‘Pain Engine’ but with a plot that came with a real sense of purpose and vigour. Not only that, the two lead characters were thoroughly engaging and offered real perspective on life away from the front lines of the 41st Millennium, good can really be found in the most unlikely places. Melita Voronova in particular really kept things ticking over and I’ll be honest, I’d happily pick up more books with her in them, just to see where Voronova’s story goes next.

And now it’s back to something a little (ok, a lot) longer with ‘The Fall of Cadia’ by Robert Rath. All being well over the weekend, I should have a review up early next week ;o)

Comments

  1. Bookstooge16 May 2025 at 10:38

    Oh, I've heard good things about Fall of Cadia. I hope it works out well for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graeme16 May 2025 at 12:49

      I'm about half way through and it has been great so far. I think as with most of these books, it depends on what faction you're into as to how much you get out of it; the Sisters of BAttle aren't quite for me but I'm enjoying the Chaos and Imperial Guard elements ;o)

      Delete

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