A Couple Of Quick Reads…

I was in the office today and we all know what that means… Well, apart from the inevitable ‘lunchtime bagel’ from Bagel Factory, that’s probably a subject for a different blog entirely ;o) Nope, what I’m talking about is that point, on the bus ride home, where I realise that I’ve finished my book so I end up seeing what’s what on my Kindle App. Luckily, I always seem to have a couple of quick reads, waiting to be read ;o)

Today, I visited another nightmarish, grimdark world of the 40th Millennium and then… I’m not sure where I visited, but I’d love to go back one day…


‘The Dark Hollows Of Memory’ – David Annandale (Black Library)

The sinister limbo of winter is falling on the Imperial archive world of Mnemosyne. A great fog rolls in, one that will not dissipate for months. With it comes unimaginable hell for the planet’s citizens as the Chaos Space Marines of the Company of Misery stage a brutal invasion. But as the defenders of Mnemosyne fall before the Traitors, something moves in the mist. There are phantoms abroad, warriors of darkness and flame. The Company of Misery is now confronted by the Legion of the Damned, and the terrified scribes of the Librarium find themselves caught in a war between the armies of horror and terror.

Page Count: 46 Pages

I’m not sure if the ‘Warhammer Horror’ line is officially still a thing but either way, David Annandale continues to write 40K fiction that really emphasizes the cosmic horror of the setting, and on both sides. I don’t often get to see the Legion of the Damned so it’s always a bit of a treat when they appear and Annandale didn’t disappoint with this beautifully atmospheric piece that is punctuated, in all the right places, with bursts of Astartes on Astartes violence. And if that wasn’t enough, you get to see the action through the eyes of the Damned themselves (and it’s just as cryptic as you’d expect).

And that wasn’t enough, the way Annandale ends his tale raises questions but in all the right ways. ‘The Dark Hollows Of Memory’ is definitely a story that will stick around, in my head, for a while to come.

‘Rider in the Widow Lands’ – Coy Hall (The Scythian Wolf)

A Short Tale of Sword & Sorcery

A forgotten age when god-lore and magic drove warriors on quests of blood and gold.

The Rider, the progeny of ghoul and man, escorts a small, crumbling ossuary atop his Friesian. His destination is a hidden dale in the Widow Lands, where, temple monks claim, widows of the Great God Scar breathe life into bones long dead. How else does one speak privately with a priest who died a thousand years ago? For he is the man in the charnel box, and the secret he possesses isn’t to be shared with necromancers or moribund gods.

Page Count: 26 Pages

Today’s bus ride home really was a time for encountering beautifully drawn worlds. No sooner had I left the archive world of Mnemosyne then I was in the dreamlike, but no less dangerous, world of the Rider; on a quest that isn’t the one that you think it is. What it is though is a tale of a nameless ‘hero’ who is prepared to lug old bones around, for ends that aren’t particularly moral, and is capable of seeing off succubi and a vicious nature spirit with nothing more than his wit and some skill at debating. And he’s not bad with a sword either :o) And you know what? It doesn’t get a lot more ‘Sword & Sorcery’ than that. Coy Hall knew the assignment and delivers a tale that is engaging from the off. I wouldn’t be surprised to see ‘Rider in the Widow Lands’ feature in a ‘Further Tales of the Rider’ collection sometime in the future, I certainly have all my fingers crossed for just that.

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