‘Carnage Unending: A Warhammer 40,000 Anthology - Various (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 405 pages

After a ‘not so great’ experience with ‘Domain’, I really needed my next read to be a decent one, that’s what led me back to ‘Carnage Unending’; an anthology that I’d started reading, about a month ago(ish) but had somehow found its way way to the bottom of a pile of books on my desk. It’s funny how that seems to happen fairly regularly at the moment… Anyway :o)

I figured a little ‘Warhammer 40k’ reading would be a safe bet and I’d already read a fair chunk of 'Carnage Unending' so it would be a fairly quick read as well. As it turned out… Both of these were true, to a point.

I’m not going to go into my usual ‘something for everyone’ spiel (oh, hang on…) but lets just say that for me, ‘Carnage Unending’ was a decent palate cleanser after ‘Domain’ with a varied set of tales from the sides of ‘Imperium’ and ‘Ork’. The other thing I realised is that after a ‘negative read’, I am much less inclined to stick with a story if it’s not doing it for me. I’m sure that ‘Blood Rite’ and ‘The Price of Morkai’ are perfectly fine reads; I’m just not a big ‘Blood Angels’ or ‘Space Wolves’ fan so I put these two to one side (to be read when I’m feeling a little more fair-minded). The rest though? Lets have some quick thoughts on those...

Ancient enemies, powerful foes. Where the Orks and the Imperium collide, there is only war.

The Black Templars stand against the Orks’ destruction and Astra Militarum soldiers fight for survival on Hive World Armageddon. The Orks contend with the costs of their outlandish schemes and bold quests for power. But while they delight in their search for their next big fight, the Green Tide is just one of the many perils the Imperium faces in the brutal galaxy. In the darkness, the Ruinous Powers threaten disaster, and an inquisitor must reckon with the Space Wolves’ dangerous secret…

‘Ork Hunter’ – Dan Abnett

The ‘Age of Sigmar’ has its Wildercorps for hunting Orruks in the swamps; the 40k universe has ‘Keysers Skinners’ (for the same kind of thing) and it’s Dan Abnett’s tale so it’s just the kind of opening that you want for a collection like this. Tense as hell, full of action and the sort of ‘deep dive’, into the regiments of the Imperial Guard, that Abnett is best at.

‘Wulfen’ – Chris Wraight

Yep, I did say that I’m not a massive ‘Space Wolves’ fan but… I am a big fan of Chris Wraight’s work as well as being partial to anything featuring an Inquisitor. ‘Wulfen’ is both of these and is haunting to say the least. If a certain Primarch returns during the War for Armageddon (he won’t, but...), you saw him here first.

‘The Glorious Tomb’ – Guy Haley

I love reading about Dreadnaughts but you don’t see an awful lot of them (at least, I don’t), mostly because you can’t take them out of storage for too long as the ‘pilot’ will go mad… ‘The Glorious Tomb’ was a bit of a treat then, especially as ‘Invictus Potens’ is piloted by a Black Templar (a stricter sense of duty means being able to maintain his sanity longer than most). I don’t think Guy Haley could write a poor quality 40k tale even if he wanted to.

‘Packin’ Heat’ & ‘Road Rage’ – Mike Brooks

I’m lumping these two together as they’re both by the same author. I normally stay away from from ‘Ork POV’ tales as I’ve never felt like there was a lot of story to be told here but… Mike Brooks has only gone and proven me completely wrong with two tales that were not only hilarious but also really showed Orks as being in it ‘for the love of the game’, whether it’s a big scrap, speed or a mixture of the two. And that’s before we even get to the Gretchin…

‘Mad Dok’ – Nate Crowley

Not bad but sat very firmly in the shadow of the previous two tales. If you’re going to have a ‘tale about a tale’, you need to make sure that the framing tale is at least as good as the main event. That wasn’t the case here, not for me.

‘It Bleeds’ – David Guymer

I really enjoyed ‘It Bleeds’ as it not only uses the Butchers Nails, very effectively, to chart the deterioration of our lead, but also has the reader asking loads of question (well, this reader did) right up until a surprisingly touching ending that casts a new light on everything.

‘Consecrated Ground’ – Steven B. Fischer

With the Space Marines being feared across the galaxy, you would have thought that people would know the consequences of pissing them off. There’s always someone willing to have a go though and while there aren’t any real surprises in ‘Consecrated Ground’, it does exactly what it needs to and is all the more engaging for it.

‘Hell Fist’ – Justin Woolley

Bit cheeky ‘Black Library’… ‘Hell Fist’ was alright but it’s also in the ‘Death & Duty’ anthology and that’s where I’ve already spoken about it.

‘Sarcophagus’ – David Annandale

Already reviewed, over Here.