Trials
A Severina Raine story

Amidst the endless war of the 41st Millennium, the Emperor's soldiers must take what quiet moments of comradeship they can – and as Commissar Severina Raine and Captain Andred Fel share such a moment, they bond over the horrors of their past.

READ IT BECAUSE
Rachel Harrison explores the ways in which the Imperium forges its weapons through the Schola Progenium, laying bare the hideous trials future commissars and storm troopers are put through in order to ensure that they really are the best of the best.

THE STORY
As their war against the Chaos cult known as the Sighted rages on, the 11th Antari Rifles have been forced into the safety of underground tunnels. As her foes bombard the surface, Commissar Severina Raine patrols the tunnels, and finds kinship with another survivor of the Schola Progenium. Remembering the trials she underwent as a would-be commissar, she asks Militarum Tempestus captain Andred Fel about what he underwent. As they share stories, both face up to the horror of their pasts, and the hope of their future.

Written by Rachel Harrison

Rachel: Trials arose from a conversation between Raine and Militarum Tempestus Captain Andren Fel about the replacement of damaged parts, and knowing when things are about to break. It seemed a perfect jumping-off point to explore a formative experience for each of them – their final trial at the schola progenium.

Their trials are representations of everything they will need to be. For Fel, it’s a matter of survival and sacrifice – denying fear and pain. For Raine, it’s a matter of judgement and a difficult choice that she must make alone.

In some ways, I suppose it all comes back to replacing parts because although Raine and Fel are successful in their trials, they are definitely altered by the experience – taken apart and made into something new, all the better to serve the crusade.

Ghost of Nuceria
A Primarchs story

Angron, former gladiator and slave, and now leader of a rebellion against the High-riders of Nuceria, prepares to sell his life dearly in the name of freeing his people from torture. But fate has other plans…

READ IT BECAUSE
Angron's time after being plucked from Nuceria has been explored, as has the scars it left with him, both physical and emotional. Now, for the first time, witness the day his life changed forever.

THE STORY
On the world of Nuceria, the last day of the slave rebellion is nigh. From the hundreds freed by Angron, barely more than fifty remain, hiding in the mountains, feeding on the rich blood of their saviour in lieu of real food. As the High-riders, the so-called nobles who tortured the slaves and made them fight for their own amusement, gather their forces to bring the rebellion down once and for all, Angron prepares to sell his life dearly. But other forces are moving. In the skies about Nuceria, the Emperor of Mankind is preparing to meet one of his long-lost sons. And that meeting will be a fateful one…

Written by Ian St. Martin

We can also reveal that The Wicked and the Damned, a portmanteau novel combining a trio of tales by David Annandale, Josh Reynolds and Phil Kelly into one terrifying saga, will be getting an unabridged audiobook edition. What’s more, one of the three stories will be read by a horror legend – Doug Bradley, best known for his role as Pinhead in the classic movie Hellraiser. In fact, we have a clip from the story he’s narrating, ‘The Beast in the Trenches’, which you can listen to right now.

123ply wrote:
I really want WH Horror to be good but itll probably suck. Abnett is the only author I can remember who has momenta in his booka that were actually scary. He is the only capable horror writer that Im aware of in Black Library.

Anything to do with AoS is already to be ignored. When has a horror ever taken place in a fantasy or medeival setting? WHFB may have worked but not AoS But with 40k I think all the terms and cultures and stuff will get in the way of the horror. Horrors only work when you can see yourself in them, and reading about "ferrocrete" and "lumens" and w.e dont exactly suck me in and sounds a little corny. Why couldnt they just be called lightbulbs ffs.

 BrookM wrote:
Second story is up: https://www.blacklibrary.com/prod-home/library/the-mistress-of-threads-eng-2019.html

The Mistress of Threads
A Horusian Wars story

A message from a distant cousin sets Viola von Castellan – backed by the authority of Inquisitor Covenant – on the trail of a mysterious cartel with murky motives.

READ IT BECAUSE
It's a fascinating look into the post-Gathering Storm Imperium, and told in a very different way – through a series of communications and reports making up an Inquisition case file.

THE STORY
Among the companions of Inquisitor Covenant are scions of the famed von Castellan dynasty, a mercantile clan with links to many other such families throughout the Imperium. When a member of one such family reaches out to Viola von Castellan with a tale of woe that began with the dawning of the Great Rift, an investigation begins into the mysterious Cytos Cartel, an organisation that has wormed its way into the heart of the Imperium – but to what sinister purpose?

Written by John French

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

123ply wrote:
I really want WH Horror to be good but itll probably suck. Abnett is the only author I can remember who has momenta in his booka that were actually scary. He is the only capable horror writer that Im aware of in Black Library.

Anything to do with AoS is already to be ignored. When has a horror ever taken place in a fantasy or medeival setting? WHFB may have worked but not AoS But with 40k I think all the terms and cultures and stuff will get in the way of the horror. Horrors only work when you can see yourself in them, and reading about "ferrocrete" and "lumens" and w.e dont exactly suck me in and sounds a little corny. Why couldnt they just be called lightbulbs ffs.

There's so much wrong with this post it's actually quite embarrassing. You really don't think horror can exist in a fantasy setting? AoS especially? Have you ever bothered to read any of the fluff? Death especially? There's many, many stories that can be based on ghosts, monsters, chaos, the horror of other humans. Try using your imagination just a touch.

123ply wrote:
I dont know how John French thought "Covenant" Would make for a good last name. I mean, Inquisitor Covenant? That is so lame and corny. How can anybody have their name be Covenant? Inquisitor Covenant is litterly a name I thought if when I was like 9, because I loved playing Halo and couldnt think of any other name. Thinking back on it makes me cringy and seeing a grown man using that same name in a serious manner as his very own Eisenhorn is just so embarassing...

123ply wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Second story is up: https://www.blacklibrary.com/prod-home/library/the-mistress-of-threads-eng-2019.html

The Mistress of Threads
A Horusian Wars story

A message from a distant cousin sets Viola von Castellan – backed by the authority of Inquisitor Covenant – on the trail of a mysterious cartel with murky motives.

READ IT BECAUSE
It's a fascinating look into the post-Gathering Storm Imperium, and told in a very different way – through a series of communications and reports making up an Inquisition case file.

THE STORY
Among the companions of Inquisitor Covenant are scions of the famed von Castellan dynasty, a mercantile clan with links to many other such families throughout the Imperium. When a member of one such family reaches out to Viola von Castellan with a tale of woe that began with the dawning of the Great Rift, an investigation begins into the mysterious Cytos Cartel, an organisation that has wormed its way into the heart of the Imperium – but to what sinister purpose?

Written by John French

I dont know how John French thought "Covenant" Would make for a good last name. I mean, Inquisitor Covenant? That is so lame and corny. How can anybody have their name be Covenant? Inquisitor Covenant is litterly a name I thought if when I was like 9, because I loved playing Halo and couldnt think of any other name. Thinking back on it makes me cringy and seeing a grown man using that same name in a serious manner as his very own Eisenhorn is just so embarassing...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

123ply wrote:
I really want WH Horror to be good but itll probably suck. Abnett is the only author I can remember who has momenta in his booka that were actually scary. He is the only capable horror writer that Im aware of in Black Library.

Anything to do with AoS is already to be ignored. When has a horror ever taken place in a fantasy or medeival setting? WHFB may have worked but not AoS But with 40k I think all the terms and cultures and stuff will get in the way of the horror. Horrors only work when you can see yourself in them, and reading about "ferrocrete" and "lumens" and w.e dont exactly suck me in and sounds a little corny. Why couldnt they just be called lightbulbs ffs.

There's so much wrong with this post it's actually quite embarrassing. You really don't think horror can exist in a fantasy setting? AoS especially? Have you ever bothered to read any of the fluff? Death especially? There's many, many stories that can be based on ghosts, monsters, chaos, the horror of other humans. Try using your imagination just a touch.

Ive read enough Black Library. 90 percent of the books I own are black library. A lot of the authors are capable or writing tense stories, but horror? Only Abnett has sucked me in enough that I felt I was "there" enough to feel horror.

And why would I bother with AoS novels? Ive read a bunch of short stories (like all of the stories from the Malign Portents site.) While some of it is interesting, there can never be a good AoS horror. Its embarassing that you actually think there could be...

 Lord Damocles wrote:

Not sure if sarcasm or actually ignorant that Covenant is a long established character who wasn't created by French.

Well played!

123ply wrote:
I dont know how John French thought "Covenant" Would make for a good last name. I mean, Inquisitor Covenant? That is so lame and corny. How can anybody have their name be Covenant? Inquisitor Covenant is litterly a name I thought if when I was like 9, because I loved playing Halo and couldnt think of any other name. Thinking back on it makes me cringy and seeing a grown man using that same name in a serious manner as his very own Eisenhorn is just so embarassing...

 AegisGrimm wrote:
If there is no way 40k novels could be true horror, because they are scifi, then movies like Event Horizon would like a word with you.

Warhammer fantasy is great for horror, though. Practically every Old World novel has great horror elements. I still think AoS (as it stands right now) is too fantastical high fantasy for horror, though. So far "horror" elements injected into AoS just go so far over the top that everything ends up like a living Heavy Metal cover. Its less "creeping horror" which Warhammer Old World does well, but over the top in your face body horror in AoS.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
If there is no way 40k novels could be true horror, because they are scifi, then movies like Event Horizon would like a word with you.

Warhammer fantasy is great for horror, though. Practically every Old World novel has great horror elements. I still think AoS (as it stands right now) is too fantastical high fantasy for horror, though. So far "horror" elements injected into AoS just go so far over the top that everything ends up like a living Heavy Metal cover. Its less "creeping horror" which Warhammer Old World does well, but over the top in your face body horror in AoS.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
If there is no way 40k novels could be true horror, because they are scifi, then movies like Event Horizon would like a word with you.

Warhammer fantasy is great for horror, though. Practically every Old World novel has great horror elements. I still think AoS (as it stands right now) is too fantastical high fantasy for horror, though. So far "horror" elements injected into AoS just go so far over the top that everything ends up like a living Heavy Metal cover. Its less "creeping horror" which Warhammer Old World does well, but over the top in your face body horror in AoS.