Never_born Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Hi folks. I'm sure most of you have already spotted that this year we've once again got an advent calendar from Black Library. I've added a quick post on my blog about the advent calendar as a whole, including my thoughts on what's coming up based on the icons for each day : Black Library Advent Calendar 2014 - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/black-library-advent-calendar-2014/ I'm going to be aiming for a short review of each story as and when they come out (200 words or so). The first one is up now : The Final Compliance of Sixty-Three Fourteen by Guy Haley - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/the-final-compliance-of-sixty-three-fourteen-guy-haley/Any thoughts on the stories as they come out, or the reviews, let me know!Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 On the second day of Christmas...it's the Brazen Claws. Cold Blood by Joe Parrino - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/quick-review-cold-roads-joe-parrino/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarKnight Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Is the AD-B story with the duel between the Dark Angel and the Wolf set to be one of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 Is the AD-B story with the duel between the Dark Angel and the Wolf set to be one of these? Could be, although as far as I'm aware nothing's been announced. My gut feeling is it probably won't be, but I'd love to be proven wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candleshoes Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Just finnished Cold Roads about the Brazen Claws. My 2 trains of thought: 1) Joe does a great job of continuing off his work in No Worse Sin. I liked both of his shorts, and the ending on this one will likely still take a while for me to understand, but he is consistant with his world building with the Brazen Claws. Well done. 2) It's unfortunate when a short about a very lesser known Chapter, erases many ideas you have bubbling in your mind juice, as well as hobby progress you have made. The chapter gets taken in one direction, that just so happens to not be your direction, and there has to be some give at some point. It's unfortunate when it happens, but what are you going to do? You always read in the stickies that it could happen, which is a large pro to creating your own from scratch, then trying to add to an existing one. It might be a sign to try my hand and apply all my ideas to something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareddm Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I actually really like how authors are using what are essentially inconsistencies in the lore to create interesting stories. Between the Brazen Claw's crusade and the Doom Legion's partial fall to chaos, all we're missing is a story about the twin chapters of the Emperor's Swords and I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hummus Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Emperors swords are great so open to fan ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 On the third day of Christmas we get...an audio drama! Fabius Bile : Repairer of Ruin by Josh Reynolds - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/quick-review-fabius-bile-repairer-of-ruin-josh-reynolds/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 4, 2014 Author Share Posted December 4, 2014 And on the fourth day of Christmas...time for some eldar vs tyranids action. Shield of Baal : Wraithflight by Guy Haley - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/quick-review-shield-of-baal-wraithflight-guy-haley/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 On the fifth day of Christmas...Aeonid Thiel is back, and this time it's really him. Stratagem by Nick Kyme - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/616/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 It's the sixth day of Christmas, which means it's time for a Commissar Yarrick short story : Yarrick : Concordat by David Annandale - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/quick-review-yarrick-concordat-david-annandale/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 On the seventh day of Christmas, it's...World Eaters! Enyalius, In Memoriam by Josh Reynolds - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/quick-review-enyalius-in-memoriam-josh-reynolds/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Great reviews Never_born Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmagog Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Well done Neverborn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Thanks guys. I'm trying to keep them really short and sweet (no point doing a 500 word review for a 1000 word story), I hope they're useful/interesting. Can't wait to find out what the rest of the stories are going to be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 On the eighth day of Christmas...not one but six short stories! All about the Blood Angels, stories from Dan Abnett, James Swallow, Chris Wraight, David Annandale, Mark Clapham and Ray Harrison. One blog post with short reviews of all six... http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/quick-review-blood-angels-short-stories-black-library-advent-calendar-2014/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricPaladin Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Have you seen the Knights of Blood story? Holy cow. It's perfect. I've been squeeing with furious delight all morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 Spot on, isn't it? I wonder if this is a precursor to more BAs from Jim Swallow, with Knights of Blood included, or if he's just teasing us?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricPaladin Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Spot on, isn't it? I wonder if this is a precursor to more BAs from Jim Swallow, with Knights of Blood included, or if he's just teasing us?! Oh, man. If Swallow wrote a Knights of Blood series, I'd buy three copies of each book. One to read, one to lend, and one to keep safe for my children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 On the ninth day of Christmas...it's the Flesh Tearers. A Son's Burden by Andy Smillie - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/quick-review-a-sons-burden-andy-smillie/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 On the tenth day of Christmas...a Horus Heresy short story. Vorax by Matthew Farrer - http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/quick-review-vorax-matthew-farrer/ Neverborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaeron Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 NB - think it's worth the money? Unsure just yet whether I'll buy in or not - it seems decent, but is a fair amount... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never_born Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 For Vorax, or the whole subscription? Vorax is only 99p, so not much of a risk. The subscription certainly is a fair investment - so far the standard of story has, in my opinion, been pretty high, and I've very much enjoyed it all. I'm an overall fan of 40k though, without any particular faction bias, so I like the range of stories and factions. Barring perhaps the Aeonid Thiel audio there probably hasn't been anything absolutely essential to wider story arcs, but it's all been interesting stuff, with plenty of possibilities for future threads. So content-wise I'd say it's looking good so far, personally. In terms of value, short stories/shorter audios are obviously never going to be as good value as full-length books, but as far as BL pricing goes it's looking about right so far. By my count, so far the content has been of a value of £26 for 10 days of content. 25 days at an average of £2.60 per day is £65, hence the total cost. Plus a free book (which looks like it might be about Khârn) for subscribers. Overall, not bad in my opinion - given that I personally enjoy short stories and like dipping into a wide range of topics. Long and short - don't buy if you only go for paperbacks/ebooks, but if you're already a consumer of shorts/audio then it makes sense to pay up front and get the free book at the end. That make sense/help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelPaladin Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Oh man, a story by Matt Farrer? Sold. He hasn't contributed much to the BL in a while, but with this and his work in the Sabbat Crusade, I'm hoping we will be seeing a lot more from him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaeron Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 For Vorax, or the whole subscription? Vorax is only 99p, so not much of a risk. The subscription certainly is a fair investment - so far the standard of story has, in my opinion, been pretty high, and I've very much enjoyed it all. I'm an overall fan of 40k though, without any particular faction bias, so I like the range of stories and factions. Barring perhaps the Aeonid Thiel audio there probably hasn't been anything absolutely essential to wider story arcs, but it's all been interesting stuff, with plenty of possibilities for future threads. So content-wise I'd say it's looking good so far, personally. In terms of value, short stories/shorter audios are obviously never going to be as good value as full-length books, but as far as BL pricing goes it's looking about right so far. By my count, so far the content has been of a value of £26 for 10 days of content. 25 days at an average of £2.60 per day is £65, hence the total cost. Plus a free book (which looks like it might be about Khârn) for subscribers. Overall, not bad in my opinion - given that I personally enjoy short stories and like dipping into a wide range of topics. Long and short - don't buy if you only go for paperbacks/ebooks, but if you're already a consumer of shorts/audio then it makes sense to pay up front and get the free book at the end. That make sense/help? Perfect, cheers mate. Absolutely - I meant the whole lot, at worst, I could pick up the Heresy shorts thereafter. Will probably weigh up just afterwards - and depending on your reviews too haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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