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A long wait in A&E last week at least allowed me to tear through some shorter works. The Long and Hungry Road. I an unrepentant Tchaikovsky fan, so I was obviously predisposed to like this. Its impact for me was a little diminished by my reading it straight after Deathworlder, but I think when read in isolation it would stand up really well. He’s just a great writer and I’m aching for more 40k from him. I think it is also the first appearance of the Rogal Dorn tank in fiction, so there’s that too. Stealing Orpheon I’m not quite sure what prompted me to buy this story, I think it’s been sat on my kobo for ages, but I’m very glad that I did. A nice heist story that is hopefully the setup for a novel down the line. Prisoners of Waaagh! Justin Wooley wrote both orks and Guard very well in Catachan Devil, so it’s not really a surprise he does the same here. Blood Axes are the Klan in question, so I guess the ease of interaction between the two factions makes more sense, it underlines the similarities which makes their differences all the more stark. Nods to many real-life PoW stories, which may be too much of a real-world intrusion for some, but I think makes for a characterful novella.

I mean this one is presumably pretty straightforward- delayed the LE, and wanting to keep the exclusivity window, have delayed the regular version.

Da Gobbo Rides Again. Who says BL can’t do multi-authour series well? This and the preceding two novellas are evidence that it’s possible. Recommended heartily and unreservedly. As dark as anything else in 40k but also the most Optimistic thing they’ve published. 10/10.

‘Pain Engine& is good, but it’s just a regular 40K story, not especially ‘horror’, but I guess that’s just the nature of the Drukhari

I’d say 1994. They’re not mentioned in Codex Imperialis, but they are in the first Ork Codex.

I can’t recall exactly but her description of the movement of a Genestealer as being like the way that a shark moves underwater but on land just bubbled up in my memory; it’s perfectly uncanny

I also very much enjoyed this, and can’t put any of it any better- the depiction of the world being consumed is fantastic as is the development of the Catachan psyche. Like several of the more recent BL novels it depicts how life in the grim dark future where there is only war might grind down and break those exposed to it- civilian and military alike. That the Tyranid hordes devouring the world are very rarely given their ‘proper’ names adds to the otherworldly horror of them. My only complaint about the book is perhaps a meta one- a ragtag group of Astra Militarium engaging on a perilous mission on an enemy-occupied (and altered) world to retrieve a mysterious artifact that could change the shape of the conflict in the Imperium’s favour, racing against time before the world is consumed. Synopsis of this book or Ashes of Cadia? They’re both good in their own right, and only superficially similar, but still…

My SoT books are finally united. Part II looks stupidly cumbersome to read, but I’m glad to have the lot together now.

Pleasantly surprised; no queue and smooth checkout. I know it wasn’t the most in-demand title but adding a new delivery address and using a voucher/paypal split worked too… I am gutted, however, that Deathworld isn’t available until next week- I was all set to start reading it at midnight (had to stay up with a poorly pet).

It was a Friday, I was paid weekly at that point and obviously that was the one week that my pay was delayed. Missed it…

Titanicus is from 2008, same as Ice World; Portents and Deathwatch are both newer. Titanicus has had at least three print runs with different covers as well as a LE in 2017. I’d love to learn what the rationale for selecting these reader’s choice shortlists is, they always seem so scattershot. I’m far more likely to buy an ebook or a used copy of an old title than one of these, so I’m evidently not the target audience but couldn’t they at least theme the nominations? Tie them in with recent (or heaven forbid, upcoming) releases? Maybe they just draw the titles out of a hat.

Big Dakka Le up next week against all the Ork and Custodes boxes. I’m not exactly confident

Deathworlder should be enough to get me reading a BL book on release day again…

The bonus short, Less Than Human, is great, for what it’s worth.

I enjoyed his short in the Inferno! Inquisition special. Can’t remember much about it other than it was set on a fallen world.