Warhammer Wednesday: Journey of the Magi

Now that Christmas is over and we are approaching Twelfth Night, it seemed like the perfect time to plug my Warhammer 40,000 short story Journey of the Magi, in which three wise men follow a star...

On an artificial world far from the light of any sun, three sorcerers of the Thousand Sons emerge from a portal. Together, this trio will face ancient horrors – but the prize that awaits them is worth any danger. Long have these three sought the Godstar, piecing together its location from scattered scraps of knowledge. The immortal guardians of the place sleep, but it is not undefended, and the children of Prospero will pay a heavy price for that which they seek as they delve deep into the ancient mysteries of the necrons. 

You can buy Journey of the Magi here, and you can read more about the story here.

Warhammer Wednesday: Tales from the Grim Darkness of the Far Future

Last week I alerted you to the old Warhammer short stories of mine that are still available to download as eBooks from the Black Library. This week it's the turn of my ever-popular Warhammer 40K tales.

All of the stories feature Space Marines of one kind or another. But Dust in the Wind has Imperial Fists facing off against Necrons, The Relic features Black Templars battling Orks, and Journey of the Magi sees Thousand Sons* versus more Necrons**.

So, if you haven't tried one of my Warhammer 40,000 stories before, why not check out one of these today?

* Yes, I know they're technically Chaos Space Marines.

** I just can't get enough of those undead robots!

Warhammer Wednesday: Inferno! Warhammer 40,000 Collection

The tech-adepts at Black Library have released a new eBundle of Warhammer 40,000 short stories, that first appeared in the pages of Inferno! 

Included in the collection is my not-at-all-festive-honest Journey of the Magi.

Three sorcerers converge on an ancient necron structure in the hopes of retrieving something of great value to all three of them. But they will find that though dormant, the necrons do not give up their treasures easily…

On an artificial world far from the light of any son, three sorcerers of the Thousand Sons emerge from a portal, Together, this trio will face ancient horrors – but the prize that awaits them is worth any danger, Long have these three sought the Godstar, piecing together its location from scattered scraps of knowledge. The immortal guardians of the place sleep, but it is not undefended, and the children of Prospero will pay a heavy price for that which they seek as they delve deep into the ancient mysteries of the necrons.

If you haven't read it already, why not download Inferno! A Warhammer 40,000 Collection today?

The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 4: Journey of the Magi

Not my most overtly Christmassy tale perhaps, but in my Warhammer 40,000 short story Journey of the Magi, three wise men follow a star...

On an artificial world far from the light of any sun, three sorcerers of the Thousand Sons emerge from a portal. Together, this trio will face ancient horrors – but the prize that awaits them is worth any danger. Long have these three sought the Godstar, piecing together its location from scattered scraps of knowledge. The immortal guardians of the place sleep, but it is not undefended, and the children of Prospero will pay a heavy price for that which they seek as they delve deep into the ancient mysteries of the necrons. 

You can buy Journey of the Magi here, and you can read more about the story here.

Warhammer Wednesday: Heroes of Pariah

For one week only, the Black Library is celebrating the release of Psychic Awakening: Pariah with three collections of stories starring the three factions that appear in the book - the Space Marines, the Sisters of Battle, and the xenos architects of the Pariah Nexus, the Necrons.

The Necrons Bundle includes my short story But Dust in the Wind, along with eight others, a novella, and a novel - but the likes of Ben Counter, David Guymer, Nick Kyme, Cavan Scott, and Gav Thorpe. It is a collection that will immerse you in the ancient horror of the alien robot race – perfect for any aspiring Overlord or someone who wants to find out more about their Necron foes.

You can download the Heroes of Pariah: Necrons eBundle here.

Warhammer Wednesday: Angels of Death

Back in the day, circa 1995, I contributed colour text to Codex: Angels of Death, the Blood Angels and Dark Angels Codex for Warhammer 40K Second Edition. I also wrote the background section for the Dark Angels that appeared in the book.

I began my day today by downloading the original soundtrack to the new Angels of Death animated series, created by Warhammer Storyforge, and coming out later this year. You can find out more about the soundtrack and its composer, Jonathan Hartman, as well as how to download it yourself, here.

Strangely, I have not written any fully-fledged short stories featuring either Dark Angels or Blood Angels. The animated series may be about Blood Angels battling the Tyranids, but the Angels of Death OST is the perfect accompaniment to my Warhammer 40K Quick Read Journey of the Magi, which you can download here.

Journey of the Magi

On an artificial world far from the light of any sun, three sorcerers of the Thousand Sons emerge from a portal, Together, this trio will face ancient horrors – but the prize that awaits them is worth any danger.

Long have these three sought the Godstar, piecing together its location from scattered scraps of knowledge. The immortal guardians of the place sleep, but it is not undefended, and the children of Prospero will pay a heavy price for that which they seek as they delve deep into the ancient mysteries of the necrons.

If you've not seen it yet, here's the latest trailer for the Angels of Death animated series.

Warhammer Wednesday: #New40K

In case you haven't heard already, the big announcement from Games Workshop at the weekend was that a new edition* of Warhammer 40,000 is on the way. The news broke with this rather wonderful cinematic trailer.

What I personally found quite exciting about this is that the Necrons** are front and centre, which gives me the perfect excuse to plug two of my short stories that are available as digital downloads from the Black Library, seeing as how they both feature the ancient Necrontyr.

On an artificial world far from the light of any son, three sorcerers of the Thousand Sons emerge from a portal, Together, this trio will face ancient horrors – but the prize that awaits them is worth any danger, Long have these three sought the Godstar, piecing together its location from scattered scraps of knowledge. The immortal guardians of the place sleep, but it is not undefended, and the children of Prospero will pay a heavy price for that which they seek as they delve deep into the ancient mysteries of the necrons.

Investigating a distress signal from an ice-shrouded mining colony, Space Marines of the Imperial Fists find themselves outnumbered and surrounded by the soulless necrons. Facing impossible odds, the Imperial Fists struggle desperately to find a way to survive.

* The ninth!

** Or 'murder-robots' as I saw them described on the Warhammer Community website.

Short Story Saturday: In the grim darkness of the future there are only eBooks

I was slightly surprised to open an email from Games Workshop yesterday to discover, under the Black Library banner, the cover of my second Warhammer novel Magestorm staring back at me. It's a story from the World-That-Was and it was first published 16 years ago, in 2004.

As it turned out, the reason for the appearance of this title is that in this time of lockdown, like many publishers, Black Library are promoting their digital products, and Magestorm is one of the eBooks you can download direct from www.BlackLibrary.com. There are several short stories of mine also available as eBook downloads, including two that feature the ancient alien Necrons; my most recent Warhammer 40K story Journey of the Magi, and But Dust in the Wind, first published in 2010.

So why not click the image above and check out what's on offer?

The future's dark. The future's grim...

Warhammer Wednesday: Journey of the Magi

I am delighted to be able to report that my Thousand Sons short story, Journey of the Magi, is this week's digital eShort release on BlackLibrary.com.

I love what the graphic designer has done with the cover. Very clever.

When I first submitted the outline for the story, I dreamed that it might become a Digital Monday release, but then it was commissioned for Inferno! Volume 4 instead. And yet here we are, some xx months later, and my dream has come true. Such are the twisty-turny ways of Tzeentch.

In case you don't already know what they tale is about, here's the blurb from the Black Library website:

On an artificial world far from the light of any sun, three sorcerers of the Thousand Sons emerge from a portal. Together, this trio will face ancient horrors – but the prize that awaits them is worth any danger. Long have these three sought the Godstar, piecing together its location from scattered scraps of knowledge. The immortal guardians of the place sleep, but it is not undefended, and the children of Prospero will pay a heavy price for that which they seek as they delve deep into the ancient mysteries of the necrons.

You can buy Journey of the Magi here, and you can read more about the story here.

Warhammer Wednesday: Journey of the Magi

A review of my new Warhammer 40,000 story, Journey of the Magi, appeared on Track of Words this week. In summary:

"Come for the sorcerous action, stay for the enjoyably bleak sense of satisfaction."

You can read the full review here, and you can buy Inferno! Volume 4, in which the story appears, here.

Warhammer Wednesday: Inferno! Volume 4

Inferno! Volume 4 is published tomorrow, on 31st October.

Volume 4 is the biggest yet and contains 12 tales in total, include my own Thousand Sons story, Journey of the Magi.

Warhammer Wednesday: Old Inferno! Reprints

The Black Library are offering reprints of some of the original Inferno! magazines, which some of my short stories first appeared in.

On offer this time around are issues 16-25, but if you want to order one you'd better hurry - they're only available for the next two weeks.

The stories of mine, from the turn of the millennium, that you'll find in the issues are one Badenov's Band tale, called The Plague Pit, and a pair of Nathan Creed Necromunda stories - Mama's Boys and Boyz in the Hive.

And don't forget, as reported last week, Inferno! Volume 4 is published at the end of the month, and includes a brand new Warhammer 40,000 story by me called Journey of the Magi.

Warhammer Wednesday: Inferno! Volume 4

So this arrived in the post today...

I have a long history with Inferno! - I had a short story published in Issue Zero as well as pieces in Issues #1, #2 and #3, all of which came out 22 years ago, in 1997 - but this is the first time I've had a story published in its modern, paperback anthology format. And it's nice that the editors have included an introduction to both myself and my story*.

Journey of the Magi is another of my sort-of-Christmas-themed stories, but what I am most proud about is that it is my first Thousand Sons story, and yet the word 'Chaos' doesn't appear in it once. It also features one of the races I have returned to again and again over the years - the Necrons.

Inferno! Volume 4 is a hefty beast - the biggest yet - and contains 12 stories in total, which include George Mann's Inferno! debut, and a tale by Guy Haley, who contributed to the Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu anthology that I put together.

Inferno! Volume 4 goes on general release on 31st October 2019.

 Inferno! Volume 4 alongside the other anthologies I've been published in this year.

* Even if they have got the year wrong. ;-)

Black Library Friday

Seeing as how it's Black Friday, and the Black Library still have several of my stories on sale, as either eBooks or Print on Demand titles, why not pop along to their website and buy one?

          

Warhammer Wednesday: Necrons - The Everliving Legion

Rising from the depths of their tomb worlds, the ancient Necrons are returning to claim the stars - and Warhammer 40,000 - for their own.

Deathless warriors of living metal march forth in lockstep legions under the pitiless gaze of their Overlords. For millennia the Necron dynasties have slumbered beneath desolate wildernesses and the unsuspecting populations of planets across the galaxy for the last 60 million years, but now they are awakening.

Armed with impossible technologies and the science of another age, the Necrons spread out across the void to reclaim their empire. Before their relentless advance civilisations crumble and armies fall, the burning cities of their enemies reflected in the cold, glittering eyes of this ancient menace.

The Everliving Legion is a new eBook anthology from the Black Library featuring seven Necron short stories set across the galaxy of the 41st millennium. As well as being great stories, this collection is also a great overview of the sinister threat of this ancient xenos race upon the galaxy, and it just so happens to include one of my short stories, But Dust in the Wind.

Follow this link to download your copy today.

Mission: Games Workshop - Kensington

During Dragonmeet on Saturday I took half an hour to get a breath of fresh air and popped into the local GW store. It was absolutely heaving in the shop, but key-timer Billy took the time to chat to me for five minutes, which was appreciated.

There were plenty of the new Necron miniatures around the place, which looked very cool, but what really blew me away was the Astral Claws army on display in the window cabinet. A very impressive piece of work and no mistake!

Mission: Games Workshop - Brent Cross

I dropped by the Brent Cross GW store yesterday, specifically to pick up a copy of the new Codex: Necrons. It's the first proper re-vamp the Necrontyr have received in about ten years and I wanted to make sure that the project I'm currently working on is fully up to date.

I met Dimitar Petrov there but spent most of the time drooling over the new Necrons miniatures and fabulous Warhammer scenery with my own pair of Noise Familiars. There were also a number of armies on display including Goblins (as featured in my Hammer & Bolter story Sir Dagobert's Last Battle), Skaven (as featured in my Hammer & Bolter story Sir Dagobert's Last Battle) and an Empire one that included a rather grand steam tank and a tame bear among its rank and file troops.

This last army in particular got me thinking again about another project's that on back-burner status at this present time. Maybe once Project Fisticuffs is done and dusted I could dust off that other idea, as it were, stoke up the boiler and see if it still runs.

All is dust... Update!

Tomorrow - Saturday 5 November - I was hoping to be at GW Salisbury for the Warhammer 40,000 campaign day taking place (based on my Imperial Fists short story But Dust in the Wind) to celebrate the launch of the new Necron Codex.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances I am no longer able to attend. However the campaign is still going ahead. If you would like to be a part of the action you need to sign up at the Salisbury store. Things kick off tomorrow at 10.00am.

Once again, I'm very sorry that I won't be able to attend myself but key-timer Matt has promised me plenty of photos which you will be able to enjoy on this blog after the event.

But Dust in the Wind first appeared in Victories of the Space Marines. It tells the tale of Sergeant Hesperus and Squad Eurus as they investigate a distress signal emanating from an ice-shrouded mining colony on the frozen world of Ixya. It is also now available as an ebook.

I'd just like to finish by wishing everyone at the Salisbury store tomorrow good luck and happy Necron-bashing!

Mission: Games Workshop - Basingstoke

Another day, another Games Workshop store ticked off my list. This time the store was in question was Basingstoke and the day was actually Monday.

Having hunted high and low I eventually found the shop hiding down a dark alley (well, it was cloudy on Monday) and was welcomed by the latest issue of White Dwarf magazine, with the resplendent image of one of the new Necrons on the cover.

The new Necron Codex (and associated miniatures) are released from this Saturday and that timing really couldn't be better. That's because [REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITION]. So, the new Codex should spur me on with that one.

Whilst in the store I chatted briefly with key-timer Ian Wesby and perused the miniatures cabinets (as is my wont). In amongst the fabulously painted figures there was a rather fine [CENSORED] which just so happens to be making an appearance in [THE ADEPTUS ARBITES HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED - STEP AWAY FROM YOUR COGITATOR CONSOLE OR RISK FURTHER CENSURE].

So until next time...