Warhammer Wednesday: The Space Marines Omnibus is back in print

Eleven Warhammer 40,000 omnibuses are back in print for a limited time from the Black Library, including Space Marines: The Omnibus.

This particular omnibus features three of my short stories But Dust in the Wind, The Relic and Liberator

So why not grab yourself a copy now, while you can?

Warhammer Wednesday: Reviews of the Space Marines

This, it has to be said, totally awesome piece of artwork of a Howling Griffon Space Marine by Marek Okon will adorn The Space Marine Omnibus, coming next summer from Black Library.

The Space Marine Omnibus will collect together short stories from Victories of the Space Marines, Legends of the Space Marines and Treacheries of the Space Marines, all of which feature stories by Yours Truly (namely But Dust in the Wind, The Relic and Liberator).

Here's what some of Black Library's readers have been saying about the above anthologies and the stories contained within...


Treacheries of the Space Marines - Liberator
"Some cracking stories. Was rooting for the Emperor, but to no avail. Well written and worth a read."

"This is my first real sample of Jon Green and I like what I have read, I look forward to reading more of him in the future and I hope he has some full-length novels in his plans."

"In many ways, Treacheries of the Space Marines is a horror anthology..."


Legends of the Space Marines - The Relic
"The anthology in question, Legends of the Space Marines, was undoubtedly an excellent read... Kyme's, Scanlon's, Goto's, Swallows's, Green's and Bowden's stories were beyond a question wonderfully composed. Mister Green's plethora of unique story twists were wonderful..."

"Four Stars! Author Jonathan Green writes his story from the grand view point of a Dreadnought. I found it to be enlightening to say the least."

"The uniqueness of a story told from the perspective of a Dreadnought piqued my interest since I have yet to encounter a lengthy story with a Dreadnought as the main character."


Victories of the Space Marines - But Dust in the Wind
"Having not read anything by Jonathan Green in the past apart from a good short story in Legends of the Space Marines, I was pleased to see a new take on the Imperial Fists..."

"The sacrifice in the stories is almost palpable and the action is really spot on for the Space Marines."

"Imperial Fists Marines versus the robotic Necrons in a fight to the death. Green’s story shows us in no uncertain terms that even though victory comes with a cost, the fight is still worth fighting. And there’s a face off between genetically powered warriors and tomb dwelling robots which is done in the best possible way. You can’t lose really. (9/10)"

Tie-in Tuesday: Treacheries of the Space Marines

It's Tie-in Tuesday once again, but today I'm invoking the 'I may talk about Black Library fiction on Tie-in Tuesday as well' clause.

You see Treacheries of the Space Marines, which won't be officially available until the end of September (or UK Games Day, whichever comes first) has already received an advance review over at The Founding Fields.

If you don't want to know anything about my story Liberator, look away now.

If you don't mind a few SPOILERS, then read on...

Liberator by Jonathan Green

Heresy is insidious, sometimes obvious and sometimes subtle. And nobody is immune to its siren song, least of all the Adeptus Astartes. Though brother does not turn on brother commonly, it is not unheard of for a loyal servant of the Emperor to abandon his oaths of fealty to Chapter and Imperium and to embrace the Ruinous Powers, indeed many Traitor Marines are born this way. This is the story of one of these traitors, one whose legacy endures even today, one who will forever be a black stain on his proud Chapter’s history. This is the tale of Constantinus the Liberator.

Jon Green has chosen to write up a Codex story here, and he made a good choice because Constantinus is a great story about how a loyal marine can fall to Chaos and become a monster, and Jon elaborates on that even further in the story, explaining the motives of Constantinus and his actions in conquering Nova Terra and becoming a Chaos Space Marine. Heresy starts with small steps and very few actually embrace evil for the sake of evil, Jon clearly understands that as the story tells of both Constantinus’s rise and fall. One enjoyable aspect was that the story started backwards, with Constantinus as a tyrant and then moved backwards, showing how he made each step towards heresy before moving to the end and showing the results of his actions.

The only actual character in the story is Constantinus himself, the others are all secondary or background. Jon does a good job of making Constantinus a clear tyrant and a brutal monster, and yet he is shown to have been a noble marine who inspired fierce loyalty in his men. His motives are understandable and can even be empathized with if you look at it from a soldier’s point of view, its these details that make Constantinus an interesting character rather than just a marine who one day decided he wanted more in life than just praising the Emperor, and these details really add to the story and make it a much better read.

Liberator does not utilize action scenes in any real number or detail, only one short battle against some xenos and the final few pages detailing the Imperial retaliation are the only actual battles that appear. Two scenes that could have been very attention-grabbing and powerful battles unfortunately cut away before violence has a chance to occur. Fortunately the story is good enough that it can hold its own without any real battle scenes in it.

The pacing of the story is surprising in that for a story that moves backwards it is still an easy read, Liberator should not confuse anyone who is quick enough to see that the story is telling itself in a reverse order. I do think that perhaps it could have been a few pages longer, mainly to add in those two battle scenes I mentioned earlier, but the story is fine as it stands.

Now my favourite quote has got to be this one,

“For I shall not rest until this world has been liberated from the traitor’s tyrannical rule. This I swear!”

Now the ending is of course not surprising as I knew how this would end because I have read the Chaos Space Marines 4th Edition Codex, but had I not read that I would have been wondering if Constantinus could win and it would have had me a bit more desirous to see the ending. But Jon does good work and he has chosen a cool format to end the story in, but to find out what you’ll have to read the story.

For a good story about an event that I was interested in since I read the CSM Codex I give Liberator a grand score of 7.2/10. This is my first real sample of Jon Green and I like what I have read, I look forward to reading more of him in the future and I hope he has some full-length novels in his plans.

Short Story Saturday: Treacheries of the Space Marines

My Black Library releases are rather like London buses: nothing for ages and then two come along at once.

On Wednesday I received my author copies of Herald of Oblivion (my first Warhammer 40K gamebook) and then the very next day I received my contributor copies of Treacheries of the Space Marines.

I've not spoken about this book much yet. Here's the blurb from the back cover.

The Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes are the defenders of mankind, the ultimate superhuman brotherhood standing against the evils of the galaxy. But even among their hallowed ranks, there are those who would turn their backs on their brothers and follow the path of the traitor. Gathered within these pages, you will find tales from the dark side of the Imperium – remember, that which can defend, can also betray...


New York Times bestselling editor Christian Dunn presents a selection of short stories from some of Black Library’s finest authors: Anthony Reynolds, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Matthew Farrer, Sarah Cawkwell and many more*.


My story is called Liberator, and if you've read the most recent iteration of the Chaos Space Marines Codex then you may already have an idea as to who the story is about...

Treacheries... is available for pre-order now, although it isn't actually scheduled for release until October**.

Of course in the real world, my two most recent BL releases are Herald of Oblivion and The Best of Hammer and Bolter: Volume 1, which features my Warhammer story Sir Dagobert's Last Battle.

Such is the way of publishing. I'm currently working on a book that should see the light of day before the end of the year whereas the project I finished yesterday won't see print until well into 2013.

* As usual, I'm one of the 'many more'.


** Although I expect it may well be available early at this year's UK Games Day, where you will also be able to pick up physical copies of Herald of Oblivion (and maybe even Iron Hands or The Armageddon Omnibus).

Warhammer Wednesday: Treacheries of the Space Marines

Apparently this now exists!

The Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes are the defenders of mankind, the ultimate superhuman brotherhood standing against the evils of the galaxy. But even among their hallowed ranks, there are those who would turn their backs on their brothers and follow the path of the traitor. Gathered within these pages, you will find tales from the dark side of the Imperium – remember, that which can defend, can also betray...


New York Times bestselling editor Christian Dunn presents a selection of short stories from some of Black Library’s finest authors: Anthony Reynolds, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Matthew Farrer, Sarah Cawkwell and many more.

I'm included among the 'many more'.

Short Story Saturday: Black Library shorts

At the last count, I think I've written about 16 conventional short stories* for the Black Library, set within the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. And I have a 17th coming out this autumn as part of Treacheries of the Space Marines.

Several of my previously published BL short stories are now available for download as eBooks. So to get you in the mood for the forthcoming Liberator, why not check out one of my previous Space Marine stories, or even one of my Warhammer tales?

The Relic
As Ghazghkull Thraka’s second invasion engulfs Armageddon, Dreadnought Brother Jarold leads warriors from the Black Templars Chapter in battle against the greenskins in the frozen Dead Lands. Following a distress beacon, they find another Dreadnought in the ice, buried for half a century. When the orks attack en masse, the two Dreadnoughts make a last stand against the bestial invaders.

But Dust in the Wind
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.

Sir Dagobert's Last Battle
A small Bretonnian village is menaced by greenskin raiders – only a renowned Grail Knight stands against the horde. Unfortunately, he has been dead for years…

Mark of the Beast
Torben Badenov and his band of warriors hunt a tribe of beastmen who are harrying the Empire. Little do they suspect that treachery awaits them when they find the beasts…


 * So not including any of the colour text pieces I wrote for the old Army Books and Codexes.