Black Library Advent Calendar 2017

[RobMac]

Ahh yes, Vox Tenebris. Hopefully we see more shorts and drama's from you in the future, maybe some tie in's to your next Carcharodons novel!! 

Yes indeedy. And I do have a novel tie-in short coming out on the 17th, but sadly it's not Carcharodon related... in other news, apparently Pert's voice actor is Andrew Wincott, who also voices Adam in the Archers. Who knew? 

[JH79]

*hangs head in shame* ... I stand corrected, thanks for letting us know good sir...

 

Just had to re-listen to it, i was so sure it was Steve lol 

[JH79]

Quite tempted by todays advent short!

[Marshal Rohr]

I’m gonna get it!

[RedDragon]

Magisterium is a great read - The best of the lot, so far, in my opinion. We get to see some Legio Custodes politicking and some very, very interesting development of Constantin Valdor.

[hopkins]

Magisterium is a great read - The best of the lot, so far, in my opinion. We get to see some Legio Custodes politicking and some very, very interesting development of Constantin Valdor.

 

loving these plots on terra

about bloody time

[Sandlemad]

 

Magisterium is a great read - The best of the lot, so far, in my opinion. We get to see some Legio Custodes politicking and some very, very interesting development of Constantin Valdor.

 

loving these plots on terra

about bloody time

 

 

Hell yeah. A lot of the better Terran stuff so far - thinking here of Blood Games, Praetorian of Dorn - have done well by focusing on the tension and the knowledge that Horus is coming. This recent stuff just ramps it up to ten; everyone is tightly strung, everyone is checking the sky, everyone has a sinking feeling of dread.

 

Magisterium is great. Shows a certain philosophical and maybe even mystical bent to Valdor, besides his feelings about primarchs (largely contempt). There's good character development here and good, vicious back-and-forth between Dorn and Valdor. Lovely imagery too: the custodes armour under Prosperine skies, the palace increasingly looking like a prison around the being it was built for.

 

Duty Waits was also very good. A snapshot of life patrolling the walls and how Terra has changed. Shows how long periods of constant duty in high-tension situations can affect even Imperial Fists. The part where the IF captain mechanically calculates the effect upon his body of stepping off the wall and plummeting hundreds of feet, without truly recognising what these thoughts imply, was fascinating.

 

Plot-wise, it also confirms that Dorn is the one ordering the imperial muster at Beta-Garmon and that Russ is essentially going his own way. Presumably this will lead in to Wolfsbane.

[bluntblade]

Those are tempting indeed Edited December 7, 2017 by bluntblade

[Sete]

Just read the short about the Custodes. Pretty good. Worth it.

[Tymell]

I'm heading back to visit family for xmas later this month, so I'm waiting to get these and then read/listen to them on the journey there. But it's hard to resist diving right in now :p

[b1soul]

Chris Wraight strikes again. Can the man do no wrong...(well, some would say his 40K SW)

[DarkChaplain]

I listened to Ahriman: Key of Infinity last night while taking a bath, and I have to say I was hoping for a bit more. The format (barely 20 minutes runtime) hamstrung the story in my opinion. Had it gone 30 or 40 minutes, John could've added another loop to show just how details shift and change, and also elaborated more on Ahriman and Ignis and their agenda. It felt like it skipped the middle section, getting you poised for a conflict of wits with the Necron-captive trying his plan and Ahriman interrogating him, but then jumps straight to the conclusion.

 

I was damn impressed with Duty Waits, though. It nailed the anxiety on Terra, the neglect, the paranoia, the inhuman tactics needed to keep things under control, the strain of idleness, the confusion and uncertainty. It gave a nice couple of updates on Terra in environmental terms and we can actually feel a sense of loss for all the wonders that could have been but have forever been denied to mankind due to Horus.

[Sulemain]

we can actually feel a sense of loss for all the wonders that could have been but have forever been denied to mankind due to Horus.

Go on, please. 

[Fire Golem]

Read Magisterium last night, it's a great little short. I'm loving Valdor as a character, from this and Master of Mankind. I never really thought what the Custodes would think of the Primarchs but their contempt for them is interesting, and makes sense after the events of the Heresy.

[Marshal Loss]

Totally agree with the above - really enjoyable short story. Left me very interested as to how the Custodes will be handled during the Siege, and it essentially lays the groundwork for their post-Heresy existence. Valdor's thoughts on the Primarchs were interesting. One stood out as a quote for the records:

 

 

‘Primarchs,’ he said finally, a single, withering expletive that sounded as close to a curse as the captain-general of the Ten Thousand would ever get.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Marshal Loss

[Sandlemad]

 

we can actually feel a sense of loss for all the wonders that could have been but have forever been denied to mankind due to Horus.

Go on, please. 

 

 

There's technological wonders that are lost. The Terran orbital platforms have mostly been decommissioned as too much of a risk. The guard staff are all using deliberately primitive stuff like blocky cathode screens hooked up to simple information-limited systems because they're easy to produce and resistant to data-subversion à la Battlestar Galactica. This is the path the imperium is going down.

 

There's also more social changes since the early days of the heresy. The palace staff are increasingly living where they work because movement is so limited by security, foreshadowing the 40k Adeptus Terra. Everything is centralised and rationed. Civilians are now afraid of the Imperial Fists. The Imperial Fists have used lethal force on civilians. It's not looking good.

[Marshal Rohr]

A central mainframe with individual cathode terminals is the worst model for a network because all you have to do it take over the central portion to control everything.

[Charlo]

Grabbed the DG, IF & Custodes stories...

 

Will probably grab any other HH ones too.

[deepsix81]

I know there's a whole, big process for putting together an audio drama as opposed to a short story, but I think Magisterium would be AMAZING with the voice acting. The Prospero scenes would be tougher, but the Dorn back-and-forth would be great. Hope they can do this retroactive, or maybe just release an audio version.

[DarkChaplain]

An audiobook version is inevitable. It is just a matter of time until these stories get collected in the main series. Probably in the final pre-Siege anthology; judging from Duty Waits and Magisterium, the theme is pretty obvious.

[Fire Golem]

Read Duty Waits as well now. Quite dark, enjoyed it a lot.

[cheywood]

Since no one's mentioned it I'll say that Endurance is pretty good. Not exactly what I was expecting, and it seems more like a character intro than a direct prequel to Lords of Silence, but at the very least it adds to the growing pile of evidence that Wraight can write the Death Guard with nuance. Plenty of writers are able to create suitably grotesque depictions of Nurgle's followers, but Wraight seems to endow them with a greater level of emotional depth regarding their existence. Edited December 8, 2017 by cheywood

[Matteus]

Have previous year's Advent stories been released in various anthologies before, I like the looks of 3-4 of the releases already, but also have glacial patience!

[Tymell]

Have previous year's Advent stories been released in various anthologies before, I like the looks of 3-4 of the releases already, but also have glacial patience!

 

I can only speak for the HH ones, but currently none have been. Two, Perpetual and Into Exile, are coming in The Burden of Loyalty in February, but that's it so far.

[DarkChaplain]

Today's story follows the theme of Imperial Fists on Terra, building up to the Siege.

And look at that, Horus is about to arrive. Literally hours to midnight, judging by the excerpt.

 

But as we all know, Black Library is just going to milk the Heresy for another 5 years and we'll never actually see the Siege of Terra. Trust me, I've not read a HH novel since Battle for the Abyss! Also, the Lion is a traitor and Abaddon a perpetual loser. Hurr.

 

Don't mind my sodium levels, this is looking like a fantastic story. Planning to read it tonight. There's gotta be something positive in being sick and spending the weekend in bed, right?