Black Library Advent eShorts 2023

[Felix Antipodes]

Day 1 - The Long Promise by Mike Brooks

 

Disclaimer: I Have yet to read Harrowmaster by Brooks so have no prior knowledge of the characters or even if they have appeared before.

 

On first read I was quite impressed with the story and the characters involved.  I wasn’t sure where Brooks was going at first, but once I worked it out it all made sense.  All the Alpha Legion associated characters were well developed (I expect they were introduced in his AL novel, so I have moved it up on my reading schedule).  The Deathwatch kill team were also a good mix of Chapters and personalities at first but soon descended into caricatures, a problem that became more apparent on a second reading, and brought down my overall enjoyment of the story.  Why would a Wolfspear, a relatively new Ultima Founding Chapter have a long-standing rivalry with a Dark Angels successor from the Angels of Absolution for instance?

 

There were other minor irritations as well but I don’t want to be bothered with using spoiler tags.

 

Overall, an entertaining 8/10 on first read, 7/10 after a second one.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[Xin Ceithan]

This one ties neatly with both the earlier short story „The Brightest and the Best“ as well as „Harrowmaster“. Neither is required reading beforehand, but you get a beat more mileage out it if you are already familiar with the mortal characters in particular since it also delivers a bit more on  their motivation and  background and continues their story.

 

I really liked „Harrowmaster“ and am glad to see a bit of a continuation of their storyline. 
 

Minor spoiler on both

 

Spoiler

I think Brooks Alpharius book was great but the idea of having the 40K AL novel focus away from survivors /recurrent characters from the HH in a sort of „Shattered Legion“ makes them much more relatable and interesting.

It‘s also a neat twist to see the main characters genuinely care for (some at least) of their companions in a Legion portrayed as throwing unwitting pawns to the slaughter left and right. 
This one also continues the theme of  having a „honest“ Alpha Legion main character, which I also find quite refreshing. 

As a short story, it obviously hasn‘t got space for much character development on the Deathwatch members ( though I think it adds a nice touch to DW ops in general in the description of the Watchstation) and doesn‘t deliver as much of the humor as the novels tend to, but it‘s surely a solid and enjoyable read.

 

All in all, a great start into this year‘s short story season! 

[Felix Antipodes]

Release 2 - Head of the Serpent by Evan Dicken (AoS and only mentioned for completion reasons)

 

Release 3 - Nightsider Imperialis by Victoria Hayward

 

An Astra Militarum Catachan vignette.  The story was okay but I found something off-putting for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on.  Maybe it’s the way the only male character was described but was then anything but for the remainder of the story.  The remaining characters were well portrayed and entertaining and I was intrigued by Hayward adding a new (to me at least) type of abhuman to the ranks of the Astra Militarum.  Overall, this was a little morality play set into W40K terms and worked well for what it is.

 

7/10

 

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[DarkChaplain]

Oh wow, they actually changed the Horus Heresy header on the advent shorts to the new FW-related WarhammeR: The Horus Heresy thing. It looks bloody awkward next to the hundreds of other titles. It takes up way too much space up top on the cover and pushes the title box down, reducing the artwork space (which was recycled iconography anyway, but hey).

 

Really weird choice, especially THIS LATE into the setting, YEARS after the logo first popped up.

 

....and it's doubly jarring because the logo is silver, while the general makeup was always gold trimmed.

[Felix Antipodes]

Release 4 - Visage by Rich McCormick

 

Visage is the story of how Erebus got over having his face removed by Horus after the failure of Signus Prime.  It is a nicely written parable reinforcing him as the main instrument of chaos undivided (and setting him up for post HH stories if that is where they want to take the character).  I enjoyed it a lot and found the prose flowed nicely.  It helped that there was no bolter porn, allowing the reader to fully focus on Erebus, his journey, and his future path.

 

I haven’t read much of McCormick’s work before, just one short story, so I was looking forward to this as I’m a sucker for new talent and watching it evolve.  We now know that he has a novel coming next year so, rightly or not, I also wanted to see if that would be going on my want list.  I think it will.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[DarkChaplain]

I read Visage as well, and must say that I liked it but also felt a sense of dissatisfaction. Primarily because I felt it deserved to be longer, that especially the resolution was too abrupt, particularly with how long the last of Erebus's quests was.

 

I'm not sure if I was just too tired already while reading it, but I thought the prose hiccuped a bit here and there. Sometimes I had to go back and re-read the previous paragraphs because it seemed I missed something. Just little leaps in how the story progresses/was phrased, potentially hinting at editing cuts. I have no idea, but that threw me off a little.

 

On the other hand, I think it nailed a sort of dreamlike mood, especially in the second half, which suits it well. But "revelation"-wise, the first half was more interesting on the whole.

 

Spoiler

I was really hoping we'd get some name drops for the daemons at the end, though.

 

Still, I really liked that it highlighted just how unlikely success would be from Signus on. How things were breaking apart between the Traitors, how Horus might slay Lorgar, how Curze might actually die to the Lion, or Perturabo be bested and imprisoned by Dorn. That sort of tension on the traitor side really slipped away from the series for long stretches, I think, and it was nice to see it back here.

 

Then again, I really wanted this story to end up with a reveal to Erebus that'd make him set course for messing with Vulkan, going after Oll and John and eventually Erda. Just something to make that feel less out of left field in the Siege.

 

[Felix Antipodes]

Release 5 - Consecrated Ground by Steven B Fischer

 

It is always interesting to see how a newish author tackles the many flavours of the Adeptus Astartes.  Do you go for one of the big Chapters, try to infuse some meat onto the vague bones of a known but unused name, or just make up your own?

 

Fischer not only goes the first route but picks the Black Templars.  Not only do they have a rabid fan base who only like their version of what a BT should be, but are also hard to get right (balance wise) between super soldier and rabid zealots.

 

I liked the overall story and the reverse switch plot line, but found the story dragged a little in the telling.  The best developed character (imho) was the Apothecary, with his sardonic responses within the BT zealous framework.  Extra points for giving the natives their own patois, something that is under utilised in a galaxy spanning empire.

 

7/10

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[Felix Antipodes]

Release 6 - The One Road by David Guymer (AoS - mentioned for completionists only)

 

Release 7 - Own Worst Enemy by Denny Flowers - A Lucille von Shard short story

 

Quite liked this one.  After a short or two and a novel, Flowers is fully on song with the character and her setting.

 

Things I enjoyed:

Flowers made every character count and be individual.  Even Lucille’s mechanic, who had a minor walk on role, and the enemy pilot (who was just a voice over the vox) came over as fully formed to me.  

I was also amused by the propaganda dude effectively outranking everyone else even though he’s just a civilian.  Nice little grim dark throwaway scene.

 

Things I was less pleased with:

The ending made it quite clear that this was a prelude to a second von Shard novel and will probably end up in the LE HB if it gets one.  To be fair, this isn’t the first time BL has charged us for what is effectively a coming soon ad, but for some reason I felt cheated by the way it ended.  I like my (literary) shorts as one and done and/or semi-connected vignette.

 

8/10 (minus 1 for reasons above)

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[Felix Antipodes]

Release 8 - The Nine by Justin D Hill

 

This was one of the releases I was looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint.  The story is set at the start of the Martian civil war and is an origin story of sorts for the inner circle of the newly forming Dark Mechanicum.  Hill shows a good knowledge of the disparate DM threads from the HH series and provides an interesting and well written story.  I had no problems getting immersed into the story itself and I thought the characters were consistent with previous appearances.

 

Along with the McCormick release, it gave me a hint of what BL could have achieved if they had run with the HH as a setting any of their authors could dip their toe into, rather than a storyline.  Looking forward to the David Guymer short now to see if he can nail it too.

 

9/10 (imho)

 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[LemartestheLost]

1 hour ago, Felix Antipodes said:

Release 8 - The Nine by Justin D Hill

 

A missed chance to make this the ninth release, alas lmao.

[Jareddm]

On 12/18/2023 at 4:05 AM, Felix Antipodes said:

Flowers made every character count and be individual. 

Imho, this is Flowers number one writing trait. From Fire Made Flesh to Outgunned, and even Da Gobbo's Demise, every character feels like a real person and has stuck with me.

[Felix Antipodes]

Release 9 - The Price of Morkai by Marc Collins

 

I found this one a bit hard to get into at first but, by the end, really enjoyed it.  Collins has provided what is (effectively) a funeral for a Space Wolves pack leader.  Not sure if he had appeared before (not a name I’m familiar with) but that is not really essential to the story.  At its heart this is a deep dive into the rites and customs of the SW and what makes them unique to other Astartes Chapters.

 

8/10

 

 

[Felix Antipodes]

Release 10 - Web of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky (AoS - mentioned for completionists only)

 

Release 11 - One Million Years by Nate Crowley

 

I must admit it took me a bit to get into this story.  Like some of the previous releases this was down to my own preconceptions, formed from the BL descriptor attached to it.  I was also anticipating a bigger role for the League of Voltann within it.  It was only afterwards that I remembered Crowley's prior output that I realized this was almost always going to be weighted towards the Necrontyr.  I also had a bit of a problem with the descriptions of the Kin but that may just be me.

 

Overall, the story itself wasn't too bad.  Crowley has a good handle on the Necrontyr and their ways (as one would expect after a couple of novels) but seemed less familiar with the LoV themselves (probably down to GW's lack of push for them past their codex release).  I suspected where the story was heading early on but was still surprised that I was right when the big reveal came.

 

7/10 (Needed more LoV imho)

 

 

[Felix Antipodes]

Release 12 - The Last Loyalist by David Guymer

 

The last for the year and the third within the HH setting.  Guymer has been a bit of a hit or miss author for me but has been (imho) on a roll of late.  This story, set in the aftermath of the Isstvan III virus bombing, follows one of the bands of survivors and their eventual fate.  I particularly liked the battle against the nails by the title character; always doomed to failure but fascinating to watch.

As with several of this year’s offerings, I got the impression that this is either the harbinger of a full novel or was written with that option in mind.

 

8/10

 

 

 

 

So of this year's offerings, 6 x W40K, 3 x HH & 3 x AoS, I have enjoyed them all (including the AoS - a setting I'm not that fond of) to some degree, with a couple of stand outs.  Accolades to all of the authors who helped me through the holiday period and assorted hangovers/food comas.

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Felix Antipodes
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[grailkeeper]

Looking back which ones were rhe best? Any must reads?

[Felix Antipodes]

Always loathe to give recommendations; what I like isn’t a guaranteed hit for someone else.  Having said that, I would recommend the Flowers short to anyone as a good read, and the Collins Alpha Flight story as well.  All three HH shorts (McCormick, Hill and Guymer) were also good reads from my perspective.  If you read the AoS stuff I would add the Tchaikovsky short as well.  Whether they appeal to others as well I can’t say.

[Ubiquitous1984]

Just wanted to thank you for the reviews, they are really appreciated and always an interesting read!

[Jareddm]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:32 PM, Felix Antipodes said:

  Why would a Wolfspear, a relatively new Ultima Founding Chapter have a long-standing rivalry with a Dark Angels successor from the Angels of Absolution for instance?

This seemed pretty obvious to me. The Feud. It's not their chapters specifically but their lineages. Dark Angel and Space Wolf. With no living successors, it was never clear  if the Wolfspears would still feel the same cultural need to fight the Sons of the Lion like their progenitor. But I bet the two still ended up performing the obligatory duel when they first met.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Jareddm

[Felix Antipodes]

5 hours ago, Jareddm said:

This seemed pretty obvious to me. The Feud. It's not their chapters specifically but their lineages. Dark Angel and Space Wolf. With no living successors, it was never clear  if the Wolfspears would still feel the same cultural need to fight the Sons of the Lion like their progenitor. But I bet the two still ended up performing the obligatory duel when they first met.

 

I thought on this at the time but wasn’t convinced.  Within the lore the Wolfspear were one of the last of the Ultima Chapters to be formed and were stuck guarding a rock in the first Dark Imperium novels whilst the remaining SW stock were earmarked for the SW themselves.  I fail to see where they learnt of the Feud, except as gossip amongst the grey shields, which would account for the level of acrimony displayed.  The Feud is based on the history between the two Chapters and has evolved into a ritual over the millennia.  It is not an innate racial memory passed along with the geneseed.

It wasn’t a deal breaker for me wrt the story, just a why? moment that took me out of my immersion in the story for a moment.  I still liked it enough to add it to my list of worthy reads above.

[Jareddm]

Their codex makes it clear that they were part of the Kin-Pack Declaration, the order from Logan Grimnar that all new SW successors that wished to declare their heritage would be granted veteran Space Wolves to teach the new chapters their heritage. The Wolfspears received marines from both Grimnar's own Great Company and Erik Morkai's Wolf Scouts. Furthermore, in "The Wolves of Raukos" they are visited by a Wolf Priest who eventually agrees to train them in the ways of deeper Fenrisian lore, including Wolf Priests of their own. So they definitely would've been taught of the Feud. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Jareddm

[DarkChaplain]

We even had wannabe-Wolves in Dawn of Fire who were very eager to learn all they could about their primogenitor Chapter, emulating them to fit in (and getting a lot wrong as a result). We had multiple examples from other Chapters too.

 

Those Unnumbered Sons? They're very much interested in living up to the legacies their gene-seed comes from. Having no history or culture of their own, many of the new Chapters try to emulate the originals.

[WARMASTER_]

8 hours ago, Felix Antipodes said:

 

I thought on this at the time but wasn’t convinced.  Within the lore the Wolfspear were one of the last of the Ultima Chapters to be formed and were stuck guarding a rock in the first Dark Imperium novels whilst the remaining SW stock were earmarked for the SW themselves.  I fail to see where they learnt of the Feud, except as gossip amongst the grey shields, which would account for the level of acrimony displayed.  The Feud is based on the history between the two Chapters and has evolved into a ritual over the millennia.  It is not an innate racial memory passed along with the geneseed.

It wasn’t a deal breaker for me wrt the story, just a why? moment that took me out of my immersion in the story for a moment.  I still liked it enough to add it to my list of worthy reads above.

Just to jump in here… I think this is a good example to the mess GW + Some BL Authors [Looking at you Haley] has recently made of the lore especially with new Ultima Chapters

 

There’s already been two different stories for the Wolfspear origins and combat doctrines which I believe is more than likely where the confusion is coming from

 

The Index astartes [which IMO is the much better origin + Character description] has them as forming the Chapter AdHoc during the indomitus crusade from scattered bands of warriors from Russ’s lineage swiftly becoming a intermittent vanguard raiding forces, ranging ahead of the crusade and hunting the void for targets of opportunity, isolated ships or a forward recon etc Upon arrive at Fenris they were noted as dour and grim unlike the Wolves on Fenris but were still seen as worthy warriors in Russ’s name, Logan named the them Wolfspear and basically formalised there current mission [fleet based raiders] they were then reinforced by some Veteran Space Wolves [Which is why I can see certain customs leaking through like the DA rivalry and duels] 

 

Haleys Wolves of Raukos however [which was released after but I imagine ties into his DOF book, I haven’t read it as I’m not really a fan of his] paints them as basically exactly the same character as the Wolves just without knowing their customs loosing all of the interesting character traits they’d been noted of forming through the Crusade out in the void alone. It also has them being formed after the crusade and being garrisoned upon Raukos to kill Demons who are summoned every night [They’d obviously just destroy the world or call in the Inquisiton but I digress] with this origin I can see the confusion, as it’s would be confusing as to when they’d have learnt any cultural history from the wolves and started the practice 

 

 

[DarkChaplain]

The triumph at Raukos, and the founding of the Wolfspear, happened a decade into the Indomitus Crusade. Sons of Russ from the Unnumbered first arrived at Fenris around 3 or so years into the Crusade, in a novel that hasn't been written by Haley, but Gav Thorpe.

 

As for the Wolves of Raukos, they literally have a delegation led by a Wolf Priest arrive to teach them what it means to be a wolf of Fenris, and get rid of Guilliman's standard marine influences. That's the whole point of the short story from The Successors. But no, they were not the exact same as regular Wolves, neither in Dark Imperium nor Dawn of Fire nor Raukos. They were knockoffs, tryhards, all bark and no bite, and laughed at for it. Still sons of Russ, but none of the culture that went along with it.

 

Also, the Wolfspear at Raukos are numbered at barely 250 or so. The remainder of the Chapter is still part of the Crusade fleets.

Edited December 29, 2023 by DarkChaplain

[WARMASTER_]

1 hour ago, DarkChaplain said:

The triumph at Raukos, and the founding of the Wolfspear, happened a decade into the Indomitus Crusade. Sons of Russ from the Unnumbered first arrived at Fenris around 3 or so years into the Crusade, in a novel that hasn't been written by Haley, but Gav Thorpe.

 

As for the Wolves of Raukos, they literally have a delegation led by a Wolf Priest arrive to teach them what it means to be a wolf of Fenris, and get rid of Guilliman's standard marine influences. That's the whole point of the short story from The Successors. But no, they were not the exact same as regular Wolves, neither in Dark Imperium nor Dawn of Fire nor Raukos. They were knockoffs, tryhards, all bark and no bite, and laughed at for it. Still sons of Russ, but none of the culture that went along with it.

 

Also, the Wolfspear at Raukos are numbered at barely 250 or so. The remainder of the Chapter is still part of the Crusade fleets.

That’s only after they Retcon’d the date to the triumph at Raukos being 12 years in and not at the end of the crusade which again also adds to my point of the mess they’ve made of recent lore and timelines. I think you’re also forgetting Hayley was the editor of that book and is a driving hand of the [Disappointing] DOF series 

 

Again that adds to my point about Hayley’s + Gav’s version of the wolves being disappointing and a bit of a mess! The Index has a completely fleshed out and believable character for the disparate chapter and makes great references to them acting like true “Wolves” without needing to go OOT like the Space Wolves do! They’re noted as being hunters in the void, stalking prey and mercilessly isolating and attacking weaker elements of the enemy. Prowling alone ahead of the main crusade force and it’s because of this isolated duty and the horrific nature of the galaxy they’ve been thrown into they’ve become grim, taciturn and much darker of character than the SW which is great character development! There’s loads more examples but they had a defined character and to be honest I found it much better than “they’re try hards” or “all bark no bite” trying to be like their parent chapter and failing

 

They're also noted as swapping out of the duty regularly which would be next to impossible when the Index has them hunting in the Imperium Nihilis as scattered fleet based hunting forces [again adding to the mess of lore which they’ve had in the their short run as a chapter] 

 

[Felix Antipodes]

I was unaware the Wolfspear had an IA - I assume it was in a White Dwarf?  I will have to track it down.  I also forgot about the timeline retcon, which changes a lot of my issues with the advent story portrayal.

 

I think the different portrayals of the Chapter is down to the age old issue of different takes by different authors.  Hopefully, Haley (or someone else) will eventually marry up the two versions into a cohesive whole.