Between the raft of new books, the new tie-in miniatures, and the anointing of the Black Library Book of the Year, one could be forgiven for overlooking the fact that we’ve also been offered a new e-short story subscription over at the Black Library website. Truly the curse of abundance!
As with most e-short subscriptions, this one offers us five new stories from several different authors writing in both the Age of Sigmar and 40K settings. While we don’t get any Warhammer Crime or Horror (I dare to dream), there’s still plenty to keep you reading. Here’s a look at each of the subscription’s five tales. I’ve endeavored to avoid spoilers as much as possible, and made sure to put a spoiler warning for any mild reveals.
A Point of Pride, by Evan Dicken
The Subscription opens with a tale from the Age of Sigmar setting, involving a murderous pack of Skaven assassins finding out the hard way that they aren’t the apex predators they thought they were when they’re dispatched for a hit.
As choices for openers go, you can’t go wrong with a straightforward action story and this one understands the assignment. Evan Dicken drops you right into the action from the outset, with the Skaven infiltrating a citadel under cover of darkness.
Dicken does a terrific job letting you into the perfidious psyche of the Skaven, and he does so not with a dump of exposition but by carefully threading it throughout. You’re never far from another reminder that Skaven society truly is every rat for themselves, and Deathmiser Khrut spends more time conspiring against his brethren than the target of the assassination mission.
If I have one complaint here, it’s directed at the Black Library, not the author. This one is billed as a “Malaneth Witchblade Short Story,” but if you jump in looking for more of that character you’re in for disappointment. Yes, she shows up at the end, and yes (minor spoiler alert), the Skaven assassins come out the worse for wear in the encounter. But the story works best if the reader isn’t aware she’s in it at all.
As one by one the sinister ratfolk meet mysterious ends, we already know why. There’s no “reveal,” because we already know at some point the character will be appearing. Again, that’s no patch off the author, but just the unfortunate dictates of branding, the natural (and probably correct) assumption that the story will get more clicks if it’s got a name attached to it.
All the same, even knowing the reveal this one’s a fun read and a highlight of the Subscription from the author of the new release, Shade of Khaine. This one gets runner-up for Best in Show.
Fen Guard, by Justin D. Hill
Releasing at the same time as his latest Minka Lesk novel, Hell’s Last, here Hill presents a conversation between Lesk and one of her troopers, a Drookian Fen Guard named Grawnya.
It’s the Fen Guard who has the spotlight here, telling a story of tragedy and vengeance and in so doing, we get a little insight into her home and her culture.
Short stories that are mostly dialogue are ambitious choices in a universe where action stories are the default mode. Warhammer is, ultimately, a world of action and adventure. But done well, these moments can help deepen our connection to its inhabitants, or reveal crucial elements of the lore.
A good example of the latter would be Graham MacNeill’s scintillating The Last Church, a conversation between a priest and his visitor on the last day of the last church left on Terra before Unity. (I’m not an audiobook guy, but Jonathan Keeble’s audio production of this one is magnificent).
And here Fen Guard is at its best, serving as Grawnya’s character backstory and moving the narrative forward of what happened on that first, fateful day in Cadia when Guardsmen turned traitor.
While this one feels less like its own self-contained tale and more like an outtake from Hell’s Last, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a reason people love to watch deleted scenes and extended versions of their favorite movies, and getting to see a character piece that might have gotten cut for pacing can be a treat. If the story falls a bit short anywhere, it’s that this one feels less like a dialogue between two people and more like a monologue, at times almost slipping into soliloquy.
The degree to which you’ll get the most out of Fen Guard is directly proportional to your investment in Hill’s Minka Lesk saga. If you’re all in, this one’s hard to go wrong with.
Reservoir of Rot, by Ian Green
We’re back to the Age of Sigmar for the third tale in the collection, this one a story of corruption and decay. It’s the second offering from new Black Library author Ian Green, whose first short Doomwheel was part of last December’s Advent Subscription.
Fighting to defend his city against the forces of Grandfather Nurgle, Barrek is taken alive- but offered the opportunity to go free in exchange for one teensy-tinsy little favor.
Of course, no points for deducing that the cost of the “favor” is far greater than our hero ever expected to pay. Such are the bargains we strike with Chaos when life is on the line and too dear and precious to let go of, but sooner or later the bill always comes due.
Tales of the seduction of Chaos are amongst my favorite, and at their best the author needs to sell us on two elements. First, they need to make the main character somewhat sympathetic and/or relatable, which gives us a reason to care what happens to them. Second, the descent needs to make sense. Most folks don’t rush headlong into the embrace of Chaos because they want to, but because they feel- however foolishly- that they need to.
Green does a solid enough job here on the first. Opening on the battlefield, Barrek isn’t given a great deal of depth, but we can certainly sympathize with a warrior fighting for his life and his city against the forces of evil.
However, the tale falters a bit on the second (mild spoiler alert). Barrek has been tasked with planting a seed next to the city’s reservoir. When he goes to do the deed there’s not a soul in sight, and he himself wonders why he shouldn’t just burn the thing and be done with it. But instead he essentially shrugs and says, “ehh, what’s the worst that can happen,” and follows through.
The only time it really sold me that there was a reason for him to continue to act as a pawn of Chaos is later in the story, when he’s already in so deep that backing out would mean exposure and the ruin of his reputation (and quite possibly his life).
Consequently, Reservoir of Rot didn’t really keep me rooted (ha!), but I have high hopes for the author whose Black Library bio notes he writes stories of biopunk eco-terrorism. Looking forward to plenty of Nurgle ahead for the appropriately-named Mr. Green.
Finest Hour, by Sam Ryan
The fourth entry in the Subscription is my pick for Best in Show. Sam Ryan’s Astra Militarum tale is one of the best shorts I’ve read in some time.
It’s a straight up war story, but one with a riveting twist as it centers not on any one person, but rather on a Cadian battle standard. A flag that gets passed from one set of hands to the next as the battle continues to unfold, this ‘wandering point of view’ allows us glimpses of moments of heroism (and cowardice) from a number of different characters.
The gamble Ryan takes here is that the reader will care much about any of them. That’s already a challenge in the short story format, investing the reader with an emotional stake in far less space than a novel. But to try that with multiple characters who enter (and then just as quickly exit, either returning to the background or disappearing altogether) is laudably ambitious.
Ryan not only pulls it off, but he sticks the landing too. Finest Hour goes far beyond a simple action story and only the hardest of hearts will remain unmoved by the nobility of character revealed time and again under the very worst conditions. It’s the small notes that Ryan weaves through his characters, from the Vostroyan tank commander (“forty years’ service and eight evaded promotions had left her with countless hours under fire”) to the Tech-Adept’s impassioned line “the Song of Iron has come to her coda, but her requiem will belong to you!” to the Krieg Colonel’s determined stoicism against impossible odds.
If you’re not already a fan of Imperial Guard stories, this one stands a very good chance of making you one. It is exceptional, and a very promising entry in the portfolio of another new Black Library writer (like the previous author, his first, the Warhammer Crime story Call of Oblivion, was part of last year’s Advent Calendar subscription).
Cold Vigil, by Jon Flindall
The last story in the Subscription is Jon Flindall’s tale of reflection in a place of quiet sanctity. In this it shares a certain thematic feel with Nick Kyme’s Solemnity, another story from the Advent Calendar Subscription from last December.
Here we get to now Raqib, a Space Marine of the Consecrators Chapter on the verge of his promotion to First Company and the Bladeguard, an august body in the confidence of the Chapter Master rather akin to Horus’s Mournival of old.
Raqib struggles against one of the most pernicious forces in the Imperium, one which both Castellan Emeric (Broken Crusade) and Abbess Morvenn Vahl (Spear of Faith) fought in their own recent novels: self-doubt.
It’s a frequent trope. After all, when you’re writing Superman and need a weakness, you either have to bring in the kryptonite or give him something internal to stress over. For Raqib, there’s no shortage of stresses. He feels guilt over the loss of a battle-brother on a recent action, despite executing his part flawlessly. He feels guilty for getting injured himself, letting his squad down. He feels ashamed for his Chapter Master’s injury, sustained when saving Raquib’s life. He rejects almost any praise from his superiors and others, while almost obsequious when expressing gratitude.
It’s all a bit much, and at times even his brothers seem to have only a finite amount of patience for it. While ultimately it does serve a greater purpose in the tale- he is to be a voice of conscience for the Chapter Master- this story didn’t really connect for me.
Flindall has written four shorts for the Black Library, and interestingly his area of focus are some of the more niche Chapters: Iron Lords, Tome Keepers, and Consecrators in addition to the White Scars. His Tome Keepers short story Legacy of Defiance is in the brand-new Blood of the Imperium Anthology (after previously being serialized in White Dwarf last year) and I look forward to seeing what else he can do.
Ultimately, mileage with these always varies depending on whether or not there’s enough there that resonates with you. I was pleased to see two fledgling Black Library authors get another turn in the spotlight, as well as some additional content around two of the Black Library Celebration’s novel releases, Hell’s Last and Shade of Khaine.
If you do nothing else, though, make sure to pick up Sam Ryan’s Finest Hour. At four bucks, it’s worth every penny.
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