Ever finished reading a book, taken a deep breath and thought, “I really enjoyed that, but just how did that evil character end up like that? What drove him/her to do those things? What happened to him after this story ended and he made his miraculous escape?”

I have.

Sauron, Horus, Honsuo, Leonard, Darius, and so on. I always wanted to know more as a reader. Having said that, I’ve often been able to dig up pieces on most of the aforementioned characters, mostly short stories, and loved every word of them.

Most recently, I worked my way through Graham McNeill’s ‘Iron Warriors Omnibus’. A friend had leant me ‘Storm of Iron’ while I was in hospital after having elbow surgery a few years ago, but to be honest I was so whacked out of my brain on morphine post-surgery that I didn’t really remember the plot. One thing that did stick out was the anti-hero, Honsuo. I couldn’t remember why he stuck out, but I’m glad he did as it convinced me to buy the book.

I re-read Storm of Iron, free of a morphine cloud, and absolutely bloody loved it. Top shelf, mr. McNeill, top shelf.

Anyhow, off my tangent and on to my point. What turned Honsuo from an awesome character, into one I want to drop to the floor and beg McNeill for more about, was a series of 4 short stories and a novella that were put into the Omnibus as post-novel pieces. They added tantalising little extras to an already magnificent piece of work, and then to top it all off, he worked in the main anti-hero, Honsuo, as an actual villain into his flagship series, ‘Ultramarines’. Well played, mr. McNeill, well played.

Shedding the Grey, my first attempt to recreate such enjoyment for my own small band of fans, will be up in the next few days so keep an eye out for it!