Sabbatiny světy

Gaunt's Ghosts #Anthology

by Dan Abnett (Editor/Contributor), Marek Hrnčíř (Translator)

Napříč Sabbatinými světy se vede krutá válka, válka, která může skončit jedině vítězstvím nebo zkázou. Nesčetné síly Arcinepřítele útočí bez milosti a planeta za planetou je zachvácena plameny války. I uprostřed této noční můry bojuje Imperiální garda se svými nepřáteli chladnokrevně. Vzdušné síly Phantine bojují s nepřáteli lidstva na hořícím nebi, jednotky odporu na Gereonu se snaží dobýt opěrný bod Chaosu na své trpící planetě a legendární Gauntovi duchové jsou nasazováni v těch nejdivočejších a nejkrvavějších válečných zónách.
Tato antologie otevírá bránu na Sabbatiny světy a přináší nové povídky od některých z nejlepších autorů Black Library, včetně Dana Abnetta, Grahama McNeilla, Jamesa Swallowa a Nicka Kyme.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Anthologies, Military Fiction, Short Stories

386 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2010

Reviews

[Jean-Luc · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Warhammer 40k universe, the Sabbat Worlds are a section of over a hundred planets in Segmentum Pacificus, and retaking those worlds from the forces of Chaos is the primary objective of Warmaster Slaydo's Crusade. This anthology is a series of short stories about some of the many different units taking part in the crusade.

The biggest draw is, of course, Dan Abnett's 2 stories about the Tanith First and Only. If you haven't read any of the Gaunt's Ghosts books before, Of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities gives you a good sense of what the designation "First and Only" means.

If you're a big fan of WH40k fluff, then you'll likely recognize some of your favorite characters and this will cheer you up immensely. Most of these stories serve as bridges from one book to another. If there's a bad/boring/"why did I just read that?" story in here, I don't remember it.

Of course, if you're not a WH40k fan, you probably have little reason to pick up this book, even if you're a military scifi fan. :-p

[Iri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Už jsem to psala u Vinculy, že je vždycky opravdové potěšení číst cokoliv od Abnetta o jeho Prvních a jediných. Myslím, že ve 40k už asi nenajdu sérii, jejíž charaktery by mi tak moc přirostly k srdci jako právě Gauntovi duchové. Asi je tedy jasné, že příběhovky přímo o nich budou pro mě hrát v jakémkoliv příbuzném sborníku jasný prim. Proto musím hodnotit jako nejlepší povídku ve sbírce právě Abnettovu Železnou hvězdu. Četla jsem ji snad už pětkrát, v češtině i angličtině, a je to prostě pořád nářez. O to větší je, je-li čtena v dějové posloupnosti hlavní série. Mě se to kdysi takto povedlo a dojem z patrně nejlepší bokovky o osudech Duchů stále přetrvává.

Pokud bych měla hodnotit "neabnettovky", tak druhou nejlepší povídkou se pro mě stala Královražda. Dembski-Bowdenův styl mi v tomto případě velmi sednul, hodně přispělo téma. Ostatní povídky (včetně druhého Abnettova kousku), byly slušné. Naopak těžkopádná propletenost Farrerovy povídky a čtivý, leč chaotický styl paní Vincent mé nadšení vykompenzoval určitou měrou opačného spektra. Aby to ale nevyznělo drze, musím jasně zdůraznit, že jsem ráda za každý doplněk, který se fanouškům tvůrci rozhodli i po desetiletích od vydání základní ságy – a tedy de facto i ujasnění obrazu celého jednoho mezihvězdného sektoru – darovat. Doufám, že jich bude ještě hodně, i kdyby měly být v souhrnu kvalitativně podobny příběhům v tomto sborníku.

[Student Teacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG OMG OMG! Another book about the Sabbat Worlds crusade! Wait, let me back up. So about a year ago, Dan Abnett was writing like 30 books at the same time (the dude writes a BUNCH!), and it turned out he was sick. He wen't to the doctors and found out, in his words, that it was, "just epilepsy" his schedule slipped a bit. Prospero Burns, which was supposed to come out at the same time as A Thousand Sons, is now coming out this coming January. Also, the thirteenth Ghosts book (13, really?!) had its deadline missed. So in order to tide over all the 40k nerds, they decided to put this anthology together, so here it is.

The first story is called Apostle's Creed, by Graham McNeill. This story is an after-story from Double Eagle, which in my opinion is one of the best 40k books out there! We follow a squadron of Thunderbolt pilots that are the best of the best. The story here is not overly complecated, and I had figured out the plot in the first 5-10 pages. That being said, this was an excellent story! The combat was seat-of-your-pants good and the time in between the combat was very well paced. This was pretty much the best kinds of 40k short story. Brutal, fast, and didn't make me think too much (and I totally mean that as a complement).

Next up, we have The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings by Matthew Ferrer. Now I have commented on how much I liked Mr. Ferrer's Arbitor book, but I did have a hard time reading his story in Fear the Alien, so I was a bit worried about reading this story. Unfortunately, my fears were founded. I believe this story, like Faces from Fear the Alien, was too smart for me. I just really couldn't get behind it. After sitting working for three nights in a row trying to force myself through the 30 pages of this story, I had to give up. I just couldn't finish this story. I really feel as if its a good story, but its just not what I want from my 40k. I want to read to relax, not read to exercise my brain.

The third story in this anthology is Regicide by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. So after trying for three days to read THatHK, I read all 28 pages of this story in one night. Aaron D-B does an excellent job with this story. It is a story that takes place about fifteen years before the current Ghosts timeline. A Guard soldier has been captured the archenemy right after the great victory at Balhaut. His captors are trying to get him to tell them about the death of Warmaster Slaydo. Finally he does, and we get a very first hand account of the death of the Warmaster. Aaron D-B does a very good job of jumping back and forth, and while most of the story is the retelling of the story, we also learn about Commodus Ryland. What a good good story!

Iron Star is a Ghosts story by Dan Abnett. This story takes place right after the end of Only in Death, and delves into what happened to Gaunt immediately after he is rescued in Only in Death. The story is a bit vague, but for a reason. It is a bit confusing, for a reason. In the end it is a decent story. I don't think it was supposed to be a surprise, but I figured the story out very early in to it. It wasn't bad at all, but not the best in the book.

After Dan Abnett's story is his wife's first 40k story, Cell, by Nik Vincent. This story tells of an underground resistance on an archenemy-held world. I really liked the build-up of the story. Vincent does a good job of getting us to buy into a lot of the main characters. The story moved along at a very good pace and I started feeling and rooting for the characters. Until the end of the story. At the end of the story, all of the action takes place. Now it may be because I read as I'm laying in bed right before I go to sleep, but I found it very hard to follow. I was literally sitting there saying to myself, "how did that happen? What is HE doing? What? Hes dead? Hold it, HES dead too? Where did he come from? I didn't even know he was even there!" That being said, I thought it was a pretty good story.

Next came another gem of this anthology, Blueblood by Nick Kyme. I have not been a big fan of Mr. Kyme, but this story is awesome. It tells a story about Royal Volpone, known as the Bloodbloods. The main character is Major Regara. He has been punished and sent to a backwater worlds named Sagorrah. He has being punished for writing a commendation for the Ghosts for actions that take place in chapter Blood Oath in the book, Ghostmaker. The reason I like this story is that Kyme makes us like the Bloodbloods and then makes us hate them, and then makes us like them again. That up and down of the story is really what I liked about it.

The next story is A Good Man by Sandy Mitchell. I really like Sandy Mitchell (hurry up and write another Cain book!). This is a story about a munitorium scribe on the recently pacified planet of Vergast, sight of the book Necropolis. This story is about a man trying to find his buddy, and what happens when he gets himself into a situation he is in no way capable to handle. There is very little action in this story, but Mitchell is very good at the character interaction. I really enjoyed it.

Lastly, we have Of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities (whats up with these long-old names?) by Dan Abnett. This is another Ghosts story to wrap up the whole sh-bang, and what a way to end it. This is an awesome story for no other reason than it takes place not too long after the Ghosts were founded. This means two things, first, we get to see some of the Ghosts that have past. It was great to see Corbec and Bragg again. Second we see what it was like when everyone hated Gaunt almost as much as Rawne did/does. I thought both of these were very well done in the story. One of the other things I thought was kind of nice was the "foreshadowing" (I guess that is what you call it when the story takes place earlier in the continuity, but was actually written after the things it is referencing) that is all over the place. Gaunt notices the Domor has, "quick eyes," there is a comment about how Feygor has a smooth voice, and Gaunt playfully (sorta) threatens to amputate Larken's foot. I think some people may say that he does this too much, but for me each one triggered a memory about that person, some of whom are no longer with the Ghosts, so I didn't have a problem with it.

And thats the book. There were some really good stories in it, and some not very good ones. But the good was really good, and that bad wasn't terrible. Plus the good stories outweighed the bad. I was afraid I was going to have to give a bad, or mediocre rating for this book, but the last story really pulled it out for me. My only other complaint is that the book seems a little small for an anthology, eight stories seems a bit light for me. I remember the days of Let the Galaxy Burn with its 38 stories, and this one just seems to be a bit of a lightweight for me.

Based purely on quality, and not the quantity, I give this book four sightings of the Sabbat beti, out of five.

[J.R. Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. The Abnett and the Mitchell stories were the best.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know if this is really the best of the Sabbat story collections, or if it’s just the one I’ve read the most and therefore even the weaker stories have grown on me by now. Anyway, it’s an essential read for anyone who has read all Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts series, but you absolute shouldn’t use it as a jumping-on point to the Ghosts world.

Graham McNeill – Apostle’s Creed: We start with ‘Apostle’s Creed’, a quite long story clearly inspired by Dan’s great ‘Double Eagle’ book about Imperial fliers. This is about the elite flying unit the Apostles and how their very high casualty rate has affected those who survive. If you’re in the mood for a straightforward action story this is a solid one. However, it does kind of read like an imitation of Dan’s much better book – I think Graham can be great at quieter stuff and action stuff, yet when he tries to blend both here, it doesn’t really work so well. Because it's so long, and it's right at the beginning of the book, and the one after it is my absolute favourite, I admit I sometimes skip 'Apostle's Creed'.

Matthew Farrer – The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings: Almost a novella; if you put this together with ‘The Inheritor King’ in the next collection, it’d be a convincing (yet slim) standalone novel. Taking the viewpoint of a hapless missionary in a refugee camp-cum-forced labour installation, Farrer explores what happened on Ashek II after the fighting had moved on and the events of Dan’s ‘Necropolis’ had begun fading into the past. Of course, not all of the Chaos forces on the world were killed in their great defeats, some of them melted away and continue to plot to enact the grand design of their defeated leader, Heritor Asphodel. Here we’re shown a facility where the planet’s population are ‘helping’ the Mechanicus to dissect and study the awful Woe Machines of the Chaos forces, which may be wrecked and inert but are still chilling to look upon. (I like the fact that none of the Woe Machines sound like they would work, or would be remotely possible to make a Warhammer model of.)

Farrer’s ornate writing and tendency to get stuck in description pisses off a lot of Black Library readers, it seems, but I absolutely love his style. It is at least different from most Black Library stuff. I think he also has a playwright’s ear for naturalistic dialogue – well, naturalistic and also quite wordy, if that makes sense? He also is able to square that circle of Imperial citizens (especially those involved with the more religious side of the society) being fanatically devout and yet also having their own thoughts, fears, failings beyond mouth-frothing zealotry.

Aaron Dembski-Bowden – Regicide: We’d describe this as a prequel story, I guess – it follows the Victory on Balhaut (something that happened a long time before the first Gaunt’s Ghosts book is set), as a captured elite trooper is forced to give an account of the fateful final battle between Warmaster Slaydo and Archon Nadzybar. I think ADB is great at writing ‘normal’ human characters, or as close to ‘normal’ as it gets in the 40K universe, so this central character is memorable and fun to read. Meanwhile, his antagonist has that elusive mix of 'intimidating military demeanour' and 'disturbing witchiness' that I feel the Blood Pact all should have but I feel sometimes even Dan can't quite nail.

I kind of wish we got to see this main character again (I don’t think that’s happened?) but I guess the point of a lot of these short stories is that you realise there is a huge crusade going on outside the experience of the Gaunt’s Ghosts characters and usually very significant people will live and die without ever encountering one of the Tanith.

Dan Abnett – The Iron Star: This is one of the only explicitly Gaunt’s Ghosts stories here, as Dan gives us a follow-up to the novel ‘Only In Death’. The Ghosts took an awful beating in that book and Gaunt in particular went through the wringer, and this story follows him as he tries to get it together after surviving some of his worst losses (as a commander, and as a person). It’s well-written, but the twist / hidden concept is fairly easy to spot, though I think perhaps it’s supposed to be. I feel the same about both of the Dan stories here: I do like them, but… well, I’ll get into that later.

Nik Vincent – Cell: For a long time I thought this was the weakest story here, but it really grew on me in my most recent reading. Taking place on Gereon, where some of my favourite Gaunt’s Ghosts novels were set, this is an account of how the rebellion against the Chaos occupation went when the Ghosts weren't involvedd. Of course, this being 40K, the pro-Imperial rebels aren’t necessarily nice people and they are forced to do some pretty grim, dark things. It’s about loss of innocence and ideals being crushed, which I guess is common for 40K fiction but it works very well here. While it’s not novella length, this feels like it has a much more sweeping, epic scope than being just a short story. I really like it, and I’m not sure I’ve read anything else by Nik that’s quite as good.

Nick Kyme – Blueblood: Another story I initially disliked but now have a real fondness for, this is one of the better Nick Kyme works. The Volpone ‘Bluebloods’ with their arrogance and their proximity to high command were introduced early in the series as counterpoints to the down-to-earth, disconnected Tanith Ghosts, and it sparked some interesting conflicts. Perhaps realising they tended to end up simply cartoonishly villainous (a regiment full of public school bullies) Dan shuffled them out of his books fairly quickly, but it is still interesting to think about what happened to the regiments the Ghosts fought alongside and then moved away from. Kyme does kind of re-use the dynamic of the Volpone looking down on dirty, unkempt savages before having to grudgingly admit those nasty dirty thugs may also be important soldiers for the Emperor – but it’s a gripping combat tale with interesting new characters. He also manages to keep the trademark Volpone arrogance while giving us some characters it's possible to like. I hope to get to the full length novel he wrote about the Volpone at some point.

Sandy Mitchell – A Good Man: I don’t know why I never got it before, I must just be really dense: this is literally The Third Man but transplanted into the Warhammer 40K universe – post-war Verghast, actually. A fella comes to town looking for his old buddy, but apparently the buddy’s dead, and also he was mixed up in some shady stuff… Well, you’ve probably seen the movie. If not, you should! Same exact story beats. The elusive Harry Lime character is even called ‘Jimmy Citrus’ or some shit like that. (Just checked again and it's 'Harl Sitrus'.) I’ve always been kind of mixed on Sandy Mitchell and I’m mixed on this approach. On the one hand, his writing is good and has a mordant humour to it. On the other, stealing the story of maybe the greatest crime film ever for your short story does seem to be a bit of a cheat.

Dan Abnett - Of their Lives in the Ruins of their Cities: A flashback story, to sometime around the era of the first two Gaunt's Ghosts books. The Ghosts, still getting used to being a displaced regiment without a home, and still getting used to their arrogant and unfamiliar commander, are on the world of Voltemand trying to police a dangerous frontline against the Chaos forces. That doesn’t necessarily matter though and the military stuff (while well written) isn't the focus of the story, because this is all about the early dynamics of the Tanith First and Only when they all absolutely hated their commander (not without reason) and even the ones we thought of as ‘nice’ were sullen and hostile to him. Except Corbec, apparently, who was always a stand up friendly guy who just wanted to give everyone a big kiss. Man remember when Rawne was a real asshole who couldn’t wait to murder Gaunt, and not what he became later, which is basically a big time hero and Gaunt’s best friend (albeit with some rough edges).

This is the problem with both Dan stories here. I think the Gaunt’s Ghosts series has gone from strength to strength and the ones since ‘The Lost’ arc started (around – what, book six?) are, to me, the best of the series. If there can be said to be a fault with the recent books, it’s that Dan seems kind of obsessed with going back and giving us more scenes with all the beloved fallen soldiers we’ve lost along the way. (That new 'Ghost Dossier' thing seems a case in point, but I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.) Good part about this is he clearly loves his characters and understands why the fans miss them so much and probably he feels the same way himself. Bad part is it does kind of lessen the impact of their deaths a bit. Having said that this is a really good story still. I mean, also there are maybe a few too many nods and winks to what will happen in the future (for example, pre-augmetics Domor wearing glasses that catch the moonlight and make him briefly look like he has big staring frog eyes… I mean c’mon man) but some people do really like that. So I give this a tentative thumbs up.

COLLECTION OVERALL: This is a really strong story collection and deepens the background / world building of Dan’s long running Gaunt’s Ghosts series. It also showcases strong examples of other Black Library authors. If you like the Ghosts books at all, this is your next stop.

8/10

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zpočátku dorazila hned dvě zklamání. Místo dalšího příběhu do světa Gauntových duchů je to jen sborník spíš výplňových povídek. Ano, odehrávají se ve světě, co Duchové, ale většina z nich by se mohla, bez sebemenší změny, odehrávat kdekoliv jinde. A i když se na obálce skví Dan Abnett, účastní se celého projektu víc autorů a sám Abnett přispěl „jen“ dvěma povídkama.
A samozřejmě, ty jsou z knihy to nejlepší. Jedna je vyloženě halucinační a kladem autora je, že ve chvíli, kdy začnete chápat, o co se v příběhu jedná, odkryje karty a nesnaží si je schovávat jako finální překvapení. A druhá je z doby, kdy se mladý Ibram Gaunt teprve seznamoval s posledními bojovníky z planety Tanith… kteří ho samozřejmě naprosto nesnáší a on si teprve musí vydobýt jejich respekt.

Abychom se podívali na opačnou stranu spektra, tak nejhorší byla pro mě povídka Buňka, kterou má na svědomí Abnettova žena. Je to jedna z mála autorek, na které jsem ve vesmíru Warhammeru narazil. A asi to má důvod. Zápletka je funkční, ale je podaná chaoticky a zmateně a finální přestřelka už byla totální čurbes. Nebo jsem prostě něco nepochopil.

Ostatní je minimálně v rovině „solidní práce“ - a ještě o něco výš bych tady bych vypíchnul příběh leteckých soubojů Krédo apoštolů, válečnou story Gauntových konkurentů Modrá krev či komorní epizodu Dobrý člověk, o životě úředníků, vracející do pořádku staré doklady. Ta, i přes téma, byla napsána v lehčím duchu a docela rád bych si od Sandyho Mitchella přečetl i něco jiného.

Takže jo, je to čistě výplňovka, ale pořád solidní, s povídkami, které sice neohromí, ale rozhodně uspokojí.

[Jor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story anthology was a trip back to the Warhammer 40,000-fuelled days of my childhood and adolescence. Dan Abnett's writing is always a delight to read. His Gaunt's Ghosts novels remain among my favourite book series.

His two contributions to this anthology remind me what I enjoy so much about his stories: the characters. They are the humans in an unjust realm. Relatable in the face of despair. Honest despite the odds. And yes, occassionally a little too quippy. His books are about people, hoping and struggling and surviving.

The Warhammer 40,000 setting has its limitations and faults. There are unmemorable stories in this collection about Miserable Pilots Who Pilot Good And Must Be Miserable and about Honourable Soldiers Who Fight For Honour. I think if I wanted strings of action sequences, I'd play the wargame.

The (IMO) stronger stories offer something more. I liked the character exploration (and I'll admit dense Gaunt's Ghosts continuity references) of Abnett and the investigative archive tale of Mitchell.

Rating the anthology, I must take the average of all my individual opinions. My mean judgement is it's fine.

Now I'm just looking forward to reading Abnett's new book, The Warmaster, once it comes to paperback.

[Oluo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, the best 40k anthology that I have read. Usually with these, the stories are hit-or-miss, some better, some worse. However, in this case, all stories were good or great. The only one that I did not enjoy to the same level as the others was 'The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings' - mostly due to Farrer's writing style which is a bit messy, but the story itself was good.

The highlight was the story by Dan Abnett himself - 'The Iron Star', which tells a story of Gaunt himself, after the events of the novel 'Only in Death'. This is a great throwback which made me a bit teary eyed. I believe this should be mandatory read for every Gaunt Ghosts fan.

Some of my other favourites are - 'Blueblood' by Nick Kyme, 'Regicide' by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and 'A Good Man' by Sandy Mitchell.

Overall, this collection is a guaranteed hit for all Gaunt Ghosts' fans. People that enjoy 40k, but are not familiar with Dan Abnett's series are better off leaving this anthology until after reading about Gaunt and his Ghosts first.

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story collections are always a tough review for me, cause they are inherently a bit all over the place. With that in mind, a bunch of vignettes expanding the Sabbat Worlds warzone is still a strong draw. I'll admit I felt the ones focused on the Tanith felt a little forced, but I also think he completely deserves a pass given he was in the middle of some medical crises and working through that.

I think off all of them, my favorite was the Hammerstone story. There's something about dropping a reader in the middle of a universe and place with no explanation or handholding, that while risky in that you can lose the reader, can also make it that much more immersive, and in this case, I think the author succeeded.

[Paul Geary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun being back in the Sabbat World's.

The only story that was less engaging for me was Apostles Creed and that's only due to not enjoying Double Eagle all that much.

Dan Abnetts stories are ace as you would expect.

Cell was a brilliant dip behind enemy lines.

The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings left me wanting more.

Overall it's a great read, fun step back into the universe and recommend.

[Annemary Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this was one of the best short story collections I've ever read. The worst in this book was far better than a lot of the sci-fi and fantasy short story collections have to offer. I think I managed to get a sense of the WH40k universe even though since I don't know much about it, some parts of the stories were hard to read. But overall I really enjoyed these. I think my favourite one was with the guy who was held hostage, fought in a war and then escaped.

[Zaphied · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it for the guant's ghosts shorts. Some of these were quite good if abruptly ended. Others I found myself at a loss of why I continued to read. Regardless it was fun attempting to peg actions to different Sabbat crusade time points.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las dos historias de Abnett sobre el Primero y Único de Tanith hacen que merezca la pena leer la antología. Las otras son bastante meh, algunas pasables, otras aburridllas.

[John Vance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannot get enough of the Sabbat Crusade. This collection of short stories really fills out the universe. Makes you feel that there truly is a wide massive galactic campaign taking place. More!

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read a few of the stories prior so of the ones I did this time I rated it a 3

[Paul Sparks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that promises much and aside from the odd glitch delivers, it was good to read tales of the sabbat worlds that weren’t just from the ghosts perspective

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of short stories about the Sabbat Worlds.

[Ulzeta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite boring.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

not really a fan of short stories in general, but this was pretty fun. i think the last two stories + the iron star were my favourite

[Mick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bridging the gap between the publication of Blood Pact and Salvation's Reach, Sabbat Worlds Anthology collects eight stories from some of the Black Library's most noted authors, edited by Dan Abnett and set within the setting for his Gaunt's Ghosts series, the wartorn Sabbat Worlds. All take inspiration from the events and worlds created or alluded to by Dan Abnett, and help to flesh out this part of the 40k universe.

Apostle’s Creed by Graham McNeill features Imperial Navy pilot Laris Asche learning an important lesson, lots of dogfighting, and a thrilling attack on a major enemy target. Lovers of science fiction aerial combat in the vein of Star Wars will enjoy this one. This story is a sequel of sorts to Double Eagle, which I haven't read but was able to follow anyway.

The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings by Matt Farrer focuses on the cleanup operation following the conquest of a planet, and in particular on the recovery of captured and destroyed enemy war machines. It's a complex story, which brings to mind the scramble by the USA and USSR to recover German material and technical expertise following WW2.

Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Regicide takes the reader back to before the beginning of the Gaunt's Ghosts series with an account of the death of Warmaster Slaydo in battle against the Archon at Balhaut, as told by one of his men currently held captive by the enemy. It's a stirring story, rich in action, and ties in neatly with Gaunt's own recollections in Blood Pact.

Dan Abnett's The Iron Star, previously published in novella format, bridges the gap between Only in Death and Blood Pact. It's a brutal story, told through the delirium of a dying man.

Nik Vincent's Cell gives the reader a look at the harsh reality of everyday survival on a chaos-occupied world, and the dangers of resisting that occupation. In tone and subect it's very similar to Traitor General; brutal, but ending on a note of hope.

Blueblood by Nick Kyme features the Volpone Royal Bluebloods, the aristocratic regiment which played the antagonists to the Tanith 1st in several of the earlier Gaunt's Ghosts novels. It's a straightforward but exciting piece of military science fiction, which does a good job of making the stiff-necked and contemptuous Bluebloods likable.

Sandy Mitchell's A Good Manis an odd piece. It's basically a film-noir pastiche of The Third Man, transposed onto the ruined world of Verghast and featuring an Administratum scribe and an Arbite officer investigating a disappearanc and data fraud. It shouldn't work, but Mitchell is very good at this sort of thing and it proved to be my favourite story of the collection.

The final entry, Of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities, by Dan Abnett, returns to the earliest days of the Gaunt's Ghosts with what could be called an origin story for the Tanith 1st. This was an excellent story, featuring many characters who've since fallen by the wayside and setting up some of the conflicts and relationships we've seen develop throughout the series.

Overall, this is an excellent collection. The stories are all strong pieces, even though the tone and the subject matter vary wildly as each author brings his or her own distinct talents to the task of filling in the gaps of the Sabbat Worlds crusade.

[Hugh Griffiths]

(Disclaimer: I don't know much Warhammer, and I'm aware there's a lot of backstory I'm missing)
Short stories set in one specific campaign in the Warhammer universe.
These read to me mostly as a kind of fanfiction (which I definitely don't mean as an insult) - Warhammer has a huge, complex universe, and these stories seem like individual writers have taken tiny pieces of a huge picture to carve out their own niches. They have features in common, but I like that they each have very different stories and styles. I love too that this style of collaboration means they're not writing about the biggest characters or the main narrative, it's about exploring the side characters and novel angles.
That said, there's a satirical short story Ursula le Guin wrote (which I've entirely forgotten the name of) about an author really wanting a cup of coffee, and writing a story about it by substituting alien names and sci-fi tropes. I feel like that's exactly what's happened here - the military tech is all spaceships and laser weapons, but none of it seems functionally different from guns and melee combat. These stories could easily take place in real settings, and it makes me wonder why they aren't? (That said, the terminology makes is seem like the authors want to be *really* clear that this is a sci-fi setting)

[Derek Weese · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of these stories were good, the different authors picked (how I'm not sure, I''m assuming either BL or Dan Abnett himself asked about) all contributed their own little flavor to the overall 'Daniverse' and the man himself contributed two fantastic stories.
My favorites were Nick Kyme's story about the Volpone Bluebloods, Aaron Dembski-Bowden's tale of the death of Warmaster Slaydo and the final story written by Dan himself. Still, all the others were good. And i didn't honestly know that his wife, Nik Vincent, is an already established author. I liked her story enough that I'm looking to see what else she's written.
If you love the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, and Gaunt's Ghosts or just really good military sci-fi that is very, very, VERY dark and brutal then give this collection a go. I thought it was well worth the time.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Mixed Bag To Tide Fans Over

8 short stories based on the Gaunts Ghosts series, 2 featuring the Ghosts themselves, some strong entries especially the 2 about the Ghosts themselves, as usual strong stories come especially from Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill and Aaron Dembski-Bowden, the weaker stories come from Matthew Farrer and Nik Vincent but these are still 3 star stories themselves, will keep all fans happy until the next instalment comes in.

[Christian]

Awesome Abnett. Bitter-sweet. Best passage: He swipes the sweat off his face. He thinks about trying again, and second chances. Sometimes there just isn't the opportunity or the willingness to make things better. Sometimes you can't simply have another go. You make a choice, and it's a bad one, and you're left with it. No amount of trying again will fix it. Don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you, to cut you slack; you made a mistake you'll have to live with.

[David Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic set of short stories for the 40k fan. A word of caution however for people who have started out reading the Gaunts Ghosts series. Save 'The Iron Star' until you have finished 'Only in death' as there are some major game changing spoilers for anyone who is only 3 or less books in like myself.

[Ben Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have added this anthology to my "read" list but I have only read one short story in it. I am currently reading the Gaunt's Ghosts series and therefore I am only reading the Gaunt's Ghosts stories.

#In the interests of full disclosure.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this series of books is just one big guilty pleasure! Set in the 41st Millennium, the series chronicles a galaxy-encompassing Great Crusade, waged against an assortment of aliens, demons and heretics. Gothic, bloody and great fun!

[Andrey Nalyotov · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has some good, and some mediocre stuff. Highly recommend stories by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Matthew Farrer - two jewels in this anthology. What more surprising - is that Dan's story is the least uninteresting in it

[Patrick Cullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastically ripping read. I especially liked Sandy Mitchell's story, which, in retrospect, is a retelling of Graham Greene's The Third Man. I also enjoyed 'The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings', and 'The Ruins of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities'.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the stories were pretty good....some were a little slow.