The Dark Coil: Damnation

by Peter Fehervari

A Warhammer 40,000 Anthology

In the strangest corners of the galaxy, disparate factions, cults and empires make war and confront deadly truths in a constant fight for survival… But nothing amongst these stars occurs in a vacuum. Look closer, and see that space and time are malleable concepts, and the touch of the warp is upon the most unexpected places.

READ IT BECAUSE

Peter Fehervari's Dark Coil tales spin an intricate web across the grim darkness of the far future. From the fecund jungles of the Dolorosa Coil, to a shrine world ruled by a mysterious cult with a world-ending secret.

THE STORY

The Coil is a vast tangle of plot threads that extends across space and time, connecting characters, places, and events, often in bizarre ways, with people slipping from one story into another, occasionally via fissures in the skin of reality. The Dark Coil can also be considered an expression of Chaos – a manifestation that has infiltrated our universe via its constituent tendrils.

CONTENTS

The Greater Evil (short story)
Fire Caste (novel)
Out Caste (short story)
A Sanctuary of Wyrms (short story)
Altar of Maws (short story)
Vanguard (short story)
Fire and Ice (short story)
Cast a Hungry Shadow (short story)
Cult of the Spiral Dawn (novel)

Written by Peter Fehervari.

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, 40k, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories

656 pages, Paperback

Published February 11, 2025

Reviews

[Seb Vanbesien]

What a book this was! It was an insane rollercoaster ride within the 40k universe that felt like a descent into madness with a touch of existential/eldritch horror. There are so many levels and ways in which the stories interconnect and have meaning that, even tho I finished reading, I’ll still need some time to process this book. If you are looking for something deep and interesting regardless of the setting, this is your perfect sci-fi cosmic-horror book! Highly recommend!!

[Laurence]

A compilation of two novels, a novella and a few short stories. They are not directly related, but tie together in a less immediately obvious manner, familiar themes and symbols recurring in disparate settings.

For more specifics, in simple terms the tales describe the Imperium's struggles to cope with the outside threat of the T'au Empire and the internal menace of Genestealer Cults, both corrupting in their own way. While these alien forces do have scenes shown from their perspectives, these are largely the stories of the Imperial forces confronting them.

As regards that confrontation, while there are large scale battles that 40k fans will be looking for, the majority of the text is moody investigations, delving more into the heads of our troubled heroes than their bloody bodycounts.

It certainly captures the grim, ultimately doomed hopelessness of the setting.

[Allen Lyle]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Nate]

Very very different, but so good.

Not all pre-Primaris era 40K books still hold up, but this collection certainly does. It creates new characters and worlds with meaningful arcs and development, has great action and suspense, and includes familiar 40K tropes while also making you feel like this could be a novel, stand alone universe.

Body-horror fans will especially love this omnibus, and I look forward to reading the second collection!

[Set Sytes]

I quickly recognised Fehervari as a top tier 40k writer. He is so good at characterising the insidious nature of corruption (Chaos or otherwise...), and putting fascinating, warped spins on the settings, factions and general stories in this universe. That he subtly layers the different stories into each other without them being directly connected is also rewarding for the reader.

The first novel here, Fire Caste (like with everyone else, including the author, I acknowledge it's not a fitting name), was the most impressive part of the omnibus to me. The twisted and feverish jungle/swampworld, the Heart of Darkness feel, the fungal body horror, the humans-and-Tau conflicts mixed with Chaos (and biological) corruption, the Lovecraftian touches, and on top of that the uniqueness of forces clearly inspired by the American Civil War (and before that, conquistadors), was just ideal for me.

If there is any downside to this collection, it's that the ending of many of the stories leave you with so many remaining questions and confusions... But maybe they will find answers - or hints at answers - in yet more stories in the Dark Coil.

Looking forward to reading the second omnibus.

[Jason]

One of the best written 40k stories

Excellent writing compared to some of the more 'bolter-porn' style novels in this universe.

All the stories in this collection tie into one another with many references, recurring characters, mysteries, and horror elements.

The author treats the reader like an adult, and it shows in the mature themes and relatable characters (and their associated flaws) while retaining the 40k action we know and love.

[Vargas, A,]

I loved this little anthology. With two full novels and a fistful of short stories this book gave me my money's worth. Never thought I would care about gene stealer cults or the Tau but here I am, deeply invested. Fun fact, one of the characters from each story will carry into another story. Some more obvious than others, but it was such a treat seeing their stories continue...if only for a little while longer.

[j]

Fire & Ice is still, hands-down, the gem of this anthology: propulsive, contemplative, characterful. I enjoyed Fire Caste, especially because it was in the middle of the book, so for once I was reading a novel without being able to tell how many pages were left.

Towards the end, the stories got a bit same-y, so my attention waned. But overall I do really like Fehervari's voice and style.

[Mike Cripps]

A GOOD 3.

[Jordan]

to preface:
- i am reading the ‘dark coil’ series in fehervaris recommend order. (which can be found online. hoping between two omnibus’ at the same time should be interesting!)
- i will be reviewing ‘full’ novels separately, and reviewing the short stories as a whole in the omnibus’ they are found in.
- with these reviews being in the order fehervari recommend, they differ from the order they are found in the omnibus’. i’ll add a number to them so people can see which way i read them. there is 19 in total.
——————
bravo mr. fehervari!!!! your talent is beyond words.

Greater Evil (#9): 4/5
- now i have to admit. this was a confusing one. i imagine it will pay off (obviously) as i work through these omnibus’. but in terms of actual substance, this was still and always, an excellent fehervari story.

Out Caste (#10): 3/5
- this one was a liiiitle to short to review. but with that ending.. the dark coil web has grown.

A Sancutray of Wyrms (#11): 5/5
- now i’m starting to see why fehervari said this was the recommended reading order. also, i love me some tau.

Altar of Maws (#12): 4/5
- wow that got intense quickly!! excellent horror story. my only ‘negative’ is i’m learning i’m incredibly bad with tau names. so it was hard for me to differentiate some of the characters.

Fire Caste (#13): PERFECTION/5
- did a separate review, since it’s a full length novel.

Vanguard (#14): 4/5
- so personally, this wasn’t one for me. i’m not one for full action stories, however the subtly of this story was very very good! if you look at how the earth caste react to this planet.. it’s quite intriguing. however i needed a little more answers out of the story haha. this is also a very sad conclusion to a lot of the characters in fire caste!

Fire & Ice (#15): PERFECTION/5
- arguably the most important story in the Dark Coil series. and as always, so many questions. and still searching for answers.

Hungry Shadow (#18): 5/5
- fehervari does what he does best. i’ve run out of ways to describe his incredible work, but trust me. this is amazing. as always.

Cult of the Sprial Dawn (#19): 5/5
- did a separate review, since it’s a full length novel.

[Flowergirl]

This was a very long book, that I found rather hard to follow half the time. It was a good read though. My favourite book was Fire Caste, I started out lost and not sure of it, but it grew on me by the end of it. I really enjoyed the character in it, and whole I was slightly confused by the outcome of it, it was fascinating to see the connection to the other parts of the story.
I really enjoyed the first short story as well, it didn't quite prepare me for the rest of the books tones, but I really enjoyed that one.
I loved how much the stories connected to each other, the last story had a character come back that I had liked previously, it was unexpected, but I enjoyed it.
There were many things I didn't expect, every ending felt like it left off with more to come, though it wasn't to much of a surprise by the end, it felt rather normal for it to end like it did by the last book.
Overall it was a long and enjoyable ride, and I might go back and reread some of the stories again in the future.

[Darren]

Reading Peter Fehervari's Warhammer 40,000 books is like partaking in a fever dream of the grimdark world of the 41st millennium. The scenes come in and out of focus like a roughly-painted echo as the characters often blink in-and-out of existence in the deadly universe they temporarily live in. Like dust motes, they shimmer in the light so briefly before disappearing into space that I have a hard time grasping them.

This is not a negative review. It only means his stories, like the ones contained in this compilation, are likely to be revisited in the future. Like watching a movie for the first time just to experience it, only to revisit it and have a better grasp on it to attempt to delve into the mysteries of the details.

[Davide Pappalardo]

I must say this omnibus surprised me; Peter Fehervari elevates the potential for mature psychological horror contained in concepts like Chaos, genestealer cults, and the Warhammer 40k universe as a whole. Granted, his style is quite dense, a lot goes on and most of the time we don't get clear answers (or any answer at all) about the events we witness. As the Dark Coil bends reason, time, and space, the reader finds himself in a fever dream with lovecraftian qualities. This is not "bolter porn" by any means, but the action is not lacking, even if it is not the main element of the story. I can say without problems that Fehervari is among the best writers in the franchise.

[Tarash_bulba]

Awesome omnibus collecting 2 very good novels and a handful of similarly good short stories written by Fehervari in the 40k setting. Two thumbs up!

[Nelson]

From Tau to a genestealer cult, Peter creates a great collection of stories.

at times justifying the brutality of the imperium.