The Dark Coil: Ascension

by Peter Fehervari

A Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus

On the surface, the galaxy’s finest warriors ward against the dark forces that plague humanity, but emerging cracks are everywhere. Chaos festers within the sprawling web of the Dark Coil, and xenos threats grow ever stronger.

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The Dark Coil continues to wrap its tendrils around the grim darkness of the far future. Peter Fehervari, a master of the horror at the heart of Warhammer 40,000, explores the deepest recesses of both the mind and the stars in a series of seemingly disparate stories that combine into a whole more sinister than the sum of its parts.

THE STORY

In The Reverie, the dark secret of a seemingly glorious Chapter of Space Marines is exposed, while The Crown of Thorns, The Sins of My Brothers, and The Thirteenth Psalm follow as the censured Space Marines seek to atone for their sins.

Nightbleed brings us to the bowels of a hive city where a disgraced medicae and a street preacher find their fates intertwined.

Nightshift Nineteen tells the tale of a cursed hive city maintenance crew plagued by seemingly random misfortunes.

Requiem Infernal and Aria Arcana follow the Adepta Sororitas of the Last Candle, exploring deeply-held secrets as remnants of a decimated Astra Militarum force seek aid.

In The Walker in Fire, a Deathwatch Space Marine of the Salamanders is sent on a mission to find and eradicate a pair of rogue Adeptus Mechanicus agents.

Finally, Nightfall sees young men take part in a ritual they don't truly understand, with the Night Lords waiting in the wings.

CONTENTS

– The Reverie (novel)
– The Crown of Thorns (short story)
– The Sins of My Brothers (short story)
– The Thirteenth Psalm (short story)
– Nightbleed (short story)
– Nightshift Nineteen (short story)
– Requiem Infernal (novel)
– Aria Arcana (short story)
– The Walker in Fire (short story)
– Nightfall (short story)

Written by Peter Fehervari.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Horror

656 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Jeremiah]

Pretty entertaining. This is the second omnibus in the dark coil collection. Neither of them is laid out in the way the author recommends you read them which can be confusing.
Included stories are very good. There is a formula to them though so maybe space out the two omnibuses instead of jumping into the second right after the first.

I read them in the order they appear in each book instead of looking up the author's recommended reading order and didn't feel like I missed out on anything.

[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.
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wow. absolute perfection from beginning to end! to anyone that may read this series in the future i promise you won’t be disappointed!!! my only advice.. take your time. look for the clues and find your truth…

here are my reviews for this omnibus:

Nightbleed (#1): 5/5
- man on man that was dark! this being number 1 in fehervaris reading order, im so excited to see how this whole series plays out! who would have guessed im a horror fan..

The Reverie (#2): PERFECTION/5
- did a seperate review since its a full length novel.

Requiem Infernal (#3): PERFECTION/5
- did a separate review, since it’s a full length novel.

Aria Arcana (#4): 4/5
- again, absolutely amazing! the only reason this isn’t a 5, is because i have a lot of questions and currently no answers!!

Nightfall (#5): 4/5
- for only being a few pages long… that was intense! excited to see how this (hopefully) plays out in future stories.

The Walker in Fire (#6): 4/5
- oh shit!! things are starting to connect.. starting to see the full web of the dark coil.

The Crown of Thorns (#7): 5/5
- two pages!!?! like i said in an earlier review of fehervaris full novels, his talent is so great it only takes a few pages to see that brilliance.

The Sins of My Brothers (#8): PERFECTION/5
- oh my… wow. i audibly gasped at that ending. how tragically beautiful.. wow.

The Thirteenth Psalm (#16): PERFECTION/5
- .. wow.

Nightshift Nineteen (#17): 3/5
- i’m going to deem this one, the second half of a incomplete story. i think you absolutely need to read Nightbleed before this!

[Laurence]

Technically this follows on from The Dark Coil: Damnation, but given the nature of the tales within, where time and space themselves spiral beyind mortal comprehension, I think either could be read as the 'first' book; indeed, the compiled novels and short stories within are not printed in publication order, the interconnectedness of each tale part of the mystery ot be unravelled.

While the other omnibus was a scattering of stories, this one has a tighter focus, centring on a fallen and redeemed and fallen chapter of Space Marines, and the changes wrought on a pair of cursed planets through centuries. The tone remains one of horror, so while we may have superhuman protagonists in power armour with giant guns, they are not the dominating forces the tabletop game may imply: here, everyone is vulnerable to the taint of Chaos.

Really, it's hard to review these books due to the intricacies of the plots and settings, so I'll just leave off by saying that, in my opinion, Fehervari's stories are among the best at depicting the grim doom that suffuses the 40k setting; there are heroes, and victories, but always at a cost, and always knowing that it is merely staving off the inevitable.

[Flowergirl]

This book was very long, but enjoyable. It's been a while since I read Requiem infernal, however it's creepier than I remember, and the creepiest book in this series in enjoyed opinion.
My favourite story was The Reverie, I really like the characters and the story. I liked Satori especially, he was a very morally gray person, but I enjoyed him and his story.
I enjoyed all the connections between the books, it was cool to see characters I learnt about in The Reverie in Requiem infernal. I was also able to follow the stories much easier after reading Dark coil damnation. It made me enjoy to stories a lot more being able to spot all the connection.
Overall the short stories were a bit harder to read as they did not catch my attention as much as the novels. However they were still nice additions and I'm glad I read the book

[Davide Pappalardo]

Once again, we are gifted with a high-quality collection of novels and short stories set in the Dark Coil. This time they are centered more on Astartes and Adepta Sororitas than the Astra Militarum, and the plot is, most of the time, less abstract. But that's not always the case, as the novel The Reverie would attest to. All in all, I think this is top-tier Warhammer 40k material and I hope there will be a third omnibus in the future.

[Jordan]

Different. Extremely 40k but not the post-primaris bolter p*rn that dominates currently. Doesn't apologise for not finishing the strand, instead continuing the story of the dark coil and leaving it open for further expansion.

[Daryl]

I don't think I'll ever find my way out of the Dark Coil.

[Christian Hudgins]

Some primo Wh40k fiction. Very unique takes on the warp and the Chaos gods. The Angels Resplendent are super awesome. Very refreshing.