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Gaunt's Ghosts #Anthology
Sabbat Crusade
Sabbat Crusade is a new anthology, edited by Gaunt’s Ghost author Dan Abnett. The stories within take place during the legendary Sabbat War, made famous by the heroic exploits of Commissar Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only.
The First Edition of Sabbat Crusade is presented in a large format premium hardback contained within a camouflaged slipcase with Tanith iconography. The hardback itself features stunning new artwork from award winning artist Raymond Swanland, and the pages of the book are black-edged with a matching satin market ribbon. Inside, the book also features a unique, internal colour section depicting characters from the anthology.
The First Edition of Sabbat Crusade is presented in a large format premium hardback contained within a camouflaged slipcase with Tanith iconography. The hardback itself features stunning new artwork from award winning artist Raymond Swanland, and the pages of the book are black-edged with a matching satin market ribbon. Inside, the book also features a unique, internal colour section depicting characters from the anthology.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published November 7, 2014
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238 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 12, 2018
A very solid military sci-fi anthology and a real must read if you are a fan of Warhammer 4000 and Dan Abnett's Gaunt Ghosts series.
Family by Dan Abnett: 5 stars
At last we have the family reunion everybody was waiting for since Necropolis.
The Blood Bound by Rob Sanders: 3 stars
Iron Snakes Space Marines on the hunt for an old acquaintance from Ghostmaker.
A nice tale, but there were no twists and the ending was just phoned.
You Never Know by Dan Abnett: 5 stars
Another great quiet tale by Abnett set just few days after Salvation's Reach, with a dialogue between a duo of so far different characters, Varl and the looking for redemption "pheguth" Mabbon Etrogaur, hinting for things to come.
Son of Sek by John French: 5 stars
An excellent and disturbing tale about what it means being a chaos warrior.
Tempest by Nick Kyme: 5 stars
An amazing trench warfare tale about 50th Volpone blue bloods used as cannon fodders against Blood Pact troops.
Viduity by Nik Vincent: 5 stars
A grim tale about domestic violence and abuse that is going to have repercussions in the never too soon upcoming novels The Warmaster and Anarch. There is a community of broken women among the Ghosts, and they know how to take care of themselves for good. First time someone else of Abnett writing about Gaunt's Ghosts iconic characters, but Nik Vincent is his wife so it stays in the family.
The Deeper Wounds by David Annandale: 4 stars
After the events of Salvation's Reach, the Blood Pact is at odds with their Sons of Sek allies. But when a Blood Pact Death Brigate is sent to teach them an hard lesson, who is really on the learning side? There will be Blood for the Blood God!
Ghosts and Bad Shadows by Dan Abnett: 5 stars
The dark sequel to "Family", the first tale in this antology, is essentially Abnett's amazing W40K version of "Predator".
Arnogaur by Aron Dembski-Bowden: 5 stars
Blood Pact do not kill Blood Pact... but for Nautakah Arnogaur.
The Inheritor King by Matthew Farrer: 3 stars
A nice novella sequel to Farrer's The Headstone and The Hammerstone Kings in the Sabbat Worlds anthology.
If you are a diehard fan of Adeptus Mechanicus just add 1-2 stars to this review, I really could not empathize with the main character.
The Fissure by Nik Vincent: 3 stars
Another Iron Snakes tale set 500 years before the Sabbat Crusade and prologue to Dan Abnett's A Ghost Return. Well written, but just 3 Space Marines answering to a distress call about a demonic warp infestation in an Imperial underhive was a big meh for me.
A Ghost Return by Dan Abnett: 4 stars
The sequel of the previous story by Abnett is far better, a nice insight about Gaunt's first steps as a Commissar in the Hyrkan Eight and the cherry on top of this anthology. Sadly there are no more fan favourite Ghosts characters here.
June 26, 2017
This anthology bridges the end of Salvation's Reach and the as yet unreleased Warmaster. The same thing happened in the previous short story collection, Sabbat Worlds Anthology. There, Abnett wrote Iron Star to bridge Only in Death and Blood Pact... It was a good story, but it wasn't necessary; it didn't flesh out the plot. That is not the case here! These 3 stories set the tone for Warmaster and are subplots that will continue there... (Maybe even be resolved??)
* Family by Dan Abnett - FINALLY, Gol and Dalin and Yoncy and Tona have the reckoning that every loyal fan has been waiting for since the end of Necropolis!
* You Never Know by Dan Abnett - In Blood Pact, Mabbon turned coat and provided the Imperium w/ the vital details they needed to carry out the operation @ Salvation Reach. Here we see him biding his time and making friends.
* Ghosts and Bad Shadows by Dan Abnett - @ the end of Salvation Reach, we didn't get an explanation of how the Armaduke escaped the Chaos battleship Tormageddon Monstrum Rex. Nevertheless, the ship was perilously low on fuel and ammunition, and it wouldn't be cromulent to be caught w/out either. The ship stops by an Imperial cache thoughtfully buried long ago just for situations like this. That reckoning I mentioned that happens in Family? Savor it, because this shit is gonna go straight fucking tragic when Warmaster hits.
2 other stories continue subplots from Salvation Reach:
* Viduity by Nik Vincent - Big strong men beating on unarmed women is an unsavory picture, but this is 40k; no one has a happy life... but you're out of your goshdarned mind if you think they'll take it lying down.
* The Deeper Wounds by David Annandale - A side goal of the assault on Salvation Reach was to mask the identity of the attackers. If played correctly, the Blood Pact would believe they were attacked by the Sons of Sek... this story shows us how that ruse went.
Husband n wife team up for a couple of prequel tales:
* The Fissure by Nik Vincent - A trio of Iron Snakes answers a distress call. In an ordinary situation, three space marines would be plenty! The author is no newcomer to Warhammer or 40k, but the question remained: does she know how to write space marines? Anyone who's played Dawn of War 2 and fielded a squad not optimized for that mission's boss can answer emphatically: HELL YES. This is a waltz, expertly choreographed, and the beauty comes from knowing that if she can do this, then we are guaranteed more in the future!
* A Ghost Return by Dan Abnett - Before he was promoted to Colonel-Commissar, ordinary Commissar Gaunt and an Imperial Guard squad descended deep underground to answer a call for assistance from some archaeologists. Sounds silly in the middle of a shooting war, but politics is politics. To maximize enjoyment of this anthology, I forced myself to read one story/day. This meant that I wasn't fully aware that these two stories are connected. My heart missed a beat when the reveal came. So good. So, so good.
And there are some other stories from around the Sabbat Worlds:
* The Blood Bound by Rob Sanders - You may not remember Sholen Skara from Ghostmaker, but that's the one where the Tanith First and Only took HIDEOUS losses when the Imperial Navy dropped Imperial Guard into the ocean wholesale. Caff, one of the few survivors of that self-inflicted massacre, captured Skola and kept him alive, insulting Khorne in the process... but that was the beginning, not the end.
* Son of Sek by John French - A Son of Sek tells the story of killing an Imperial Guard hero. A disturbing glimpse into where Chaos' servants come from.
* Tempest by Nick Kyme - Volpone Bluebloods! Loved their story in the Sabbat Worlds anthology, loved the way they started as assholes and slowly came around to seeing things the Ghosts' way. But this time things are going even worse for them than at the haunted promethium refinery!
* Arnogaur by Aron Dembski-Bowden - Blood Pact do not kill Blood Pact. Failure to understand this is fatal.
When I reviewed the Sabbat World Anthology, I mentioned the biggest draws were Abnett's two stories. Sure, for publicity's sake they were the most important stories... but the most memorable was Matthew Farrer's The HeadStone and The Hammerstone Kings, a story about a planet turned into a graveyard by the Heritor Asphodel. The Headstone is a mass carrier coming to pick up the Hammerstone Kings, 4 of the Heritor's feared Woe Machines. 3 were destroyed by Imperial forces in epic, desperate combat, and they suffered incomprehensible losses in the process... but the 4th was never completed before the Heritor had to evacuate the planet. The Headstone's arrival forces the servants of Chaos to accelerate their plans to restart the project... but the Headstone isn't just there to pick up garbage! It's also carrying a passenger...
* The Inheritor King by Matthew Farrer - Secrets lie waiting to be uncovered, and The Mechanicus will be damned if they let some friggin' muggles uncover them first. Where do Chaos-corrupted techpriests come from? The answer is the stuff that machines simply were not meant to know! At the very climax of this story, when all seems lost, the Magos utters 4 words that every IT worker knows oh so well. "Glorious" is the only word that does this story justice.
The book contains a bit of "non-fiction":
* The Sabbat Worlds Crusade, 755-775.M41 by Dan Abnett
* Tactica Imperialis: Lyubov by Dan Abnett - meh on both counts. It's nice to have them here for completion, but it reminded me too much of the sort of context-free history books lambasted in Lies My Teacher Told Me. :-/
Not the strongest finish, but who cares? If you are a fan of the Gaunt's Ghosts series, then you cannot miss this book or you won't be 100% ready for Warmaster... whenever it drops. Hell, pick it up for The Inheritor King if nothing else!
* Family by Dan Abnett - FINALLY, Gol and Dalin and Yoncy and Tona have the reckoning that every loyal fan has been waiting for since the end of Necropolis!
* You Never Know by Dan Abnett - In Blood Pact, Mabbon turned coat and provided the Imperium w/ the vital details they needed to carry out the operation @ Salvation Reach. Here we see him biding his time and making friends.
* Ghosts and Bad Shadows by Dan Abnett - @ the end of Salvation Reach, we didn't get an explanation of how the Armaduke escaped the Chaos battleship Tormageddon Monstrum Rex. Nevertheless, the ship was perilously low on fuel and ammunition, and it wouldn't be cromulent to be caught w/out either. The ship stops by an Imperial cache thoughtfully buried long ago just for situations like this. That reckoning I mentioned that happens in Family? Savor it, because this shit is gonna go straight fucking tragic when Warmaster hits.
2 other stories continue subplots from Salvation Reach:
* Viduity by Nik Vincent - Big strong men beating on unarmed women is an unsavory picture, but this is 40k; no one has a happy life... but you're out of your goshdarned mind if you think they'll take it lying down.
* The Deeper Wounds by David Annandale - A side goal of the assault on Salvation Reach was to mask the identity of the attackers. If played correctly, the Blood Pact would believe they were attacked by the Sons of Sek... this story shows us how that ruse went.
Husband n wife team up for a couple of prequel tales:
* The Fissure by Nik Vincent - A trio of Iron Snakes answers a distress call. In an ordinary situation, three space marines would be plenty! The author is no newcomer to Warhammer or 40k, but the question remained: does she know how to write space marines? Anyone who's played Dawn of War 2 and fielded a squad not optimized for that mission's boss can answer emphatically: HELL YES. This is a waltz, expertly choreographed, and the beauty comes from knowing that if she can do this, then we are guaranteed more in the future!
* A Ghost Return by Dan Abnett - Before he was promoted to Colonel-Commissar, ordinary Commissar Gaunt and an Imperial Guard squad descended deep underground to answer a call for assistance from some archaeologists. Sounds silly in the middle of a shooting war, but politics is politics. To maximize enjoyment of this anthology, I forced myself to read one story/day. This meant that I wasn't fully aware that these two stories are connected. My heart missed a beat when the reveal came. So good. So, so good.
And there are some other stories from around the Sabbat Worlds:
* The Blood Bound by Rob Sanders - You may not remember Sholen Skara from Ghostmaker, but that's the one where the Tanith First and Only took HIDEOUS losses when the Imperial Navy dropped Imperial Guard into the ocean wholesale. Caff, one of the few survivors of that self-inflicted massacre, captured Skola and kept him alive, insulting Khorne in the process... but that was the beginning, not the end.
* Son of Sek by John French - A Son of Sek tells the story of killing an Imperial Guard hero. A disturbing glimpse into where Chaos' servants come from.
* Tempest by Nick Kyme - Volpone Bluebloods! Loved their story in the Sabbat Worlds anthology, loved the way they started as assholes and slowly came around to seeing things the Ghosts' way. But this time things are going even worse for them than at the haunted promethium refinery!
* Arnogaur by Aron Dembski-Bowden - Blood Pact do not kill Blood Pact. Failure to understand this is fatal.
When I reviewed the Sabbat World Anthology, I mentioned the biggest draws were Abnett's two stories. Sure, for publicity's sake they were the most important stories... but the most memorable was Matthew Farrer's The HeadStone and The Hammerstone Kings, a story about a planet turned into a graveyard by the Heritor Asphodel. The Headstone is a mass carrier coming to pick up the Hammerstone Kings, 4 of the Heritor's feared Woe Machines. 3 were destroyed by Imperial forces in epic, desperate combat, and they suffered incomprehensible losses in the process... but the 4th was never completed before the Heritor had to evacuate the planet. The Headstone's arrival forces the servants of Chaos to accelerate their plans to restart the project... but the Headstone isn't just there to pick up garbage! It's also carrying a passenger...
* The Inheritor King by Matthew Farrer - Secrets lie waiting to be uncovered, and The Mechanicus will be damned if they let some friggin' muggles uncover them first. Where do Chaos-corrupted techpriests come from? The answer is the stuff that machines simply were not meant to know! At the very climax of this story, when all seems lost, the Magos utters 4 words that every IT worker knows oh so well. "Glorious" is the only word that does this story justice.
The book contains a bit of "non-fiction":
* The Sabbat Worlds Crusade, 755-775.M41 by Dan Abnett
* Tactica Imperialis: Lyubov by Dan Abnett - meh on both counts. It's nice to have them here for completion, but it reminded me too much of the sort of context-free history books lambasted in Lies My Teacher Told Me. :-/
Not the strongest finish, but who cares? If you are a fan of the Gaunt's Ghosts series, then you cannot miss this book or you won't be 100% ready for Warmaster... whenever it drops. Hell, pick it up for The Inheritor King if nothing else!
March 14, 2019
Short story collections are always tough to review, but by an large I enjoyed this one. I actually find the editors commentary between stories to be some of the more interesting elements.
A couple highlights:
"Viduity" by Nik Vincent was a fantastic addition to the Gaunt's Ghosts line, dealing with messy and complex issues that resonate well beyond just sci-fi romps.
"Bad Shadows" by Abnett himself also struck a chord, but partly cause some of my worst nightmares (like literal, when I'm asleep, nightmares) involve formless malevolent darkness.
A couple highlights:
"Viduity" by Nik Vincent was a fantastic addition to the Gaunt's Ghosts line, dealing with messy and complex issues that resonate well beyond just sci-fi romps.
"Bad Shadows" by Abnett himself also struck a chord, but partly cause some of my worst nightmares (like literal, when I'm asleep, nightmares) involve formless malevolent darkness.
February 5, 2025
Druhý sborník je za mnou a musím říct, že povšechně byl o vlásek ze Sabbatiny hlavy horší než Sabbatiny světy, které jsem četla taky relativně nedávno.
Patrným důvodem tohoto dojmu je roztahaný výkvět Farrerovy mysli, který mě přinutil dobře najetou knihu na několik měsíců odložit, a až s vidinou blízkého konce knihy a závěrečné Abnettovy povídky se zatnutými zuby přece jen na sílu dočíst. Nejsem zcela s to říct, zda Farrer vlastně umí, nebo neumí psát, jako spíš že dovede vyklopit betonem zahuštěný pudink slov, kterým ovšem zaplácl jen příběhové přízemí. Na gradaci do pater mu totiž asi někdo (je to červené a má to skoro tři metry) ukradl projektové plány. Po Farrerem představené druhé části rozjetého dostaveníčka mezi rozdílnými frakcemi Impéria jsem si začala myslet, že když se objeví v hlavní roli Adeptus Mechanicus = napište story o megakchůl inteligentních polostrojích, vždycky to skončí průserem = postavy jsou tak divné a přenegentropizované, až jsou úplně neuchopitelné. (Ano, dívám se na tebe Mechanicum.)
Poměrně překvapivým pro mě byl také opozitní dojem ze dvou povídek jedné autorky (Vdovy x Trhlina). Trochu jde poznat, že Astarťáci nebudou nejsilnější doménou paní Vincent. Ale po zkušenostech s úvodem do 30k patrně ani u jejího manžela (?).
Nicméně, zbylé povídky byly ve většině případů obvyklým krutopřísným nářezem.
Patrným důvodem tohoto dojmu je roztahaný výkvět Farrerovy mysli, který mě přinutil dobře najetou knihu na několik měsíců odložit, a až s vidinou blízkého konce knihy a závěrečné Abnettovy povídky se zatnutými zuby přece jen na sílu dočíst. Nejsem zcela s to říct, zda Farrer vlastně umí, nebo neumí psát, jako spíš že dovede vyklopit betonem zahuštěný pudink slov, kterým ovšem zaplácl jen příběhové přízemí. Na gradaci do pater mu totiž asi někdo (je to červené a má to skoro tři metry) ukradl projektové plány. Po Farrerem představené druhé části rozjetého dostaveníčka mezi rozdílnými frakcemi Impéria jsem si začala myslet, že když se objeví v hlavní roli Adeptus Mechanicus = napište story o megakchůl inteligentních polostrojích, vždycky to skončí průserem = postavy jsou tak divné a přenegentropizované, až jsou úplně neuchopitelné. (Ano, dívám se na tebe Mechanicum.)
Poměrně překvapivým pro mě byl také opozitní dojem ze dvou povídek jedné autorky (Vdovy x Trhlina). Trochu jde poznat, že Astarťáci nebudou nejsilnější doménou paní Vincent. Ale po zkušenostech s úvodem do 30k patrně ani u jejího manžela (?).
Nicméně, zbylé povídky byly ve většině případů obvyklým krutopřísným nářezem.
June 9, 2024
Další sborník povídek z Abnettovy části vesmíru. Několik přímo od Abnetta, zbytek od jeho ženy a dalších autorů, většina solidních, ale už pro zkušenější čtenáře se skvělou pamětí… nebo pro lidi, co jsou ochotní si před každou povídkou googlovat, co jsou postavy zač a co se stalo předtím a potom. Některé povídky jsou komorní a využívají svůj prostor, aby mohly hrdiny zachytit v civilním prostředí, vést normální dialogy či řešit problémy vdov po padlých vojácích Některé si připravují půdu pro další události, některé nás nechávají nahlédnout na tu zlou stranu, která má své úkoly a problémy… a svým způsobem i hrdiny.
Asi nejdelší povídkou je Dědičný král od Matthewa Farrera, kde se dojíždí příběh nakousnutý v předchozím sborníku a který bych asi zařadil do kategorie ryzího cyberpunku. Pro mě to bylo spíš těžší čtení, kterým jsem se dost prokousával, ale rozhodně je téma i zpracování hodně zajímavé.
Mám radši romány, jak se tady skáče v místech, postavách i čase, tak se v tom snadněji ztrácím. Ale sám Abnett o tomhle sborníku mluví jako o „nezbytném“, že má poskytovat zásadní informace nutné před vstupem do poslední trilogie. No, Vojevůdce už u nás vyšel, takže si to budu moct brzo prověřit.
Asi nejdelší povídkou je Dědičný král od Matthewa Farrera, kde se dojíždí příběh nakousnutý v předchozím sborníku a který bych asi zařadil do kategorie ryzího cyberpunku. Pro mě to bylo spíš těžší čtení, kterým jsem se dost prokousával, ale rozhodně je téma i zpracování hodně zajímavé.
Mám radši romány, jak se tady skáče v místech, postavách i čase, tak se v tom snadněji ztrácím. Ale sám Abnett o tomhle sborníku mluví jako o „nezbytném“, že má poskytovat zásadní informace nutné před vstupem do poslední trilogie. No, Vojevůdce už u nás vyšel, takže si to budu moct brzo prověřit.
August 15, 2018
Dan Abnett does not believe that anthologies should be optional so be sure to read this one before Warmaster.
June 29, 2019
I’m sure if I re read all of the gaunt’s ghost stuff and read this in the proper I’d rate it higher. Since I did not, this was a bit of a slog.
January 17, 2023
Quite fun.
December 9, 2023
Short stories about events that happen during the Sabbat Crusade.
April 24, 2025
Great collection of stories
November 23, 2014
From humble beginnings back in the 1990s, there are now eighteen books set within the Sabbat Worlds, a region of space originally invented by Dan Abnett to provide a suitable setting for a story about a Commissar who was also a Colonel, and the ragtag bunch of soldiers he commanded. Look how it's grown! With anticipation as high as ever for Warmaster, the long-awaited next novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series, Black Library are whetting our appetite with Sabbat Crusade, the second anthology of stories set within the wider crusade. Edited once again by Abnett and including stories from eight authors (Abnett included) along with previously out of print background on the crusade, it covers both sides of the story, not only the Ghosts and their Imperial allies but also the forces of the Archenemy at play in the region.
Read the rest of the review at http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/201...
Read the rest of the review at http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/201...
March 25, 2015
An excellent collection of gritty military science fiction pitting the ordinary men and women of the Astra Militarum against the mind numbing horrors of Chaos. I really enjoyed reading about the stories of characters that are vulnerable and more relatable to real life.
Want to read
July 15, 2017Thoroughly enjoyable read. Definitely a must if you've read the rest of the Gaunt's Ghosts series
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews