Death And Duty

by Steve Lyons, Victoria Hayward, Justin Woolley

"No bold act is too small to be without consequence."

An Astra Militarum Anthology

This collection of 12 short stories tells tales of the most humble soldiers of the Astra Militarum. No gene-enhanced warriors or mutant juggernauts here – just brave men and women rising to the challenge of protecting humanity from all enemies within, without, and beyond.

READ IT BECAUSE

Few stories are as relatable and inspiring as those of the Astra Militarum, facing the horrors of the 41st Millennium without the benefit of the finest wargear and power armour. They fight with grit and determination as well as their trusty lasguns and rumbling tanks. They are true heroes of the Imperium, though the galaxy rarely remembers their names.

THE STORY

The true strength of the Emperor’s largest military force lies not in their artillery, trenches, and tanks, but in the courage of the ordinary men and women of the Astra Militarum. Against the countless foes of the Imperium, Guardsmen stand together. They fight to live and die not only for the glory of the God-Emperor, but for their fellow soldier. To survive against the Ruinous Powers and the overwhelming xenos tide, the trust and bravery of daring Catachan jungle fighters, indomitable Cadians, stoic Kriegsmen, and more will be tested to the limits.

CONTENTS

– Less Than Human by Steve Lyons
– Blood Sands by Victoria Hayward
– Hell Fist by Justin Woolley
– The Sum of its Parts by Rhuairidh James
– The Strength of Symbols by Carrie Harris
– The Redoubt by John Sollitto
– Finest Hour by Sam Ryan
– Resounding by Russell Zimmerman
– Those Without Mercy by Callum Davis
– The Last Psyker by Shauna Lawless
– Exterminator by Mike Vincent
– Worm of Valhalla by Tom R Pike

369 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2025

About the author

Steve Lyons is a science fiction writer, best known for writing television tie-ins of Doctor Who for BBC Books, and previously, Virgin. The earliest of these was Conundrum in 1994, and his most recent was 2005's The Stealers of Dreams. He has also written material for Star Trek tie-ins, as well as original work.

Reviews

[Jackson Handley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of reprints.

Worm of Valhalla is the highlight!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death and Duty by various authors (Callum Davis, Carrie Harris, Victoria Hayward, Rhuairidh James, Shauna Lawless, Steve Lyons, Tom R Pike, Sam Ryan, John Sollitto, Mike Vincent, Justin Woolley, and Russell Zimmerman) is about the soldiers of the Astra Militarum, the armed forces of the Imperium of Man, a galaxy-spanning empire, beset on all sides by many different cosmic threats. This collection of short stories explores the life of the guardsman with main characters ranging from average soldiers to regimental commanders to even a tank. My favorite thing about this book is the characters. They all felt like real people and you could understand their decisions even if you don't necessarily agree with their choices. They feel human and fleshed-out and are very enjoyable to read about. The stories can make you invested in the characters in a very short time. The characters grow and change over time with great arcs; including the tank! It was addicting to listen to because I was super invested in the stories. Many stories were connected to each other, but not all. There are several different battles that had stories set in them. Two stories stand out as being emotional, and coincidentally, both of these stories involve tanks. In one story, you get to see a tank from its tragic beginning through the rest of its life and how it affects the people around it. Another story is about a soldier who has been transferred to commanding a tank, and how his relationship develops with the crew. This starts with his growing frustration and even hatred for his position as he tries to get his crew to hate him so that he can get transferred back to his original post. As the story goes on, he begins to see reflections of his own family in the crew. This culminates in him going on an incredibly dangerous, unsanctioned mission to rescue their engineer when she gets kidnapped by Orks (a species of alien.) Although I overall thought this book was amazing, there were a couple of things I didn't like. For example, one of the stories ended on a complete cliffhanger that never got resolved. Also, the quality between the stories varied, although none of them were poorly written. I’d give this 7.5/10 starson average, applying to the whole book. If not for the cliffhanger story, I would give the grouping a 9 out of 10. The ideal reader would already understand and be familiar with the Warhammer 40k universe. There are many terms and concepts and events that would not make sense without this background. This book is best for an enjoyer of character-driven stories. 13+, there is some violence, largely attributed to being in a war zone.
I loved reading this as an audiobook because each short story has a different main character and each one is read by a different narrator. This made it easy to differentiate the characters and stories. It let me get immersed in each unique person. Also, the narrators read different people in specific voices within the story and read with emotion, capturing the feelings great.

[Paul Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of these stories I had read when first released but listening to them on audio actually enhanced a lot of stories