Endurance

Black Library Advent Calendar 2017 #2

by Chris Wraight

Lystra is a hive world, with a population of billions… or at least it was. Now Lystra is a corpse, overrun by the walking dead, with just a small force of Astra Militarum and a handful of Space Marines defending against the numberless horde. Exhausted and an inch away from destruction, they hold against the tide… but things are about to get worse, for the Death Guard have noticed Lystra.

Read it Because
Chris Wraight returns to the Death Guard (the antagonists of his Space Wolves novels) in a tale of Space Marines pushed to their very limits and beyond.

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

21 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 2, 2017

About the author

Chris Wraight is a British author of fantasy and science fiction.

His first novel was published in 2008; since then, he has published books set in the Warhammer Fantasy and Stargate:Atlantis universes, and has upcoming titles in the Warhammer 40K setting.

He is based in the south-west of England.

Reviews

[Urgewyrm · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How could you ever choose Nurgle? It's gross, disgusting, and why would you willing subject yourself to it? It doesn't make any sense."

Read this story. It'll make perfect sense.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the besieged Imperial world of Lystra, the shattered remnants of the defenders continue to battle on against the endless hordes of walking dead. The situation for the Imperials is bleak, even with a scattering of loyal Space Marines bolstering the defences, and that’s before the Death Guard arrive.

It’s not a happy story by any stretch, but in Wraight’s capable hands it’s not so dark as to be too grim and depressing. Deceptively well plotted, it’s an intriguing story in its own right and bodes well for Wraight’s Death Guard series to come.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/12/...

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very abrupt ending.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as part of Black Library Celebration 2019.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but holds promise that Chris Wraight can deliver even if the story is a bit of a jumbled mess.

[Zachary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was good, The point of view change with no indication makes me mad.

[T R Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Endurance is a quite interesting and atmospheric short story about survival. The story has an interesting structure, switching between an Imperial Talon Marine fighting on a plant and a Death Guard warlord on his ship approaching a planet. The story is well written and quite easy to follow, despite the constant switches in perspective, and does a reasonably good job of getting into the heads of the two viewpoint characters. The action is also good and although the reveal at the end was a little predictable, it was relatively well done.

[O C Blanco · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is completely forgettable and ends abruptly. The descriptions and imagery are fantastic though especially if you want some inspiration for painting Nurgle, but with such a gutted plot it cannot manage much more.