Blackstone Fortress

Blackstone Fortress #1

by Darius Hinks

Blackstone Fortress Book 1

When he discovers a prize that could change the face of the galaxy, disgraced Rogue Trader Janus Draik recruits a team to treasure-seeking misfits to claim it. But danger lurks in the darkness…

READ IT BECAUSE
The full story behind the Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress game is revealed! Join Janus Draik and his crew as they venture into the depths of the fortress and encounter all manner of deadly foes.

THE STORY
There are those in the great expanse of the galaxy that seek profit wherever it is to be found: the deal makers, the opportunists and explorers – the Rogue Traders. Granted power by an ancient charter, sanctioned by the Emperor Himself, these scoundrels, entrepreneurs and adventurers roam the galaxy in search of fortune and glory. None perhaps are as hungry for these twin-vices as Janus Draik. All but disowned by his wealthy family, regarded as a wayward son of ill repute and little potential, Draik knows he must restore his fortunes soon or his misadventures will see him destitute and discarded.

So it is then that when he finds a truly exceptional prize, one that will return him to his deserved station, Draik recruits a crew of fellow treasure seekers and sets them to the task. Draik's obsession is all-consuming, and he will risk everything to obtain his prize and its many secrets, including his life or even that of his crew…

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Military Fiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 2018

About the author

Darius Hinks is an author, writing primarily in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He was born in Birmingham, England, in 1972. He works and lives in Nottinghamshire. Hinks' first novel, Warrior Priest, won the David Gemmel Morningstar award.

Reviews

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a spontaneous purchase. I bought the boardgame that released on Nov 23rd and was so excited for it, that i decided to grab the novel tie-in as well.

And it was totally worth it.

I've only read one or two of Darius Hinks' Black Library novels previously, but he's a solid author with a good feel for characterization. Occasionally the action sequences get a little muddled in their descriptions and metaphors, but it's no where near early-Stephen-King levels of nonsense.

At it's heart, this book is a dungeon crawling adventure, with a lot of roots in classic D&D... but in space. To be fair, that's ALSO what the boardgame is like, which is... kinda why i'm still beyond excited about it... but it was really fun to read about an adventuring party on the fringes of the galaxy, divorced from the greater wars of the 41st millennium, or space marines, or whathaveyou... and really dig into the stories of those the setting would otherwise gloss over. I mean, there's even a seedy tavern that caters to all species, between their ill-fated delves into the local "mysterious dungeon". Brilliant.

There were some twists, there was some action, we got to see a Kroot as A MAIN CHARACTER IN A BOOK! It was super fun.

I hope GW/Black Library decides to release more books about the Blackstone Fortress in the future. Clearly there's a lot of different stories, about a wide range of characters, that could be told here.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off strong with a chilling introduction to a doomed Imperial Guard campaign. Unfortunately, that start was a throwaway with little-to-no bearing on the rest of the story. The space station of Precipice was a great location but I felt the Blackstone Fortress itself was a bit underwhelming. It wasn't eerie like Arthur C Clarke's monolith, nor overly suspenseful like the Alien series, nor did it have the Ralph Steadman/HR Geiger energy that Ian Watson spiced the franchise with in The Inquisition War. I haven't played the game Blackstone Fortress and was hoping that this book would provide some insight behind it, while fleshing out another non-military/war aspect of the 40k setting. Because if there's one thing I've learned from Ian Watson and Dan Abnett it's that the 40k setting has some batshit crazy good scifi/fantasy potential beyond its endless war premise. But there's only a smidgen of that sort of inspiration here and the characters were too wooden to feel invested in a story.

[Winston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flat might be the simplest description. Early-on there are hints of something worth digging into but the occasional disjointed storytelling is just the beginning of an increasingly unimpressive story that comes off like a first draft more than a journey into one of the galaxy's most mysterious super weapons.

The characters are alright but don't develop much and the story is poorly structured. Also the Blackstone Fortress seems incredibly underwhelming for what it's attempting to be sold as. Generally, you probably wouldn't lose anything by ignoring this one.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a 40K fan I was wanting to eventually see books written about the Blackstone Fortresses. Here we go and in truth this was a better book than I was expecting. The characters are from the boardgame and they are fleshed out well here. A Rogue Trader, leading a hodge podge of strange and unique characters into a seedy place to find more help. They come across a pilot on her way to the gaol and a Kroot scout who is a knowledgeable as he is weird. Add a straight up delusional Ecclesiarchy Priest and his flamer toting nutbags and you have a party, friends!
Things go from bad to worse inside the fortress as it seems to know the group is there and it has its own chaos-infested kooks working their fell deeds to thwart the heroes. The battles are nasty and brutal, the side characters are fleshed out well and make you like and hate them, this book just has it all. If you like good science fiction or are a 40k fan like me, this one will be right in your wheelhouse.

Danny

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed dungeon delving in the grim darkness of the far future. The characters are sympathetic, the plot moves very briskly and the setting is charming. I sincerely hope there are more books that support this board game setting. It definitely made me want to buy the game.

[Oliver Pačut · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hinks's ability to hold the reader glued to the page is remarkable, but I feel his talents would better be used for a story set in the intro to this book than in the rest of it - at times, the depictions of the insides of the Fortress felt bland and repetitive, while the characters' reminiscences felt more vivid and well done.

[Tim Van Lipzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a rogue trader, an attaché, a kroot, a pilot, a Navigator, a priest and a zealot walk into a mind-bending alien fortress...

Darius Hinks' Blackstone Fortress is a fun, creative and character-driven journey into a new, refreshingly original sub-setting of Warhammer 40.000.

The group of protagonists is wonderfully idiosyncratic and introduced with aplomb, with every one having their own, personal reasons to venture into the Blackstone beside the obvious allure of riches and fame. The fact that Precipice, the Mos Eisley-esque gathering point for expeditions into the Blackstone, exists beyond the law of the various empires of 40k allows for all sorts of characters that would usually only meet on the battlefield to form loose alliances and explore the Blackstone together, a great opportunity for an author to form creative pairings of characters from all corners of the 40k-universe.

I really liked that Hinks turns what could have been a simple dungeon crawl into something akin to a spirit journey or dream quest for the assorted adventurers, and the Blackstone is at it's most fascinating when it's not attacking the explorers with monsters, but with tricks to the mind, blasts from the past and twists in the fabric of time and space. He strikes a satisfying, well-rounded balance between action-y adventure and weird head-trip, and Hinks deserves special credit for focusing more on the latter than the former. The whole thing reads a lot like a 40k-style 'Roadside Picnic'/'Stalker', which is great.

Hinks is clearly having fun with the physics-bending possibilities of the Blackstone and manages to give the Fortress a distinct character of it's own, setting it apart from familiar elements from other corners of the 40k-cosmos. I also want to applaud him for his restraint for providing easy, definitive answer about the nature and purpose of the Fortress - he manages to keep 'Old Unfathomable' unknowable and mysterious while still offering enticing glimpses and hooks to speculate on what's going on with it.

All in all, I had a great time with this novel and it's ragtag group of protagonists. It definitely made me interested in the Blackstone Fortress-subsetting and stands as a very satisfying novel on it's own. Word on the street is that a sequel by Hinks is coming out in 2020, which I'm now very much looking forward to. Bring on the weirdness, Mr. Hinks!

PS: For those who are wondering, the novel does *not* spoil what's in the final Hidden Chamber Envelope from the Black Fortress Game, so you can enjoy both on their own merit.

[Gordon Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

40k gets back to its RPG roots as a party of specialists is assembled for an inevitably wacky, perilous but sadly charmless adventure. The opening chapters promise much as the team is slowly and entertainingly assembled in a fashion suggestive of a space-romp akin to Firefly or the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Alas, when the adventure proper begins most of the team fade into the background in favour of the stoicism, depressing backstory and daddy issues that we get too much of from just about every Space Marine story. There are fun dungeon-crawler set pieces and the main plot is reasonably interesting, but this has to go down as a missed opportunity to bring something unique and special to the 40k universe.

[Lewis Spears · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun standalone explorer book, find out heaps about Kroot through the character Grekh and there's some brilliant references to small parts of the Warhammer universe.

Explains the role of rogue traders and life on the fringe of the empire.

Once the explorers enter the Blackstone fortress shit starts to get crazy, it's a super fun read that kept me enthralled until the very end to find out what was inside the ascuris vault

[Chris Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Mind Trip

An exciting adventure set in an alien space station. Read it as a tie-in for the board game but was surprised how enjoyable it was. A strange psychedelic tale that has interesting characters, plenty of action and mystery. Recommended.

[Володимир Кузнєцов · Rating 2 out of 5]

Хороше доповнення для тих, хто має однойменну настільну гру, але вважає, що сюжету в ній замало. От тут його як раз достатньо, щоб доповнити (хоча й лише частково) настілку. Але, як самостійний твір - таке собі.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some of this book, but it did feel a bit handwavy and the characters were for the most part bland and poorly developed. A fun sci-fantasy romp with interesting moments that sadly falls short of what it could be.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book because the story stands on its own merits rather than simply because it takes place in the 40k universe. Children looking for pure bolter porn will be dissapointed.

[Brendan Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roadside Picnic plus 40k? Sign me up.

[Adam Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Read!

A great adventure set in a sci-fi dungeon that sets up the board game really well! I definitely recommend this!

[James Wetherill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out with a lot of promise and then massively dragged in the middle.
Abandoned it as there’s just not enough hours in the day

[AA_Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice romp. The Blackstone Fortress is a corner of the 40k universe that I’ve been intrigued by, but haven’t really explored and this has left me with a desire to see more.

If I describe it as ‘silly’ I don’t mean that in a dismissive way- this is a fun book, that while it attempts to cover some more emotionally deep themes, it’s at its best when describing lawless frontier space stations and reality-warping sentient(?) interstellar monoliths.

It could perhaps do with being a little longer, the pacing struck me as a little odd at times and that in turn made some of the characterisations feel a little flat, but unlike many a visitor to the Precipice, it achieves what it set out to do

[Alasdair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one actually surprised me a bit with how enjoyable it was in parts.

[Robotato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to Metro 2033 and other books before, Blackstone Fortress leans a little bit too much on the "grand traveling adventure"-fantasy trope to be entirely to my taste. About half way through I start to feel the slog that with it's detours to reach a more or less predictable end. But the characters and lore are a lot of fun to bring with me into playing the board game, and there were definitely quite a few moments of excitement and suspense along the way.

[Conrad Kinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy addition to the Warhammer stable. I haven’t read Mr. Hinks before, but he’s establishing himself as one to watch. The novel itself is light and pacy. I’m a big fan of the board game and the author manages to weave in a good portion of the narrative from the game into his plot. I was a little disappointed to see that Espern Locarno didn’t get a look in, but perhaps we’ll see him in the sequel?

I hope this is the first of a series.

[JoJo Kirkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My partner's friend lent this book to me. I hardly know anything about Warhammer, so we will see how it goes.

2.5 stars

[Brent Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to say something controversial. I enjoy this collaborative setting for 40k. In a far flung corner of the setting, far from the Inquisitions eyes, we have a collection of races working together to achieve something. Sure, that something is strip mining the majesty out of one of the wonders of a very old universe. It's been decades since we saw this level of cooperation between the races given a narrative focus, and I am here for it.

The main character is a pompous douche but that gives him room to grow, not that he doesn't back up his claims to vanity with actual competency. There's a lot to enjoy here, but I wouldn't say this is indicative of warhammer at large. I think if you enjoy Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5, there might be something you enjoy here..

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Released at the same time as the game of the same name, this isn't so much a novelisation of the game but a standalone tale simply featuring the same setting and characters. As befits a Warhammer Quest game this is a warped, 40k-style dungeon-crawler adventure centred on Janus Draik, the disgraced scion of a noble Terran house. Determined to honour his family name, Draik gathers a motley selection of companions and ventures deep into the Blackstone, but rather than seeking out riches he plans to take control of the Fortress in the Imperium’s name.

On the surface there’s a fairly straightforward plot, as Draik gathers his team and sets off to find a particular location within the Fortress, but there’s more to it than that. After a bleak opening set elsewhere, we see the various characters – not just the protagonists – gradually tied together in unexpected ways, challenged by the mysteries of the Fortress and faced with difficulties both tangible and otherwise. If the pace maybe slows down a little during the slog through the Fortress, for the most part the story rattles along nicely, whether exploring Precipice of the Blackstone itself. Overall there’s an intriguingly different tone to your usual battlefield 40k stories, and if you enjoy a good dungeon crawl then you’re in for an atmospheric, characterful and genuinely fun story.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/12/...

[Curtis Andersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid entry in 40k fiction, this adds a whole new dimension to the board game and some of its characters without actually ruining the mystery of the game itself. A fun, fast read and definity something easy enough to enjoy on the beach or a 4+ hour flight. I felt that the Chaos story thread was a little out of place, but the descriptions of the character's fall to Chaos and the effects it had on the landscape were evocative and engaging.

[Thorkell.O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not familiar with Hinks as an author and thought this was just throwaway stuff from GW hoping to make a few dollar extra off the Blackstone Fortress game. Instead I found this to be one of the most interesting Warhammer books I have ever read (of the 150-200 I've read). This reminded me of Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn books (not as good naturally as those are the absolute peak of WH fiction). If you like the universe for things beyond than space marine war stories, pick this book up.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blackstone Fortress promises to be a dungeon crawl story, but manages to get as lost in that effort as the party is lost inside the monolithic structure. Hinks hits potently at times, but never manages to keep ahold of any of the strong points for any duration. While it is peppered with gleaming moments of potential that will keep one reading along, it lacks a distinctive cohesiveness that could have made this story rather good or even great.

The introduction feels like your typical party building sequence. Assembling a team of strong individual presences who each have their own intentions and backstories. This setup sequence is solid and well done, but takes up a full third of the book.
Once the party actually arrives on the Blackstone, things get trippy and mind bendy for the party and the readers, but never in a good way. They never understand enough of the structure to deliver a sense of direction, purpose, or intention. Instead the party defaults to escaping one problem into another running from one place to yet another hoping they end up where they need to go. Even still this could have been a potent way to rapidly showcase the depth and sheer magnitude of mystery that the Blackstone Fortress represents. To capture the essence of a dungeon crawl... Instead we are shown the same skimpy handful of ideas on repeat and the same scenarios and situations. This is especially grievous when one party member spends a full two chapters repeating the same room in an echo that does nothing new except repeat the sequence.
In typical Warhammer fashion the climax is over and done in a rapid staccato of short punchy chapters and resolutions. This doesn't feel entirely bad, but readers are left feeling like their entrée was underwhelming after 3 courses of the same wilted salad.

The Kroot feels simultaneously like the most interesting and best written part of the book. There are a touch of demonic elements at play that really feel great in the glimpses readers are given. Overall the plot, which is a straight line that masquerades as more, has some contextual and backstory wrapping that feels fairly well done. Interesting, but underwhelming. Quite enjoyable in a spattering of moments.

[James Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Blackstone Fortress sits on the edge of inhabited space. This gigantic space-station was made by an unknown alien race thousands of years before humanity's first civilisation for unknown reasons. Now it lies dormant filled with unknown alien technological treasures. Which is why the scrap station Precipice was built in its vicinity filled with explorers and treasure hunters. But the Blackstone is not an easy place to hunt for it is filled with untold monsters and traps. And is starting to wake up.
Janus Draik is a Rogue Trader who has come to the Blackstone to restore his place in the Imperium by unlocking the secrets of the place. To do so he needs to gather a party and head into the fortress. But the forces of chaos have also taken root in the place and are using it for their own needs.

Ok so this book wasn't quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be a book featuring the initial 9 explorers from the game, maybe with Draik as the main protagonist. Instead we get 5 of them as main characters, 3 doing cameos and one not even mentioned. And we get a bunch of other guys too. And the villains aren't the same either.
But that's not to say its a bad book by any means. Hinks is a good writer and gives us well rounded characters, thrilling action and a plot that keeps you hooked. I was just hoping for a 'book of the movie' which this isn't. In fact I have a suspicion this was written before the game and it's miniatures was finalised.
So over all i'd say this is perfectly solid 40K book but not required reading.

[Michael Da Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blackstone Fortress is a relatively forgettable deep space romp, with just enough artfulness to have it stand above the general morass of bolter-porn that these tie-in novels can be known for.

I was originally going to rate this book 2 stars. Designed as a tie-in with Games Workshop's big box "Blackstone Fortress" board game, it checks all the boxes. Cameos from all the characters, encounters with all the in-box monsters, etc.
While I was enjoying it for what it was, the novelty of going, "Oh cool, that's Character X" wears off relatively quick.

However, I will admit that in the third act of this relatively short novel, things start to pick up. This isn't an alternate or 'canonical' rendition of the board game, but rather a prequel. There are some cool twists and sequences towards the end, and the characters develop enough to a point that I gave it a third star.

It's no "Eisenhorn" trilogy, but it's definitely more interesting than the plethora of "Space Marines Fight" novels in the Black Library.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. It felt more like reading the pilot episode of a 1980s adventure TV show. You get to know the characters, their reasons for wanting to explore the Blackstone, and then you tune in every week for another adventure of exploring the various and changing puzzle-box rooms of the fortress. But at the end of the day you know they'll never actually make any real progress towards their goal, because if they did, then there wouldn't need to be any more episodes and you need to keep the series going. So if you're just tuning in to see our heroes go on an adventure every week, then your characters and their motives need to be incredibly compelling. And I found them to be a little bland. The only interesting character development in the whole book won't even carry over to the next one, for reasons I won't spoil.

[eFTy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I got the game, I thought I may as well read the novel, since unlike the predecessor I'd played (Silver Tower) this one was rather light in lore outside the background rulebook.

The best thing I could say about the book is it has good pacing and decent characters, even a little development and a nice twist at some point. The hole Precipice station is something quite unique in 40k (think grimdark version of 'wretched hive of scum and villainy') but not as well developed as I had hoped. The ending, unfortunately, becomes entirely predictable around the midpoint of the book when you "meet" the villain.

If you have the game, the book is a worthwhile read as it's pretty good at setting up the atmosphere. Otherwise, there are better books set in the 40k universe.