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Blackstone Fortress #2
Blackstone Fortress: Ascension
Blackstone Fortress Book 2
Stripped of his titles and riches, rogue trader Janus Draik leads a desperate expedition into the Blackstone Fortress in an attempt to restore his fortunes and save Precipice from deadly peril.
READ IT BECAUSE
Get into the heart of Blackstone Fortress and discover the bonds between the explorers in a novel packed with action, intrigue and character drama.
THE STORY
Precipice is dying. For weeks, the space port has been battered by hellish geomagnetic storms, the work of sinister goings-on within the nearby Blackstone Fortress – a vast, ineffable creation that looms in the darkness of the void. Fragile alliances between Precipice’s xenos and human inhabitants crumble as the port’s docking points are destroyed, eroding any hope of escape.
Amid this bedlam, opportunistic rogue trader Janus Draik remains coolly unaffected. As an apocalyptic tempest threatens the life of his crew, Draik bitterly ponders a letter he has received from his father, disowning him and stripping him of his rank, titles and inheritance. In a last-ditch attempt to restore his fortune, Draik unites the disparate adventurers of Precipice to delve even deeper into the mysteries of the Blackstone Fortress. Once there, he learns of a threat that could endanger not just his own future, but the Imperium as a whole. Draik must mend the brittle bonds of trust, loyalty and respect between the survivors to destroy this abominable intelligence and avert disaster.
Stripped of his titles and riches, rogue trader Janus Draik leads a desperate expedition into the Blackstone Fortress in an attempt to restore his fortunes and save Precipice from deadly peril.
READ IT BECAUSE
Get into the heart of Blackstone Fortress and discover the bonds between the explorers in a novel packed with action, intrigue and character drama.
THE STORY
Precipice is dying. For weeks, the space port has been battered by hellish geomagnetic storms, the work of sinister goings-on within the nearby Blackstone Fortress – a vast, ineffable creation that looms in the darkness of the void. Fragile alliances between Precipice’s xenos and human inhabitants crumble as the port’s docking points are destroyed, eroding any hope of escape.
Amid this bedlam, opportunistic rogue trader Janus Draik remains coolly unaffected. As an apocalyptic tempest threatens the life of his crew, Draik bitterly ponders a letter he has received from his father, disowning him and stripping him of his rank, titles and inheritance. In a last-ditch attempt to restore his fortune, Draik unites the disparate adventurers of Precipice to delve even deeper into the mysteries of the Blackstone Fortress. Once there, he learns of a threat that could endanger not just his own future, but the Imperium as a whole. Draik must mend the brittle bonds of trust, loyalty and respect between the survivors to destroy this abominable intelligence and avert disaster.
- Genres40kScience Fiction
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2020
26 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Darius Hinks
108 books129 followersDarius 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 8, 2022
There's not much hope in the grim darkness of the far future. In the 41st millennium, mankind is trapped into a decaying regime that manages to combine the worst aspects of late period Soviet communism (which was real) with medieval theocratic fascism (an entirely modern imagining) while being beset from all quadrants by enemies that really are worse than your worst nightmares. To navigate this universe, some people dive deep into nihilism - and there are 40k writers who will serve that up with complimentary bolters. But for myself I prefer something a little different, a little lighter, a little more, well... hopeful? Hopeful might be stretching the point so perhaps humane would be a better term.
A more humane take on the 41st millennium? It might seem a contradiction in terms, but it is possible. For that, there are few better 40k writers than Darius Hinks. A writer who manifestly cares about the people he puts on the page, he creates characters that are both believable and humane (even when they're aliens) and rather than the endless carnage of eternal warfare looks, in this book, at one of the places where humans and xenos exist in uneasy truce in the face of something greater and more inexplicable than all of them: the Blackstone Fortress. Ascension brings the two-volume saga to an end but if Darius could ever find some way of bringing Janus Draik and his crew back from the places they end up at the finish of the story, I for one would be delighted to read more of their adventures.
A more humane take on the 41st millennium? It might seem a contradiction in terms, but it is possible. For that, there are few better 40k writers than Darius Hinks. A writer who manifestly cares about the people he puts on the page, he creates characters that are both believable and humane (even when they're aliens) and rather than the endless carnage of eternal warfare looks, in this book, at one of the places where humans and xenos exist in uneasy truce in the face of something greater and more inexplicable than all of them: the Blackstone Fortress. Ascension brings the two-volume saga to an end but if Darius could ever find some way of bringing Janus Draik and his crew back from the places they end up at the finish of the story, I for one would be delighted to read more of their adventures.
September 14, 2020
Satisfying end (I assume) to the Blackstone series. First half of the book was your general 40k adventure and followed along with the first book, but the second half it takes a great turn and while a bit predictable I found myself really enjoying.
February 9, 2022
A lovely little WH40K romp. Not the best I've read of the genre, but a solid entry and far better than most.
The ending is a little deus ex machina for my tastes, but that's a personal pet peeve. Otherwise, the story is strong, the characters are interesting and diverse, and the threats are sufficiently monstrous.
Happy I read it, and a strong book to finish the Blackstone series on.
The ending is a little deus ex machina for my tastes, but that's a personal pet peeve. Otherwise, the story is strong, the characters are interesting and diverse, and the threats are sufficiently monstrous.
Happy I read it, and a strong book to finish the Blackstone series on.
May 15, 2022
Good book with plenty of adventure, however the ending left me going *head tilt* “huh”. Presents more questions than it answers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2021
The story of the Blackstone Fortress ends on a cliffhanger very much like the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I have the faint hope this is explained somewhere or the characters show up in a short story or comic book sometime in the future. As far as an end to the product line, a little bit of a headscratcher for me.
October 12, 2022
The third book I read in this series. It was interesting here and there but I did have trouble getting through it at times. Am I happy that I read it? Yes. But was it A Riveting Ride? Not all of it.
That's mainly because the main character has nothing to offer that I find engaging. Draik is a stubborn, dapper, capable space dandy that slowly learns to gain a shred of empathy while transforming into a part of the giant cybership he is navigating through. He's just too flawless! Too boring to find out more about! He becomes less of a jerk? I know thousand of people who are not jerks. It's not that special.
He is however surrounded by characters that liven it up a bit. Characters that make you go. "I dunno about those others but this one's cool. I hope they make it out." There's even some well needed comedy from a pair of greedy prospectors. I could just hear their voices all the way through reading their lines. There are two villains, one who is 'everything is beneath me so everything must die', the kind of villain you seem to know from a thousand other fiction books. The other one gets a little less screen time but she does make for an interesting read because the writer makes for fun illusions. For a second you are thinking "Is this person maybe really The Emperor?". A clever play in the setting of a fortress that plays tricks on you.
Having played the game and its expansions adds a lot to the reading and having read the book adds back to the game. Throughout the book there are dozens of characters that also appear in the game. But here they speak! Here they have hopes and dreams! It makes the book and the game a place that you can imagine. I was very happy to have this weird behemoth star fortress in my head now.
One final thing about 40K books I can never get used to. A cigarette can never be a cigarette in 40K land. Oh no. It's an 'Iho-Stick' and a simple thing you'd call a light is a "lumen". The first time you read it you're just baffled. 'He is putting _what_ in his mouth?" It pushes me out of the dream just a little. But otherwise recommended for people who like the board game!
That's mainly because the main character has nothing to offer that I find engaging. Draik is a stubborn, dapper, capable space dandy that slowly learns to gain a shred of empathy while transforming into a part of the giant cybership he is navigating through. He's just too flawless! Too boring to find out more about! He becomes less of a jerk? I know thousand of people who are not jerks. It's not that special.
He is however surrounded by characters that liven it up a bit. Characters that make you go. "I dunno about those others but this one's cool. I hope they make it out." There's even some well needed comedy from a pair of greedy prospectors. I could just hear their voices all the way through reading their lines. There are two villains, one who is 'everything is beneath me so everything must die', the kind of villain you seem to know from a thousand other fiction books. The other one gets a little less screen time but she does make for an interesting read because the writer makes for fun illusions. For a second you are thinking "Is this person maybe really The Emperor?". A clever play in the setting of a fortress that plays tricks on you.
Having played the game and its expansions adds a lot to the reading and having read the book adds back to the game. Throughout the book there are dozens of characters that also appear in the game. But here they speak! Here they have hopes and dreams! It makes the book and the game a place that you can imagine. I was very happy to have this weird behemoth star fortress in my head now.
One final thing about 40K books I can never get used to. A cigarette can never be a cigarette in 40K land. Oh no. It's an 'Iho-Stick' and a simple thing you'd call a light is a "lumen". The first time you read it you're just baffled. 'He is putting _what_ in his mouth?" It pushes me out of the dream just a little. But otherwise recommended for people who like the board game!
June 25, 2025
Another great 40k SF adventure. It was recommended by the clerk at the WH store. Some fun characters, especially the xenos like Grekh, Rein, and Raus. I'd love to read more about what the Blackstone fortress is, and where it came from. Also, the story seemed to end in the middle of its climax, right on the cusp of galaxy-changing events. Is that it?! I suppose the mystery is part of the charm. As with so many 40k books, this could easily have its own full series, like Eisenhorn, but is just another slice of the darkness.
October 20, 2023
A follow-up and a conclusion, and a little rushed in feeling. Once again, it strays from the main narrative of the board game, and maybe that is why it feels like we're missing a middle part of a trilogy; book one was set-up, and book two the conclusion, and between them the players' own experiences fill in the details.
November 7, 2021
Pretty great look at a corner of the wh40k universe we rarely see. One where imperial citizens and xenos interact in a non conflict story. Great if you're a fan of dungeon crawling.
April 30, 2024
It certainly has some good moments, but is a bit too long with underdeveloped villains.
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May 14, 2024shame about proctors
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews