Black Library Advent Calendar 2020
Series · 11 books · 2020
Books in series
#1
Last Night at the Resplendent
2020
A Ciaphas Cain short story
A night at the theatre becomes a fight for survival for Commissar Ciaphas Cain as vengeful Genestealer Cultists plot the hero of the Imperium's downfall.
READ IT BECAUSE
There's nothing like a trip to the theatre – and in this story, you'll discover that's as true for Cain as it is anyone else… albeit for some slightly different reasons. A commissar's job is never done.
THE STORY
Early in his long and storied career, Commissar Ciaphas Cain enjoys a (mostly) easy assignment on the world of Keffia. After defeating a Genestealer uprising, he's settled into an easy routine – until trouble rears its head again! Invited to a show at the local playhouse – the ill-named Resplendent – Cain becomes the centre of a final act that involves the dark cellars beneath the theatre and surviving members of the xenos-worshipping cult who want vengeance on the hero who defeated their plans.
#2
The Serpent's Dance
2020
A Horus Heresy short story
A trip to Jupiter's shipyards turns deadly for former Oblivion Knight Amendera Kendel as she seeks out treachery within the Solar system.
READ IT BECAUSE
Return to a beloved character from earlier in the Horus Heresy in a twisting tale that shows the insidious effects of Chaos even on those close to the Throneworld.
THE STORY
Amendera Kendel – once an Oblivion Knight of the Silent Sisterhood, now an agent of Malcador the Sigillite – seeks treacherous souls in the heart of the Solar system. Visiting the Jovian shipyards, she is determined to root out whatever nest of Horus' followers lurks there, awaiting the arrival of the Warmaster's armies. Yet what awaits her will test Kendel to her limits… and beyond.
#3
Da Big Mouf
2020
A Warhammer 40,000 story
The orks on the space hulk Da Big Mouf love a good fight – but they're not prepared for the latest enemies to invade their warp-borne home.
READ IT BECAUSE
Danie Ware's written a lot from the perspective of the Adepta Sororitas. Now you can see how her sisters look from an enemy's point of view.
THE STORY
On the space hulk Da Big Mouf, the Deathskulls reign supreme. Among these bold greenskin lootas, few are as respected as Grimdak – after all, he's one of the biggest AND he has the best shoota. But when invaders board the hulk, Grimdak and his fellow orks find themselves in the fight of their lives. They're facing humies in heavy armour with bolters – but they're not Space Marines. These warriors are something the orks have never seen before… Can Grimdak, his boss, and his boyz survive the holy wrath of the Sisters of Battle?
#4
Buyer Beware
2020
A Kharadron Overlords story
When a Kharadron captain sets out to make a deal with an orruk tribe, danger and treachery await him.
READ IT BECAUSE
A duardin dealing with orruks? That's never going to go well, surely? Find out just what can go wrong in this new story by Gav Thorpe.
THE STORY
After a close encounter with a mighty maw-krusha, the skyvessel Night's Daughter is damaged and in need of repair – but the ship's captain, Karazi ‘Fairgold’ Zaynson, has other matters to attend to first. He needs to make a deal with an orruk tribe that could change his fortunes forever – and aid him in his very personal quest to find the wreck of the fabled Night's Gift. Yet, dealings with greenskins are never as easy as the Kharadron Overlords might hope, and danger awaits Fairgold at every turn.
#5
The Shapers of Scars
2020
A Warhammer 40,000 story
Death awaits Katla Helvintr – but the thread of a Fenrisian jarl is not easily cut, and as Katla dreams, life may yet find a way.
READ IT BECAUSE
Take ship beneath the stormy skies of Fenris with a tale of a warrior-queen from the frozen death world who is every bit as stubborn as the Space Wolves.
THE STORY
Beneath the slate-grey skies of Fenris, a mighty jarl lies dying. She is a huntress queen, who has guided her people for many years, and the time for her thread to be cut is near. As those closest to her prepare for her passing, Katla Helvintr dreams. In her mind, she faces once more the great wyrm that laid her low, and if she loses this battle, her time is done. But Katla Helvintr is powerful, and has a wyrd upon her, and her end may not yet have come…
#6
The Offering
2020
A Cities of Sigmar short story
Every year, the people of Breaker's Vale make an offering to the mysterious Grobbi Blackencap. Prepare to discover what happens if they don't…
READ IT BECAUSE
Andy Clark follows up his magnificently horrific novel Gloomspite with a story that shows some of the sinister goings-on in the dark reaches of the Mortal Realms.
THE STORY
In the distant reaches of Chamon lies the mining town of Breaker's Vale. Every year, the people of the town make a perilous journey into the dark forests to leave an offering for the mysterious Grobbi Blackencap. When one of those who ventures to the Offering Tree this year questions the practice, it falls to the Elder to tell the tale of what happened when once, many years ago, the offering wasn't made…
#7
A Coin for the Carrion Thieves
2020
An Ahriman short story
Seeking supplies deep in the Eye of Terror, Ahriman approaches the mysterious Carrion Thieves in hope of striking a dread bargain.
READ IT BECAUSE
Discover what Ahriman did next after the climactic events of Ahriman: Unchanged in a brand-new tale of the sinister Thousand Sons sorcerer.
THE STORY
After his return to the Planet of the Sorcerers in an attempt to reverse the Rubric which decimated the Thousand Sons, Ahriman retreats to the Eye of Terror to scheme anew. Seeking supplies, he delves deep into the heart of that damned realm and beseeches the sinister Carrion Thieves for aid. Low on. items to trade, Ahriman turns to Ctesias, his former disciple and skilled daemonologist, to provide something for barter… at great cost.
#9
The Dead Hours
2020
A Gotrek Gurnisson short story
When the aelf Maleneth is abducted, Gotrek vows to rescue her – and not all the servants of Nagash will stand in his way…
READ IT BECAUSE
Explore the deepening relationship between Gotrek and Maleneth, and enjoy a rip-roaring saga of vengeance!
THE STORY
In Shyish, the dread realm of Death, all must pay the Bone Tithe… but no one has told Gotrek Gurnisson that. When his aelven companion Maleneth is taken to pay Nagash his due, Gotrek swears to seek her captors and rescue her. Woe betide any – living, dead, or in-between – who dare stand in the path of his wrath.
#10
Assassinorum
Live Wire
2020
An Officio Assassinorum short story
Captivity becomes a chance for vengeance – and redemption – for an Adeptus Mechanicus servant.
READ IT BECAUSE
See a different way in which the agents of the Officio Assassinorum wage their shadow war against the Imperium's myriad foes.
THE STORY
The Adeptus Mechanicus vessel Theorem of Castillus has been captured, and its crew are slowly being turned to darker causes. Engine master Jezette Vaal finds a chance to fight back against her captors when a mysterious agent of the Imperium offers her a weapon, and the opportunity to use it.
#11
His Will
2020
A Dark Imperium prequel story
Deep in the captured Macragge's Honour, a band of the faithful continue their worship of the God-Emperor, sure their salvation is at hand.
READ IT BECAUSE
Frater Mathieu is one of the fascinating characters in Guy Haley's Dark Imperium series. Now, explore his faith in the darkest of times as you see where he came from.
THE STORY
When Roboute Guilliman, the returned primarch, took the long journey from Macragge to Terra, he suffered many losses – including his flagship, the Macragge's Honour. Captured by the piratical Red Corsairs, the vessel suffers – and yet deep within its venerable hull, the faithful hold out hope that Guilliman will return and save them from the renegades. Among them is Frater Mathieu, who knows this will happen soon – for the Emperor has plans for His humble servant…
#12
The Lightning Hall
2020
A Horus Heresy story
On Mars, the scions of shattered House Taranis seek to rebuild, even as the servants of the Dark Mechanicum aim to exterminate them utterly.
READ IT BECAUSE
Graham McNeill returns to Mars in a new tale of life under occupation. Discover how the mighty Imperial Knights continue when their entire world has – literally – been destroyed.
THE STORY
For long years, House Taranis have been first among equals, a Knight Household that makes its home on the holy Red Planet itself. But now, Mars has fallen, and Taranis with it. The surviving scions must regroup and find a way to restore their brotherhood on a world where every soul may be an enemy, and the very technology they rely on can be corrupted. But Taranis will rise again.
Authors
Mike Brooks
Author · 21 books
Mike Brooks was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and moved to Nottingham when he was 18 to go to university. He’s stayed there ever since, and now lives with his wife, two cats, two snakes and a collection of tropical fish. When not working for a homelessness charity he plays guitar and sings in a punk band, watches football (soccer), MMA and nature/science documentaries, goes walking in the Peak District or other areas of splendid scenery, and DJs wherever anyone will tolerate him. And, y’know, writes.
Robert Rath
Author · 6 books
Robert Rath is an author and screenwriter from Honolulu, Hawai'i. As an author, he's known for working with the publisher Black Library, writing fiction set in the worlds of Warhammer. His work for them includes the necrons novel THE INFINITE AND THE DIVINE, the assassins novel ASSASSINORUM: KINGMAKER, the Warhammer Crime novella "Bleedout," and numerous short stories. Since 2018 he's served as Head Writer of the animated YouTube show Extra History, where his scripts have attracted over 150 million views He lives in Hong Kong with his family, amid and a growing pile of models he *swears* are for research.
Andy Clark
Author · 18 books
Andy Clark is a background writer for Games Workshop. Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. Andy^^^^^Clark
Guy Haley
Author · 85 books
Guy Haley is the author of over 40 novels and novellas. His original fiction includes Crash, Champion of Mars, and the Richards and Klein, Dreaming Cities, and the Gates of the World series (as K M McKinley). However, he is best known as a prolific contributor to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint, and has sold over 1 million books set in their Warhammer universes.
Sandy Mitchell
Author · 34 books
Sandy Mitchell is a pseudonym of Alex Stewart, who has been a full-time writer since the mid nineteen eighties. The majority of his work as Sandy has been tie-in fiction for Games Workshop's Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 science fiction lines. The exceptions have been a novelisation of episodes from the high tech thriller series Bugs, for which he also worked as a scriptwriter under his own name, some Warhammer roleplaying game material, and a scattering of short stories and magazine articles. His hobbies include the martial arts of Aikido and Iaido, miniature wargaming, role-playing games, and pottering about on the family allotment. He lives in the North Essex village of Earls Colne, with his wife Judith and daughter Hester.
John French
Author · 65 books
John French is a writer and freelance game designer from Nottingham, England. His novels include the Ahriman series from Black Library, and The Lord of Nightmares trilogy for Fantasy Flight. The rest of his work can be seen scattered through a number of other books, including the New York Times bestselling anthology Age of Darkness. When he is not thinking of ways that dark and corrupting beings could destroy reality and space, John enjoys talking about why it would be a good idea... that and drinking good wine.
