The unending legions of the Astra Militarum are the perfect protagonists for a good Black Library novel. They’re present in almost every warzone in the galaxy – one way or another – and offer a uniquely human perspective on the ungodly horrors of the 41st Millennium. There’s an arsenal of new tales to come from Black Library, joined by some returning classics and much-demanded sequels.
To kick things off, we have a big boxed set of Commissar Yarrick stories with a pedigree as fine as the Old Man of Armageddon himself.
Before he became the legend who bested Ghazghkull Thraka on the war-wracked world of Armageddon, Sebastian Yarrick was a fresh-faced commissar beginning his front-line career in Yarrick: Imperial Creed by David Annandale. This classic novel is collated in a regal new collection alongside Yarrick: The Pyres of Armageddon – in which he makes planetfall on the world that will make his name – and Chains of Golgotha and Other Stories. This is your chance to own a complete collection of Yarrick’s most legendary adventures.
The faceless regiments of the Death Korps of Krieg are relentless in their pursuit of victory, and they’ll need to double down on their die-hard determination in The Relentless Dead by Steve Lyons – the next Death Korps novel after Dead Men Walking captured the bleak horror of life in a Krieg trench line.
Colonel Graven of the 401st Krieg Regiment has been tasked with finding a missing inquisitor in an endless warren of bone caverns wracked by Chaos plague, and it doesn’t take long for his kill team to come up against unspeakable horrors that cannot be allowed to see the light of day.
A direct sequel to Steel Tread, Demolisher by Andy Clark is the gripping tale of a Leman Russ crew in the midst of an apocalyptic war. We rejoin Hadeya Etsul and her motley mob of tankers, now dealing with the fame they earned with their success in Operation Jotunn. They’re on a fast-track transfer to the next critical offensive, and this time it may be more than their poor tank can handle. A legendary Lord Commissar must survive the perilous journey to a beleaguered front, but dark forces wait to ambush the convoy when it’s at its most vulnerable.
Alongside the release of Demolisher, Steel Tread will return to the range in a new hardback version to match its sequel, so you can follow our heroes’ story from the beginning.
If you prefer your stories more airborne, and couldn’t get enough of Double Eagle and Interceptor City, a new novel all about an elite squadron of Valkyrie pilots should be right up your alley. Vagabond Squadron by Robbie MacNiven tells the story of the 901st Tactical Wing, a hard-flying and hard-fighting band of pilots thrown into their most dangerous conflict yet, as the looming threat of xenos air superiority threatens to end the defence of Kanai Tertius – a perfect recipe for disaster when a novice aviator is added into the mix.
All four of these books will also be getting their own magnificent Special Editions, for dedicated officers of the Astra Militarum who want the best in their collections. We’ll have more details on these releases later this year
