Summer Giveaway #1 & 2: Black Library

So. I’m heading back across the Pond for the rest of 2012 (at least), and that means I’m going through another Replace-With-eBook Clear-Out. And, just like last year, this means I’m going to be running a few giveaways. I would much rather give these books to readers than just dump them on a charity shop or library. I’ll try to keep the giveaways thematic, too: there will be two Black Library ones, one alternate-London selection, and maybe specific fantasy and Sci-Fi giveaways as well. I’ll list 2-3 per week.

To enter, please either email your details to the Civilian Reader address (at the bottom of the page), or leave your name in the comments along with some way of getting in touch with you if possible (Twitter handle or anti-spam-version of an email address, for example). Please state which giveaway you’re interested in, too, although you can say both.

Unfortunately, these will be limited to UK and EU. Sorry about this, it’s just too expensive to ship stuff further afield. I’ll try to run more for North America from September.

To kick things off, here are the two Black Library giveaways:

Ciaphas Cain

Everyone’s favourite Imperial Guard anti-hero, this giveaway is for the latest two volumes in the series by Sandy Mitchell: The Emperor’s Finest (paperback) and The Last Ditch (hardcover).

Warhammer & Warhammer 40,000

A more general selection of recent Black Library releases, all of which I’ve either read and reviewed already, or replaced with eBook editions to read later: Path of the Renegade by Andy Chambers, Phalanx by Ben Counter, The Gotrek & Felix Anthology edited by Christian Dunn, and Luthor Huss by Chris Wraight.

I’ll leave this running until midnight (GMT) on Friday 24th August.

“Age of Legends” edited by Christian Dunn (Black Library)

A collection of dark fantasy fiction

The dark origins of the Warhammer World are soaked in blood. Epic wars between kindred races reshaped continents, vast civilisations rose and fell, the dead walked the earth in legions. This is an age of mighty heroes whose like will never be seen again, such as the mangod Sigmar and Caledor, the Phoenix King of the elves. It is also an era of dread villains like the Witch-King Malekith and Nagash, the Lord of the undead. In these troubled times, dragons still flock the skies and magic exists that can doom or save the world.

It used to be that all Warhammer fiction came in the form of short stories, so it’s nice that Black Library are maintaining output of shorter slices of Warhammer (and WH40k) action and adventure. In Age of Legends, we have ten stories from a number of established masters of the world, as well as some new blood. Overall, this is another great anthology of dark, engaging fantasy fiction, with some particularly enjoyable contributions from newer authors.

Artwork: “Van Horstmann” (Black Library)

Black Library released the artwork for the upcoming Warhammer Heroes novel Van Horstmann today. The novel will be penned by Ben Counter (who’s a very good author), while the stunning artwork is by Cheoljoo Lee. Check it out:

And here’s a close-up of the dragon’s head:

Another awesome piece. Black Library continues their streak of arresting artwork. Can’t wait to read the novel, too. The novel will be released “towards the end of 2012”, with no firm date yet announced.

Taster: “Legends of the Space Marines” (Black Library)

A short-story collection focused on the iconic warriors from the Warhammer 40k universe

This anthologies isn’t out until May 2010, but as one of the short stories is now available as a taster, I thought I’d include it in a mini-review/-preview post. Here’s the only blurb I’ve been able to find for the book:

Space Marines and their evil counterparts, the Traitor Marines, epitomise the war-torn. Warhammer 40,000 universe. This short story collection focuses entirely on these superhuman warrior, telling high-action tales of heroism and savagery. Combining the talents of Black Library’s favourite authors such as Mike Lee and Nick Kyme with hot new talent, this collection is not to be missed

So, here’s the review of the preview story…

“Twelve Wolves”, by Ben Counter

Twelve Wolves is a tale of the Space Wolves – a wild and ferocious legion of the Space Marines. More akin to the Norsemen than the US Marines, the story takes the form of an older member of the legion (not actually a Space Marine, but some other legion member) telling a crowd of younger marines a parable, in the form of the tale of a historical battle – specifically, during the Age of Apostasy, when the Imperial clergy tried to take power for themselves. The Space Wolves’ homeworld of Fenris is under siege, and this is the story of two marines – the elder Daegalan, and the newly-recruited Hrothgar – and their part in the defence of the world and, specifically, the Space Wolf stronghold, the Fang.

I must say I liked the style and format of the story, and Counter’s writing is assured and fluid, and does give the tale the feel of a proper Norse saga (albeit a rather short one). For those familiar with the mythology of the universe, this will be a great, quick read. Counter manages to simultaneously portray the impetuous ferocity of the legion as well as the analytical, strategic elder marine’s more measured approach to combat.

If the rest of the stories in the anthology are as good or better, Legends of the Space Marines should be a pretty decent read. (If it has a story by Dan Abnett, all the better, but I’m not sure that it does.)

You can download Twelve Wolves, for free and in a variety of formats, from Black Library’s website.

[As an aside, I downloaded the ePub version: Never one to pass up the opportunity to discuss them, it would be great if Black Library started releasing their books as eBooks.]