“Butcher’s Nails” by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Black Library)

A Horus Heresy audio drama

Narrated by: Sean Barrett | Performed by: Rupert Degas, Charlotte Page, Chris Fairbank & David Timson | Music: Simon Slater

The Primarch Angron: gladiator-king and Horus’s lunatic attack dog. Never having hidden his resentment for his brothers, he now carves a bloody swathe through the galaxy in the Warmaster’s name, with the Heresy providing a convenient excuse to indulge his love of brutal warfare. When they are tasked with a secretive mission alongside the Word Bearers Legion, the World Eaters’ violent tendencies soon attract the attention of xenos raiders, troubled by the portents surrounding the primarch’s berserk fury and his ultimate destiny as ‘the Blood God’s son’...

Another great Horus Heresy story, complete with action, introspection and myth-building, this time focusing on the psychotic Primarch of the World Eaters, Angron, and his relationship with his brother Lorgar. This audio-drama is the best production of any I’ve listened to from Black Library thus-far, and I must say I was very impressed with the performances. The story and writing was, of course, top-notch as well.

Artwork: “BLOODSWORN” (Black Library)

Think this is a great piece, by Winona Nelson, for the third book in Nathan Long’s Ulrika the Vampire series (a spin-off from the awesome Gotrek & Felix series):

A particularly aggressive pose for Ulrika, I really like this cover. I really enjoyed the first two novels in the series – Bloodborn and Bloodforged – so I can’t wait to get my hands on this novel! Here’s the synopsis:

Returning to Nuln after her adventures in Praag, Ulrika finds the Lahmian vampires preparing for war. Across the Old World, their rivals, the sinister von Carsteins, attack their strongholds and lead the witch hunters to their hidden lairs. Spurned by her sisters, Ulrika forms an uneasy alliance with the von Carsteins in a plot to destabilise the Empire by striking at its very heart – they plan nothing less than the assassination of Emperor Karl Franz. With enemies on all sides and the Empire in flames, Ulrika must decide whether her future will see her living among the humans, or as their enemy.

Bloodsworn is published in June 2012, a particularly excellent and exciting month for Black Library books, with the release of two other most-anticipated novels of the year (indicated by *):

The Emperor’s Gift* and Butcher’s Nails (Horus Heresy audiobook) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, The Primarchs* edited by Christian Dunn (Horus Heresy anthology), and the second Ultramarines Omnibus by Graham McNeill.