So December is here, and I’m dreaming of a Red Christmas; a new edition of the Warhammer 40,000 Blood Angels codex – the rulebook for the tabletop miniatures game – drops this weekend and the Sons of Sanguinius get a new lease of life.
It’s also the 10th anniversary of my very first Blood Angels story, and thus, what better time to spotlight the fiction I’ve written for the Boys in Crimson over the past few years? The stories below are all available via digital download from Black Library’s website, and you may still be able to chase up the dead-tree editions in bookstores… Click on the covers for order info.
The short tale “Blood Debt” (currently only available in The Book of Blood anthology) is a prequel story setting up the villain of my first Blood Angels novels, the Deus duology, and the books themselves follow the tactical marine Rafen as his chapter falls to a schism masterminded by the forces of Chaos, which threatens civil war. “Redeemed” takes place in the aftermath, as Rafen returns home to the fortress monastery on Baal with a powerful artefact, only to face judgement at the hands of the mighty Astorath, Redeemer of the Lost; that leads into the next two novels, Red Fury and Black Tide, where the hubris of one warrior opens the chapter’s heart to corruption and our hero embarks on a mission against the plans of the mad scientist Fabius Bile. Bloodline is a chapbook that shows the effects of Black Tide‘s shattering conclusion, and my newest Blood Angels tale, “Reflection In Blood“, is set months later as Rafen returns to his sworn duties.
I’ve written other Blood Angel tales beyond the adventures of Brother Rafen as well; “Honours” is the story of a Blood Angel captain and the battle-honours he has won; “The Fury” looks inside the mind of a Blood Angel in the depths of his rage; “Dante: Lord of the Host” and “The Sanguinor: Exemplar of the Host” are vignettes centred around these two key lore characters; and Heart of Rage is an audio drama (also released in short story form) featuring a squad of Blood Angels venturing aboard a Tyranid hive ship on a deadly mission at the behest of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
I’ve also written Blood Angel tales in the Horus Heresy saga – the Bloodline chapbook appears here again as it’s also a ‘crossover’ tale that briefly links the Warhammer 40,000 character of Rafen with the Heresy-era legionary Meros, the hero of my novel Fear To Tread, which details the apocalyptic events of the Battle for Signus. And lastly, “Lost Sons” is a short story that takes place parallel to Fear To Tread, showing events on the Blood Angels homeworld of Baal and the ramifications of the battle.
The Blood Angel stories are among my most popular works and I’m often asked if I have more to come; right now, I’m developing a new narrative for Rafen that I hope to bring to the page in the future; but for now, read on and Praise Sanguinius!
