By popular demand, we've gathered up the best sf short stories ever written for the Black Library into one massive volume, and added some brand new tales! Warhammer 40,000 fans will be keen to get their hands on classic stories that have been unavailable for a while, and all readers will enjoy the range and variety on offer in this high-value volume.

    This revised edition contains additional sections on fighting in space and combating the alien tau.

    Step forth the Space Marines, superhuman warriors and the ultimate protectors of humanity. Heroes of the Space Marines is an anthology of stories about these brave champions and their dark counterparts, the Chaos Space Marines.This anthology features an Ultramarines series tie-in by Graham McNeill featuring the Iron Warrior Honsou, a prequel story to the forthcoming Salamander series by Nick Kyme, a tie–in to the new Imperial Fists series by Chris Roberson and all–new Deathwatch and Night Lords stories, setting the stars ablaze with the fury of the Space Marines.ContentsDarren Cox - No FearAaron Dembski-Bowden - One HatePeter Fehervari - NightfallRichard Ford - LabyrinthNick Kyme - Fires of WarGraham McNeill - Skull HarvestDylan Owen - Honour Among FiendsSteve Parker - HeadhuntedChris Roberson - Gauntlet RunGav Thorpe - Renegades

    Into this maelstrom come the Raven Guard 4th Company, the warzone perfectly suited to their lightning-strike methods of combat. Led by Veteran Sergeant Grayvus, their mission is simple - to rescue the planet's last survivors. But in the midst of this nightmare, they receive new orders to locate and destroy a power station. The station is built upon a fault line, and the resulting quake would swallow thousands of tyranids and turn the war in the Imperium's favour. Grayvus and his company must fight their way through genestealers, acid spore mines and a deadly biomorph if they are to succeed and reclaim Idos for the Imperium.

    What manner of daemon or xenos could cause such horror?READ IT BECAUSEIt's a bit of a horror tale and a bit of a mystery as the men of Mordian try to uncover the true cause of the rebellion sweeping an Imperial world.THE STORYThe 114th Mordian Iron Guard, pride of their world, renowned for their heroic actions at the Siege of Defure, are deployed to the mining world of Belmos VII, unaware that a terrible affliction plagues the local populace. As the Guardsmen attempt to track down the source of the corruption, panic spreads and the brave men of Mordian soon find themselves surrounded by enemies, both from within the Belmosian population and from without…

    The World Eaters are leaderless, their primarch missing and their greatest hero, Khârn, in a coma. The surviving World Eaters have turned upon themselves, the Butcher’s Nails driving them to ever greater acts of berserk savagery. Poised on the brink of destruction, the Legion needs a leader. It needs Khârn – but will his awakening save them, or doom them entirely?

    It tells the full story of this pivotal period in the history of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, in which the arch-traitor Horus betrayed Emperor of Mankind. The epic tale is described in one huge tome with exciting text and masses of fantastic art.

    Original.

    Superhuman warriors stand proud in defiance of inhuman foes, laying waste to the relentless hordes of invaders and forces of chaos. In the remains of their enemies, they are triumphant - they are the space marines.Runes • [Space Wolf / Ragnar Blackmane] • (2011) • Chris WraightThe Rewards of Tolerance • (2011) • Gav ThorpeBlack Dawn • (2011) • C. L. WernerThe Long Games at Carcharias • (2011) • Rob SandersHeart of Rage • [Blood Angels] • (2010) • James SwallowBut Dust in the Wind • [Imperial Fists] • (2011) • Jonathan GreenExhumed • [Deathwatch] • (2011) • Steve ParkerPrimary Instinct • (2011) • Sarah CawkwellSacrifice • [Grey Knights • 2.5] • (2011) • Ben Counter

    Original.

    On the battlefields of the far future, only an insane man wouldn’t be. Seventeen years old and still new to the Imperial Guard, he is thrust straight into his first war and must face horrors that his sheltered upbringing could never prepare him for.READ IT BECAUSEIt's a sharp, incisive look at the first hours of war for a new Guardsman, and at all the terrors attendant with that…THE STORYArvin Larn is terrified. On the battlefields of the far future, only an insane man wouldn't be. Seventeen years old and still new to the Imperial Guard, he is thrust straight into his first war and must face horrors that his sheltered upbringing could never prepare him for. The trenches of the 41st millennium are filled with worse things than rats and trenchrot. For one, the world they fight for is being contested by the monstrous barbarian orks. The orks live for battle and know no fear, so it's no wonder that the average life-span of an Imperial Guardsman on this forsaken world is only fifteen hours.

    They dock, repair, rearm and depart in an endless cycle of war. But even in this heart of imperial space, conflict exists. A great religious festival provides the perfect catalyst for civil unrest, political intrigue and murder in the vast Hive cities. Newly arrived Arbites officer, Shira Calpurnia finds herself in the thick of the action when she becomes the target of a series of assassination attempts. Coping with corruption and betrayal from within the ranks of the Arbites, Shira must discover who is trying to kill her before civil unrest turns to all out heresy. Caught in the crossfire, can she survive the intrigues of the ancient and callous aristocracy of this vital naval base?

    His widow and murderer, the Lady Chettamandey, stands to inherit his power and influence. Her plans for ascension are curtailed when she’s drawn into a dark world of ritual killings and cult murders, with planets being dragged into the warp seemingly at a whim, the threat to Chettamandey’s legacy is dire, and only she can avert potential disaster.

    Each of them has a tale to tell of a narrow escape from death. Amid the toll of funerary bells and the creep and click of mortuary-servitors, the truth is confessed. But whose story can be trusted? Whose recollection is warped, even unto themselves? For these are strange stories of the uncanny, the irrational and the spine-chillingly frightening, where horrors abound and the dark depths of the human psyche is unearthed.