Yet as sharks are drawn to blood, so the ravening warbands of the Heretic Astartes circle the planet, warring to claim this rich prize for their Dark Gods. Now, one of those warlords has deployed a secret weapon to end the deadlock. Kassar and his elite band of Alpha Legionnaires, the Unsung, must infiltrate the planet, using all their cunning and warrior skill to overcome the planet's defenders and corrupt the beacon. They need to work fast, for none other than Khârn the Betrayer himself has come to lead the final assault. As a rising tide of apocalyptic warfare consumes Tsadrekha, Kassar and his brothers must race for the prize or be consumed by the fury of the storm.

    Amongst these heroes is Cato Sicarius, Master of the Watch and vaunted captain of Second Company. Disaster befalls Sicarius and his brave warriors as their ship, the Emperor’s Will, is lost to the hellish warp, its entire crew believed slain. But Sicarius endures, though he and his men are fighting for their very survival against the denizens of the Great Rift – the daemons and renegades of Chaos. Cast adrift and war-weary, hope appears too distant to grasp until the storm breaks at last and a strange world beckons. As the captain and a band of his chosen warriors descend to the surface seeking aid, they find an isolated land seemingly from an ancient era, one plagued by a terrible enemy. Sicarius will not see this world suffer, and pledges his warriors to the world’s cause, determined to save it, whatever the cost… But what is the dark secret harboured here, and what will it mean for the Ultramarines if they uncover it?Written by Nick Kyme

    On the Imperial Hive World of Ikara IX, Chaplain Kastor and Apothecary Polixis, brothers in blood as well as in battle, stand firm against the endless Greenskin horde. But a threat is looming. An invasion like no other assaults the broken city of Shebat, as the crazed warlord Urgork arrives to lay waste to the Imperial forces and capture a Primaris Marines for his own twisted ends. As Kastor and Polixis find themselves separated by the disaster that unfolds, the brothers must turn the tide of war to win the battles that rage within their very natures, as well as those upon the battlefield.

    After brutally enslaving the population, they set them to work building a monstrous, kilometres-high tower. What is the Word Bearers' vile purpose, and can they achieve it before the Imperial forces arrive to reclaim the planet?

    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.

    Missing for millennia, the craftworld of Ziasuthra has suddenly reappeared from its sanctuary in the warp, and its denizens wish to make contact. Led by the Spiritseer Iyanna and Yvraine, the Emissary of Ynnead, a small force of craftworld eldar head to Zaisuthra to open negotiations with their brethren. Behind their surface desire to help, however, Iyanna and Yvraine have a stronger motive, they are seeking the final cronesword, which could lie hidden behind ancient web portal on this craftworld. But how co-operative will the mysterious Ziasuthrans prove to be, or do they too have their own agenda?Read it BecauseIt's the first post-Gathering Storm Aeldari novel, and focuses on the new Ynnari faction and their quest to reunite the croneswords and awaken their god.

    Yet, they cannot imagine what lies ahead ...READ IT BECAUSEAaron Dembski-Bowden's first novel, Cadian Blood is a Black Library classic, pitting a force of plucky Guardsmen from Cadia against a zombie apocalypse.THE STORYWhen the Imperial shrine world of Kathur is blighted by Chaos, the brave Guardsmen of Cadia are sent to reclaim it. The plague of Nurgle has set in deeply on the planet, forcing the Cadians into battle with an innumerable legion of the infected. In the midst of battle, Captain Parmenion Thade is thrust into an unlikely commanding role. Yet, he cannot imagine what lies ahead on Kathur, and just how important it will be to ensure victory there.

    But stiff resistance will test him to his limits, and beyond.READ IT BECAUSEPhil Kelly continues his look at the life of Commander Farsight with his first campaign against the full might of the Imperium, and shows how the T'au Empire's technological superiority fares against Imperial grit.THE STORYThe t'au are a mysterious alien race, diametrically opposed to the Imperium of Man in every possible way - in their mastery of technology, methods of warfare and social structure. Yet in galactic terms they are a young race, and naive when it comes to the manipulations of Chaos. When promising young Commander Farsight is promoted to lead a crusade across the Damocles Gulf to reclaim the T'au Empire's lost colonies from mankind, the mood is one of optimism. With their mighty fleet, and superior weapons and machines, how can their endeavour possibly fail? However, despite a parade of early successes, Commander Farsight soon faces enemies he wasn't anticipating, and finds not only his courage but also his soul tested to the very limit.

    Branded traitor since the Heresy, their motives and actions have always been shrouded in mystery. Alpha Legionnaire Occam the Untrue leads his warband out of its hunting grounds in the Maelstrom on an epic quest for salvation, not just for himself, but for his whole Legion. With the forces of the Inquisition snapping at their heels, Occam and his followers must use all their guile and considerable martial prowess as they make their way to the cold heart of the galaxy, to a confrontation that no one, least of all Occam himself, could have foreseen.Read it BecauseIt's a novel about the sneakiest and most oblique of traitors, written by Rob Sanders, master of the twisty-turny tale. It's sure to make your head spin…

    Armies of Chaos march across the Dark Imperium, among them the Death Guard, servants of the Plague God. But shadows of the past haunt these traitors… The Death Guard have returned to prominence with the return of Mortarion and their fabulous model range, and Chris Wraight's previous work with them (in his Space Wolves novels, notably) makes him the perfect person to delve into their particular darkness.The Cadian Gate is broken, and the Imperium is riven in two. The might of the Traitor Legions, kept shackled for millennia behind walls of iron and sorcery, has been unleashed on a darkening galaxy. Among those seeking vengeance on the Corpse Emperor’s faltering realm are the Death Guard, once proud crusaders of the Legiones Astartes, now debased creatures of terror and contagion. Mighty warbands carve bloody paths through the void, answering their lord primarch’s call to war. And yet for all their dread might in arms, there is no escape from the vicious legacies of the past, ones that will pursue them from the ruined daemon-worlds of the Eye of Terror and out into the smouldering wastes of the Imperium Nihilus.

    Where the predations of the alien, the witch and the heretic threaten the Imperium, the Angels of Death fight to oppose them.Brother-Sergeant Allectius wages a brutal war of attrition against a seemingly endless xenos foe. But when the vile necrons unleash a mysterious pall over him and the people he protects, Allectius must take his fight beyond the walls… for more than just victory, now their very survival is at stake.Also included in this book is a host of awesome short stories to give you a flavour of the many warring armies that exist within the worlds of Warhammer 40,000.CONTENTSNexus by Thomas ParrottKraken by Chris WraightRedeemer by Guy HaleyThe Test of Faith by Thomas ParrottThe Darkling Hours by Rachel HarrisonLightning Run by Peter McLeanMissing in Action by Dan AbnettThe Crystal Cathedral by Danie WareTo Speak as One by Guy HaleyWhere Dere's Da Warp Dere's a Way by Mike BrooksRedemption on Dal'yth by Phil KellyVoid Crossed by J C StearnsLight of a Crystal Sun by Josh ReynoldsWar in the Museum by Robert RathHeadhunter by Steve ParkerDuty Unto Death by Marc Collins

    Worlds are falling to madness and rebellion, and the great war machine of the Imperium is moving to counter the threat. Amongst its agents is Inquisitor Covenant. Puritan, psyker, expert swordsman, he reserves an especial hatred for those of his order who would seek to harness the power of Ruin as a weapon. Summoned to an inquisitorial conclave, Covenant believes he has uncovered such a misguided agent and prepares to denounce the heretic Talicto before his fellows. But when the gathering is attacked and many left dead in its wake, Covenant vows to hunt down Talicto and discover the truth behind the mysterious cult apparently at the heart of the massacre, the Unseen. In the murky plot into which he is drawn, Covenant knows only one thing for certain: trust no one.Written by John French.Audiobook running time: 10 hours 14 minutes.Narrated by John Banks.

    Only the Lord of Death himself, Blood Angels Chief Librarian Mephiston, has any hope of discerning the fate of this once pious world. After enacting a powerful blood ritual, Mephiston and an honour guard of his fellow Blood Angels reach the stricken shrine world to find it seized by religious civil war. Each faction fights for dominance of a potent artefact, the Blade Petrific, said to be wrought by the Emperor Himself. Yet there is more at work here than a mere ideological schism, for Mephiston believes Divinatus Prime could offer answers to how he became the Lord of Death, he who resisted the Black Rage, and possibly even a way to end the curse of ‘the Flaw’ in all Blood Angels.Read by Richard Reed.

    Their mission is to locate and retrieve the Fortress of Arrogance, a battle tank that belonged to the legendary Commissar Yarrick, hero of Hades Hive. If Wulfe can keep his mind and men together, and the Imperial forces can retrieve the tank, this will have a huge boost on morale in the Armageddon campaign‚ but are they risking their lives needlessly?

    From the time of his birth in the rad-scarred wastes of Baal Secundus, he was destined for glory and strife. From his apotheosis to Scout, to the hive cities of Armageddon and the alien menace of the Cryptas system, Dante has waged war against all the enemies of the Imperium. He has witnessed the divine, and struggled against the darkness within all sons of Sanguinius. Longer lived than any other Chapter Master, this is his chronicle, his great and storied legend.