Up for Pre-Order: Saints and Martyrs

Coming soon: the chance to get your mucky mitts on this fabulous, omnibus collection of three incredible Adepta Sororitas stories, out for the first time in paperback.

In Andy Clark’s Celestine The Living Saint, we see the ultimate Sororitas, the purest beacon of the Emperor’s holiness. Rising from death, time and again, she smites His foes and leads His faithful to victory, all across the galaxy.

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But the horrors that she must face, the terrible realm of suffering and torment that she must defeat, in order to return to life, are a darker side of her story.

In David Annandale’s Ephrael Stern, we pick up the narrative of this classic Warhammer character. Known as Daemonifuge, the Heretic Saint, she becomes trapped in the Imperium Nihilus and loses the Emperor’s light.

Seemingly forsaken, she must prove herself worthy of His grace and thwart the ultimate darkness, and the loss of the Imperium entire.

In The Triumph of Saint Katherine, written by me, I explore how a new Sister becomes a part of this sacred march, how the Sisters of the Triumph work and fight together, the history of the Saint herself and how she still inspires the hearts and faith of her followers.

Coming back to a strongly held personal belief: I’m a huge supporter of the Sisters of Battle having nuance. Such things must be within their Imperial remit, obviously, but they don’t just smack xenos and sing hymns. They’re three-dimensional, they’re human, and they have personalities. They have faults, weaknesses that define their strength, doubts and fears that clarify their faith, and questions that guide their learning. Depths, to bring their stories to life.

I’ve written Sister Augusta, for years, as a woman with humanity, and it’s one of the things that people love (that, and her utterly deadpan sense of humour). The same goes for her squad, every one of them has a personality of her own, and not all of them (Viola) always do what they’re told.

In this Omnibus, then, three stores that really illustrate how I see the Sisters of Battle, and the journeys that they undertake. We discover, with them, that without darkness, there is no light, without pain, no understanding, and without terror, no victory.

Because seriously, what are stories about?

Reading: Just finished Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, which was a pleasantly easy read, but left be a bit confused. I do like a bit of classical history but had some trouble reconciling the ‘lads-down-the-pub’ tone of voice with the setting, and with the fact that you kind of drop into, and out of, the narrative, with absolutely no explanation. It doesn’t start or end, it just is. I don’t know, I did enjoy the read, so maybe it’s just me.

Watching: the cast of Baldur’s Gate on High Rollers on YouTube, playing D&D in character. I’ve never watched other people role-play (nope, not even Critical Role, have never quite seen the point), but this is genuinely wondrous, not just because the actors manifest all the voices and banter from the game, but because they’re just so funny. They obviously all get on, they’re having such a great time, and Neil Newbon’s laugh (not Astarion’s, his own) is just the best thing.

Playing: Still in a gaming lapse. Maybe something will snag me soon!

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