Book Review: 25 for 25 part 1

With the recent 25th anniversary of Warhammer 40,000, the Black Library released an anthology called 25 For 25. The ebook has 25 of the best 40k short stories every written (or so they claim).

This week I will be going through this book five stories at a time.

In this first installment, we start out with Pestilence by Dan Abnett. I believe that this story was first published in Deathwing, and then published again in Let the Galaxy Burn. An Imperial Recollector has been sent to the Hospice of Saint Bastian on Symbal Iota to help uncover information that will help fight Uhlren's Pox on Genovingia. To do that he must interview Colonel Fege Ebhoe, a man that has worked on a malady similar to the pox. Unfortunately Ebhoe is not so forthcoming with information, and what he does give, is rather unsettling.

The second story is Wrath of Kharn by William King. This story was first published in Dark Imperium and it tells the take of (oddly enough) Kharn the Betrayer. Kharn and is lovely band of berserkers are assaulting the Temple of Superlative Indulgence which (also oddly enough) is a temple to Slaaneshi. In the temple a daemon of great power tempts Kharn and the berserkers with infinite pleasure. Obviously the daemon doesn't know who he's dealing with!

Sacrifice by Ben Counter is next up. This story was originally published in Victories of the Space Marines (which is still in print by BL). This is a very cool story that goes into detail about the lengths the Imperium goes to to protect the Grey Knights from the forces of Chaos. Let me just say that the title of the story is very apt. 

The forth story is Red Reward. This story was published in the anthology Bringers of Death. This is a story that ties into last Friday's review of Fifteen Hours. It has many of the same characters, and I believe it takes place before the events of Fifteen Hours. The story is about Sergeant Chelkar of the 902nd Vardan Rifles. He has made the mistake of writing a commendation for a man that sector command has deemed a traitor. We find out what this Lieutenant did to deserve the title of traitor, and Sergeant Chelkar's respect.

The last story for today is aptly named The Last Detail by Paul Kearney. This story was published in Legends of the Space Marines (which is also still in print). The Dark Hunters Chapter fought over the world of Perreken, but apparently were tricked to leave the planet while there were still cultists and a singled, gravely wounded battle brother on the planet. The story is about the Brother Avriel and his unlikely companian who try to alert the rest of the Dark Hunters to the dangers that remain on Perreken.

Well that about wraps up this episode. Tomorrow we'll go over the next five stories.