Gaunt and Company

Dan Abnett (editor); Sabbat Worlds (Black Library; 2010; ISBN 978-1-84970-010-8; cover by Stefan Kopinski).

When Dan Abnett ran into some difficulties in finishing his latest novel-length entry into the Warhammer 40,000 series of novels, he worked on this short (well, short compared to the other anthology I am reading in the 'verse!) collection of stories set in the Sabbat Worlds game campaign background. This is also the setting for his Gaunt's Ghosts books (Gaunt and his comrades make two appearances in this book).

While I have been stuck on that other anthology, I'm finding this one an easier (and better read). I suspect that it is partly due to me becoming more familiar with the overall background plus the fact that this anthology was purpose-built rather than trying to incorporate a massive number of short works that appeared in a game magazine. I especially liked the appearances of Abnett (natch), Dembski-Bowden, McNeill and Mitchell in this collection.

Made up of: Introduction (Dan Abnett); Apostle's Creed (Graham McNeill); The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings (Matthew Farrer); Regicide (Aaron Dembski-Bowden); The Iron Star (Dan Abnett); Cell (Nik Vincent); Blueblood (Nick Kyme); A Good Man (Sandy Mitchell); Of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities (Dan Abnett).

Counts as three (03) entries in the 2010 Year in Shorts. Counts as six (06) entries in the 2011 Year in Shorts.