Teaser

In the dark reaches of the Galaxy, where human, t’au, and all manner of creatures wage war, there are monsters lurking in the shadows. Monster for which the Imperium has no name. Monsters that wish only to consume . . .

Review

Peter Fehervari’s writing predates the introduction of the (now seemingly defunct) Warhammer Horror range, and even his more recent releases simply bear the traditional Warhammer 40,000 banner rather than anything more horror-specific. That being said, the interwoven saga of the Dark Coil is some of the most horror-driven storytelling the grimdark future has on offer.

What exactly is the Dark Coil? I hear you ask. Well, it’s not a series in the traditional sense. It’s an unholy power. A mystery unwilling to be solved. Above all else, it’s a running motif that Fehervari puts in his novels as he builds his own twisted corner of the Warhammer universe. It’s a way to link otherwise unrelated standalone novels that makes multiple reads more enriching without burdening the reader with the expectation of reading them all. It binds Fehervari’s works together, making them distinct while also adding to the unsettling undercurrents of the setting as a whole.

Fire Caste is a relatively famous book among Black Library fans, possibly because the t’au feature so little in the literature compared to other factions. They’re not the central focus here, but they do play a major role as humans and t’au clash in the foetid jungles of a hostile world. At times, Fire Caste reads like Vietnam war fiction, which is a nice change of pace from the dieselpunk trench warfare seen elsewhere in the canon. It’s a story of monsters, ghosts, and slow descents into madness. It is, in short, the good stuff.

Cult of the Spiral Dawn was a reread for me, having read the book solo way back in the day. This one gets a little more theological, with a remote holy site hiding a dark secret. Instead of the t’au, we have my favourite xenos beasties, the tyranids, who are intimately tied to the Dark Coil. This book does a very good job of showing the creeping horror of a tyranid takeover, and the falling apart of trust that comes alongside it. This is one of those rare horror stories that works just as well when you know how it’s all going to pan out.

I love the idea of the Dark Coil. It’s the exact kind of horrible oddity that Warhammer needs more of. The concepts and story arcs are brilliant. There is, however, one major stumbling block. Fehervari’s prose.

To be absolutely clear, it’s is not bad. It’s actually very good. Fehervari, along with John French is one of those writers who doesn’t just deliver the story as a neat package, but focuses on how the delivery is made. His writing is immaculate, and you can tell the amount of thought and effort that goes into every sentence. Listen, I enjoy Warhammer. I enjoy good prose. And a big enough man to come out and say it. The problem here is not the prose. It’s the reader. It’s me.

Part of this is probably my ongoing battle with lambing brain. But even allowing for that, I just bounce right off Fehervari’s style of storytelling. I can barely process the short stories, which are as vivid in imagery as they are hazy in detail. the longer stories and novels wander through my brain, but nothing takes root and settles down. It just goes in through my eyes and out to somewhere else. My mouth, I assume. I want so badly to enjoy these stories that, on paper, should be right up my alley. But at the end of the day, I have to admit defeat. They’re just not working for me.

It’s with that in mind that I give The Dark Coil Damnation a recommendation in spite of my low rating for it. If you want Warhammer that is dark, twisted, and rich, this is it. I just hope you’re the reader that I’m clearly not.

Book Stats

• An omnibus of Fire Caste, Cult of the Spiral Dawn, and numerous short stories
• This collection first published 2025
• 642 pages