'Warhammer 40K' Book Review: 'No Peace Among Stars'
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Warhammer is well known for its short fiction, be it in the form of audiobooks, fiction posted on Warhammer-Community.com or the short stories found in each faction’s codex (their main source of lore alongside core gameplay rules). A number of short story collections have been released over the years as a result, and No Peace Among Stars is a 2025 release that collects 16 stories of warfare and conflict fought by three of the Imperium of Man’s core subfactions against a diversity of enemies into one collection for reading enjoyment. We think a number of these stories would be part of a good introduction to the world of Warhammer 40K with a mix of hopeful and hopeless endings, but also still resonate with longtime fans who might not have read every story in the collection.
So today, unlike our other reviews, we’ll be running down seven of the stories in No Peace Among Stars, briefly explaining the attached lore, and avoiding major spoilers in the process! There are no hard ratings on these stories, nor this collection, beyond a strong recommendation to pick it up for yourself as a newcomer to the setting, or as a longtime fan looking for some good reading!
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7. “Death’s Toll” - Jon Flindall
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The first story in the collection, “Death’s Toll” presents an excellent snapshot of the Imperium of Man through its varied characters, and a smooth back and forth between two perspectives. One is from a local to the mining planet Dispassion, Marahn, whose family has served the same role hereditarily passed down over centuries. On the other side, you have Caliden and other Space Marines of the Iron Lords (an Iron Hands Successor), who respond to a call for aid after the world falls out of Imperium control and into that of the T’au. The presentation of the Space Marines is blunt, and we also understand the general mindset of the Imperium through the interactions and thoughts of various characters. Here is a struggling world, the weight of a vast hierarchy bearing down on it, and the arrival of aliens offers opportunities for some, but also shows the “threat” to the wider Imperium as their productive worlds are eyed up by other powers. Yet the zeal displayed in defending those worlds is also noted to be an issue, leaving us with a well-rounded story which displays the grim world of 40K.
6. “The Shot That Kills You” - William Crowe
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As something of a contrast to the more brutal tone of “Death’s Toll”, “The Shot That Kills You” shows Space Marines who have a more positive association with humanity, who are also arriving too late to help the inhabitants of the rural planet of Karakopis. The Space Marines in this story are the Raptors, Successors of the Raven Guard, who are well known for their practical approach to warfare and for their longstanding opposition to the T’au. The enemies in this novel, however, are the Drukhari, and readers quickly come to understand these evil sci-fi elves pose to mortals and to Space Marines like the Raptors. The story also addresses more of the Space Marine, if not specifically Raptors’, mindset regarding conflict and nonhuman forms of life, creating a tense, interesting tale on a mist-wracked world.
5. “Imperfect Engines” - Avalon Irons
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One of four stories addressing the Adeptus Mechanicus, “Imperfect Engines” doesn’t focus on a “lifer” when it comes to the Mechanicus. Instead, its subject is Iota-II, a Skitarii (a heavily cybernetic soldier created to serve the Mechanicus) who was a refugee that fled to a Mechanicus-controlled planet, Agripinaa, resulting in their transformation. Robbed of the memories of their past, and expected to serve as just a cog in the machine, Iota-II’s quirks and flaws make them stand out among the other Skitarii. When a signal from a rare piece of technology from the era of the Horus Heresy calls the Mechanicus to a dying world, Iota-II is one of many who must go out and face the challenges offered by the dying surface of the doomed world. This story gives a solid look at the flaws of the Mechanicus, and helps us understand that people are meat for the grinder in this world, something accentuated to grotesque levels among the Mechanicus who praise the machine over the flesh, and do not care to maintain humanity given their faith.
4. “The Guns of Enth” - R. S. Wilt
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“The Guns of Enth” is a fascinating story catching readers up on some past history of the Warhammer galaxy, despite taking place in the Era Indomitus (modern 40K). The characters of focus for this story are all members of the Howling Griffons, a Chapter of Ultramarines heritage noted for their incredibly bright quartered livery, and constant urge to be at the center of the fighting where they can serve as defenders of the Imperium. This story sees them reunite with the Fire Angels (another Ultramarines Successor), both Chapters veterans on the side of the Loyalists during the Badab War, though the meeting is as frosty as the ice planet they are jointly assaulting. Charged with seizing the religiously significant guns of the planet Enth, the story is an exploration about relationships between Space Marines of the same Chapter, and between Chapters, set against a fight against a planetary insurrection. Curiously, despite the Griffons fighting against Tyranids being the book’s cover art, this has nothing to do with Wilt’s short story, so don’t allow it to set any expectations!
3. “Tattershield” - William Crowe
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The first of two stories we’ll highlight with a noted focus on the common soldiery of the Astra Militarum, “Tattershield” follows a unit of elite Cadians, Kasrkin, in desperate odds against a malevolent insurgency on the world of 04-Gavaine. Most of the unit being from Cadia means that they lost their homeworld in one of the most disastrous events in the Warhammer 40K universe, the 13th Black Crusade. Cadia’s destruction paved the way for the expansion of the Eye of Terror into the Great Rift which has cut the galaxy in two, and now the Cadians fight for the survival of their culture as much as they do for the general needs of the Imperium. In “Tattershield” we find people struggling and doubting themselves, in need of respite that will not come, and the story broadly makes the agonies of war for non-Astartes clear to read.
2. ”The Strength of Symbols” - Carrie Harris
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Another story to focus on the everyday soldiers of the Imperium of Man, “The Strength of Symbols” has a surprising central POV character in a newly transferred medicae (medic) to a Cadian-dominated unit on the planet Thrax III though she is not one herself. Despite our main character Cathris Korr having a focus on healing and knowledge of the body, she still gets into the thick of things when she accompanies troops on a recovery mission to save an army banner from Orkish misuse. Korr provides a distinct perspective to all of the other stories in this collection, still a soldier, but due to her job as a medicae, she has different concerns and patterns of thought than others we get perspective on. She seeks to save life, but also knows the burden of delivering the Emperor’s Mercy (mercy killing) in a galaxy ravaged by war.
1. “Tally of Slaughter” - Mark-Anthony Fenech
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Similar to “The Guns of Enth”, Mark Anthony Fenech’s tale in No Peace Among Stars catches up with veterans of the Badab War living in the modern Imperium. Instead of the Howling Griffons though, this story follows the Executioners, an Imperial Fists Successor Chapter focused on using axes and tallying their kills in reverence for their martial strength. Devastated in the Badab War, the story reveals that they are recovering as a result of the introduction of Primaris Marines to the galaxy, but one Executioner has an important vendetta to fulfill on the world of Binyaamem before he can rest easy in this new era. What emerges is a story linked to ongoing events in the wider narratives of Warhammer 40K and it seems clear that this short story is a hopeful tease that the Executioners will cross paths with other big forces currently on the move in said wider narratives.
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Source(s): No Peace Among Stars
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