Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love and affection, and what better way to do that than through stories? The editorial team have handpicked a selection of stories they love to share with you this Valentine’s Day.
Whether you’re single or in a relationship, these stories will evoke emotions of love, joy, and crushing loss that is typical in Warhammer 40,000. From sweet and tender moments between lovers, to the courage it takes to fight for what one loves, these stories are a perfect way to enjoy the spirit of the holiday.
Warhammer stories about love
Her Cold Smile by Jack Van Beynen – There’s a cost to falling in love with someone. There’s that risk of losing yourself, or becoming blind to their follies. When the object of your affection turns out to be tangled up in Chaos, well, there’s a cost to that too. Van Beynen captures the joy of finding someone new, and guts us (figuratively and literally?) when it turns out that love is taken the narrator down a very dark path.
However Small, However Hidden by Colyn DeGraaff & Stephen Rhodes – There’s something primal about the love of a parent for their child. Years before The Last of Us the writing duo of DeGraaff & Rhodes were exploring what this mean in 40k with this audio drama that showcases Connor Daly’s flight through a hive city with his son Jatrus, and a strange child in tow, to escape a Genestealer/Tyranid invasion. For anyone with children, this story will probably pull at your heartstrings in the last act – and the ending is as unforgiving as Warhammer comes.
In Search Of Peace by Vincent Salamone – Love exists on the fringes of 40k, but for the Adepta Sororitas, their entire adoration of the Emperor is based on Zealous love. In this story, Salamone paints the tropes large with Keight’s fanaticism, and what happens when that holy, bigger-than-thou, love is snuffed out. There’s also a burgeoning sisterly (or romantic) love with Graela that leaves some to the imagination in a story poised as the LAST Adepta Sororitas tale ever told.
Silver Dream by Rob Hebblethwaite – Alara was not Demar’s wife, but he loved her with all his heart. Now, she is dead. In Silver Dream readers are treated to a situation not uncommon in our everyday: affairs, longing, and infatuation with someone other than your partner, and what it’s like when that excitement ends. Seething with a truthfulness to the characters and their arguments, the story takes a grimdark-turn when Alara is seemingly returned by the Adeptus Mechanicus – and all the drama that entails.
Yesterday’s News by Daniel Summerbell – Wrapped within the intrigue of a spy thriller, Summerbell’s audio drama features love separated by circumstance. Taking on a new role in the Administratum, Katya stays in touch with her lover through a vox line that highlights the pain (and rift) of loving someone and being in a long distance romance. Adapted into an audio drama, you can read the original story here.
Stories the Editors LOVE
[Ebony’s Pick:] Dead Language by James Mills – What I love about this story is the grim darkness of it all! It is true to the overwhelming oppressive sadness that is life in the imperial guard without skimping on the depth of interpersonal relationships. You will be pulled into the relationship between commander and guardsmen and gut-punched when the twist hits!
[Jack’s Pick:] Di Yu by Joyce Ch’ng – I loved this story because of how close it feels. Written from our main character’s POV as they retell their story, it is a wonderfully chilling view of their descend into madness and fall to Chaos. With tight, evocative prose, it is honestly just a joy to read.
[Joy’s Pick:] The Damned Hound by Joyce Ch’ng – Love is spending your life together, and when it comes to titans, sometimes it’s a bit more than one life as the ghosts of previous princeps are melded in the circuitry of the God-machine. The Damned Hound drew me in with its fractured perspectives that showed a confused mix of personalities reckoning with the betrayal of their current crew. It was my favorite of the bunch from the traitor fast fiction contest, and remains one of my favorite stories I’ve read through Cold Open Stories.
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