As Within, So Without

The Dark Coil

by Peter Fehervari

A collection of short stories and novellas in Peter Fehervari's "Dark Coil" setting. The collection includes:

- On the Mirrored Path: An Initiate's Guide to the Dark Coil
- Nightfall
- Fire and Ice
- The Crown of Thorns
- The Walker in Fire
- The Greater Evil
- The Thirteenth Psalm
- Aria Arcana
- Nightbleed
- The Sins of My Brothers

Genres: 40k

330 pages, Hardcover

Published October 28, 2023

Reviews

[Chris Comerford · Rating 5 out of 5]

As above, so below.

Reading Peter Fehervari's Dark Coil feels like unwrapping a dark, twisted gift you deeply cherish for having experienced it. Even if one wasn't a traveler well-versed in the intricacies of the Coil and its multiple narrative tendrils - which, at this point, I unquestionably am - each work on its own is layered, beautifully written and potently horrific when it isn't quietly haunting. Nothing is ever simply mortal or psychological horror, but rather an unholy marriage of the two that leaves you simultaneously repulsed and enthralled. Concurrently, the characters subjected to Fehevari's maledictions are doomed, flawed protagonists whose traumas (whether received or inflicted) are compounded by the insidious charms of Chaos or the starborn illuminations of the Genestealer Cults. Put simply, these are stories putting compelling leads into nightmarish settings to watch the abject horror unfold. Within the myriad tales of the 41st millennium, there is nothing quite like a Peter Fehervari story.

So it goes.

The Dark Coil Collection is the first time I've ever splashed out for a limited edition Warhammer novel, let along three of them, because Fehervari's work is special. The unique quality of his horror writing makes each story something to savour whether it's the first or fifth time reading it. Finding Coil easter eggs or discovering tendrils of one story infiltrating another - both tasks made easier by the bulk of the Coil's short stories being in this book - just enhances that quality. These are work with soul imbued in them, even if that soul came from the Warp to gild your nightmares.

I cannot recommend Peter Fehervari's work highly enough as both a Warhammer fan and a horror-sci-fi reader. Whether it's your first step in traveling the Coil or you're retracing the ones you've already taken in it, this Collection is a masterpiece.

As within, so without.

[Max Falcon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being a loosely, or often not connected anthology series, not one story falters. Seeing the variations of the dark coil touch so many different races and conflicts is so interesting, the Angels Resplendent and Penitent a fantastically sad story that ties it all together.