John French
John French is a distinguished author in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, known for compelling storytelling and deep lore.
Contributor Data
Structured Overview of the Contributor Data.
Authored Stories
Browse through all Stories written by this Contributor.

Child of Night
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchIn the dark hive sumps beneath Terra, Chief Librarian Fel Zharost of the Night Lords Legion is being hunted. Having abandoned his insane primarch and brothers many years ago, he doesn't know what he's done wrong, but he's sure he doesn't want to be captured. What will happen when he discovers that his Legion has fallen into heresy? And where will his loyalties lie?
- 7 editions

Black Oculus
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchAfter Fulgrim's ascension to daemonhood at Iydris, Perturabo and his Legion were trapped by the singularity at the heart of the so-called 'Eye of Terror'. Their only option? To thread the needle, and dive into the heart of the black hole. Perhaps by sheer blind luck, they were transported far across the warp to the Tallarn System but the Navigators in service to the Iron Warriors fleet were irreversibly corrupted by that harrowing experience. Now they serve a new purpose, and Perturabo's plans for revenge come closer to fruition...
- 10 editions


The Last Remembrancer
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchIn a secret fortress on the dark side of Titan, Rogal Dorn and Iacton Qruze meet with a prisoner. That prisoner has a tale to tell, of heroes and monsters, of honour and treachery, of life and death. He has stood at the side of the Warmaster himself, and he has a message for the Imperial Fists primarch. But can he be trusted? And can he be allowed to live? Rogal Dorn must decide the fate of the last remembrancer.
- 4 editions

The Eagle's Talon
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchThe ravaged world of Tallarn now plays host to the greatest armoured conflict in the history of mankind, with the bitter and vengeful Iron Warriors leading warhosts of tanks and Titans across the befouled plains. In desperation, a covert team of Imperial Fists resort to seemingly unthinkable measures in order to regain the upper hand, but will their mission to seize the starship Eagle's Talon ensure victory, or merely spell doom for their loyal allies on the surface below?
- 5 editions


Tallarn: Witness
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchAfter a somewhat unexpected Imperial victory against the Iron Warriors upon the dead wastes of Tallarn, the world's new governor-militant Susada Syn takes to the battlefield. With the wreckage of a million tanks and war machines spread across the planetary surface, Syn and his allies in the Space Marine Legions and Imperial Army survey the carnage, and consider the price that they have paid in blood...
- 4 editions

Mortis
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchThe victories of Saturnine and the sacrifices of the Eternity Wall space port have faded into the hope of yesterday. Denied but not defeated, the Traitors intensify their assault on the Imperial Palace. With the principal space ports in Horus’ hands, the Warmaster now drains the heavens of his reserves. As the pressure of the assault increases, the power of Chaos waxes. The waking lives of the defenders are filled with despair, while their dreams pull them in search of a false paradise. As the fabric of the defences fails and the will of those who stand on them cracks, Horus commands the Titans of the Legio Mortis to breach the walls. Against them stands the might of Mercury Wall and the strength of the Legio Ignatum. Ancient rivals, the god-engines of both Legions meet in battle, while within the walls a few desperate individuals seek a way to turn back the tide of the warp’s malign influence. Across Terra, lost warriors and travellers make their way through wastelands and gardens of horror, towards home and an unknown future.
- 5 editions

Tallarn: Siren
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchIn the immediate aftermath of the Iron Warriors' attack, the loyalist forces on Tallarn mount a desperate mission to locate the last surviving astropath on the planet, so that they can send a distress call to the rest of the Imperium.
- 4 editions

Exile
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchAll is dust... Spurned by his former brothers and his father Magnus the Red, Ahriman is a wanderer, a sorcerer of Tzeentch whose actions condemned an entire Legion to an eternity of damnation. Once a vaunted servant of the Thousand Sons, he is now an outcast, a renegade who resides in the Eye of Terror. Ever scheming, he plots his return to power and the destruction of his enemies, an architect of fate and master of the warp.
- 3 editions

The Dead Oracle
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchCtesias, an ancient Space Marine and former prisoner of Amon of the Thousand Sons, tells the tale of one of the events that led him to his destiny. After Amon’s demise, Ctesias comes into the service of Ahriman, the exiled First Captain of the broken Legion, and is given power undreamed of – and drawn into a plot involving the otherworldly daemons of the warp, the machinations of Ahriman and the mysterious dead oracle.
- 5 editions

Unchanged
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchIt has taken many long years and countless sacrifices, but finally Ahriman, former Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, now exile and sorcerer, is ready to attempt the most audacious and daring feat of his long life. His quest for knowledge and power has all been for one purpose, and he would now see that purpose fulfilled. His goal? Nothing less than undoing his greatest failure and reversing the Rubric that damned his Legion…
- 5 editions


Undying
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchAhriman languishes on the threshold of space and time, adrift in a sub-realm of unknowable dimension and aspect. He has found it at long last: the ancient device known to the necrons as the Key of Infinity. This should be his moment of triumph – but he is not the Ahriman he used to be. Betrayed and lost, he is a solitary sorcerer, bereft of allies, standing amongst the smashed and ruined ephemera of his grand designs. With his dreams as dust and his Legion consumed by the fires of the Pyrodomon, Ahriman must fight his way across the shattered remnants of his past if he is to have any hope of saving his future.
- 3 editions

Hounds of Wrath
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchThe starship Fall of Ignorance, a vessel of the sorcerer Ahriman's fleet, is dead, its remains spinning in the void. Ctesias and Sanakht, servants of the Thousand Sons Exile, are sent to discover the cause of its destruction. On board they find a crew ravaged by monstrous daemonic hounds – the Blood God's hunters. Pursued and injured, can Ctesias survive the attention of the Hounds of Wrath?
- 5 editions

Eternal
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchDoom has come upon the Thousand Sons. A plague of fire and dust stalks the Legion across time and space, born from the sorcerous Rubric that saved them from annihilation and damned them for eternity. One by one, the spirits of the Rubricae are vanishing from the prisons of their armour – and one by one, living sorcerers are cursed to take their place. Driven by the obsessive need to save his Legion and find redemption, Ahzek Ahriman seeks the time-altering technology of the forgotten necrons to overwrite his past mistakes. Shadowed by aeldari Harlequins, and with secrets and divisions spreading through his forces, the Arch-Sorcerer must find a new path to salvation – before all becomes dust.
- 3 editions

Hand of Dust
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchOn Prospero, a solitary living soul walks across the shattered world. Beneath the ruined spires, Ahriman, exiled son of Magnus the Red and destroyer of his Legion, contemplates what once was, what is, and what may yet be. And amidst the dust of the long-lost paradise world, the sorcerer faces his mistakes and decides his destiny.
- 5 editions

A Coin for the Carrion Thieves
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchAfter his return to the Planet of the Sorcerers in an attempt to reverse the Rubric which decimated the Thousand Sons, Ahriman retreats to the Eye of Terror to scheme anew. Seeking supplies, he delves deep into the heart of that damned realm and beseeches the sinister Carrion Thieves for aid. Low on items to trade, Ahriman turns to Ctesias, his former disciple and skilled daemonologist, to provide something for barter… at great cost.
- 1 edition

All is Dust
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchTo their foes, Thousand Sons are automata, deadly walking armoured suits who feel no pain or fear. But what is it like to live inside that armour, a spirit divorced from flesh?
- 5 editions

King of Ashes
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchOnce reviled as the most dangerous sorcerer in the galaxy by his brethren, Magnus the Red has endured pain and reformation the likes of which mortals cannot even comprehend. But the Crimson King is broken, and now rules nought but ashes and dust, despite – or perhaps because of? – the best efforts of his sons. Tumbling through personal hells and chased by the echoes of his past, Magnus’ attention falls once more upon Ahriman and the cabal of Thousand Sons who unwittingly brought so much calamity to their Legion.
- 5 editions

The First Prince
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchAhriman is thrust into a deadly conflict with a creature of darkness whose cunning and thirst for power are the equal of his own – the first daemon prince, the dreaded Be’lakor.
- 5 editions

Sorcerer
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchAhriman, greatest sorcerer of the Thousand Sons and architect of the Rubric that laid his Legion low, continues to walk the path towards salvation, or damnation. Searching for a cure for his Legion, he is forced to consider – was the great ritual somehow flawed from the very beginning? The answer may lie within the mysterious artefact known as the Athenaeum of Kalimakus, a grimoire of forgotten knowledge that is reputed to contain the exact words of the lost Book of Magnus... or, perhaps, even a transcription of the primarch’s deepest and most secret thoughts.
- 5 editions

Key of Infinity
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchOn the warship Messenger of Hermes, Ahzek Ahriman and his servant Ignis study a most unusual prisoner – a metal construct containing the consciousness of a member of a long extinct race – the necrontyr. As they interrogate the necron Setekh, he is also learning about them – over and over again as he uses ancient techonology to relive the moment and plot his escape. Will he succeed, or will Ahriman prevail?
- 1 edition

Gates of Ruin
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchAhriman, sorcerer lord of the Thousand Sons, seeks the fabled Gates of Ruin, reportedly a safe way out of the Eye of Terror, far from the eyes of the Imperium. But when he finds the Gates of Ruin, he discovers that he has been drawn into a deadly trap. As daemons attack, Ahriman and his followers must draw on all their power and skill if they are to survive.
- 5 editions



The Maiden of the Dream
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchMylasa Yaygus is an enigma, her origins a mystery even to her master, Covenant. Of all of the inquisitor's acolytes, Mylasa is the least known and arguably the most dangerous. A powerful Primaris psyker, the truth about her past is as byzantine as her abilities. As Ilk, she is a hive-born wretch bound for the Black Ships, as Verrun, she is the daughter of a rich merchant clan... but if these are false memories, who really is Mylasa? She is the Maiden of the Dream, a psychic torturer and manipulator of consummate skill, and amongst her many lives and histories might there be a mote of truth that reveals who she really is?
- 4 editions


The Son of Sorrows
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchKoleg is a killer. A stone-cold slaughterer, he puts his terrifying talents to use in the service of mankind, exercising his murderous abilities on behalf of Inquisitor Covenant. But what past darkness, what horrific deeds, can lead a man to become such a creature and devote his life to dealing death? As he prepares for a new mission, Koleg remembers his past and the events that brought him to where he is now…
- 4 editions

Incarnation
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchDarkness approaches Dominicus Prime, a literal Season of Night that brings with it portents, madness and strange happenings. Standing alone as a beacon against the darkness is the Monastery of the Last Candle, a temple to the holy light of the Emperor. As the bishops and the cardinals vie for power and influence, a crisis looms among the Pilgrim Drift who are starving in their droves. Discord is rife and there are whispers of a rising cult, one committed to blood and horror. Into this political powder keg comes Inquisitor Covenant and his followers. Drawn to the shrineworld by the prescience of the Emperor's Tarot, they come seeking the agents of the Triumverate, a sect of Horusians bent on power themselves. It is the belief of Covenant that these radicals seek an incarnation, nothing less than a divine vessel, a living saint. To what end, he can only surmise, but Covenant knows it cannot bode well. He must deny the Horusians at any cost. The fate of the very sector may be determined by it.
- 5 editions

The Spirit of Cogs
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchTech-Priest Glavius-4-Rho is in the service of Inquisitor Covenant – but he wasn't always so. Long ago, he was a member of the Martian priesthood assigned to a secret project – awakening a machine beneath the forge world of Zhao-Arkkad. With a pair of odd companions, he discovers the secret of the device… and that it is so immeasurably ancient that it may be haunted by ghosts beyond the logical understanding of any tech-priest.
- 4 editions

The Absolution of Swords
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchHeresy lurks within the Ecclesiarchy world of Dominicus Prime. In the sprawling temples and cloisters of the Crow Complex, once-pious priests have turned from the Emperor's light and embraced the darkness of the Tenth Path. But no longer, for Inquisitor Covenant and his hand-picked retinue of warriors, rogues and savants – heroes all – have come to cleanse Dominicus Prime of the taint that infects it. But as they enter the sprawling complex in search of the leaders of the insidious cult, danger closes in around them…
- 4 editions

Truth and Dreams
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchAs an agent of the Throne, former soldier Ianthe serves Inquisitor Covenant and faces some of the most dangerous and insidious threats the galaxy has to offer. On the hunt for the rogue psyker Silas Norn, Ianthe and her associates run afoul of the Imperial authorities and are imprisoned. Norn too is captured and incarcerated, but with the ability to manipulate the minds of his victims he is far from easy quarry. To stop him, Ianthe must not only find him, she must overcome the buried ghosts of her hidden past.
- 1 edition

Ashes and Oaths
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchSubterfuge and compromise walk hand-in-hand for an agent of the Throne. On the blighted world of Dustcorn, an assault on an Inquisitorial target goes badly awry forcing Ianthe and her associates into a pact with an unscrupulous ally, the mysterious Zand. With her mission in tatters, Ianthe has little choice but to agree to Zand’s terms, the assassination of a perfidious traitor. But nothing is simple where Zand is concerned and Ianthe soon finds herself in a situation that will have far-reaching consequences for her and her team.
- 1 edition


Resurrection
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchWar rages in the Caradryad Sector. Worlds are falling to madness and rebellion, and the great war machine of the Imperium is moving to counter the threat. Amongst its agents is Inquisitor Covenant. Puritan, psyker, expert swordsman, he reserves an especial hatred for those of his order who would seek to harness the power of Ruin as a weapon. Summoned to an inquisitorial conclave, Covenant believes he has uncovered such a misguided agent and prepares to denounce the heretic Talicto before his fellows. But when the gathering is attacked and many left dead in its wake, Covenant vows to hunt down Talicto and discover the truth behind the mysterious cult apparently at the heart of the massacre, the Unseen. In the murky plot into which he is drawn, Covenant knows only one thing for certain: trust no one.
- 5 editions

The Mistress of Threads
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchAmong the companions of Inquisitor Covenant are scions of the famed von Castellan dynasty, a mercantile clan with links to many other such families throughout the Imperium. When a member of one such family reaches out to Viola von Castellan with a tale of woe that began with the dawning of the Great Rift, an investigation begins into the mysterious Cytos Cartel, an organisation that has wormed its way into the heart of the Imperium – but to what sinister purpose?
- 4 editions


Blood and Lies
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchFor Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.
- 1 edition

The Purity of Ignorance
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchWhile the Space Marines and the Imperial Guard fight the myriad alien enemies that seek to overwhelm mankind, the Inquisition pursues a different kind of war. For theirs is a war fought in the dark places of man’s soul – a battle against the corruption of Chaos, a battle for the survival of humanity. Inquisitor Covenant must hunt down the daemon at the heart of a planetary conspiracy, but how high a price will he and his team pay to defeat the evil, and are they even aware what the cost of success will be?
- 4 editions

Dark Compliance
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchFor more than two hundred years, the armies of the Emperor of Mankind fought to reconquer the galaxy – led by the superhuman primarchs, the Space Marine Legions brought countless worlds back under the rule of ancient Terra. Now Horus, once honoured Warmaster and favoured son of the Emperor, has been corrupted by the whispered promises of Chaos. At his command the Imperium is torn apart by a terrible and bloody civil war, the likes of which the galaxy has never seen... As Horus’s rebellion gains momentum, more and more worlds flock to his banner. For some, it is through fear of annihilation; for others, it is out of malicious desire. Any that consider resistance are given one chance to swear fealty. To do anything other is to court disaster and worse. Accazzar-Beta is one such defier, but in bringing this heavily-fortified Mechanicum world to heel, just how far is the Warmaster willing to go and what truly is the meaning of a dark compliance? As two fleets engage across the gulf of the void, Accazzar-Beta will find out.
- 4 editions

Slaves to Darkness
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchAfter a long and gruelling conflict, the traitors at last close upon Terra. But time is dwindling for an attack. Both Guilliman and the Lion are returning with all haste, and their armies could turn the tide. The hosts of the Warmaster must unite, for only then can they attack the Throneworld itself. While Mortarion is sent on ahead as the fleet’s vanguard, it falls to Lorgar and Perturabo to marshal Fulgrim and Angron, both now elevated to daemonhood and perhaps beyond even the will of the Warmaster to command. But Horus lies wounded and as the greatest battle the galaxy has ever know looms, it is up to Maloghurst to hold his fractious Legion together and to wrench Horus himself from the edge of oblivion.
- 3 editions

Grey Angel
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchOn a distant world of the Imperium, an agent of Rogal Dorn finds himself the prisoner of a Legion whose loyalties may be divided. Shackled and bound, the former Luna Wolf must fight a battle of wits with his captor, lest the course of the Horus Heresy take an unexpected turn. Will his very presence drive his erstwhile allies into the arms of the Warmaster or will maintaining the status quo prevent another Legion from turning traitor? And just who is the mysterious Space Marine aiding him from the shadows?
- 5 editions

Templar
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchOn the doorstep of Holy Terra, the shadow of treachery still lurks. Upon a comet-shrine dedicated to the glory of Unity, a group of heretic Word Bearers prepare to return to the Solar System after being abandoned by their brethren - only the forces commanded by Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists, stand between the traitors and their goal. But will the legendary Templar's skill at arms be enough to prevail over this new enemy, or will the doubt in his heart prove ultimately to be his undoing?
- 5 editions

Now Peals Midnight
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchMidnight is coming. For long years, the defenders of Terra have stood sentinel, awaiting the inevitable: the coming of the Warmaster, the traitor Horus and his horde. For Rogal Dorn, his brother primarchs and his loyal sons – among the billions of others awaiting the breaking of the storm – the wait is almost over. The sun is setting and night falling. And the enemy comes.
- 4 editions

Tallarn: Executioner
by John French
NovellaJohn FrenchAs one of the many staging grounds for the forces serving in the Great Crusade, the verdant world of Tallarn has long served as a transfer point for the personnel and war machines of the Imperial Army. Now, destroyed by a deadly virus-bomb attack launched by the battered Iron Warriors fleet, the entire world is reduced to a toxic wasteland where the survivors must fight to defend what little remains of their home. The remnants of the once mighty Jurnian 701st armoured regiment emerge from their underground shelters, and the opening movements of the Battle of Tallarn begin... even as more clandestine powers seek to manipulate events on both sides of the conflict.
- 5 editions



The Passing of Angels
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchWhen a world resistant to the nascent Imperium of Man unleashes weapons of heinous and proscribed provenance, it falls to the Blood Angels to bring the planet to compliance. Forced to fight fire with fire, Sanguinius gathers the Legion's Destroyer Host and their deadliest weapons. As his sons wage war behind their death masks, able to leave the taint of their bloody deeds behind them, Sanguinius alone must bear the burden of the souls he has reaped.
- 5 editions

Serpent
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchStranger things than xenos and mutants dwell in the dark places between the stars - things known only too well to the inhabitants of Davin. Cult priest Thoros calls upon the favour of his patron gods to aid him in casting out the pretenders and non-believers, for only the true disciples of Chaos can be allowed to rule the galaxy...
- 4 editions

The Solar War
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchAfter seven years of bitter war, the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy. Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights, the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule. Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium. He has become the ascendant vessel of Chaos, and amassed a terrible army with which to enact his will and vengeance. But the way to the Throne will be hard as the primarch Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian and protector of Terra, marshals the defences. First and foremost, Horus must challenge the might of the Sol System itself and the many fleets and bulwarks arrayed there. To gain even a foothold on Terran soil, he must first contend the Solar War. Thus the first stage of the greatest conflict in the history of all mankind begins.
- 5 editions

Tallarn: Ironclad
by John French
NovellaJohn FrenchThe battle for Tallarn rages between the traitor Iron Warriors and the Imperial Army. A carpet of armour covers the surface of the toxic planet: Dreadnoughts versus tanks versus Titans. But what secret purpose drives the Iron Warriors onwards to war?
- 5 editions

Riven
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchAs one of the vaunted Crusader Host, Brother Crius stood as the representative of the X Legion upon the soil of Holy Terra, but when he learns of the death of his beloved primarch Ferrus Manus at the hands of the traitors, his stoic, mechanical grief imbues him with the strength and resolve to undertake a special mission on behalf of Rogal Dorn himself. Striking out into the stars, he searches for any signs of his lost Iron Hands brethren, hoping to bring them back to Terra to aid in the final defence of the Palace. The question remains, just who has survived the slaughter on Isstvan V, and what yet remains of them?
- 5 editions

The Crimson Fist
by John French
NovellaJohn FrenchBecalmed in the backwater Phall system, the Imperial Fists' relief fleet originally headed for Isstvan III has been waiting out the warp storms that waylaid them so many months ago. Under the assumed command of Captain Alexis Polux and seemingly forgotten by the rest of the Imperium, they hope yet to complete their mission and report back to their primarch Rogal Dorn, so that they might return to the greater conflict. But destiny calls as old rivalries are rekindled, and the treacherous Iron Warriors await their moment to strike - the feud between Dorn and his wayward brother Perturabo promises now to erupt into open war.
- 4 editions


Warmaster
by John French
DramaJohn FrenchIn the strategium of the Vengeful Spirit, Warmaster Horus sets up his assault on his father's Imperium. He discusses his brothers, loyal and traitor, and his hopes and fears for the war he has begun... and whether or not he really thinks it can end it. But just who is Horus talking to as he lays out his plans for galactic domination?
- 4 editions


Praetorian of Dorn
by John French
NovelJohn FrenchRecalled from the Great Crusade after Ullanor, Rogal Dorn and the VIIth Legion were appointed as the Emperor’s praetorians – but only after the Warmaster’s treachery was revealed did the full extent of that sacred duty become apparent. Now, the Solar System comes under attack for the first time since the war began, and many of the seemingly impregnable defences wrought by the Imperial Fists prove inadequate. With all eyes fixed firmly upon this new threat beyond the gates of Terra, who in turn will protect Dorn from the enemy within?
- 3 editions

Ordo Sinister
by John French
Short StoryJohn FrenchThe webway – a bizarre alien landscape created by the eldar in ages long past; a network of otherworldly tunnels that burrow through time and space. When the wards protecting the webway are accidentally breached by the primarch Magnus, hordes of daemons are able to exploit this weakness to attack the heart of Terra directly. While the Emperor himself tries to hold the wards in place, a desperate battle takes place in the webway itself – a battle that requires very special combatants – among them the Psi-Titan Borealis Thoon.
- 4 editions
Series they've contributed to
Which series this contributor has worked on and their role in each.
The Horus Heresy Series
The Horus Heresy Mainline Series
The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra
Ahriman Series
A dark and character-driven series following Ahriman, former Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, as he seeks forbidden knowledge and redemption in the wake of the Horus Heresy. Blending sorcery, betrayal, and grim introspection, the series explores his defiance of fate and pursuit of power in the Eye of Terror.
The Horusian Wars
Agent of the Throne
The Horus Heresy: Primarchs Series
Stories by Year and Type
Browse through the number of Stories written by this Contributor, grouped by year and type.