When I made the 90-minute commute to Glenview every morning (and the 90-minute drive home every evening), I got addicted to Warhammer 40K audio dramas. They made the long drive bearable. When I left that job four years ago I fell out of the habit, and haven’t kept up on the unfolding drama in my favorite dark space opera. I did hear rumors of a Thirteenth Black Crusade, the unexpected return of the loyal primarch Roboute Guilliman (in Guy Haley’s Dark Imperium series), and the catastrophic fall of the fortress world of Cadia, the last line of defense against the daemonic tide spilling out of the Eye of Terror. Man, you take your eye off the ball for a minute, and everything goes to hell.

Justin D. Hill’s new Cadia series seem like the perfect place to jump back into the saga. The first novel, Cadia Stands, was published in March 2018, and the sequel Cadian Honour is scheduled for September of this year (and is already available in digital format). Here’s the description for the first volume.

The brutal war for Cadia is decided, as Lord Castellan Ursarkar Creed and the armies of the Imperium fight to halt the Thirteenth Black Crusade and prevent a calamity on a galactic scale.

Under almost constant besiegement by the daemonic hosts pouring from the Eye of Terror, Cadia stands as a bulwark against tyranny and death. Its fortresses and armies have held back the hordes of Chaos for centuries, but that grim defiance is about to reach its end. As Abaddon’s Thirteenth Black Crusade batters Cadia’s defences and the armies of the Imperium flock to reinforce this crucial world, a terrible ritual long in the making comes to fruition, and the delicate balance of this brutal war shifts… From the darkness, a hero rises to lead the beleaguered defenders, Lord Castellan Ursarkar Creed, but even with the armoured might of the Astra Militarum and the strength of the Adeptus Astartes at his side, it may not be enough to avert disaster and prevent the fall of Cadia. While Creed lives, there is hope. While there is breath in the body of a single defender, Cadia Stands… but for how much longer?

And here’s the description for Cadian Honour.

Sent to the capital world of Potence, Sergeant Minka Lesk and the Cadian 101st discover that though Cadia may have fallen, their duty continues.

For ten thousand years, Cadia stood as a bastion against the daemonic tide spewing forth from the Eye of Terror. But now the Fortress World lies in ruins, its armies decimated in the wake of Abaddon the Despoiler and his Thirteenth Black Crusade. Those who survived, though haunted by the loss of their beloved homeworld, remain bloodied and unbarred, fighting ruthlessly in the Emperor’s name.

Amongst them is the indomitable Sergeant Minka Lesk. Sent to the capital world of Potence, Lesk and the Cadian 101st company soon discover that a rot runs through the very heart of the seemingly peaceful world. Lesk knows she must excise this taint of Chaos, for it is not only her life and those of her company at stake, but also the honour of Cadia itself.

No idea if there’s a third book planned (but there probably is). Justin D. Hill is also the author of Storm of Damocles, one of three novels included in Deathwatch: The Omnibus (2017), featuring the Deathwatch xenos hunters.

Here’s the publishing details for all three.

Cadia Stands (320 pages, $16 trade paperback/$15.99 digital, March 6, 2018)
Cadian Honour (368 pages, $16 trade paperback/$15.99 digital, September 17, 2019)
Deathwatch: The Omnibus (960 pages, $21 trade paperback, November 28, 2017)

All three books are published by Black Library.

Our previous coverage is pretty extensive, and includes numerous BG contributors looking at Warhammer 40K fiction:

Warhammer Horror: The Wicked and the Damned by Josh Reynolds, David Annandale, and Phil Kelly
Warhammer 40k: The Magos by Dan Abnett
Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader: The Omnibus by Andy Hoare
John DeNardo: In Defense of Media Tie-Ins (Part 1)
In the Trenches: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: Straight Silver by Sean Stiennon
Tanith Airborne: Warhammer 40k: Gaunt’s Ghosts: The Guns of Tanith by Sean Stiennon
Road Trip from Hell: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: Honour Guard by Sean Stiennon
Street Fighters of the 41st Millennium: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: Necropolis by Sean Stiennon
Space Orks, Space Elves, and Tough Space Men: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: Ghostmaker by Sean Stiennon
Where Extra-planar Daemons and Dark Gods Play: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: First & Only by Sean Stiennon
Warhammer 40K: The Horus Heresy Box Set
Warhammer 40K: Ahriman: Exile by John French
Warhammer 40K: Pariah: Ravenor vs Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett
A Review of Daemon World (Warhammer 40,000) by Bill Ward
Warhammer 40,000 Movie Announced by Bill Ward
The Future of Fantasy: March 2015 New Releases: Warhammer 40K: Defenders of Mankind

As well as the excellent Warhammer 40K Audio:

Dead in the Water, a Warhammer 40K Audio Drama
Warhammer 40K: A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns on Unabridged Audio
Dan Abnett’s Warhammer 40K: Horus Rising on Audio CD

And the various board, miniature, video and role playing games:

An Intro to Warhammer 40K: Explore the Horrors of the Jericho Reach in Deathwatch: The Achilus Assault
The Time of Woe is Upon Us: Warhammer: Chaos in the Old World
How to Worldbuild a Good Sandbox: Four Rules from the Warhammer 40K Universe by M Harold Page
Only War for Christmas: How to Defend Warhammer for Teenage Boys by M Harold Page
Conquer a Dark and Dangerous Galaxy in Warhammer 40K: Forbidden Stars
Releasing This Week: Warhammer 40K: Relic From Fantasy Flight Games
The Dungeons (and Dragons) of My Life, Part Two, by by Jon Sprunk

See all of our recent Games coverage here.