Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I check out one of the most exciting upcoming novels from the awesome Warhammer 40,000 franchise with Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward.

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We have just come out of an awesome year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  2023 featured some outstanding novels from this incredible grim dark franchise, with books like Warboss and The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks, Creed: Ashes of Cadia by Jude Reid, The King of the Spoil by Jonathan D. Beer, Cypher: Lord of the Fallen by John French and The Fall of Cadia by Robert Rath (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023) all proving to be exceptional reads.  2024 is also shaping up to be particularly awesome year for fiction from my favourite franchise, with several outstanding novels teased or announced already.  Of them, the one I am currently most excited for is the dark and gritty Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward.

The debut novel from Hayward, who has previously written several intriguing Warhammer short stories, Deathworlder is currently set for release in late April 2024.  I have a lot of love for this book already, especially as its epic plot will pit two extreme factions from the game against each other in the ultimate battle of survival.

Plot Synopsis:

Catachans vs Tyranids – Who Are the Deadliest Predators in This New Astra Militarum Novel?

Facing insurmountable odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way through an endless xenos jungle. The enemy is merciless, relentless, endlessly adaptable and formidably resourceful… but so too is Khan.

Now this sounds like a pretty damn epic book.  I always say that some of the very best Warhammer 40,000 are those that focus on human soldiers placed into impossible situations, and some of the best recent books such as Steel Tread by Andy Clark, Krieg by Steve Lyons and Longshot by Rob Young serving as pretty good examples of this.  As such, I cannot wait to see another impressive, character-driven read in this franchise, especially as it will focus on the always fun Catachans.  The soldiers of the Catachan regiments are some of the most popular and iconic in the game, as they are essentially over-the-top jungle fighters, literally based on Rambo.  I had a lot of fun with the last novel that focused on them, Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley, and I cannot wait to see them in action again, especially if they are going toe-to-toe with the Tyranids.

As one of the more sinister factions in the Warhammer 40,000 canon, the Tyranids are showcased as ravenous, alien monsters, who slowly digest any planet they come across.  The last novel I read focussing the Tyranids, Leviathan by Darius Hinks, was very terrifying, and Deathworlder sounds even cooler, as it will pit the ultimate human jungle fighters against these insanely stealthy and deadly aliens.  Deathworlder honestly sounds like Predator turned up to 11, which is a concept that we can all get behind.  Throw in the drama surrounding a doomed and abandoned group of soldiers slowly getting killed off, and Deathworlder has so much potential.

Honestly, the moment I found out that Deathworlder was going to pit the Catachans against the Tyranids, I knew I was going to read it.  Victoria Hayward has come up with an outstanding scenario, that features some of the very best things that I love in a Warhammer 40,000 novel, plus more.  Deathworlder sounds like such a cool debut, and I plan to read it the very second it comes out.