For a thousand years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule. And at the forefront of that crusade are Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only - better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts. Trapped in the grinding trench warfare of Fortis Binary, the Ghosts find themselves drawn into a conspiracy to assassinate the crusade’s leader, Warmaster Macaroth.

The eldar are an ancient race whose mode of war blends spirituality with a unique mastery of technology. In times of need, their entire race will rouse to war, led by terrifying, almost mythological figures - the phoenix lords, immortal beings that embody the warrior nature of the eldar. When a burgeoning ork empire starts to pose a threat to the eldar peoples, Jain Zar travels to the craftworld Ulthwé to warn them of the danger.

When his body is hideously damaged in an enemy attack, it looks as though Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor's promising career would be abruptly brought short. Now, encased in a life support sytem that keeps him alive but forever cuts him off from the physical world, Ravenor utilises his formidable mental powers to continue his investigations. Along with his retinue of warriors and assassins, Gideon Ravenor fights to protect an Imperium he can no longer see, hear or feel.

For 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.

The Aeronautica Imperialis are the masters of the skies in the 41st millennium, waging wars of breakneck aerial combat where only skill stands between victory and death. Flight Commander Lucille von Shard is an ace, a living exemplar of what it means to fly in the name of the Emperor… or so Propagandist Kile Simlex is told. Braving the foetid waters of Bacchus and its rampaging greenskin hordes, Simlex is tasked with producing a cinema-pict portraying Shard as an Imperial hero. Shortly after his arrival planetside, however, he discovers the war effort is in shambles.

The Inquisition moves amongst mankind like an avenging shadow, striking down the enemies of humanity with uncompromising ruthlessness. When he finally corners an old foe, Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn is drawn into a sinister conspiracy. As events unfold and he gathers allies - and enemies - Eisenhorn faces a vast interstellar cabal and the dark power of daemons, all racing to recover an arcane text of abominable power: an ancient tome known as the Necroteuch.

There are those in the great expanse of the galaxy that seek profit wherever it is to be found: the deal makers, the opportunists and explorers – the Rogue Traders. Granted power by an ancient charter, sanctioned by the Emperor Himself, these scoundrels, entrepreneurs and adventurers roam the galaxy in search of fortune and glory. None perhaps are as hungry for these twin vices as Janus Draik.

The Realm of Beasts has ever been a place of savagery and destruction, defiant in the face of Sigmar's feeble attempts at liberation. But now, deep within the mountains of the Ghurish Heartlands, something ancient stirs. A god long-trapped is about to awaken, and the drumbeat of war calls. Ferocious Ironjawz, gluttonous Ogors and towering gargants all set their sights on the human interlopers, determined to cast down their keeps.

In the aftermath of battle, Flesh Tearers Chapter Master Amit picks his way across the blasted landscape and is drawn into single combat with a survivor of the enemy force, a berserker dedicated to the Blood God. As they fight, Amit begins to realise that at slaughter's end, he and the servant of Khorne are not so dissimilar.

Ahriman 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.