The Relentless Dead

Warhammer 40,000

A Death Korps Audiobook

The 401st Regiment has been sent to Oleris III to find an inquisitor among the catacombs of a planet decimated by a plague in years past. What they find will shake their legendary resolve. This collection also includes a short story that gives us an outsider's perspective on the Death Korps of Krieg.

LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE

The Death Korps of Krieg are a fan favourite – their grinding way of war makes for stories unlike anything else we see in the Astra Militarum. This time, we have a hero's perspective in Colonel Graven, who will do anything to complete his objective, no matter what sacrifices he has to make.

THE STORY

Five hundred years ago, Oleris III was ravaged by a Chaos plague. Now it is a world of tombs and catacombs. It belongs to the dead. Colonel Graven and his 401st Krieg Regiment are charged with searching for a missing inquisitor in the bone-filled ossuary tunnels beneath the planet. But the dead are stirring, and down in the labyrinthine darkness, his kill team comes face to face with unspeakable horrors.

As whispering spectres seed fear and suspicion, turning allies into foes, the colonel has ghosts of his own to battle. Haunted by a tragedy of his own making and unable to trust anyone, even the most resolute Death Korpsman might start to doubt himself. But on this world, it could be the death of him.

Written by Steve Lyons. Narrated by Timothy Watson. Runtime 10 hours and 13 minutes approx.

©2025 Games Workshop Limited (P)2025 Games Workshop Limited

Atonement

It gives the experience of both a kill-team and the Krieg mentality.
Only gripe would be how ineffective weapons are portrayed.
Otherwise, the portrayal of all characters culture is spot on.

The Krieg are truly awesome!!!

The story in this Krieg novel is just as good as the other three, with mystery and surprises. Timothy Watson does a really good job with different voices and it truly captures your imagination. One of my favorite Krieg books.

Almost perfect

Steve Lyons does horror really really well. His talent for doing so shines through the first part of this book, as it did through the first part of Dead Men Walking. It does have the same problem as that book though; an ending that is somehow both overlong and incomplete. Don’t let that dissuade you though. The book is twelve hours or so long; if the last five minutes are an awkward meander it’s not the worst thing that could happen.

Nothing good about the story is damaged by the ending, it’s more just a few loose threads left hanging that vary from “realistic but unsatisfying” to “that’s kind of dumb.” The main body of the story is still quite good, and without spoiling anything it’s safe to say the important things are all brought to a mostly satisfying conclusion.

Possible spoiler!

It’s left ambiguous, but it feels very much to me that Colonel Graven has, by the end of the book, become a Living Saint. Nowhere near the scale of named ones like Celestine, but all it takes to be an LS is being returned to life by a miracle from the Emperor. Everything about his experience in the mausoleum reads like he died and was brought back by divine intervention. He doesn’t get super powers like Celestine did but he’s got at least as much claim to sainthood as someone like, uh, was it Drusus? The one the Macabbian Janissaries wear the death mask of? Either way, Krieger Living Saint is an awesome idea and I love it.

Slow burn great ending

Started slow and I miss the German accents but the VA did great and the ending was 10/10

The most human take on the Death Korp

Unlike many of Steve Lyon’s Death Korp books, this one portrays a side of the Krieg that I’ve never read out of my 200+ Warhammer books. Steve explores PTSD and survivors guilt, something rarely touched on in past 40k novels. It makes the grim darkness feel even more real and closer to home. There are interesting plot twists throughout the book and I would encourage any Militarum fan to pick up the book.