Dark Heart Review & saving money at the Black Library

Dark Heart is a short story by Anthony Reynolds set in the Word Bearers attack to Calth and makes a nice read for those who have enjoyed Know No Fear by Dan Abnett. Don't be fooled by the cover, this story is all about the Word Bearers and covers a scene towards the end of Know No Fear from their point of view. In Abnett's original novel, we pretty much see the Ultramarines side on this particular action and we don't get much insight onto what is going on Kor Phaeron and his boys end.

Now the good thing is that Reynolds doesn't just tell the same story from the other side of the mirror, but rather uses that context to give us some insight onto what the Word Bearers legion has become at this point. Even in the small calm before the storm, things stir where the Word Bearers tread!

All in all an enjoyable read, if only a bit short. But that's what you get for that price. Oh wait.


Price shaenigans, or how this costs 70% more in Europe than in the UK!

Now onto the rant... why does this ebook cost 70% more in euros than in pounds? and 26% more in USD than in pounds?

It is a well-known fact that international companies often have different prices across regions, beyond what the exchange rate fluctuations would justify. This is of course a profitability measure, as the price elasticity, competitive landscape and rest of variables affecting demand and supply can have significant differences. It is also use to protect margins against exchange rate fluctuations but let's not get too technical ;) GW's prices in Australia comes to mind as a good example.

And how to get around it

The good news for us customers is that unlike physical goods that can be restricted to a certain extent, online products like ebooks are far more difficult to bound to a geographical area. If you tried to order from the UK site of GW to say Europe, GW would stopped you from doing it with the UK prices as soon as you entered the destination address. However an ebook is purchased and downloaded, regardless of the adress the user has entered.

Simply register as a new customer with a UK address and order in pounds. Creating a new account takes a couple of minutes and you can order straight away and download the ebook. Unfortunately this only works with ebooks and not traditional paper books.