Fear the Alien edited by Christian Dunn

NOTE: Fear the Alien was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by The Black Library.


After another lengthy absence from the world of Warhammer 40,000, I return again, this time with the upcoming anthology Fear the Alien. Prepare yourself for xenos/Empire conflict! The stories are as follows:

“Gardens of Tycho” by Dan Abnett: Abnett delivers a story of Magos Drusher, who teams with the local law to discover what is behind a string of brutal killings. But what seems like random slaughter may have a much darker rationale. This story is wonderful, flat out. The characters feel richly fleshed out, the mystery is genuinely engaging and suspenseful, and the plot is fun. If there are more Magos Drusher stories out there, I will be looking for them.

“Fear Itself” by Juliet E. McKenna: A group of soldiers hold a fort at a key placement protecting a bridge, fighting against wave after endless wave of tryanid, who take biological warfare to an extreme. McKenna’s tale is a blast, with strong action, great characters, and a grasp on conveying prolonged conflict that was truly well done. The ending felt a bit too deus ex machine for my tastes, but it was a small price to pay for an otherwise great story.

“Prometheus Requiem” by Nick Kyme: I have had trouble with other Kyme works (Assault on Black Reach: The Novel comes to mind), so I was leery with this one. And was I ever wrong. Kyme blew me away with this story of a group of Salamanders Space Marines exploring a dead ship with far more darkness inside it than they thought. Suspenseful, with strong characters and excellent action, this story is everything Warhammer 40,000 can be.

“Mistress Baeda’s Gift” by Braden Campbell: A tale of the dark elder, and what happens when they fall in love, this one didn’t work very well for me, falling flat and feeling over long.

“Iron Inferno” by C.L. Werner: Werner pleases, as usual, with this tale of orks and the mistake of trying to trick them using human standards. Werner address the ego-centric view that everything must think like us, while at the same time creating a tale without dialogue that thrills, is funny, and manages to do more for orks than any other book I have read on them.

Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe

NOTE: Path of the Warrior was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by the Black Library.


It has been a while since I last dove into the universe of Warhammer 40,000 (by my reckoning, it was on May 13th, with The Book of Blood, edited by Christian Dunn). I finally made it back, with a new novel from Gav Thorpe, Path of the Warrior, the first of his Path of the Eldar series, which is only the second novel from Black Library to be entirely from an alien perspective (the first being C.S. Goto’s The Eldar Prophecy). Intrigued, I began.

Korlandril is a sculptor of some renown on the craftworld of Alaitoc. However, when his best friend returns from a long time in space, his life takes a turn for the worse, leaving Korlandril with a rage he can’t control. Needing help, he has to turn to the one place he never wanted to go: the path of the warrior. Joining the Deadly Shadow shrine of the Striking Scorpion, Korlandril works to control his depthless rage, and to focus it on a constructive task: destroying the enemy of the elder.

This was quite easily one of the best Warhammer 40,000 novels I have read. Thorpe takes the character of Korlandril and fleshes him out fully, making him a complex character without ever turning him into an alien that is an exact mirror of humans. The aliens are alien, but complete and with their own logic that is neither better nor worse than humans, just different. His novel begins in a way that most 40k stories don’t, with a long period without war and violence, building his character as a sculptor, and while at first I was worried that this would flop, Thorpe pulled it off without a hitch, giving a deep emotional reasoning behind all of Korlandril’s actions that made the novel all the more powerful.

The exploration of the world and of the warrior system was also very well done, creating great depth without endless pontification on what each and every aspect was. The world and its culture was seamlessly woven into the plot, making it feel organic rather than stilted. The war scenes were exciting but not over the top, and they never felt thrown in simply for the sake of having a fight scene.

Thorpe’s novel has started a series of novels that I can freely say I am more excited about than anything else currently on the table in 40k. Many people bandy around Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill as the best of Black Library, and Aaron Dembski-Bowden has started to get mentioned in those circles as well, but with the publication of Path of the Warrior, it would be a travesty for Thorpe’s name to not be right up there as well.

10/10

The Book of Blood edited by Christian Dunn

The Black Library just last month put out their new Print on Demand line of books.  Releasing at least one new book each month, the total now stands at four.  I wanted to take a look at how this worked out, and so I bought a copy of their new reprint anthology, The Book of Blood, an anthology of Blood Angels stories, and dove in.  This is a very large book with a lot of content.  A look at all it contains:

Bloodquest: The Eye of Terror Trilogy by Gordon Rennie: The complete trilogy following a group of exiled Blood Angels as they seek to redeem their honor.  The complete series contents:

Bloodquest: Book One follows Leonatos as he recounts his last struggle against the orks, and the disgrace he found there in losing an ancient relic.  Leonatos and a small group of loyal marines set out to track down the ork warlord who has the sword, in the hopes of recapturing it and regaining Leonatos’ honor.

Bloodquest: Into the Eye of Terror continues immediately from the previous book, as Leonatos and company head into the Eye of Terror and face down a host of demonic fiends in their quest for the sword.

Bloodquest: The Daemon’s Mark finishes the trilogy.  Cloten and Lysander head back to the Eye of Terror to find their lost captain, Leonatos.  Yet, when the track down the army that captured him, they find that the enemy may not be quite as foreign as they expect.

“Bloodquest: Red Secrets” caps the saga with a prequel that looks into Cloten’s history before the fateful quest began.

The saga is very engaging.  You are quickly drawn into the story, which mixes the action with plot and characterization very well, and flows by.  The art is well done as well, especially in the second two sections.  The reproduction into this book format and into black and white was well done (although I had a couple of pages that weren’t well done, two that were shrunk and had ridiculously tiny font, and two that were blown up and extremely wavy, rendering them unreadable; this al occurred in the first book, and things were fine thereafter).

Space Hulk: The Novel by Gav Thorpe: Despite the title, this is a novella, based on the Space Hulk game.  Blood Angels Space Marines enter a space hulk and try to destroy the genestealers, aliens who have overrun the facility.  Very fast-paced, although a little lacking in characterization.  Much better than the other Warhammer 40,000 “game novel” I read, Assault on Black Reach: The Novel.  An engaging thriller.

“Crimson Night” by James Swallow: First appeared in the magazine Inferno!  We follow a group of marines trying to solve the mystery of what is going on with the planet’s population, and discover a dark secret that may implicate a fellow chapter.  Swallow creates an interesting tale that works in mystery and suspense, along with the usual action.

“The Blood of Angels” by C.S. Goto: First appeared in the magazine Inferno!  This story of a marine who goes too far, didn’t grip me, and I ended up skipping the last few pages.  Not the best of the book.

“Heart of Rage” by James Swallow: The prose version of the Heart of Rage audio drama. 

“At Gaius Point” by Aaron Dembski-Bowden:  From the upcoming anthology, Legends of the Space Marines, also edited by Christian Dunn. 

“Blood Debt” by James Swallow: From The Blood Angels Omnibus. 

I didn’t read the last three stories.  The Book of Blood is a large book, and while it is enjoyable, a don’t find the Warhammer 40,000 short stories quite as engaging as the novels.  Maybe I just haven’t been in a short story mood lately.  Regardless, I want to get to them sooner or later, and will be hitting “At Gaius Point” when I read Legends of the Space Marines, so keep an eye out.  All that said, I didn’t need to read the last hundred pages or so to know that this is a solid collection of space marines fiction.  You get a lot of content, and only one piece of it was lacking.  The print-on-demand format is a little more expensive, but it is worth it for this title.

8/10

Courage and Honour by Graham McNeill (paperback edition)

NOTE: Courage and Honour was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by the Black Library.


One of the first books that was reviewed here at Luke Reviews when I started out was the original hardcover edition of Graham McNeill’s fifth Ultramarines novel, Courage and Honour. It went on to be one of Luke Reviews’ Top 15 Books of 2009. With the paperback edition coming out in about a month, I thought a retrospective look might be nice. Below I have appended the original review, as well as McNeill’s comments on being a Top 15 book.

THE ORIGINAL REVIEW OF COURAGE AND HONOUR BY GRAHAM MCNEILL

After my mixed review of the previous book in Graham McNeill's Ultramarines series, I was both hesitant and eager to see how his next journey into the saga would be. Would it be more of the action that dominated the last two-thirds of the book, or more of the slow, drawn out beginning? I am more than happy to report that it worked out wonderfully in this volume, mixing action with the plot better than The Killing Ground did.
After leaving the Eye of Terror, Uriel and Pasanius traveled to Salinas, where they fought the planets dark, twisted past. After a run-in with some higher powers in the Empire of Man, they returned, and finally headed back to the homeworld of the Ultramarines, heading for what they hoped would be a warm welcome.
That is where Courage and Honour picks up, with Uriel and Pasanius arriving home. After arriving there, the two space marines discover that they aren't as safe as they thought, with their chapter requiring them to undergo numerous tests to prove that they are without taint (even though this was also seemingly done last book as well). After these tests, Pasanius requires to do penance, and sits out the rest of the novel. Uriel leads the 4th Company back to a planet that had already conquered, in a desperate bid to protect the planet from invading Tau.
While I was disappointed about Pasanius' removal from the book, as I felt his interaction with Uriel was truly one of the best parts of the former novel, another sergeant, Learchus, does an okay job replacing him as a sidekick, flagging only in that the close history isn't there. The action in the novel never flags, and in this novel McNeill does a magnificent job of starting things off with lots of action, while using flashbacks to build the backstory, all done in clumps that are short and intriguing. The novel contains many secondary characters, including other space marines, imperial guard soldiers, as well as members of the Planetary Defence Force, that all feel very well fleshed out, that act believably, and can create emotional attachments.
I must say that, far from how I was after The Killing Ground, I absolutely cannot wait for the next Ultramarines novel. His books are getting better and better.
8/10

GRAHAM MCNEILL ON COURAGE AND HONOUR AND ITS BEING A TOP 15 BOOK OF 2009

This was a fun book to write, as it was a chance to get back to basics with the Ultramarines. I'd taken them off to the Eye of Terror in Dead Sky, Black Sun and left them there for a while, as I went off and did other projects, but they were always itching to get back to Ultramar. I knew right away that I couldn't just have them turn up at the gates of their Chapter Monastery and say, 'Hi, we're home...' so that entailed The Killing Ground, a novel about the steps on the way home. Like DS, BS, it was a novel that took the Space Marines out of their comfort zone and had them doing very un-Space Marine-like things, so with Courage and Honour, it was time to rectify that.
I wanted this to be the book that reminds the reader why Space Marines are the premier fighting force in the galaxy. The Imperial Guard may number in the millions, but it's the Space Marines that do the really hard work, the missions that absolutely cannot be allowed to fail. This was going to be a war novel, a book that had the Space Marines doing what they did best, killing their foes with complete and utter dedication and professionalism. I wanted Courage and Honour to be a simple story, and when I say that I don't mean without complexity, I mean that is showed the Ultramarines--and Uriel--in the most classic Space Marine light possible.
These weren't Space Marines operating outside the Codex Astartes, these were warriors who fought with their Primarch's holy tome as their guide, and were winning with it at their side. Of course, I wanted elements that weren't exactly codex, which is what led to Learchus going behind enemy lines and learning what had driven Uriel to make the choices he made. It's a book with plenty of action, from all levels of the conflict, and I hope shows the brutality of warfare in the 40K universe, while also highlighting the heroism and horror that can come out of such desperate conflicts.
It's an honour to write about such an illustrious Chapter, and to have Courage and Honour chosen as one of the fifteen top books of 2009 by Luke gives me the pleasant thought that I did something right. Let's just hope that the follow up book, The Chapter's Due is similarly well received.

Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

NOTE: Helsreach was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by the Black Library.


Aaron Dembski-Bowden has been getting some very spectacular praise lately, and quickly is becoming one of the favorite authors in Black Library’s stable. He burst on the scene with Cadian Blood, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and then started a new series of Space Marine novels. Now he has become the second author of the new line of books from Black Library, Space Marines Battles, which depict famous battles in the history of the Empire that involved Space Marines.

On the planet Armageddon, the citizens are recovering from a past ork attack on their ravaged planet, but are met with terrible news: another onslaught is on its way. They build up their defenses as best they can, and aid rushes to the planet, including the Black Templars Space Marines. The contingent on planet, lead by Grimaldus, are sent to Hive Helsreach, where the fight a seemingly never ending army of the greenskins, struggling, not to win, but simply to survive.

After my second Dembski-Bowden novel, I’m starting to wonder, can Dembski-Bowden write a bad book? Once again, he delves deep into his characters, from Grimaldus, who is mentally tormented at the loss of a father-figure, and at being sent to die in Helsreach, to the marines who rally around him, and the Imperial Guard that fight alongside them. Every character is full of depth, and very few are completely good or likable. Grimaldus is tempestuous to the extreme, with a very detached attitude at times, but at other times he reveals truly honorable characteristics. He is a fully formed character, rare in fiction. There is an occasional switch between third-person and first-person that I found odd at first, but as the book went on it made for a nice melding.

The war is sufficiently draining, as any siege warfare should be, but you never feel that all of the characters are safe. There are no fights that you know will be won without a price, and even at the end every thread of the plot may not end up happily. The full breadth of emotion is on display, played with in the brutal and violent setting to its maximum potential. For a very strong novel exploring the depth of war and the complex characters that fight it, this is an excellent place to go.

9/10

Flesh and Iron by Henry Zou

NOTE: Flesh and Iron was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by the Black Library


After the excitement that was built with Emperor’s Mercy last year, which earned him a Top 15 of 2009 spot, and the cliffhanger ending for one of the main characters, I couldn’t wait to dive into the sequel and see what was in store. Thus, I was a little disappointed to find out that the second novel in Zou’s Bastion Wars series was not a sequel, but a prequel novel. However, still excited, I dove into Flesh and Iron.

On Solo-Bastón, a local insurgency led by a group known as the Dos Pares is attacking the Imperial cities, and the Imperial Guard is called in to deal with the situation. However, Solo-Bastón has very little Imperial presence, and the insurgency is able to dig in and set up the best circumstances for their war. It is up to Colonel Baeder and the 31st Riverine to take a key gun emplacement and let the rest of the Imperial Army get into the mainland and root out the rest of the forces. However, as darker undersides to the fight begin to rise, the question of which side is right becomes murky.

The first novel in Zou’s series was very much in the vein of Inquisition novels, so it was a bit of a jump in the second to have what basically amounts to an Imperial Guard novel. However, Zou shows that he is just as adept at this segment of the Warhammer 40,000 milieu as with the Inquisition. He creates characters that feel very much alive, and he doesn’t just give one side. We see human characters fighting for both causes, and especially towards the end he drums up some substantial questioning of who is in the right, and the effects of corruption on those in power.

I couldn’t help feeling that this one was a little less engaging than Emperor’s Mercy in some way, but I couldn’t point to a cause of this. The action was hard and fast, and it didn’t let up. The only major issue I had was that the main storyline ended 100 pages before the novel did. The book kept on from there, in effect using the last 100 pages to tie this novel into the previous one and throwing twists at the characters. While that isn’t bad, the person who picks this up without reading the first book may not get much out of the end.

Pick up Flesh and Iron and it will be a fun ride. I wouldn’t suggest it quite as readily if you haven’t read Emperor’s Mercy, but I still think it would be enjoyable. One of the top Imperial Guard novels.

8/10

Rynn’s World by Steve Parker

NOTE: Rynn’s World was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by The Black Library.


Space Marine Battles is the new deluxe-styled series from Black Library, the kind people who bring you Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 fiction. The series focuses on pivotal battles in the Warhammer 40,000 universe through a series of stand-alone novels. They are a trade paperback size (the same as Black Library’s omnibus volumes) and include full color map inserts.

The first novel of the series follows the Crimson Fists, who are on their home world of Rynn’s World, celebrating the formation of their Chapter and all of their brothers who fell in the line of duty. However, on the nearby planet of Badlanding, Orks attack and take over the world. The Crimson Fists set out to stop the orks at Badlanding, but the mission fails and the Orks continue on to Rynn’s World. After a disaster that almost wipes out the Fists, they must protect their entire world from the oncoming horde of orks.

This book flopped for me. I was beyond excited for it, and it really let me down. Good reviews of it seem to be popping up frequently, and I don’t get it. One would think that a series titled Space Marine Battles would have just that: Space Marines in combat. While there were Space Marines aplenty, the battles in the first half of the novel were few and far between. After far too much unnecessary time spent doing nothing on Rynn’s World, we finally get a chapter on Badlanding as the Fists attack the orks there. Things picked up, then the orks won, and everything died right back down again. The orks attack Rynn’s World, I think things could get good, but right before things really hit the fan, disaster strikes and almost everyone dies. Battle over.

The characters also were flops. The Chapter Master is a sort of messianic character who can do absolutely no wrong and is always cool and calm, he is best friends with the unthinking hot head, we have the “I hate mere humans” Space Marine (who lets us know he hates mere humans over and over and over) and the “I pity humans” counterbalance character to fix things in his wake. They are all flat, and play on over-done stereotypes.

I got about halfway, so this one earned above a 1/10, and scores a 2/10 for still being unfinishable. That said, it wasn’t by much. For a series I had so much anticipation for, it sure started on a sour note. I’m now a bit hesitant on the next books in this series, but I’m hoping Aaron Dembski-Bowden can blow me out of the water again like he did with Cadian Blood.

2/10

Sons of Dorn by Chris Roberson

When this blog was still just beginning and brand new, I reviewed a novel by Chris Roberson, Book of Secrets. It had just come out from brand-new imprint Angry Robot Books, and was one of the first ARC copies of a book I had ever received. I was very excited, dove into it, and loved it up until the very end, where I felt it lost a bit of its luster from an ending that didn’t cut it for me. That said, I loved the journey, and really wanted to give Roberson another try. I had a copy of another of his novels, Dawn of War II, but it was packed up, and I never got around to reading it, but when his latest book came in the mail, I knew it was time to check out this author again.


On a backwater planet, a three-sided war is being fought. Yet, right in the middle of the conflict, Space Marines drop down from the sky, take a couple thousand youths, and depart. The Imperial Fists were on a recruiting mission. Among those picked out are Zatori Zan, Taloc s’Tonan, and Jean-Robur du Queste, three young men from three different sides of the war. Yet, as people are gradually weeded out by the recruitment process, these three continue to remain. When they are called to defend civilians on the planet Vernalis, they answer the call. But can they withstand the combined forces of the Roaring Blades Traitor Guard, the Emporer’s Children Chaos Marines, and a host of daemons?

This book begins with the waging of war on their home planet, then flows into the training of a space marine, before we are given the epic warfare we seek. Roberson does a very good job of laying down the characters and setting up the conflict, before dumping everyone in the training regime, where we see the brutality of what it takes to be a Space Marine. The action scenes are spot on, if a little over-drawn-out at times, but Roberson excels at his characterization. His characters never act or speak in a way that didn’t fit who they were.

Once again, I find the ending left a little to be asked for. How things played out for our three main characters, as well as for the host of minor ones, felt a little too convenient at times, along with two back-to-back instances of people showing up at the exact perfect moment. While this is the first book in a new series, and killing off your main characters wouldn’t be a wise choice, things just seemed to work out a little too well for realism’s sake.

All-in-all, though, this is a book worth reading. I had fun with it. It wasn’t great, but it was good, and there are far worse things than that. I have a feeling that Roberson will present us with a good series to come. I hope that he steps away from the excessive far-too-convenient moments, or at least tame them down a bit, but I also hope that he sticks with his work on characterization. I felt that, with Sons of Dorn, Roberson distanced himself from most of the other authors of Warhammer 40,000 in creating some of the most fully fleshed-out characters I’ve seen out of Warhammer 40,000. This was a welcome change to the seeming over-reliance on occasion to characters that are fun but lack real depth. Roberson has set up a good start to what I think can be a great series.

(Note: While Sons of Dorn receives the same score as Book of Secrets did, two things should be kept in mind. First, I was very lenient in early reviews, and gave much higher grades than I perhaps should have, as I was still getting my feet under me. Second, the recent new rules for the grade scale (seen on the left) give what at first seems a far harsher score, but I think a much more honest one that makes it easier to pick a good book.)

7/10

Cadian Blood by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Warhammer 40,000 is a diverse setting. Beyond the obvious infinite possibilities of an Empire of millions of worlds, the built-in settings for series of books give a number of options. Like the space marines? Then there are series galore: Ultramarines, Blood Angels, Grey Knights, Soul Drinkers, Dawn of War (aka Blood Ravens), Space Wolf, Salamanders, Imperial Fist, etc. If that isn’t your cup of tea, you can focus on the Inquisition, as they fight heresy. Series include the Eisenhorn trilogy, the Ravenor trilogy, the Inquisition War trilogy, and the new Bastion Wars series. Luke Reviews has delved into both of those segments, but never before have I looked at the Imperial Guard novels, a series of stand-alone books that follow the men who aren’t enhanced war machines or religious fanatics. So it was about time to give the Imperial Guard a look.


On the planet Kathur, Chaos has overrun the populace, killing many and leaving the rest viciously ill. Those who die wracked with this disease don’t stay dead; they rise up again, and conquer the world in the name of Chaos. Reclaiming the planet seems like it should be a minor ordeal of blasting the planet from space, but things get complicated. Kathur is named after Saint Kathur, hero of the Great Crusade, and full of relics of his life. The Empire refuses to let these holy sites be destroyed, and instead send in a series of guardsmen to recover Kathur. Among them are the Cadian 88th Mechanized Infantry, in part led by Captain Thade. They must survive the onslaught of plague-ridden zombies if they hope to return home.

This book has been getting seemingly nothing but good reviews, so I was very excited to give it a look. This of course made me even more baffled than normal when the beginning just fell flat, due to excessive amounts of telling and not showing (“Don’t tell the reader, show them”). It was dry and not at all engaging for the first 20 or so pages. A recap of the history of the planet, and the onset of the Plague of Unbelief.

And then Cadian Blood took off. Once the story set into place, it was brilliant. Dembski-Bowden hits every part right, creating very memorable characters in Thade and his lieutenants, creating a flow of action that never let up, and making the story incredibly easy to find yourself drawn into. Almost unparalleled in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Dembski-Bowden’s first novel brings the realities of war in this setting to life, and he doesn’t hold back.

One minor quibble that I had was his choice of announcing that certain characters would die before they actually did in the story, as well as a slight lull about two-thirds of the way through, but otherwise Cadian Blood was a brilliant work. I am very much excited about Dembski-Bowden’s next novel, Soul Hunter.

8/10

“Thunder from Fenris” by Nick Kyme

After far too long away, I was able to grab some copies of new Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and I had to throw all sense of what I was reading next out the window in my excitement to finally return. I decided to dive into all four December releases from Black Library (Two 40k, two Warhammer), and began with the new audio Warhammer 40,000 story, “Thunder from Fenris,” penned by Nick Kyme. Kyme is currently receiving quite a lot of acclaim for his novel Salamander, the first in the Tome of Fire trilogy. I had read a couple pieces by him (see Assault of Black Reach: The Novel and “Fires of War,” the prequel to the Tome of fire trilogy), and I thought both were good but not great. I haven’t read any of the Space Wolf books (all of which are now conveniently packaged in two omnibuses, The Space Wolf Omnibus and Space Wolf: The Second Omnibus), but this looked like a neat product to dive into.


On the planet Skorbad, Chaos had taken a very strong hold, but the work of the Cadian Imperial Guard and the arrival of the Space Wolves had pushed most of it back. There are only lingering pockets of Chaos infestation left, when the worst happens: one of the Space Wolves goes feral, under the curse of the wolfen, and changes into a beast that has killed one of his own. The Space Wolves must track down their stricken brother, while facing a legion of Chaos-infused zombies.

The story was fast-paced, and the narrator did a brilliant job with voices, with interesting background sound effects taken from the Warhammer 40,000 computer game, Dawn of War. The characters were a little too much the same, so that if they didn’t get different voices by the narrator they would be easy to confuse, and the story had moments that let my thoughts stray while I was listening to it. The action was well-written, and it was performed quite well.

“Thunder from Fenris” left me with much the same feeling as Assault on Black Reach: The Novel and “Fires of War” did. Every piece by Kyme that I have read (or listened to) left me feeling that he has a lot of potential and just isn’t quite reaching it. Maybe he did it with Salamander, which I haven’t read. I will continue to read his work, although it won’t rush to the top of the pile, until he hits consistently what he does in parts now. When Kyme is hot, he is with the best Black Library has, and if he kept that up throughout the whole story, I could easily see him becoming one of the most popular authors they have.

Keep an eye out for “Thunder from Fenris” for an hour’s entertainment. It may not be a staple of your audiobook library, but it will still be a pleasing way to pass the time.

6/10

Warhammer 40,000 Movie Announcement

Among the many tie-in franchises throwing out movies, noticeably missing has always been Games Workshops' two major franchise, Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. But no longer! The announcement has been made for Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie.

Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter

Begun in Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising, and continued in Graham McNeill’s False Gods, the Horus Heresy’s opening trilogy comes to a conclusion in Galaxy in Flames, by Ben Counter. This trilogy is the beginning of the Horus Heresy series, a saga of the epic civil war that created the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Galaxy in Flames wraps up the trilogy following Garviel Loken, captain in the Sons of Horus legion, and space marine, future fighter for the Imperium of Man. His legion is led by the Warmaster Horus, who has, over the first couple novels, begun his path from favored son of the Emperor to traitor. In Counter’s first contribution to the series, Horus attacks the rebelling world of Isstvan III, but it is all a set up. Horus uses bombs of horrible effectiveness to destroy life on Isstvan III, including thousands upon thousands of space marines. In a huge move, Horus tries to eradicate those warriors who would remain loyal to the Emperor during his great betrayal. After a warning gets out, a few soldiers, including Loken, begin an impossible battle against Horus’ overwhelming forces, knowing that they can’t win, but wanting to do some damage and avenge their fallen brothers.

Counter does a wonderful job of wrapping up the initial set that tells of Horus’ fall from grace and eventual heresy, as he turns his face from the Emperor and embraces the gods of Chaos. This novel ties up everything from the first two books, with many of the characters finally having their face-to-face confrontations, and many major players, both heroic and villainous, perish. While the book does a great job of ending the story begun in Horus Rising, it at the same time sets up the next novel, Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow, very well. I look forward to the continuation of this wonderful series, as well as my new copy of Grey Knights, written by Ben Counter just like this novel.

8/10

“Fires of War” by Nick Kyme

When I saw that the Black Library was releasing a new series following the space marines chapter called the Salamanders, I was very excited. All of the talk about the series, and the incredible cover art, really got me amped. The new series, dubbed the Tome of Fire Trilogy, is written by Nick Kyme, known for his editing work on books such as Tales of Heresy and Heroes of the Space Marines, both co-edited by Lindsey Priestly, as well as being the author of Assault on Black Reach: The Novel, which I found a bit lacking (for details, please see my review).However, I was still pretty excited about the series, and was biting at the bit to get into the series more.

Then I discovered that the good people at the Black Library had put up Kyme’s short story from Heroes of the Space Marines, “Fires of War,” up for free online (“Fires of War,” in its entirety, can be found here). The story acts as a prequel to the Tome of Fire Trilogy, and was the perfect way to get a bit more into the story.

“Fires of War,” a novella length tale, follows the Salamander chapter as they head to a world being overrun by the Cult of Truth, a Chaos-oriented group that desires to destroy the planet. We are introduced to a number of characters I assume will be important in the trilogy, both good and bad, and a special artifact is stolen that will have deep repercussions.

Kyme seems to suffer from the same ailments that marred Assault on Black Reach: The Novel, mainly drawn out pieces that move far too slowly, followed by excellent scenes full of action and excitement, then being replaced by more very dryly-written plot-moving scenes. Kyme seems to stumble when he is building the story, but once he gets there, his action takes off and shows his true talents.

All in all, the story was entertaining, but not incredible, yet it is better than earlier Kyme, and shows he is improving. This improvement-trend seems likely to increase, and I know that, once he hits his stride, Kyme will have the Tome of Fire Trilogy flying off the pages. I look forward to seeing what he has in store for us.

Ravenor by Dan Abnett

I had always thought that Warhammer 40,000 was all about Space Marines and the Imperial Guard, but Henry Zou showed me differently, with his novel Emperor's Mercy (see my review). Zou introduced me to the world of the Inquisition, and I loved it. I couldn't wait to take another step into this territory, and Dan Abnett, Warhammer 40,000 author extraordinaire, was the place to go, especially with his new collection, Ravenor: The Omnibus just out from the Black Library. Sadly, I was more than let down.

Ravenor is an Inquisitor of the Imperium of Man, and he, along with his squad of crack operatives, arrives at a new planet to investigate a new psychic drug, flects. Ravenor has the feeling that it is more than just a drug, but a heretical substance that must be rooted out. His squad tracks down leads, while Ravenor pulls strings behind the scenes, while at the same time we are introduced to Zael, a flect addict, who is far more than meets the eye.

Abnett plays with genres, mixing the obvious science fiction setting of Warhammer 40,000, while throwing in a mystery that Ravenor must solve, and flinging things along with thriller-like pacing and style. Pulled off well, this would have been an incredible book. Sadly, Abnett bungled them to the point that I couldn't finish the novel.

The story begins with a vast number of characters, all chasing down people, with lots of violence and action characteristic of Warhammer 40,000. However, unlike all of the other Warhammer 40,000 novels I've read, the intelligent plot that weaves the action together is absent for at least the first third of the book, with pointless chase scene, meaningless deaths, and absolutely no motive, no rationale behind what the characters do.

The lush settings available in the Warhammer 40,000 environment also work against this novel. With each change of setting we are giving excessive amounts of setting description, along with long descriptions of festivals and activities that, is a good novel, we would be shown, not told about. I came to dread each new locale change, as it meant story-halting descriptions for pages. Any momentum the story could build, it killed.

Many of the characters felt very fake. Very little depth was given to them, and while some of that may have been addressed in Abnett's Eisenhorn, as a new reader to his Inquisitor novels, they felt flat, and left me not caring much about them. Ravenor's dues ex machina ability to "ware" his teammates also meant that they survived everything, making any tension disappear.

I could not finish this novel. It did very little for me. I tried over and over, and it failed on me every chance it had. I had high hopes for this one, as I liked both the previous Inquisition novel, and the previous Abnett novel, I had read, but after this flop, I don't look forward to either more Inquisition or more Abnett with the same zeal. One day I will give this omnibus another shot, but it will be awhile.

I read a full 3/4 of this novel, and based on that, I give Ravenor, part of Ravenor: The Omnibus, the following rating:

4/10

Courage and Honour by Graham McNeill

After my mixed review of the previous book in Graham McNeill's Ultramarines series, I was both hesitant and eager to see how his next journey into the saga would be. Would it be more of the action that dominated the last two-thirds of the book, or more of the slow, drawn out beginning? I am more than happy to report that it worked out wonderfully in this volume, mixing action with the plot better than The Killing Ground did.

After leaving the Eye of Terror, Uriel and Pasanius traveled to Salinas, where they fought the planets dark, twisted past. After a run-in with some higher powers in the Empire of Man, they returned, and finally headed back to the homeworld of the Ultramarines, heading for what they hoped would be a warm welcome.

That is where Courage and Honour picks up, with Uriel and Pasanius arriving home. After arriving there, the two space marines discover that they aren't as safe as they thought, with their chapter requiring them to undergo numerous tests to prove that they are without taint (even though this was also seemingly done last book as well). After these tests, Pasanius requires to do penance, and sits out the rest of the novel. Uriel leads the 4th Company back to a planet that had already conquered, in a desperate bid to protect the planet from invading Tau.

While I was disappointed about Pasanius' removal from the book, as I felt his interaction with Uriel was truly one of the best parts of the former novel, another sergeant, Learchus, does an okay job replacing him as a sidekick, flagging only in that the close history isn't there. The action in the novel never flags, and in this novel McNeill does a magnificent job of starting things off with lots of action, while using flashbacks to build the backstory, all done in clumps that are short and intriguing. The novel contains many secondary characters, including other space marines, imperial guard soldiers, as well as members of the Planetary Defence Force, that all feel very well fleshed out, that act believably, and can create emotional attachments.

I must say that, far from how I was after The Killing Ground, I absolutely cannot wait for the next Ultramarines novel. His books are getting better and better.

8/10

The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill

Things got really busy both at work and at home around the Fourth of July holiday, thus the delay (sorry!) but I am back, with a brand new novel of the Ultramarines from the Warhammer 40,000 universe!

As I stated in my previous review of a Warhammer 40,000 novel, I had read some of the books that really focus on the space marines in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. However, I had never gotten around to Graham McNeill's Ultramarines series before. It was one of many established series that I was going to one day start by picking up an omnibus, but just wasn't on my radar screen yet. However, when I received my copy of The Killing Ground, I gave it a try, even though it was the middle of the series, and overall I am quite pleased.

After the events depicted in McNeill's The Ultramarines Omnibus, Uriel Ventris and his companion Pasanius are on their way back home to their chapter, having completed their Death Oath and fulfilling their task required to return from exile. Flying without aim, they crash on Salinas, along with a group of the Unfleshed, nightmare creatures transformed by the forces of Chaos, but innocent at heart. However, Salinas itself is a world of turmoil, and the arrival of two space marines only adds fuel to the fire.

After a very intriguing prologue, this novel hits a wall, and slows down incredibly. The pace seems to move down more than just a few notches, with lots of imagery, and some backstory for those of us new to the series. While the backstory inserted in this novel was helpful, and made this novel a great jump on point for those interested in joining the series without reading the back catalogue, it just felt like there had to be a better way to address it, instead of slowing the story to a crawl.

That said, once the story picks up, it really does, and the novel becomes stellar. All of the great storytelling I had come to expect from the other McNeill work I read (review) appeared. The action is fast, the plot is tight, and things fly along. All of the many threads of story are deftly woven together, and I came to really have to struggle to put this novel down. Uriel and Pasanius are characters that are really easy to care about, and their struggles are perfectly written.

I struggled on what to rate this, and decided on the higher 8 and not the lower 7, because, after this book picks up pace, it is excellent, and it really leaves me excited for the next book, Courage and Honour, which will be reviewed here in the not too distant future. Get through the beginning, and the rest will leave you begging for the sequel.

8/10

Emperor's Mercy by Henry Zou

In the world of Warhammer 40,000 the big stars always seem to be the marines. The armor-encased Space Marines take up the largest number of books, fight on the front lines, and look the coolest. However, as part of the under-pinning of this shared universe, there is a very small but very vital section following the exploits of the Inquisitors of the Emperor. Given all the power they need to accomplish the Emperor's needs, these inquisitors work on any number of missions.

Originally written about only in Dan Abnett's two trilogies (collected in Eisenhorn and Ravenor: The Omnibus, the latter of which will be reviewed on this site in the not-too-distant future), and acting in a supporting role in a few other books, Henry Zou finally makes his mark on the inquisitors with the first book in his new Bastion Wars series.

Inquisitor Obadiah Roth has been called to the Medina Corridor to search for the Old Kings, a mysterious ancient artifact that most don't believe exists. At the same time, the Ironclads, a group of Chaos warriors, begin a system-wide assault on the Medina Corridor, ravaging the planets and their populations. It quickly becomes apparent that these two events are linked.

Roth, along with his side kick Silverstein, head to the Medina system and begin the search, fighting the forces of Chaos the whole way, at the same time dealing with a traitor in their own midst and an admiral who doesn't want the Inquisition's help. Moving from planet to planet, the mystery unfolds as the casualty list grows higher.

Zou packs in a huge amount of action, somehow fitting a very solid plot into the midst of it all. Roth has a very believable demeanour, as he struggles with the losses and the many difficult decisions he has to make. The minor characters also feel well fleshed out. The action never flags through the book.

I have read a number of the Space Marines novels in a number of series, and almost always loved them. However, I never had any interest in the Inquisition part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Zou changed my mind. His fast-paced, high action novel left me with a high desire to read the sequel, as soon as it comes out. I see great things in the future for this new author.

9/10

False Gods by Graham McNeill

Dan Abnett's Horus Rising (review) began the saga of the fall of Horus, the greatest hero of the Imperium, in The Horus Heresy, the prequel series to Black Library's famous shared universe saga Warhammer 40,000, based on the Games Workshop game of the same name.  Abnett's novel was my introduction to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and also my favorite entry into the world thus far.  It was with great excitement, and very high hopes, that I began False Gods, the second installment of The Horus Heresy.

After the events of Horus Rising, the Sons of Horus (formerly the Luna Wolves) head to Davin, where a traitor to the Empire of Mankind has set up shop.  Flowing along with the dark, almost demonic hints of magic in the undertone from the first novel, there are whispers of darker possibilities, and the rest of the novel reflects that, giving a far darker, bloodier, more violent tale.  We still follow Loken, as well as other members of his Legion, as they fight to bring together all mankind, and destroy those that don't want to take part.  After Horus is mortally wounded, the Legion starts to take sides, those that want to uphold the ideas of the Great Crusade being undertaken, and those that will do anything to save their dying Warmaster, all while a religious cult that worships the Emperor is on the rise.

This huge level of conflict, with dozens of key characters, would be lost and fumbled in the hands of a lesser author, but McNeill matches and surpasses Abnett's prior entry, flinging caution to the wind, and leaving characters that are long-standing beaten, broken, dead, or acting like we never thought they would, yet these drastic changes of life and attitude are all done fully and well, with enough time for change and plenty of reason to make it all feel very organic, and completely realistic.  As the battle lines are drawn, their are people you care about on both sides, and confusion in the air about the level of power this mysterious Emperor holds, and the many chilling moments are more than enough to make you question what you presumed about all of the characters.

This novel was more action-packed, more suspenseful, more affecting, more intriguing, and more exciting than any other Warhammer 40,000 novel I have read yet.  McNeill does a masterful job with these characters and situations, and leaves on an ending that begs for you to move straight to the sequel.  This book, from what I have read so far, sets the bar for all over Warhammer 40,000 novels.  It will be a tough one to top.  I can't wait for the next Horus Heresy book, or to read the other books out by Graham McNeill.  I'm a fan.

9/10

Black Library Accepting Submissions for New Anthology

Check out their page on the submission process, and get writing! Good luck to you all, hopefully I'll meet you at the other side with a published story!

Warrior Brood by C. S. Goto

It has been a little while since I have reviewed a Black Library book, and the time has finally come to return to them. While the two reviewed earlier (see Horus Rising and Assault on Black Reach: The Novel) received both very positive and not-so-positive reviews respectively, the universe itself really drew me in, and I couldn't wait to give it another try.

Warrior Brood by C. S. Goto is the first in what is currently a two book series by Goto about the Deathwatch Space Marines. This group of marines is pulled from all of the other chapters to form a special force for the use of the Inquisition branch of the Imperium.

When the world of Herodian IV is swarmed by tyanids, the Mantis Warrior Marines are there to try and hold them off, but the aliens prove too strong. After retreating off-planet, they call for help, and the Deathwatch crew arrives, along with Inquisitor Kalypsia to lead them. Their mission: to land on the planet and stop the hive tyrant, knowing that killing the leader will at least slow down the horde.

However, there is much going on behind the action. This mission seems fraught with faulty logic, and the alien tyranids seem far stronger and more intelligent than they have ever been before. On top of all that, the leaders are obviously not telling their marines everything. And it seems like their is some double dealing in very high places.

Goto creates a novel with huge amounts of action, both on planet with the Deathwatch Marines, and in space, as the ships surrounding Herodian IV fight the tyranid ships, yet at the same time one full of intrigue as Inquisitor Lord Agustius is snooping around trying to discover what it is about this planet that is making Inquisitor Lord Parthon so willing to sacrifice a monstrous number of lives. Everything wraps up in the end, and it certainly isn't quite the way you expect it to.

Goto does an excellent job handling his narrative, and really pulls off a lot of great things. While sometimes the narrative seemed to slow a tiny bit, and the first chapter required some patience before it all started to make sense, his depictions of the insanity of fighting a huge horde seemed very real, and his characters were very well rounded. This was a very fun read, and I can't wait to pick up the sequel.

8/10