Vengeful Spirit (Graham McNeill)
I'm scared to start a Graham NcNeill book now; when he's good he's great, and when he's bad, he's infuriating. I'll cut to the chase here: Good McNeill showed up for this book, and the biggest flaw has nothing to do with his writing; it's the fact that we're deep in the Hersey now, but the story's possibilities are still limited by knowing the ending. The reader knows there's no way that Horus is going to die during the course of this book, neither is the titular Vengeful Spirit going to be destroyed.
That being said, McNeill mostly works around this by drawing on the now well established setting of the Horus Hersey (over 30 novels!) - to the point where even giving a basic sketch of the book's story risks running into spoiler territory, as a pivotal character thought dead returns in first few pages. The tradeoff here is that McNeill is able to sidestep the majority of the predetermined ending problem, but in turn the book is almost totally inaccessible if you haven't been reading the Heresy up to this point.
In short, if you've read enough of the series that you'll catch the book's references, it's an easy recommend; otherwise, take a pass.
Grade: B
Showing posts with label w40k. Show all posts
Showing posts with label w40k. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2015
Saturday, December 20, 2014
"The Talon of Horus"
The Talon of Horus (Aaron Dembski-Bowden)
I'm getting real tired of reviewing ADB books; I don't know what to say anymore. Is this a great book? Yes. Should you read it? Absolutely. Is this one of the best W40K novels out there? You betcha. What more is there to talk about??
I guess I can go over the setting real quick; this book picks up just after the end of the Horus Heresy, looking at the heretofore unseen time when the defeated traitor forces are warring amongst themselves in the Eye of Terror, carving out meaningless little empires and not getting much done besides feeling sorry for themselves and blaming each other for everything going wrong. Our hero is one of the Thousand Sons who ends up taking part in the founding of the Black Legion, and if you understood that sentence you should know enough 40K to really enjoy this book. That brings me to the only caveat I can give, which is that this not for beginners; everyone else should pick it up immediately.
Grade: A+
I'm getting real tired of reviewing ADB books; I don't know what to say anymore. Is this a great book? Yes. Should you read it? Absolutely. Is this one of the best W40K novels out there? You betcha. What more is there to talk about??
I guess I can go over the setting real quick; this book picks up just after the end of the Horus Heresy, looking at the heretofore unseen time when the defeated traitor forces are warring amongst themselves in the Eye of Terror, carving out meaningless little empires and not getting much done besides feeling sorry for themselves and blaming each other for everything going wrong. Our hero is one of the Thousand Sons who ends up taking part in the founding of the Black Legion, and if you understood that sentence you should know enough 40K to really enjoy this book. That brings me to the only caveat I can give, which is that this not for beginners; everyone else should pick it up immediately.
Grade: A+
Monday, December 15, 2014
"The Grey Knights Omnibus"
A collection of three novels about (checks title) the Grey Knights, W40's super elite anti-demon hunters, and as close as the setting comes to good guys. Contained within are three novels:
Grey Knights - This is a good start; the book kicks off with a battle where an isolated group of Grey Knights mounts a almost hopeless assault on a evil, naughty demon who's sealed for a thousand years, with the story picking up as some naughty, evil Chaos chumps attempt to summon him back into real space. The 13th Black Crusade is going on in the backround (as it is for the entire omnibus, actually), meaning that our heroes are working on as close to a shoestring budget as 8 foot tall psychic genetically modified guys in powered armor can be. Since our heroes work as the Inquisition anti-demon branch and inquisitors need to be super suspicious, there's also a health dose of paranoia, although I'm not sure I exactly followed one character's redemption late in the book. Solid, slightly above average stuff.
Dark Adeptus - This is my favorite novel in the omnibus. It kicks off with an entire planet screaming out of the Warp, and our heroes go to investigate, saddled with suspicious allies who they don't entirely trust, and vice versa. This aspect really makes the book stand out, with our heroes fighting not just against the entire possessed world, but keeping an eye on their companions, who they suspect are there to steal some ancient, highly valuable technology. It does take a little while to get going, but once the characters make it into the more interesting parts of the planet (basically a corrupted super-server), this is the best material in the whole collection.
Hammer of Daemons - Unfortunately the omnibus goes out with a real slog; Our hero is captured in the first ten pages and spends the rest of the book trying to escape a demon planet dedicated to Khorne, the least interesting Chaos god, whose gimmick is that he's real angry and loves blood. While it's interesting seeing our hero taken out of his Grey Knight comfort zone, a lot of the book is portent-filled dreams and symbolic demon possession attempts, and this gets old real quick. I appreciate the author trying something new after the previous two novels, but it didn't quite work in this case.
All in all, this falls squarely into the large pile of good, not great, W40k fiction out there; two good and one okay novels for the price of a single paperback is hard to pass up.
Grey Knights - This is a good start; the book kicks off with a battle where an isolated group of Grey Knights mounts a almost hopeless assault on a evil, naughty demon who's sealed for a thousand years, with the story picking up as some naughty, evil Chaos chumps attempt to summon him back into real space. The 13th Black Crusade is going on in the backround (as it is for the entire omnibus, actually), meaning that our heroes are working on as close to a shoestring budget as 8 foot tall psychic genetically modified guys in powered armor can be. Since our heroes work as the Inquisition anti-demon branch and inquisitors need to be super suspicious, there's also a health dose of paranoia, although I'm not sure I exactly followed one character's redemption late in the book. Solid, slightly above average stuff.
Dark Adeptus - This is my favorite novel in the omnibus. It kicks off with an entire planet screaming out of the Warp, and our heroes go to investigate, saddled with suspicious allies who they don't entirely trust, and vice versa. This aspect really makes the book stand out, with our heroes fighting not just against the entire possessed world, but keeping an eye on their companions, who they suspect are there to steal some ancient, highly valuable technology. It does take a little while to get going, but once the characters make it into the more interesting parts of the planet (basically a corrupted super-server), this is the best material in the whole collection.
Hammer of Daemons - Unfortunately the omnibus goes out with a real slog; Our hero is captured in the first ten pages and spends the rest of the book trying to escape a demon planet dedicated to Khorne, the least interesting Chaos god, whose gimmick is that he's real angry and loves blood. While it's interesting seeing our hero taken out of his Grey Knight comfort zone, a lot of the book is portent-filled dreams and symbolic demon possession attempts, and this gets old real quick. I appreciate the author trying something new after the previous two novels, but it didn't quite work in this case.
All in all, this falls squarely into the large pile of good, not great, W40k fiction out there; two good and one okay novels for the price of a single paperback is hard to pass up.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
"The Damnation of Pythos"
The Damnation of Pythos (David Annandale)
I'll cut right to the chase here: This is not a good book. There's enough material here for a middling short story, and stretched out to novel length, it's a real slog; I only finished it out of some misplaced sense of devotion, and it was a struggle not to skip pages as nothing happened for the middle 80% of the book. Most of this is waiting for something to happen, which is exactly as thrilling as it sounds; when it does finally kick off at the end of the book, it turns into a long, sub-par action scene that just kind of fizzles out. I can't even recommend this to 40k superfans; there's much better books to spend your time and attention on.
Grade: D-
I'll cut right to the chase here: This is not a good book. There's enough material here for a middling short story, and stretched out to novel length, it's a real slog; I only finished it out of some misplaced sense of devotion, and it was a struggle not to skip pages as nothing happened for the middle 80% of the book. Most of this is waiting for something to happen, which is exactly as thrilling as it sounds; when it does finally kick off at the end of the book, it turns into a long, sub-par action scene that just kind of fizzles out. I can't even recommend this to 40k superfans; there's much better books to spend your time and attention on.
Grade: D-
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
"Blood Angels Omnibus"
The Blood Angels Omnibus (James Swallow)
This omnibus collects two novels and a short story. Normally I'd review the novels separately, but they're basically two halves of the same tale, and if I had read the first novel by itself, I probably would have been pissed at the cliffhanger ending. (I also don't know that I have much to say without giving away the first book's story.)
Collected as a omnibus, the two novels work great; I have yet to read a bad James Swallow book, and the streak holds here. Swallow's villains are always more interesting than his heroes, and this omnibus stars a particularly loathsome piece of filth pitted against our (somewhat forgettable) heroes. I don't want to say much more except that this falls into solid good-not-great territory; it's a easy recommend for W40k fans, but if you're not familiar with the setting, I'd recommend Swallow's excellent Fear to Tread first, which covers the same chapter of Space Marines and serves as a very nice introduction.
Grade: B+
This omnibus collects two novels and a short story. Normally I'd review the novels separately, but they're basically two halves of the same tale, and if I had read the first novel by itself, I probably would have been pissed at the cliffhanger ending. (I also don't know that I have much to say without giving away the first book's story.)
Collected as a omnibus, the two novels work great; I have yet to read a bad James Swallow book, and the streak holds here. Swallow's villains are always more interesting than his heroes, and this omnibus stars a particularly loathsome piece of filth pitted against our (somewhat forgettable) heroes. I don't want to say much more except that this falls into solid good-not-great territory; it's a easy recommend for W40k fans, but if you're not familiar with the setting, I'd recommend Swallow's excellent Fear to Tread first, which covers the same chapter of Space Marines and serves as a very nice introduction.
Grade: B+
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
"Honour Imperialis"
Honour Imperialis (Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Rob Sanders, Steve Lyons)
A W0K omnibus about the good ol' Imperial Guard. I'm going to review all of the novels one by one.
Dead Men Walking (ADB) - This is probably the worst ADB novel I've read yet, meaning it's just good and not great. Honestly, by the time I got to the end of the omnibus, I'd forgotten almost everything that happened in this novel; I do remember there were some great action scenes, and I was also kind of gobsmacked that the book contained literally zero female characters. (The Imperial Guard's omnisex - unlike the setting's popular stars, the Space Marines - so there's really no excuse.) That said, I don't want to be too tough on the book; it's exactly the kind of above-average but not spectacular book that fits perfectly in a omnibus like this.
Grade: C+
Cadian Blood (Rob Sanders) - This author wrote one of my all time favorite W40K novels in Atlas Infernal, and he's written probably the best novel in this omnibus. My big issue with Cadian Blood is the same problem I had with Atlas Infernal : The author keeps jumping around the chronology of the story, cutting between our heroes being interrogated in prison and earlier scenes running around fighting Orks. This is annoyingly confusing, all the more so as some characters are introduced in the flash-forwards before we meet them in the earlier parts, which make up the bulk of the book. Still, this is pretty good - it's not quite as bonkers as Atlas Infernal, but this novel is the star of the omnibus.
Grade: B
Redemption Corps (Steve Lyons) - Remember when I said that Cadian Blood was bonkers? This book has Imperial Guard guys charging Necrons on horses. I couldn't imagine this without laughing.
That's pretty much the high point. This is a good-not-great book, unfortunately weighed down by making the focal point of the beginning of the book a frankly boring romance between two goofs I was hard-pressed to care about. After this problem is disposed of, the novel falls into the W40k trap of having too many POV characters, although in fairness it's not nearly as bad as some other books (cough, cough). I'd recommend just skipping all the parts with the two lovers, at least until the second half of the book - once the Necrons warp in the book gets a lot more interesting.
Grade: B-
After the main attraction there's four short stories - one really good ADB one, one not so great Steve Lyons one, and two pretty good ones by (cough cough) and (mumble mumble). All in all, this is one of the stronger W40K omnibusses out there; there's not a single miss here, and while none of the novels themselves are superstars, all three of them for $9 is a great deal.
Total Grade: B+
A W0K omnibus about the good ol' Imperial Guard. I'm going to review all of the novels one by one.
Dead Men Walking (ADB) - This is probably the worst ADB novel I've read yet, meaning it's just good and not great. Honestly, by the time I got to the end of the omnibus, I'd forgotten almost everything that happened in this novel; I do remember there were some great action scenes, and I was also kind of gobsmacked that the book contained literally zero female characters. (The Imperial Guard's omnisex - unlike the setting's popular stars, the Space Marines - so there's really no excuse.) That said, I don't want to be too tough on the book; it's exactly the kind of above-average but not spectacular book that fits perfectly in a omnibus like this.
Grade: C+
Cadian Blood (Rob Sanders) - This author wrote one of my all time favorite W40K novels in Atlas Infernal, and he's written probably the best novel in this omnibus. My big issue with Cadian Blood is the same problem I had with Atlas Infernal : The author keeps jumping around the chronology of the story, cutting between our heroes being interrogated in prison and earlier scenes running around fighting Orks. This is annoyingly confusing, all the more so as some characters are introduced in the flash-forwards before we meet them in the earlier parts, which make up the bulk of the book. Still, this is pretty good - it's not quite as bonkers as Atlas Infernal, but this novel is the star of the omnibus.
Grade: B
Redemption Corps (Steve Lyons) - Remember when I said that Cadian Blood was bonkers? This book has Imperial Guard guys charging Necrons on horses. I couldn't imagine this without laughing.
That's pretty much the high point. This is a good-not-great book, unfortunately weighed down by making the focal point of the beginning of the book a frankly boring romance between two goofs I was hard-pressed to care about. After this problem is disposed of, the novel falls into the W40k trap of having too many POV characters, although in fairness it's not nearly as bad as some other books (cough, cough). I'd recommend just skipping all the parts with the two lovers, at least until the second half of the book - once the Necrons warp in the book gets a lot more interesting.
Grade: B-
After the main attraction there's four short stories - one really good ADB one, one not so great Steve Lyons one, and two pretty good ones by (cough cough) and (mumble mumble). All in all, this is one of the stronger W40K omnibusses out there; there's not a single miss here, and while none of the novels themselves are superstars, all three of them for $9 is a great deal.
Total Grade: B+
Friday, June 20, 2014
"The Gildar Rift" (Space Marine Battles series)
The Gildar Rift (Sarah Cawkwell)
This is a SPACE MARINE BATTLES book, and at this point I feel like the series could honestly be renamed "Pretty Good 40K Novel Light On Plot" as most of the books fit into that category. This one does too; it's pretty good, mostly action, and a little light on plot and characterization (although the loyalist chapter the book is about, the Silver Skulls, are unique enough to set them apart from generic space marines). Honestly, I mostly got this book out of curiosity at seeing a female author handling the sausage-fest that is 40K. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what I got is one of the better Space Marines Battles novel, and one that's easy to recommend with the above caveats in place.
Grade: B
This is a SPACE MARINE BATTLES book, and at this point I feel like the series could honestly be renamed "Pretty Good 40K Novel Light On Plot" as most of the books fit into that category. This one does too; it's pretty good, mostly action, and a little light on plot and characterization (although the loyalist chapter the book is about, the Silver Skulls, are unique enough to set them apart from generic space marines). Honestly, I mostly got this book out of curiosity at seeing a female author handling the sausage-fest that is 40K. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what I got is one of the better Space Marines Battles novel, and one that's easy to recommend with the above caveats in place.
Grade: B
Thursday, June 5, 2014
"Path of the Eldar Omnibus"
Path of the Eldar Omnibus (Gav Thorpe)
Normally in an omnibus, I like to review each novel separately; I'm not going to be doing that in this case since the author has written three novels that all describe the same basic events from three point of views.
This is an interesting idea, but I unfortunately I don't think it quite works. The first book is pretty interesting, but the second and third suffer from already knowing what's going to happen. It doesn't help that the main characters of all three books are kind of obnoxious - the first book's hero is a self-obsessed creep, the second book's hero is a arrogant know it all, and the third book's hero is basically the villain of the piece, a truly loathsome dickbag I was hoping would get some kind of comeuppance for his frankly vile actions (admittedly, this reaction really kicked in once he started capturing ship crews to be used as slaves). The book isn't terrible; there is a lot of interesting Eldar background material, and for once they aren't being used as punching bags to show how cool and strong someone else is, but I can still only really recommend this to W40k nerds. (Or, if you're curious, I guess get it out of the library long enough to just read the first included novel; you won't miss much.)
Grade: C+
Normally in an omnibus, I like to review each novel separately; I'm not going to be doing that in this case since the author has written three novels that all describe the same basic events from three point of views.
This is an interesting idea, but I unfortunately I don't think it quite works. The first book is pretty interesting, but the second and third suffer from already knowing what's going to happen. It doesn't help that the main characters of all three books are kind of obnoxious - the first book's hero is a self-obsessed creep, the second book's hero is a arrogant know it all, and the third book's hero is basically the villain of the piece, a truly loathsome dickbag I was hoping would get some kind of comeuppance for his frankly vile actions (admittedly, this reaction really kicked in once he started capturing ship crews to be used as slaves). The book isn't terrible; there is a lot of interesting Eldar background material, and for once they aren't being used as punching bags to show how cool and strong someone else is, but I can still only really recommend this to W40k nerds. (Or, if you're curious, I guess get it out of the library long enough to just read the first included novel; you won't miss much.)
Grade: C+
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
"Helsreach"
Helsreach (Aaron Dembski-Bowden)
Like most of the SPACE MARINES BATTLES series, this book is basically a novel-length, ummm, space marine battle. That's not a bad thing - the best ones, which include this book, have enough character development to give the reader someone to root for before they spend 300 pages hitting Orks in the face with a crozius. This particular book lands firmly in the good-not-great pile, although I have to say it's towards the top of that particular heap; ADB manages to pull off the often-attempted but rarely successful technique of following around a bunch of different POV characters. That being said, this is still a novel-long battle; go in knowing what you're getting and I think it's a pretty solid bet you'll be happy with it.
Grade: B+
Like most of the SPACE MARINES BATTLES series, this book is basically a novel-length, ummm, space marine battle. That's not a bad thing - the best ones, which include this book, have enough character development to give the reader someone to root for before they spend 300 pages hitting Orks in the face with a crozius. This particular book lands firmly in the good-not-great pile, although I have to say it's towards the top of that particular heap; ADB manages to pull off the often-attempted but rarely successful technique of following around a bunch of different POV characters. That being said, this is still a novel-long battle; go in knowing what you're getting and I think it's a pretty solid bet you'll be happy with it.
Grade: B+
Thursday, March 20, 2014
"Architect of Fate"
Architect of Fate (Edited by Christian Dunn)
Remember when I said after the last W40K book that I was "almost out"? Well, after this one, I'm out, I promise. This is another book in the SPACE MARINES BATTLES series, and it's a short story collection. I'm just gonna run them down real fast:
Accursed Eternity: This is pretty good; it details a group of Space Marines having a Battle wherein they board a ghost ship that appears and disappears, attempting to destroy the demon within (the giant blue bird pictured on the front cover). I liked the approach the author took to the demon ship, where it starts out as a pristine, if empty, starship and only morphs into a rusted metallic blood-oozing hellscape because that's what our heroes start imagining. Very entertaining, if slightly confusing.
Sanctus: I'm not too crazy about this one, which is about a bunch of relic-hunting space marines battling Chaos space marines and cultists and a weird prophet dude who is trying to set up a stable time loop by turning the Chaos space marines into statues using a dust storm made up of loyalist prayers and meanwhile up on a ship there's an Inquisitor guy and a demon gets lose after a navigator baron's son blows up a bomb in his boot while they're trying to torture him and then the Grey Knights have to fight the demon so that the inquisitor has enough time to start bombing the planet. (deep breath) I think the author tried to pack a little too much in this one.
Endeavor of Will: I liked this one. A Iron Warriors bad guy attacks two star forts guarding the Eye of Terror, and who shows up but the main charecter from Maldorax? I didn't realize that the giant hammer he uses called the "Fist of Dorn" has the part you hit someone with actually shaped like a fist, which I guess makes sense since he's a member of the Imperial Fists, but all I could think of was a gag weapon you'd use in a jrpg.
Fateweaver: This one was better than Sanctus, but I wasn't really a big fan of it. I will give it credit for wrapping up all the loose plot threads (no easy task!) and nailing the ending, a distressingly rare feat in W40k.
I guess that was "real fast" after all. Well, let me sum up quickly: It's a little confusing, but there's a lot of good action in here, hung on a frame that all comes together in a pleasing way at the end. It's stuck firmly in good-not-great territory, but it's easily worth the $9.
Remember when I said after the last W40K book that I was "almost out"? Well, after this one, I'm out, I promise. This is another book in the SPACE MARINES BATTLES series, and it's a short story collection. I'm just gonna run them down real fast:
Accursed Eternity: This is pretty good; it details a group of Space Marines having a Battle wherein they board a ghost ship that appears and disappears, attempting to destroy the demon within (the giant blue bird pictured on the front cover). I liked the approach the author took to the demon ship, where it starts out as a pristine, if empty, starship and only morphs into a rusted metallic blood-oozing hellscape because that's what our heroes start imagining. Very entertaining, if slightly confusing.
Sanctus: I'm not too crazy about this one, which is about a bunch of relic-hunting space marines battling Chaos space marines and cultists and a weird prophet dude who is trying to set up a stable time loop by turning the Chaos space marines into statues using a dust storm made up of loyalist prayers and meanwhile up on a ship there's an Inquisitor guy and a demon gets lose after a navigator baron's son blows up a bomb in his boot while they're trying to torture him and then the Grey Knights have to fight the demon so that the inquisitor has enough time to start bombing the planet. (deep breath) I think the author tried to pack a little too much in this one.
Endeavor of Will: I liked this one. A Iron Warriors bad guy attacks two star forts guarding the Eye of Terror, and who shows up but the main charecter from Maldorax? I didn't realize that the giant hammer he uses called the "Fist of Dorn" has the part you hit someone with actually shaped like a fist, which I guess makes sense since he's a member of the Imperial Fists, but all I could think of was a gag weapon you'd use in a jrpg.
Fateweaver: This one was better than Sanctus, but I wasn't really a big fan of it. I will give it credit for wrapping up all the loose plot threads (no easy task!) and nailing the ending, a distressingly rare feat in W40k.
I guess that was "real fast" after all. Well, let me sum up quickly: It's a little confusing, but there's a lot of good action in here, hung on a frame that all comes together in a pleasing way at the end. It's stuck firmly in good-not-great territory, but it's easily worth the $9.
Monday, March 10, 2014
"Maldorax"
Maldorax (Ben Counter)
Yes, I know I've been reading a lot of W40k lately; Don't worry, I'm almost out for the time being.
As for this particular book, it's part of the SPACE MARINES BATTLES series, which means you get a whole lot of bang pow boom splat aaagh. So far I'm kind of split on this series, and I wasn't really sure what to expect.
Luckily, this book is all right; we're dealing with solid, middle of the road W40K fare. The basic jist is that a SPACE MARINE has escaped the demon planet of Maldorax, and comes back with a bunch of his buddies to kill the Evil Bad Guy whose name I've already forgotten. There certainly are a lot of Space Marine Battles depicted within, and the author alternating chapters where our hero is back with his buddies flipped with ones where he's escaping the planet is a nice touch. If you need a 40k fix you might as well pick this up, as you could certainly do a lot worse; otherwise it's nothing special.
Grade: C+
Yes, I know I've been reading a lot of W40k lately; Don't worry, I'm almost out for the time being.
As for this particular book, it's part of the SPACE MARINES BATTLES series, which means you get a whole lot of bang pow boom splat aaagh. So far I'm kind of split on this series, and I wasn't really sure what to expect.
Luckily, this book is all right; we're dealing with solid, middle of the road W40K fare. The basic jist is that a SPACE MARINE has escaped the demon planet of Maldorax, and comes back with a bunch of his buddies to kill the Evil Bad Guy whose name I've already forgotten. There certainly are a lot of Space Marine Battles depicted within, and the author alternating chapters where our hero is back with his buddies flipped with ones where he's escaping the planet is a nice touch. If you need a 40k fix you might as well pick this up, as you could certainly do a lot worse; otherwise it's nothing special.
Grade: C+
Saturday, March 1, 2014
"The Unremembered Empire"
The Unremembered Empire (Dan Abnett)
I was really worried about this book - it's currently sitting on two stars on Amazon, and reviewers were harsh on its inclusion of (ugh) THE PERPETUALS, which I have complained about before at length. In addition to that, it's a book about the Ultramarines and Rowboat Girlyman - not a good prognosis.
Maybe it was just because I was expecting a stinker, but I have to say this book wasn't that bad. In fact, if you cut out the Perpetual crap - and there's not really a whole ton of it - there's a really decent book in here somewhere. It follows up on both The Mark of Calth and (ugh) Vulkan Lives, even going so far to slightly fix some of Vulkan Lives' problems. (Don't get too excited; this basically raises it from a F- to an F.) All the non-Perpetual parts work because here the Ultramarines and Guilliman are fallible; it's amazing how readable a book about them can be when everyone isn't standing around talking about how cool, powerful, and attractive the designated Gary Stu is.
All that being said, if you haven't read at least Mark of Calth, you'll be pretty lost. If you're already reading this series, I'd say pick this one up and just skim past all the Perpetual stuff; otherwise, it's not really worth reading the previous books just to read this one.
Grade: C+
I was really worried about this book - it's currently sitting on two stars on Amazon, and reviewers were harsh on its inclusion of (ugh) THE PERPETUALS, which I have complained about before at length. In addition to that, it's a book about the Ultramarines and Rowboat Girlyman - not a good prognosis.
Maybe it was just because I was expecting a stinker, but I have to say this book wasn't that bad. In fact, if you cut out the Perpetual crap - and there's not really a whole ton of it - there's a really decent book in here somewhere. It follows up on both The Mark of Calth and (ugh) Vulkan Lives, even going so far to slightly fix some of Vulkan Lives' problems. (Don't get too excited; this basically raises it from a F- to an F.) All the non-Perpetual parts work because here the Ultramarines and Guilliman are fallible; it's amazing how readable a book about them can be when everyone isn't standing around talking about how cool, powerful, and attractive the designated Gary Stu is.
All that being said, if you haven't read at least Mark of Calth, you'll be pretty lost. If you're already reading this series, I'd say pick this one up and just skim past all the Perpetual stuff; otherwise, it's not really worth reading the previous books just to read this one.
Grade: C+
Friday, January 10, 2014
"Vulkan Lives"
Vulkan Lives (Nick Kyme)
I really hated this book. It's nominally about Vulkan, leader of the Salamanders, one of the neglected groups of characters in W40k. I thought this would be his chance to shine; Instead, the book is more about John Grammaticus, the annoying gary stu from Deliverance Lost and Legion. Like these two books, this one is a boring, annoying disappointment. I'm at the point now where when I see the name John Grammaticus I might just put the book down, because there's never anything interesting that happens when he's around. This book is no exception, and does itself no favors in being split into three narrative threads (Vulkan in captivity, John Grammaticus fucking around, and the Isstvan V dropsite massacre, which has been depicted four or five times by now). There's at least one thread left dangling where we're told that Vulkan must die to prevent him "becoming the gatekeeper" (I'm not sure where the keymaster is) that is never explained or explored at all. For bonus points, the end of the book is confusingly nonsensical and appears to conflict with what we've explicitly been told earlier in the book. Avoid at all costs.
Grade: F
I really hated this book. It's nominally about Vulkan, leader of the Salamanders, one of the neglected groups of characters in W40k. I thought this would be his chance to shine; Instead, the book is more about John Grammaticus, the annoying gary stu from Deliverance Lost and Legion. Like these two books, this one is a boring, annoying disappointment. I'm at the point now where when I see the name John Grammaticus I might just put the book down, because there's never anything interesting that happens when he's around. This book is no exception, and does itself no favors in being split into three narrative threads (Vulkan in captivity, John Grammaticus fucking around, and the Isstvan V dropsite massacre, which has been depicted four or five times by now). There's at least one thread left dangling where we're told that Vulkan must die to prevent him "becoming the gatekeeper" (I'm not sure where the keymaster is) that is never explained or explored at all. For bonus points, the end of the book is confusingly nonsensical and appears to conflict with what we've explicitly been told earlier in the book. Avoid at all costs.
Grade: F
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
"Atlas Infernal"
Atlas Infernal (Rob Sanders)
I believe this may be the most bonkers W40k book I've ever read, which is no small feat. It's tough to describe the plot since it zags all over the place, but the basic jist is that there's a grumpy old Inquisitor who's stolen a living map of the Eldar Webway, pursued by mean old Ahriman of the Thousand Sons. This is just the launching point to a truly bizarre adventure that takes our heroes through the Eye of Terror. I found this quite enjoyable, and in fact my only gripe is that Sanders does the readers no favors by breaking the story up into non-linear pieces. (The book opens with the hero going to visit the Black Library, but we don't see him escape until it's almost over.) Frankly, it's already a little tricky to follow because of the endless and strange new ideas thrown at the reader, not to mention that the main antagonist can cast illusion spells that let him appear as other characters, and having things happen out of order is a little jarring.
This quibble aside - and a note that this is a really bad place to start if you don't know much about the setting - you really shouldn't pass this one up.
Grade: A
I believe this may be the most bonkers W40k book I've ever read, which is no small feat. It's tough to describe the plot since it zags all over the place, but the basic jist is that there's a grumpy old Inquisitor who's stolen a living map of the Eldar Webway, pursued by mean old Ahriman of the Thousand Sons. This is just the launching point to a truly bizarre adventure that takes our heroes through the Eye of Terror. I found this quite enjoyable, and in fact my only gripe is that Sanders does the readers no favors by breaking the story up into non-linear pieces. (The book opens with the hero going to visit the Black Library, but we don't see him escape until it's almost over.) Frankly, it's already a little tricky to follow because of the endless and strange new ideas thrown at the reader, not to mention that the main antagonist can cast illusion spells that let him appear as other characters, and having things happen out of order is a little jarring.
This quibble aside - and a note that this is a really bad place to start if you don't know much about the setting - you really shouldn't pass this one up.
Grade: A
Monday, December 23, 2013
"Rynn's World"
Rynn's World (Steve Parker)
This is another Space Marines Battles book - part of the same series as Hunt for Voldorius. Luckily, this stacks up much better; while our heroes are still Space Marines (since it is part of a series called Space Marine Battles), they now actually have personalities. The antagonists are also more interesting, as instead of a mustache-twirling Bad Guy right from central casting, we have the Orkz (who are da best, I've heard). Despite being the closest thing to a joke that can exist in the GRIMDARK of W40k, they're used pretty effectively here as villains, coming off as credibly scary and cunning. Really, I don't have much more to say about this book; after the introduction it's basically one big action scene, and I mean that in the positive sense.
Grade: B
This is another Space Marines Battles book - part of the same series as Hunt for Voldorius. Luckily, this stacks up much better; while our heroes are still Space Marines (since it is part of a series called Space Marine Battles), they now actually have personalities. The antagonists are also more interesting, as instead of a mustache-twirling Bad Guy right from central casting, we have the Orkz (who are da best, I've heard). Despite being the closest thing to a joke that can exist in the GRIMDARK of W40k, they're used pretty effectively here as villains, coming off as credibly scary and cunning. Really, I don't have much more to say about this book; after the introduction it's basically one big action scene, and I mean that in the positive sense.
Grade: B
Sunday, December 15, 2013
"Hunt for Voldorius"
Hunt for Voldorius (Andy Hoare)
On paper, this should be a slam dunk: The White Scars and Raven Guard - two of the most ignored groups of guys in W40k - team up to take on a demon prince and his band of minions. In practice, it's a bit of a letdown; there's not really much of a Hunt for Voldorius, as he takes over an entire planet, which is kind of hard to miss. The White Scars - basically space Mongols - are forgettably generic. In fact, "forgettably generic" sums the whole book up pretty well. It all rather disappointingly boils down to: There's some Good Guys, and they don't like this Bad Guy, so they go have a big fight. The end. This leaves the book to rely on its action scenes, which are workmanlike enough but nothing special, and the result in a firmly middle of the road book I can't really recommend unless someone loans you a copy for free.
Grade: C
On paper, this should be a slam dunk: The White Scars and Raven Guard - two of the most ignored groups of guys in W40k - team up to take on a demon prince and his band of minions. In practice, it's a bit of a letdown; there's not really much of a Hunt for Voldorius, as he takes over an entire planet, which is kind of hard to miss. The White Scars - basically space Mongols - are forgettably generic. In fact, "forgettably generic" sums the whole book up pretty well. It all rather disappointingly boils down to: There's some Good Guys, and they don't like this Bad Guy, so they go have a big fight. The end. This leaves the book to rely on its action scenes, which are workmanlike enough but nothing special, and the result in a firmly middle of the road book I can't really recommend unless someone loans you a copy for free.
Grade: C
Sunday, November 10, 2013
"Deathwatch"
Deathwatch (Steve Parker)
In W40k, the Deathwatch are anti-alien specialists, the guys you call in when giant space bugs or depraved space elves come knocking. Unfortunately, the book named after them doesn't really have enough Deathwatch stuff in it; Our main character is from a chapter called the Death Specters, and they get almost as much ink as the Deathwatch itself does. The book is also split between the actual Deathwatch space marines and a set of Inquisition agents, and the agent storyline really drags; the book tries to set up a mystery about who the Deathwatch is going to be fighting, but if you know anything about W40k (and this isn't the book to start with if you don't), it's painfully obvious literally from the first page. This makes most of the Inquisitor pages rather pointless, and I can't help but feel that they would have been better spent spending more time with the (checks title) Deathwatch. The end result is not a bad book, but not really what I was hoping for, and unless you're desperate for a 40k novel, I can't recommend going too far out of your way to pick this one up.
Grade: C+
In W40k, the Deathwatch are anti-alien specialists, the guys you call in when giant space bugs or depraved space elves come knocking. Unfortunately, the book named after them doesn't really have enough Deathwatch stuff in it; Our main character is from a chapter called the Death Specters, and they get almost as much ink as the Deathwatch itself does. The book is also split between the actual Deathwatch space marines and a set of Inquisition agents, and the agent storyline really drags; the book tries to set up a mystery about who the Deathwatch is going to be fighting, but if you know anything about W40k (and this isn't the book to start with if you don't), it's painfully obvious literally from the first page. This makes most of the Inquisitor pages rather pointless, and I can't help but feel that they would have been better spent spending more time with the (checks title) Deathwatch. The end result is not a bad book, but not really what I was hoping for, and unless you're desperate for a 40k novel, I can't recommend going too far out of your way to pick this one up.
Grade: C+
Sunday, November 3, 2013
"A Thousand Sons" (Second Look)
A Thousand Sons (Graham McNeill) [Second Look!]
Finally! A Horus Hersey novel I really enjoyed. My biggest problem is that we already know who falls to Chaos in the present day of the WH40K universe. Watching Horus and his fellow fallen brothers turn from loyal sons of the Emperor to full blown daemon princes never held that much appeal. There's no tension for me of wondering who will fall or being surprised that the favored Warmaster betrays the Imperium because it already happened (the Horus Heresy series takes place in the past). It's like the Star Wars prequels... I just kept waiting for Anakin's fall.
All that aside, A Thousand Sons is great.It's a story of a son flying too high despite his father's warnings. Magnus' hubris is the downfall of the leigon he fought to save and the planet he called home.
A must-read for WH40K fans.
Grade: A
Finally! A Horus Hersey novel I really enjoyed. My biggest problem is that we already know who falls to Chaos in the present day of the WH40K universe. Watching Horus and his fellow fallen brothers turn from loyal sons of the Emperor to full blown daemon princes never held that much appeal. There's no tension for me of wondering who will fall or being surprised that the favored Warmaster betrays the Imperium because it already happened (the Horus Heresy series takes place in the past). It's like the Star Wars prequels... I just kept waiting for Anakin's fall.
All that aside, A Thousand Sons is great.It's a story of a son flying too high despite his father's warnings. Magnus' hubris is the downfall of the leigon he fought to save and the planet he called home.
A must-read for WH40K fans.
Grade: A
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
"The Mark of Calth"
The Mark of Calth (edited by Laurie Goulding)
This is a short story collection following on from Know No Fear. Where Know No Fear was a pleasant surprise, this book is more of a letdown; despite contributions from some of the better Black Library authors, it's kind of a muddle. The book is brought down by the fact that a few of the stories don't really go anywhere. The first story is interesting enough but doesn't seem to really have a point or ending, and ADB's contribution (spoiler alert) is just a dream, which renders it completely pointless. Beyond this, the book also runs with Ultramarine fanboyism (at one point they kill 600 Word Bearers without a single casualty), and lavishes more attention on THE PERPETUALS, a weird new concept in W40K about people who are immortal because (loud cough) that doesn't seem particularly interesting or well thought out. The best short story is about a magic knife and is interesting both because it spans thousands of years and uses a weirdly refreshing second-person style where the narrator is telling you, the knife, about your own life. Otherwise, I'd recommend a pass on this; it's not the worst Horus Heresy novel out there, but it's not very entertaining.
Grade: C-
This is a short story collection following on from Know No Fear. Where Know No Fear was a pleasant surprise, this book is more of a letdown; despite contributions from some of the better Black Library authors, it's kind of a muddle. The book is brought down by the fact that a few of the stories don't really go anywhere. The first story is interesting enough but doesn't seem to really have a point or ending, and ADB's contribution (spoiler alert) is just a dream, which renders it completely pointless. Beyond this, the book also runs with Ultramarine fanboyism (at one point they kill 600 Word Bearers without a single casualty), and lavishes more attention on THE PERPETUALS, a weird new concept in W40K about people who are immortal because (loud cough) that doesn't seem particularly interesting or well thought out. The best short story is about a magic knife and is interesting both because it spans thousands of years and uses a weirdly refreshing second-person style where the narrator is telling you, the knife, about your own life. Otherwise, I'd recommend a pass on this; it's not the worst Horus Heresy novel out there, but it's not very entertaining.
Grade: C-
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
"The Space Wolf Omnibus"
Space Wolf Omnibus: Space Wolf / Ragnar's Claw / Grey Hunter (William King)
Three novels about, umm, space wolves. I'm going to review all three novels in one post; never let it be said you don't get value here!
Space Wolf: This entire novel is a flashback showing how our hero, Ragnar (I kept thinking of the guy from Dragon Quest IV) became a Space Wolf, opening with him as a normal dude and ending as he's completed his initiation and is ready to head out into the galaxy to fight. I was going to complain about the fact that we know that he doesn't die because this is the first novel in the omnibus, but the novel itself spoils this by having him get whacked on the head and flash back, so you know he's gonna be okay. Plus, I guess, the novel is titled Space Wolf, not Guy Who Tried To Become a Space Wolf But Died. No, the real issue I have is that the writing is what could charitably be called workmanlike and perhaps more accurately be called pedestrian; this is a interesting book because of the novel-sized depth given to becoming a Space Marine, not necessarily because it's well-written. I'd probably only recommend this to people on the ends of the 40k fan spectrum: It's a good place to get started or an interesting read if you're really into the setting.
Grade: C+
Ragnar's Claw: Goofily enough, this is another novel-length flashback, this time with a older Ragnar flashing back to his first deployment. The plot's a bare-bones GET THE MCGUFFIN, and honestly it's not as interesting as the fact that this novel is where things start getting weird. King seems to be working off some old, no longer in canon idea of what a Space Marine is, as Ragnar meets a Inquisitor who is "almost as tall as [Ragnar] is" - no small feat considering Space Marines are usually 8 - 10 feet tall without shoes. (This gets even sillier when they meet a guy who is taller than a Space Marine who is "tall even for a Space Marine", which by my estimate would make this guy a normal human who is over ten feet tall.) More than that, these guys don't really act a lot like Space Marines, as I found myself incredulously reading about them farting and then teasing each other for who produced the most impressive gas.
In a way, this is interesting in itself, but it runs against one of the more interesting themes in W40k, which is how the Space Marines' super-humanity sets them apart from the average human (for a more nuanced take on this subject, I recommend, of all things, A Thousand Sons). The heroes of this book are just guys who can smell well and don't get tired, and this combined with the nothing special plot results in a novel that isn't bad, but doesn't really have much to recommend.
Grade: C-
Grey Hunter: Unbelievably, the omnibus goes three for three with flashbacks, as this novel too opens with a page of Ragnar in the present day and then the rest of the book is a huge flashback. I'm not really sure I have much to say about this novel; free of the first novel's unusual focus on the making of a space marine and the second novel's weird obsession with farting, this is just a straight up average old W40k novel. The basic plot is that some Chaos guys stole a MacGuffin that the Space Wolves want back, so they go and shoot and stab a bunch of people. It's perfectly serviceable and there's nothing wrong with it, but a few days after reading it I'm struggling to remember anything interesting about it at all.
Grade: C
In sum, I think this entire omnibus is like the first novel it contains - it can only really be recommended to someone looking to dip an exploratory toe in the W40K setting, or for superfans for whom $10 for 3 full-sized average-quality novels is irresistible. There's nothing really wrong with this collection, but even at such a cheap price for so much, there's some really excellent W40K material out there that this omnibus just can't stack up against.
Grade: C
Three novels about, umm, space wolves. I'm going to review all three novels in one post; never let it be said you don't get value here!
Space Wolf: This entire novel is a flashback showing how our hero, Ragnar (I kept thinking of the guy from Dragon Quest IV) became a Space Wolf, opening with him as a normal dude and ending as he's completed his initiation and is ready to head out into the galaxy to fight. I was going to complain about the fact that we know that he doesn't die because this is the first novel in the omnibus, but the novel itself spoils this by having him get whacked on the head and flash back, so you know he's gonna be okay. Plus, I guess, the novel is titled Space Wolf, not Guy Who Tried To Become a Space Wolf But Died. No, the real issue I have is that the writing is what could charitably be called workmanlike and perhaps more accurately be called pedestrian; this is a interesting book because of the novel-sized depth given to becoming a Space Marine, not necessarily because it's well-written. I'd probably only recommend this to people on the ends of the 40k fan spectrum: It's a good place to get started or an interesting read if you're really into the setting.
Grade: C+
Ragnar's Claw: Goofily enough, this is another novel-length flashback, this time with a older Ragnar flashing back to his first deployment. The plot's a bare-bones GET THE MCGUFFIN, and honestly it's not as interesting as the fact that this novel is where things start getting weird. King seems to be working off some old, no longer in canon idea of what a Space Marine is, as Ragnar meets a Inquisitor who is "almost as tall as [Ragnar] is" - no small feat considering Space Marines are usually 8 - 10 feet tall without shoes. (This gets even sillier when they meet a guy who is taller than a Space Marine who is "tall even for a Space Marine", which by my estimate would make this guy a normal human who is over ten feet tall.) More than that, these guys don't really act a lot like Space Marines, as I found myself incredulously reading about them farting and then teasing each other for who produced the most impressive gas.
In a way, this is interesting in itself, but it runs against one of the more interesting themes in W40k, which is how the Space Marines' super-humanity sets them apart from the average human (for a more nuanced take on this subject, I recommend, of all things, A Thousand Sons). The heroes of this book are just guys who can smell well and don't get tired, and this combined with the nothing special plot results in a novel that isn't bad, but doesn't really have much to recommend.
Grade: C-
Grey Hunter: Unbelievably, the omnibus goes three for three with flashbacks, as this novel too opens with a page of Ragnar in the present day and then the rest of the book is a huge flashback. I'm not really sure I have much to say about this novel; free of the first novel's unusual focus on the making of a space marine and the second novel's weird obsession with farting, this is just a straight up average old W40k novel. The basic plot is that some Chaos guys stole a MacGuffin that the Space Wolves want back, so they go and shoot and stab a bunch of people. It's perfectly serviceable and there's nothing wrong with it, but a few days after reading it I'm struggling to remember anything interesting about it at all.
Grade: C
In sum, I think this entire omnibus is like the first novel it contains - it can only really be recommended to someone looking to dip an exploratory toe in the W40K setting, or for superfans for whom $10 for 3 full-sized average-quality novels is irresistible. There's nothing really wrong with this collection, but even at such a cheap price for so much, there's some really excellent W40K material out there that this omnibus just can't stack up against.
Grade: C
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