Flight of the Eisenstein - Review

Disclaimer 

Spoilers abound in these posts, if you haven’t read the books and will get upset by finding out what happens just stop.

This is also not a recap, if you want a recap go to Lexicanium.

What The Black Library says about the book

Having witnessed the terrible massacre of Imperial forces on Isstvan III, Death Guard Captain Garro seizes a ship and sets a course for Terra to warn the Emperor of Horus’s treachery. But when the fleeing Eisenstein is damaged by enemy fire, it becomes stranded in the warp – the realm of the Dark Powers. Can Garro and his men survive the depredations of Chaos and get his warning to the Emperor before Horus’s plans reach fruition?

What the book is really about?

Garro

That’s pretty much it, this is one dudes personal story but I don’t really have many issues with that.

In a way it’s the story of the apostle Peter. He spends the book denying Jesus Keeler and not accepting the Emperor into his heart. Once he does however, you can tell he’s gonna be the guy who builds up the faith of the Emperor in the Astartes, the rock on which the church would be built.

Asides from that the book provides some background fluff on the Death Guard, which I was very appreciative of, as well as the escape of the Eisenstein (a frigate) from the blockade surrounding Istvaan III.

It also deals with the inevitable fall of the death guard to Nurgle.

The Hero-Protagonist

Nathaniel Garro is more Loken than Loken.

Seriously, if he was anymore square jawed and honour bound to his duty he would be a caricature. I mentioned this is review one, and I’ll keep reiterating it. The Hero-Protagonists in the first few books are exceedingly interchangeable. The big difference is the legion they belong to.

That said, the thing that sets Garro apart from the other two is the question of faith. The author does a pretty good job of slowly introducing miraculous stuff that makes Garro question the secular world he has been fighting to create. Did he really hear the Emperor in his coma, or was it just his servant muttering to him? Does that even matter?

The miracles are small and revolve around Keeler, who we already know can melt demons with her brain. What I like is the gradual acceptance of conversion and the continued denials of it. To change ones core beliefs shouldn't be an easy thing and I think Swallow conveys that nicely.

Also, his final epiphany on the moon, framed from behind by Terra in the sky, was pretty cinematic.

Garro.... in one of his many spin offs. 

Why are their humans in my book about super-powered Space Marines?

Keeler as a character is now a plot device and it’s a bit sad that her story in this book is told almost entirely from Garro’s perspective. Even Sinderman and Mersadie are relatively drab in the story. I feel this group was underutilized in this story, but it is understandable as the story is about one dude, Garro.

One cool things introduced in this book are the “Sisters of silence”, a group of female psyker hunters. They are sort of an amalgam of the sisters of battle and the culexus assassins, a group of women sworn to silence (like nuns) who can cancel out psyker powers. I quite like the concept and I thought they introduced them well and portrayed them as very competent warriors in their own right, not a match 1 on 1 with a Marine, but expert in their own field of witch hunting.

MVP – Um…. Garro, I guess?

A failing of the book is the lack of development of the other characters.

Temeter is introduced as Garro’s friend and ally Captain in the Death Guard. It’s his lads that get virus bombed in the trenches outside coral city. I was expecting him to survive and a story be told about how the Death Guard fought for every inch of ground…… but no. He bites it in the first salvo.

Same holds true for most of the rest of Garro’s command squad. Decius, a young warrior full of bravado has a few great scenes I’ll talk about later, but that’s less about the character and more about what is happening to him. Voyen, the apothecary has an arc, but it’s a bit of a predictable one and his resolution scene is a bit naff. To sum it up, he becomes a hippy.

But, most disappointing of all is how Kaleb, Garro’s human butler/housemaid has this really cool orign story and a good bit of development early on. Unfortunately he doesn't survive the second act and his death is basically a learning exercise for Garro.

Worst Character – Grulgor

Oh ffs…. Not another dude like this.

You can tell Grulgor is a baddy because

• He outranks Garro and reminds him of the fact
• He spends every scene intimidating everyone who comes near him
• He loves talking about how awesome he is
• He twirls his mustache while plotting to kill Garro
• He loves virus bombs  

Yep, hes basically a terrible caricature, he might as well have worn a shirt saying “HATE ME NOW PLEASE”

Typhon isn't much better…..

Get to know your Legion – The Death Guard

Pre Heresy - White and Green

I have a soft spot for all things Nurgle. He’s my second favourite chaos god and I’ve always liked the idea of the death guard in 40k. They aren’t flashy, they don’t have loads of tricks, but they are tough sons of bitches who win battles using solid infantry based tactics.

The portrayal of the Death Guard is actually pretty cool in the books, especially as they choose to contrast them with the Imperial fists later in the book.

Grim, curmudgeonly, gallows humour, toughness, these are traits to describe the Death Guard. I particularly like how they differentiate them from the Imperial Fist, another legendarily dour group by showing that Death Guard are more outspoken and less beholden to hierarchy. They seem to have an attitude that if your tough enough to be Death Guard, then you can speak your mind when you need to.

Kaleb’s story about failing to initiate is well told. Basically, to be Death Guard you have to complete a super marathon, in poison gas, running across barbed wire while having people blow their noses on you. Only the toughest, orneriest bastards make it out the other end.

A bunch of staunch dudes, love em.

Get to know your Primarch – Mortarion

Ok, ok….. so this dude is giant and gaunt, carries a scythe and sniffs his own farts.

There is basically a scene where he does that………… ANYWAY

I think the Author missed a trick here by not letting us see more of Mortarion than this. He gets a few scenes at the start of the book, but it’s pretty shallow stuff. He’s immune to poison, so he likes to drink it for fun with his friends, he’s a badass warrior and he’s scary.

None of that is deep or particularly interesting. However, there are two things I did note about Mortarion from the text that I found fascinating.

First, the reaction his men have when they find he’s returned. Mortarion does not seem to be loved by his legion, they are all pretty apprehensive about him when he arrives. He’s a bit scary, and while they admire him deeply, I didn't sense that Mortarion evokes the same passionate loyalty that Horus or Gulliman inspire in their men.

The second point is that Garro is left alive by Mortarion and Typhon seems to be the one to order his death. The scene between Mortarion and Garro shows the Primarch has a fondness for him, and from Typhon's language he even doesn't have him killed in the hopes he will come over. Strangely sentimental for a dude that models himself on the classical depiction of death.

Why the Emperor is a giant douche

Not a huge amount of direct douchiness in this one, but I will say one thing.

Hey Emperor, your son drinks poison and walks around calling himself the Lord of Death. PERHAPS HE NEEDS A HUG?

Mustache twirling evil-bastard award – The demon Decius

One of the most compelling stories in the book is that of Decius, the young warrior succumbing to a virulent Nurgle plague. The vivid descriptions of Decius agony and the mental anguish he goes through in order to surrender to possession are quite well told.

The foreshadowing, that this is the fate of the whole legion, is played out nicely as well.

Hmmmmm, Plaguey

The writing – technical review and evaluation

James Swallow writes an average book well.

That’s a strange statement and I’ll have to explain it. James writes well, his use of prose is among the best of the Horus heresy writing team. He describes events very well and has a natural flare for imagery.

The problem is that “Flight of the Eisenstein” was always going to be a filler story. We know the beginning and the end before we begin. It is a bridge between Istavaan III and the drop site massacre. Considering the brief, and the story he had to tell, I reckon he does a fine job.

This book gets a “You should probably read this if you are reading the series” rating. 

 *disclaimer, borrowed art is borrowed. 

PS, check out wibblethefish on deviant art.

Galaxy in flames - review and comments

Disclaimer

Spoilers abound in these posts, if you haven’t read the books and will get upset by finding out what happens just stop.

This is also not a recap, if you want a recap go to Lexicanium.

What The Black Library says about the book

Having recovered from his grievous injuries, Warmaster Horus leads the triumphant Imperial forces against the rebel world of Isstvan III. Though the rebels are swiftly crushed, Horus's treachery is finally revealed when the planet is razed by virus bombs and Space Marines turn on their battle-brothers in the most bitter struggle imaginable.

What the book is really about?

Well….. first of all I’d like to point out that the text in this book is considerably larger than the previous two: That should be an indicator of what is to come.

This should be the climatic reveal of Horus’s treachery, culminating in the battle on Isstvan III between loyalist and traitors. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver any major emotional impacts when it really counts.

Horus murdering all the remembrancers after gathering them together to watch the virus bombing was…. Moustache twirling evil for the sake of evil. It lacked any emotional impact and was just a box ticking exercise.

The virus bombing itself was well described and the battle within the Dies Irae was one of the few times there is pathos in the book. But in general, it just pussies out at the wrong times.

There is a lot of fighting in this book, and a lot of “action sequences”. Sadly, it just feels like someone reading a Michael bey script

“Booom, dakka dakka, explode, booom!”

Loken vs Abaddon

The Hero-Protagonist?

Loken needed to die, on-screen, heroically clinging to his honour and spitting blood in Abaddon’s face. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Sure it looks like it’s about to happen but then the building collapses and Horus bombards the site from orbit. I can only assume this was to deliberately leave it open for Loken to return.

ANY SCENARIO WHERE LOKEN RETURNS WILL BE KACK!

This being said, Loken loses his spot as hero-protagonist in this book. This book is more about Saul Tarvitz than it is Garviel Loken. Tarvitz discovers the virus bombing, Tarvitz warns everyone and then leads the final battle while Loken is off on a personal mission.

Tarvitz is also alive and kicking when the bombardment “that wont leave any survivors…. Honest” falls.

I have no idea why you would have Abbaddon and Lucius triumph over Loken and Tarvitz on-screen. The good guys don’t get beaten, they get bombed, and ultimately that is a lame way to end the book.

Why are there humans in my book about super-powered Space Marines?

Sinderman and Keeler again have a great story arc, showing off the first “saintly” powers in the 30k setting and teaming up with Iacton Kruze, a refreshingly portrayed Space Marine Officer (for one, he doesn’t spend every scene telling you how good he is at fighting)

However, the fight on the Dies Irae is one of the redeeming moments in the book. Cassar was a bit of a smug, sanctimonious git, but the personal betrayal he suffers manages to have 10 tiems the gravitas of Horus’s betrayal. A fried stabbing another in the back while weeping about it has a lot more emotion than pressing the “BOMB ALL THE THINGS” button.

I’m also glad the human characters get to go on more wacky adventures.

MVP – Saul Tarvitz

This should have been the defining end to Lokens arc, but Loken just bumbles through this book. Saul thinks, Saul acts, Saul beats Lucius and generally bloodies Horus’s nose while Loken gets all emo about it.

Saul is also about the only Space Marin captain who stops and thinks “Should I run head first at the enemy with my sword screaming…. Or come up with a plan first?”

For being the only Space Marin officer in this book to act as though he has a basic understanding of how to fight a war, he gets my MVP

Worst Character – Kharn

Abaddon finally gets beaten out by someone even crapper than he is. Kharn, as depicted in this book, is a joke.

First off e is all jovial, then he’s a frothing loon, then LOKEN PINS HIM TO A TANK THAT DRIVES OFF WITH HIM AS A HOOD ORNAMENT??!!?!?!

Dishonourable mentions to Horus Aximand (yes I get it he has doubts…… you don’t have to say that everytime he is on screen) and Eidolon (How is this guy in charge of anything?)

Why the Emperor is a giant douche

Short one this time, but it’s a big one.

Virus bombs

Dude invented a planet killer, a really horrible one, what an asshat.

Moustache twirling evil-bastard award - Lucius

This guy betrayed us? REALLY?

Lucius’s betrayal is about the least surprising thing to happen in the history of fiction.

1. Hes known to the audience as a chaos character from the 40k setting.
2. He clearly represents all that is wrong with the Emperors children and why they are falling to evil
3. He acts like a spoiled 12 year old

I found the whole Lucius plot torturous.

Then again, almost all of the characters from the 40k setting (Abaddon, Lucius, Kharn) have been portrayed terrible so far. 

The writing – technical review and evaluation

Ben Cunter is a mediocre storyteller and this is the best book he has written.

The action scenes are passable, but the dialogue and exposition is godawful.

I have to give this book a 4 on my scale though because the subject matter is important for the holistic view of the story. I just wish it was better written.

This book gets a “Must read if reading the series” rating, despite being an average book. The content is too important to skip.

Closing note – Over to the Megapope

And now, how to convince a fellow Space Marine that the Warmaster has turned on the Emperor, by Ben Counter! 

(Paraphrased ever so slightly from Galaxy In Flames)

SCENE: The chill void of space above ISSTVAN III. An occasional orbiting SKULL floats past because grimdark. TARVITZ has just been saved from certain death by GARRO who shot down several fighter jets intent on his destruction. He now must convince his battle brother that they have been betrayed. 

TARVITZ: So you remember the stories of Terra you told me, right?

GARRO: Indeed, it is hugely old, brother. Like old as balls. But feel free to get to the fucking point about why I just shot down several Imperial fighter jets who were chasing you down. Brother. 

TARVITZ: But Terra was well fucked up and the Emperor took that apocalyptic wasteland and he built an empire from the ashes, right? 

GARRO: Indeed he did, brother. The glorious shiny Emperor founded the Imperium there and this is why I fight, brother. To stand against the darkness and rediscover ancient glories like soft toilet paper and daytime television. Now about those Imperial fighter jets that I just murdered on your say so…

TARVITZ: Well basically that is what is being betrayed here. That whole thing you said.

GARRO: No! 

TARVITZ: Yes! So what will you do now?

GARRO: Well if I were a sane man I'd verify your massively outlandish statement in some way for starters, but instead I'll just assume that the only person who could possibly be behind this is Horus our beloved Warmaster because frankly he's a petulant highly strung manchild imbued with the powers of a demigod and also any kind of serious investigation would seriously eat into our pagecount. I guess my next step will be going to get Rogal Dorn or Magnus involved who will surely not rip me a new arsehole for presenting them with a laughably insane tale based on pretty much no evidence whatsoever.

TARVITZ: Don't worry, you'll get your own book rights based on the chase scene. I mean I'm sure you'll get away just fine.

False gods - a review

Disclaimer

Spoilers abound in these posts, if you haven’t read the books and will get upset by finding out what happens just stop.

This is also not a recap, if you want a recap go to Lexicanium.

What The Black Library says about the book

The Great Crusade that has taken humanity into the stars continues. The Emperor of mankind has handed the reins of command to his favoured son, the Warmaster Horus. Yet all is not well in the armies of the Imperium. Horus is still battling against the jealousy and resentment of his brother primarchs and, when he is injured in combat on the planet Davin, he must also battle his inner daemon. With all the temptations that Chaos has to offer, can the weakened Horus resist?

What the book is really about?

Now with more Nurgle

Will Horus resist?

Well the series is called the Horus Heresy so how about no…. no he doesn’t. Seriously, your audience knows what is happening so why try and sell this as a mystery. How about “Hey, read this and find out what made Horus snap and go crazy ape bonkers!”

I’d read that.

Well, I did, and that’s basically what this books is.

Abnett did a fine job building the world and setting the scene for this, THE AMAZING BOOK OF EXPOSITION! Inside you find out how Horus fell, and it’s not a bad story. It’s not a great story either as you really have to bang your head on the table at how thick some of the characters have to be to allow events to unfold as they do. Anyway....

Oh yeah, gotta love some action scenes vs Nurgle zombies. 

The returning Hero-Protagonist

Garviel is back as the hero-protagonist of this story and hes starting to get more of a clue. He’s still rigid and inflexible about most things, and his general reluctance to stop and scream “WAIT A MINUTE, THIS IS F***ED UP” to everyone he can find pretty much damns all of humanity.

Loken looking pretty baddass

He does have some brilliant moments though. The scene where he decides Erebus is a completely untrustworthy toolbox and gets the poet Karkasy (MVP from book 1) to observe him during a meeting is pretty gold.

He ahas good intentions, starts asking all the right questions and then falls short on execution. Honestly, I would have preferred if he knew a lot less than he does, as he knows enough to go. ERBUS DID IT; IT’S HIM, HES EVIL.

Not that anyone else would listen, because apparently the Lunar Wolves are a bit thick.

Why are there humans in my book about super-powered Space Marines?

The human characters return and provide an integral part of the story. I really like this aspect of the books and will continue to blather on about it.

Karkasy is again awesome, this time printing subversive poetry inspired by a massacre of civilians by the Marines. He really reminds me of a favourite character of mine from comics, the mad journalist Spider Jerusalem…. only with less use of a bowl disrupting ray gun.

Sindermann, the head of the remembracers serves an important role (again, mostly exposition) of pointing out to garviel that this magic, hocus pocus guff might actually have real power. The writer does a good show of showing a man of reason slowly giving ground to the idea that witchcraft is real. It’s nicely done.

And Keeler continues her story arc of doom. Her run in with the chaos beasty in book one break her, and she rebuilds herself with faith in the Emperor. This really comes to a head later in the book when Keeler takes her first step along the path to sainthood. Now in 40k they have saints for this and that, but the 30k world is a very secular one. She is the first character to manifest “the Emperor’s divine light” and her arc is an interesting one. Not just because of what happens to her, but because of the reactions of others when they actually see proof of the emperor’s divinity. 

I nearly made Karkasy the MVP of the book, but this time it goes to an 8 foot tall killing machine….. the wolverine of the Lunar Wolves

MVP – Tarik Torgaddon

As mentioned earlier, the Mournival represent the four humours. Tarik is sanguine, full of life and vigour. Basically, he’s a cigar chewing, wise cracking, axe wielding maniac, who would probably be at home in a Viking long hall, drinking mead, singing songs about Valhalla and generally being a drunken yahoo.

He’s the funny man to Garviel’s straight man, but that’s not why he is MVP of this book.

He is MVP because he figures out what happened to Horus and that Erebus was probably behind it. Instead of sitting on his hands he walks up to Abaddon and calls him a dick to his face.

That was enough for me to say “Well done Tarik”

Worst Character – Horus/ Abaddon/

I would cast this dude as Abaddon in a film
Hes the only one hammy enough

Seriously, Horus makes so many bad decisions that he deserves the nod here. Not bad as in “oh the humanity” but bad as in “How bad is your concussion?”

But the loser has to be Abaddon again…. For damning the galaxy through his own stupidity. He swallows everything that Erebus says and then rants at everyone else until they obey, at least Hastur Sejanus has his moment of doubt. Abaddon is quite honestly a caricature. A completely unbelievable character that no one bothered to invest time into as as everyone knew he was going to be evil.  

Again, I can only say that the 40k world is safe from Abaddon’s Black Crusades because he’s a moron

“My lord, it is time for another crusade into the Imperium, what are your plans”

“UGH! SMASH! KILL! SMASH! DERP!”

New uniform..... much better

Get to know your Legion – The Sons of Horus

Still don’t get the chapter but at least they have a decent name now and a cool logo.

After being presented as a gung-ho, go for the throat, assault type force in the first book, they are presented more like ultramarines in this book.

When the World Eaters are assaulting a fortress late in the book, the Sons of Horus act with proper combat discipline and boltguns behind the mad swarm of blood crazed Wolrd Eaters. I guess Angrons boys are feral enough to make any legion look disciplined, but I still don’t get what makes the Sons of Horus tick…. What their “thing” is.

Each Legion has a thing, and well, someone please tell me what the Sons of Horus is, asides from being “the Best one by far”. Seriously…. Are the Sons of Horus the Mary Sue Space Marine Chapter?

Get to know your Primarch – Warmaster Horus

Horus is a biting disappointment in this book, because frankly, he makes such bad decisions…. and obviously bad decisions….. that you have a hard time suspending disbelief.

In particular, is the Erebus baiting Horus scene.

In short, this is how it goes down

Horus : Hey everyone I am freaking awesome I am not!

Erebus: No sir, you are a dick

Horus: Did you call me a dick in front of all these people?

Erebus: No, of course not, another guy called you a dick, I was merely saying what was said

Horus: Who is this person, I want to punch him

Erebus: Oh, that guy, yeah, he’s on the moon, but you’re too much of a pussy to go fight him

Horus: AM NOT! I am awesome! I’ll go smash this guy because you told me to

Erebus: You are wise my lord,

Horus: Right, let’s get to smashing this guy before I can think over how easily I was goaded into this blatantly obvious trap

Garviel: (to self) Perhaps I should mention that Horus is being manipulated and running into a trap….. nah.

At other times Horus is a short sighted petulant child, and I’m talking pre-fall.

For someone who is super-powered he really is a neurotic teenager.

I love the Eye of Horus symbol. 

Why the Emperor is a giant douche

Remember when you found out that Santa wasn’t real?

Or when you first clicked that your parents, on occasion, would lie to you, you know, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD (Or for their own good).

The Emperor is a liar, and he lies about really important things. In this case, he basically lies to the Primarch about their origins. It’s like saying to a child “you are my special son/daughter and you’re mother and I love you” and then finding out that they kidnapped you from the maternity ward.

The Emperor created 20 of the most super awesome baddasses in history, and then flat out lied to them about their origin, and how they came to be.

The final thing that pushes Horus over the edge is when, after the Emperor has told him that the warp should not be touched, Horus discovers that warp powers were used to make them.

If the Emperor has sat his lads down and said… “ok sons, the warp is full of evil shit that will lie to you, mess you up and drive you mad, don’t delve to deep in to it, I tried and boy…. Lucky to make it out in one piece”.  Perhaps they may have pulled through.

Jesus.... if he was the Emperor.

Perhaps the emperor believed in abstinence only education as well?

Almost certainly, beause as we all know, the Emperor is a Giant Douche!

Moustache twirling evil-bastard award - Erebus

This has to be Erebus for the most convoluted, time consuming, easy to mess up plan to turn the Emperor to Chaos.

Seriously, if any steps in his 4088 stage plan had stuffed up he would have been murdered. The fact that his actions are SO transparent and he gets away with it is proof that Space Marines, our hero included, are not that smart…. Unless they become evil.

This is a book that Erebus had read, but Horus had not. 

The writing – technical review and evaluation

Graham McNeill is the journeyman of the writing team. You have your star players, your rookies, and your busts, but McNeill is simply solid.

He rarely has an amazing turn of phrase or great characters, but the writing is solid. The story builds nicely from book one, and asides from some of the characterisations (Horus and Abaddon) the book is a good enough read.

It also features the fall of Horus and for that reason it’s a must read. It’s not good enough to be a great standalone book in it’s own right, but it is a solid addition to the series.

This book gets a “must read if reading the series” rating. 

 *disclaimer, borrowed art is borrowed. 

Horus Rising - Also known as a “Recipe for self-raising Horus Heresy cakes”

Disclaimer

Forward, for free hair care product!

Spoilers abound in these posts, if you haven’t read the books and will get upset by finding out what happens just stop.

This is also not a recap, if you want a recap go to Lexicanium.

What The Black Library says about the book

After thousands of years of expansion and conquest, the human Imperium is at its height. His dream for humanity accomplished, the Emperor hands over the reins of power to his Warmaster, Horus, and heads back to Terra. But is Horus strong enough to control his fellow commanders and continue the Emperor’s grand design, or will such incredible power corrupt him?

What the book is really about?

In the most part, it’s about world building and scene setting.

Not a lot actually happens in the book, sure there are some action sequences and character development but there isn’t a lot of WHAM BAM reveals and earth shattering developments. It’s actually a pretty subtle book that mixes the BIG BOYS COMMANDO ACTION style of 40k with some nice character development and gentle exposition.

Nothing seems horribly forced and the 30k world is allowed to develop naturally over the course of the book. 

Introducing the Hero-Protagonist

Serious.... serious profession

Get used to this archetype as you will be seeing a lot of it in the future. Garviel Loken is a good honest humble warrior without delusions of his own importance. He loves The Emperor, His Primarch, His Legion and the Imperium in roughly that order. He has a square jaw and a poorly developed sense of humour. He fights hard but he fights fair and he has the welfare of his men as a top priority and has a rigid sense of good conduct and honour and stuff.

Seriously, you should really get used to this type of character as it will form the template for many other Horus Heresy protagonists. One of them is even introduced in this book.

What separates Garviel from the pack? Well, he does have some doubts about things that many other characters don’t consider. After seeing one of his men fall to chaos possession he has a bit of an existential crisis and he develops genuine relationships with no less than three non-space marines in the book. 

Yep, even 8 foot tall killing machines have self-doubt, and having Garviel show this demonstrates his character.

Why are there humans in my book about super-powered Space Marines?

Well, for the 1^st point, so it isn’t 100% a macho, yet homo-erotic, circle-jerk like a lot of this kind of fiction.

Without the human characters to show contrast and be “real” any gravitas of the events unfolding would be lost. If everyone in the world is a colossal Space Marine, you can’t see them for what they are. The human characters give us this perspective, to see the inhuman monstrousness and grandeur of the Astartes in human eyes.

And a bonus it also allows the story to have some female characters… and real characters at that, not just hot boobs in power armour.

This is a good thing unless you are currently sitting in your lounge masturbating to "guns and ammo". 

The mechanism used to introduce the human characters is genius. They are rememberancers, a fleet of artists and scholars sent by the Emperor to chronicle the crusade. They dodder about, like artists, exploring the ship, trying to get interviews, taking photos and writing poetry. It’s a nice way to explain why there is an untrained human at a battle who has to be told everything from scratch and it’s a tasteful way of dumping a bundle of exposition needed for world building.

The photographer, Keeler, gets to witness chaos first hand and to take a photo of it. Her reaction is suitably human and she breaks down and finds religion as a comfort. This kind of frailty would have been out of place if every character was a Marine and I think the story is far richer for including her.

This brings me to the real hero of the book…..

Um officer..... our cat is stuck up that tree......

MVP – Ignance Karkasy

I love this character. Karkasy is an iconoclastic, drunken, loud mouthed, smart-assed poet with one redeeming feature, he speaks truth to power. Garviel and Karkasy strike up a fascinating relationship after Karkasy gets his ass kicked for suggesting the imperium will not last forever. He serves as a comic foil to the straight laced Garviel, while remaining a believable and likeable figure.

Worst Character – Abaddon

Try harder to be bad please!

I was going to say Lucius, but I have plenty of time for that in later books. What Lucius and Abaddon have in common is that they are established characters in the 40k universe, and they are bad guys. You almost feel that the author had to put them in, so wrote them with resentment.

Abaddon is basically Worf…. Or at least a bad Klingon analogue.

“What should we do Abaddon”

“UGH! SMASH! KILL! SMASH! DERP!”

He’s predictably boring and totally unlikeable, I can see why all his black crusades fail in the future.

“My lord, it is time for another crusade into the Imperium, what are your plans”

“UGH! SMASH! KILL! SMASH! DERP!”

Get to know your Legion – The Luna Wolves

Right, I still don’t get the Luna Wolves and I’ve always hated that name. They seem to be good at everything without any real weaknesses. As fierce as a Space Wolf and as planned as an Ultramarine.

The net result is they end up pretty bland.

The one cool thing they have is the Mournival, a group of four senior captains who advise the Primarch. This artifice is used in conjunction with the four humours,

•  Sanguine (Full of life and energy, HUZZAH!)
• Melancholic (Grumpy, moody, perfectionism)
• Phlegmatic (relaxed, content, diplomatic)
• Choleric (UGH! SMASH! KILL! SMASH! DERP!)

Each member of the Mourival represents one of these aspects, with our hero Garviel being the Phlegmatic one. These four voices are balanced by the Primarch in his decision making process, which is quite a neat concept. These four humours are also used in most of the books by Marines to describe their current emotion state.

The Mournival

Get to know your Primarch – Warmaster Horus

I must say I was a little disappointed with Horus. A big deal is made about him being the bees-knees but he really comes across as an insecure stuff-up.

The book has three set pieces and Horus pretty much fucks everything up on each occasion and then has a cry about how hard being so amazing is. “What’s this, a planet infested by killed arachnids with no strategic value; best piss away my forces while ignoring requests from all the other Primarchs for advice…. Seeing as I’m their boss and everything”.

He also plays some political games using the Mournival, but it’s Machiavelli 101 stuff. Then he has a cry about it.

I know the Author is trying to show that even the mighty Warmaster has weaknesses, but seriously.

Why the Emperor is a giant douche

This will appear in every single book because the Heresy only happens because the Emperor is a giant douche.

This time around it’s failing to transition power to Horus with nothing more than an over the top parade and a short speech. He orders and entire continent flattened for one parade, then says

“Right… I know the war isn’t over but I’m buggering off, I won’t tell you why, but keep fighting….. oh you work for this dude now…. BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”

It’s like you were in class one day and your teacher organised a big event, introduced the relieving teacher as Bob, and then got on his Harley and drove off into the sunset while giving you the finger. No wonder people though “holy shit…. Is he coming back? Have we been abandoned?”

Probably, and it’s because your god-king is a giant douche.

Gentlemen..... i'm popping down the shops for a pack of smokes.... i'll be right back

Moustache twirling evil-bastard award - Erebus

Yep.... this guys is initially introduced
as a level headed adviser

Erebus is introduced as an even handed advisor from the Word Bearers to Horus and later revealed to be a complete cock.

His involvement is small at this stage, but he is pretty much the only evil character in the story. One aspect of his story is his involvement in the Warrior Lodges (secret bloke societies of space marines that Garviel does not approve of but that everyone but Garveil seem to belong to).

He does singled-handily start a war with a benevolent species however, and for that alone he gets the evil bastard award.

The writing – technical review and evaluation

This is a good book and a must read for the series, if only to get the context of the rest of the books. The action schemes are pretty solid, if that’s what you are in this for, but the real strength is the world building and characters, specifically the human characters.

It’s not as creative as some of Abnetts later books and I feel at times he is struggling within the tight narrative guidelines he would have been given. Oh, I also wished he hadn’t just watched Starship Troopers as well.

This book gets a “must read” rating. If you are going to read any of the books, you may as well start here. 

 *disclaimer, borrowed art is borrowed.