The Purging of Kadillus - Book Review

The Purging of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe
Faced with an ork invasion of Piscina IV, the 3rd Company of the Dark Angels believes the threat to be minimal. As enemy numbers continue to increase, their commander, Captain Belial, insists that his Company are strong enough to resist. But Scout-Sergeant Naaman knows just how dangerous this foe can be, and when a renewed greenskin offensive takes the Dark Angels by surprise, the orks swarm towards Kadillus Harbour. Little do the Dark Angels know of the technological power available to the xenos, and the true scale of the threat they face. Belial, Naaman and their fellow Astartes fight a desperate siege at Kadillus, knowing that they must hold out until Imperial reinforcements arrive or the planet will be lost.

Before we start and I rip in to it too much and despite comments that may suggest otherwise I actually enjoyed this book, but I was really hoping for something more when it comes to the enigmatic air that there is about the Dark Angels. Surprisingly there was less of that but there were a good set of fast paced battles instead. So I can say I was let down in the action stakes but more got something I wasn’t expecting as the Dark Angels provided the Bolter and Chainsword action we hoped for.

One thing I did enjoy was the structure to the book, which provides a series of story arcs and different battles for the planet from the view of various members of the Dark Angels Chapter. What also appealed to me was that the characters were ones, that for the most part, have been introduced (and in some cases killed) in other books in the Black Library range. I especially liked Veteran Sergeant Naaman's take on things and his heroic but, from the Dark Angels viewpoint, reckless attempts to establish how the Ork reinforcements keep arriving. I also liked Nestor and his stoic approach and slight defeatist viewpoint that spurs him on.

The different natures of the Space Marines is really noticeable in this novel, the independent Naaman, the by the book Ravenwing commander and the very very hard-line chaplain really stand out as emotional characters. This is more in line with the Black Library trend where the various Space Marines are showing greater and greater emotion, including self-doubt, something which stories from the late 90’s/early 00’s didn't consider or really deal with. I did find in this case more than some of the other novels that this really worked and highlighted the different nature of them, so despite them all bring peerless warriors they are all different and outstanding in different ways.

The areas I didn’t feel were fully covered or even barely touched on were the tumultuous history of the Dark Angels, there were hints and phrases but for the most part we were left in the dark about the Dark Angels, from that viewpoint I guess this was a book for Dark Angels fans not for those wanting to find out about them. They hinted at their roles and at the purpose of the Dark Angels. There were hints about the fallen and about the destruction of Caliban but nothing that gives us new insight. It was nice though to get to hear from the Chaplains and a Master of the Dark Angels but I felt we could and should have had more.

The one low point for me was really the Orks, as unpredictable as they were they were predictable. They were too jokey and they didn’t show the “fight” one normally expects from them. However the one thing I really didn’t like was the way they were dealt with when they spoke. I appreciate its to make them look base and animalistic but it’s just damn annoying and gets tedious after a while. Another area I wasn’t impressed with was the PDF/IG bashing, the PDF in this novel were treated as secondary to even the Orks, despite the fact they were a principle part of the story. They worked well and there was character in them and I do appreciate this was an Astartes novel but it would be nice just for once (as Naaman does) to show the IG some respect.

Still overall the book was good, the action was fast paced and well timed within the flow of the story. The Dark Angels certainly delivered on that action and the bolter wielding death, just not on their own history and background – the things that make them appeal to so many people – so overall I think the novel is a solid 4 stars and a good read for any Space Marine fan. The only thing I wish is that that would let Dan Abnett loose on them and see what wonders he could deliver.

Available from:http://www.blacklibrary.com/
The Purging of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe
Paperback • ISBN 9781844168965

Helsreach - Book Review

Helsreach - Aaron Dembski-Bowden

When the world of Armageddon is attacked by orks, the Black Templars Space Marine Chapter are amongst those sent to liberate it. Chaplain Grimaldus and a band of Black Templars are charged with the defence of Hive Helsreach from the xenos invaders in one of the many battlezones. But as the orks numbers grow and the Space Marines dwindle, Grimaldus faces a desperate last stand in an Imperial temple. Determined to sell their lives dearly, will the Black Templars hold on long enough to be reinforced, or will their sacrifice ultimately be in vain.

CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

The Second book in the Space Marine Battles series deals with the second Ork invasion of the Planet of Armageddon. This is one of the more famous planetary invasions and leads to a series of battles that many Space Marine Chapters of the Warhammer 40,000 have been involved in and is the defining moment for many a Chapter or Space Marine Hero. This book tells the story of that invasion and the horrific consequences for population of Helsreach, its Defenders and it Enemies and concentrates on the Black Temaplars Space Marines.


The book sees the lead up to the invasion with details of the invasion and the preparations and decisions that lead to the eventual outcome. The book also deals with the siege of Helsreach and final outcome to save the city and its population. This was an excellent book that I felt looked at one of the most interesting and devastating events that could impact a world and ultimately a Hive city.

The book was well metered for the most part, though some small parts did seem to drag rather slowly and this seemed to pull the whole book back and make it seem a slow read in the places. The story was pretty straight forward and for the most part however did seem well planned out, but there were some issues with the format and style it was written in. The thing that particularly frustrated me where when it flicked between the flowing story and Grimaldus’ inner monologue, those bits whilst interesting and involved didn’t seem to gel with the rest of the book. Again like the first book in the series this book had the 4 colour pages in the centre with maps of the planet, continents and cities. This single little touch really makes this series stand out as something different to the normal warhammer 40000 novels out there.

The story was a very good telling of the siege of Helsreach but rather then concentrate on this (which in my view would have made a great guard and titan novel and could have been expanded) this book looked at the “limited” involvement of the black Templars. And most importantly looks at the development and failings of Grimaldus, a black templars chaplain.

Whilst the novel was well written I wasn’t impressed overall with the battles as the few that the marines seemed to be involved in were over too quickly and didn’t go in to the greater depth I expected to see in the Space Marines Battles series. Most of the characters were fairly two dimensional as well and were pretty much 40k stereotypes, but this I guess is what made it a true 40,000 novel! The novel again was a good start to a good series and is going a long way to help set some of the best short fiction stories down on paper in a more in depth and complete manner then before

As with the previous book in the series (and I’m taking this almost word for word about the previous Space Marine Battle series review) is that my final gripe and one that I though could have made the book an outstanding pinnacle of Black Library fiction was the liberation, or in this case lack of one. Whilst the hive is liberated and we know this, what we don’t know is wholly how or who by. To me adding a few more chapters covering this and all the forces involved would have really finished the novel off and would for me as a gamer opened up some interesting avenues for modelling and army building. Not to mention finding out the fate of the Black Templars Techmarine after his sins!

With all that in mind though Helsreach is a reasonably enjoyable read and because of that and its place in a great looking series of books I personally think this is worthy of a 4 out of 5

Availible from:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/

Helsreach - Aaron Dembski-Bowden
softback, 416pp • ISBN 9781844168620

Rynn's World - Book Review

Rynn's World - Steve Parker

When the ork hordes of Warlord Snagrod lay waste to the planet of Badlanding and wipe out the Crimson Fists sent to stop them, Chapter Master Kantor prepare a hasty line of defence on the Fists home planet of Rynn's World. Tragedy strikes when an errant missile destroys the Space Marine's Chapter monastery, killing most of their warriors. With a handful of Crimson Fists left, Kantor must fight the campaign of his life, to defeat Snagrod's orks and prevent his Chapter's annihilation.

CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

The Ork invasion of the Crimson Fist homeworld of Rynn's World is one of the more famous battles the Space Marines have been involved in and is the defining moment for the Crimson Fists Chapter. This book tells the story of that invasion and the horrific consequences for the chapter.

The book like many of the recent novels is split into multiple parts. In this case its split in to three parts. The first part sees the lead up to the invasion with details of invasions elsewhere, warp news and the Librarium all making an appearance. Then it moves on to look at the invasion itself and most importantly the catastrophe that strikes the chapter.

The second part follows the defence of New Rynn City and the brave defenders holding at all costs. It also examines the trek of Chapter Master Pedro Kantor to New Rynn City along with his bunch of survivors, both marine and civilian. The final part details the retaking of the New Rynn City Spaceport and ends as the liberation begins, but doesn’t detail any of the retaking of Rynn’s world.

This was an excellent book that I felt looked at one of the most interesting and devastating events that could impact a Chapter, however despite been excellent I’m afraid it could have been better. The book was fast paced and I managed to get through it extremely quickly, without missing any of the action or wondering what was happening at any point, the book was just so well laid out that it moved on with little pause.

The language used was simple, if sometimes overly so, but on a whole read well. I did find parts of it to be a little over the top and did notice one or two mistakes in the tense used in the novel.

One thing that I did like that despite the loss, anger and in some cases just plain rage there were some nice humorous sections, almost grave digger style humour but it worked and helped portrait the marines as something other than automatons, however for the most part they did stay true to character as it were.

The book also had some nice little features like the 4 colour pages in the centre with maps of the planet, continents and cities. This single little touch really helped finish the book and really makes it stand out as something different to the normal warhammer 40000 novels out there.

The things that I felt could have made the book better were little things that if I hadn’t played 40k for so long I wouldn’t have noticed. For example Cortez, in current fluff he’s a survivor and has no problems, however in the book despite surviving and theoretically being fit for duty there is a major change to established fluff.

As pointed out by a number of other reviews the story of the Land Raider Rynn's Might (remember the land raiders shown on the Land Raider poster in White Dwarf and written up in issue 256) this almost pivotal component of the siege was missed and was actually disappointing not to see.

My final gripe and one that I though could have made the book an outstanding pinnacle of Black Library fiction was the liberation, or in this case lack of one. Whilst the planets liberated and we know this, what we don’t know is how or who by. To me adding a few more chapters covering this and all the forces involved would have really finished the novel off and would for me as a gamer opened up some interesting avenues for modelling and army building.

An excellent book and as the opening salvo in the Space Marines Battle Series was an excellent read and was well written and true (for the most part) to accepted cannon, it was nice for the writer not to reinvent things, and helped detail something many gamers have read about in brief but haven’t had the chance to explore in detail.

Well done Mr Parker and let’s hope that the second book in the series, another Imperial Fists Successor novel in the guise of the Black Templars, holds up to the standard set by this novel.

With all that in mind though Rynns World is an excellent read and is well worth of a 5 out of 5.

Availible from:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Rynn's World - Steve Parker
softback, 416pp • ISBN 9781844168026

The Chapters Due - Book Review

The Chapters Due - Graham McNeill
War is unending in the life of a Space Marine. After defeating tau forces, Captain Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines has returned to the Chapter’s homeworld of Macragge, but there is little respite. The Ultramarines are thrust back into battle, and this time the enemy is the Chapter’s greatest nemesis. The traitorous Iron Warriors, led by renegade Warsmith Honsou, have gathered together a massive and brutal warband. Their target is the realm of Ultramar. Their objective is total annihilation. It is a final showdown between legendary Space Marines, and Uriel Ventris must take on the might of Honsou if he is to save his Chapter’s homeworld.

This is the latest novel in the Uriel Ventris series of Ultramarines novels and i really hope it isn't the last. Whilst it potentially appears to be the last in this story arc and the last in the Honsu, Newborn, Ventris arc it luckily ended withe just enough suspense to mean it may not be - we can only hope.

The novel was a great climax to an awesome story arc and my only complaint is it was only one book instead of two, the scale of the campaign (for want of a better word) and the raging battles could easily have stretched to two novels. As it was this one book was fast paced with action on virtually every page and makes you not want to put it down, i read it over the course of two evenings it was that good.

There are some interesting portions of the books with great flash backs to the past, for both Ventris and the Newborn. There are also some fascinating cameos from the Raven Guard, who would have thought they would turn up seems as FW have just released some awesome new models, and most importantly there were some surprise appearances from the least unexpected quarter. That's right the Legion of the Damned, my apologies for the spoiler but i must say the way in which their background and origins was hinted at was superb and one of the best notions i have ever seen for these mysterious warriors, the Men in Back of 40k. the way they were dealt with was superb and i hope it becomes cannon in the way GW themselves deal with the Legion.
 
All in all an excellent book, a great way two finish of both the Uriel story arc and the Iron Warriors story arcs in one concise and simple novel. well executed and superbly written a real joy to read.
 
A full 5 out of 5 stars from me for such a great ending.
 

 
 

 
Available from:

http://www.blacklibrary.com
The Chapters Due - Graham McNeill
hardback, 320pp • ISBN 9781844168606

IMPERIAL ARMOUR EIGHT: RAID ON KASTOREL-NOVEM - A PRODUCT REVIEW

IMPERIAL ARMOUR EIGHT: RAID ON KASTOREL-NOVEM - FORGEWORLD

Waaagh! Garaghak is gathering pace across the Forsarr sector. Several of the Imperium¹s worlds have already fallen to the rising green tide of Orks, and now the sector¹s primary hive world has been invaded. Garaghak¹s hordes seem unstoppable, except that the Raven Guard¹s Scouts have discovered a secret behind the Goff Warlord¹s unending warbands ­ - an Ork technical genius called Mek Boss Buzzgob who has created his own factories on the former Imperial refinery world in the Kastorel system.

This book contains a detailed history of the Raid on Kastorel-Novem and the rise of Warlord Garaghak. There is a complete Elysian Drop Troop Imperial Guard army list, including the Vulture gunship, Valkyrie Sky Talon and the Tauros and Tauros Venator rapid assault vehicles. There is also background information on the Raven Guard Space Marine Chapter, along with a new special character, Shadow Captain Korvydae. Rules, background and technical details are included for all of the recent Forge World Ork releases.

This book is heavily illustrated with over 50 colour pictures, 60 full colour vehicle profiles, over 30 technical drawings, plus colour profiles for the Elysian Drop Troops, Raven Guard and the Orks of the Goff, Evil Sunz and Death Skullz clans, all to add new depth and detail to the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Also included in this book is a folded copy of an A1 Ork poster featuring artwork by Paul Bonner, Sam Lamont and Kenton Mills.

As I'm sure you can already tell I am some what of a Forge world fan so I really had to pick the lastest Forgeworld book up to complete my set, initial thoughts were along the lines of another expensive although impressive book, but was I right?

On arrival i found I was lucky enough once again to have managed to get in early and get one of the 500 signed books that forgeworld do for each new release which cheered me up no end after spending a lot on this book.

Initial impressions were good, a well made book and a really awesome looking poster (that's never going to be wall mounted), the quality of both were great as one would expect given the price of most FW books.

The fluff inside was good but in my mind when compared to the previous offerings from Forgeworld I don't think was of the same level of depth and quality. I appreciate the raid was meant to be a rapid deployment and was meant to show case the orks equipment but within the fluff i don't think that happened to the degree it has previously.

There was some fluff on the Raven Guard but nothing new or overly exciting and the only new info on the Elysians was the new Tauros vehicles (if only they would release a version with cadian crew!) and even then not much about its history etc.

The main protagonists had a lot of new kit that in most cases was briefly mentioned in the fluff section of the book but thankfully did get more background in the rules section of the book.

Overall I guess i was happy with the book as with all FW books the artwork was superb and the modelling and painting ideas are amazing, i was slightly disappointed in the quality of the fluff and the actual size of the book too! Personally with these factors in mind i think the book for once was slightly over priced (what FW stuff isn't but usually with good reason) and really in my eyes should have been £10 cheaper then it actually was.

Either way overall a good (but not amazing) book and one that needs adding to anyone's FW collection.
 
Available from:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk
RAID ON KASTOREL-NOVEM - Forgeworld