br33na's review
5.0
Great Start to the Waaaaghus Heresy
I had some trepidation picking this up and don't think I would have if I hadn't grabbed it in a sale and was finally going through my backlog, but this was a genuinely great start to an event series and I actually want to check the rest out now.
While it's impossible to replicate the Dark King and the Lightning Tower in a bottle of the Horus Heresy with it's history, characters, mythology, and the rest, this has great writing with a mix of perspectives, locations, and action with the absolute shambles of the aristocratic fascist Council of Terra and it's many unfriendly appendages.
I can only hope the rest of the series is as good.
I'm a total Toby Longworth fangirl, but I always forget how great Gareth Armstrong is and this is fantastic performance.
I had some trepidation picking this up and don't think I would have if I hadn't grabbed it in a sale and was finally going through my backlog, but this was a genuinely great start to an event series and I actually want to check the rest out now.
While it's impossible to replicate the Dark King and the Lightning Tower in a bottle of the Horus Heresy with it's history, characters, mythology, and the rest, this has great writing with a mix of perspectives, locations, and action with the absolute shambles of the aristocratic fascist Council of Terra and it's many unfriendly appendages.
I can only hope the rest of the series is as good.
I'm a total Toby Longworth fangirl, but I always forget how great Gareth Armstrong is and this is fantastic performance.
yuiscool's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
astator's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A thrilling and excellent read. The less you know the better it is. Great start to the series, hopefully the next titles are equally strong.
bandicoot's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kghdodge's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
elaineg's review
2.5
Short, first episode of a twelve-part cash grab. Functional writing by Dan Abnett sets up a bunch of storylines and if it were him writing the whole series I'd probably find some way to get the whole of it through the library. But it's not, so I'll not.
paulopaperbooksonly's review
3.0
Small Review...
With a little over 200 pages it look like more a novella than a novel but that's what I expect from the new Black Library format. Why make 400 pages book when you can make 200 and charge the same (or more). Look at all those novels being release 2016. Not counting with HH most books don't surpass 250 pages or are an amalgamation of short stories.
Well Dan Abnett is a King but in this novel I didn't enjoy that much. It felt like a really long prologue (and probably it was what they were aiming there).
They throws us into a clash between the Imperial Fists and some beings (that look like intergalactic giant flying ants) in a planet quite close to Terra ( six weeks warp travel) called Ardamantua.
We mostly get to see the effects of big space hulks (flying planetoids) that tore the world apart.
Some imperial fists died from that (and from the innitial xenos). After the appearance of that monster moon the remaining Imperial Fists that were stationed on Terra (for over 2000 years) go to help their battle brothers. Suffice to say that they weren't enough of them.
We also got see a bit of something I didn't think they had talk before - the High Lords of Terra. IT's a complacent bunch and basically petty politicians that rob mankind and take advantage of their positions. Abnett also introduce us the petty squabbles between themselves. In this book we follow a couple characters inclduding Second Company Master Koorland aka "Slaughter" (which unfortunately I hope more of him). "Beast" an Assassin & "Beast" the Ork - Why name two characters with the same codename was a bit odd... We also follow the Master of Assassins - Drakan Vangorich who is not part of the High Twelve being substitute by another office.
I hope for a bit more but unfortunall that's what you get with a 12 book saga. Enter Predator Prey.
With a little over 200 pages it look like more a novella than a novel but that's what I expect from the new Black Library format. Why make 400 pages book when you can make 200 and charge the same (or more). Look at all those novels being release 2016. Not counting with HH most books don't surpass 250 pages or are an amalgamation of short stories.
Well Dan Abnett is a King but in this novel I didn't enjoy that much. It felt like a really long prologue (and probably it was what they were aiming there).
They throws us into a clash between the Imperial Fists and some beings (that look like intergalactic giant flying ants) in a planet quite close to Terra ( six weeks warp travel) called Ardamantua.
We mostly get to see the effects of big space hulks (flying planetoids) that tore the world apart.
Some imperial fists died from that (and from the innitial xenos). After the appearance of that monster moon the remaining Imperial Fists that were stationed on Terra (for over 2000 years) go to help their battle brothers. Suffice to say that they weren't enough of them.
We also got see a bit of something I didn't think they had talk before - the High Lords of Terra. IT's a complacent bunch and basically petty politicians that rob mankind and take advantage of their positions. Abnett also introduce us the petty squabbles between themselves. In this book we follow a couple characters inclduding Second Company Master Koorland aka "Slaughter" (which unfortunately I hope more of him). "Beast" an Assassin & "Beast" the Ork - Why name two characters with the same codename was a bit odd... We also follow the Master of Assassins - Drakan Vangorich who is not part of the High Twelve being substitute by another office.
I hope for a bit more but unfortunall that's what you get with a 12 book saga. Enter Predator Prey.
trackofwords's review against another edition
4.0
With the Horus Heresy series at 30+ books and counting the last thing anyone expected Black Library to do was to start a brand new headline series, but that’s exactly what they’ve done, with Dan Abnett’s I Am Slaughter providing the opening book in a 12-strong series entitled The Beast Arises. Set after the Heresy but thousands of years before the main 40K timeline, with an Imperium essentially at peace, it sees almost the entire chapter of Imperial Fists in action on Ardamantua against the xenos Chromes. With the Fists fully occupied and Terra left unguarded, Grand Master Vangorich of the Officio Assassinorum watches and analyses the Imperial Senatorum, concerned about the petty politics which he believes risk the safety of the Imperium.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/i-am-slaughter-dan-abnett-the-beast-arises-book-one/
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/i-am-slaughter-dan-abnett-the-beast-arises-book-one/
nooker's review
4.0
Kinda hard to follow as the action bopped around to different places that don't seem obviously connected, but had a satisfying ending that ties things together pretty well.
friarzero's review
2.0
The weakest Abnett novel I've read so far. It lacks the rich characterization found in Gaunt's Ghosts or the Inquisitor series. Honestly I find action scenes Abnett's greatest weakness and so much of this book is devoted to mindless action that makes my eyes glaze over, accurately simulating what it's like to hear a 40k player recount their tabletop exploits.