Reviews

I Am Slaughter by Dan Abnett

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 against another edition

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.

kavinay's review against another edition

5.0

Shockingly good. It's amazing how much better 40k gets with a touch of Discworld-ish wryness mixed into the grimdark.

Ever since Rogue Trader, 40k books and fluff have subtly been buying into their own emo-seriousness to the point you now wonder if the creators actually get how ridiculously the Imperium's fascism contributes to the dystopian aspect of the setting. Abnett is one of the few Black Library authors that can spin a good turn of fluff and inject some vibrancy of 40ks origins back into the universe.

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/

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.

rake_anomander's review

3.0

I love Dan Abnett as a writer, but this book felt, more or less, as if it had been written on auto-pilot.
This is at the same time some of the better bolter porn I've read so far from Warhammer, as well as Warhammer at its cheesiest.
I will be reading the rest of the series, no doubt about it.