warragh's review
4.0
No short story intro this time, it's straight to the main story.
After the events of the previous book Uriel Ventris along with his loyal sergeant Pasanius and the Unfleshed arrive on an unknown planet. It is immediately obvious however that not everything is as it should be.
From the start this is not like the rest of the books. There is no daemon world, no ancient god, no alien threat. This is a much more grounded story about humans and what war does to them. The characters are simple but they join together to serve the greater plot. In parallel to the story of the planet, Ventris and Pasanius have their own quest for redemption. Uriel in particular is still tormented by what he experienced in the previous book and still feels a great deal of responsibility to the Unfleshed.
This is probably the most story focused book in the series so far. The action is brief and mostly limited to the final third of the book but this helps the plot build at a steady pace towards its inevitable conclusion.
Obviously it's not a perfect book, some of the arcs have a rather dull conclusion and there are precious few surprises but it is very effective in what it tries to do and in the emotions it tries to evoke. It is a story about the ruthlessness of war, about how conflict can change men and ultimately about the fact that we are all responsible for our actions or lack thereof.
After the events of the previous book Uriel Ventris along with his loyal sergeant Pasanius and the Unfleshed arrive on an unknown planet. It is immediately obvious however that not everything is as it should be.
From the start this is not like the rest of the books. There is no daemon world, no ancient god, no alien threat. This is a much more grounded story about humans and what war does to them. The characters are simple but they join together to serve the greater plot. In parallel to the story of the planet, Ventris and Pasanius have their own quest for redemption. Uriel in particular is still tormented by what he experienced in the previous book and still feels a great deal of responsibility to the Unfleshed.
This is probably the most story focused book in the series so far. The action is brief and mostly limited to the final third of the book but this helps the plot build at a steady pace towards its inevitable conclusion.
Obviously it's not a perfect book, some of the arcs have a rather dull conclusion and there are precious few surprises but it is very effective in what it tries to do and in the emotions it tries to evoke. It is a story about the ruthlessness of war, about how conflict can change men and ultimately about the fact that we are all responsible for our actions or lack thereof.
ruadhanach's review
A surprisingly thoughtful story for a book set in a fictional universe about a seemingly endless and meaningless conflict. When I was a wee boy and I was really into Warhammer, I reckon I would have found it funny reading about hypermasculine Space Marines crying and hugging as well as fighting and being interested in their history and aw that. You never really see much Imperial infighting in Games Workshop's own lore either, so it has a bizarrely relevant political aspect to it too. I think my only criticism is that the big reveal has a big neon signpost about four or five chapters ahead.
More...