paulopaperbooksonly's review
3.0
So I am on a roll reading these Warhammer Horror Stories.
This one is also told in first person perspective. In it we follow Sullo a archivist as she is trying to live after retiring. the son of a very famous Grayloc asks us if she would like to catalog her library and she promptly agrees.
There are some really interesting passages where she is describing about the books the Colonel had (including some interesting nods). Inbetween we follow Sullo as she goes in the nearby city trying to learn more about her benefactor and story of her fall.
I am not going to dwell much on the plot but I enjoy the little snippets in the bottom of the page, put by some inquisitor and warnings. It was a slow building dread as we uncover more and more about the history of the books.
Really enjoy learning more about the world, the wars they were in.
The last dozen pages it's more action filled scenes and we learn more about all that unfold (and the demon within). A spooky tale, more akin to some gothic tale.
This one is also told in first person perspective. In it we follow Sullo a archivist as she is trying to live after retiring. the son of a very famous Grayloc asks us if she would like to catalog her library and she promptly agrees.
There are some really interesting passages where she is describing about the books the Colonel had (including some interesting nods). Inbetween we follow Sullo as she goes in the nearby city trying to learn more about her benefactor and story of her fall.
I am not going to dwell much on the plot but I enjoy the little snippets in the bottom of the page, put by some inquisitor and warnings. It was a slow building dread as we uncover more and more about the history of the books.
Really enjoy learning more about the world, the wars they were in.
The last dozen pages it's more action filled scenes and we learn more about all that unfold (and the demon within). A spooky tale, more akin to some gothic tale.
trackofwords's review
4.0
Grieving in the wake of her husband’s death, retired archivist Teresina Sullo takes on a private commission to catalogue the library of a celebrated war hero, the late Colonel Elena Grayloc. As her work progresses Sullo fixates on finding one particular book, which she hopes might shed light on the mysterious circumstances of the colonel’s return to Grayloc Manor and subsequent death. The deeper she digs, however, the more it becomes clear that something sinister lurks behind the colonel’s heroic facade, and that Sullo’s obsession with finding answers is leading her down a dark path from which she might not return.
With an archivist as the protagonist and a quiet coastal town as the setting, it’s no real surprise that this feels far removed from the usual military stylings of 40k. The Imperium’s eternal war is present in the background, but it’s a distant and barely-understood menace rather than a looming, tangible danger. The central mystery, once unveiled, is deeply 40k-appropriate and powerful on a personal level, but it doesn’t require the reader to be familiar with the setting or any of its usual core archetypes. It’s an excellent example of a dark ‘domestic 40k’ story, but more than that it’s just a really good quiet, atmospheric psychological horror story.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/08/24/the-colonels-monograph-graham-mcneill/
With an archivist as the protagonist and a quiet coastal town as the setting, it’s no real surprise that this feels far removed from the usual military stylings of 40k. The Imperium’s eternal war is present in the background, but it’s a distant and barely-understood menace rather than a looming, tangible danger. The central mystery, once unveiled, is deeply 40k-appropriate and powerful on a personal level, but it doesn’t require the reader to be familiar with the setting or any of its usual core archetypes. It’s an excellent example of a dark ‘domestic 40k’ story, but more than that it’s just a really good quiet, atmospheric psychological horror story.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/08/24/the-colonels-monograph-graham-mcneill/
majorrawne's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
mal_eficent's review
3.0
While I thoroughly enjoyed the premise and setting, it was the POV character and narration style that lowered my rating of this.
This suffers from what I’ve come to think of as the ‘Warhammer style’ - it’s incredibly formal and verbose. Considering in the first few pages the reader is told this is being written by a writer in a hurry, this choice doesn’t make any sense. Teresina Sullo waffles through things that have no bearing on the story or plot, and then skips or shortens stuff that does.
If this had just been a third person story, and skipped the quirky ‘it’s a document in the Imperium’ style (though considering the author wrote the in world soldier’s handbook I’m not surprised he chose to write it like this) it would have been as engaging as an Agatha Christie. It has all the hallmarks of a detective story mixed with a gothic horror like The Woman In Black.
As my introduction to the Warhammer Horror collection, though, I’m not too disappointed by it.
This suffers from what I’ve come to think of as the ‘Warhammer style’ - it’s incredibly formal and verbose. Considering in the first few pages the reader is told this is being written by a writer in a hurry, this choice doesn’t make any sense. Teresina Sullo waffles through things that have no bearing on the story or plot, and then skips or shortens stuff that does.
If this had just been a third person story, and skipped the quirky ‘it’s a document in the Imperium’ style (though considering the author wrote the in world soldier’s handbook I’m not surprised he chose to write it like this) it would have been as engaging as an Agatha Christie. It has all the hallmarks of a detective story mixed with a gothic horror like The Woman In Black.
As my introduction to the Warhammer Horror collection, though, I’m not too disappointed by it.
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