Savage Scars - Book Review

Savage Scars by Andy Hoare

Dal’yth. The forces of the Greater Good have established a stranglehold on the planet, and the time has come for the Imperium to move against them. The White Scars lead the ground assault against the tau, launching into combat with speed and fury, shedding blood as they gain ground against their enemies. Meanwhile, the members of the Crusade Council are determined to pursue their own agendas, and their politicking and back-stabbing will place the entire war effort in jeopardy. But little do they know that Inquisitor Grand has more extreme measures in mind, and the White Scars must achieve victory quickly or the cost to Dal’yth will be devastating.

This novel is the second white scars novel from the black library as far as I’m aware and the same from Andy Hoare. The novel itself is actually the third in the Damocles gulf/rouge trader series and despite this works equally well as a standalone novel that concentrates on the imperial expansion.

As mentioned this novel follows on from the Damocles gulf/rouge trader series and reintroduces many of the characters, mainly the Gerrit Family dynasty and Aura, not to mention Grand and a few others, in their adventures in the Damocles Gulf. This novel mainly concentrates on the fight back against the tau and the assembled crusade force battling against them. The main forces involved are those of the Imperial Guard, the Tau and some of their pets and finally a crusade force made up of numerous different chapters of Space Marines.

The novel follows the actions of three main characters previously mentioned, to work well this novel puts them each in different aspect of the crusades push and then plays on their motives and responsibilities. Firstly there is Lucian Gerrit who to make a name for the family and link it to the crusade for profit takes to leading an Imperial Guard Force. We also have Lucian’s daughter Brielle, whose motivations don’t become clear straight way. Finally we have Sarik, the White Scars character and the crux of the book, leading the crusades ground force we find this whole process to be a learning curve for him and certainly action packed.

The novel is well laid out and flows nicely, the scene setting at the start is a welcome addition as it means anyone that didn’t get to read the first two novels doesn’t need too. I would recommend them but they aren’t necessary for this novel. There are only one or two points where the book gets confusing, this is usually due to characters having not only different names (i.e. first names, family names or dynasty names) but also by some of the characters having similar names. The other is with the Space Marines involved, so we know we have the White Scars involved but they fight alongside Ultramarines, Scythes of the Emperor and Iron Hands. There other chapters mentioned in passing, such as the Black Templars or the Warbringers, but to be honest the three chapters I mentioned first seem done to death. Whilst there is the odd White Scars casualty it seems every other marine that gets killed is usually a Scythe or an Ultramarine, there is little mention of any other force really suffering. I know their big chapters and in the case of the Scythes this is pre their destruction (could this hint at a novel in the battles series for them?) but it just seems in places they are mentioned more than the lead characters own chapter!

Those two small niggles aside I actually liked the book. Some of the descriptions of the action and the tau were brilliant, the imagery of the titans superb and the action snappy. All in All a brilliant installation in the series, or a standalone, and one that leaves you hoping that the events discuss at the end of the novel are followed up and we learn more about them. A solid four and a half stars from me and a recommendation to pick it up given a chance.

Available from:

http://www.blacklibrary.com
Savage Scars by Andy Hoare

Softback, 416 pages • ISBN 9781844165643

Hunt for Voldorius - Book Review

Hunt for Voldorius - Andy Hoare
Captain Kor'sarro Khan of the White Scars is petitioned by his Chapter Master to hunt down and destroy the daemon prince Voldorius, a warleader of the renegade Alpha Legion, thus ending his reign of terror across the stars. Hunting the beast doggedly for over a decade, Kor'sarro finally brings Voldorius to battle on Quintus, a world that has totally given itself over to the Alpha Legion. Together with their Raven Guard allies, the White Scars must fight an entire planet if they are to slay the daemon prince.

CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

The latest in the Space Marine battle series from the Black Library sees the White Scar join forces with the Raven Guard in the pursuit of the Alpha Legion and the Daemon Prince Voldorius!


The course of the book and the background on the White Scars makes a nice change from the normal fluff and the established chapters we see. The fluff hints at more to come and gives us an insight in to Games Workshops very own Mongols in space. The chapter is well portrayed and the ideology they follow certainly comes to the fore in the main, however as with all Space Marines they are after all Space Marines. So with that in mind there is the inevitable Cookie cutter characters, the silly duels and the headlong charges, but then again why do we buy novels and stories about Space Marines if not for these things!

The book initially sets out with a nice piece setting the scene and the background to the White Scars eternal hunt that really sets it up as a story and shows that often marines do things for their own reason rather than at the beck and call of the high lords. This scene setting opens up the first part of the novel which features just the White Scars pursuing Voldorius and the Alpha legion. The novel concentrates initially on the pursuit and how the Scars use their forces to pursue and gather information and evidence, ultimately culminating in the much hoped for battle.

Later after the novel follows the clues and looks in to the resources the marines use to allow them to trace their nemesis we meet the Raven Guard who are ever elusive in the novel, the information we find on them and their chapter isn’t unknown but certainly takes a slightly different turn, oddly though much of it is revealed to us by the White Scars rather than by the Raven Guard themselves!

Once the two chapters join forces there is much suspicion amongst them but they join forces to pursue a common goal, one which the Raven Guards own agenda seems at times like it may endanger. The Raven Guard also reveal how they are willing to use local resources and normal humans to help achieve their goal, something that is rarer in other Black Library fiction. This plays out to show another facet of the book and shows how normal people are coerced or forced in to siding with the forces of chaos, something that is often left from the core of other stories. The way this and the ancient weapon/prisoner are dealt with is a nice departure from the normal flow of a Space Marine novel and helps break up the story.

I don’t want to give too much way with this but it’s obvious what will happen and it’s clear that the Marines will triumph right from the start, the difference is that not everything is as it should be. The characters aren’t as great as they should be, Shryke for instance is far from impressive as a character, his presence is under whelming but his combat prowess is undoubted, the same could be said of the White Scars leaders and officers. If anything the two most substantial characters in the novel are Voldorius and the Equerry once she is selected. That to me is a worrying decision to make these characters so important in a Space Marine novel.

As for the writing of the book there is an odd pace to the book, one that seems steady for the most part but at the right moments picks up speed and your reading pages at break neck speed. To me this is an excellent way of using the prose to show the sedate pace of the Scars when they are at rest but when in battle the break neck speed in which the writing flows illustrates the thirst for battle they experience and the thrill of the hunt. On the reverse of that when dealing with the Raven Guard Andy Hoare uses rather vague language and often doesn’t nail a point down, this helps with the painting of the Raven Guard as an elusive and secretive chapter. Finally when dealing with the Chaos aspect of the book it’s much more savage prose and plainer in its language for the most part. This mixing of the various styles and the descriptive language really helps paint more of a picture of the chapters in the novel then the actual characters manage to do.

This exciting mixture of styles and prose really makes what would have almost being a substandard novel in to a good solid read for me, certainly not one to miss from the collection, mind you would you miss one from the series? I know I wouldn’t just because it is a series! Overall a good novel and one with some nice touches to paint the pictures, such as the styles of writing, but unfortunately the characters left me slightly underwhelmed. On the reverse side it was nice to have two lesser written about but still well known chapters appear in a novel, that combined with some of the action in the book makes this a solid 4 stars for me and saves it from the 3 star rating it would otherwise have received.

Availible from:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Hunt for Voldorius - Andy Hoare
softback, 416pp • ISBN 9781844165131

Legends of the Space Marines - Book Review

Legends of the Space Marines - Edited by Christian Dunn

Space Marines and their evil counterparts, the Traitor Marines, epitomise the wartorn Warhammer 40,000 universe. This short story collection focuses entirely on these super human warriors, telling high-action tales of heroism and savagery. Combining the talents of Black Library favourite authors such as Mike Lee and Nick Kyme with hot new talent, this collection is truly not to be missed!


Contents
Hell Night by Nick Kyme
Cover of Darkness by Mitchel Scanlon
The Relic by Jonathan Green
Twelve Wolves by Ben Counter
The Returned by James Swallow
Consequences by Graham McNeill
The Last Detail by Paul Kearney
The Trial of the Mantis Warriors by C.S. Goto
Orphans of the Kraken by Richard Williams
At Gaius Point by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!


As a whole this book is an excellent compilation, the only downside to it I’m my mind is that many (roughly half) of the stories are tie-ins to other novel series in the Black Library collection. Mind you with that in mind I still think for original ideas this is one of the best compilations of marine stories put out so far.

Hell Night by Nick Kyme
The first story in the book is a tie-in to the Salamanders series of novels. This is one of Nicks great short stories that could really have filled a full novel. It helps expand the series and completes some parts. All in all its punchy and well written, I can’t really fault it but then I think I am a bit biased in that respect. Over all a good start to the book.

Cover of Darkness by Mitchel Scanlon
The second story revolves around the white scars, well written but to my mind didn’t have the speed and punch I would have expected in a story about a lightning fast chapter, the references to their past were good but weren’t played up well enough, however as this is linked to the forthcoming Hunt for Voldorius novel in the space marine battles series I can only hope that does it to a greater degree. Still interesting concept and the way the marines we’re portrayed as humorous helped break that colder then ice front they appear to have.

The Relic by Jonathan Green
This was a black Templars based story, with this one I can’t say too much without giving the plot away other than its set during the Armageddon campaigns, a startling discovery and an awesome premise to the story really pull this together and makes it a short story worthy of reading. Well written if slightly slow in places but the threads running through it hold it together well.

Twelve Wolves by Ben Counter
As I'm sure you can guess this one is a space wolves story, it’s a story that has quite cleverly being written as someone reciting a story that’s being told to tell a story of a story being told! Very clever I think. It’s a great source of information on the mentality and psyche of the space wolves and opens up some interesting ideas and concepts on characters and squads for game use. An excellent piece of background that really should have been in the last space wolves codex it’s that good.

The Returned by James Swallow
A doom eagles based story that is tied in to the Uriel Ventris/Honsu twin story arcs and really helps answers some what happens next questions! It is another tie-in yes but it’s a good one. I can’t really say more again without blowing the plot but it does show the dilemmas many chapters and marines face but it explores them quite well for such a short story. Again well worth a read and helps tie up some loose ends.

Consequences by Graham McNeill
Another tie in this time from the ultramarines perspective, this is the missing section of the Uriel Ventris novels that deals with his trial, imp not going to ruin anything by saying he’s guilty as its obvious from the books. This deals with the humanity and consequences of the decisions taken both at the event and in the trial. A rather human piece by marine standards but definitely worth it to answer some of the questions thrown up in the Uriel series.

The Last Detail by Paul Kearney
A story from the tales of the Dark Hunters Chapter, one I can see we will see a lot more of upcoming novels. An interesting story with echoes of the ending of the original Deathwing novel but with a more interesting ending (and a lot shorter). This is another story that shows some of the weaknesses of marines but helps ground them with humanity and also helps show that every day humans are not always as weak willed as the marines believe. A tad slow with regards to action and pace but a well written story nonetheless.

The Trial of the Mantis Warriors by C.S. Goto
The Trail of the Mantis Warriors pretty much does exactly what is says on the tin, can’t really expand on that any further! Written after the Badab war this deals with the chapters trial and punishment. Quite rightly written by C.S. Goto, the only person to use the Mantis Warriors in his novels (the Deathwatch novels) it is well written and helps illustrate the problems that occur when there are shades of grey thrown in to the politics of the 40k world. All I can hope is that after this and after the Deathwatch novels there are some more Mantis Warrior stories or novels planned.

Orphans of the Kraken by Richard Williams
A short story about the Scythes of the emperor or Emperors Scythes, depending on who you speak to, and their work to rebuild their chapter after the disastrous that destroyed them fighting the Tyranids. I don’t want to give much away but all I can say is the idea of Salvation squads sounds awesome and fluff wise this is without doubt one of the best (either this or Relic) in the book and if you can’t buy the book I recommend either going to the library or borrowing it from a friend just for those two stories.

At Gaius Point by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
This is an odd story about the Flesh tearers and their curse, I can’t say too much but it’s an odd and dark story starring both the Flesh Tearers and the Soriatis. Worth a read but definitely an odd one, also explains why the name Gaius Point has been cropping up in other novels and fluff recently (especially the Blood Angels and Successor fluff). A good read and well paced. Just very odd and not what I expected, but still good.

All in all one of the best compilations to date and most definitely a full 5 out 5, go on get out there and buy it.

Availible from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Legends of the Space Marines - Edited by Christian Dunn
softback, 544pp • ISBN 9781844165612