WARHAMMER 40,000: THE LAST DITCH by Sandy Mitchell, Black Library, £17.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

Commissar Ciaphas Cain is back, this time fighting for life and honour on the planet Nusquam Fundumentibus (get it?) which is suffering from orks. The action starts pretty much from page one and barely let’s up until the end. Ciaphas soon discovers the orks aren’t the only threat on the planet, and soon everyone’s up to their knees in blood and guts. With his previously established credentials as a hero, Cain is forced to constantly put himself in harms way, despite his personal opinion of his own self-importance.

For anyone unfamiliar with the commissar, and his odorous aide Jurgen, this is the more humorous side to Warhammer. We still have the big men with big guns, but we also have women with big guns, and other assorted people who may or may not have weapons, big or otherwise.

The story is well written, the characters all well-rounded, and the plot all hangs together as it should. There are some nice set pieces of course, and it reads just like many other Warhammer novels. Which is, ironically, where the problem lies.

It’s a good book, don’t get me wrong, but anyone new to the hero wouldn’t know he’s supposed to be something different. The book should be full of false bravado, outrageous co-incidence and blind luck. But this time we have very little of that. The character of Cain himself is starting to blur, to become like all the other Warhammer heroes.

Come on Sandy, get back on track, I’m a big fan of the old Cain, but this guy is getting too ordinary.

WARHAMMER 40,000: BLOOD ANGELS – SECOND OMNIBUS by James Swallow, Black Library, £10.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

Contained within this thick tome we have the two novels ‘Red Fury’ and ‘Black Tide’, three short stories and an extended appendix. As is usual with these things, the short stories are just stocking fillers, take them or leave them kind of affair. The appendix will only appeal to die-hard fans. (that is, those who are keen, not the guy in the dirty vest.)

Which leaves the novels, and to my mind, as different as chalk and cheese.

In ‘Red Fury’, the Blood Angels have recently suffered great losses in battle, and their numbers are so low they are in danger of disappearing all together. The chapter master calls a meeting of the lesser chapters and asks for a tithe to be taken among them to restore the first chapter. While they are arguing, and boy do they argue, a traitor working for Fabius Bile sneaks in and nicks a relic. That’s pretty much it for the most part, too much speech and nowhere near enough action. To me this reads like a heavily padded short story, with the ending left open for the obvious sequel.

‘Black Tide’ is the complete opposite. Desperately trying to track down the stolen relic, a group of Blood Angels follow a clue to Dynikas V, a world overrun with mindless killer aliens.

The Angels manage to land an ancient submarine on the ocean world and mount an attack on the suspected hiding place of this Bile chap. It all goes from bad to worse pretty quickly, the Angels are soon fighting giant squid, killer sharks and Chaos freaks on every side.

This one is actually a very good read, the action and pacing are spot on, right to the end, building nicely and carrying on when you think it’s all done. It’s very well written, descriptive and a real page turner.

Two things made it stand out for me; the way the huge armoured space marines meet their match and are forced to think to stay alive, and the inventiveness of the situations, an originality missing in many of these books.

Overall, I’d give ‘Red Fury’ a miss, save yourself a few quid, and just get Black Tide, an almost perfect example of its kind.

Warhammer 40,000: Hammer and Anvil by James Swallow, Black Library, £7.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

Although a follow on to the previous novel, Faith and Fire, it’s not a direct sequel, so don’t feel pressurised into reading that one first.

The Sisters of Battle are a religious order devoted to killing the enemies of the Imperium wherever they find them, and they find them everywhere!

After the Ecclesiarchy outpost of Sanctuary 101 is wiped out by necrons, Sister Miriya and the other gals set off on a mission to reconsecrate the site. Unfortunately, the necrons haven’t actually left yet. The Sisters are accompanied by a tech priest and his entourage, who have a secret agenda of their own, and who rile up the necrons something fierce. On top of this, there is a mysterious character stalking the wastelands, but whose side are they on?

I found this one to be very readable, with some original set pieces, decent combat, and a simple plot that nevertheless works fine. It’s well written, the characters four dimensional, and some actual hints this time that the characters are female! Well, one or two of them.

There is a rumoured third novel, called Blood and Sex, and I for one am looking forward to reading it.

WARHAMMER 40,000: FAITH AND FIRE by James Swallow, Black Library, £7.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

This is a re-release of the novel first published in 2006, presumably to coincide with the release of the follow up novel Hammer and Anvil.

A dangerous psychic, one Torris Vaun is being transported back to the planet Neva to stand trial for his crimes. Whilst en route, someone springs him and in the process kills Sister of Battle Lethe Catena. The Sisters of Battle are a fanatical order of female troops who specialise in hunting down witches and heretics. They are so zealous each is prepared, nay determined, to die doing her duty.

Anyway, Lethe’s commander Sister Miriya joins forces with Lethe’s sister (who is a sister and a Sister!) Verity to track down Vaun and visit a wicked revenge about his person. Strangely, the fugitive has gone to ground on Neva, the very planet he was being transported to. Suspecting something amiss, and with interference from the planetary governor LaHayn, the pair go in search of the escapee.

As it turns out, no one is innocent, with assassination attempts, political skullduggery and other nefarious shenanigans going on. There’s blood and guts aplenty here, with almost constant fighting, both physical and mental, lot’s of action, and plenty of running around and shouting, the usual stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a readable book, it has a plot, plenty of extended peril, and some good characters to cheer for. The world itself is well drawn, a very religious place, Emperor worshippers to the max. The hardware and military stuff is also nicely done, with proper ranks and such.

As I have mentioned in previous reviews, the problem I have is that there is no reason for the characters to be female. They act like men, think like men, and might as well have been men. It’s a minor point in this case, don’t let it put you off the novel.

WARHAMMER 40,000: THE GILDAR RIFT by Sarah Cawkwell, Black Library, £8.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

The Silver Skulls space marines control the Gildar System and the rift of the title. Huron Blackheart and his Chaos forces have variously infiltrated and invaded the system, and start a full scale attack. The Silver Skulls’ fleet of space ships arrives and more marines are deployed on the planets within the system. Battle is joined in space and on the ground.

Meanwhile, on board the Silver Skulls’ flag ship, an important project is under way that must be completed, diverting precious resources from the fight.

Never, in all my reading days, and they are many, has an author took such promising material and made it so dull. Two gargantuan space ships flying towards each other all guns blazing, and it reads like a shopping list. Eggs, marge, tuna, forward shields…

The characters aren’t that much better, central casting was certainly busy that day. Not a single one of them stands out as memorable in any way, even the arrogant fool who gets himself killed.

The pacing, and the narrative, does pick up a little as we move further into the novel, but never enough to rescue it. This is one of the those Space Marine Battles novel, the others of which have been pretty good. But this one just doesn’t work. I don’t know, maybe it’s me, maybe I’m jaded by all the books I’m forced to read for you, gentle reader. But, in my opinion, give this one a miss.

WARHAMMER 40,000: THE HORUS HERESY; DELIVERANCE LOST by Gav Thorpe, Black Library, £7.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

The Raven Guard space marine chapter was given a good kicking by Horus and his pals at Isstvan V, leaving their numbers low. Their primarch, (that’s their leader, not a low-price clothes shop) Corax, runs home to daddy, who happens to be the Emperor of all mankind. The Emperor, who is a tad busy running the galaxy, gives him the location of some secret files and stuff that will allow Corax to clone some more space marines to re-fill his ranks.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the Chaos marines of the Alpha Legion have infiltrated the Raven Guard by having their faces transplanted.

Overall, this is not a bad book, there’s too much padding in places, too much talk and not enough action. It does start to come together at the end, with some good set pieces and decent combat. Unfortunately, this last minute spurt is ruined, firstly by the title, a spoil alert if ever there was one, and secondly because this is another of those damned Horus Heresy titles, and we pretty much know how that ends. If you’re collecting the set, go for it, otherwise don’t bother.

WARHAMMER 40,000: THORN AND TALON  by Dan Abnett, Black Library, Audio book – £15.00

Reviewed by Steve Dean

A two CD set this time around, with a running time of 132 minutes, consisting of three dramatised short stories. There are five voice actors; Gareth Armstrong, Jonathan Keeble, Rupert Degas, Jane Collingwood and Lisa Coleman. There’s dramatic music of course and some relevant sound effects. Overall, it’s performed pretty well.

‘Master Imus’s Transgression’ is the story of the eponymous accountant giving himself up to Inquisitor Eisenhorn, confessing he has found the Number of Chaos. Most of the action takes place off camera, and the story is about as exiting as you would expect from an accountancy tale.

‘Regia Occulta’ is the story of gruesome murders committed in a backwater town on an out of the way planet. The titular doorway opens up at a certain time to allow the murderer through, and then disappears. Again, about as exciting as it sounds.

‘Thorn Wishes Talon’ is the final tale, a sort of short story link between the ‘Eisenhorn’ trilogy and the ‘Ravenor’ books. Strangely, I found this to be the weakest of the three, sounding more like an advert for the other material than an actual story.

I’m normally a huge fan of Mr Abnett’s work, his ‘Gaunt’s Ghosts’ series and the aforementioned trilogies are all top quality stuff. This is not bad, but it’s definitely below average.

WARHAMMER 40,000: LABYRINTH OF SORROWS by George Mann, Black Library, Audio book – £10.00

Reviewed by Steve Dean

Another one of those strange audio dramas the Black Library seem to love. On voice duty this time we have Saul Reichlin, Sean Barrett and Rupert Degas. The usual sound effects and dramatic music are all here, and production wise I can’t fault it.

On the mortuary world of Kasharat, space marines the Brazen Minotaurs are infiltrating a chaos held temple-tomb to recover an artefact that could, of course, turn the tide of battle if they succeed.

Unknown to the Brazen Minotaurs, a handful of Raven Guard space marines are also in there. It seems the Raven Guard owe the Brazen Minotaurs a favour, and so are aiding the BMs in their quest, but the RGs, for some reason, are hiding from the BMs and clearing a path through the temple-tomb in order to return the favour. With me so far?

This is all pretty much done by the numbers, it’s moderately entertaining, but not particularly original. Your socks will definitely stay on your feet when you listen to this. At ten quid, this is one for hardcore fans only.

WARHAMMER 40,000: THE HORUS HERESY; GALAXY IN FLAMES by Ben Counter, Black Library Audio book – £20.00

Reviewed by Steve Dean

This is the abridged version of the original novel, which was the third book in what has now become the bloated corpse of the Horus Heresy. It’s read aloud very nicely by Martin Ellis, and has some music and kitchen sink sound effects to pep it up a bit.

Anyway, to the plot. Horus is a very naughty boy and has decided that the Emperor is crap.

So, together with his genetically enhanced brothers, he has formed a huge army and is about to visit his brand of chastisement upon the aforementioned and his loyalists.

First of course, he must weed out those loyal to the Emperor within his own ranks. This he does by engineering a rebellion on Isstvan III, a formerly peaceful planet full of singers.

So, the loyalists are sent to attack but soon discover the treachery of the man upstairs. There follows an extended battle as the forces clash with those of the natives, then with their own kind. There follows some pretty graphic descriptions as the citizens and soldiers are killed by a seeded virus.

Although a little bit wordy at times, the plot does move along well, and the fighting does draw you in. I found myself getting involved as the royalists fought back against the betrayal. The whole plot moves to a natural climax, and the things you think will happen don’t. There are some pretty nasty characters here, very believable baddies you find yourself hissing at. But also some heroes to cheer for, although not as many. Strangely, many of the goodies don’t even fight, and aren’t military at all. A nice surprise for a book of this type.

Overall then, not the best from the black library, but good enough, provided you think the hefty price tag is justified.

WARHAMMER 40K – ATLAS INFERNAL by Rob Sanders, The Black Library £7.99

Reviewed by Steve Dean

Inquisitor (think fanatic space police) Bronislaw Czevak was locked away in the eldar black library, a repository for every arcane book in all the realities of the galaxy. While he is held captive, the inquisitor reads all sorts of stuff, and thanks to a virus that makes him need to learn, he soon picks up a load of dangerous knowledge. He eventually escapes, and takes with him the Atlas Infernal, a sort of sat-nav of the eldar Webway, portals spread across time and space.

He is pursued by a Harlequin death squad, some very irate librarians and a rival inquisitor who thinks he’s turned to the dark side. On top of all this, Ahriman, sorcerer of the Thousand Sons space marines, wants Czevak to reveal the whereabouts of the black library, so he can read it and become a god. With some of his friends, and use of a space ship, the inquisitor uses the atlas to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, whilst simultaneously investigating a plot by said Ahriman to bind a very powerful demon.

This is one of the black library’s (the office in Nottingham, not the eldar one, which is entirely imaginary, I think.) best books of the year. The characters are all believable, the plotting is full of action, inventive and original. The set pieces work well, and never is it predictable or clichéd. A definite winner for me.