Charles Christiansen

A 40K classic, a good introduction to the setting.

Revisado: 02-21-25

Whenever I read one of these "Warhammer classics" novels, the kinds which are considered foundational in the Black Library canon and the setting as a whole, I tend to either have my expectations met where I set them, or exceeded. However, those expectations aren't always the highest. This is sci-fan pulp after all, designed to give a little more texture and investment in the ultimate name of selling toys, or at least selling the multimedia IP overall. They're not in the highest reading bracket, but that's not a negative - it just means it has to be considered what you're getting from each of these novels.

The biggest benefit to Gaunt's Ghosts is its perspective. Being on the ground level with the Imperial Guard is a great way to experience the militant setting of 40K. It gives us an accessible and diverse look at the universe and the Imperium through the eyes of its own citizens, and provides a more relatable viewpoint than some of the books centering on the space marines or alien factions (even if the Imperial Guard are shown to be quite alien in their own ways). The set-pieces and prose are well-executed as well, with lots of meaty action, and some more memorable interim scenes of intrigue and character building. While the breakdown of battlefield tactics and the state of each individual war was quite engaging, some of the action scenes themselves were a little muddled, having to reconcile large numbers of combatants in ways that don't always lend themselves to easy visual description. Also of note was the sheer number of characters. All were fun in their own ways, from the Ghosts themselves to their adversaries, but it's still not easy keeping track of so many actors or caring about them all to the fullest extent, most of all when many of them share similar mannerisms or traits, given they're all in very regimented hierarchies. While Abnett uses his writing skills to their best ability in making the deaths of each Ghost impactful - especially considering they are themselves a finite resource, and far more jovial (ironically) than most other human soldiers in the setting - but ultimately these deaths just aren't going to hit as hard for the reader when you're already having to keep track of so many factors to begin with.

As for the actual audio portion of this audiobook: great work from the Black Library casting department as always. Toby Longworth has some excellent British gravitas, and a fantastic knack for accents. Of course it's worth noting how fun it is that the whole Tanith regiment is Scottish flavored, with Longworth even putting in the effort on several different yet consistent varieties of Scottish brogue, but his other voices shouldn't be discounted either. The Vitrian commander, the Jantine commander, and the scheming General Dravere all made for some entertaining dialogue.

If you're a Warhammer fan, it's worth a read, and not too much of a time investment either. Someone new to the series may find this an accessible start from the point of perspective, but the action itself may not be for everyone, relying on a definite interest in "modern-era" military tactics, logistics, and aesthetics most of all. Overall, not the best Black Library classic I've read, for all its reputation, but I can't say Gaunt and his Ghosts weren't charming all the same.

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Rough beginnings, rough endings.

Revisado: 11-05-24

One of the best executed Warhammer novels overall, Drachenfels manages to have compelling moments of actual horror, and a broad cast of entertaining characters. It gives a vision of the Warhammer world that is more dynamic, more alive than the often frozen-in-time appeal of the tabletop, featuring interactions between individuals and "factions" that would be phased out in later editions of the setting, showing the evolution of human pop culture over the Imperial centuries, and overall giving the world a more fluid, natural feel than the rigid strictures of the wargame itself.

That said, this is far from a perfect pulp novel. Most notable, the beginning and ending are rough, downright trainwreck-like in some aspects. The opening goes fast, introducing characters and stakes with little room to breathe, and the ending likewise wraps up at breakneck speeds, making one wonder if they missed something. While not a bad performance, the narration also leaves something to be desired, becoming a bit monotonous at times, and with some underwhelming choices in character voices.

Overall, if you're a Warhammer fan, I'd view this as required reading next to books like Gotrek & Felix, but in the grand scheme of pulp literature it has some unignorable shortcomings.

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Well composed. Exceedingly average.

Revisado: 10-08-24

Not a bad read, but certainly nothing novel by 40k standards. While there is a great surplus of details concerning the science of siegecraft and some evocative battle sequences, the overall narrative leaves something to be desired, especially where characters are concerned. Honsou is about the sole "protagonist" who has anything close to an interesting arch or struggle, motivated by him being an outsider within his own army, despite being chosen to lead. None of the other Iron Warriors show the same degree of characterization, being rather typical as far as Chaos Space Marines go. As for the defending side? The Guard and Mechanicus have much more flavor, but of course it's all moot as none of them will be surviving, and indeed most of the deaths of POV characters are rather anticlimactic in the grand scheme of things. What's more, this book presupposes a decent amount of knowledge of the 40k universe, and only the simple prose is really accessible to those unfamiliar with the setting.

Good work by Geary on the narration, and points for doing the voices. I'd say only read this book if you're 13 and have never read a 40k novel before, or if for some reason you are a die-hard Iron Warriors fan and feel it necessary to learn the entire story of Honsou the Halfbreed. Otherwise I'd recommend more meaty books centered around Perturabo and his legion during the 30k era.

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Ursula Le Guin has an enviable skill at prose.

Revisado: 05-07-24

Another memorable, beautiful installment in Earthsea, filled with the grandiose painting-with-words that brings that world to life. True to its own lore, Earthsea exists in the magic of its own words, and thank God they got a narrator who can consistently deliver them with the weight they carry. Worth a read just for the poetry of it.

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By the numbers Warhammer

Revisado: 10-17-23

It should be said that if you’re a fan of all things Warhammer, you should enjoy this story. It hits every note one could want and maintains the distinct tone and flavor of a 40k piece, as is typical of the Horus Heresy line. Jonathan Keeble contributes his Warhammer-perfect narration skills as always, and I have to give credit to the subtlety of the accents - he portrays the Scars with proper dignity.

However overall this particular primarch story is a little dull. “Scars” provided more of the general flavor of the Crusade and Heresy while being more diverse or at least impactful as far as characters and scenes went. While there are a few good sequences in this, featuring closeup looks at barbaric Crusade-era xenos empires and some funny interactions between primarchs like Sanguinius and Magnus, most of the narrative is dry and overburdened with sweeping speeches about topics that have already been covered, or techno-jargon that feels more like it’s padding out paragraphs than giving colorful description.

This book requires the most “buy in” to the setting of any of the Warhammer books I’ve read so far, perhaps slightly beating out Scars. While to be expected from a 40k/HH work, I’ve always felt the best IP books were those that drew upon their characters and narrative arcs to bring the universe to the reader, rather than just writing up a script for stories that were better off as paragraph-long blurbs in a tabletop rulebook.

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Karen Traviss really flexing her strengths

Revisado: 08-03-23

Fantastic if you love reasonably hard sci-fi that does what the genre does best and makes you think about where we’re going, what the future holds.

Set in a near-future post-apocalyptic Earth, issues of morality that the narrative follows are shown more than simply explained. This is a book in which serious (but not unfunny) people act in their best-informed self interest and conflict naturally arises. No deus-ex or random freakouts here. In a book about new beginnings, characters come to learn that such things are illusory - one is forever a slave to history, and though one can find meaning in their devotion to a higher cause, that is not an easy or obvious choice.

Most of all, Traviss LOVES the military. She loves the tech, she loves the jargon, and she loves the moral struggles of tough guys between a rock and a hard place. Her characters feel so alive, and drip with a natural charisma. If you found her work via fandom properties, I can promise you she delivers with all the gusto of a Halo or Star Wars drama.

Overall great work. A distillation of Karen Traviss, an author way above her own league.

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Comedy isn't brewed much blacker

Revisado: 12-15-22

Fantastic book. Well worth the read, especially if you're a big fan of the movie.

The amount of thematic depth to this work can't be succinctly wrapped up in a review, but the way Ellis parodies all that American culture holds as the highest achievements, the people who view as superior, and the world we've created from those assertions is incredible. The biting, cruel comedy of the horror that Pat Bateman represents - the knowledge that he, in all his evil and selfishness, is in no way exceptional. The knowledge that the horrific is mundane, and the mundane horrific in the capitalist landscape that has and continues to define America through decades of immiseration and generational hoarding of wealth.

Ellis' writing style is excellent. The way he swings back and forth between gruesome violence, soulless character interactions, and hilarious straight-from-the-magazines reviews that Bateman gives about all his valued possession made me openly laugh more than one. He also exploits my favorite "rich people narrative" trope where the main characters, despite always talking about money and accomplishment, are never shown working even a second at their fake jobs.

That said, this is a long book, and there are sequences which are purposefully meant to be boring and soul-sucking. While this is the intended effect, it's something you'll have to reckon with. You'll almost be wishing for Bateman to murder some of these vapid yuppies by the time they're through gabbing, if he didn't always torture them to death in ways I think nobody can really be said to deserve.

Great work. Hilarious. Insightful. Schreiber does a competent job, with some good inflections. Overall I'd say give it a read if you have a palate for this kind of dark parody. It's a masterful execution.

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Keebles and Bits

Revisado: 12-14-22

This branching into the Horus Heresy saga was also my introduction to that fact that Johnathan Keeble is apparently full-time collaborator of Black Library audiobook productions. I have nothing but admiration for this gig. Even the most basic shlock of the Warhammer IPs would sound amazing in Keeble's voice, let alone something as competently written as Scars.

I'll come at this from my angle, and if you're in a similar situation as me you can decide for yourself if this book's worth the read. I'm a Warhammer fan. All the branches. I'm a White Scars fan, as well. They're my favorite chapter and legion. However I'm not really the biggest Black Library fan. More often than not I'll only choose to read the Warhammer books that personally interest me, either due to reputation of quality or a specific subject matter I want. I've not read the rest of the Horus Heresy books, and probably won't. I just wanted to see my boys in action.

This book delivered. While it doesn't have any big setpiece battles, it goes a great way in showing the mentality of the White Scars as a legion. Both from the perspective of its troops, and its leaders. There's a broad cast of characters here that can sometimes be hard to follow, but the overarching narrative is far more important than individual stories. Scars tells of how the White Scars legion fell into its place at the very start of the Horus Heresy. Who did what, and why. What decisions were made, and how the characters felt about those decisions. What the Heresy looked like to some of those people who were the very last to hear about it - people left almost entirely in the dark about everything from the plotting, to the politics, to the occult.

There are some good scenes, and a few great showings by other legions really playing up their stereotypes in endearing ways. Most of all, I have to give John Keeble credit for his voice work here. He had the rather tall order in this book of having to pull out multiple vaguely-Asian accents good enough to be recognizable and defined from one other (this book does address certain themes of culture and ethnicity, after all) but without going too racist with it. I can say he succeeded to about 85% quality. Bonus points for the Salamander, as well.

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The end of the William King saga

Revisado: 12-14-22

Though certain sources label this as a midpoint in a greater Gotrek & Felix arc, I myself would consider it the end of my journey with the Gotrek & Felix series. I don't doubt the quality of later installments, since I don't plan to read them, but my interest was always more with the stylings of William King rather than the Warhammer IP as a whole. Even though I love Warhammer Fantasy, you have to recognize that when narrative potential gives way to IP demand, you're going to be getting a less concentrated product.

And this book did feel less concentrated. It was fun. It was well written. It had tons of action and some of the most in-depth looks at the Vampire Counts faction as seen from an outsider's perspective. But it lacked the sheer energy of the earlier books. It felt, in many ways, that Gotrek's & Felix's stories ended at Praag. Their souls were fulfilled there, even if their physical bodies didn't die, and their personal goals were not entirely fulfilled. A lot of the writing in this feels a little more aimless, a bit more sloppy than King's earlier books. It feels more like it could be any Warhammer novel of sufficient quality, and not as uniquely flavorful as Gotrek & Felix.

If you're a Gotrek & Felix fan, but are wondering if you don't want to move on to other series, I would suggest here as a good stopping point. By all means, read on if you're that big a fan of the Warhammer Fantasy world. But if you're simply in the mood for good pulp fiction, you can probably stand to check something else out now. At least for a while.

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Another solid adventure

Revisado: 09-16-22

Probably the most high-stakes escapade for Gotrek & Felix after their journey to the Chaos Wastes, Beastslayer gives us a closer look at Kislev and the grueling horrors that country is put through whenever the hordes of Chaos decide to show up for tourist season.

Beastslayer is a much more sedentary novel than prior stories. It takes place entirely within Praag, during one of the first great sieges of what I expect is the precursor invasion to the End Times. It deals with the paranoia and looming dread that Felix, the Kislevites, and basically every non-barbarian person inside the city’s walls feels concerning the massive horde of monsters outside. Everyone except Gotrek and the Slayers, of course. Given that less time can be spent on action or adventure until the finale, this book makes up for it by instead having some spectacular character-work. Both for the heroes and the villains, with some returning characters who provide great entertainment, and some interesting new ones as well.

There’s nothing outright negative I can say about Beastslayer, but likewise there are few parts that particularly stand out. There are memorable moments and payoffs, yes, but they lack some of the novelty that defined earlier installments. With this being William King’s second-to-last contribution to the Gotrek & Felix series, it feels a little tired in some ways. Johnathan Keeble does bring the fire, though. As always.

Read if you’re addicted to Gotrek & Felix, and definitely if you love the parts of Warhammer Fantasy that are especially burly, hairy, and angry.

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