Category: Extended Universe

Throwback Thursday – Warhammer: Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Fantasy, Quick Review, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer3 Comments

Grudge Bearer Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Paperback – 12 June 2005)

Series: Warhammer Fantasy

Length: 250 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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For this week’s Throwback Thursday I am doing a double feature.  In addition to my review of the awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel Lords of the Night by Simon Spurrier, I am also doing a quick review of the classic Warhammer Fantasy novel, Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe.

I have a lot of love for all forms of Warhammer fiction across the various genres, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the intense and elaborate adventures that took place in the Warhammer Fantasy realm.  Before its destruction, the Warhammer Fantasy universe featured a raft of epic novels and stories, most of which tied into the gaming events surrounding the various campaigns or model releases.  While I haven’t read nearly as much Warhammer Fantasy books in recent years as Warhammer 40,000 fiction, there are still some amazing books there, including the Gotrek and Felix books by William King (Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer, Beastslayer, Vampireslayer and Giantslayer), Van Horstmann by Ben Counter, Runefang by C. L. Werner and Broken Honour by Rober Earl.

All of these fantasy books have been very impressive, and I am always keen to check out more from this awesome setting.  As such, I eagerly read the second-hand copy of Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe earlier this year.  Thorpe has been one of the main authors of Warhammer fiction over the years, with books across the various sub-series.  I know him from his outstanding Warhammer 40,000 Last Chancers novels, which followed a doomed group of convicts sent to complete a suicide mission.  The first two books in this series, 13th Legion and Kill Team, were so much fun, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of the Last Chancers books.  Grudge Bearer was the first Warhammer Fantasy novel of his I have read and it proved to be an excellent book that focussed on some of the most entertaining and determined figures in the Warhammer Fantasy canon, the dwarfs.

Plot Synopsis:

When his father dies, Barundin, prince of Zhufbar, becomes king of that realm and lord of one of the mightiest outposts of the ancient and powerful dwarf empire. Over the centuries that follow, he sets out to right many of the wrongs done to his people, fulfilling ancient grudges and bringing death to his foes as he wages war against his father’s killers, and strives to protect Zhufbar from the dark forces of Chaos.


Grudge Bearer ended up being quite a fun and quick paced read that I had a wonderful time getting through.  As the somewhat sparse plot synopsis above indicates, Grudge Bearer follows Barundin, a prince who becomes king of Zhufbar, a dwarf stronghold after his father’s death in battle.  Due to the betrayal of a local human lord whose cowardice resulted in his father’s death, Barundin swears a grudge against the man who betrayed him and becomes determined to get appropriate vengeance.  However, before he can marshal enough of his forces and resources to lead an army into an assault on the lord’s castle, he needs to get his realm in order.

As such the book turns into a series of short stories, which cover different periods of Barundin’s reign and the events that lead up to him attempting to settle his grudge.  While the first two chapters deal with the events that result in Barundin becoming king, each of the following chapters is essentially a connected short story, that see the protagonist and his forces go up against a series of different traditional Dwarf enemies, including the forces of Chaos, the skaven and goblins, as well as deal with other issues, such as an overly-inventive dwarf engineer and Barundin’s attempts to get married.  Each of these stories are pretty intriguing in their own right, giving some fantastic insights into the dwarfs as a race, and they come together to tell an intriguing and action-packed overarching story.  Most of these stories result in a pretty typical hack-and-slash battle, and Thorpe has a good eye for action, producing intense and bloody scenes throughout Grudge Bearer.  Some of the stories within this book are really cool, and I especially loved the eventual resolution of the grudge against the treacherous human lord and his family, especially as it proves just how ridiculously determined the dwarfs can be.  I did think the overall end of Grudge Bearer was a little sudden, especially as it could resulted in one more fantastic battle, but this ended up being a pretty strong and easy to read piece of Warhammer Fantasy fiction.

Now I do have to get a little cynical in that while Grudge Bearer is good, it was a marketing tool to help boost sales for the 6th edition of the Dwarfs Warhammer Army book that also came out in 2005.  I actually recall reading a few extracts from Grudge Bearer that appeared in White Dwarf, so I had a couple of early moments ruined for me.  Still, Grudge Bearer was a pretty fun book to read, and Thorpe clearly had fun exploring the lore and diving into what makes the dwarfs tick, both in combat and in real life.  The compelling focus on the dwarven grudge was particularly fun, and it was interesting to see how much their desire for vengeance ruled their lives.  It also covers several quite a substantial period of Warhammer Fantasy history due to the long lives of the dwarf protagonists, and it was very entertaining to see them watch their human neighbours go through major historical events while the dwarfs constantly remain the same.  There was even a tie-in to the Storms of Chaos campaign that happened in the game the year before, so there is a lot going on for established fans.  At the same time, Grudge Bearer serves as a pretty good starting point for those readers unfamiliar with either the dwarfs or the Warhammer Fantasy setting and it makes for a great introductory novel.

One thing that I was a little disappointed by in Grudge Bearer is that we didn’t get to see more of the legendary White Dwarf character.  The White Dwarf had a pretty major role at the start of the book, and there are even some hints to his origin at the start, but after this initial appearance we never see him again, which I think was a bit of a waste.  It would have been cool to see him come back a few times to offer advice or help in battle, possibly while providing more clues to who he really is.  I know this is a pretty minor complaint which doesn’t dramatically impact my enjoyment of Grudge Bearer, but it was something that bothered me as I was reading as a wasted opportunity.

Overall, Grudge Bearer was a fun action and lore packed novel that managed to fit in several fantastic and exciting shorter stories.  Containing one of the best and compact examinations of the always entertaining dwarf faction you will likely see in a Warhammer Fantasy novel, Grudge Bearer is well worth checking out, especially if you were a fan of the tabletop game and its lore back in the day.

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Warhammer 40,000: Cypher: Lord of the Fallen by John French

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer4 Comments

Cypher - Lord of the Fallen Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 18 July 2023)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 5 hours and 8 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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One of Warhammer 40,000’s most mysterious and elusive characters finally gets the spotlight in the awesome new book from John French with Cypher: Lord of the Fallen.

Gosh, 2023 is turning out to be a brilliant year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  I have already had a ton of fun with such great books as The Lion: Son of the Forest, Warboss, Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter, Leviathan, The King of the Spoil and Longshot, but the best is honestly yet to come.  There are still several great Warhammer 40,000 novels coming out before the end of the year, and one of the most intriguing was Cypher: Lord of the Fallen.  Written by well-established Warhammer fiction author John French, Cypher: Lord of the Fallen follows one of the most iconic and mysterious figures in the Warhammer 40,000 canon and places them in a sinister new adventure.

Thousands of years ago, at the end of the Horus Heresy, the Space Marines of the Dark Angels Legion suffered a devastating schism, as betrayal and deceit tore them apart from within.  The resulting civil war destroyed their home planet, killed their Primarch, and scattered the Dark Angels who rebelled across space and time.  Since then, the remaining loyal Dark Angels and their successor Chapters have hunted these traitors, known as the Fallen, throughout the galaxy, determined to bring them all to justice and hide the truth about their Legion’s fall.

Out of all the Fallen still at large in the galaxy, none is more hated or more dangerous the mysterious warrior known only as Cypher.  A Space Marine with strange motivations and deadly martial ability, Cypher has haunted the Dark Angels for centuries, manipulating them for unknown reasons and threatening everything they hold dear.  His latest mysterious scheme saw him and a small band of Fallen save the reborn Ultramarines Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, from the forces of Chaos and then accompany him to the Imperial Palace on Terra for his own purposes.  But rather than being welcomed as honoured guests, the suspicions around Cypher have seen him and his Fallen comrades locked up in the Dark Cells of the Adeptus Custodes, the most secure prison in all the Imperium, designed to never be breached or release their occupants.

But Cypher is no ordinary prisoner, and as the Great Rift unfolds across the skies of Terra, strange and seemingly unpredictable events will allow him to escape from the Dark Cells into the Imperial Palace proper.  Now loose in the most sacred and heavily guarded location in the entire Imperium of Man, Cypher leads his Fallen brothers from captivity and deeper into the palace complex.

However, their presence has not gone unnoticed, and Cypher and his comrades find themselves contending with the relentless defenders of Terra, including the Emperor’s personal bodyguards, the Adeptus Custodes, lethal Imperial Assassins and powerful predictive seers.  Worse, the Dark Angels are aware of Cypher’s presence on Terra, and a desperate strike force soon arrives, determined to capture or kill Cypher no matter the cost.  But as all these forces start to close around the members of the Fallen, it becomes clear that Cypher has a far greater agenda than anyone realised: to stand before the Emperor on the Golden Throne.  But are Cypher’s intentions noble, or does he intend to destroy the Emperor and sacrifice all of humanity to Chaos gods?

Cypher: Lord of the Fallen was a very fun and tricky Warhammer 40,000 entry that fans of the franchise are going to absolutely love.  French does a wonderful job of bringing the enigmatic and chaotic Cypher to life in all the best ways, pressing him and several other unique figures into a fast-paced and intense series of manipulations and conflicts.  The book is slick, addictive and loaded with clever references and allusions to the wider Warhammer 40,000 canon.  I managed to power through the audiobook version of this book in no time at all and had a wonderful time doing so.

Cypher: Lord of the Fallen has a short but exceedingly sweet story to it that wastes no time dragging the reader in.  This is primarily because of the unique narration that French features in this book, with the entire story told through Cypher’s enigmatic perspective.  Cypher describes all the events that are occurring, even when the chapter’s focus is on other characters far away from him, and his depiction of events is quite unique, as you are never certain how he is seeing events, or whether he is making everything up.  French, through the mechanism of Cypher, quickly dives into the events of Lord of the Fallen, efficiently setting the scene of the Imperial Palace in chaos and the defenders stretched thin.  Thanks to the arrival of the Dark Angels and other machinations, Cypher and his cohort are soon unleashed into the larger palace.

The narrative splits off into several threads, some following Cypher, some following the Dark Angels infiltrators, and some following the Palace defenders trying to restore order.  However, all of these scenes are still shown through Cypher’s mind’s eye, and his confident and possibly unreliable narration gives each sequence a compelling and ethereal edge that I quite enjoyed.  There are some great sequences spread throughout this part of the story as everyone dances to Cypher’s tune one way or another and you quickly grow attached to the great cast and their unique motivations.  Each character meets an intriguing end or conclusion to their tale, which is quite fitting in its own way, as French layers in the action, the compelling world building, and the constant allusions and stories from Cypher.  The overall conclusion of the main story is interesting, if a tad anticlimactic and overly mysterious, but the reader can make some substantial inferences from what happened.  I honestly was hooked the entire way through, and French did such a great job of creating as unique a read as possible that was perfectly fitting for the titular character.

While I usually find most Warhammer 40,000 novels are quite accessible to readers somewhat unfamiliar to the franchise, this is one piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that is best enjoyed by those people exceedingly familiar with the franchise’s lore.  French does do a good job of explaining certain aspects of what is going on, however this story quickly dives into some of the more complex pieces of lore surrounding the game, such as the hidden history of the Dark Angels and the mysteries surrounding the character of Cypher.  As someone highly familiar with the background lore, I personally found this to be extremely fascinating, although I could see new readers getting fairly frustrated.  However, even those fans of the game might get a little frustrated here, mainly because they are not going to find as many solid lore revelations here as they might hope for.  The narrator flat out states at the beginning of the book that this tale is not about him, and Cypher’s history remains mostly hidden as a result.  There are certain hints and anecdotes that could lead knowledgeable fans to make guesses, but the narrator fully admits that these could be lies or falsehoods designed to hide the truth even from the reader.  Those Warhammer 40,000 fans familiar with who or what Cypher might potentially be and how he operates will absolutely love this, and I personally enjoyed how French kept us guessing.

For those readers who are hoping for more, French does paint a fantastic and elaborate picture of the Emperor’s Palace on Terra, which is one of the more fascinating settings in Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  The dark and elaborate depiction of the palace, with its excessive bureaucracy, forgotten corners, vast religious underpinnings, and millions of workers, is endlessly fascinating, and I loved all the cool details French provided.  I particularly enjoyed seeing the Custodes in action, and the elaborate depictions of the Dark Cells, a truly unique location, was very damn fun.  This compelling dive into one of this universe’s best locations more than makes up for any disappointments a reader may have regarding the lack of revelations around Cypher, and French does such a great job bringing this entire setting to life.  A fantastic read for those already in love with all things Warhammer!

As I mentioned above, I ended up listening to the audiobook version of Cypher: Lord of the Fallen, which is honestly the best way to enjoy a Warhammer 40,000 novel.  This was once again the case in this tricky and fun book as Cypher: Lord of the Fallen’s impressive story really comes to life when it is read out to you.  All the secrets, twists and fantastic depictions of Terra are so much more epic in this format, and I really had a blast listening to it.  It helped that the audiobook was narrated by the very talented Jon Rand, who has previously impressed me in Ghazhkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! and Dredge Runners.  Rand has a great voice for dark Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and he puts that to full use in Cypher: Lord of the Fallen, especially when he brings the very cryptic narrator to life.  The near whispering and often gloating tones Rand ascribes to Cypher are pretty perfect, and I felt he captured this mythical and notorious trickster perfectly.  His portrayal adds a lot of depth to Cypher’s appearance in this audiobook, especially as he also covers the evident regret and occasional sad despondency that Cypher experiences as he manipulates events, which makes you grow attached to the figure, even though he could be faking it.  At the same time, the rest of the cool cast, including the proud Custodes, the vengeful Dark Angels and the lost members of the Fallen, are also portrayed extremely well.  Rand gives each of them very fitting voices and you cannot help but feel their relative emotions of duty, resolve and occasional despair that follow.  This was a masterful bit of voice work by Rand, and he really helps to turn this format into the ultimate way to enjoy the exceptional Cypher: Lord of the Fallen.

Overall, Cypher: Lord of the Fallen is an outstanding and epic piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that I cannot recommend enough.  John French did a remarkable job bringing together a novel that perfectly portrays and encapsulates one of the most mysterious and beloved figures in the canon, and shows him at his manipulating best.  Featuring a unique and enjoyable writing style, as well as a ton of hints for established Warhammer 40,000 fans, Cypher: Lord of the Fallen was one of my favourite Warhammer books of the year and is really worth checking out, especially in its audiobook format.

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Warhammer 40,000: Longshot by Rob Young

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer11 Comments

Longshot Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 12 August 2023)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 10 hours and 28 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare to dive into one of the grittiest battles in Warhammer 40,000 fiction with the awesome and captivating novel, Longshot by Rob Young.

2023 has definitely been an outstanding year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and I have had a ton of fun reading several pretty amazing entries from this extended universe in recent months.  Examples of this include The Lion: Son of the Forest, Warboss, Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter, Leviathan and The King of the Spoil just to name a few.  However, the year is far from over and there are still several great-sounding Warhammer 40,000 novels coming out that I have my eyes on.  One of the more intriguing was the fantastic Longshot by new author Rob Young, which sounded extremely fun.  Longshot, which follows on from Young’s short stories, Transplants and Memories of Broken Glass, is the author’s debut Warhammer 40,000 novel, and it proved to be a very intense and action-packed novel with a great story.

Several years after the fall of Cadia, which saw the Imperium of Man split in two by a great rift in space, humanity is still attempting to recover as many lost planets and systems as possible.  The latest target of the relentless Indomitus Crusade sees the troops of the Cadian 217th arrive at the former manufactorium world of Attruso, whose people have fallen under the sway of the seeming beatific alien t’au.

As the initial assault begins in the battered city of Miracil, the Cadian forces struggle to make progress against the determined t’au defenders and their human auxiliaries.  As the fighting gets even more desperate, the tides of war soon place the keys to victory into the hands of Sergeant Darya Nevic and her squad of snipers.  Nevic is a legendary figure within the 217th, a transplant from a non-Cadian regiment renown for her abilities of infiltration, assassination and survival, Nevic excels at disrupting the enemy from the top down.  However, when the t’au unleash their own deadly sniper against the Cadians, Nevic is forced into a battle of wits with a killer just as skilled and ruthless as she is.  But has Nevic finally come across a foe even she can’t best, especially as she begins to doubt her mission in the face of her own infamy, the lies of her commanders and the t’au’s insidious promises?

Longshot is an awesome and fast-paced novel that perfectly showcases the horror of war in this grim universe through the lens of a skilled sniper.  Young did an outstanding job with his debut novel and I loved the intriguing and powerful narrative that placed great characters into a deadly setting.  I managed to knock this book off in a couple of days, and it is one of the most exciting and fun Warhammer 40,000 novels of 2023 so far.

I loved the complex and intense story that Young pulled together for Longshot, which perfectly presents a tale of the common soldier in the grim Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I have often said that some of the very best Warhammer 40,000 novels are those that focus on the common human soldier facing off against alien or inhuman forces (for example, Steel Tread, the Gaunt’s Ghosts books or Catachan Devil).  Longshot is a very good example of this as you follow a tired soldier as she faces internal and external threats on the frontline of a desperate conflict.  Thanks to its focus on snipers, city fighting, camaraderie and propaganda, Longshot is honestly the Warhammer 40,000 version of Enemy at the Gates, which I deeply enjoyed.  The reader really gets invested in the protagonist’s journey which follows her through some fantastic missions, battles and character growth in the first half of the novel.  This leads to a great second half, where Nevic becomes a victim of her own success and is forced to go up against a deadly enemy sniper.  Due to everything the protagonist experiences, there is some real tension leading into the final third of Longshot, especially after she experiences some terrible losses.  Thanks to the protagonists’ conflicted state, you honestly don’t know how the story is going to turn, and Young loads up some great twists and swerves.  While the ending was a tad predictable, I really enjoyed it and the author really pulled together a satisfying and exciting read that you can really power through.

This ended up being a pretty addictive standalone book, and it is one that would definitely serve as a great introductory novel to Warhammer 40,000 fiction for those readers unfamiliar with the franchise.  Young does a great job of expanding his previous short stories into his first full-length novel, and you really get to grips quickly with the situation, the characters, and the wider universe.  The sharp and intense character-driven story which primarily focuses on the protagonist, Darya Nevic, with a few chapters shown from other key character perspective, has a lot of great elements to it.  The focus on character motivation, the depravities of war, and the grim realities of the background universe really cut through the main story, and you understand the difficulties that many of the conflicted characters experience.  The subsequent focuses on morale in battle and the impacts of propaganda and manipulation also proves to be very fascinating and adds a great edge to Longshot.  I also deeply appreciated how well Young built up his main protagonist throughout the course of Longshot, diving into Nevic’s complex history and examining how she gained her legend.  You grow quite attached to Nevic as the book continues, especially she is forced to make several difficult decisions, and Young turns her into a relatable and understandable figure, especially when it comes to her conflicted feelings about her fame and leadership.  Nevic is well supported by other great characters, and Young was able to establish and utilise these figures in a short amount of time.

The real highlight of Longshot is the awesome and well-written action sequences that dominate the book and constantly keep the reader on their toes.  Young paints an effective and dark picture of brutal city fighting, and you can tell he was using the battle of Stalingrad as inspiration.  The gritty battles that take place are very exciting and powerful, and you can really feel the desperation and weariness of the combatants.  The author proves particularly adept at writing high-quality sniper scenes, and the focus on shooting, infiltration and calculated strikes makes Longshot stand out from other battle-heavy Warhammer 40,000 novels.  This ended up being a very slick and addictive read and Young proved quite skilled at getting his fantastic story across to the reader in the most effective way.

Well-established fans of Warhammer 40,000 canon will really appreciate Young’s compelling and insightful look into two distinctive factions who provide a very interesting contrast to each other.  This includes the members of the Cadians, one of the most iconic Imperial Guard factions in the game.  While the Cadians are already pretty heavily featured in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, I felt that Young provided a particularly effective dive into their current problems, namely the gradual deaths of the natural-born members of the regiment and their replacement by transplants from other regiments.  Thanks to the focus on Nevic, herself a transplant from another regiment, you see the dire internal conflict this causes as the strongly traditional Cadian regiment begin to lose their identity after the loss of their planet.  Young does a wonderful job of expressing this throughout the course of Longshot and the resultant impacts this has on the characters makes for some interesting story moments.  I also quite enjoyed seeing several outsider perspectives of the Cadians that Young worked into the story, which often contrasts well with what the Cadian protagonists feel, and it makes for some fantastic story moments. The author also examines other fascinating elements of the Imperial war machine, such as the exhausting Indomitus Crusade, the current crumbling state of the Imperium, the way other supporting regiments are treated, and the internal propaganda and planning of the regiment.

While the Cadians do get most of the story focus in Longshot, Young does take the time to also dive into the alien t’au who serve as the main antagonists of the plot.  Most Warhammer 40,000 novels that have the t’au as antagonists often nerf or underutilise them to a degree (for example Kill Team or Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker), which is frustrating for fans of the faction.  However, Young effectively showcases the t’au as skilled and deadly enemies who are able to weather the Imperial forces and overwhelm them in several key theatres.  Young has fun bringing several key t’au units to life throughout the course of Longshot and you really start to appreciate them as effective opponents to the Cadians.  There is also an interesting examination of t’au motivations, philosophies and manipulations, specifically around their recruitment of human auxiliaries.  This compelling dive into the t’au muddies the moral waters around the protagonists and the Cadians, and you soon start to question who has the best interest of the people of Attruso at heart.  This, and other intriguing similarities to the human soldiers, adds an awesome edge of consideration and concern to the story that I quite enjoyed.  I really think that Young had some of the better portrayals of the Cadians and the t’au I have so far seen in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and fans of the franchise are going to have a wonderful time diving into that in this book.

Unsurprisingly, I chose to check out Longshot on audiobook, which in my opinion the best way to enjoy a Warhammer 40,000 novel.  Longshot is a particularly good example of this, as the audiobook format really helped to move the already exciting novel along at a fast clip, especially when the action scenes are brought to life by the narrator.  Coming in at around 10 and a half hours, this is very easy audiobook to get through quickly, and I made sure to power through it in only a few days.  It helped that this book was narrated by the very talented Colleen Prendergast, who already has a bit of experience narrating Warhammer novels featuring the Cadians.  Prendergast did a wonderful job bringing all the major characters to life, especially the main protagonist of Darya Nevic, and I loved the elaborate and fitting voices that she gifted the cast which really helped to draw you into the story.  However, the real benefit of Prendergast’s narration is the way that she walks the listener through all the elaborate battle sequences, especially those that show the snipers facing off against each other.  I felt that this narration expertly captured all the inherent intensity and danger of these scenes and I got really invested into the book as a result.  Thanks to this amazing narration and story enhancement, I would strongly recommend checking out Longshot on audiobook and I know I had a lot more fun thanks to this amazing format.

Overall, Longshot is an awesome and compelling addition to the Warhammer 40,000 canon and one that I had a ton of fun with.  Young produced a powerful and intriguing character driven war story that will appeal to a wide audience of readers, especially with its fantastic focus on sniping and some of the more fascinating elements of Warhammer lore.  I deeply enjoyed this fantastic novel and Longshot comes highly recommended.

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Warhammer 40,000: The King of the Spoil by Jonathan D. Beer

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer12 Comments

The King of the Spoil Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 July 2023)

Series: Warhammer Crime

Length: 12 hours and 33 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Get ready for another awesome round of Warhammer Crime goodness as Jonathan D. Beer presents an epic and captivating novel thick with action, intrigue and cool characters in The King of the Spoil.

Out of all the many Warhammer 40,000 novels and series currently running, few are as fun as the very impressive Warhammer Crime collection of books.  An intriguing subseries designed to mix distinctive crime fiction narratives with the awesome grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Warhammer Crime novels are a ton of fun, and I love the crazy and powerful stories that result.  All loosely connected and set in the same massive dystopian city of Varangantua, the Warhammer Crime series has so far produced some epic reads, including The Wraithbone Phoenix and Dredge Runners by Alec Worley, Grim Repast by Marc Collins, Flesh and Steel by Guy Hayley, and Bloodlines by Chris Wraight.  Each of these Warhammer Crime books has been pretty damn exceptional in their own way, and most of them appeared on my recent favourite Warhammer 40,000 list.  As such, I was very excited when I saw that a new Warhammer Crime novel was on its way with The King of the Spoil.

The King of the Spoil was an outstanding novel from author Jonathan D. Beer that introduced the reader to a new area of the overarching setting of Varangantua while also supplying them with a compelling and impressive story.  This is actually the first full novel from Beer, and it continues several of his short stories that were previously published in the Warhammer Crime collected editions, Broken City and Sanction and Sin.  I had an epic time with this fantastic novel as Beer produced an exceptional and addictive read.

In the vast continent-spanning city of Varangantua, there is no section of the city more desperate or devastated than the broken chunk of land known as the Spoil.  A formerly prominent industrial area, time has turned the Spoil in a useless wasteland abandoned by the rest of the city.  With the remaining populace of the Spoil forced to remain within its bounds, there are very few choices for survival and little chance for escape.  But even in this fallen area, someone must rise to the top, and only one man can be king.

For over a generation, the Spoil was ruled by Andreti Sorokin, the self-proclaimed King of the Spoil.  His rule brought stability to the once lawless section of the city, while his unpopular alliance with the Valtteri business cartel ensured that money once again flowed through the Spoil.  However, no king can rule forever, and when Sorokin is brutally murdered by a mysterious assassin, it doesn’t take long until someone tries to replace him.

As the Spoil devolves into a deadly gang war, with rival factions fighting for control of whatever they can get, the Valtteri turn to their most effective agent to find them an edge.  Melita Voronova is an info-broker and hacker of unsurpassed skill who has been forced to work for the Valterri.  However, after failing to predict Sorokin’s assassination, her only hope to survive her employer’s wrath is to travel to the Spoil and determine who killed Sorokin.  However, many people within the Spoil had a motive for killing the king, and Melita is about to discover that Sorokin’s death is only the first step in an elaborate plot that could change the very foundation of the Spoil.  Can Melita find the truth before it’s too late, or will this massive conspiracy destroy her and everything she cares about?

This was a pretty awesome book from Beer, who really showcases his fantastic writing ability in his debut novel.  Featuring an excellent and intense story, loaded with intrigue, action and complex characters, The King of the Spoil is an excellent addition to the Warhammer Crime series and I had so much fun getting through it.

Beer comes up with a very elaborate and fun story in The King of the Spoil, which starts very strong and never really slows down.  Beginning with the assassination of the titular king, Beer takes his time before introducing the main protagonist, instead utilising a series of short chapters to effectively bring several supporting cast members into the narrative while also showcasing the immediate aftermath of Sorokin’s death.  I really liked how Beer decided to focus on these other characters first, especially as it adds in some interesting story angles that come into play later in the story.

Once the scene has been effectively set, the story starts to primarily focus on protagonist Melita Voronova who, after failing to warn her dangerous corporate employers about Sorokin’s death, is forced to journey to the Spoil to find out who killed him and manage the appointment of a successor.  Beer also introduces a great alternate point of view protagonist in young Spoil resident Haska Jovanic, who provides an intriguing look at the events occurring on the ground in the Spoil, especially as warlords and other involved parties make their move.  Both major narratives evolve at a steady pace, mostly independent of each other, and I liked the competing views of the events and the city that they provided to the reader.  Out of the two, Melita’s investigation-focused chapters were probably the more entertaining, and she leads the reader on the hunt for the killer and the complex politics of the Spoil and its gangs.  These two main perspectives are cleverly interspersed with a series of interludes shown from other side characters, including the true antagonist and their patsies, as they put their masterplan into commission.  While a more detailed perspective from the antagonist might have been interesting, Beer chose to keep their involvement mostly mysterious for the moment, and it was interesting to see their intermittent involvement to the larger plot.

The King of the Spoil takes a big turn in the second half when the antagonist makes a big move and absolutely rocks the entire plot.  The full extent of their ambitious plan and its massive repercussions are pretty over the top, and I loved how Beer cleverly hinted at what was to come while setting everything up in the first half of the book.  Everything honestly goes to hell for Melita at that point while Haska finds herself in the middle of conflict, fighting for everything she believes in.  The stakes of the book keep getting bigger and bigger, and Melita is forced to find help more in keeping with the Warhammer Crime vibe to uncover who some of the major hidden players in the case are, which only results in a more sinister conspiracy than anyone realised.  This leads up to a massively explosive conclusion, which leads to some major changes and mostly resolves events, although there are some big plot points left open which Beer is clearly looking to explore in the future.  Both the main protagonists are left in interesting positions, which cleverly fits their respective development, and it will be great to see what happens to them next.  This was overall an exciting and gripping narrative that lived up to the lofty heights of the Warhammer Crime series.

Like many of the Warhammer Crime books, The King of the Spoil is a mostly standalone read that does not require a lot of pre-knowledge of the other entries in the series, or the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe to enjoy.  While Beer has written about the main character in several prior short stories, you don’t really need to check these out first, as the author makes sure that any relevant details are revisited or mentioned where necessary.  I think that Beer did a really good job of converting the characters and scenarios from his previous shorter works into the larger novel format, and his debut book was pretty epic as a result.

I loved the intriguing mixture of storylines that were featured within The King of the Spoil, and the blend of investigation, gang politics, and character driven storylines worked to produce a fantastic and complex read that fit well within the larger Warhammer Crime universe.  Beer maintains a steady and compelling pace throughout the course of The King of Spoil, and there honestly wasn’t a dull moment throughout the entire book, whether the focus was on intrigue, action, or character growth.  The intriguing crime elements of the novel, such as the protagonist’s major investigation, criminal politics, and the brewing gang war, were all expertly inserted into the story and it blended well with both the setting and the accompanying character arcs.  Beer proved competent at ratchetting up the tension at certain parts of the novel, as both main protagonists are continuously experiencing major threats, momentous decisions, and tragedy.  The action scenes were pretty damn awesome, and I loved how Beer was able to capture the intricacies of the various battles that occurred, whether they be gang scraps or something even more serious.  Thanks to the author’s inclusive writing style and determination to bring a powerful crime fiction story to life, I found The King of the Spoil to be a great entry novel into the Warhammer Crime series, and indeed this might even be a good read for those readers looking to explore the Warhammer 40,000 universe for the first time.  This entire story was showcased extremely well by Beer and I honestly had a hard time putting down The King of the Spoil.

One of the things I love so much about the Warhammer Crime books is the great overarching setting of the massive city of Varangantua, which each author adds to throughout the course of the series.  I love all the unique and different areas of the city that have so far been introduced, but I think the Spoil is one of the best.  Showcased as an extremely poor district that has been deliberately cut off from the rest of the city and is now completely ruled by gangs, the Spoil is a particularly grim and desperate place in an already notoriously grim city/universe.  Beer does a wonderful job diving into the unique history of the Spoil and its inhabitants throughout the course of the book, including how things changed during the reign of Andreti Sorokin, who brought some stability to the region, but in a way that damaged their pride and independence.  This desperation and desire to be free becomes a key part of the plot, as the antagonists use this to bring anarchy to the Spoil and beyond in some impressively destructive ways.  There is also an outstanding and enjoyable focus on gang politics and interactions, as various factions seek to take control of the Spoil throughout the course of the book.  I deeply appreciated how Beer wove these elements of his major setting into the plot, and it made for a much more complex story where neither side is really in the right.  Beer also cleverly works in some larger Warhammer 40,000 elements into the story, which work to enhance the stakes of the story.  The inclusion of one notorious Imperial organisation really showcases just how serious events get at times, and I honestly enjoyed just how widespread and massive Beer decided to make his plot, especially as there are implications of darker forces at work.  This was such a great addition to the Warhammer Crime sub-series of books, and I loved how Beer made this part of Varangantua his own and built an outstanding story around it.

One of the major highlights of The King of the Spoil was the intriguing group of characters the story was set around.  Beer does a great job of introducing a fantastic cast of thieves, gangsters, mercenaries, cut-throat industrialists and more throughout the book, and their battles for supremacy and respect ensured this was an excellent read.  The main protagonist is Melita Voronova, a talented info-broker who has been forced into service by the Valterri cartel and is tasked with keeping an eye on the Spoil.  A brilliant, analytical person with the ability to recruit and maintain a large spy network, Melita is a very intriguing protagonist, and you swiftly grow to ensure her unique outlook and abilities.  However, thanks to her indentured servitude, her complex past, and the cybernetic implants she’s received, Melita is a bit of a mess and is using drugs to cope.  Beer portrays Melita is a deeply damaged figure, who is resentful of her current lot in life and is constantly pushing everyone close to her away.  This makes for several deeply personal scenes throughout The King of Spoil, and it was heartbreaking at times to see her refuse any help, even when she really needs it.  Thanks to the chaotic events of the book, Melita experiences several tragedies in The King of the Spoil which adds further strain to her psyche and enhances the already dark tension of the novel.  I really liked where Beer left Melita’s character arc at the end of The King of the Spoil, especially as it became clear that she still has a lot of development to go, and it will be fascinating to see what happens to her next, especially as she is now on several powerful people’s radar.

The other major protagonist of The King of the Spoil was Haska Jovanic, a young resident of the Spoil who gets a front row view of all the changes and conflict that occurs throughout the book.  In some ways, Haska has a much more complete character journey in this book than Melita, especially as she goes from scared street rat to hardened and vengeful gang soldier.  Dragged into various conflicts in the book thanks to her eager friends, Haska is a bit of a reluctant figure for much of the story, and there are some intriguing chapters around her motivations and what she wants out of life.  Forced to choose between being a fighter or being exploited, Haska is thrust into some of the major plot points of the book, where she finds courage, motivation and tragedy.  Beer did a particularly good job of building up the reader’s attachment to Haska throughout The King of the Spoil, especially as she is one of the more relatable figures in the entire book.  Watching her be forced by circumstances, fear and loyalty into several deadly situations which usually backfire on her is pretty powerful, and the author builds some fantastic storylines around her as a result, especially in the second half of the book.  I deeply enjoyed how her entire complex storyline unfolded, and the compelling conclusion to her arc in The King of the Spoil ensures that she is going to be particularly interesting to follow when she shows up again next.

Aside from Melita and Haska, there are a ton of other great characters featured throughout The King of the Spoil, mainly to bolster the protagonist’s storyline or provide some intriguing antagonistic figures.  Some of the most notable includes Edi, Melita’s bodyguard and former enforcer who serves as the main character’s conscience, resolve and sounding board.  Edi is probably one of the more likeable and honourable figures in the novel, and his intriguing relationship with Melita as he tries to act like her father against her wishes, makes him that much more enjoyable.  The Valterri security chief Tomillan Vasimov, who controls Melita for his organisation, served as an outstanding secondary antagonist, especially due to his rivalry and disdain for the protagonist.  Beer turns him into quite a fantastically unlikeable figure, so much so that you quite enjoy it when the real antagonists take shots at him.  Haska’s ambitious and inexperienced gang friends also prove an excellent addition to the cast, especially as they give Haska a lot of motivation to get involved in events, while Mattix, the grizzled Probator (investigator for the Enforcers), adds a great police presence, despite his often less-than-honourable motivations.  Other great characters also have their moment in the book, such as the actual, and somewhat hidden, antagonist of the story, who masterfully sets every event into play.  I quite liked the deadly intrigue that surrounded this figure, although I do wish we had gotten to see more of them in The King of the Spoil or find out more about their motivations.  I imagine this antagonist will be a recurring figure in any future Beer Warhammer Crime novels, and I look forward to seeing them face off against the protagonist again.  These characters, and more, were all deeply enjoyable and I loved the intriguing range they brought to the plot.

I checked out The King of the Spoil on audiobook, as frankly it is the best way to enjoy a Warhammer 40,000 novel.  Unsurprisingly, I had an amazing time listening to The King of the Spoil, and I really felt that the audiobook format helped to enhance its already exciting and fantastic story.  The frenetic intrigue and brutal action sequences all really come to life when it is read out to you from the protagonist’s perspective, and I definitely absorbed more of the elaborate and desolate landscape of the Spoil thanks to the narration.  I also a very big fan of the narration provided by relatively new audiobook narrator, Gabrielle Nellis-Pain, whose intriguing range added a great deal to the impact and enjoyment of the story.  Nellis-Pain does such a great job of inhabiting the roles of the various characters contained within The King of the Spoil, especially the main two protagonists, Melita and Haska.  I felt that the narrator did a wonderful job capturing their various personalities, as well as the emotional pain and distress the events of this book inflict upon them, and you really get drawn into their story arcs as a result.  The rest of the cast also come together extremely well, and I liked how Nellis-Pain was able to really showcase some of their key character traits, which really helped me to enjoy the excellent story.  Coming in with a decent runtime of 12 and a half hours, dedicated listeners can get through The King of Spoil fairly quickly, especially once they get caught up in its wonderful detail.  I would strongly recommend The King of the Spoil’s audiobook to anyone interested in checking this book out and you will really enjoy it more in this format.

Overall, The King of the Spoil was an excellent and captivating Warhammer Crime novel that I had an epic time listening to.  Author Jonathan Beer did an outstanding job with his first Warhammer novel, and I deeply enjoyed the powerful and exciting crime fiction story he came up with, loaded with amazing characters and set in a fantastic and compelling new part of the Warhammer Crime shared setting.  The King of the Spoil was an impressive addition to an already awesome sub-series and it is clear that Beer has some interesting plans to continue the storylines started here in the future.  I cannot wait to see what Beer delivers in the future and if this first book is anything to go by, it’s bound to be exceptional.

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Warhammer 40,000: Leviathan by Darius Hinks

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer6 Comments

Warhammer 40,000 - Leviathan Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 24 June 2023)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 12 hours and 13 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for all-out war as the righteous Ultramarines battle the insidious Tyranids in this epic new Warhammer 40,000 novel from Darius Hinks, Leviathan.

It has been a pretty good year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction already, with several fantastic novels coming out in 2023, including Warboss and The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks (the latter being one of my favourite books from the first half of 2023), and Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter by Phil Kelly.  However, the hits are far from over, especially as there are several fantastic new Warhammer 40,000 novels set to come out later this year.  But before we get to those, I managed to jump onto another recent release with the outstanding novel Leviathan, written by established Warhammer author Darius Hinks.  Hinks was a new author to me, but I soon grew to appreciate his latest book, especially as it showcased a dark and intense alien invasion that made for a great story.

In the far future of the 41st millennium, the besieged Imperium of Man faces many threats, but few are more deadly, unstoppable, or insidious as the unrelenting and seemingly endless hordes of the Tyranids, an alien race determined to devour everything it encounters.  While several of the larger invading Tyranid fleets have been destroyed, a splinter tendril is making its way towards the galactic centre, threatening the very heart of the Imperium.

Standing in the way of this fleet is the fortress world of Regium, an ancient planet recently taken over by Imperial forces, it now serves as a bulwark against invasions heading towards the inner-Imperium.  Many believe that Regium is secure from all threats, but when the people of the planet are haunted by parasites, strange cults, and mysterious dreams of terrifying monsters, it soon becomes clear that a Tyranid swarm is about to descend upon them.

It falls to the decorated hero, Lieutenant Castamon of the Ultramarines, to hold Regium against the foes and keep the rest of the Imperium safe.  A veteran of many battles, Castamon believes that this new Tyranid fleet will be swiftly destroyed.  However, these Tyranids are led by something far more sinister than the Ultramarines have encountered before, something cunning and ruthless that is able to disrupt minds and outthink even the cleverest of humans.  With his forces split, Regium’s defences compromised, and his allies panicking, even the vaunted Lieutenant Castamon may be unable to save Regium from the Tyranid invasion.  However, Castamon has one last trick up his sleeve, the brilliant Ultramarine Apothecary Biologis, Vultis, whose research into the Tyranid biology might be the only thing that can stop them.  Unfortunately, the enemy knows all about the Ultramarines and their plans, and the deadly creature known as the Harbinger is coming for them.

Leviathan was a pretty awesome and intense Warhammer 40,000 novel that shines a real spotlight on one of the more insidious alien races in the canon.  Featuring a strong and at times terrifying narrative, Leviathan was a great read, and I really got caught up in Hinks’s fantastic book.

Hinks pulls together an excellent story for Leviathan, and it is one that will appeal to a range of different readers, especially those fans of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  Set around the already troubled planet of Regium, Leviathan follows an intriguing range of different human/space marine characters as they attempt to make sense and prepare for a Tyranid invasion of their world.  The early parts of the book are dedicated to introducing the key characters and the overall setting of the story, while also attempting to cast a more psychological edge to the main story as visions, doubts and other insanities haunt the populace.  There are some great early action sequences, including a disastrous shipboard incursion, and a dark hunt in some interesting terrain, and Hinks works well to set up for the second half of the book, especially as several unique, character driven stories were introduced and given some early weight.  While I enjoyed a lot of this set up, I did find the first half of the story to be a bit slow with its pacing and I was initially having trouble getting too invested in any of the characters or story elements.  However, this changed when I got to the second half of the book.

This second half masterfully builds on all the setup and character development that occurred at the start of Leviathan and readers are in for a particularly intense and gruesome narrative from this point on.  This entire second half is dedicated to the full-on invasion of Regium, as swarms of aliens, including some new creatures, emerge to decimate the populace and challenge the protagonists.  Each of the character focused plot lines set up in the first part of the book, as well as a few additional story inclusions, are perfectly thrust into this overlying chaos, and you get to see them try to survive the oncoming horrors and monstrosities.  Hinks really pulls no punches when it comes to this Tyranid invasion, and you get to witness all the devastation, the deadly transformation of the planet, and the subsequent epic battles, as the Tyranids fight against the human and Ultramarine defenders in some epic and well-crafted set pieces.  Each storyline was really good in its own way, and together they formed a fantastic and at times over-the-top overarching narrative that successfully showcased just how overwhelming the Tyranids can be.  I loved how dark Hinks made Leviathan at times, especially as he had no qualms about killing off key characters in some particularly brutal ways, which really raised the stakes for the reader.  While I did think that a lot of the plot did rely a little on the narrative stupidity of certain characters (the Ultramarines kept forgetting everything they knew about the Tyranids), the second half of the book was extremely epic, and I had real trouble putting it down.  All the separate storylines were concluded in entertaining and fitting ways, and I particularly appreciated the final plan that Hinks introduced for the main protagonists, which really fitted the outrageous feel of a lot of the plot.  This brutal and continuously exciting second half really turned Leviathan into such a great read, and I really loved how the entire thing turned out.

Leviathan proved to be an interesting and compelling addition to the wider Warhammer canon, especially as Hinks took the opportunity to really dive into some of the factions and showcase how crazy they can be.  However, I know that Leviathan has been copping a little flack in this department, mainly because some people see it as merely a promotional novel tied-in with some of the recently announced Ultramarines and Tyranid models.  While I can definitely see that, especially as Hinks spends a lot of time highlighting some of the newer Tyranid creatures in his narrative, I still enjoyed Leviathan a lot.  His depictions of the Tyranids were one of the major highlights of the book, and I loved how much he upped the horror aspect of them, showing them to be ravenous monsters who alter and devour everything they encounter.  This might be one of the better portrayals of Tyranids that I have so far seen in Warhammer fiction, and they were certainly a lot less one-dimensional here than they are in other books.  Part of this was because of the inclusion of several newer Tyranid creatures, such as the Neurotyrant and the Norn Emissary, with both being shown as unstoppable monsters with interesting abilities.  This allowed the Tyranids to attack their prey in all new ways, and it was very fun to see the various intricate tactics they were able to come up with.  Hinks tempers some of the more commercial aspects of these creatures’ inclusion by not actually using the names of the models in Leviathan, instead all you have is the protagonist’s descriptions of them when they encounter them in person.  These personal and often deeply terrified accounts of the various Tyranid bioforms really help to showcase just how terrifying and alien they are, especially to the ordinary human, and it really added a great edge to the narrative.  This darker edge is further exacerbated by the author’s powerful examination of how the planet of Regium is altered once the Tyranids arrive.  The spores constantly raining down on the planet slowly poison the various humans as they breathe in, and the depictions of the protagonists dying from within as they inhale alien matter, while their skin starts to slowly melt is pretty damn memorable and terrifying, especially as this is the first step in turning all biological matter in the planet into edible goo.  Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced the horror that is the Tyranid better than in Leviathan, and Hinks’ brilliant use of this faction enhanced the entire book.

On top of the Tyranids, Leviathan also features another intriguing major faction, the all-time classic Ultramarines chapter of Space Marines.  I mostly liked how the various Ultramarine characters were featured in Leviathan, although I did think that Hinks could have perhaps done a little more to distinguish them from other general Space Marines.  Still, Hinks goes out of his way to make the Ultramarines as badass as possible, and you really get a sense of their courage and battle prowess, especially as the severally outnumbered Ultramarines (I won’t go into the logistics of Regium’s defence here, but it did seem a tad low for such a vital planet), managed to put up quite a showing against the Tyranid swarm.  Some of the fight sequences featuring the Ultramarines in combat were pretty damn epic, and while some Space Marines did die easily for plot effect (especially when going up against a Tyranid with a new model), I felt that Hinks did a good job highlighting just how dangerous a Space Marine can be.  Hinks really tries to cover various aspects of the Space Marines throughout Leviathan, including the reverence and respect that most normal people have for them, and while this might not be the absolute best portrayal of an Ultramarine detachment ever, it was still pretty damn good, especially in those fantastic fight sequences.

I also must highlight some of the great characters featured within Leviathan as Hinks comes up with a diverse and compelling cast to tell the story with.  Thanks to the way the story is set out, each of the key plotlines revolves around some excellent characters, each with their own motivations, missions, and big moments, as they try to weather or escape the oncoming Tyranid doom.  Hinks crafts some great storylines for each of these major characters, and it proves easy to get invested in them, such as the tale of two ordinary farm workers who try to escape the monsters around them, the hapless Governor who finds himself out of his depth, or the proud Cadian leader who is drawn into war by the machinations of a delusional priest.  However, some of the best characters in Leviathan are members of the Ultramarines, and much of the story focuses on the elites of this chapter on Regium.  I really enjoyed these major Ultramarine characters, including the bold Lieutenant Castamon, the heroic leader who lives up to all the hype, the Apothecary Biologis, Vultis, whose analytical mind and desire for knowledge might hold the key to victory, and even the arrogant Sergeant Tanaro has his moments, especially in that powerful last scene.  However, my favourite character in the book is probably the scarred Ultramarine Baraca.  Baraca is a seemingly unkillable figure who has survived an insane amount of damage, but who has grown detached from even the rest of his battle brothers.  Despite appearing to be a mindless brute, Baraca is a deep and complex figure whose friendship with Vultis provides some emotional power to their scenes together.  Baraca honestly steals every scene he is in, especially his last, and Hinks writes a great storyline around him as he courts death, while trying to find his place in life.  All these characters, and more are very well written, and the impact they have on the plot is pretty impressive.

Like most Warhammer 40,000 content that I absorb, I chose to listen to Leviathan’s audiobook format, which is such a fantastic way to enjoy these intense stories.  I think that I made the right choice when it came to Leviathan, as this amazing audiobook really helped to throw me into the midst of the action.  Narrator Theo Solomon did an excellent job of setting a fast pace with his narration, and his descriptions of the massive battles, compelling heroics, and gruesome aliens was very fun to listen to.  While I wasn’t always the biggest fan of some of the character voices that he came up with, Solomon did produce some excellent tones for some of the main characters, particularly that of Lieutenant Castamon, who is made to sound very heroic and bold, which worked to showcase this intriguing protagonist.  As such, I felt that this was an excellent way to enjoy Leviathan, and with a run time of just over 12 hours, this isn’t a massive audiobook to get through, especially once you get caught up in the impressive second half.  I had an awesome time with Leviathan on audiobook, and I recently featured it on my favourite audiobooks from the first half of 2023 list.

Overall, I think that Leviathan was a pretty good Warhammer 40,000 novel and I was pretty impressed with my first book from Darius Hinks.  While I did have some issues with the story, especially in the early goings, this ended up being a very memorable and captivating read, especially thanks to the use of the cool Tyranid faction.  Loaded with carnage, brutal fights to the death, and complex characters dealing with an oncoming horde of clever aliens, Leviathan was an outstanding novel that deeply enjoyed.

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The Hunger by Marsheila Rockwell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Horror, LGBT+, Superhero, Tie-in Novel3 Comments

The Hunger Cover

Publisher: Aconyte Books (ebook – 3 October 2023)

Series: Marvel Zombies

Length: 249 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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Prepare to dive into a wacky, time travelling, zombie filled Marvel novel with Marsheila Rockwell’s fantastic tie-in book, The Hunger.

After having a lot of fun reading the awesome Marvel Comics tie-in novel The Tyrant Skies by David Annandale earlier this year, I thought it would be an excellent idea to dive into another amazing Marvel book, especially one with a great plot like The Hunger.  Written by intriguing fantasy and science fiction author, Marsheila Rockwell, whose previous foray in Marvel fiction produced the magic Sisters of Sorcery novel, The Hunger is an awesome upcoming book that I was very happy to get an early copy of thanks to Netgalley.  Set around the iconic Marvel Zombies concept, The Hunger was a pretty epic read that I had an outstanding time with.

When a mysterious object falls to Earth, landing in New York city, it unleashes a wave of evil and despair as the world’s greatest heroes are turned into ravenous zombies determined to feast on all living flesh.  As the zombified superheroes begin to spread out across the planet, turning or eating everything before them, only Doctor Strange can briefly retain his sanity to try and find a way to avert disaster, but despite his best efforts, his overwhelming hunger threatens all around him.

With no alternative, Doctor Strange is forced to turn to one of the few magic users left unaffected by the zombie outbreak, the librarian of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Zelma Stanton, who reluctantly takes up the burden and imprisons her zombified mentor.  Despite her lack of experience, Zelma has access to all the magical knowledge and ancient artefacts in Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, and she hopes to find some answer to the deadly chaos consuming her planet.  But Zelma soon realises that even all the books in the Sanctum aren’t enough; if she wants to succeed, she’s going to need help.

Pulling together a ragtag team of survivors, including Runaway witch Nico Minoru, monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone and the living embodiment of insanity, Deadpool, Zelma hopes that together they can find a solution.  But their plan to trap the zombies in a time loop backfires on them, thanks to antics of Deadpool, unsurprisingly.  Now with time fracturing all around them, an evil magic threat unleashed, and the zombie horde still determined to eat everything, Zelma and her strange team need to find a way to reverse the damaged they caused while still saving the world.  But is this group of survivors truly capable of stopping the flesh-eating nightmares waiting for them?

That was an insanely fun book about zombies and time travel shenanigans that I desperately needed, and I am sure glad that I decided to check this novel out.  The Hunger was a very entertaining book that I ended up knocking out in a few hours because of how easy and fantastic it was to read.  Rockwell came up with a very impressive story that quickly grabbed my attention and took me along a wild journey loaded with so many awesome moments.  Starting off with a great new introduction to an alternate Marvel Zombies event, where Doctor Strange and pretty much every other hero gets brutally turned into zombies, the story gets bleak very quickly and rarely lightens up after that.  The resulting narrative focuses on the intriguing figure of Zelma Stanton, a supporting character in one of the recent Doctor Strange comics, and it proves to be very interesting as you follow a young, inexperienced magician as she tries to survive in a very dangerous world.  The resulting story has a lot of great features to it as Zelma finds her courage, gathers a unique group of allies, and then finds herself getting thrown into all manner of chaos as her actions produce more zombie mayhem and every time travel issues you could think of.  The second half of The Hunger is pure, unadulterated bedlam, and I frankly loved every second of it, as Rockwell comes up with some outrageous and exciting scenarios that never really slow down.  Bringing together some well set-up storylines in some excellent ways, you honestly will find it hard to put down The Hunger once you get rolling with it, and I found the entire story to be exceedingly entertaining, especially as Rockwell wove together some complex scenes that saw the characters journey through all manner of unique points the Marvel Universe timeline.  This story was a riot from start to finish, especially the fantastic extended time travel sequences, and you will come away from this book very satisfied and honestly wanting more.

Rockwell has a great writing style that I felt really lent itself to the emotionally charged and intense story that came together in The Hunger.  Primarily told from the perspective of two young female magic users, The Hunger is a strong, character-driven tale that showcases how people grow under adversity, while also treating the reader to a brilliant amount of action, carnage and Marvel comics lore.  Rockwell really leans into the Marvel Zombies background of her story to provide some gruesome and graphic moments, which I felt helped set The Hunger apart from some of the other Marvel tie-in books.  While there is a lot of humour attached to the book, mainly thanks to the inclusion of a particular merc-with-a-mouth, The Hunger gets very deep and serious at times, and I loved the impactful dive into the traumas affecting the protagonists.  I loved the fast pace that Rockwell sets for The Hunger’s story, and frankly there was not a single moment of this book where I wanted to stop, as I just wanted to see what was going to happen next.  I did think some of the early sequences of the book felt a little simplistic in their writing, which almost threw me off.  However, Rockwell found her stride as the book continued, and I loved some of the elaborate sequences that emerged, especially those that feature multiple figures, time elements and obscure bits of Marvel lore.  Some of The Hunger’s twists were very well set up in the earlier stages of the book, and I loved how well things came together in the end, especially as Rockwell made such great use of the time travel elements to tell a very entertaining story.

The Hunger serves as a rather interesting addition to the wider Marvel lore that exists as Rockwell makes fine use of several existing storylines, concepts and characters, to create a pretty fun read.  Set in a version of the main Marvel universe that is suddenly impacted by a Marvel Zombies event, The Hunger has a ton of curious and distinctive elements to it that established fans of the comics will deeply enjoy.  Not only are there a ton of different characters present, often in zombie form, but Rockwell goes out of her way to feature or reference multiple storylines from the comics.  This includes a great mixture of more recent comics and some classic storylines, both of which work extremely well in the context of the story and its time travel elements.  I felt that Rockwell did a very good job of cleverly introducing and then utilising these different storylines throughout the course of the comics, and the resulting crazy plot encounters and big moments were pretty damn awesome.  Each of the main characters also makes sure to remember or mention many key story arcs from their history, many of which have a compelling impact on the current storyline or mental state.  The author clearly has an appreciation for the various storylines and obscure characters that she featured and I loved how random and compelling the later scenes got.  While Rockwell does go to some diverse areas of the Marvel universe and history, all of these elements and characters are explored in excellent detail so that anyone with some basic knowledge of Marvel comics can easily enjoy what is going on.  I personally loved all the cool references that emerged, as well the excellent reimagining of the Marvel Zombies storyline which helped turn The Hunger into a pretty awesome tie-in novel.

As with her previous Marvel tie-in novel, Sisters of Sorcery, Rockwell chose to focus The Hunger on three intriguing and somewhat underused female characters from the Marvel canon, Zelma Stanton, Nico Minoru, and Elsa Bloodstone.  All three characters are already epic, but it was great to see them forming a team here in The Hunger, especially when faced with an insane, world-ending threat.  Of these three characters, Zelma is probably the one I knew the least about, mainly because I’ve never read any of the Doctor Strange comics she is in, but she soon proved to be the invaluable heart of this entire novel.  Rockwell did a remarkable job of introducing and utilising Zelma as a character, even to a reader like me that has had no experience with her.  You are swiftly brought up to speed on who Zelma is and why she is involved, and soon you follow this overwhelmed magical character as she is thrust into events beyond her comprehension.  I loved the overarching narrative of this character finding her confidence and ability in this ultimate post-apocalyptic setting, and it was great to see her become the hero that Doctor Strange believed her to be.  Watching her use her unique intelligence and experiences to survive and attempt to stop all the chaos is quite compelling, and you really grow to appreciate Zelma, especially as she has very relatable doubts and concerns.  Zelma is the emotional heart of this entire book and I felt that Rockwell was very wise to use her as a central character, especially with how exceptionally she is portrayed.

In addition to Zelma, I really enjoyed the fantastic use of Nico Minoru and Elsa Bloodstone in The Hunger who served as impressive joint protagonists.  I particularly loved seeing Nico Minoru here in The Hunger, mainly because I’m such a big fan of Runaways, and Rockwell featured her in an excellent way.  Focusing on her at a key part of her character development from the comics, this already jaded and wary Nico arrives on the scene after seeing her entire adopted family turned to zombies and is swiftly forced into another harrowing adventure with a new group of strangers.  I really enjoyed exploring Nico’s fears, concerns and complex history throughout The Hunger, and she served as a great secondary point-of-view character for the plot.  These female characters are further enhanced by monster hunter extraordinaire Elsa Bloodstone, who is well suited for this sort of dark, monstrous tale.  The foul-mouthed, highly confident figure is a great addition to the focal cast of the novel, especially as her loud personality plays off the more reserved Zelma and Nico for a good chunk of the novel.  While initially shown to be mostly carefree, there are some compelling darker feelings under the surface, especially related to the start of the zombie apocalypse, and I felt that Elsa was a brilliant and great addition to the plot.

The final major character in the book really needs no introduction as Rockwell features Deadpool as the much need comic relief.  Brought into the story for very unique reasons, Deadpool is his usual blend of irrelevant humour, catchy one-liners, and all-round killing machine that works well with the female protagonists to save the day.  His constant jokes, weird comments and fourth wall breaks deeply add to the enjoyment I had of the book, even with its darker story content.  So many of the best plot moments in The Hunger revolve around Deadpool’s antics, and he really is an unsurpassed character to include in a crazy book like this.  His interactions with the other protagonists are also a lot of fun, with an intriguing blend of comedic conversations, crazed resentment, and even a grudging respect for his fellow survivors.  Throw in a ton of zombified superheroes, an overpowered magical witch from history, a fun new mount for Deadpool, and some intriguing figures from the dawn of the Marvel canon, and The Hunger has an outstanding cast that are a lot of fun to follow, especially during their darker and emotionally charged moments.

The Hunger really lived up to all its great potential and I had an epic time getting through this insane and highly exciting read.  Marsheila Rockwell produced one hell of a story here that made great use of the Marvel Zombies theme and featured a bonkers story with fantastic time travel elements, complex characters, and a ton of compelling references to the wider Marvel canon.  I honestly had such an incredible time with The Hunger and readers are guaranteed to get caught up in its cool story just like me.  Highly recommended, for all Marvel fans, you will have fun with this book.

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Throwback Thursday – Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Animation, Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Superhero, Throwback ThursdayLeave a comment

The Flashpoint Paradox Poster

Studio: Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment

Series: DC Universe Animated Original Movies – Film 18 / DC Animated Movie Universe – Film One

Director: Jay Oliva

Writer: Jim Krieg (Based on the comic by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert)

Producer: James Tucker

Length: 81 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review content I have enjoyed before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  For this week’s Throwback Thursday, I dive into a pretty damn awesome DC Comics animated film that is highly relevant at the moment with the awesome Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

Like many comic book fans in the world, I went out last weekend for the epic new film offering, The Flash, which ended up being pretty damn good.  The film had a lot of great elements to it, including the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, the introduction of a great new Supergirl, and a fantastic examination of the Flash mythos.  I was also very happy to see a fresh new take on the iconic Flashpoint comic, and it will be interesting to see how that impacts any upcoming live action DC films.  While I liked what they did with the Flashpoint story, I don’t think that The Flash was the absolute best adaptation of the Flashpoint comic; instead that honour goes the focus of this article, the 2013 animated film, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

Before we talk about the film, I should give a little background about the Flashpoint comic.  Flashpoint was a major 2011 comic event, written by Geoff Johns, whose work I have deeply enjoyed in comics like Rogues’ Revenge and Teen Titans, and pencilled by Andy Kubert.  Flashpoint was a compelling alternate timeline story that ended up resetting the main DC Universe in a big way.  While I honestly have very little love for the resulting changes it caused (I will never forgive DC for The New 52), the Flashpoint comic itself is pretty good, featuring some unique and stunning ideas within it.

Flashpoint has been adapted a few times in recent years, including in several seasons of The Flash television series, and the current The Flash film takes a lot from it.  While these other adaptations are pretty good, I think that The Flashpoint Paradox did the most with it, mainly because it sticks a lot closer to the source material and provides a very gritty animated film with a brilliant cast behind it.  Directed by veteran animated film director Jay Oliva (who has directed several of my favourite animated comic book films) and written by Jim Krieg, The Flashpoint Paradox is pretty damn awesome film and it is one that I have rewatched multiple times over the years.

Barry Allen is the Flash, founding member of the Justice League, the fastest man alive and the greatest hero Central City has ever known.  However, despite all he has done and everyone he has saved, Barry still cannot shake the trauma of his mother’s murder, a tragedy that has haunted him since his childhood.  After defeating several of his greatest foes, including his archenemy, the Reverse-Flash Eobard Thawne, Barry awakens to find himself in a new world, one where his mother is still alive and the Flash never existed.  Despite the joy he feels about his mother, this new world is no paradise, instead it is on the brink of ruin.  The Atlanteans, under the command of Aquaman, and the Amazons, led by Wonder Woman, are at war, and their relentless battling and disdain for humanity, has seen the destruction of much of Europe and the death of hundreds of millions of people.

Determined to find out what is happening and to stop the war between the Atlanteans and the Amazons before it destroys the world, Barry seeks out the one man who he thinks can help him, Batman.  However, the Batman he encounters is far different from the one he knows and has very little desire to save the world.  Worse, it soon becomes apparent that the changes to the world have been caused by Thawne, whose obsession with destroying the Flash could lead to unbelievable destruction.  To save the day, Barry needs to find a way to regain his powers and unite the scattered heroes of this reality.  But with all-out war in front of him, and his own trauma catching up behind, can the Flash stop Thawne before it’s too late?  And even if he succeeds, is he truly ready for the revelations that await him?

The Flashpoint Paradox was a pretty epic film that I have a lot of love for, especially as it blends a compelling story with great aesthetics, slick animation and a brilliant cast to produce something pretty damn awesome and a lot of fun to check out.

The creative team behind The Flashpoint Paradox did an outstanding job bringing this film together and one of the main reasons it works is the fantastic and intense story behind it.  The film itself is an exceptional adaptation of the original Flashpoint comic and much of it is a close and deliberate match to the source material.  That being said, it’s not a straight adaption as they needed to make it more accessible and take the story out of the main comic universe.  The film starts off with an exceptional sequence where the Flash faces off against the Rogues and the Reverse-Flash, who ambush him at the Flash Museum.  This scene, which sees a series of bombs threaten Flash and Central City, manages to achieve a lot of essential story points, including introducing Flash, showcasing his bitter rivalry with the self-destructive Thawne, and presenting the established version of the various Justice League characters who will later appear in the alternate timeline.  It’s also a very entertaining scene in several great ways, not only because the banter between Flash and Thawne is pretty brutal, but because it shows each member of the Justice League in action as they disarm a bomb in their own unique way.  This great intro really sets up the rest of the film, especially thanks to the clever references to Barry’s mothers’ death, and while it does make it a little more obvious whose ultimately responsible for events, it was a pretty damn epic start.

The middle part of the film is where the meat of the story is developed, as Barry arrives in the alternate universe and attempts to find out what is going on.  This part of the film resembles the source material the closest as they are pretty much doing a straight adaptation of the Flashpoint comic at this point.  However, they manage to really show off the grim reality of this new timeline very effectively in a short amount of time, and you really get to appreciate just how murderous the Amazons and the Atlanteans are, as well as how dark a world without the Justice League can be.  The creative team tell a very impactful story in this part of the film, and you must love the powerful interactions between Barry and the new Batman, as well as the emotional impacts of Barry realising just how much his universe has changed.  Everything is well capped off by the infiltration into the lab holding Superman, which is honestly way darker than what they did in the recent Flash film, especially with the horrifying aesthetics around the captured Superman.  At the same time, the growing sense of doom in the world is intensifying as the two superhuman armies prepare for war in London, and the tension is well and truly ratcheted up before the final phase of the film.

Everything leads up perfectly to the final act of The Flashpoint Paradox, which frankly is the best and most impactful part of this entire exceptional film.  The final third of the film is essentially an all-out war sequence, as the various characters descend into a three-way battle in the ruins of London, with the Atlanteans, the Amazons, and the human resistance, which includes the protagonists, fighting to kill as many enemies as possible.  This sequence is dominated by several excessively brutal fights between the heroes, and so many characters end up dead in some pretty horrible ways.  Not only are these action scenes highly polished and exciting, but they are also emotionally powerful, as the various character arcs and elements come full circle.  The best scenes are probably shared between Barry and Thawne, as they fight through the battle, debating what has happened to the world.  There are some outstanding revelations here, especially if you aren’t familiar with the source material or the other Flashpoint adaptations, and the moment when Barry figures out what truly happened is just heartbreaking, especially with Thawne’s taunting.  There is so much dramatic tension floating around, especially as Barry witnesses the full onslaught of the battle in front of him, and everything tilts on the edge of destruction.  The final brutal moments of this fight are so damn epic, and it leads up to some painful farewells and some tough decisions from Barry that will shake him forever.  This built-up emotion remains to the very end of the movie, especially as Flash manages to get closure for himself and others, and I really appreciated just how well the film ended.

On top of the epic plot and amazing concluding third, I also need to really highlight the impressive animation, stylistic choices, and fantastic musical score that accompanied it.  The animation in particular is awesome, and I loved the brilliant and iconic character designs that it depicted, especially as there is a mixture of classic character depictions, and the alternate versions that appeared in the Flashpoint universe.  The grim nature of the Flashpoint timeline serves as a powerful backdrop to the plot of The Flashpoint Paradox, and it was fantastic to see the DC universe in an even darker and more desperate light.  The best animation is naturally saved for the multiple impressive fight sequences scattered throughout the film, especially in the big war sequence at the end, and the brutality and sheer ferocity of the fights and battles are quite distinctive.  The animators honestly show no hesitation in showing blood, gore, death and even brains throughout this film, and it is even more brutal than The Flash film or the original comics, as there is barely a second in the final war where someone isn’t dying in some dramatic fashion.  There is some outstanding attention to detail during these various battles, whether it be a brutal fight in the sky, an intense duel between Cyborg and Aquaman in the middle of a warzone, or a high-speed fight through the midst of over combatants, and these are expertly portrayed and guaranteed to keep your interest with its high concept impact.  The cool time travel sequences are also a great highlight, and the clever animation around them really dial up the intensity of the film, especially during certain seminal scenes.  I’m also a big fan of the way that the major characters are presented throughout this film, and I appreciated how their designs change at various points of the film depending on which timeline is being watched.  The alternate costumes or depictions are well contrasted by the classic costumes shown at the start of the film, and I also love the subsequent subtle changes that appear at the end of the film to represent the further changes that have been created.

I also must talk about the fantastic use of music throughout this film, which works perfectly in concert with the animated sequences.  There are some great orchestral scores and tunes that are featured throughout the film, often in the most impact scenes, and I really liked how well they were used to enhance emotion or drama in a very powerful way.  Some of the very best scenes, including several particularly tense or pivotal sequences at the end come across as so much better thanks to the music that was overscoring it, and this really drew me further into the plot.  Combined this great music with the excellent graphics and The Flashpoint Paradox turns out to be an exceptional watch that I cannot get away from.

While the adapted plot and amazing stylistic choices help to turn this film into something special, I cannot walk away from this review without talking about the incredible cast of actors who bring this elaborate story to life.  The Flashpoint Paradox features a pretty hefty and impressive group of voice actors who each dive into their respective characters and bring forth some of the more iconic figures from the DC universe, as well as their alternate versions, in some pretty epic ways.  There is a great combination of classic character depictions, as well as the more nuanced and, in many cases, evil versions from the alternate timeline, that are featured in The Flashpoint Paradox, and the creative team brilliantly balanced the two throughout the plot.

At the centre of The Flashpoint Paradox is the Barry Allen version of the Flash, who embarks upon one of the most important missions of his life.  Expertly voiced by Justin Chambers (of Grey’s Anatomy fame), this version of the Flash is much more closely related to the classic comic portrayals (rather than Ezra Miller’s quirky version) and is an experienced and competent crime fighter.  Despite being one of the more stable superheroes out there, Barry is still haunted by the murder of his mother and his failure to save her.  Chambers really dives into this role and perfectly voices the full emotional spectrum out of Barry, showing all the deep inner pain, as well as his inherent hope, all of which really comes out throughout the film.  There are so many powerful scenes featuring Barry in the film, from his initial confusion over the new timeline, the emotional meeting with his mother, the despair at how the world turned out, and his absolute shocked resignation at who is responsible.  I also felt that the writers did an outstanding job of capturing the entire personality, key history and mythos of the Flash within this film, and you really understand his decisions and how he interacts with the other heroes.  I particularly loved his shock and pain at seeing what his friends have become in this alternate timeline, and it is so damn compelling.  Honestly, there are so many powerful moments here and I have a whole new level of respect for Chambers thanks to this film as he honestly was just magical here.

On top of the Flash, I really need to highlight two figures from the new timeline who perfectly mesh with the main character and show off just how dark events are.  The most prominent of these is easily this universes Batman, who was voiced by another Grey’s Anatomy alumni, Kevin McKidd.  Rather than being an older version of Bruce Wayne, this version of Batman is his father Thomas Wayne, who took on the cowl after Bruce was killed in Crime Alley and Martha became this universe’s Joker.  McKidd goes full on growly here for Batman, and the result is a grizzled, violent, and very murderous Dark Knight who has given up on the world in many ways.  I loved this fantastic and clever take on Batman in The Flashpoint Paradox, and it is so damn epic to watch Barry attempt to work with this very different Batman.  The shared connection of knowing Bruce gives these characters a powerful emotional bond, and McKidd kills it in several emotionally charged scenes, showcasing this Batman’s hidden heart.

I also have a lot of love for the cool version of Cyborg that appears in The Flashpoint Paradox, and honestly this is probably the grimmest and most powerful portrayal you are likely to see.  Voiced by a young Michael B. Jordan, this Cyborg is the only real superhero left in America and has been modded out into a massive tank figure who runs national security.  Out of all the figures in the film, Cyborg has the most impressive change in characterisation between timelines, especially as he goes from teenage figure to actual adult, and this is one of the first animated films that really showed what he could offer the wider DC universe.  Jordan provides a pretty good and slightly robotic voice for Cyborg here, and I loved how he was portrayed as a level-headed peacemaker, trying to save the world.  While still a little naive and idealistic, he really lives up to all the hype surrounding him in his initial introductions, especially during the final bloody battle scenes.  He honestly goes full out in this war, and it was so damn cool to see just how dangerous he could be.

While the more heroic (or anti-heroic for Batman) characters above were great, this film would be nothing without its villains.  The most prominent of these is easily Flash’s archnemesis Eobard Thawne, better known as the Reverse Flash.  Voiced by the very talented C. Thomas Howell, Thawne is a brilliant and powerful figure in The Flashpoint Paradox, mainly because he has such a tangible hatred for Barry and his legacy.  While he is the main villain of the story, he only appears in a few short scenes, but Howell makes each and every one of them count.  The sheer contempt and bile that drips from every sentence is so important for the performance, and you quickly understand just how much he wants to destroy him, even if that means losing his own life.  Thawne’s best sequence occurs at the end of the film when he finally appears to mock Barry and reveal everything that has been done.  The joy, satisfaction and mocking appreciation for Barry is just perfect, and he has such a great villain monologue here.  Howell has one of the strongest performances in The Flashpoint Paradox and I deeply appreciated how he brought such a fun and compelling villain to life.

In addition to Thawne, The Flashpoint Paradox features two other outstanding and particularly unique antagonists in the form of militarised and anti-human versions of Aquaman and Wonder Woman.  Both characters have been twisted by a failed romance and the hatred that followed Wonder Woman’s slaying of Aquaman’s wife, and they are now brutally engaged in war to kill each other and the rest of the world.  I loved these darker and more murderous forms of these iconic characters, especially after they are shown in their more heroic guises at the start of the film, and their complex war is a destructive backdrop to the intense narrative.  Like Reverse-Flash, both are consumed by hatred, and they are willing to destroy the world rather than lose.  Despite that, there is still an obvious, if twisted, love between them, which makes their fight even more tragic.  I loved how both characters are portrayed, although I especially like how badass they make Aquaman here, especially as this was released in the pre-Jason Momoa days when Aquaman was still a bit of a joke.  Watching him destroy everyone in The Flashpoint Paradox really sets him up as a massive threat, and I deeply appreciated this fantastic change to the character.  I also loved the great casting behind these characters as well.  Aquaman is portrayed by legendary actor Cary Elwes, who honestly disappears into the role, providing a much more gruff and commanding voice than I have heard in his previous works.  The voice of Wonder Woman is provided by veteran voice actor Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels), who is reprising the role she previously portrayed in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.  Both actors really get these iconic characters down perfectly, especially in their darker moments, and I loved how well they were utilised in the film, especially as they enhance the emotional power and looming threat of the narrative.

On top of the great performances above, I also must commend the use of several excellent supporting actors in smaller roles who did an outstanding job.  I as particularly happy that several actors who had previously voiced certain characters in other films and shows revisited their roles here, including some big names.  The most noticeable of these is the late great Kevin Conroy, who does an exceptional (as always) job of voicing the Bruce Wayne Batman at the beginning and end of the story.  Conway has several amazing scenes, including a particularly emotional sequence at the end that will have you in tears.  Other performers include Nathan Fillion providing a cocky voice to the Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Dana Delany once again voicing Lois Lane after voicing her the DC Animated Universe (Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited), and Ron Perlman revisiting his epic Teen Titans performance as Deathstroke for a short scene.  Other notable actors and characters include Danny Huston doing a quick dash as General Sam Lane and Dee Bradley Baker (the voice of all the clones in Star Wars animation, as well as several hundred other credits) doing a fantastic Etrigan the Demon.  However, my favourite of these side characters is Danny Jacobs’s portrayal of the Wildstorm Comics character Grifter.  Grifter is a brutally effective figure in the final third of the film, and he has some outstanding interactions with other characters like Batman.  This cast, and more, all add so much to the film with their brilliantly portrayed characters, and I am still blown away by the calibre of the cast that was brought together here.

I think it is pretty obvious from the lengthy rant above that I have a lot of love for Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and it is one of those animated films that I have watched so many times.  Thanks to its amazing cast, fantastically adapted story, intense animation and general darker vibe, The Flashpoint Paradox is a pretty spectacular animated film, and I honestly think it has the best execution of the Flashpoint comic.  It also has an awesome legacy, especially as it sets up the DC Animated Movie Universe and has impacts that range all the way to the final film, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.  As such, I really must give this film a full five-star rating and it is a must-watch for all comic fans, especially those who like their animation a little more adult and emotionally charged.

Warhammer 40,000: The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer24 Comments

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 22 April 2023)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 12 hours and 15 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of the fastest rising authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Mike Brooks, returns with another exceptional read, this time covering one of the most significant events in recent Warhammer fiction, the return of Lion El’Johnson with The Lion: Son of the Forest.

At this point I think that my love for all things Warhammer is pretty well established, especially after my lengthy post earlier this year detailing my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels.  I have been having a ton of fun in 2023 with this cool franchise, and I have just managed to finish off the newest Warhammer novel with The Lion: Son of the Forest.  This is the latest book from the very impressive Mike Brooks, who has been making a real name for himself in Warhammer 40,000 fiction and who seems to get better with every one of his books that I read.  His previous novel, Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom was a great read about an excellent established villain, and I had a lot of fun with his most recent book, Warboss, a highly entertaining novel about the always crazy orks.  However, I think that The Lion is probably his most ambitious and captivating novel yet as he covers the return of the Primarch of the Dark Angels, Lion El’Johnson.  This is a pretty big deal in Warhammer circles, and I was very impressed with how Brooks puts his own spin on the return to create an epic and powerful read.

At the dawn of the Imperium of Man, there was no force more deadly nor more loyal to the Emperor than the Dark Angels, the first Legion of Space Marines.  Led by their implacable and unstoppable Primarch and genefather, Lion El’Johnson, better known as the Lion, nothing was able to stop the Dark Angels as they crusaded from planet to planet dispensing the Emperor’s will.  However, following the events of the Horus Heresy and the Lion’s inability to save the Emperor, the Dark Angels imploded from within.  Treachery and years of resentment saw the Legion engage in a brutal and sudden civil war, which resulted in the destruction of the Dark Angel’s home world of Caliban, the scattering of the traitor Dark Angels throughout time and space as the Fallen, and the disappearance and apparent death of the Lion right when the galaxy needed him most.

Now in the 41st millennium, humanity is facing the greatest threat since the Horus Heresy.  The fall of Cadia spawned the Great Rift, a sprawling gap of daemon infested space that split the already crumbling Imperium in two, distributing travel, communications and coordination between humanity’s armies.  Into this darkness, the dread forces of Chaos emerge, destroying all before them, while other malign threats begin to eat away the remains of the Imperium.  The doom of all mankind seems certain, but hope is about to emerge in the most unlikely of places.

After a 10,000-year absence, the Lion awakens on the far-flung and devastated planet of Camarth, with no memory of how he got there.  Discovering one of his former sons, the Fallen Zabriel, the Lion soon discovers what has happened to the Imperium in his absence, as well as the terrible threats of the Great Rift and the forces of Chaos.  Unsure of his purpose or what has happened to him, the Lion sets out to preserve humanity from the forces trying to destroy it.  Rallying members of the Fallen from their long exile, the Lion begins a new campaign throughout the besieged systems of man, while trying to reconcile himself to everything he has lost.  But a dangerous and well-organised Chaos warband, the Ten Thousand Eyes, led by two of the Lion’s Fallen sons, are determined to destroy the returned Primarch and enact an ambitious plan with galaxy shattering consequences.  Can an isolated Lion survive the insanity of the 41st millennium, or has he returned only to face his doom?

Wow, now this was a pretty damn awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel.  Mike Brooks continues to really impress me with this cool new book, and I loved the elaborate and captivating tale contained within The Lion: Son of the Forest.  Featuring an intriguing and emotionally charged narrative that perfectly revives a key Warhammer 40,000 character, The Lion is an outstanding read and I think this is probably Brooks’ best Warhammer novel yet.

The Lion had a particularly interesting narrative that was firmly set around the return of Lion El’Johnson, and I loved the unique tale that Brooks came up.  The initial scenes of the book are quite fascinating as Brooks presents a symbol laden couple of chapters to show the Lion’s initial return, which I felt was a great way to start the story as it set up a lot of intriguing moments and gave the book quite a distinctive theme.  The introduction of two new alternate perspective characters a few chapters in helps to morph the story into a more typical Warhammer 40,000 narrative as it sees the Lion and other former members of the Dark Angels awaken in the current timeline.  The story soon sees the Lion reunite with one of his former sons and begin to reclaim a conquered Imperial planet from a notorious Chaos warband while trying to understand the new universe he’s in.  Getting back to his roots as a protector, the Lion soon is soon drawn into larger affairs, thanks a mysterious new ability he has obtained, and he sets out to do the right thing and right the wrongs of his past.  His actions not only lead him to more of his sons, ensuring that this book has a deep emotional heart to it, but it also leads him into conflict with a dangerous enemy, one that has big plans for him.

The Lion’s narrative is pretty epic in its scope and power as Brooks tells an exciting and compelling story about both the past and the present, and how one hero can make a difference.  The story features some great moments, including cool battles, emotional reunions, and dives into ancient history, as the characters come to grips with what the Lion’s return means to the greater universe.  Everything leads up to an ultra-intense finale as the Lion encounters a truly fallen son and is forced to reckon with the sins of his Legion and family.  I really enjoyed this epic narrative and Brooks sets out all the events extremely well, ensuring that readers will follow one excellent scene to the next.  While not every mystery is explained, the author does lay out some intriguing events that will grab a lot of Warhammer fans attention, and it leaves it open for more awesome books in the future.  I had an incredible time with The Lion and I managed to finish it off in a short amount of time.

This outstanding story is beautifully brought to life in Brooks’s capable hands as he deploys an excellent and captivating writing style throughout The Lion.  Brooks really had a tall order here in bringing back a key character from the Warhammer mythos and I think that he handled in an outstanding way by focusing on the emotional aspects of the character, rather than a pure action novel.  While The Lion does have some outstanding battle sequences designed to showcase just how epic a Space Marine can be, the focus is really on character development as Brooks examines three outstanding point of view figures while also telling an excellent narrative about characters trying to find their place in a strange new galaxy.

I loved how the author split the story across the three different perspectives, and I enjoyed how he made them so distinctive by using different styles and tenses for each of them.  For example, Baelor’s chapters use a third-person narration to show his struggles without going too deep into his head, the scenes shown from Zabriel’s eyes are written in a first person chronicle style as he recounts his story as if writing a journal, while the chapters focusing on the Lion are also in the third person, but feature a different, more epic style, which at times put me in mind of an older story or saga.  These different styles really fit the characters and their specific stories, and I appreciated how Brooks utilised these changes of styles to really tell a complex by subtly layering a classic Warhammer tale with pain, emotional damage, and uncertainty.

I felt that the author got the right balance of action and adventure with character growth, and you really get attached to the protagonists and their unique experiences in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I also loved how Brooks layered the story with a ton of Arthurian symbolism, as the Lion is meant to mirror King Arthur in this book, returning during his people’s darkest hour after dying during a war with his sons.  This included an excellent take on the Green Knight tale, with a dark Warhammer 40,000 twist to it, which also leads to one of the book’s funniest moments with a Monty Python homage.  I really got drawn into this outstanding story thanks to the way that Brooks told it, and this was an excellent and captivating read.

Now, this one of those Warhammer 40,000 novels that I probably wouldn’t recommend to new Warhammer readers as the story dives into some deep canon elements of the franchise.  Due to its focus on the return of Lion El’Johnson, a particularly important character that was only recently brought back in the game as a major event, The Lion is a key book in the Warhammer 40,000 expanded universe, and I felt readers needed a good understanding of the lore to fully appreciate its story.  This is because is strongly related to the history of the Dark Angels, and indeed all the Space Marines, and while Brooks does revisit and explain these events, having a more in-depth knowledge really does make that story that much clearer and more intriguing.  For those established fans of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, you are in for a real treat as Brooks expertly expands the lore while also providing some intriguing insights into established canon.  Seeing the Lion return and interact with his Fallen brethren was so damn cool, and it really tied into some of the best bits of Dark Angel lore that has been building for years and years.

I loved how the story examined both the current state of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, as well as the Horus Heresy, and it was fantastic to see characters who survived the Heresy arrive in the current universe and see what has been unleashed by the arrival of the Great Rift.  There are also a ton of jokes, references, and in-universe discussions that I had a lot of fun with, including intriguing new descriptions of events of the Horus Heresy, as well as more intriguing Dark Angels history.  I personally deeply enjoyed seeing the various ancient characters discuss the events that happened after they disappeared, and their reactions at the state of the Imperium, the deification of the Emperor to godhood, and what happened to the Dark Angels in the Lion’s absence, and this lead to some outstanding scenes.  The Lion proved to be a pretty epic piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction and I was really impressed with how Brooks told such a unique and important story.

As I mentioned before, The Lion is a very powerful character driven novel as Brooks focuses on a cast of damaged and dispossessed figures thrust into an uncompromising future.  This is mostly clearly seen in the main character of Lion El’Johnson, the legendary Primarch of the Dark Angels and son of the Emperor, who returns after 10,000 years of mysterious disappearance.  Brooks paints quite the intriguing and complex picture around the Lion, showing him as a being out of time who, after experiencing some of the greatest losses and betrayals imaginable, awakens 10,000 years in the future with no idea of what happened to him.  The Lion is shocked at what the Imperium has become and how badly the universe has changed without him there.  Forced to reconcile with both this new future and his many failures, the older and wiser Lion heads back to the basics of his youth, protecting humans from monsters while also trying to reconnect with his lost sons, the Fallen, who he has mixed feelings about.  Brooks’s characterisation of the Lion is very different to what we’ve seen in previous novels, which I think a smart move, as the character is tired and lonely in this reality, and very much aware of the mistakes he has throughout his life.  Watching him relive some of the worst decisions he made during the Horus Heresy is very moving, and I loved how his insights into the past allowed him to move forward with his rediscovered sons and attempt to forgive them.  While there are a still a lot of questions around how the Lion returned (something I hope Brooks addresses in the future), I think that this was a pretty impressive return of such a key character, and I look forward to seeing more books focused on him.

The other major characters featured within The Lion are former Dark Angels who rebelled against their father thousands of years ago and were scattered throughout time and space following the destruction of Caliban.  Known collectively as the Fallen, these Space Marine characters have very complex feelings about Lion El’Johnson, especially as many believe he betrayed them and the Imperium, and they have all spent the intervening years being relentlessly hunted by the modern Dark Angels and their successor chapters.  This intriguing background was fertile ground for rich character development and backgrounds, and a large portion of the novel’s emotional depth relied heavily on the Lion meeting and reconciling with his lost sons.  Brooks produces several brilliant scenes that showcase the turbulent relationship between the Lion and the returning Fallen, and it was fascinating to see the Lion, a usually stubborn and proud character, admit that he was wrong and try to make amend to his sons.  I loved the intriguing group of characters that emerged in a supporting role as a result, especially as Brooks set them up as counterpoints to the Knights of the Round Table to match the Arthurian vibes around the Lion.

The most prominent of these supporting characters is Zabriel, the first Fallen that the returned Lion encounters, who serves as his guide to the new universe.  Zabriel has some amazing scenes in this book, especially as he provides the Lion with the first taste of the trauma the Fallen have experienced thanks to their father, and he makes sure the Lion knows that.  His well written chapters really capture his deep emotional conflict throughout The Lion, as he tries to reconcile the betrayals of the past with the hope that surrounds the revelation that Lion El’Johnson has returned.  His interactions with other members of the Fallen are really impressive as well, and I think he had some of the best chapters in the book.  Zabriel’s intriguing perspective is well matched by the other major point of view character, Baelor, a fellow Fallen who has chosen to continue following his former commander Seraphax, who he believes has a great plan to save the Imperium.  To achieve this goal, Seraphax has taken to wielding dark magic and is working with the followers of Chaos, forming the deadly warband, The Ten Thousand Eyes.  This forces Baelor to make a lot of compromises as he works to maintain his loyalty to Seraphax, even though they are doing terrible things.  The return of the Lion really throws Baelor for a loop, and there is a great undercurrent of denial to him as he tries to process all the implications that this has for him.  Brooks paints a brilliantly narrative of conflicted loyalty and duty around Baelor which worked wonderfully with all his chapters depicting the horrors of Chaos.  The rest of the Fallen characters in The Lion are very well written, and while some of them didn’t get a lot of focus, I loved some of the distinctive personalities that emerged.  It will be interesting to see how many of them are featured in the future, especially as there are still some secrets I wouldn’t mind knowing (who is The Red Whisper?), and I deeply appreciated how well Brooks featured them here.

To nobody’s great surprise, I checked out The Lion on audiobook, which is easily the best way to enjoy any good Warhammer novel.  Naturally, The Lion was pretty damn epic in this form, and everything about the book is greatly enhanced by the narration, as the epic story, amazing characters, and intriguing additions to the Warhammer universe, all come to life when read out.  I particularly enjoyed the voice work of Timothy Watson, who previously impressed me in last year’s Warhammer 40,000 audiobook, Krieg.  Watson has a wonderfully booming and commanding voice that worked well with all the powerful Space Marine characters in The Lion.  The narrators take on the confident and radiant tones of Lion El’Johnson was particularly awesome, and I really felt that he captured both the majesty of the character, as well as his deeper uncertainty and regret.  The other Space Marine characters are also extremely well captured, and I liked the fun range of voices that emerged, especially as they all seemed to fit that respective character and convey the key parts of their identity to the listener.  The villains are also cleverly narrated, and Watson goes out of his way to make them sound as inhuman as possible in places.  Coming in with a run time of over 12 hours, The Lion has a decent length for a Warhammer audiobook, although Watson’s fantastic narration moves the story along at a swift pace, ensuring that the listener is constantly hooked on the plot.  This entire production was just amazing, and I had an exceptional time listening to The Lion on audiobook, which is such an epic way to enjoy a Warhammer 40,000 novel.

Mike Brooks continues to rise through the ranks of Warhammer 40,000 authors with his outstanding new novel, The Lion: Son of the Forest.  The impressive and captivating read brilliantly brings back one of the most significant characters in the Warhammer canon and places him in an intense and deeply powerful tale of betrayal, forgiveness and displacement.  I had such an epic time with The Lion: Son of the Forest and this probably the best Warhammer book of 2023 so far.  I cannot wait to see what happens to this iconic character in the future, nor can wait to get my next Mike Brooks novel.  Highly recommended and required reading for all fans of Warhammer fiction.

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Warhammer 40,000: Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter by Phil Kelly

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer5 Comments

Warhammer 40,000 - Shadowsun Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 April 2023)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 8 hours and 13 minutes

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Veteran Warhammer 40,000 author Phil Kelly once again dives into his favourite topic, the T’au, with this new fast-paced and intense novel focused on the intriguing figure of Commander Shadowsun, Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter.

I have been having a lot of fun with Warhammer 40,000 novels this year, and I have already had the opportunity to read some major classics.  Many of these appeared in my recent Favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels list, and I have been keen to read more Warhammer fiction as a result.  As such, I decided to dive into one of the more recent Warhammer 40,000 novels, Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter, an excellent novel focusing on the intriguing T’au faction.  Shadowsun is the latest Warhammer 40,000 novel from Phil Kelly, who is probably best known for his work as a background writer on the various codexes and campaign books released as part of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game.  However, Kelly has also produced several Warhammer 40,000 novels over his career, with a particular focus on the T’au, having written several of the more prominent novels for the alien faction, including his Farsight novels and Blades of Damocles.  This latest book sees Kelly once again focus on Commander Shadowsun as she leads the latest T’au expansion, only to encounter more horrors than she ever expected.

Commander Shas’O Shaserra, better known to her foes as Shadowsun, has long led the forces of the T’au into war against all manner of foes.  A former contemporary of the legendary Commander Farsight, Shadowsun has since earned her own substantial reputation across various theatres.  Her latest action sees her leading the T’au Empire’s Fifth Sphere Expansion on the other side of the Startide Nexus, capturing many former Imperial worlds and bringing them under the sphere of the T’au’s influence.

A calculating tactician and a master of the philosophy of war that emulates the Patient Hunter, Shadowsun has known only success during this new phase of expansion.  But the surprise appearance of a massive fleet of decaying and indestructible warships soon throws all her plans into turmoil as she faces an enemy unlike anything T’au have dealt with before, the Chaos Space Marines of the Death Guard.

Ancient and deadly warriors sworn to the Chaos God of disease and decay, Nurgle, the Death Guard are a force unlike any other in the galaxy.  Employing deadly diseases, unstoppable daemons and other deranged horrors that defy all laws of physics and sanity, the Death Guard effortlessly brush through the T’au resistance.  Unable to counter their terrible tactics, Shadowsun desperately looks for a way to strike back against the Death Guard.  But with her own body consumed with disease and rivals within the T’au seeking their own sinister objectives, can even the great Commander Shadowsun succeed against these relentless opponents?

This was a pretty fun and intense Warhammer 40,000 novel from Phil Kelly, who had a great time really showing off two very different factions from the game.  Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter was a very interesting and action-packed read that will really appeal to fans of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.

The plot of Shadowsun follows the character of Commander Shadowsun in her most lethal adventure yet.  This is a very brutal and quick-paced narrative that wastes no time diving into the action and intrigue to grab the readers full attention.  Starting with a good introduction to the character of Shadowsun and the complex politics of the T’au, the reader is soon introduced to the gruesome threat of the Death Guard, who soon make a major impact on the plot.  This takes the form of an extended and very over-the-top battle sequence on a T’au controlled human planet which Shadowsun was visiting, and she soon must contend with the full threat of the Death Guard.  Kelly really does not hold back at this part of the book, producing a brilliant and very lengthy connected sequence in which Shadowsun encounters the full, fly-infested horrors of Nurgle, as the Death Guard unleash their terrible might.  These scenes are pretty damn intense, at times bordering on pure horror, as the characters encounter diseases, decay, daemons and plague zombies, each of which test Shadowsun and her forces in very different ways.  This major sequence takes a substantial chunk of the book, and it really served to grab the reader’s attention early on with very high plot stakes.

The second half of the book deals with the fallout of this conflict, as an infected and weakened Shadowsun finds all her strategies and plans in ruin, and must find a new way to strike back, despite being hamstrung by internal T’au politics, a growing conflict between the T’au and their alien levies, and a sinister conspiracy from her superiors.  The resolution to this is a desperate boarding action against the Death Guard flagship, with Shadowsun leading a small force on a deadly suicide mission.  While not as extensive as the previous major confrontation, this final third of the book is extremely good, as Kelly envisions another complex battle that pits T’au tech against ancient, unclean horrors.  This sequence gets a little crazy in places, especially as Kelly brings in a couple of unique aliens as backup for the protagonist, and the Death Guard ship is loaded with horrors.  The big fights that emerge are extremely deadly and well written, and you will be enthralled at the carnage that emerges and the unique encounters that occur.  At the same time, the character of Shadowsun continues to grow as a warrior and a commander, fully trusting in her new squad of aliens, while also beginning to understand there is far more going on in the universe than her superiors have let her know.  Everything comes together extremely well, with a fun conclusion that is very satisfying for readers and leaves quite a few questions open that I am sure Kelly will try to answer in the future.  I liked the more metaphysical examination of the T’au towards the end of the book, and it gave the story a really unique conclusion that I will definitely remember.

I felt that Shadowsun was an overall pretty good Warhammer 40,000 novel as Kelly produced an excellent and highly exciting narrative that makes full use of the book’s action, heavy doses of lore intriguing characters.  The various fight sequences are very well written, and the author goes out of his way to try and capture the full horror and considerations of the battlefield, especially when regular soldiers face off against something strange and terrifying.  The two lengthy battles that much of the plot of Shadowsun focuses on are true highlights of the novel, and I love how intense, captivating and devastating the author made them.  Due to Kelly’s obvious passion for the game, this is a very, very detailed novel as the author goes out of his way to highlight the various factions, their motivations, and the state of the Warhammer 40,000 universe at this point in the canon timeline.  Every scene is loaded with some fascinating description of technology, lore, politics or factional history, which is fun in its way, especially for established fans of the games and the surrounding canon.  However, this does mean that Shadowsun might be a bit of a harder book for more casual readers to enjoy, as a certain level of understanding about the T’au is needed to fully appreciate the plot.  As such, I would probably recommend this book to fans of the T’au and dedicated Warhammer 40,000 readers, although newer readers will still be able to have some fun with Shadowsun.

Due to Kelly’s familiarity with the T’au, quite a lot of the book is dedicated to showing them in all their glory, from their advanced technology, their complex society, and their reliance on allied races to help their expansion.  While I am familiar with the T’au, I haven’t read a lot of books from their perspective, having instead only read books where they’re the enemy (Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker by Steve Parker and Kill Team by Gav Thorpe).  As such, I really appreciated this highly detailed and compelling focus on the T’au, and I had a lot of fun exploring their recent history, including their expansion throughout the galaxy.  There are so many great elements to their inclusion in Shadowsun, such as getting to see their awesome advanced weapons in combat, which are so very different from the human technology that most of the other Warhammer 40,000 books feature.  I also appreciated the compelling look at several of the client species that make up the T’au auxiliary forces, such as the Kroot.  Kelly features several intriguing different alien species throughout Shadowsun, making for some unique scenes as a result, and I appreciated the examination of their thoughts about the T’au allies, especially with how it plays into their faith and how they view the rest of the galaxy.

In addition, Kelly layers this book with so many complex bits of T’au day to day life, and you must admire his dedication and attention to detail.  Every conversation or discussion between T’au characters provides you some intriguing insights into their society, and I loved seeing their perfectionist mindsets or their fascinating interactions, such as those meaning-laden hand signals.  There are also some cool examinations of the various castes, their reliance on technology (such as Shadowsun’s two drone companions), and their desire to expand and bring word of the “Greater Good” to the rest of the galaxy.  While there is some definite love for the T’au throughout Shadowsun, Kelly also makes it a point to examine the darker side of their society, including the deadly secrets of the Fourth Sphere Expansion force and the typical manipulation of the Ethereal caste.  Commander Shadowsun, who starts the story off relatively naïve about some of the darker aspects of her race, begins to get an understanding of some of the secrets being kept from her, especially when she encounters some of the forces of Chaos and the secrets of the Warp.  The attempts to shut down any discussion about daemons or what happened to the allied species when they went through the Warp gave some of the T’au focused scenes a darker and more sinister edge, and it will be interesting to see whether Shadowsun continues to blindly follow the Ethereals in the future.  I also liked how Kelly really showcased the inherent arrogance of the T’au, especially when it comes to their opinion of other races in the universe, such as humans from the Imperium.  Their haughty belief that they understand the universe is quite amusing, especially when they come face to face with something completely insane.

To balance out the T’au, Kelly also strongly features the Chaos Space Marines of the Death Guard legion in Shadowsun, who are pretty epic antagonists.  Followers of the Chaos God Nurgle, the Death Guard are dedicated to all things disease, decay and corruption, which results in some pretty horrific mutations for their plague infested bodies.  The Death Guard are always pretty gruesome when featured in fiction, but I felt that Kelly did a particularly fantastic job of capturing them in their fully festering glory.  All the Death Guard encountered in this book are covered in putrefying mutations or growths to some degree, and Kelly really goes out of his way to describe just how unsettling they are.  This includes a compelling look at a Death Guard battle cruiser, whose interior is just covered in growths, mould, various liquids that fill up entire corridors, and loaded with so many other over-the-top elements, which really pop in Kelly’s talented hands.  I also loved how the author tries to capture the Death Guard’s highly positive and benevolent natures, which are reflections of their “kindly” god, Nurgle, and which honestly makes them even more sinister.  He further disturbs the reader by showing the Death Guard unleashing their full horrors on the T’au with, diseases, plague zombies, daemons, dark magic and more used against them, totally devastating them.

Watching the T’au get overwhelmed by these weird and terrifying elements is pretty intense, and the main T’au perspective character, Commander Shadowsun, keeps getting more disturbed by their unpredictable tactics and terrible weaponry.  I loved the compelling comparisons the author makes between the Death Guard and the T’au, and the two are honestly the antithesis of each other in aesthetics, combat styles, and mindset.  This ensures that their conflicts are pretty damn epic and watching the T’au forced to come up with some new tactic while freaking out made for some thrilling reading.  I did think that to make the Death Guard see even more threatening and dangerous, Kelly did slightly nerf the T’au in places, especially during their earlier battles, which fans of the faction probably won’t love, however, the protagonist makes up for that by taking out a Great Unclean One at one point.  Kelly’s decision to feature the Death Guard as the antagonists was an outstanding choice and one that made Shadowsun standout to me even more.

As with most Warhammer 40,000 novels that I have the pleasure of enjoying, I chose to check out Shadowsun on audiobook, which was a fun decision as always.  Coming in at just over eight hours, this was a quick audiobook to power through, especially when you get to some of the more epic battle scenes.  This format served to really enhance some of the best elements of the Shadowsun book, including the cool action and the sheer horror of some of the scenes where the protagonists go up against the forces of Nurgle.  Having someone reading out all the disgusting things this foul horde contains makes the book seem even more terrifying, which I deeply appreciated.  Narrator Helen McAlpine does a very good job bringing this compelling plot to life with her great voice work, and I really appreciated her take on several of the characters and big scenes within Shadowsun.  The voice that she gives to the main character of Commander Shadowsun is highly fitting, and I felt that McAlpine managed to capture her emotions, particularly that of distress of despair, very well throughout this audiobook.  Due to this, and more, I would once again strongly recommend this Warhammer 40,000 audiobook to anyone interested in checking out Shadowsun, as it is easily the best way to enjoy any book from this franchise.

Overall, Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter is an excellent Warhammer 40,000 novel and one that I really had a fun time with.  Phil Kelly did an outstanding job featuring the T’au again and it was great to get a deeper look at one of the more fascinating alien factions in the canon.  Loaded with action, horrifying moments, and some deep lore drops, Shadowsun is an awesome read that fans of Warhammer 40,000 fiction can have a lot of fun with.

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Waiting on Wednesday – 2023 Warhammer 40,000 Novels

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Waiting on Wednesday, Warhammer15 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday I return to one of my favourite franchises, the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and look at four epic upcoming tie-in novels coming out in the next few months that I am extremely eager to get my hands on.

I have been having a particularly good year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction as I dive further and further in the franchise by reading a ton of outstanding books.  There is something about this grim and entertaining franchise that deeply appeals to me, and I have had an exceptional time getting through various books from this universe that feature brilliant authors, elaborate storylines, and a fun mixture of genres and sub-genres.  2023 has been particularly Warhammer intensive for me as I spent a ton of time earlier in the year reading several great books so I could list all my absolute favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels, which turned out extremely well.  Even since then I have been diving even deeper into the franchise, with additional books from the Gaunt’s Ghosts series by Dan Abnett, such as Necropolis, Honour Guard and The Guns of Tanith, filling up my Throwback Thursday posts, while I only just published a review for the cool standalone novel Warboss by Mike Brooks.  However, 2023 is far from over as there are still several epic new Warhammer 40,000 novels set for release.  As such, I thought I would take this opportunity to dive into the four upcoming Warhammer 40,000 novels I am most excited for, all of which are from new-to-me authors and which sound pretty damn incredible.

The first book I want to highlight in this post is the outstanding new Warhammer Crime novel, The King of the Spoil by Jonathan D. Beer.  The Warhammer Crime sub-franchise of Warhammer 40,000 is a slick and cool series of crime fiction novels that make great use of the franchises background to create some amazing reads.  Set at various points in the vast, lawless city of Varangantua, the Warhammer Crime novels have been some of my favourite books in the franchise, especially as each novels use different crime fiction elements perfectly.  Some of the best examples of this include the crime thriller romps The Wraithbone Phoenix and Dredge Runners by Alec Worley, the noir-inspired Grim Repast by Marc Collins, the intriguing buddy cop read Flesh and Steel by Guy Hayley, and the more classic crime fiction novel Bloodlines by Chris Wraight.  All these Warhammer Crime books have beyond exceptional, and I have been very eager for a new entry, which is why I am particularly excited for The King of the Spoil.

The King of the Spoil Cover

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The King of the Spoil, which is currently set for release on 4 July 2023, is another intriguing crime fiction read, set in a whole new area of Varangantua, known as the Spoil.  This novel will see the return of Beer’s protagonist info-broker Melita Voronova, from the short story, Service, which appeared in the Sanction & Sin anthology book, as she is forced to investigate a murder in the most lawless part of the city.

Plot Synopsis:

Delve into the lawless underbelly of the vast city of Varangantua in this fantastic Warhammer Crime novel.

Within the vast sprawl of Varangantua lies the Spoil. It is a broken crossroads, forsaken by the Lex, abandoned by the city’s uncaring masters, where the only choice is a slow death in the manufactories, or a quick one on the street.

And it is in turmoil.

Andreti Sorokin, the gangster king whose vicious rule brought order to the Spoil, is dead, slain in the most brutal fashion.

Melita Voronova, skilled info-broker and reluctant agent of the imperious Valtteri cartel, is tasked with uncovering the mystery of who killed Sorokin, and preventing his fragile alliance of thugs and narco-pushers from collapsing into chaos.

As street-blades clash and gang leaders turn against one another, Melita’s instincts tell her there is a larger conspiracy at work. Someone has created this crisis not merely to disrupt the Spoil, but to overturn the foundations of Varangantua itself.

Unsurprisingly, I love the sound of The King of the Spoil, which has an epic sounding narrative to it.  Watching a complex info-broker character attempting to find out who killed a legendary gangster king should be amazing, and I have no doubt this story will be loaded with twists, betrayals and a full-on gang war.  I have had so much fun with some of the great mysteries in the other Warhammer Crime books, and this unique scenario has so much damn potential for an outstanding story.  While I haven’t read Beer’s previous short story about Melita Voronova, these novels are pretty good at reintroducing the reader to the characters, and I am sure that I will have no problem diving into this one.  Frankly, based on my previous very positive experiences with the Warhammer Crime series, as well as the awesome sounding plot above, I am very confident that The King of the Spoil is going to be one of the more entertaining novels of 2023 and I am so damn excited for it.

The next book I want to highlight is the excellent sounding read, Cypher: Lord of the Fallen by John French which is set for release on 18 July 2023.  French is a well-established Warhammer author who has written several great books in the past, and I am very interested in seeing his take on one of the most compelling characters in the extended canon, Cypher.  Cypher is a mysterious and sinister figure strongly associated with the Fallen, former members of the Dark Angels Space Marines who turned traitor and are now zealously hunted by their former brothers.  Cypher is a figure of intense anarchy whose deeds have haunted the Dark Angels for millennia as they try to hunt him down, and there is some real mystery behind his try identity and intentions.

Cypher - Lord of the Fallen Cover

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Cypher: Lord of the Fallen is a very intriguing novel that will provide readers with a personal look at this mysterious figure as he tries to make his way through the most secure location in the universe, the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra.  This is another book with an exceptional plot to it, and I have to admit that I am highly intrigued to see what French pulls off in this book.

Plot Synopsis:

Delve into a great new story featuring the enigmatic Cypher!

As the Great Rift unfolds in the night sky above Terra and daemons walk upon the birth world of mankind, the Primarch Roboute Guilliman returns, heralding a dark new age.

During the breaking storm, Cypher and his band of Fallen escape from the most secure prison in the Imperium. Now loose in the Imperial Palace, they are hunted by warriors of the Dark Angels, forces of the Adeptus Custodes and Imperial Assassins. But what are Cypher’s intentions? Can anything or anyone be trusted?

Told from Cypher’s own, unreliable point of view, this tale of truth, lies and secrets sees one of the Imperium’s most mysterious figures make war at its very heart. But what are the true motivations of the Lord of the Fallen?

This sounds like another particularly cool Warhammer 40,000 novel as it will combine a great character with a fun story in the most iconic setting in the canon.  I love the idea of Cypher causing chaos in the Imperial Palace as everyone tries to hunt him adown and kill him, and it will no doubt result in several particularly intense scenes.  I also look forward to learning more about Cypher, although it sounds like he is going to be an unreliable narrator, which isn’t too surprising when you consider the character this book is focused on.  Thanks to how great this story sounds, I also have a lot of hopes for John French’s new book, and I cannot wait to read Cypher: Lord of the Fallen.  I will probably try to read the recently released novel, The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks before I get to Cypher: Lord of the Fallen however, as the new details around the returning Dark Angels Primarch might tie into this book as well.

Longshot Cover

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The third fantastic 2023 Warhammer 40,000 novel that I want to highlight is the compelling book Longshot by Rob Young which is part of the Astra Militarum sub-series that focuses on the soldiers of the Imperium of Man.  I have often said that some of the very best Warhammer 40,000 novels are those that focus on the normal, human soldiers who are thrust into some particularly dark and weird situations.  Some of my favourite books focused on these normal humans include the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Steel Tread by Andy Clark, Outgunned by Denny Flowers, 13th Legion by Gav Thorpe and Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley, all of which have successfully captured these human experiences and produced some exceptional reads.  This is what I am really hoping for from Longshot, which has a deeply epic plot to it.

Plot Synopsis:

Explore the life of a Cadian Sharpshooter in this great Astra Militarum novel from Black Library!

Transplant. Cadian. Sniper. Legend.

Sergeant Darya Nevic is all of these and more… but behind the stories stands a soldier haunted by the unwelcome fame her successes have brought.

During the Cadian 217th’s assault on the manufactorum world of Attruso, Darya finds herself out of her depth in a war that is fought with words as much as with weapons. As a fearsome winter closes in and her men begin to die around her, she will be forced to confront her doubts and make an impossible choice: to become the figurehead her soldiers need, or to believe the unimaginable promises of the mysterious t’au.

With the fate of her regiment in her hands, which path will she choose?

This is another exceptional sounding Warhammer 40,000 novel that I will definitely be reading when it comes out in mid-August 2023.  I love the idea of a sniper novel, especially in the dark Warhammer 40,000 universe, which will no doubt bring out the grittiness and intensity of a sniper war.  However, it sounds like Longshot is going to dive deeply into its main character as she tries to balance being a legend and hero to her comrades, while also trying to survive the nefarious propaganda of the T’au.  I think that Young is trying to replicate a Stalingrad-esque battle, à la Enemy at the Gate in this book, with the sniper battle, propaganda, and cold, cramped city warfare.  I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the more emotionally powerful Warhammer 40,000 books of the year and it is definitely pretty high on my to-read list for the second half of 2023.

Creed-Ashes of Cadia Cover

The final upcoming Warhammer 40,000 book I want to focus on this week is the pretty significant sounding read, Creed: Ashes of Cadia by Jude Reid.  Now, anyone familiar with recent Warhammer 40,000 history will know the names Creed and Cadia, both of which have played major roles in the canon.  As such, any new book that focuses on them is going to be pretty damn important and that makes it very interesting for me.  As such, Creed: Ashes of Cadia, which is set for a later 2023 release, is going to be one of my most anticipated novels of the year.

Plot Synopsis:

What does it mean to be Cadian after the Fall?

Ursula Creed has come to terms with the loss of her home world. For decades she has built a glittering career in the furthest reaches of the Imperium, far from her legendary father’s shadow. But when unexpected orders arrive from the Avening Son himself, Roboute Guilliman, the new lord castellan realises that the past may not be ready to let her go.

Dispatched into shattered remains of Cadia in search of Ursarkar E. Creed’s final battle plans, Ursula finds the planet a hellscape full of deadly secrets. What horrors claim Cadia’s corpse as their domain? What became of those left behind? What orders did Creed leave for Cadia when all was lost? And, most troubling of all, how can she succeed where her illustrious father has already failed?

Now this is a Warhammer 40,000 book that could go some places.  Not only do we get introduced to a new interesting character, one with a connection to the legendary Ursarkar Creed, but we also get to see the destroyed planet of Cadia after the catastrophic destruction of the 13th Black Crusade.  Based on this plot scenario alone, this is probably going to be one of the most important and impressive Warhammer 40,000 novels of the year and I am pretty damn excited for that.  I cannot wait to see what lies behind on Cadia and it’s going to be one of the first major views of it we’ve seen in years.  I am also very curious to see if they’ll dive into the fate of Creed senior, and it will be interesting to see why the man’s final battle plans were so important.  Like the rest of the books, I think that Creed: Ashes of Cadia has some major potential, and this one will probably have a great blend of universe building and character development.

Based on how much I have rambled on over the last few pages, I think it is clear that I am very, very keen on all these upcoming Warhammer 40,000 novels.  All four sound extremely epic and unique in their own way and I have very little doubt that I will love every single I spend with them.  Knowing me, I will probably get these novels as audiobooks, which is my preferred format for Warhammer fiction and I cannot wait to hear how each of these different tales unfolds.