Throwback Thursday – Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

On May 27, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday1 Comment

Publisher: Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 3 May 2005)

Series: Dresden Files – Book Seven

Length: 15 hours and 7 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For this latest review I dive back into the epic Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher with the seventh entry, Dead Beat.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had a ton of fun finally getting into the iconic Dresden Files books by legendary author Jim Butcher. Generally considered one of the very best urban fantasy series, the Dresden Files are a deeply captivating series that follows Chicago’s resident wizard, Harry Dresden, as he investigates a series of mystical cases throughout the city, often resulting in epic moments loaded with magic. I started this series with the latest book, Battle Ground (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), and then went back to the start to experience the series from the beginning. So far, I have managed to read Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks and Blood Rites, as well as last year’s novella, The Law. All these books have been extremely good in their own way, and I have loved the elaborate stories each of them contained. As such, when I was in the mood for something I was guaranteed to love this week, listening to the next Dresden Files book on my to-read list was an easy choice for me, with the seventh book, Dead Beat.

Harry Dresden, private wizard detective and magical protector of Chicago is always willing to help a person in need no matter the cost. But even he is unprepared for how far he’ll have to go when an old and merciless enemy imperils one of the people closest to him. The ancient vampire Mavra has evidence that could destroy his best friend, Karrin Murphy, and threatens to unleash it unless Dresden recovers a powerful book of magic written by the legendary, long-dead necromancer Kemmler.

With no choice but to find the book, Dresden begins his search around Chicago, attempting to discover any trace of its location. However, his search soon leads him into conflict with a new dark power arriving in the city. Three of Kemmler’s students have their eyes on the book and the rituals it contains, and they are willing to destroy everyone and anyone to get it, including each other, especially when the prize at stake is godhood.

Caught between the three warring necromancers and their minions, Dresden needs to find the book first to stop their dark ultimate ritual before it can decimate Chicago. However, each of Kemmler’s students far outclasses him in terms of magical ability and ruthlessness, and with only limited allies to call upon, it looks like even Dresden will have trouble saving the day again. To survive, he might have to a make a dark deal with an even more malevolent evil, one that that has the potential to damn him forever.

I don’t know how he does it, but every single one of Jim Butcher’s novels that I read is so damn addictive and epic that I always struggle to put it down. Dead Beat was another outstanding entry in the Dresden Files series, and honestly it might be one of the best I have read so far. I absolutely powered through its clever and elaborate story as I tried to get to the end, and everything about it was highly enjoyable and fun. Dead Beat gets another easy five-star rating and I have so much love for how amazing this seventh entry in the series turned out.

Dead Beat has an amazing story to it that effortlessly drew me in with the cool combination of magic, character moments and investigative angles. Starting off quickly with Dresden drafted into the search for a powerful magic book, the protagonist begins his new investigation, only to discover the dangerous necromancers waiting for them. Dresden soon has deadly encounters with all three necromancers in Chicago searching for the book, as well as their various minions and associates, which results in some brilliant scenes. Dead Beat continues by setting Dresden and his allies on a dark course as they simultaneously attempt to find the book and the full extent of the warring necromancer’s plans, while also fending off their attacks. Dresden keeps getting confronted again and again by his foes, barely escaping each time while also learning more about what is to come. At the same time, he is forced to deal with certain personal issues, including trauma, complicated relationships, and a literal demon in his head, tempting him with power and knowledge. There are some great twists, dark moments and emotionally powerful scenes set up around the middle of the novel, and I loved how well Butcher laid out the storylines and hinted at some big moments to come. Everything leads up to an epic concluding final third of the book as Dresden makes some hard decisions and compromises to save the day. The final confrontation with the bad guys is pretty damn awesome, especially as the protagonist, utilising his usual restraint and good judgment, unleashes a very monstrous response to the antagonist’s minions. This entire narrative was enthralling from start to finish, and I cannot emphasise just how addictive and entertaining the entire story was.

Dead Beat featured Butcher’s usual excellent writing style which once again lent itself extremely well to the elaborate narrative he came up with. The pacing of this book was constantly fast and exciting, which guarantees that the reader is always paying attention, especially as every page has either action, some intriguing bit of lore or history, or some intense and compelling character development. Butcher also ensures that this latest novel has the right blend of great story elements to it, and I deeply enjoyed how the fantasy and mystery elements are well featured as the protagonist is forced to do detective work to get the answers. All this is overlayed by a great smattering of humour, mostly from the funny protagonist, who approaches the dark events and villains with his usual cockiness and disrespect. The use of a first-person perspective from Dresden is also quite effective, and I loved seeing events through his eyes, as it allows readers to fully grasp the mystery, while also showcasing the great character developments. While Dead Beat can be read as a standalone read, especially as Butcher is good at quickly recapping events, at this point in the series readers will benefit from going back and reading the earlier Dresden Files books first. Dead Beat proves to be a key entry in the larger series, with multiple major events occurring here, and there are a ton of references to the preceding books, including the return of several fantastic characters. I really got a lot more out of Dead Beat’s story for having read the previous novels, especially as you get to see how much Dresden has been through in the lead up to this book. Overall, this was a very well-written and impressive novel, and Butcher really ensured that his cool story came through perfectly.

As with the rest of the Dresden Files books, I was really impressed with the blend of fantasy and urban fiction elements in Dead Beat, especially as Butcher has come up with such an elaborate world to set his stories in. The author adds some cool new elements into his complex world throughout Dead Beat, as Dresden is forced to deal with a whole new branch of dark magic, necromancy. Necromancy, or the control over the dead, is always a great villainous power in fantasy fiction, and Butcher makes excellent use of it in this book, with three rival necromancers vying for power. Each uses a different form of necromantic magic in battle, and this results in some outstanding scenes where Dresden is forced to confront them. The resulting magical mayhem is pretty epic, and Butcher’s unique depiction of zombies was both fun and a little scary. This intriguing new form of magic ensured that Dead Beat really stood out, and I appreciated how Butcher turned it on its head towards the end when Dresden gets creative. These excellent portrayals of magic fit within the fantastic setting of modern-day Chicago and it is always fun to see the elaborate balance of magical and mundane features that Butcher has set up within the city. These great fantasy inclusions blend well with the character work and mystery elements of Dead Beat, and I look forward to seeing how Butcher further expands it in future books.

One thing that I felt Butcher did particularly well in Dead Beat was how he portrayed his brilliant cast of characters. The Dresden Files always contain great protagonists and villains, but this novel had some of the best portrayals of them to date. This is especially true for series protagonist and point-of-view character Harry Dresden, who had a great outing here. Dresden has always been a damaged and conflicted figure in the series, but recent traumas are really weighing him down in Dead Beat as he struggles with a terrible hand injury, as well as the malign influence of the fallen angel bound to him, Lasciel. The protagonist spends most of the book trying to deal with the influence of Lasciel who subtly manipulates him in many ways, tempting him with power or a solution to his many problems. Each damaging and desperate encounter that Dresden survives in Dead Beat forces him to reconsider the wisdom of refusing her help, and the subsequent internal battles produce some of the most intense and compelling scenes in the novel. This continued temptation and manipulation alters Dresden’s personality at times, and it was interesting to see how his allies and friends treat him, especially as Dresden begins to understand the different ways that members of the magical community view him. Of course, Dresden hides most of his internal pain with his usual hilarious wit and humour, and his irreverent opinions, funny observations, and sheer ability to annoy anyone he encounters, results in most of the book’s humour and over-the-top moments. Throw in other concerns, including complex relationships, unrequited love, and the character’s desire to prove himself and do the right thing, and this was some of the best character work that Butcher has ever done around his main protagonist.

On top of Dresden, Butcher also features a brilliant cast of support characters and villains that really help to enliven the book. Dead Beat features a mixture of established supporting characters, as well as several great new ones, each of whom get some excellent moments to show off throughout the book. I particularly enjoyed how well Butcher utilised the character of Waldo Butters in Dead Beat. Butters, a kooky and big-hearted mortal medical examiner who had minor roles in a previous novel, is thrust into the limelight during this book, becoming a major ally to Dresden. Butcher weaves some great storylines around him as he simultaneously finds his courage and begins to understand the magical world that keeps trying to kill him. Butters proves to be a great supporting figure to Dresden in this book, and I loved their amusing team-up and developing friendship. There is also a couple of great hints at some of the future storylines involving Butters, and I look forward to seeing more of him.

Aside from Butters, I also enjoyed the appearance of Dresden’s half-brother, the vampire Thomas Raith, who has been crashing at Dresden’s place. Butcher paints a fun brotherly relationship between the two in this novel, which was quite entertaining at times. However, the more humorous elements of their relationship are often overshadowed by the deep pain within Raith as he tries to overcome the emotional damage done to him in the previous novel. I also loved learning more about Dresden’s skull spirit companion, Bob, in Dead Beat, and his dark history proves to be quite fascinating, especially as his former nature contrasts substantially with his usually entertaining persona. The three necromantic villains, Grevane, the Corpsetaker and Cowl, each bring a certain level of sinisterness to the table, and they prove to be exceptional antagonists in their own way. Finally, I must highlight the inclusion of Dresden’s new dog, Mouse, who has an awesome outing in Dead Beat. A young and growing gentle giant, Mouse is a fun animal companion to Dresden and his allies, and I look forward to seeing more of his hijinks in the future. Honestly, the entire cast of Dead Beat was pretty damn exceptional, and their powerful interactions and internal issues, added so much to the impact and power of this awesome novel.

As with all the Dresden Files novels, I chose to listen to Dead Beat on audiobook, which was an exceptional experience as the audio format helps to enhance the great characters and magical action. Coming in at just over 15 hours, this is a substantial audiobook, however, I manage to knock it out in a few days, especially once I got caught up in fantastic story. Naturally, the best thing about the Dead Beat audiobook is the return of actor James Marsters as the narrator. Marsters, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators thanks to his work on this series, did another brilliant job in Dead Beat and I have so much love for his outstanding performance. After lending his voice to all the previous Dresden Files novels, Marsters has all the characters down, and each figure is given a fitting and powerful voice that carries through from book to book. I particularly appreciated his portrayal of main character Harry Dresden, and Marsters perfectly captures the protagonist’s deep emotions and cocky demeaner, ensuring that you are both drawn to his pain and entertained by his antics. In addition to the excellent voices, Marsters also has some noticeable and contagious enthusiasm in his narration, especially when it comes to the magical battles, and you can really feel his passion and excitement in parts of the story, especially when he loudly shouts out Dresden’s magical spells. This narration from Marsters is so damn good, and it ensures that I had an exceptional time with Dead Beat’s audiobook, while is the absolute best way to enjoy a Dresden File novel.

In the seventh entry in his iconic Dresden Files series, Dead Beat, Jim Butcher has produced another exceptional read and one that I cannot recommended enough. Featuring a particularly impressive and captivating narration, cool magical inclusions, and some of the best character work Butcher has ever done, Dead Beat is one the best Dresden Files novels I have read so far, and I loved everything about it. This was such an amazing book, and I am very much intending to read several more entries in this outstanding series later this year.

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The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

On May 8, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Young Adult2 Comments

The Isles of the Gods Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 2 May 2023)

Series: The Isles of the Gods – Book One

Length: 456 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of Australia’s best young adult fantasy authors, Amie Kaufman, returns with another impressive and captivating read that combines amazing fantasy elements with a great cast of teenage characters in The Isles of the Gods.

Amie Kaufman is an outstanding Australian author who has produced several amazing series over the years. While she has written individual series, such as her Elementals trilogy, Kaufman’s career has been particularly defined by her collaborations with other impressive authors, including Meagan Spooner, with whom she cowrote the Starbound trilogy and Unearthed series, and Jay Kristoff, with whom she cowrote The Illuminae Files series. I best know Kaufman from another series she wrote with Kristoff, the Aurora Cycle trilogy. This outstanding trilogy, which featured the amazing books Aurora Rising, Aurora Burning and Aurora’s End, told a brilliant story about a squad of teenage space peacekeepers as they attempt to save the universe from all manner of dangerous threats. I had a lot of fun with this series, and I have been meaning to read more from both Kaufman and Kristoff for a while. As such, I was very excited when I received a copy of Kaufman’s new young adult fantasy, The Isles of the Gods, and I made sure to read it as soon as I could.

Following a devastating war between the gods that destroyed nations, peace has reigned in the world for five hundred and one years. This peace was hard won, as the aggressive Macean, God of risks, was only brought to heel by the actions of the warrior God Barrica and her followers from the Kingdom of Alinor. The sacrifice of Alinor’s king allowed Barrica to imprison her brother in a deep sleep, one that Macean has been unable to awaken from in half a millennium. With the other gods stepping back from reality, only Macean and Barrica remain in the world, with Barrica serving as eternal sentinel over her brother’s sleep. However, as tensions once again being to rise in the world and Barrica’s power seems to fade, the people of Mellacea, loyal followers of Macean, begin to plot war with Alinor and seek to bring back Macean once again.

Selly is a young and ambitious sailor whose many desires, be they the command of her own ship or of magic, seem always just out of her reach. Trapped by circumstance in the Alinor capital of Kirkpool, Selly plots to sneak away from her controlling ship’s captain and try to reach her father. However, her plans are ruined when she unexpectedly runs into the cocky and flamboyant Prince Leander of Alinor. A powerful magician generally considered a fop by his people, Leander commandeers Selly and her ship for a secret mission to the legendary Isles of the Gods, where Leander needs to perform a ritual which could end the war before it even begins.

As the journey begins, Selly finds herself clashing with the prince, who she sees as spoiled and incapable of taking his responsibilities seriously. But as they continue, they soon find themselves caught in the middle of a disaster. Forces from Mellacea are plotting to start the war, and their first strike destroys the diversionary fleet Leander was supposed to be travelling on. Fleeing from enemies on all fronts, Selly and Leander will need to work with a young scholar to survive and try to achieve their goal. But to win, they’ll need to defeat a dangerous group of killers which includes an ambitious criminal desperate to prove herself to her sister and her god, and one of Leander’s former best friends, who is determined to get revenge. Can Selly and Leander succeed and stop the war, or will the gods once again rise to devastate the world?

Kaufman produces another elaborate and captivating read with The Isles of the Gods, which I had an outstanding time reading. Featuring an excellent new fantasy setting, a powerful young adult narrative, and some absolutely amazing characters, The Isles of the Gods is an epic read that I managed to power through in a few fantastic days.

The Isles of the Gods has an excellent and fast-paced young adult fantasy narrative that is guaranteed to drag you in and keep you hooked the entire way through. Starting off with a bit of useful exposition, especially in a compelling prelude, the main narrative quickly introduces the reader to the five main characters of the story through their specific perspective chapters. While each character has their own specific story, the main plot is practically split into two as three of the characters, Selly, Leander and Keegan, attempt to head to The Isles of the Gods, while the other two characters, Jude and Laskia, are involved in the plot to kill Leander. Kaufman builds up an intriguing and powerful story around these alternate narratives, and the reader is soon caught in the captivating journey across the sea that each of them undertakes. Split into four parts, the story has a good flow to it as all the characters find obstacles to overcome. This includes a nautically focused first part, an intense second part with the protagonists trapped in enemy territory, a short third part which again is strongly nautically based, while the climatic fourth part brings everything together as the reader is engulfed in tragedy and the intriguing conclusion to several character arcs and storylines. Each part of the story is pretty exciting and emotionally powerful the entire way through as the characters engage in their respective quests while trying to deal with their many personal dramas and relationships. There are some very dark moments loaded into the narrative and I deeply appreciated the way that Kaufman slowly teased out revelations about each character ensuring that there was always more for the reader to learn. The Isles of the Gods ends on a very interesting note as every character completes their respective arcs and a new potential chapter of their life is revealed. It is very clear that there is a lot more of this story to go and it will be quite intriguing to see what happens in the author’s next novel.

Kaufman utilised an excellent and easy to enjoy writing style in The Isles of the Gods that complimented the complex narrative and ensured that the reader would get really caught up in all the relevant events. The split of the story around five separate point-of-view characters worked exceedingly well, and I really appreciated seeing multiple sides to the same events, especially as you get the perspective of protagonists, antagonists, and reluctant followers, each of which brings something very different to the story. The short, sharp chapters from multiple perspectives really moves the story along at great pace while also leaving plenty of room to develop the characters and dive into the compelling relationships and issues between each of the protagonists. Kaufman hits a fantastic balance between action, intrigue, humour, world building, romance and character growth throughout The Isles of the Gods, and there was barely a second that wasn’t compelling in its own way. I particularly enjoyed the many scenes set on the water as Kaufman had a lot of fun in a primarily nautical novel. Nautically themed fantasy books aren’t always the easiest of things for an author to pull off, but I felt Kaufman did an outstanding job with it as she crafts multiple outstanding sequences out on the waves which is often enhanced by the character’s use of magic.

As I mentioned above, The Isles of the Gods is a young adult novel, which, thanks to its excellent teenage cast, is focused towards a younger audience. This is one of those young adult novels that will appeal to quite a large audience of readers, especially as Kaufman has featured a lot of mature themes throughout the book, including war, death, sacrifice and finding oneself. Teenage readers will really appreciate the way that Kaufman doesn’t pull any punches with her story and leaves a lot of complex elements for them to get to grips with. At the same time, this more mature content, intriguing new fantasy setting, and complicated characters will ensure that older readers can still have a lot of fun with this novel, and any major fantasy fan will deeply enjoy and appreciate the fantastic story that Kaufman pulled together. As such, I would strongly recommend The Isles of the Gods to a huge range of different readers, and there is really something for everybody here.

Something that always impresses me about Amie Kaufman as an author is the way that she can create new and sophisticated new fantasy realms for each of her excellent series. The Isles of the Gods is a particularly good example of this as Kaufman sets her narrative around a great new fantasy realm with some intriguing backstory and elements to it. I loved the cool history, which involves fallen gods and warring nations, that the author works into the overarching plot perfectly, ensuring that all these intriguing details become quite essential to the main story. The resulting world gets some gets some substantial exploration throughout The Isles of the Gods, and Kaufman takes the time to visit some of the more fascinating and distinctive locales in this world, while leaving the door open for more to be explored in the future. The world itself has a good mixture of steampunk technology and magic to it, and I liked how the authors dives into the mechanics behind both religion and the spirt based elemental magic that was so key to the plot. The recurring focus on sacrifice, which proves to be essential for both magic and the gods, was particularly noteworthy, especially as it results in some powerful moments, and it really made these fantasy elements pop. All this creativity from Kaufman helped to turn The Isles of the Gods into an outstanding read, and I look forward to exploring more of this realm in the future.

One of the big highlights of The Isles of the Gods for me was the exceptional collection of focal characters. The plot of this impressive fantasy novel focuses around five teenagers, each of whom have multiple chapters shown from their perspective. Kaufman develops some amazing and moving character arcs across the book and you really get drawn into the personal stories and the intriguing relationships that form between them.

A large amount of the plot revolves around the characters of Selly and Leander, who form the emotional heart of the book. Selly is a sailor and failed magician who is desperate to escape her current life and finally become the captain she things she deserves. She runs straight into the beacon of overconfidence and charisma that is Leander at the start of the book and their storylines end up intertwined the entire way through. Leander is easily the most entertaining character in the entire book and his fun manner, exceptional magical abilities and ability to charm most people will swiftly have you falling in love with him. This works in great contrast to Selly, who is one of the few people unimpressed with Leander, and the two enter a somewhat antagonistic relationship as they clash on everything. Of course, this eventually leads to a romance (this is young adult fiction after all), but the build up to it works really well. The two characters play off each other perfectly, especially as they call out each other’s flaws and mistakes, and you really grow to enjoy the banter between them. Along the way, the characters both address some of their deeper issues, such as Selly’s failure when it comes to contacting spirits and Leander’s inner fears and guilt which drives him to act so over-the-top. Kaufman works these compelling character issues into the narrative extremely well and it helps the reader to build a stronger attachment to Leander and Selly throughout. Their joint arc ends up being a major highlight of The Isles of the Gods, and it will be interesting to see how Kaufman continues it in the future.

The Isles of the Gods features three other point-of-view characters, each of whom has their own distinctive and compelling story arc. The first of these is Keegan, an Alinorish noble who has run away from his family and responsibilities to try and become a scholar. A former classmate of Leander’s, Keegan is dragged into the adventure inadvertently when Leander charters Selly’s ship on which he is a passenger. Portrayed as asexual and a little antisocial, Keegan is a solid member of the cast who is initially reluctant to help but eventually becomes a firm companion to Selly and Leander. His scholarly knowhow and history with Leander lead to some big moments in the novel, and he is partially responsible for Leander’s growth within the book. Another character with a complex history with Leander is Jude, a noble bastard from Alinor who was also at school with Leander and Keegan. However, he has since moved to Mellacea after an apparent betrayal by Leander and now works for a crime lord. Forced into the plot to kill his former friend, Jude goes through quite a lot of conflict throughout the novel as he finds himself getting dragged deeper and deeper into the chaos against his will while also trying to understand his complex past with Leander. Jude serves as a quite a good alternate perspective within the antagonists’ ranks, showcasing a more conflicted and human view of their actions, and his story added a lot to the plot. The final character is Laskia, who serves as the main antagonist of the story. The younger sister of a notorious Mellacean crime lord, Laskia is an ambitious religious fanatic, desperate to prove herself to her sister and to her god Macean. She leads the conspiracy to kill Leander, and despite her ruthless actions is shown to be troubled and unsure of herself. However, her ambitious and righteous fury continue to drive her on, and she has a powerful and dark arc throughout the novel that really drew me in. Honestly, all five point-of-view characters were pretty exceptional, and it will be very interesting to see how Kaufman continues their storylines in the future.

Amie Kaufman continues to dominate the young adult fantasy scene in a big way with her latest epic book, The Isles of the Gods. This very talented Australian author has produced another amazing and awesome read that blends complex characters, a cool new setting, and an addictive and impressive young adult fantasy narrative, that had me hooked the entire way through. I had such a brilliant time reading The Isles of the Gods and I’m extremely keen to see how Kaufman will continue it in the future. This is an exceptional young adult fantasy novel that you need to check out!

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer 40,000: Honour Guard by Dan Abnett

On April 21, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer4 Comments

Warhammer 40,000 - Honour Guard Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – July 2001)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Four

Length: 10 hours and 12 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For this week’s Throwback Thursday I’m still in a Warhammer 40,000 mood, so I decided to dive even further into Dan Abnett’s classic Gaunt’s Ghosts series with the fourth book, Honour Guard.

Readers of this blog will no doubt have noticed a fair increase in the number of Warhammer 40,000 novels I’ve highlighted this year, as this entire grim expanded universe has quite an addictive quality to it. Foremost amongst these books have been the compelling works of veteran author Dan Abnett, who has written so many impressive and key parts of the Warhammer canon over the years. I deeply enjoyed his Eisenhorn trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), all three of which were given pride of place in my recent post listing my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels. However, his best-known works are his Gaunt’s Ghosts series of books, which catalogue the adventures of the Tanith First and Only regiment of Imperial Guard, better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts. I have had a wonderful time with the first three novels, First and Only, Ghostmaker and Necropolis, as well as the prequel novel The Vincula Insurgency, which showcased the bloody lives of the common soldier in this war-torn universe. I have really gotten attached to this series and when I wanted a quick read, there was nothing I would rather turn to then the next Gaunt’s Ghosts book, Honour Guard.

Throughout the extended, system-spanning Sabbat World crusades, the men of the Tanith First and Only have fought against the dark forces of Chaos in every way imaginable. Led by their heroic commander, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, the Tanith soldiers, known colloquially as Gaunt’s Ghosts, have had many victories, but few failures. So, when fighting on the holy Shrine World of Hagia, the Ghosts are devastated when they trigger a disastrous enemy trap that destroys a holy city and creates a psyker beacon that will draw a massive Chaos fleet down on their position.

Troubled by his failures to protect one of the most important planets in the Sabbat Worlds and made a scapegoat by his commander, Gaunt is left a broken man. His one chance to save his career and his regiment is to lead the Tanith and an armoured company as an honour guard to a sacred shrine to recover the holy relics of Saint Sabbat. If he can recover the relics and evacuate them from the planet before the Chaos fleet arrives, he may be able to keep the Ghosts under his command.

Beginning the arduous pilgrimage, Gaunt and his men soon discover that the road to the shrine isn’t as clear as their intelligence indicated. A vast enemy army lies in wait for them, and the Ghosts will have to fight every step of the way to secure their objective and make their escape. However, there are far more mysterious forces at work behind the scenes as Gaunt and some of his men soon find themselves being driven on by religious visions of Saint Sabbat herself. Is the holy saint talking to them, or is something more sinister manipulating them?

Honour Guard was another epic science fiction military adventure that I powered through in no time at all. Skilfully continuing the intriguing Gaunt’s Ghost story, Abnett has produced a thoughtful and intense read that throws the protagonists into a captivating action-packed scenario that really showcases the gritty nature of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Honour Guard has a somewhat typical Gaunt’s Ghosts story to it, and if you’ve read the series before then you know that means great characters, intense fights with big set-piece battles, and a compelling look at the common soldier in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. This fourth book follows on from the events of Necropolis, and Abnett quickly and ably shows the changes to the regiment that the previous adventures have wrought, especially with all the new Verghastite recruits. Abnett starts things off with an epic series of battles as the Ghosts attempt to take a Chaos controlled city. This opening sprawl of fights is not only intense but it expertly introduces the new setting, sets up several key story points, and lets the reader know who the main characters of Honour Guard are going to be. From there, the characters, especially the main protagonist, Gaunt, face a major setback as the city is destroyed, their allies are killed, and a massive Chaos fleet has been summoned to destroy the holy planet they are on. There are some great moments in this early bit of the book, especially as Abnett really dives into the impacts of the failure on Gaunt. It also sets up the intriguing story element that Gaunt is likely to lose his command and the Ghosts will be broken up as a result.

With that set up, Abnett then drives into the meat of the story, with Gaunt leading the Ghosts and an armoured regiment as an honour guard to retrieve the sacred relics of one of the Imperium’s most important saints before the enemy fleet arrives. Framed as an easy mission to give Gaunt an honourable send off, the mission naturally goes to hell when the Ghosts discover a vast enemy army between them and their goal. This results in several major battles on the road, and Abnett has a lot of fun combining infantry fighting with tank warfare to make the conflicts even more impressive. Each battle is extremely fun in its own regard, and fans of action and military combat really won’t be disappointed by Honour Guard as a result. At the same time, there is a real focus on the characters, as several of the protagonists are going through different personal struggles, especially Gaunt. Abnett also introduces an intriguing and moving side storyline that sees several long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts characters, who were wounded and left behind, attempt to make their own way to the conflict, guided by religious visions. Everything leads up to a final battle sequence at the objective as the honour guard are trapped with a massive enemy force coming towards them. Abnett naturally spends pages detailing all the bloody fighting, which serves as a great backdrop to the main story elements. While I did think that the big finale of the book was too sudden and coincidental, it did fit into the general theme of faith and miracles that were covered in a lot of the plot. Overall, this was another great, action-heavy narrative that I was able to sit back and enjoy.

As with all Abnett’s work, Honour Guard is extremely well written, and readers who have enjoyed any of the author’s previous books will be aware of what they are in for with this fantastic novel. The author features a great blend of action, universe building and character development throughout his novel, and readers are ensured of constant excitement or intense, character-driven moments. The entire story is told from multiple character perspectives, as the entire cast is well represented. Not only does this allow the reader to get interesting updates from all the intriguing characters, many of whom have been built up in previous books, but it also ensures that you get a wide view of events featured throughout the novel, including several different perspectives of each battle. I do think that the book was lacking a good antagonist perspective (or honestly a real antagonist character), and if Abnett would have included that, the entire story would have felt a bit more complete. Still, the sheer number of perspectives and supporting characters ensures that the reader sees every angle of the action. That is really great, as the battle scenes are some of the best parts of the book. Abnett never holds back when it comes to the carnage, and every massive fight, armoured vehicle engagement and or infantry push is covered in high detail. The author really tries to highlight the brutality and trauma of war, as well as the hell each of the soldier characters goes through, and you ended up riveted to the plot as a result, especially as no side character is safe. I am glad that Abnett keeps up his outstanding writing throughout the Gaunt’s Ghosts series and I ended up getting really caught up in Honour Guard as a result.

This proved to be another interesting addition to both the Gaunt’s Ghosts series and the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe, and fans of both are going to have a pretty great time with this new novel. As with most of the books in the series, Honour Guard can be read as a standalone novel, although starting with the earlier books does give the reader more insight into the characters. Abnett really tries to make each of his novels as accessible as possible, and readers new to the series or Warhammer fiction in general can easily dive in here and have a fun time with all the military action. However, Abnett also has a lot of fun expanding out the canon in Honour Guard, especially as you get to see more regiments of the Imperial Guard in action against the forces of Chaos. One of the most intriguing lore aspects of Honour Guard is the examination of key elements of the Sabbat Worlds, which have been the overarching focus of this series. In particular, there is a focus on the legendary figure of Saint Sabbat, who is a personal hero of many of the characters. This sends the story down an interesting spiral of faith and devotion in the Imperial Cult, as many have their religious beliefs tested due to the earlier events of the story. As such, there are some great examinations of the Imperial religion, and it is fascinating to see the potential spiritual ramifications of several events throughout the novel. I also quite enjoyed the main setting of the planet of Hagia, which is only really featured in this novel. Abnett sets the entire world up very quickly and you soon find yourself caught up in the fight for this religious planet which is completely dedicated to worship of the Emperor and his saints. Abnett works several religious elements of the planet into the story extremely well, and it proves to be quite fascinating backdrop for this awesome novel.

One of the best things about Abnett’s writing is his ability to construct multiple complex and intriguing characters who all go through some great development. This is particularly true in the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, as he has constructed a pretty massive cast of characters throughout the first three books in the series who all come into play in Honour Guard. I really enjoyed all the amazing characters in this fourth novel, especially as there is a very interesting change of dynamics due to the Verghastite recruits joining at the end of the previous novel, Necropolis. Not only does that mean that some of the best new characters from the previous book are once again featured here, but it builds some fantastic rivalries between the soldiers as the new Ghosts attempt to gain acceptance from the men of Tanith. Honour Guard ended up being a fantastic litmus test for Abnett’s expanded cast, especially as it introduces some compelling cultural and gender divides to the regiment, while also ensuring that all the fantastic characters the author utilised in Necropolis don’t go to waste.

Many of these great characters really stood out to me in Honour Guard, but of course most of the focus was once again on the central protagonist of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt. This was a pretty significant novel for Gaunt, as readers get to see him at his very lowest point after he suffers a devastating defeat. This pushes him into a depressive spiral, which is very surprising after how controlled and confident he has been in the previous novels. Abnett really does a great job of showcasing Gaunt’s lost confidence and internal anger, and watching him overcome it becomes an intense part of the book. The author really dives down deep into Gaunt’s motivations throughout Honour Guard, and you come away feeling a lot closer to the character as a result. It isn’t always easy for an author to show their main protagonist dealing with defeat and loss, but Abnett did a wonderful job of it in Honour Guard, and I think it makes Gaunt a much stronger figure as a result.

Aside from Gaunt, a lot of the other characters are really well utilised throughout Honour Guard, with some great side storylines and adventures. Colonel Corbec’s adventure with long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts characters Dorden, Brin Milo and Bragg, had some excellent moments to it, especially as many of them are still dealing with the loss of loved ones or their planet. Abnett also makes great use of several notable characters introduced in Necropolis like Gol Kolea, Captain Ban Daur and Ana Curth in Honour Guard. It was great to see the author spending time developing storylines around them which will continue to build throughout the series, and I enjoyed seeing them attempting to integrate into the Tanith regiment. Even new characters like Viktor Hark, the regiments new Commissar, the slippery and entertaining killer Cuu, and troubled Trooper Vamberfeld, all added some awesome elements to the overall story. I liked how Hark proved to be a compelling reflection of Gaunt, while Vamberfeld showcased the traumas war can have on a soldier’s mind, while also placing him right in the middle of key events. However, some of the best character work in Honour Guard occurred around the always entertaining Major Rawne. Rawne, who has sworn multiple times to kill Gaunt, bears witness to his commander’s fall from grace after his defeat. However, rather than revelling in it, Rawne ends up having a big confrontation with Gaunt towards the end of the book to snap some sense in him. Watching this cynical character be the voice of reason to Gaunt was just brilliant, and the resulting exchange added some fantastic layers to Rawne that I deeply enjoyed. While I really would have loved some more named antagonists, the characters overall in Honour Guard were pretty exceptional, and I really loved how Abnett worked their unique personal narratives into the wider plot.

I doubt anyone is going to be too surprised that I checked out Honour Guard on audiobook, as that has been my preferred format for all Abnett’s books. This is mainly because the action, characters, and grim setting are always translated across so effortlessly on the audiobook, and you can really appreciate all the cool detail that Abnett includes as a result. Coming in a just over 10 hours, the Honour Guard audiobook has a pretty typical length for a Warhammer book, and I was able to quickly power through it. As usual, I need to highlight the amazing narration of Toby Longworth, who has lent his voice to all of Abnett’s previous books. Longworth has an outstanding voice that really captures the tone of the story and ensures that the reader can envision every single battle taking place. His real talent is his ability to dive into every single character Abnett comes up with and give them a fitting voice that captures their personality and emotions. There is some impressive continuation from the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks as Longworth brings back all the voices he previously featured there, which I deeply appreciated. He also employs an intriguing range of accents, which help to emphasise the different planets of origin for the various characters and regiments featured in the book. This attention to detail and impressive voice work helps to make Honour Guard, and indeed all the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks really stand out, and I had a wonderful time listening to the book in this format. Easily the best way to enjoy this fantastic novel.

Honestly, there was no question about me enjoying Honour Guard, considering how much fun I have been having with the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts books. This fourth entry has a great story and some brilliant writing by Abnett, and readers are in for an exceptional experience of bullets, blood and explosions in some the best military fiction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. This was an outstanding read, and I can give no higher compliment than to say that the moment I finished off Honour Guard, I started listening to the next novel in the series, The Guns of Tanith. I honestly cannot get enough of this incredible Warhammer 40,000 series and it will be very interesting to see what unique storylines Abnett cooks up next.

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer 40,000: Necropolis by Dan Abnett

On April 6, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer6 Comments

Warhammer 40,000 - Necropolis Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – January 2001)

Series; Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Three

Length: 10 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For my latest Throwback Thursday, I continue to dive into the mud and blood of the 41^st century with the awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel, Necropolis by Dan Abnett.

A few weeks ago I published a Top Ten Tuesday that listed my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels, where I featured several great and impressive authors. However, out all these authors, the one I seemed to mention the most was the extremely talented Dan Abnett. Abnett, a veteran contributor to Warhammer lore, is one of the major pillars of the Warhammer 40,000 canon, having written several exceedingly iconic series or novels. I have really enjoyed some of Abnett’s books including his legendary Eisenhorn trilogy (made up of Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus) which I eagerly absorbed earlier this year.

However, one of Abnett’s most compelling series is his long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts series of books. This great series follows the tragic and deadly members of the Tanith First and Only, an Imperial Guard regiment let by legendary Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt. Known informally as Gaunt’s Ghosts, due to their position of the being the only survivors of the destroyed planet of Tanith, the Ghosts fight for vengeance and the hope of winning a new planet. The Gaunt’s Ghost series follows their adventures during the Sabbat World Crusades, a series of deadly campaigns in a Chaos controlled sector. I have deeply enjoyed this cool series, mainly because it shows a particularly accurate view of the life of the common soldier in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The first two books, First and Only and Ghostmaker, as well as the prequel novel, The Vincula Insurgency, have served as excellent introductions to the characters and their mission, and I have been keen to continue this series. The third book in the series, Necropolis, features a brilliant new story that throws the Ghosts deep into the absolute hell of war.

On the planet of Verghast, deep in the Sabbat Worlds, the Hive City of Verunhive has long stood as a beacon of productivity and economic success, producing vast quantities of materials for the crusading Imperial armies. Their dominion on Verghast seems absolute, until a shocking and deadly surprise attack from the neighbouring rival city of Ferrozoica, leaves everyone in shock. Amassing an army of millions, Ferrozoica launches a continued and brutal attack on Verunhive and its holdings, determined to bring it to its knees, and not even the hastily assembled forces of Verunhive or the fortified walls of the hive seem capable of stopping them.

To maintain the manufacturing capabilities of Verunhive, Warmaster Macaroth dispatches several regiments of Imperial Guard to Verghast to unite the people of Verunhive and help put an end to the invasion Ferrozoica. Amongst the Imperial reinforcements are the Tanith First and Only, better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts, who are now hardened veterans after years of fighting under Colonel-Commissar Gaunt. Arriving in Verunhive, the Ghosts discover a desperate hive, fortified by inexperienced soldiers and untested leadership, who are ill-prepared for the horrors of war that are about to be unleashed upon them.

As the Ghosts and their new allies begin a desperate fight for survival, Gaunt soon discovers that the Hive is divided, with political intrigue, ambitious officers, and old rivals, all vying to control the war. As this division hampers the war effort, an even more dangerous discovery is made: the forces of Ferrozoica aren’t just rebelling, they are under the fell control of Chaos. Faced with a relentless horde of enemies that won’t stop their attack for anything, can the Tanith and the defenders of Verunhive rally to hold off the enemy are will the Ghosts finally meet their match in the ruins of the corrupt Hive City?

Abnett continues to show why he is one of the very best Warhammer 40,000 authors out there with this exceptional third entry in his Gaunt’s Ghosts series. Necropolis is a brutal and intense read that features a brilliant group of characters caught up in a desperate and deadly siege. Action-packed and exceedingly powerful, Necropolis was an incredible addition to the series that I powered through in no time at all.

Necropolis has an outstanding and exceptional story that places the Tanith regiment in the middle of a no-win scenario. I had heard that Necropolis had one of the best stories out of all the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, and it lives up to all the hype. One of the reasons for this is that, in contrast to the episodic nature of the first two books, Necropolis has one consistent and continuous story that is completely focused on the battle for Verunhive. The other major reason for me is that this book is a siege novel, which is something I particularly enjoy, and the subsequent extended war to control Verunhive was pretty damn epic as a result.

The book starts without the Ghosts even present, and instead Abnett takes the time to completely explore the start of the siege, showcasing the setting and introducing many of the new supporting characters and their unique storylines. This works to set the scene beautifully and you really go into the book fully understanding just how chaotic the ensuing war is going to be. Gaunt and the Ghosts are introduced a few chapters into Necropolis, and they are swiftly and expertly inserted into the story. Most of the returning characters are split up around the city and given their own distinctive storylines which often merge with those of the Verunhive citizens introduced in the opening scenes. At the same time, Gaunt finds himself involved in the political intrigue that is dominating the commanders of the city, which forces him to work with and against rival commanders, commissars and politicians.

The story moves at a pretty swift pace, and soon the reader is gifted with a series of brutal and powerful battles that drag in every major character in the book. All these battle scenes are pretty intense and deadly, with the protagonists significantly outnumbered by the forces of Chaos. Abnett really communicates the resulting desperation and fear that many of the characters feel, especially as the enemy starts to make further progress and the losses mount. These impressive war scenes mesh well with the instances of political intrigue and personal conflicts that several of the characters, particularly Gaunt, are experiencing during the war, and it becomes apparent that ambition, greed and corruption are going to cause just as many problems as the war outside. I loved the brilliant combination of character driven storylines that emerged, and all of them come together to present a comprehensive and compelling picture of the wider siege before them.

Naturally, things start going to absolute hell in the lead-up to the final act, and Gaunt and his soldiers face a huge variety of threats from both inside and outside of Verunhive. There are some great scenes of carnage, valour and bitter personal fights during this part of the book as each of the characters attempt to survive in their own way. Abnett really doesn’t hold back when it comes to the brutal war and readers should really not get attached to any of the characters, as the death toll is pretty significant. Everything leads up to a final, desperate battle, and I felt that the author handled it extremely well, pitting all the key characters into some outstanding fight sequences. I did think that the conclusion of one major fight was slightly cliched (as well as significantly underpowering the strength of a bolt pistol), but it was an overall excellent way to end the book. All the storylines that Abnett opens in Necropolis are closed in a satisfactory way, and many of the characters leave both hopeful and a little forlorn at what they have experienced. Abnett also leaves behind some hints of future storylines, especially around the personal lives of the Ghosts, and it looks like there is going to be a lot of changes in the next novel of the series.

Featuring a massive multi-perspective cast, Abnett tells a complex and expansive siege narrative that is guaranteed to draw the reader. As I mentioned before, I love a good siege book, and this probably one of the better ones that I have had the pleasure of reading (I will be adding it to the next version of my Top Ten Tuesday list on the subject). Abnett really captures the intensity and complexity of the siege of this massive Hive City, and this shines through in every major battle scene he produces. The reader is effortlessly drawn into every gritty and lethal fight that occurs, and I love how he shows all the perils associated with war, from morale, logistics and even the insanity of the Chaos invaders. The grim scale of the war and the massive city this book is set in are on full display as well, and you must love seeing the mechanics behind attacking this city, as well as the inherent tragedy such an invasion is having on millions. Accompanied by an amazing amount of complex, personal stories, and some outstanding, futuristic political intrigue, and you end up with a particularly gripping and well-written tale, and its one I could listen to again and again.

One of the things that I love about Abnett’s books is the way that he so easily and cleverly works the wider Warhammer 40,000 setting into his story. He does such a good job of including and subtly explaining every bit of relevant lore, technology or faction throughout the book and in such a way that even readers unfamiliar with the franchise can dive in here with Necropolis without any major issues. This accessibility to new readers is further helped by the way that most of the story focuses on the battles of the common Imperial soldier, and seeing their gritty perspectives and opinions of the book’s events really makes it easier to read. Necropolis also serves as quite a key entry in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and fans who enjoyed the first two books will love to see the Ghosts return to another brutal war. While Abnett does ensure that Necropolis is accessible to people unfamiliar with the series, readers are better served going back and reading First and Only and Ghostmaker first. This is mainly because these two books were so heavily focused on character development and introductions, and seeing this characterisation continue in Necropolis makes for a more enjoyable experience. However, readers can still jump into Necropolis without too many issues, and anyone is guaranteed an epic time if they do.

Abnett is always particularly skilled when it comes to characters, and Necropolis is no different as it features an amazing and large cast. This not only includes the recurring characters from the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts books, but also a series of new characters originating in Verunhive. Abnett does a wonderful job of introducing all these new characters while also simultaneously re-establishing all the previous protagonists and their particular character arcs. The reader ends up following a huge range of character storylines in Necropolis as a result, and it was fascinating to see all the different protagonists, both Ghost and Verunhive local, and their experiences in the war. However, I do think that Abnett might have gone a little overboard when it came to characters in Necropolis, as it became hard to follow so many distinctive personalities at times. I also found that some of the best characters from the first two books, such as Colm Corbec and Major Rawne, were a bit underutilised as a result. However, you still get a lot of Gaunt, and his excellent chapters perfectly capture the insanity behind the war as Abnett once again showcases him as the noble hero, although even he is not prepared for some of the complex figures waiting for him. I loved the contrast between Gaunt and his rival, Commissar Kowle, who is a lot more self-serving, and it was great to see more hostile interactions between Gaunt and the Royal Volpone commander General Sturm. This ended up being a great book for characters, and I look forward to seeing how some of the supporting cast introduced in Necropolis will go in future books, especially after so many join the Ghosts at the end of the book.

As with pretty much everything else from Abnett that I have enjoyed, I chose to grab Necropolis on audiobook, which was exceptional. Generally, all the Warhammer 40,000 novels are pretty amazing in their own way, but I have had a great time with the ones written by Abnett. I find the format fits his epic and powerful narratives extremely well, and the intense action, world building and characters, are all highlighted perfectly in the audiobooks. One of the main reasons for this is due to the impressive work of narrator Toby Longworth, who lends his voice to all of Abnett’s main works. Longworth is such a great narrator and I love how he brings the intense story to life, revelling in every action, shot and bit of carnage that Abnett imagines. His main skill is his ability to come up with a huge range of fitting and memorable voices for every major cast member, and his take on each of Abnett’s characters is always spot on. All the characters who appeared in the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts books return with the same voices that Longworth utilised then, and I loved both the consistency with the prior audiobooks and the unique way he gets into each of the recurring characters. The accent that he gifts all the native members of the Tanith First and Only is amazing, and it is really cool how he uses it to acknowledge their rugged history. Longworth’s talent for accents is pushed to the limit in Necropolis, as the plot features characters from several different planets. However, he succeeds in giving unique accents for all the different off-worlders, which included a pretty accurate Australian-esque accent, which gets my approval. This voice work, as well as the way the format generally enhances the cool story, ensures that the Necropolis audiobook is a fantastic way to enjoy this awesome book. With a run time of just under 10 and a half hours, listeners can easily power through this book in a few days, especially once they get caught up in the addictive narrative.

My love of the classic Gaunt’s Ghosts series keeps getting stronger and stronger as the third book, Necropolis was a particularly epic Warhammer 40,000 read. The legendary Dan Abnett provides readers with a powerful and captivating siege story that makes full use of its dark setting and comprehensive cast of characters. An exceptional read from start to finish, Necropolis comes highly recommended, and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next Gaunt’s Ghosts book.

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How to Kill a Client by Joanna Jenkins

On March 13, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Thriller2 Comments

How to Kill a Client Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 31 January 2023)

Series: Standalone

Length: 384 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Australian lawyer and debuting author Joanna Jenkins introduces herself in a big way with her fantastic first novel, the legal thriller How to Kill a Client, which takes the reader on a fascinating journey to the dark side of Australia’s legal profession.

As the in-house lawyer at a powerful international mining company, Gavin Jones oversees millions of dollars’ worth of legal contracts each year, including to the Brisbane office of the Australian legal firm Howard Green. Using them to negotiate lucrative contracts throughout Australia, Jones has become one of Howard Green’s biggest clients and the money he controls ensures that everyone at the law firm treats him like a god.

But while everyone fawns over Jones and his power, no-one actually likes him. A cruel, petty and vindicative man, Jones has messed with the careers and lives of everyone in his orbit, especially women, who he reserves a particular disdain for. His actions ensured the suffering of everyone he has power over, including his wife, his employees, and the female partners at Howard Green, as he seeks to wreck lives, destroy careers and give himself the lifestyle he feels he deserves.

So when Jones dies suddenly and suspiciously, everyone he knew is a potential suspect; thanks to his dodgy dealings and underhanded tactics, they all had a motive to kill him. As the police begin their investigation and the lawyers at Howard Green close ranks, it falls to partner Ruth Dawson, one of the few people without a motive, to protect her firm and its secrets. However, when her investigation reveals proof of who killed Jones and other dark secrets her firm is hiding, will Ruth reveal the truth or will she bury it to protect her firm?

How to Kill a Client is a clever and tricky novel that really showcases Jenkins’s skill as a new writer. Blending a fantastic and compelling crime fiction narrative with intense looks at the lifestyle of members of a successful law firm, How to Kill a Client was a gripping and interesting read that is really worth checking out.

I loved the cool story contained within this book which came across as part legal thriller, part personal drama surrounding high-level professionals, and part intriguing murder mystery. The story dives into the chaotic world surrounding the legal firm of Howard Green and its clients and effectively introduces all the key players in this drama, who have their own views on the troubles to come. Each primary characters is connected to the eventual victim, Gavin Jones. Jenkins spends the first half of the book showcasing Jones’s terrible nature and the various ways they are messing with everyone. Cleverly utilising multiple character perspectives, you are soon drawn into the various main characters’ lives and soon see all the various reasons why each of them may have wanted to kill Jones, as well as some of the suspicious steps some of them took. Jenkins perfectly sets up everything in the first part of How to Kill a Client, and by the time you reach the halfway point, you are firmly enthralled by the narrative and want to see how the rest of the book unfolds.

When the eventual death happens (a real high point) the reader is left wondering whether it was an accident, a mistake, or a deliberate action, with the evidence pointing towards a murder. However, due to the sheer range of suspects and motives, the story produces a twisty and fun range of plotlines that you need to navigate to get to the final conclusion. Jenkins really produces an emotional and captivating second half as you try to find out who killed Jones and why. There are some brilliant revelations unfurled here, and I loved how some cunningly hidden clues in the first half of the book were utilised in the final mystery. I was very impressed with the final reveals around how the killing was committed and why it happened, and you will come away from this story very satisfied, especially as Jenkins builds in some excellent character moments and ensures that all the remaining characters get a fitting end to their arcs. I found myself getting really caught up in Jenkins’ powerful and amazing story and I honestly powered through the last half of the book very quickly to see how everything ended.

Part of the reason why How to Kill a Client is such an effective read is that Jenkins introduces an excellent cast of intriguing and complex characters who are thrust into a variety of compelling situations throughout the course of the narrative. Each of the main cast, who Jenkins effectively builds up and utilises in the plot, are quite damaged, desperate or concerned in their own unique way, while many of the supporting characters are notably selfish or manipulative for their own ends. Characters like Ruth Dawson and Viv Harrison give some compelling and honest insights into how women are treated in this influential professional setting, while Anne Jones shows the harsh reality of a women trapped in an abusive relationship. At the same time, there is a great collection of supporting lawyer characters who Jenkins uses to show off the range of people and personalities one is likely to experience in Australia’s legal services.

However, out of all the characters in this book, the one I must highlight the most is probably the murder victim, Gavin Jones, mainly because he is such a despicable figure. Jenkins really goes out of her way to make Jones into one of the most unlikable and petty characters you are ever likely to find in fiction and boy does she succeed, perfectly capturing an insecure and manipulative narcissist who enjoys controlling people. Not only does he go out of the way to try and ruin the careers of several characters just because they are women, but he also demands attention from the male characters to feed is ego, while also abusing and controlling his wife to make him feel good. In a very short amount of time Jenkins builds Jones up into such an unlikable character that the reader finds themselves trying to reach into the book and kill him before the murderer does. This naturally adds quite a lot to the mystery of the book, as his malicious professional actions, deceits, violence and puppy killing (seriously, that one really angered me), ensures that everyone he came in contact with had a reason to murder him. The huge suspect pool around this unlikable character allows Jenkins to craft an impressive murder mystery and you’ll really get drawn into finding who finally snapped and killed this infuriating character. This villainous figure, and other great characters, all added so much to the plot of How to Kill a Client and really got invested in their stories very quickly.

One of the other features of How to Kill a Client that I particularly enjoyed was the author’s detailed and intriguing examination of an Australian law firm. Clearly utilising all her past experiences as a lawyer, Jenkins perfectly showcases how a firm would work and act in a variety of scenarios, and you really get the senses of the day-to-day chaos the individuals working there would experience, which adds a lot of authenticity to the story. Jenkins also dives into the backroom drama and politics that surround such entities, as the various lawyers cut deals and fight for control over various projects or clients. There is a particularly cynical edge to the book’s portrayal of legal firms in this novel, and Jenkins shows it to be a dark and unfulfilling practice at times, especially in some of the more elite firms. The author really showcases just how bad these companies are when it comes to the treatment of women as two of the book’s central characters are female partners in Howard Green who have to constantly deal with their male colleagues’ condescension and manipulations, and there are several pointed scenes where the arrogant male managers fail to listen to the women even when they are right. There is also a focus on the way law firms sycophantically woo potential clients, bending over backwards to get hired, and this adds some intriguing angles to the drama. Finally, there is also quite a dark look at the demand for profits over people, as there is a constant fear of firings and layoffs, even for the best employees. This critical presentation of a professional law firm is pretty striking and it results in some powerful scenes throughout the course of the book, especially as the people stuck in these firms often refuse to escape it, no matter how bad it gets. I felt this examination of the profession in Australia added so much to the outstanding story and it helps to make How to Kill a Client really stand out.

Overall, How to Kill a Client was an outstanding and captivating debut from new Australian author Joanna Jenkins and one I had a wonderful time reading. Blending compelling legal elements with a fascinating, character-driven mystery, How to Kill a Client has a brilliant story that takes the reader on a powerful and twisty journey. Slick, emotionally rich, and filled with exceptional characters, How to Kill a Client is one of my favourite debuts of 2023 so far, and I cannot wait to see what epic reads Jenkins will release in the future.

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer: Giantslayer by William King

On March 10, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer4 Comments

Giantslayer Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 3 April 2003)

Series: Gotrek and Felix – Book Seven

Length: 10 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. After having a ton of fun listing my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels last week, I dive back into Warhammer Fantasy in a big way with the seventh epic entry in William King’s Gotrek and Felix series, Giantslayer.

While the Warhammer franchise has many great series, few are as iconic or long-lasting as the epic Gotrek and Felix books. Following a doomed dwarf Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his human chronicler Felix Jaeger as they travel across the Warhammer Fantasy landscape, trying to find a worthy death for Gotrek, these books are amazing and fun action-packed reads guaranteed to keep you entertained with their excellent stories. Each of these books is an outstanding read in their own way, and I have had a wonderful time getting through the previous Gotrek and Felix books by King, including Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer, Beastslayer and Vampireslayer. Giantslayer actually marks the end of William King’s run on the Gotrek and Felix series, and he brings his tenure of the series to a powerful and impressive end.

Following their arduous and costly battle against the vampires of Sylvania, Gotrek, Felix and their companions attempt to deal with the losses they all have suffered. However, the evils of the Old World are never considerate of grief, and soon the heroes find themselves attacked by a horde of beastmen. Following them to their lair, they discover a mysterious cavern full of tunnels pulsing with unnatural power.

Separated from their friends and dragged through an unnatural gateway, Gotrek and Felix find themselves transported to the legendary island of Albion, home of ancient tribes, dark forces, and massive giants. Fate brings the two companions into contact with the legendary High Elven mage Teclis, who has journeyed to Albion to uncover the source of dangerous magical energy that threatens to sink the High Elves’ home island of Ulthuan and devastate the rest of the world.

Reluctantly agreeing to work with the elf mage, Gotrek and Felix travel across Albion, attempting to uncover the cause of the latest magical threat facing the world. They soon discover that the island is far from tranquil; instead it is a dark land corrupted by magical power and the dangerous legacy of the Old Ones, the mysterious beings who created the world. Worse, the island has been invaded by the dark forces of Chaos who are determined to harness Albion’s unique magic for themselves. Caught between dark sorcerers, corrupted giants, an army of greenskins and the long-lasting enmity that exists between elves and dwarves, can Gotrek and Felix work with Teclis to save the world, or will the Slayer finally find his doom on Albion?

Giantslayer was another great and highly entertaining Gotrek and Felix novel that successfully showcased the outrageous protagonists while further exploring the elaborate Warhammer Fantasy universe. This was another amazing book from William King, and I felt that he ended his run on this series on a great note, especially as Giantslayer contained a fantastic and fast-paced story. Taking place in the immediate aftermath of Vampireslayer, Giantslayer quickly thrusts the protagonists into the midst of the action while simultaneously introducing the reader to the character of Teclis, who serves as a great additional central character. The first few chapters of the book are pretty trippy in places, especially as all the characters find themselves trapped in a mystical realm, and the subsequent escape results in some fantastic sequences. The characters are then transported to Albion and must explore this intriguing new landscape while trying to overcome their many personal issues, namely the animosity between Gotrek and Teclis, which adds a fun edge to the entire narrative.

King expands the story as the book continues, introducing the reader to several fantastic supporting characters from amongst the people of Albion, and soon shapes the major threat facing the world, namely the forces of Chaos overwhelming the magical energy of the island for their nefarious purposes. King utilises an excellent series of villains at this point of the novel, including the recurring sorcerous twins who have been dogging the protagonists since Dragonslayer. Everything eventually leads up to the massive final confrontation as the protagonists and their allies find themselves in the middle of a massive three-sided battle as they attempt to achieve their goal. There is a ton of action, sacrifice, magical duels, and of course a giant, in this last part of the book, and King really built up an explosive and powerful conclusion to the entire novel. I really enjoyed how this entire book came together, and it was great to see the characters embark on a final adventure under King’s reign. While the story itself can be read as a standalone, the author does fit in a ton of references to the previous entries in the series and long-time readers will enjoy the cool callbacks.

I think that King did an interesting job of wrapping up his run on this series with this final fantastic action story, and fans of his writing style will not be disappointed with Giantslayer. This is very much another epic hack and slash Warhammer novel, and King always manages to make that style of novel stand out, especially with his excellent attention to detail and ability to make all the fun action really pop. The use of multiple perspectives, including through Felix, Teclis and several antagonists’ eyes, gives the reader a very wide narrative to explore, and I loved the fantastic and fun moments that emerged through their adventures. King utilises very quick pacing for this book, so it is quite easy to power through it, especially as there is really never a dull moment as the characters jump from one deadly scenario to another. I do have to be a little critical and point out that King is a somewhat repetitive writer; if he finds a phrase, description, or sentence that he likes, he tends to overuse it slightly throughout the plot. This is particularly noticeable after seven Gotrek and Felix books and readers of this series will no doubt know what phrases I am talking about (wool cloaks and beads of blood). However, while this repetition is occasionally distracting, it honestly didn’t mess up my enjoyment of the story too much and I had a ton of fun getting through Giantslayer.

Giantslayer also serves as a particularly interesting and lore-heavy addition to the Gotrek and Felix books as King spends a lot of time diving into the history of the Warhammer Fantasy world and the original creators, the Old Ones. The book is primarily set on the island of Albion, the setting for the 2001 Warhammer Fantasy campaign series, Dark Shadows, and the author really leans heavily into the setting, showing the rain drizzled island in all its swampy and deadly glory. King sets it a little before the events of Dark Shadows, and much like the campaign’s descriptions the island of Albion is shown as a very Celtic landscape, very much inspired by Scotland. This serves as a brilliant background to the main story, and I loved seeing the characters traverse and fight across the various settings to achieve their goal. As one of the few Warhammer Fantasy books set on Albion, fans of the Dark Shadows campaign can have a bit of fun with Giantslayer, and it was great to learn a little more about the local societies and the history of the island. History really is a major part of the book, and the protagonists end up finding a lot of about Albion and the Old Ones as the story continues. This includes a dive into the Path of the Old Ones, a series of magical gateways existing outside of the main reality which can be traversed. The sequences set within this gateway are very trippy and dark, especially as they have been invaded by daemons, and King really knows how to make all these unique locations stand out with his excellent writing. As a long-time Warhammer Fantasy fan who can remember the Dark Shadows campaign, I really liked the heavy lore inclusions in this book and I felt that King utilised them perfectly throughout Giantslayer to tell a powerful narrative with some really heavy stakes for the protagonists.

I need to highlight the great characters contained within Giantslayer, especially as you get to see more of the titular protagonists, Gotrek Gurnisson and Felix Jaeger. This odd-couple pair of suicidal Slayer and pragmatic human is always a ton of fun, and King keeps this up all the way to the end, as the two characters play off each other perfectly. Gotrek’s glee at each encounter is usually only matched by Felix’s understandable reluctance to travel into the dangerous places their quests take them, and you can always count on a sarcastic and fatalistic statement from Felix, and it makes for some amazing, if slightly predictable scenes. King has never done a lot of character development when it comes to these protagonists and this continues again in Giantslayer. Gotrek remains the same old unstoppable and unflappable Slayer that he always has been, constantly diving into danger, with the author never showing his perspective or providing too many hints at this past. While King does however provide some intriguing insights in Gotrek’s seemingly unkillable nature, this was pretty much a status-quo book for Gotrek, which still has its fun moments. Felix also had some minimal growth in this book, although King does dive into the emotional impacts that the previous adventures have had on the character, which does provide some insights into his cynical and reluctant personality. I did like the more scholarly bent that was shown around Felix in this novel as he learns more about the history of the world and it was fun to see him finally get the idea to start writing the books that have introduced all the prior Gotrek and Felix adventures.

While the character work around Gotrek and Felix was minimal in Giantslayer, King more than makes up for this with the inclusion of the master mage Teclis, one of the more significant High Elf characters in the game. Teclis is a very fascinating character in the lore, and I deeply enjoyed how King portrayed him throughout Giantslayer. King amped up the arrogant, ethereal and ancient qualities of Teclis in his storytelling, and you can really feel how apart from the various human characters he is, especially in the many scenes that he narrates. Teclis is also, by his nature, a rather darker cynical figure, even compared to other elves, and it was great to see this featured throughout the book, especially when it comes to his dealings with the other characters. Despite this, he is still a good person whose sole concern is the preservation of his homeland and the rest of the world. I think that King utilised him perfectly throughout Giantslayer and he served as a great alternative narrator to Felix. I loved seeing this iconic mage in action, and it was especially fun to see him interact with Gotrek considering how antagonist dwarfs and elves are with each other. The two engage in a petty war of words for most of the book, which proves to be highly amusing, as these usually collected characters end up bickering like children. This makes for an extremely unique dynamic throughout the novel that I found to be highly entertaining. King backs up Teclis with a series of great supporting characters and intriguing villains, all of whom add a certain amount of flair and strength to the story. While King once again fails to include any substantial or distinctive female characters, except for a few minor figures, I enjoyed the excellent character inclusions to the series and you get really invested in some new personal stories in this book.

While I did manage to get a physical copy of Giantslayer (as part of the Gotrek and Felix omnibus), I ended up listening to it on audiobook out of convenience, and due to my love of the format. Coming in at just under 10 and a half hours, this is rather easy audiobook to get through quickly, and I manage to knock it out in a couple of days. Like most of the Gotrek and Felix books, the audiobook format for Giantslayer was very fun and I loved how it managed to enhance the epic nature of the book. Not only does it really showcase King’s elaborate descriptions of the Warhammer world, but it also ensured that all the many action scenes really popped as you were drawn right into the heart of the battle through the cool narration.

It helped that the listener was once again treated to the awesome narration of Jonathan Keeble, a veteran voice actor and audiobook narrator who has lend his voice to a huge number of Warhammer audiobooks, including all the Gotrek and Felix books. Keeble is a particularly skilled narrator, not only because he produces a huge number of distinctive voices but because he brings a high level of excitement to his performances that really drags the listener in. I love how Keeble’s voice speeds up to match the carnage and the enthusiasm and energy that permeate his voice as he describes every blow or crazy moment makes you feel like you are sitting there watching it. I also love the very fitting voices that he brings to all the characters, all of which are pretty damn perfect and a lot of fun. The gruff and brutal voice of Gotrek and the sarcastic, scared, yet determined tones of Felix are still just as good here as they were in Trollslayer, and all the new voices introduced by Keeble in the Giantslayer audiobook work just as well. I loved the more ethereal and arrogant voice that Keeble used for Teclis, which really fit King’s portrayal of the character in the novel, and the cool Scottish accents that the natives of Albion spoke with were very distinctive and helped to really characterise these awesome supporting figures. Keeble also brings a great range of monster voices to the book to fit the various Chaos creatures, orcs and giants that are such a prominent feature of the plot, and I loved how dedicated he got to bringing these creatures to life with his narration. Keeble is a very talented narrator, and his performance adds so much to this audiobook while also helping to enhance the already exciting narrative of Giantslayer. As such, I would highly recommend the audiobook version of this book, and you are guaranteed to have a ton of fun listening to it.

Overall, I felt that William King brought his run on the iconic Gotrek and Felix to an end in a fantastic way with Giantslayer which was another awesome and electrifying entry in the series. Featuring an epic, lore-rich story, a ton of action, and the complex and enjoyable characters that King has spent seven books developing, Giantslayer is King at his best and all Warhammer fans will have a blast with this outstanding novel. This entire impressive series has been so much fun to get through and King’s work on these books really stand the test of time as the Gotrek and Felix series are still the premier Warhammer Fantasy books. I will hopefully dive into the next book in the series, Orcslayer, later this year, and while it will be odd not to have it written by King, I am very intrigued to see what Nathan Long brings to the franchise.

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Quick Review – I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights by Jonathan Maberry

On March 5, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Quick Review, Short Stories1 Comment

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights Cover

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 29 November 2022)

Series: Kagen the Damned – Book 1.5

Length: 1 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 4.5. of 5 stars

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Get ready to dive back into the crazy world of Jonathan Maberry’s epic Kagen the Damned series with the intriguing and fun novella, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights.

Readers of this blog will know that I am a pretty big fan of acclaimed thriller/horror author Jonathan Maberry, and my experiences getting into his books are well documented across The Unseen Library. I have been a particular fan of his impressive Joe Ledger science fiction thriller books (which includes books like Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, Code Zero, and Dogs of War), his sequel Rogue Team International series (made up of Rage and Relentless), as well as his standalone horror read Ink. These excellent thrillers cleverly feature science heavy villains or reimagined supernatural foes to great effect, and I love the dark and elaborate stories they contain.

Maberry changed his game around last year when he presented his very first pure fantasy novel, Kagen the Damned. An extremely dark and shocking read set in a new fantasy realm, Kagen the Damned follows Kagen Vale, a former hero and royal protector who loses everything in a single night when the force of the Witch-king of Hakkia suddenly invade, destroying his home, family and the children he was sworn to defend. Traumatised by the carnage he witnesses and forsaken by his gods, Kagen believes himself truly damned and walks around the country in a daze before managing to pull himself together to launch a counterattack. I had an outstanding amount of fun with Kagen the Damned, especially as Maberry made great use of his trademark writing style and successfully combined it with a fantasy setting and narrative. Kagen the Damned ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, and I have been very keen to continue the series. While I haven’t had a chance to listen to the recently released sequel, Son of the Poison Rose (one of my most anticipated fantasy novels of 2023) yet, I did manage to quickly listen to the connected novella, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, which proved to be a lot of fun.

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is a short and sweet novella that showcases a quick and brutal adventure around Kagen during the period where he drunkenly wanders around the lands. Featuring an intriguing new enemy, this is a very typical Maberry read, with a ton of violence, sex and some impressive horror iconography.

Plot Synopsis:

Kagen Vale—disgraced former palace guard, damned by his own gods, on the run from bounty hunters and assassins—discovers that no matter where you try to hide, evil can find you. In this standalone short story, Kagen the Damned squares off against a clan of ferocious supernatural predators in service to the Witch-king.

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights was an excellent read that is guaranteed to whet reader’s appetites between Kagen the Damned and Son of the Poison Rose. The plot itself is fast-paced and action packed as Kagen, drunk and depressed in the woods, comes across a young woman being chased by a pack of deadly wolves and rushes to her defence. However, Kagen soon finds himself at the mercy of his supposed damsel as she is revealed to be a deranged werewolf hired by the Witch-king to kill him. Maberry tells an effective and exciting story around this concept, which doesn’t take long to unfold. For example, the audiobook version I listened to was only an hour and 20 minutes long, which I finished in a single setting. As such, you really breeze through I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, since Maberry ensures that it has a very concise and comprehensive story to it.

I really liked how this entire narrative came together, and it was fun to see Maberry’s typical writing style compacted down into novella form. The action is brutal and bloody, the characters are very over the top, and it serves as an interesting continuation of the previous narrative from Kagen the Damned. The plot itself is very self-contained, and at times it felt more like an extended interlude from the first book. As such, fans of the first novel will have the most fun with I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, although anyone familiar with Maberry and his horror-based books will know what they are in for. The author has a lot of experience writing werewolf fiction, and the brutal transformations, excessive violence and inhuman nature of the characters, which really freak the protagonist out, make for some striking and compelling scenes. Due to the length, there isn’t a great deal of universe expansion here, which isn’t too surprising, as the author focuses more on the story. However, there are a few hints at the changing world, such as Kagen being forced to deal with more and more supernatural monsters, and he luckily comes across a useful weapon that may aid him in the future. Plus, Maberry really showcases the continued assistance/stalking that Kagen receives from the mysterious nightbirds, which hints at things to come while also increasing the Lovecraftian feel of the entire story.

A good deal of the focus of I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is once again on the depressed and broken Kagen Vale. Just like with Kagen the Damned, Kagen is severely damaged and drunk, having still not recovered from the devastating events of the first book. While the action and events of the story briefly recover his wits, he is still forced to again deal with horrors outside his understanding and watching him try and overcome the odds whilst being severely outclassed is a fantastic part of this outstanding story. Kagen of course reverts to his more bloodthirsty and deadly persona to survive, but it takes every aspect of his being to get there, and you really feel his pain, both physical and emotional. The audiobook version really encapsulate this, especially with the always impressive narration of Ray Porter, who is such an expert at diving into Maberry’s complex and brooding protagonists. I deeply enjoyed seeing a struggling Kagen through Porter’s narration again, and it adds some great layers and impact to the overall experience.

Unsurprisingly, I loved my latest Jonathan Maberry experience, and I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is an impactful and captivating read. Serving as an electrifying and compelling companion novella to the wider Kagen the Damned series, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights provides a fun and brutal new adventure for fans to sink their teeth into, and anyone who loved Kagen the Damned will have an epic time here. I highly enjoyed this cool novella, especially in its audiobook format, and it has got me particularly excited for the next entry in the series. I am planning to start listening to Son of the Poison Rose this week, and I know I am going to have an exceptional time doing so.

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The Voyage of the Forgotten by Nick Martell

On February 25, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books3 Comments

Publisher: Gollancz (Audiobook – 3 November 2022)

Series: The Legacy of the Mercenary King – Book Three

Length: 19 hour and 47 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of the very last books I read in 2022 might be one of the very best: the latest epic novel from Nick Martell, The Voyage of the Forgotten, which showcases just how much of an impressive, rising talent this outstanding author truly is.

Since 2020, one of my absolute favourite new fantasy authors has been the very, very talented Nick Martell, who burst into the scene in a big way with his elaborate and compelling The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy. This series started with The Kingdom of Liars, an exceptional book that introduced Martell’s intriguing fantasy world and distinctive protagonist Michael Kingman. The scion of a formerly great family whose patriarch was executed for a murder he didn’t commit, Michael spent most of The Kingdom of Liars trying to prove his father’s innocence while also finding himself dragged into various conspiracies infecting his home city of Hollow. I had an amazing time reading The Kingdom of Liars, and it ended up being one of my favourite books, audiobooks and debuts of 2020. Martell expertly followed his first novel up a year later with the equally incredible The Two-Faced Queen, which continued many of the fantastic story threads from the first book. However, the stakes were raised even further with the protagonist forced to deal with immortals, dragons, assassins, serial killers and more, all while trying to stop the woman he loves from killing him. This was another exceptional read, and The Two-Faced Queen was easily one of the best books and audiobooks of 2021. Naturally, there was no way that I would not read the third and final book in the series as soon as I could. This third book, The Voyage of the Forgotten, was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and I eagerly dove into it just before the year came to a close.

After proving his father’s innocence and restoring his family’s place in Hollow society, Michael Kingman should be happy. However, the closer he comes to victory, the more tragedy and defeat he suffers. Not only is the love of his life, Serena, the queen of Hollow, engaged to a merchant prince with his own elaborate agenda, but dangerous conspiracies centred on Michael seem to emerge from around every corner. His sister is enslaved to an immortal Wolven King who seeks war with his soon to be freed brothers, while his mercenary mentor, Dark, is becoming one of the most dangerous creatures in existence, using his stolen dragon magic to wreak havoc and destruction in the name of love. However, his true enemy remains Angelo Shade, Dark’s father, who seeks to bring back his dead wife and will burn the world, and everything Michael loves, to achieve it.

Thrust once again into this deadly battle of forces outside his league or ability to comprehend, Michael only has his wits, his barely trained magic ability, and a few dedicated friends to fight against the immortal schemers who have spent years bringing their elaborate plans to fruition. However, Michael is well used to being outclassed and underestimated by everyone he goes up against, and he resolves once again to make everyone pay to keep those he loves safe from harm.

Gathering his allies, Michael embarks on a foolish quest to fully understand all the world’s secrets that have long been hidden from him and ensure that he has the weapons to survive. But his course of action will put him at odds with the deadly mercenaries of Regal Company, all three of the ancient Wolven Kings, and even his own mercenary company. Defeating all of them seems impossible, but that has never stopped him from trying before. Can even the legendary stubborn Michael Kingman succeed and achieve his goals of becoming a Mercenary King when fate itself seems set against him? And even if he succeeds, is he willing to pay the terrible price that victory demands?

Wow oh wow, what an epic book. Nick Martell continues to deeply impress me with his captivating story writing ability as he brings this trilogy to a powerful and momentous end that I was instantly addicted to. The Voyage of the Forgotten was a truly exceptional read, loaded with amazing characters, elaborate fantasy lore and an intense story that refused to drop my attention. I can find no higher praise for this book than the fact that I named it one of my favourite books of 2022 well before I had even finished it; the first half was that damn good.

Martell has come up with a pretty epic narrative for The Voyage of the Forgotten, and it is one that I will not forget in a hurry. However, the first thing that I need to say about the story is: if you haven’t read the first two The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings novels, go back and start at the beginning. Martell has loaded the entire series with a ton of intricate and interesting lore, and he starts rapid firing back to the events of the last two books extremely early on in the story. While there is a useful Dramatis Personae, as well as a fun summary of previous events from one of the side characters, which helped to refresh my memory, if you haven’t read the previous books you will get lost very quickly when trying to read The Voyage of the Forgotten. The narrator is constantly making references to previous events, revelations, or characters who only appeared in the prior books, and it can get a little confusing if you don’t know what he is talking about. As such, I would strongly recommend reading (or re-reading) The Kingdom of Liars and The Two-Faced Queen in advance, which is a very small chore considering how amazing they are.

Now, if you’re up to speed on the prior books, you are in for a real treat when it comes to The Voyage of the Forgotten’s story. Told mainly from the perspective of protagonist and calamity-magnet Michael Kingman, Martell weaves together an intriguing, action-packed and character-driven conclusion to the elaborate story he set up in the first two books, which also leaves a lot of room for the larger series to grow in the future. The author once again primarily utilises a chronicle style from Michael’s perspective, which really helps to tell this unique story, especially as it forces Michael’s chaotic and hilarious personality into the story and made every scene seem that little more entertaining and personal.

The narrative itself starts quickly and effectively, with a series of fun battles, big confrontations, and a horde of vengeful dragons, all of which ensures that the reader is quickly reintroduced to the chaotic main character and the multiple tangled webs and conspiracies that he has found himself involved in. The story quickly advances to the main issue of this book as Serena Hollow loses her memory, and Michael is forced into an epic quest to find a cure. This of course leads Michael to fight against the entire world, as everyone is opposed to his quest, and this ends up resulting in multiple intriguing or over-the-top encounters. At the same time, Michael is constantly trying to unravel the mysteries of the world and his many enemies. There are some epic scenes and sequences in this first half of the book that I really fell in love with, and Martell has some fantastic writing chops behind him that makes his outrageous concepts really work and come to life. For example, one of the best sequences in the first half of the book sees Michael trapped in his own mind, forced to experience multiple loops of a historical battle from an ancient time. The constant death and fighting that occurs over innumerable rotations slowly drives the protagonist mad, which Martell captures perfectly in exquisite detail. Partnered with this intriguing sequence are several scenes showing an external view of Michael’s body, which has been taken over by a malevolent entity. This ended up being one of the best moments of the entire book, especially as it has a very fun ending.

In addition to the action, Martell continues to unwind or add to the overlying layers of conspiracies, plots and personal or historical secrets that have always been such a fun part of this series. Several long-running story threads are finally resolved in the first half of the book, and it is so much fun to see Michael finally get quite a few intriguing answers. Martell really does not hold back with the revelations in The Voyage of the Forgotten, and the entirety of the book is loaded with characters unburdening their secrets (at least some of them) or discussing the unique history of the wider world. I absolutely loved every sequence where revelations about this universe and its fun inhabitants came to the surface, and it was fascinating to see how they fit into the wonderful tapestry that Martell has woven throughout this trilogy. This universe building is further enhanced by a series of great interludes with alternate narrators, which show events outside of Michael’s knowledge and experiences. Not only do these help to showcase some of the fun supporting characters from the first two books but it also deepens the narrative and shows what schemes his friends, and more importantly his enemies, are up to, which provides some fun foreshadowing.

Everything really comes to a head in the second half of the book as Michael and his companions are thrust towards their destinies. After several major setbacks and further revelations that show off the sheer scope and intricacies of the story, you and the protagonist are dragged back on the road towards the final epic confrontation. The author sets all of this off perfectly by finally answering some big secrets that have been bedevilling the protagonist since the beginning, and there is a particularly cool twist that makes you rethink every major event of the first two books. I really loved how Martell briefly changed the narration around when this big twist is revealed and had Michael address the audience directly to reveal why he never mentioned certain details in his previous storytelling. This helped to really sell the effectiveness of this major reveal, as well as showcase a previously unseen alternate layer to the character’s personality, and I personally thought that this was bit of pure genius from Martell. All this leads up to the big final confrontation as Michael finally comes face to face with Angelo Shade, the main architect of his family’s pain, as well as some other surprising foes. This big conclusion is everything you would want it to be, with some epic moments, utter tragedy and multiple character arcs coming full circle in all the right ways. While parts of this conclusion do get a bit overly complicated and metaphysical, I felt that it came together pretty damn perfectly in ways that really fit the universe and the controversial main character to a T. Readers will come away from this conclusion both heartbroken and hopeful, and I felt that it was an exceptional and very on-brand ending to one of the more distinctive fantasy trilogies of the last few years.

I honestly think that Martell wrapped this book up extremely well, and my only major disappointment is that there was not more crammed in, as I would have gladly listened to several more hours of it. The exceptional narrative, backed up with extensive lore, amazing character development and the very distinctive writing style helped to make this final book really pop, and I was honestly impressed every step of the way. I was also very happy with how Martell handled the sheer range of extensive storylines that he had set up in the previous books. My main concern before reading the final book was that Martell would be unable to wrap up every storyline or plot point he had set up. Indeed, there are still quite a lot of potential storylines and questions that were unresolved by the end of the book, but Martell is clearly setting up a sequel trilogy of some design in the same universe. Some of the best ongoing storylines have been left to continue in the future, and I for one am very excited for that as I hope to spend many more years getting lost in Martell’s world. I felt that the author was cleverly selective when it came to which storylines ended in The Voyage of the Forgotten, as he chose to close off the ones connected with protagonist Michael Kingman, while leaving others open. This ensures that any future stories will probably focus on some of the other characters that Martell has set up in this trilogy, and indeed it is pretty clear who that will be. I personally look forward to seeing a new take on this universe in the future, and it will be very interesting to see how the narrative continues with a major change in perspective.

One of the things that has always impressed me about The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy is the elaborate and well-thought-out fantasy world that the story has been set in. Its dark and grim nature, coupled with the intricate history, compelling magic system, and diverse people, has always added so much to the story, and this remains true in The Voyage of the Forgotten. Because he did not shut off this universe completely, Martell was given free rein to continue to expand on his elaborate universe, and boy did he. The reader is treated to a ton of extra information and history about this amazing world, including some of the strongest glimpses about the mysterious Wolven Kings, the world’s various immortals and other unique creatures, and their long-running battles throughout history. There are several glimpses of the past thanks to magic, and you really learn a lot about what previously befall many of the immortal characters and how this affects their current motivations. In addition, several new cities, islands, nations, groups and other great elements are featured heavily in the plot as Michael and his companions explore the wider world and engage on some massive sea voyages. Martell does a great job of incorporating these new elements or character history into his wider narrative, with the protagonists either spending substantial time exploring this information, or else discussing it with the clear intention that it might become a major detail in the future. I really enjoyed how many of the previous novel’s mysteries were answered thanks to world expansion featured in this novel, and it is very clear that Martell has a lot more planned for this fantasy world in the future.

Of course, I also need to mention the cool magical system that Martell features throughout The Voyage of the Forgotten, especially as it has some major and extremely clever implications on the plot. Like the first two books, the main form of magic featured is Fabrication, which forces the user to sacrifice their memories to perform magic. It is actually quite horrifying to see the consequences of Fabrication misuse, as some of the users forget friends, facts or family, and this is often enhanced by the user’s sacrifice or by the fact that they suddenly lose all concept of someone they’d grown close to. However, this is nothing to becoming a Forgotten, someone who has completely lost their memories or sense of self, and this is strong explored in this book. I deeply appreciate the amazing way that Martell utilises this memory loss throughout The Voyage of the Forgotten, especially when it relates to the protagonist, as he often does not remember what he is forgetting, and it is always very heartbreaking when you notice that he, or one of the supporting characters, has forgotten something or someone important. This darker side of magic is well counterbalanced by the various impressive usages that occur throughout The Voyage of the Forgotten, and there are some rather elaborate battles that take place as a result. Martell also does a very deep dive into the origins of magic in this novel, and you find out some interesting facts about Fabrication, as well as other magical disciplines that exist in this universe, many of which have been cleverly foreshadowed throughout the trilogy. I really enjoyed seeing some of the over-the-top magic that was utilised by other characters throughout the various battles, and there are some very interesting moments as a result. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the magic use in the future, especially considering the major changes to Fabrication theory that occurred at the end of The Voyage of the Forgotten, and I look forward to seeing how Martell continues that intriguing plot thread.

While I can go on about the story, setting, magic and writing, for me the true strength of The Legacy of the Mercenary King books has always been the outstanding and extremely complex characters. This remains the case in The Voyage of the Forgotten as Martell brings many of his best characters back for a particularly emotional adventure. There are so many major and dramatic character moments throughout this book as Martell used the end of the trilogy to wrap up multiple character storylines and events. I really appreciated some of the fantastic development and big character moments that occurred throughout this final book in the trilogy, and fans of the first two novels are going to be very moved by what happens to their favourite characters.

The primary focus of the plot is naturally Michael Kingman. Martell has done some real wonders around Michael Kingman in the last two books, and he has ended up being one of the most complex characters you are ever likely to encounter. A highly damaged individual who has had his mind warped by magic, has seen his family destroyed, has been forced to live up to an impossible legacy, and has been kept apart from the love of his life, Michael has had a lot of growing to do in the last two books, and Martell has really laid on the character development. As such, the Michael Kingman in The Voyage of the Forgotten is wiser and more mature than we have previously seen, although he still has some ways to go. However, Martell ensures that this growth continues in this final book, as he keeps trying to become a better person, especially when faced with the certainty of his death and the loss of people he loves. There are some major moments when Michael is forced to face damaging revelations or hard truths and each of them change him in some way, often during a pivotal and well-written scene. Martell also cleverly includes some great secrets about his past and his life that I thought were pretty damn epic, especially as it answers some major questions about his personal history and why he is stuck in the middle of events.

Despite all this, Michael is still the same cocky bastard that he was at the start of the trilogy and his overconfidence, determination and sheer ability to enrage anyone he comes into contact with is so damn entertaining. Seeing normally calm and collected characters trying to deal with the Michael problem always result in some of the funniest scenes, and I loved the often hilarious edge that the character brings to much of the story due to his amusing narration. As such, you find it very hard to dislike Michael, no matter how hard you try, and his unique and heartbreaking tale is one that will appeal to many people. Martell wraps up much of Michael’s great and intense story in this final book and it was very moving to see some of the dark sacrifices the character is forced to make to save his family and fix some of his biggest mistakes. I guarantee you will not be prepared for everything that Michael goes through in The Voyage of the Forgotten, but you won’t be able to turn away as Martell does some dark, yet wonderful things, to his best creation.

In addition, quite a lot of the book focuses on major secondary character Serena Hollow, Queen and love of Michael’s life, who has had a turbulent relationship with her Kingman. This relationship gets even more complex in The Voyage of the Forgotten, especially when Serena becomes a Forgotten without any idea of who she is or what her many responsibilities are. You see a much more free version of the character in this book, and I found the differences between this person and the vengeful queen of the second book to be very intriguing. The continued focus on the relationship between Michael and Serena hits extra hard as a result of this loss of memory, and it is fascinating and moving to see them attempt to rekindle what they had. Honestly, their entire story is pretty tragic in this final book, but I was nice to see a powerful conclusion to their doomed love story and Martell features some damn fine character work when it comes to Serena.

Aside from Michael, The Voyage of the Forgotten features a rich and extensive cast of characters, many of whom are returning from the previous two books. Standout characters include Dark, the mercenary killer who serves as Michael’s mentor and possibly most dangerous foe, as he attempts to find his own way to bring back the dead. Dark is a brilliant character, and I love how Martell has written such an edge of menace around him, although by the events of The Voyage of the Forgotten Michael is pretty much immune to it, resulting in some very entertaining interactions. You also have to love the sinister Angelo Shade as the main antagonist of the book. Michael’s former foster father and the man responsible for his family’s downfall, Angelo has been an outstanding manipulative bugger the entire way through this trilogy, and I loved seeing more of his games in this final book. Watching his elaborate plans come to fruition is pretty amazing, and Martell does a good job continuing to show his past and motivations, ensuring his obsession with bringing back his dead wife is mirrored by Michael’s attempts to save Serena. Other great characters like Naomi, Chloe and Alexis have some fantastic moments in this book as the main supporters of Michael and Serena, and it was great to see some of their storylines. The rest of the cast make some fantastic appearances as well, although it is interesting that several key characters from the first two novels only had minor appearances, and indeed I was a tad disappointed that some figures, such as amusing immortal nobleman, Charles Domet, were barely featured. However, it is clear that Martell is saving them up for future entries in this larger series, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them next. Overall, this was a great cast of characters and Martell should be congratulated on the amazing character work he did.

While I received a massive physical copy of The Voyage of the Forgotten, I chose to listen to the audiobook version of this book when it first came out, and boy was I glad that I did. I have often said that the audiobook format is the perfect way to absorb vast amount of lore and universe elements (at least for me), and, with all the revelations and expansions that Martell featured here, that proved to be a major boon. The story came across perfectly in this format, and you can easily visualise the powerful scenes, battles of wits, and some of the more outrageous actions of the characters, as they are read out to you. It helps that this audiobook was once again narrated by one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Joe Jameson, who has impressed me before with the first two audiobooks in the series, and with his work on King of Assassins by R. J. Barker and the fun Warhammer 40,000 novel, Fire Made Flesh. Jameson always does a remarkable job with his narration of Martell’s books, and his great tones and pacing help to move The Voyage of the Forgotten along at a fast clip. However, the main advantage of Jameson as a narrator is the cool voices he brings out for the characters. While I was not the biggest fan of a couple of his female voices, the majority of his narration was pretty much spot on and I felt that he really showcased the cool personalities and emotions of the key figures. However, the best voice is saved for the main protagonist and narrator Michael Kingman, who Jameson perfectly encapsulates throughout the course of the audiobook. Jameson really gets into Michael’s head with his narration and expertly portrays his personality, emotions and thought process. This great portrayal of the central characters adds so much to overall quality of the entire audiobook, and my enjoyment of The Voyage of the Forgotten as a whole, and I loved every damn second of Jameson’s narration as a result. This honestly was the best way I found to enjoy The Voyage of the Forgotten, and I very strongly recommend it as a result. With a run time of just under 20 hours, it does take a little bit of effort to get through this audiobook, however, it is more than worth the effort as you will have a fantastic time.

If this extensive write-up didn’t give it away, I clearly deeply loved The Voyage of the Forgotten. Nick Martell has wrapped up his The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy in an exceedingly epic way, and I deeply enjoyed how the elaborate, powerful, and character rich narrative came to an end. This is some of Martell’s best work yet, and if you haven’t experienced this amazing fantasy author’s work yet, you are really missing out. I look forward to seeing how Martell will continue this story in the future, and any follow-up trilogy that will jump to the top of my to-read list the moment it is announced. In the meantime, make sure to check out this exceptional book, as well as the proceeding two novels in the trilogy, as The Voyage of the Forgotten gets one of the easiest five-star ratings I have ever given out.

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Warhammer 40,000: Flesh and Steel by Guy Haley

On February 19, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Murder Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer3 Comments

Flesh and Steel Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 3 October 2020)

Series: Warhammer Crime

Length: 9 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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I’m on a major Warhammer 40,000 review roll, so after checking out the awesome books Malleus and Hereticus by Dan Abnett, Sepulturum by Nick Kyme, For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell and Kingsblade by Andy Clark, I’m moving on to the awesome Warhammer Crime book, Flesh and Steel by Guy Haley, which proved to be an exceptional read.

I have said this several times in the past, but one of the true strengths of Warhammer 40,000 fiction is that the franchise can cover so many different types of stories or genres and still result in some epic reads. A particularly good example of this is the Warhammer Crime subseries that melds intriguing and classic crime fiction concepts with a grim Warhammer 40,000 setting. I have deeply enjoyed the previous Warhammer Crime books I have read, including the twisty and fast-paced crime thrillers Dredge Runners and The Wraithbone Phoenix by Alec Worley, and the noir inspired psychological thriller Grim Repast by Marc Collins. As such, I just had to read another fantastic entry from this series with the intriguing Flesh and Steel by Guy Haley which saw a classic odd-couple police story meet a unique thriller from the Warhammer universe in glorious fashion.

The vast continent-sprawling city of Varangantua on the planet of Alecto is home to many vile and heartless crimes, most of which are ignored by the over-taxed enforcers of the Lex Alecto. However, some murders are so spectacular that they cannot be ignored, especially when they threaten the stability of the city’s entire economy.

Probator Symeon Noctis is a man who knows all about the obscene wealth that Varangantua can produce. A scion of one of the city’s richest houses, Noctis has fled from his cruel family and his tragic past by joining the enforcers and attempting to help the downtrodden inhabitants of the Nearsteel district. However, even someone as jaded and cynical as Noctis is unprepared for the strangeness of his next case when a bisected corpse is discovered in a neutral zone between Nearsteel and the Adeptus Mechanicus enclave of Steelmound, the two halves of the body neatly left on either side of the border.

Forced to cooperate with the Adeptus Mechnanicus, Noctis is partnered with Procurator Rho-1 Lux of the Collegiate Extremis to investigate the crime. But when all evidence suggests that the murder was committed by a mindless servitor, Noctis is dragged into a terrible conspiracy inside the Adeptus Mechanicus. Faced with tech-heresy, illegal modifications to servitors and even more bodies littering the streets, Noctis and Lux need to work together to solve this insidious crime before both their organisations are dragged down. But with more and more people gunning for them, can this unlikely duo survive to crack the case?

Now this was an awesome Warhammer Crime book. Loaded with great, complex characters, a compelling case, and some impressive Warhammer 40,000 elements, Flesh and Steel grabs your attention from the very start and refuses to let go. A fantastic novel that shows off just how incredible and inventive a tie-in to the Warhammer universe can be.

Flesh and Steel has a brilliant and deeply addictive narrative that I had an amazing time getting through. Told primarily from the perspective of protagonist Probator Symeon Noctis, the plot of Flesh and Steel revolves around an intriguing murder, where two halves of the same body have been placed on either side of the border between the main city and an Adaptus Mechanicus manufacturing enclave. With two competing jurisdictions, Noctis is forced to work with the Mechanicus investigator Rho-1 Lux, especially after the murder weapon is determined to be the victim’s servitor and additional victims are discovered. What follows is an intriguing buddy cop romp of a unique series of murders, as certain figures throughout the city are involved in crimes involving the always terrifying mindless man/machine hybrids, servitors. Forced to work together despite their differences, Noctis and Lux prove to be a skilled team, investigating both the Mechanicus and the businesses in the city. At the same time, Noctis is forced to deal with other concerns, such as an impossible missing person’s case, the machinations of his wealthy family, and his own intense personal issues as he tries to reconcile his complex life and the mistakes from his past. The result is a fantastic and moving tale that has the right blend of crime fiction, Warhammer 40,000 and character elements to it. While the mystery surrounding the various crimes isn’t too complex, especially as the perpetrators are obvious from the outset, the resulting conspiracy, and the impacts it has on the protagonists more than makes up for it, as you are drawn into a crime story that could only occur in the Warhammer universe. Haley ends the book on an interesting note that not only highlights the full extent of the protagonist’s personal issues but hints at future adventures and tragedies to come.

I really liked the cool setup-up surrounding this story, as well as the distinctive writing elements that Haley utilised, and I was particularly impressed with how the author was able to utilise some classic crime fiction scenarios in this unique Warhammer setting. The concept of a bisected body left across a border forcing a joint investigation between two agencies is reminiscent of The Bridge (or The Tunnel), and I liked the intriguing spin that Haley does on this by bringing in the Adeptus Mechanicus, who most humans have a very hard time relating to. This leads to the unique partnership between Noctis and Lux, which I felt Haley utilised to its full effect, especially as he does a remarkable job diving into each of their intriguing lives. While I mentioned that the mystery isn’t as complex as you would hope, Haley more than makes up for it by featuring some deeply compelling character elements, as well as perfectly fitting it into the already fantastic setting of Varangantua and the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe. I also really enjoyed the excellent way Haley told his story through the lens of Noctis’s journals. Not only does this provide some compelling and tragic hints at what is to come but it also paints the story through Noctis’s cynical viewpoint, which I quite enjoyed, especially as his infectious humour and sarcasm helped to make this one of the more light-hearted Warhammer Crime books at times. This distinctive and compelling read had me hooked the entire way through, and I felt that Haley came up with something extremely special for Flesh and Steel.

I was really impressed by the excellent Warhammer 40,000 elements featured, especially as some of the more distinctive elements of this universe were used to full effect to create a gripping and powerful read. Now, as with most of the Warhammer Crime books, I felt that Flesh and Steel stood well on its own and no prior reading is needed to fully understand this book, not even the preceding short story Haley published in the No Good Men anthology. Indeed, due to the great use of crime fiction elements, the strong focus on characters, and Haley’s attention to detail, readers unfamiliar with the franchise can easily jump into Flesh and Steel and have a good time, and it would serve as a good bridging novel for readers more familiar with crime fiction than anything else.

However, both new and established fans will deeply appreciate Haley’s compelling and all-encompassing examination of some very interesting elements of Warhammer lore that are cleverly and expertly utilised throughout the story. I was particularly impressed with the deep dive into the Adeptus Mechanicus, the inhuman tech-worshippers of the Imperium, who play a big role in the plot. This was honestly one of the more intriguing novels I have so far read that deals with the Adeptus Mechanicus, and I loved the author’s depictions of their elaborate and occasionally nightmarish settlement within the wider city of Varangantua. The protagonist spends quite a bit of time diving into their society, and I loved his cynical, if accurate, descriptions of them, as well as the apparently hypocritical role they serve in the wider Imperium. One of the most intriguing aspects of the Adeptus Mechanicus featured in Flesh and Steel involve servitors, the cyborgs who act as mindless manual labour machines throughout the Imperium. The creation and use of servitors, who are a common, if terrifying, background feature of the universe, becomes quite a key part of the plot, as they are end up being the murder weapons. This helps to shape Flesh and Steel into a particularly unique mystery story, one which could only occur within the Warhammer universe, and I loved the I-Robot homages (book and the movie) that resulted from them. Haley also treats us to several scenes that depict the creation of servitors, a process which involves lobotomising condemned criminals and turning them into barely human creations. These scenes honestly turn Flesh and Steel into one of the most horrifying Warhammer 40,000 books out there, and these gruesome inclusions work wonders to shock both the reader and the protagonist, while also deeply enhancing the complex murder case.

In addition, Haley also spends a good amount of time expanding on the already epic setting of Varangantua, which has been such an amazing background for the rest of the Warhammer Crime novels. There are many distinctive districts and areas to the vast city of Varangantua, and this great book introduces us to even more of them with new district of Nearsteel, which borders the Adeptus Mechanicus enclave and has its own range of issues and features. In particular, the area is slowly dying thanks to the actions of the Mechanicus, who are killing of the industries contained within, and you get to see the decay and degradation that follows. Haley keeps up the cool background of neon signs, dark bars, and corrupt police, that are a key feature of the wider Varangantua, and I loved the impressive Blade Runner resemblances that result. Haley further enhances the effect of these poorer districts by also visiting the high spires and estates of Varangantua uber-wealthy, as the protagonist, a former rich boy himself, makes several visits there. The elaborate manors, parties, and hang-outs of the gilded make for a fun and compelling comparison to the slums and desolate industrial areas of the rest of the novel, and I deeply appreciated how Haley used this multifaceted city to mirror the complex main protagonist and help show that he doesn’t really fit in anywhere. I always have a ton of fun exploring these new areas of Varangantua, and Haley really did a great job showcasing the city, and other key Warhammer 40,000 elements throughout Flesh and Steel’s narrative. I cannot wait to see what other crazy areas that Haley explores in some of his future books and stories, and I know I am going to love it.

While the story, the writing style, the dark setting and the cool Warhammer elements all made this book really stand out, I personally felt that the main strength of Flesh and Steel was the exceptional central characters, Probator Symeon Noctis and tech-priest Rho-1 Lux. Haley did a remarkable job with both these complex and damaged characters and both of them carry the main story extremely well. The combination of dramatic and tragic character arcs, combined with a fun overarching theme of them both being outsiders, is an essential part of the book’s narrative and you grow deeply connected to both the characters, and the book, as a result.

Most of the focus is on Noctis, who serves as the primary narrator, due to his personal journal (which is also an extended note to his lost daughter), being read out. Noctis is a very fun and cocky character, who seems to treat many of the events that he encounters in an inconsequential way. However, this is a major façade, as deep down Noctis is probably one of the most damaged and guilt-ridden characters you are likely to see in Warhammer fiction. A member of one of the richest families on the planet, Noctis was already pretty messed up before he became a cop, due to the terrible family dynamics and his controlling father. Further traumatic events, which are explored later in the novel, nearly break him, and he decides to escape some of his father’s control by joining the enforcers to help others. However, his family influence and wealth still follow him and he is considered an outsider by most of his colleagues. Despite this, Noctis doggedly continues and proves to be a very competent and capable investigator, even if he breaks all the rules and pisses off his boss to do so. His eye for the inequity of the city and the wealthy gives the story a bit of a preachy anti-capitalist vibe, but I felt that this fit his character arc perfectly, especially as he knows better than most just how badly the lower classes are being exploited. I also quite enjoyed how, despite Noctis’s dislike for his family’s intense wealth and intense hatred for all the nobility, he still uses their money to buy nice things for himself, including a fancy car and secure apartment. This apparent inconsistency between what he preaches and what he does, is addressed several times by both the protagonist and other characters, and his eventual and simple explanation of, “I never said I was perfect,” is a recurring theme of this character’s existence. Watching this conflicted and troubled figure attempt to reconcile his past and guilt with the current investigation and the people he meets is a powerful part of Flesh and Steel’s appeal, and the story would not be as strong without it.

The other major character is Procurator Rho-1 Lux, an Adeptus Mechanicus Tech Priest who acts as a detective and law enforcement officer who investigates crimes committed by or against the Mechanicus. Lux is a great character for a number of reasons, especially as the whole idea of a Adeptus Mechanicus cop is a pretty damn cool one. Initially shown to be an unflappable and rigid figure, you soon find a deeper layer underneath her augmentation as she proves to be just as emotionally unsure and determined for justice as Noctis. A member of an obscure order, Lux is a rare individual who converted to the machine cult rather than being born into it. This also makes her a bit of an outsider as she is not fully accepted by the Adeptus Mechanicus and is no longer fully human. This forces her to accept one of the few jobs that none of the other tech priests want, and it is interesting to see her views on humanity, the Mechanicus, and the law, which surprisingly often mirror Noctis’ cynical thoughts. Lux served as an interesting bridge between the human characters and the mysterious cyborgs of the Mechanicus, and it is fascinating to see how she changes her persona depending on who she talks to. Haley does a wonderful job of portraying Lux’s dual persona throughout the course of Flesh and Steel, and he even shows a couple of chapters from her perspective as extracts from her data core. These chapters have a more sterile and mechanical feel, and you see her data-laden observations in these compelling scenes. Probably the best part of her character arc though revolves around her interactions with Noctis, as the two form a very unusual team. Lux serves as straight person for much of Noctis’s antics, especially when it comes to their interactions with other Mechanicus figures, and usually tries to maintain her mechanical indifference. However, the two soon form an intriguing relationship, which forces Lux to examine some of her long-hidden emotions. I felt that the two played off each-other perfectly throughout the course of the book, and the joint explorations of their various pains and dark histories makes for quite a gripping read. I look forward to seeing more from this distinctive and surprisingly fun duo in the future, even if Noctic’s journals hint at more tragedies to come.

As is my usual practice with Warhammer 40,000 novels, I checked out Flesh and Steel on audiobook, which proved to be an epic and deeply enjoyable experience. Coming in at just under nine and a half hours, Flesh and Steel was a very easy audiobook to get lost in, and I felt that this amazing format really worked to enhance the exceptional story. The journal format of Haley’s storytelling, as well as the occasional jumps to other perspectives, is expertly portrayed on audiobook and I loved how some of the darker or grander elements of the book, especially the horrors surrounding the Adeptus Mechanicus workshops, became even more distinctive or sinister when listened to. It helps that the primary narration of Flesh and Steel was done by impressive voice actor, James Macnaughton, who really throws himself into the production. Each of his key characters are expertly showcased through his voice work and you really get a sense of their inner selves through his performance, whether it’s Noctis’s cockiness, disdain or self-loathing, or the strangeness of Lux, Macnaughton manages to encapsulate it all with his acting and this combines extremely well with Haley’s strong character-focused writing. A secondary voice is also utilised for the several chapters written from Lux’s perspective, and I liked how this different voice really helped to differentiate that the events were being shown from Lux’s internal processors. This performance, combined with the usual enticement of the audiobook format, ensures that this is the best way to enjoy Flesh and Steel, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to try this epic book out.

Overall, Flesh and Steel is a pretty remarkable novel from Guy Haley that has ensured my continued addiction to all things Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Crime. Featuring a complex and powerful story that simultaneously explores a compelling mystery and some brilliant characters, it is very easy to get hooked on Flesh and Steel and I had a wonderful time powering through it. I cannot rave about this book enough and I am really hoping that Haley produces a sequel to Flesh and Steel very soon.

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer 40,000: Hereticus by Dan Abnett

On February 3, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer9 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 30 July 2022)

Series: Eisenhorn – Book Three

Length: 9 hours and 48 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For this latest Throwback Thursday, I finish off the outstanding and iconic Eisenhorn trilogy by legendary Warhammer author, Dan Abnett, by reviewing the exceptional novel, Hereticus.

I have mentioned several times in the last few weeks that one of my absolute favourite authors of Warhammer fiction lately is the amazingly talented Dan Abnett, whose works have shaped a generation of lore and extended fiction. I have really enjoyed several of the books in his excellent Gaunt’s Ghosts novels, such as First and Only, Ghostmaker and The Vincula Insurgency, which provide some captivating depictions of the common soldier in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. However, based on what I have read so far, Abnett’s best series is the epic Eisenhorn trilogy, which follows titular character Inquisitor Eisenhorn as he attempts to protect humanity from a range of diabolical threats. The first book, Xenos, served as an excellent introduction to Eisenhorn and his major supporting characters, while Malleus showed an older Eisenhorn as he attempts to unravel a massive conspiracy painting him as the villain. I absolutely loved these outstanding novels and they both got a full five-star rating from me, and I immediately dove into the third and final book, Hereticus, as I really wanted to find how everything ended.

For over 150 years, Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn has loyally served the Imperium of Men, disrupting and ending multiple conspiracies and plots by heretics, daemons, and malicious xenos. Throughout all this time, Eisenhorn has always tried to avoid the lure of the radical path that many of his fellow inquisitors tread, determined not to be corrupted by the forces he has sworn to destroy. But desperation can drive even the best man towards the brink and Eisenhorn’s previous deal with a dark figure is coming back to haunt him.

Overseeing a Inquisitorial examination of the planet of Durer, Eisenhorn receives news that an old foe, one who cost him the life of a dear friend, is active on world. Assembling his forces, Eisenhorn is unprepared for the full horror that awaits him, as his enemy unleashes an ancient evil capable of destroying worlds. Facing tragedy and near death, Eisenhorn is forced to do the unthinkable and use foul rites to summon forth a greater evil in the form of the daemonhost Cherubael to survive.

Shocked and disgusted by his actions, Eisenhorn attempts to recover and atone for his mistakes. However, before he can begin, his manor house is raided by a dangerous army of mercenaries and all his forces throughout the sector are brutally destroyed in an instant. On the run with only a few loyal followers left, Eisenhorn needs to discover the identity of whoever is orchestrating his downfall before it is too late. But to defeat his enemy, Eisenhorn is forced to dive deeper into heresy and call upon dark forces that are best left untouched. Can Eisenhorn retain his sanity and soul, or is the price of his victory his own utter damnation?

Wow, just wow. After how epic Xenos and Malleus proved to be, I knew that there was no way that I wasn’t going to love Hereticus. However, I was unprepared for just how brutal and intense Abnett made this final book in the Eisenhorn trilogy, as Hereticus ended up being an exceptional read that perfectly ends his great series on a very high note. Loaded with action, intrigue, and some amazingly complex characters, Hereticus gets another five-star rating from me, and this is honestly one of the best trilogies I have ever read.

Part of the reason why I enjoyed Hereticus so much is because it has an exceptionally epic story to it that really drags you in from the offset. Set 50 years after the events of Malleus (150 years since the start of the series), Hereticus starts off big and never really slows down. The book has a calamitous introduction that sees Eisenhorn and his comrades forced to confront a Chaos Titan which decimates them and forces Eisenhorn to call upon his captured daemonhost Cherubael. This fantastic introduction not only perfectly continues the story from Malleus but also shows Eisenhorn’s progression towards radicalism as he uses his new knowledge in some pretty dark ways. Following this introduction, which splits his main team up, the story continues strongly, as there is a major and extended battle sequence in the heart of Eisenhorn’s sanctum, which sees him forced out on the run. Becoming a fugitive from new enemies, old foes, and the Inquisition itself, the rest of the novel is a very captivating and intense character-driven read that shows a desperate Eisenhorn continue to make radical decision after radical decision, all in the name of defeating his enemies, no matter the cost. There are some extremely moving and powerful scenes scattered through the second half of the book, as Eisenhorn comes to terms with many of his long-running comrades, many of whom do not agree with his methods, as well as some deadly confrontations. Everything leads up to a trippy and action-packed finale, as Eisenhorn finally faces down an old enemy. While the ultimate confrontation is short and the main antagonist only has a brief appearance in the book, the real joy of the story is the hunt to find out who they are and what they are after, with a focus on investigation, intrigue, and ethics. The conclusion leaves everyone extremely satisfied, and Abnett leaves the series open for follow-up, even if a ton of character-centric storylines are permanently closed by a series of deaths and destruction.

The author once again does an amazing job presenting the complex story contained within Hereticus and I have a lot of love for the writing style that Abnett utilised in this series. Blending tense galaxy-spanning intrigue with the hunt for dark forces, massive mysteries, complex revenge plots, and a focus on the corruption of the spirit, there is a ton of fun for a lot of readers in this book, and I loved the elaborate conspiracy that was the fantastic focus of the plot. I especially enjoyed the overall theme of Hereticus that saw Abnett try and bring a lot of storylines and character arcs full circle back to the original novel in the trilogy, Xenos. The history of all the characters in the book, as well as multiple prior events, are essential parts of Hereticus’s plot, and I loved how the author was able to tie together a ton of compelling overlying storylines that really highlights the importance of the first two novels. The primary storytelling method, a chronicle style from Eisenhorn’s perspective, adds a lot of power and flair to the overall book, especially as it enhances the character-driven aspect of the story and gives you some intriguing insights into the conflicted protagonist’s mind. There are a ton of great scenes showcased as result of this first-person perspective, from multiple massive battles, to intimate conversations and even a very well-written psychic interrogation sequence. Abnett has a great eye for detail and some of the resulting action sequences and unique locations are painted in such a way that the reader fully grasped every action or cool element of the setting. This, and so much more, really helps Hereticus’ exceptional story shine through and I had so much fun seeing how this entire novel unfolded.

Like most of Abnett’s books, Hereticus can be read as a standalone novel, especially as the author does an exceptional job of recapping key events, characters, and relationships from the previous Eisenhorn entries. However, to get the full emotional impact of epic narrative, I would strongly recommend checking out Xenos and Malleus first, as you really understand how the character has changed over the course of the series, as well as how well the storylines have continued. I also felt that Hereticus proved to be a particularly good entry into the wider Warhammer 40,000 canon as Abnett continues to explore some of the most intriguing parts of this grim universe, including the dark cults that are constantly a threat to the Imperium’s stability and the Inquisitors who hunt them. The fantastic dive into the different types of Inquisitors and their different ways of fighting the enemy is pretty cool and I loved seeing the various rivalries and discussions that eventuated, especially as Eisenhorn has an opinion on everything. This book also takes the reader to a variety of unique locations within the Warhammer universe, with several unique planets becoming key settings for the plot. I loved seeing the variety of worlds out there in this massive universe, and Abnett has fun tying the events of this book into some of the wider canon aspects of the franchise. I would say that overall the Eisenhorn trilogy really is one of the best series to start reading Warhammer 40,000 fiction with, especially as you get a completely different and more elaborate story than the classic military fiction plots that make up the majority of the genre.

As always, I can’t go away from an Eisenhorn book without talking about the exceptional character work that Abnett brings to the table. This is especially true in Hereticus, as Abnett brings so many compelling character arcs to a tragic and moving end, while also ensuring that his impressive protagonist is changed forever.

As you would expect, the focus of Hereticus is on protagonist Gregor Eisenhorn, who serves as the book’s primary narrator. I mentioned during my previous reviews of these books that I have loved the complex and powerful story that Abnett has woven around Eisenhorn. Starting off as a relatively innocent and uncontroversial Inquisitor who was just trying to do what is right, Eisenhorn has slowly slipped down the path of the radical by employing the methods and powers of his heretical foes. Abnett has showcased this gradual fall perfectly in the first two books, and while he made some questionable decisions out of desperation in Malleus, you still believed that he could be redeemed. Hereticus really has you doubt this as he begins to employ darker methods during this book, which not only cost him but impact the people around him. However, this is not entirely his fault, as forces outside of his control drive him to do so. Pretty much every mistake that Eisenhorn has made in his past seems to come back to bite him in Hereticus, and these events, and more, force him to make hard decisions to survive and defeat foes who are even worse than him. While he does bad things, you can fully understand and appreciate why he feels he needs to do so, even if you don’t agree with them. Despite these bad things, Eisenhorn remains a sympathetic character for most of the book, and his own realisation that what he is doing is wrong just makes the entire story that much sadder. However, there is a layer of arrogance over this that makes you slightly concerned about Eisenhorn’s actions, and you’re never quite sure just how far he has truly fallen. Abnett covers Eisenhorn’s overall character arc pretty damn perfectly, and while the author throws the protagonist’s decline into overdrive in this book, it felt pretty natural and showcases just how destructive desperation is as his good intentions lead him to hell.

On top of Eisenhorn, Hereticus features a bevy of compelling supporting characters who add their own complex spin to the story. Many of the supporting characters from the first two books are once again featured in this third Eisenhorn novel, and I really appreciated how Abnett sought to bring many of their arcs and storylines full circle here. Unfortunately for fans of the series, wrapping up their storylines results in most of the supporting character’s deaths or severe injury, and quite a substantial number of supporting figures from the first two books have their final appearance here. While I won’t go into too much detail, several of these deaths are pretty damn tragic, especially after they follow on from some noble self-sacrifices or major character moments. I was honestly shocked at how brutal Abnett was when it came to killing off his supporting characters, but all of these instances really worked in the context of the story and ensured that Hereticus ended up being particularly memorable. Before these major deaths, though, the author dives into the powerful relationships that each of these supporting characters has with Eisenhorn, and there are some deeply emotional moments scattered through, especially as each of them have their own opinion about Eisenhorn’s recent actions and whether he has gone too far. Watching his oldest friends become disgusted or outraged by his actions really hammers home how far Eisenhorn has fallen, especially as he drags several characters down with him. Throw in some outstanding central antagonists, all of whom have a complex history with Eisenhorn, and some intriguing cameos from the previous novels, and this was an exceptionally character rich novel designed to hit you in the feels.

As with all of Abnett’s books to date, I grabbed the audiobook version of Hereticus, which was once again an exceptional way to enjoy this amazing novel. Coming in at just under 10 hours and featuring the impressive narration of Abnett’s go-to audiobook narrator, Toby Longworth, this format was an excellent way to enjoy this book, and I managed to power through this entire story in no time at all. Longworth really brings the entire story to life with his excellent narration, and he makes sure to infuse all the characters with a ton of personality, while also tailoring their voices to match their history and physical (or metaphysical) attributes. I also thought that several of the best scenes of this book, including some desperate battles, a cool interrogation scene, and some particularly poignant character interactions, were made even more epic in this format, as the exceptional acting from Longworth showcased them in a way they truly deserved. I was utterly enthralled the entire way through Hereticus’s audiobook and this was easily the best way to experience Abnett’s compelling tale.

Overall, I felt that Hereticus was a pretty amazing book and a suitably epic finale to Dan Abnett’s original Eisenhorn trilogy. Bringing together a powerful story with some unique Warhammer 40,000 elements and an exceptional dive into the mind of a fallen inquisitor, Hereticus was utterly addictive and ended up being one of the best Warhammer books I have ever read. I was really impressed with how Abnett concluded this incredible trilogy, and I felt that Hereticus was an excellent final entry that tied together some of the complex storylines from the first two books. I cannot recommend this entire trilogy enough; it truly is one of the cornerstones of Warhammer 40,000 fiction. I look forward to reading more from Abnett in the future, especially as there are several spin-offs associated with this trilogy, as well as a recently released fourth Eisenhorn book in The Magos. However, I think I will try and get through some Gaunt’s Ghosts books first, before diving back into Abnett’s Inquisitor stories, although if I ever want a powerful Warhammer thriller, I know where to look.