Tag: Sabbat Worlds

Warhammer 40,000: Interceptor City by Dan Abnett

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

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 22 February 2025)

Series: Sabbat World Crusades/Warhammer 40,000

Length: 15 hours and 35 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Take to the skies once more as legendary Warhammer 40,000 author Dan Abnett presents another ambitious and rip-roaring novel of dogfights and explosive characters in the incredible novel, Interceptor City.

Dan Abnett is an author who I have mentioned multiple times in this blog, primarily because he is one of the best and most prolific writers of Warhammer fiction.  Abnett’s impressive work is a substantial pillar of the extended Warhammer 40,000 universe, especially with his entries in the Horus Heresy range, as well as his own various unique series, several of which are amongst some of my very favourite pieces of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  This includes his outstanding Eisenhorn novels (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), his long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts books (First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis, Honour Guard, The Guns of Tanith, Straight Silver and Sabbat Martyr), as well as gripping standalone titles like Titanicus. However, one of his very best books is the exceptional Double Eagle, for which Abnett has just released a sequel.

Double Eagle was an incredible novel first released in 2004 that sought to add a new, unique vantage point to the author’s Sabbat Worlds Crusade, the massive, multi-planet war served as a background the Gaunt’s Ghosts books.  Double Eagle followed members of a regiment of fighter pilots as they sought to control the skies above the Sabbat Worlds.  An intense, beautifully written, character-driven novel, Double Eagle got an easy five-star rating from me thanks to its outstanding and epic dogfights and examples of fighter-on-fighter combat.  Double Eagle was easily one of the best Warhammer books I have ever read, and I was very excited to find out that Abnett was finally releasing a sequel.

The Emperor protects, the Aeronautica remembers!

It has been more than 20 years since the battle to save Enothis and the Sabbat Worlds Crusade continues to rage, with millions of soldiers from the Imperium of Man fighting and dying to claim the planets from the arch-enemies grasp.  For some the crusade seems like a distant event, but for those on the scarred planet of Lysander, war is a daily occurrence, especially as the air forces of Chaos constantly seek to destroy the Imperial defenders with massive bomber flights.  The latest front of this campaign is the ruined hive city of Vesperus, which the enemy is using as cover to launch bombing attacks where the Imperials least expect it.  In response, the fighter pilots of the Aeronautica Imperialis have been ordered to secure the destroyed spires and massive building and turn Vesperus into a city of interceptors.

Into this precarious warzone flies former famed fighter pilot Bree Jagdea.  No longer the heroic ace who led her squadron to victory on Enothis, Jagdea now only pilots cargo haulers, determined to stay out the fighting.  However, an encounter with an old comrade leads her back into danger when she agrees to help the war effort by driving a needed replacement fighter to the Circus 66 squadron, currently serving in the ruins of Vesperus.  Planning to leave immediately after dropping off her precious cargo, Jagdea instead finds herself conscripted to join the ranks of the squadron as they face overwhelming odds against massed opposition from the forces of Chaos.

With no way out of the fight, Jagdea must once again contend against opponents in the sky if she wants survive and escape this new hellish posting.  However, this is not the air combat she is familiar with, instead the fighting in Vesperus is a cramped and deadly affair as their fighter aircraft must fight amongst the devastated and towering buildings of the Hive, where even the slightest error could result in death.  Forced to adapt to the new urban conditions Jagdea attempts to bring out her former skills and talent to survive the enemy all around her.  But with mysterious deaths haunting the squadron and the addictive thrill of danger once again luring her in, can Jagdea once again become a hero, or will she finally face her fate in the sky?

Well damn, now that’s how you do a sequel!  Dan Abnett continues to showcase why he is one of the very best authors of Warhammer fiction with the exceptional Interceptor City.  A particularly intense and captivating read that brings back one of Abnett’s best protagonists, Interceptor City was everything I hoped it would be, and more, as this novel simply blew me away.  One of my new favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels, Interceptor City gets a very easy five-star rating from, and I love the unique direction Abnett took this long-awaited sequel.

I have so much love for the narrative in Interceptor City, especially as Abnett decided to provide something very special for this sequel.  Abnett could have produced another open-skied flying story set right after the events of Double Eagle, and this probably would have been good enough to keep most Warhammer fans happy.  Instead, the author decided to raise the stakes in a big way by producing a deep and intense character-driven novel that brings back and focusses solely on a traumatised and retired version of his previous novel’s protagonist 20 years after the events of the first book, and places them into an impossible combat situation amongst suffocating spires and devastated city blocks to produce some outstanding action.

Told exclusively from the point of view of protagonist Bree Jagdea, Interceptor City went in some very interesting directions that bring the reader quickly into the fray.  Effectively setting up the unique situation on Lysander and Jagdea’s current emotional state, the story soon introduces some of the key supporting characters, before bringing Jagdea to the thick of the fighting in the devastated hive city of Vesperus.  Forced by circumstances to once again fly in combat, Jagdea finds herself in a new craft alongside an insane group of pilots trying to survive against impossible odds.  This results in the powerful main body of the plot as the traumatised Jagdea attempts to survive in an array of lethal fights amongst the massive, destroyed buildings of the Vesperus hive.

Abnett works in some incredible aerial sequences throughout Interceptor City, and you really become absorbed in the elaborate flying duels amongst the ruined buildings.  There is a great character-driven story here as Jagdea remembers her old instincts and slowly adapts to the new flying conditions she is forced to fight in.  At the same time as the brilliant action sequences, Jagdea also gets to know the other eccentric members of her new squadron, and there are some amazing character moments as she tries to understand their desperation, insanity and unique methods, while also trying to improve the survival rate of the less experienced pilots.  The flying scenes get more intense as the plot continues, especially as Jagdea regains her confidence, and you begin to understand more of the squadron’s madnesses.  There are some truly impressive story moments here, including a harrowing survival sequences and multiple complex aerial fights, that are cleverly worked together into one coherent and compelling plot.  Thanks to a great subplot, the later part of the book has a darker edge of mystery that requires to protagonist to try and understand the deeper motivations of the supporting cast.  While the solution of this mystery is somewhat obvious, it proves to be very well set up, and Abnett utilises it to masterfully increase the novel’s tension and stakes.  Interceptor City ends on a dark but fun note, as Abnett bucks against the expected final confrontation and allows the protagonist to end events on her own terms in a very over-the-top fashion.  This proved to be an extremely addictive narrative that really dives into the heart of the protagonist and provides some powerful and action-packed moments.

I loved this amazing Warhammer 40,000 novel, and I felt that Abnett presented it in such an impressive way.  Cleverly settling in as a standalone novel amongst the author’s other Sabbat World Crusade books, Interceptor City features a somewhat different style from Double Eagle, which works to make this sequel stand out on its own.  Rather than the extensive, multiple viewpoints that Double Eagle featured, Interceptor City is told exclusively from the perspective of the damaged protagonist Bree Jagdea.  While this does mean that you don’t get the full-picture war story that made Double Eagle cool, it allowed Abnett to really dive into his impressive protagonist’s story and showcase her personality and emotional state.  This ensured that this sequel was a particularly powerful and complex read, especially as Jagdea is a shadow of her former self after burning out as a pilot and crashing at her peak.  Now back into the cockpit, Jagdea is forced to come to terms with her own fears and doubt, as well as try the legacy of her past actions.  Abnett did an exceptional dive into Jagdea’s mind throughout Interceptor City, and he utilised the sole viewpoint to really explore her fears, hopes and the reasons behind her retirement.  This proved to be quite exceptional, and while readers are advised to read Double Eagle first to see this protagonist at her flying peak, new readers can easily dive into Interceptor City and appreciate its powerful emotional heart.  Throw in an over-the-top cast of eccentric pilots and killers with some additional complex and fascinating stories that the protagonist gets to know and trust, and Interceptor City has an impressive amount of character work that I found really fascinating.  Abnett layers this was a very grimdark tone, which allows the reader to full appreciate the desperate situation the protagonists are, and readers come away with an intense and impressive appreciation for the story.

While the great writing and the impressive focus on the protagonist’s mind ensures Interceptor City had an amazing story, the true highlight of this book is the outstanding depictions of aerial combat.  Abnett somehow managed to exceed his various impressive aerial sequences from Double Eagle in this sequel, and the resulting scenes of fighter-on-fight combat were so damn impressive, especially as the author describes them in exceptional detail.  The change of scenery from open skies to cramped urban flight conditions was extremely smart, and it ensured that Interceptor City’s flight scenes really stood out.  While the protagonist isn’t facing the overwhelming numbers of enemy fighters she encountered in Double Eagle, she is now forced to deal with small groups of skilled pilots amongst the wreckage of Vesperus, flying at impossible speed where even the slightest mistake could lead to death.  This results in some extremely nerve-wracking and claustrophobic sequences, as the protagonist tries to simultaneously fight and survive the dangerous environment she is flying through.  These fight sequences were so damn cool, and I loved how Abnett slowly improved the protagonist’s performance with each flight to reflect her growing confidence and mastery of the new location.  It is honestly impossible to stop reading Interceptor City during any of these sequences, especially the massive high-stakes ones at the end, and I frankly could not believe how Abnett made the dogfights and flying scenes even more epic in this outstanding sequel.

As is my preference with all things Warhammer, I chose to check out Interceptor City on audiobook rather than seeking out a physical copy.  Warhammer audiobooks are so damn good, and I love how well the elaborate and dangerous Warhammer 40,000 setting comes across when it is read out by a skilled narrator.  Abnett’s Warhammer 40,000 novels are a great example of this, as his compelling character and intense, tailored action really comes across on audiobook, especially in the hands of one of my favourite narrators Toby Longworth.  Longworth, who has lent his voice to most of Abnett’s books, really understands the best way to present the author’s fantastic narratives, and I love his cool take on all his Warhammer novels.  This was particularly true with Interceptor City, as Longworth did a masterful job bringing this complex tale to life, moving the main plot along at a quick pace and ensuring the action sequences were as epic as possible.  The passionate way he reads out the complex dogfights is just brilliant, and I found myself getting more and more drawn into these scenes as Longworth effortlessly vocalises every turn of the fighter and every lethal explosion in a tense and powerful manner.  You really got a sense of the protagonist’s desperation and the claustrophobic flying conditions she experienced thanks to this narration, and I was honestly on the edge of my seat for some of these outstanding sequences.  Throw in Longworth’s great array of compelling voices, which perfectly match the character they are assigned to, unique space accents and all, and the full impact of this amazing Warhammer 40,000 novel really comes out in the audiobook format.  Coming in with a run time of 15 and a half hours, Interceptor City is an epic audiobook to get drawn into, and I powered through this format in no time at all.  I actually wished it was a longer audiobook, it was that much fun, and as such I cannot recommend this format enough.

Dan Abnett was once again on fire with this exceptional and impossibly impressive Warhammer 40,000 novel.  A worthy sequel with its own incredible narrative, Interceptor City was a blast from start to finish and I had such a great time getting through this ambitious read.  Powerful, exciting, and loaded with some of the best Warhammer action sequences you are likely to read, Interceptor City comes highly recommended, and this might be one of my new favourite books.  I cannot wait to see what awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel Abnett writes next, and I hope we don’t have to wait another 20 years to see a new aerial adventure from this amazing author.

Amazon

Warhammer 40,000: Titanicus by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer3 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 September 2008)

Series: Warhammer 40,000/Sabbat Worlds Crusade

Length: 13 hours and 38 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

The Titans walk to war in this brutal and captivating Warhammer 40,000 novel from the legendary Dan Abnett, Titanicus.

Of the many great Warhammer 40,000 authors out there, few are as impressive as Dan Abnett, who has envisioned an incredible number of awesome battlefields and unique character-focused war stories across the Warhammer universe.  Abnett has written a ton of exceptional and powerful books around the franchise, including several series considered to be the seminal texts of the extended universe.  This includes his brilliant Eisenhorn trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), and he has multiple entries in my favourite Warhammer 40,000 books list.  However, his best-known series is the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, which I am currently in the middle of reading.

The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are a key series of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that follows the frontline human soldier of this grimdark universe.  Set in an extended multi-planet campaign, known as the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, the Gaunt’s Ghosts books follow a ragged regiment of soldiers as they attempt to survive the dark servants of Chaos coming for them.  I am having an exceptional time reading the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, with books like First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis, Honour Guard, The Guns of Tanith, Straight Silver and Sabbat Martyr, really impressing me with the complex stories and intense action.  While I need to read more of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, I have taken a quick break to read some of the spin-off novels Abnett wrote around his main series.  Also set around the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, these spin-off novels follow other campaigns in this massive sector spanning war and provide Warhammer fans with a more in-depth view of these battles.  These spin-offs include the exceptional Double Eagle, which I had the great pleasure of reading last year, and which featured so many awesome duels between flyers.  Titanicus was another spectacular book shows a new and highly destructive battlefront of the crusade by focusing on the iconic Titan Legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

As war rage across the stars, the forces of Chaos constantly seek a way to disrupt the vital Sabbat World Crusade and destroy the human forces fighting to bring new worlds into the Imperium of Man.  To that end, the archenemy launches an ambitious and devastating surprise assault on the vital forge world of Orestes, whose under-strength defenders find themselves under mass attack from Chaos Titan war engines.  With both the citizens of the Imperium of Man and the forges of the Adeptus Mechanicus under threat, the planet appeals for help and soon finds its prayers answered from the stars in dramatic fashion.

Fresh from their own wars and heading out to join the crusade, the Titans of the Legio Invicta arrive on Orestes, determined to help their Mechanicus brethren.  Finding the forces of Orestes severely outwatched, the Invicta Titans stride to war, causing everything to tremble at the god-machines wrath.  Soon the world is engulfed in an engine war, with both sides wielding enough firepower to crack the planet and the entire population of Orestes caught in the conflict.

But as the war continues, a far more insidious threat arises that could impact far more than just the war on Orestes.  Deep secrets from within Orestes Forge soon begin to spill out, risking a schism between the Imperium of Man and the Adeptus Mechanicus.  With the planet trembling under the battling machines and enemy forces growing by the day, can Legio Invicta overcome the peril growing within their brotherhood before Orestes and the entire galaxy is put to the flame?

Dan Abnett presets another brilliant war story that is epic in every definition of the word.  Successfully presenting the awesome power of the Titans, Titanicus is a deeply compelling and impressive Warhammer 40,000 novel that I honestly could not get enough of.  Intense, exciting and so darn cool, Titanicus gets an easy five-star rating from me, as Abnett once again shows just how talented he is.

Titanicus had a particularly awesome and multi-layered standalone war narrative behind it that hooked me thanks to the author’s nuanced take on the destructive conflicts of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Starting off with some dark death to hammer home how grim the situation is, you are soon thrust into the main story as the planet of Orestes comes under attack and the defenders are pushed to the limit.  However, hope soon arrives with the landing of Legio Invicta, who back up Orestes’s existing Titans and defenders with their own engines and troops.  Abnett quickly and effectively sets up multiple character specific storylines as the book progresses that show various alternative viewpoints of the war.  The author works hard to showcase multiple levels of the conflict, from the top commanders all the way to the lowliest of soldiers, and I really enjoyed some of the intriguing storylines that emerged.  This includes desperate tales of survival by following human troops caught behind enemy lines and pursued by mechanical monsters, compelling dives into the minds of the Titan pilots, looks at the various political forces on Orestes, and even some fascinating storylines inside the Adeptus Mechanicus forge.  Abnett did an amazing job highlighting the desperate strife and the complex conflicts these figures endured, and you get a fantastic overarching look at the machine war that proves hard to look away from. 

As the plot of Titanicus continues, the various storylines go in some interesting directions, as you follow each of the characters or groups on their own unique journeys.  Abnett did a really good job of ensuring these unique storylines effectively played off each other as the book continues, and the way characters reacted to events from other plotlines was quite clever and helped to produce a cohesive and intense overarching narrative.  The introduction of a compelling storyline around intrigue and dissent amongst the Adeptus Mechanicus characters provides some extra drama and character conflicts, which added some interesting complexity to the plot, especially as it gave you an alternative group of antagonists which worked well alongside the menacing forces of Chaos, whose perspective you don’t see.  I appreciated how well Abnett set this storyline up in advance, and there are some clever hints to this, and other big events, earlier in the plot.

The final third of Titanicus is particularly impressive and intense, as the author brings together his various storylines extremely well.  I especially enjoyed some of the massive action sequences, while the resolution of the Adeptus Mechanicus storyline was powerful and full of drama as big personalities try to overcome mistrust and dissent.  While I would have liked to have seen the final battle in full, I think Abnett’s effective summary worked pretty well, and I understand that spending another few hours in combat would have watered down the author’s main message.  Each major character’s arc is resolved in a very satisfying manner, and there is an excellent blend of dramatic moments and intense action to keep the reader hooked.  I appreciated how a couple of these conclusions were more depressing, rather than being uniformly happy, which fits both the grimdark nature of Warhammer 40,000 as well as Abnett’s overarching themes that war has no true winners.  This story really came together well, and I deeply enjoyed the complex standalone narrative that Abnett came up with.

This was another insanely well written novel from Abnett, who excels at telling dark, deeply personal war stories from multiple perspectives.  The author provides the perfect balance of excitement, deep intrigue and fantastic character growth in Titanicus, all expertly set within the amazing Warhammer 40,000 universe, and it proves to be such an addictive read.  I personally became engrossed in the various character-driven storylines that emerged throughout the plot, especially the long-running storylines that lasted the entire book.  However, even the more minor character arcs, such as the occasional scene from a normal citizen living in the city to an extended look at the crew of a doomed machine, was hard hitting and Abnett really gets you invested in these personal tales.  As I mentioned above, these often-separate storylines worked extremely well in concert with each other, and Abnett did such a good job pulling them together into a brilliant, overarching narrative. 

Of course, you can’t talk about Titanicus’s writing without going into how incredible the action sequences are.  Abnett crafts together so many deeply intense and powerful battle scenes throughout Titanicus that constantly had the blood pumping as you watched your favourite characters brave the dark gauntlet of battle time and time again.  The author had a lot of fun envisioning war on multiple fronts, and I loved how we got to see infantry fights, tank battles and entertaining skirmishes between various augmented foes as the story continued.  However, easily the most awesome thing about Titanicus is the Titans themselves.  Insanely massive and powerful walking war machines, the Titans steal any scene they are in, and there are so many great reactions as the normal human characters see the Titans fight, especially when the despoiled enemy machines advance on them.  However, it is the sequences shown from the perspective of the Titan pilots themselves that are the best, as you become fully immersed into the battles in the scenes as the machines rain down destruction and depth.  You can honestly feel the insane powerful and destructive ability of the Titans as you move throughout Titanicus, and every single battle involving one of these massive walkers is epic on so many levels. 

As with the rest of Abnett’s books, Titanicus proved to be a particularly strong entry in the Warhammer 40,000 canon.  Serving as a companion piece to the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Titanicus is a must-read to anyone who has enjoyed Abnett’s main series and the overarching campaign it is a part of.  However, as there are no overlapping characters or major storylines, Titanicus can also be easily read as a standalone novel, and indeed would be a great introduction to Abnett’s writing style and his ability to write awesome war stories.  Titanicus would also be the perfect entry novel to anyone interested in exploring Warhammer 40,000 fiction, especially science fiction readers who love the idea of giant piloted war machines.  The cool action, complex character arcs and fantastic standalone narrative ensures that anyone can really dive into Titanicus and have a brilliant time, and I honestly think this book would appeal to a wide range of different readers.

However, as with most books in the franchise, Titanicus will mostly appeal to those established Warhammer 40,000 fans who will love Abnett’s dive into some unique aspects of the universe.  Naturally, this is primarily going to be around the Titans, who are a very awesome part of the Warhammer 40,000 setting that are often underutilised in fiction due to being too overpowered (or getting badly nerfed when they do appear).  I think Abnett did these war machines perfect justice in Titanicus, and you really come away appreciating every aspect of them, including their raw power, their powerful spirit, and the love the crews have for them.  However, Abnett also dives into the dark side of the machine, and some of the sequences that show the pilots losing their humanity were particularly jarring.  Honestly, I thought Abnett’s portray of the Titans was just brilliant, and I have yet to see another Warhammer author do any better.  Abnett also takes a lot of time to dive into the lore surrounding the Adeptus Mechanics.  While these parts of the book might be slightly confusing for newer readers, established fans will love seeing Abnett explore these machine-worshipping figures, especially as a theological schism becomes a major plot issue.  Other cool lore aspects include examining the uneasy relationship between the Imperium and the Mechanicus on planets they share, the dark side of human life on a planet under siege, and even little fun moments, like a toy maker finally finding success as he makes models of the Titans battling across the world.  All these elements make Titanicus a particularly epic read for fans of the franchise, and I personally loved seeing Abnett’s take on all these cool universe inclusions.

While the writing, story and Warhammer 40,000 elements are all exceptional on their own, what really brings them together and makes Titanicus truly awesome are the multiple cool characters scattered throughout the plot.  Abnett introduces a huge range of fantastic and complex characters in Titanicus who you grow quite attached to as the plot continues.  All the characters, from major figures to minor one-scene characters, are fantastically written and cleverly influence the plot in their own cool ways.  Highlights for me included the desperate crew of a destroyed tank who try to escape on foot, only to find more danger in front of them.  A group of inexperienced conscripts who are completely unprepared for the horrors of war also prove to be really entertaining, and you grow invested in their struggles to survive and the tragedies that await them.  Abnett also examines several intriguing Adeptus Mechanicus figures within the Orestes Forge, whose frustrations, ambitions and struggles for power are far more human than they’d like to believe.  However, the best character arc for me was the one that revolved around the crew of a Legio Invicta’s Titan who are forced to accept an Orestes’ Princeps (the pilot plugged into the Titan’s mind) when their own dies without a successor.  The resulting conflicts between the inexperienced and arrogant outsider pilot and the veteran Legio Invicta crew, which includes the Titan’s moderati (second-in-command), who finds himself under a suspended death sentence, sets the scene perfectly, and you become really intrigued in seeing how the Titan will survive.  Watching these figures come together as a crew is a highlight of Titanicus, although Abnett does an excellent job twisting that around later when internal conflict splits the protagonists.  All these characters, and many more, gave Titanicus some real emotional heft, and I became so damn invested in seeing the final fate of so many of these outstanding protagonists.

I think that it’s kind of a given that I listened to Titanicus on audiobook rather than seeking out a physical copy of the book.  Warhammer audiobooks are so damn good, and frankly there is no better way to enjoy the franchise’s awesome narratives and compelling action.  This is particularly true for Titanicus, as the intricate details and impressive combat sequences really shine through even better when read out.  I especially loved how incredibly epic the various Titan-on-Titan battles came across in this audiobook format, and the fantastic voice of narrator Toby Longworth ensured that you were enrapt by every single second of carnage.  Longworth, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, always does an exceptional job bringing Abnett’s amazing stories to life, and he was once again exceptional here in Titanicus.  Longworth captures all the characters in Titanicus perfectly, and you get a real sense of their personalities, emotions and their reactions to the insane events of the book.  This includes the various Adeptus Mechanicus figures, which Longworth voices in all their mechanical glory, and you can just imagine these augmented figures, and indeed all the complex characters of Titanicus, as Longworth describes them.  This makes for such an exceptional experience, and I flew through the audiobook’s near 14-hour long runtime extremely quickly.  There is honestly no other way to enjoy Titanicus than on audiobook, and you are guaranteed to have an amazing time.

Dan Abnett continues to showcase why he is such a highly regarded author of Warhammer fiction with the brilliant and captivating Titanicus.  Perfectly showcasing a war between one of the franchise’s most epic components, the massive Titan war engines, Titanicus was an exceptional read from start to finish and one that I cannot recommend enough.  I had such a great time with Titanicus, and I look forward to reading even more Warhammer 40,000 books from Dan Abnett this year.

Amazon

Warhammer 40,000: Double Eagle by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer16 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2004)

Series: Warhammer 40,000/Sabbat Worlds

Length: 10 hours and 16 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

The master of Warhammer fiction, Dan Abnett, takes to the skies with the deeply addictive and ultra epic fighter pilot novel Double Eagle.

Readers familiar with this blog will know that I have been extremely damn obsessed with Warhammer fiction the last couple of years, having spent a substantial amount of time reading and reviewing numerous books from the franchise.  Of the many Warhammer fiction authors I have read during this period, one of the most impressive is the legendary Dan Abnett, who has written so many exceptional and powerful books around the franchise, including several series considered to be the seminal texts of the extended universe.  I have had a ton of fun with many of his books, including his brilliant Eisenhorn trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), and he has multiple entries in my current favourite Warhammer 40,000 books list.  However, his best-known series is the iconic Gaunt’s Ghosts books, which I am currently in the middle of reading.

The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are a beloved and key series of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that seeks to give readers a moving look at the lives of the frontline human soldier in this grimdark universe.  Set in an extended, multi-planet campaign, known as the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, the Gaunt’s Ghosts books follow a ragged regiment of soldiers as they attempt to survive the dark servants of Chaos coming for them.  I am having an exceptional time reading the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and in 2024 alone I have read two particularly epic entries, Straight Silver and Sabbat Martyr.  However, before I dive any further into the series, I decided to read the spin-off novel, Double Eagle, which I have had on my to-read list for a while now.  Double Eagle was an interesting and unique novel that follows members of an airmen wing who were introduced in the fifth Gaunt’s Ghosts book, The Guns of Tanith.  Set after their mission with the Ghosts, Double Eagle follows these pilots, including a few characters from The Guns of Tanith, in a brutal new campaign.

War has engulfed the Sabbat World system as the forces of the Imperium of Man attempt to reclaim multiple worlds invaded by the forces of Chaos.  After years of fighting, the Imperium’s crusade has reached a tipping point, with victory or defeat for the entire campaign hanging on the results of a few key battles.  While the fighting is fierce throughout the system, nowhere is it more desperate than the beleaguered world of Enothis.

After failing to conquer the Chaos footholds on Enothis, the infantry and armoured forces of the Imperium are in full retreat, attempting to traverse miles of hostile terrain to return to safe territory, all while being harassed by relentless enemy aircraft.  With the fate of the planet in the balance, the commanders of the crusade deploy multiple squadrons of Imperial fighters and bombers to Enothis to turn the entire conflict into an air war.  If the Imperial pilots can hold back the advancing tides of Chaos and allow the ground forces to regroup the war for Enothis may be won.  But if the airmen fail, then Enothis and the entire Sabbat Worlds campaign is doomed.

Amongst the pilots sent to Enothis are the elite flyers of the Phantine Air Corps.  Veterans from the recent war to liberate their home planet of Phantine, the pilots of the Phantine Air Corps are determined to do their bit in this new conflict.  But the battle for Enothis will be unlike anything seen before, as thousands of Chaos aircraft descend on the planet, hoping to obliterate the defenders.  Severely outnumbered, can even the dogged Phantine pilots hold back the approaching tide of dark air machines before the planet is conquered, especially with an unnaturally skilled Chaos ace stalking the skies, determined to bring every opposing pilot down in flames?

Just when I think that Dan Abnett couldn’t impress me even more, I go and read Double Eagle.  A brilliant, intense, and exceptionally well-written novel that focuses on a particularly cool aspect of the Warhammer universe, Double Eagle blew me away with its great characters and elaborate air combat sequences.  I had an incredible time with Double Eagle, and it gets an easy five-star rating from me.

I deeply, deeply enjoyed Double Eagle, as Abnett took the brief of a Battle of Britain-inspired Warhammer 40,000 story and applied his usual impressively detailed style and powerful character-driven storytelling to produce an outstanding and addictive read.  Perfectly spinning off from the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts books and bringing the reader to another adventure in the expansive Sabbat World Crusades, Double Eagle has a brilliant narrative loaded with action that goes hard and fast for your feels and refuses to let go once it has you firmly in your grasp.

Double Eagle starts off quickly, getting the reader across the brutal new campaign and the importance of the aerial war that emerges, you are soon introduced to multiple characters and shown some initial awesome sequences with some explosive dogfights.  From there the story moves at a fast but smart pace, as you follow several distinctive and often overlapping character arcs throughout the length of the brutal campaign on Enothis.  You really get dragged into each major protagonist’s story as they attempt to survive the flying war.  There are some excellent battle scenes in this first half of the book and Abnett really shows how epic he can make a fighter pilot dogfight very early on.  The characters each experience some highs and lows in the first half of the book, and it doesn’t take you long to get attached the protagonists and their complex personal tales within the confines of the main story.

However, it is the second half of the book where everything comes together perfectly.  Each of the protagonists experience some version of personal loss or difficulty, and the impact of the war slowly drains them, taking them to some dark places.  Abnett sets up a brilliant underdog narrative around the protagonists, as the massive fleet of Chaos airships seek to crush them.  You can really see the parallels between this narrative and the Battle for Britain at this point, especially as the tired and severely outnumbered Phantine fighters and their local allies attempt to hold back the overwhelming and often Germanic-inspired forces coming for them.  Everything leads up to a massive final confrontation, as the protagonists engage in a series of brutal and drawn-out dogfights and aerial confrontations as we lead up to the finale.  While a couple of the character arcs leading up to this are a tad unsurprising, the way that Abnett writes them makes you love every second it.  The author brings everything to an epic close with continued and captivating action that honestly is impossible not to react to at times.  There are some very powerful moments at the closes, especially when some characters get everything they want, and you come away from Double Eagle wishing Abnett had made this book even longer.

Abnett once again masterfully crafts his compelling narrative together in such an effective way that I honestly just couldn’t stop listening to this book.  Making excellent use of multiple complex perspectives, you are swiftly drawn into the lives of several ordinary soldiers drafted into the deadly aerial war against a massive opposing fleet.  Featuring a range of complex characters arcs, Abnett expertly balances the character-driven plot between the various perspectives, while also featuring an epic war story that hits in all the right places.  Abnett’s use of quick-fire perspective changes works to create an excellent and fast-paced narrative, and it works especially well in some of the novel’s more intense sequences.  Speaking of action, you can’t talk about Double Eagle without discussing the amazing and epic aerial fight scenes and dogfights that make the book so damn distinctive.  Abnett did a remarkable job of harnessing the energy and feel of classic World War II fighter combat and bringing it into the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Featuring many, many awesome sequences of aerial combat, Double Eagle really feels like you’re in a futuristic Battle for Britain as you witness fights between small groups of fighters fending off mass raids from Chaos forces, as well as sequences from the perspective of Imperial bombers.  The resulting dogfights between advanced fighter craft works so damn well in the context of the story, and you are treated to some truly epic sequences.  I was constantly enthralled by the brilliant aerial combat and flight sequences, and Abnett did an exceptional job expressing the intensities of flight, the ultra-fast pace nature of the combat, and the craziness of a massed aerial battle.  I could have honestly spent many, many more hours listening to Abnett’s descriptions of aerial combat, and there are so many excellent writing elements to this book that drag you in.

Double Eagle also proved to be an interesting and particularly strong Warhammer 40,000 novel that is really going to appeal to a wide range of readers.  Spinning off from the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Double Eagle is tailor made for fans of the original series, although familiarity with the Gaunt’s Ghosts books isn’t necessary to enjoy this epic book.  While there are a few references, returning characters, and discussions about the overarching Sabbat Worlds Crusade, for the most part any reader can easily dive into Double Eagle and follow the story with no issues at all.  As with most tie-in books in the franchise, Double Eagle is best enjoyed by existing Warhammer fans, who will once again enjoy Abnett’s compelling insights into the canon.  I know that I really loved the exploration of Warhammer 40,000 air combat, and I loved how Abnett explored the physics, as well as the reasons why aerial fighters are still utilised in a universe where space travel exists.  However, I also felt that Double Eagle would serve as a pretty good entry point to any new readers interested in finding out why the Warhammer 40,000 universe is so damn cool.  Indeed, readers who are a fan of aerial focused military fiction or World War II fighter combat fiction can very easily jump into the new world here, as Abnett really presents a tale they would enjoy.  I need to read more Warhammer books from Abnett (I have several currently in my queue), and I currently very excited to read the recently announced sequel to Double Eagle, Interceptor City, which is set to be released later this year.

I found that the writing element that really brought Double Eagle together where the excellent characters at the heart and soul of the plot.  Focusing on several intriguing pilot characters, Abnett dove into the mindset of these flyers and did an amazing job capturing their love of the air and their desire to be the best.  However, as the book continues, you see a darker side to many of these characters, as the toil of war drags them down into their own mental hells.  While it did take me a little while to get across every protagonist, I eventually got drawn into the excellent character-focused storylines that Abnett set up in Double Eagle, and it was great to see the return of several characters introduced in The Guns of Tanith.  This includes the Phantine flight commander, Bree Jagdea, and the bombardier Oskar Viltry.  Jagdea proves to be a great centre for much of the plot, and her steady determination to keep her flight together and survive the various rigors of war, really strike a chord with the reader.  Viltry’s narrative is a little more complex, as the veteran pilot is suffering from trauma after being shot down and captured in The Guns of Tanith.  Certain about his own impending death, Viltry spends much of the book as a morose and depressed figure, until he finds someone worth living for.  Viltry’s storyline proves to be particularly heartfelt, especially as he has a relatively nice romance angle, and I felt that Abnett really captured his trauma and desire for a better life.

Aside from Jagdea and Viltry, Double Eagle also features several other impressive perspective characters who really bring the narrative together.  This includes young Phantine pilot, Vander Marquall, who serves as a major protagonist.  A rookie pilot fighting in his first campaign, Marquall has a massive desire to prove himself.  His obsession with becoming an ace and being respected becomes an overwhelming part of his character, and you find yourself occasionally disliking him, while also simultaneously cheering him on.  Thanks to his interactions with the other characters, Marquall gets some much-needed perspective at times (that scene with his mechanic at the end was brilliant), and I felt he had one of the most complex, dark and relatable storylines in the entire book.  Abnett rounds out the characters with local pilots August Kaminsky, a wounded veteran no longer allowed to fly, and Enric Darrow, a rookie without a plane after getting shot down in the opening scenes by the novel’s big bad.  While parts of Kaminsky and Darrow’s storylines are a little predictable, you really get invested in their various battles, especially as Abnett produces some interesting character moments and interactions for them.  I especially loved the hilarious exchanges between Kaminsky and Jagdea during one fun sequence, and Darrow proves to be a very likeable and determined young character to get behind.  These main characters, plus an excellent supporting cast, were great to follow in Double Eagle, and it will be awesome to continue at least one survivor’s story in the upcoming sequel.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I ended up listening to Double Eagle on audiobook, as there is frankly no better way to enjoy an epic Warhammer 40,000 novel.  While I always gush about how much I enjoy a Warhammer audiobook, I frankly really need to emphasise just how impressive and exceptional Double Eagle was in this format.  The many, many aerial combat sequences come across so damn well when they are read out to you, and I loved how easily it was to visualise the fast-paced and exceptional flight scenes.  You really get lost in the battles when you listen to them, and I was frankly buzzing the entire time I was listening to Double Eagle.  Part of the reason this audiobook was so damn good was the inclusion of one of my favourite audiobook narrators Toby Longworth.  Longworth has lent his voice to most of Abnett’s Warhammer 40,000 novels in recent years, and frankly the two are a match made in heaven.  The story comes across so effectively in Longworth’s voice, and he really makes every scene, especially the exciting action sequences, that little more epic.  I also really love the fantastic and compelling voices he uses for the various characters.  While a couple of character voices sounded the same as those Longworth used in the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks, I felt that they perfectly fit every figure they were assigned to, and you really get drawn into the matching character arcs as a result.  Frankly this audiobook was perfect, and I had so much fun listening to it.  With a run time of just over 10 hours, the Double Eagle audiobook is very easy to power through, and that is exactly what I did.

With an elaborate, powerful and addictive story about glorious battles in the sky, Double Eagle was a particularly epic Warhammer 40,000 novel that proves impossible not to fall in love with.  Another exceptional novel from Dan Abnett, who once again shows why he is one of the best authors of Warhammer fiction, Double Eagle had me hooked from the very first chapter, and I honestly couldn’t stop reading it until the very end.  This book comes very highly recommended, and I cannot wait to read the sequel later this year.

Amazon

Warhammer 40,000: Sabbat Martyr by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer8 Comments

Sabbat Martyr Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 December 2002)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Seven

Length: 10 hours and 35 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

In addition to my review for Straight Silver, I also present a review for the impressive and epic seventh novel in Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Sabbat Martyr.  This was an outstanding and fantastic addition that perfectly followed on from some of the previous books in the series, including Necropolis, Honour Guard and The Guns of Tanith, while also throwing the beloved protagonists into all manner of trouble.

It is a time of miracles in the Imperium of Man.  As Warmaster Macaroth continues his extensive and exhaustive Sabbat World Crusade, the forces of the Imperium are stretched like never before.  However, word has reached the ears of all the faithful in the Sabbat Worlds that the legendary Saint Sabbat has reincarnated on the isolated and pious world of Herodor.  There, in Civitas Beati, a holy city dedicated to her, the reborn Saint awaits the faithful, the pilgrims, and the mighty warriors of the Imperium.

Amongst those summoned to Herodor are the battle tested and weary soldiers of the Tanith First-and-Only, better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts.  Thanks to their previous victories, as well as their involvement in miracles associated with the Saint, the Ghosts and their leader, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt, have been personally chosen by Sabbat to be her honour guard.  However, nothing on Herodor is as it seems, and Gaunt finds himself drawn into deceptive military politics and the manipulated beliefs of the city.  Worse, the forces of the Emperor of Mankind aren’t the only ones who have heard the call of the new Saint.

As Gaunt attempts to establish order in the city, an unstoppable danger appears on the horizon in the form of the infamous followers of Chaos, the Blood Pact.  Lead by the terrible Chaos warlord, Enok Innokenti, the invading forces of Chaos have one mission: find and kill the reborn Saint, and, by doing so, rob the Imperium of hope.  Desperately outnumbered and faced with impossible odds, Gaunt and his ghosts will need to do all they can to save the Saint and the city.  However, the dread Innokenti will have the Saint’s head by any means necessary and has sent nine deadly and corrupt killers to ensure this happens.  Can Gaunt and the Tanith First-and-Only pull off a miracle in the name of their blessed saint, or is this their final battle?

Abnett pumps up the feels and brings together some amazing storylines in this seventh excellent Gaunt’s Ghosts book.  An action-packed and highly intense read, Sabbat Martyr was another exceptional read, and one that I absolutely powered through thanks to its addictive and powerful story.

Sabbat Martyr has a pretty impressive story behind it, especially as Abnett wraps up the Saint sub-series within the larger Gaunt’s Ghosts books, in a big way.  Starting off fairly typically, with the Ghosts arriving on a new world to take care of some riffraff, Abnett quickly sets the scenes and revisits several of the key existing storylines and character arcs.  However, Sabbat Martyr goes in some intriguing new directions as Gaunt and his soldiers encounter what appears to be a reborn Imperial Saint, who has inspired a new bout of religious fervour and devotion in the region.  This proves to be an interesting new angle which ties this book into the larger concerns of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, rather than focusing on the fight of the common footslogger.  I liked this change of focus, especially as it fits with the hints raised in the preceding novels, and the initial intrigues of the novel added a level of uncertainty that worked quite nicely.  A fantastic, extended battle scene ended the first third of the book nicely, especially as it leads to some big revelations and sets the scene for the second half of the book.

The second half of Sabbat Martyr is where things get really interesting.  Abnett cleverly uses the start of this half to quickly extend several great character arcs, which sets some figures up for some dark times, while others are restored in interesting ways.  However, you don’t have a chance to fully appreciate that, as Abnett then launches the reader right into a new phase of war, as deadly enemies literally rain down around the protagonists.  Essentially the entire second half of the book is pure warfare, as the forces of Chaos arrive and harry the Imperial forces on every front, including with an extended space combat sequence.  From there, the enemy arrives on Herodor in force, including the nine promised deadly killers, and all the protagonists are thrust into a deadly battle for survival.

I loved this last part of the book, especially as Abnett knows how to write an exceptional war sequence.  Expertly splitting the story between numerous point-of-view characters, the resulting carnage is epic, with the protagonists forced into intense street fighting to survive.  All these battles are well crafted, and show the protagonists at their most desperate, as they are slowly pushed back with seemingly no hope to win.  I really loved these battles, as well as the simultaneous character arcs that tied into them, and you really get drawn in towards the big climax.  I did think that Abnett slightly rushed this last half, mainly because he was trying to fit in too much at once.  While the nine killers get a good introduction, they weren’t utilised as effectively as they could have been, and their appearances are a little briefer than you would have liked.  Indeed, there is so much potential material in this second half that Abnett could have honestly fit his story across two books and really expanded everything out.  Still all the big battles are very epic, and the big climatic fight sequence proves to be everything you could have wanted.  Abnett wraps everything up with some major tragedy, as multiple character arcs come full circle in a big and emotionally charged way.  As such, readers, especially established fans of the series, come away from Sabbat Martyr shaken while Abnett clearly and decisively ends a major chapter in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series.

Abnett does a really good job bringing this epic story to life, and I deeply appreciated just how dark and intense Sabbat Martyr got in places.  Expertly utilising multiple character perspectives to tell an elaborate story, you really get sucked into the massive carnage that emerges, and I really must commend Abnett for the impressive battle scenes.  Abnett has his methodology set for the Gaunt’s Ghosts books by this point in the series, and I love how smoothly his story unwinds.  The blend of character focussed storytelling and intense action makes for an exciting read, and I really got invested in this outstanding seventh entry in the series.  I did appreciate how Abnett took his protagonists into the much wider realm of faith, saints and holy power that is well established in other Warhammer 40,000 fiction, but not something we’ve typically seen in this series.  It honestly made for a unique change of pace, and Abnett does a great job wrapping ongoing storylines around it.  I also appreciated how several loose ends and antagonists from previous novels got revisited here, including one of the big issues I had with Honour Guard which got nicely resolved here.  This does mean that unlike the other Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Sabbat Martyr is less accessible for new readers, although Abnett does a good job of summarising old storylines where needed.  As such, this proved to be an epic entry in the wider series, and I really enjoyed how this chapter of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books came to an end.

As with all the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, the heart of Sabbat Martyr lays in the extended cast of protagonists from whom the elaborate story emerges.  Abnett has a very well-established cast of characters for Sabbat Martyr, and it was frankly moving to see how this story unfolded for them.  The author does a good job splitting the story amongst the cast, and I appreciated how this book, unlike the previous novel, didn’t overdo the number of primary cast members.  The resulting character arcs and personal stories proved to be very moving and intense to different degrees, and Abnett really got dark in places, especially when it came to bringing certain character storylines full circle.

Now, I won’t go into too much detail about the characters here, because I don’t want to ruin some major parts of the book.  However, I will say that Gaunt is once again a great central figure, and it was intriguing to see him impacted by his fate, as well as the many friendships he’s made throughout the series.  In addition, Gol Kolea gets a nice addition to his story, which I really appreciated, while one of the original Ghosts, Brin Milo, finds himself going on some bold new adventures that tie in nicely to his long-hinted destiny.  The feud between Lijah Cuu and Hlaine Larkin that was such a dark and memorable part of Straight Silver, comes to a great conclusion here, and Cuu really proves to be the ultimate villain of this series.  Agun Soric’s battle with his unusual messages is another highlight, especially as Abnett works in some powerful personal struggles, as well as a very dark ending that will leave you hurting.  All these character arcs, and more, are handled perfectly and all readers, especially those who have enjoyed the rest of the series, will really appreciate how Abnett continues or concludes them here.  However, I may never forgive Abnett for the big tragedy that occurs at the end that ensures the Tanith First-and-Only will never be the same again.

It goes without saying that I ended up listening to Sabbat Martyr on audiobook, especially after how impressed I have been with the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks.  Coming in with a run time of 10 and half hours, Sabbat Martyr was another descent length Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that I just flew through.  This format works so well to tell epic Warhammer 40,000 stories, and I loved how effectively the fight sequences came through in Sabbat Martyr, as you can so easily envision Abnett’s massive action set pieces.  A lot of how effective Sabbat Martyr’s audiobook is comes down to excellent narrator Toby Longworth, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators.  Longworth, the established narrator for all things Gaunt’s Ghosts (as well as Abnett’s other audiobooks like, Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), has long perfected the voices he uses within these audiobooks, and it was great to hear his established tones and voices again.  The narrator really has all the key characters down and love the fitting and effective voice each of them has.  This impressive voice work deeply enhances an already awesome story, and you really get to feel the emotions and actions of each of the characters.  I honestly had such a great time listening to the Sabbat Martyr audiobook, especially in some of the more intense action scenes which swept my imagination away, and this is easily the best format by which to enjoy this amazing book .

With fire, blood and faith, Abnett wraps up a major part of his iconic Gaunt’s Ghosts series in a big way with the epic Sabbat Martyr.  Loaded with war, personal conflict, powerful developments, and some memorable tragedy, Sabbat Martyr was a worthy and intense addition to the series, and one that I couldn’t stop listening to.  I had such an exceptional time with this book, and Sabbat Martyr, and indeed the entire Gaunt’s Ghosts series, is required reading for all Warhammer 40,000 fans.

Sabbat Martyr Cover 2

Amazon

Warhammer 40,000: Straight Silver by Dan Abnett

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

Straight Silver Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 December 2002)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Six

Length: 9 hours and 52 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

After having a blast reading and reviewing The Traitor’s Hand, my desire for more things Warhammer 40,000 needed to be sated, so I dove into the exceptional and gritty Gaunt’s Ghost book by Dan Abnett, Straight Silver.

While there are some truly impressive Warhammer 40,000 authors out there, few can match Dan Abnett in terms of quality and impact.  One of the most significant authors of Warhammer fiction, Abnett has produced a great number of books in the franchise over the years, which includes several must-read series for all Warhammer fans.  These include his substantial contributions to the massive Horus Heresy series, as well as the iconic Inquisitor extended series.  The Inquisitor books include his impressive and highly compelling Eisenhorn trilogy, made up of Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus, and which are amongst my favourite literary trilogies.  While I am a huge fan of these novels, probably his most grounded and well-known contribution to the Warhammer 40,000 canon are the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels.

The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are an extended series that follows the members of the Tanith First-and-Only, a weary and battle-hardened regiment of Imperial Guard soldiers.  Led by Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and known for their stealth abilities and the destruction of their home planet, the Tanith First-and-Only have taken up the name Gaunt’s Ghosts and are fighting in the massive Sabbat World Crusades hoping to find a new planet to call home.  This series emphasises the common human soldier and the gruelling realities of war in the grim Warhammer 40,000 future, and it is one of the most compelling series out there.  I have had an outstanding time with this series and all the books I have read, including First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis, Honour Guard, The Guns of Tanith, and the prequel novel The Vincula Insurgency, have been extremely epic and complex, perfectly blending great characters with intense action.  Despite still having several books to go, the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels are one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 series for a very good reason and I had no hesitation diving into the next book of the series, Straight Silver, when I needed something fun to read.

As the massive Sabbat World Crusades gain traction against humanity’s enemies, the Imperial forces finally have the capacity to send aid to the long-isolated planet of Aexe Cardinal.  There the loyalist nations of the Aexe Alliances have been locked in a gruelling 40-year war against the Chaos corrupted Shadik Republic.  Amongst the Imperial reinforcements sent to Aexe Cardinal are the veteran Ghosts of the Tanith First-and-Only, who are ready to make a dent in a new foe.

However, upon arriving on Aexe Cardinal, the Ghosts are surprised to find themselves under the command of the Aexe Alliance rather than their own generals.  Forced to serve the whims of their new allies for political reasons, the Ghosts are soon thrust into the archaic way of fighting that have led the war to linger for decades.  Worse, their new commanders refuse to use the Ghosts to their full potential, and the lightly armoured scouts find themselves fighting in bloody trench warfare.

Forced to endure confined conflict in ill-maintained trenches, the Ghosts find death constantly on the horizon as raids, bombardments, gas weaponry, and their own shattered morale begin to take their toll.  To keep his regiment alive and sane, Gaunt volunteers his troops for the most dangerous missions where the Ghost’s scouting skills can be best utilised.  However, the resulting campaigns will test Gaunt and his troops to the utter limit as the relentless forces of Chaos come crashing down upon them.

Straight Silver proved to be an exceptional entry to this amazing Warhammer 40,000 series.  Featuring some powerful and gritty action that took its protagonists to dark places, this sixth entry in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series was so damn good that I managed to power through it in no time at all.

Abnett did a brilliant job coming up with a particularly intense and dark story that plants the protagonists and the reader into the middle of a gritty warzone.  The main story is initially a little basic, with the Ghosts arriving on a new planet and finding themselves caught up in another long-standing war.  However, the book takes an outstanding turn when the Ghosts, who work best as a scout force, are forced into an elaborate trench warfare scenario.  Thanks to the excellent World War I inspired setting, the Ghosts are figuratively thrust back into the past and are forced to fight an old-fashioned type of war with their lasguns going up against firearms, chemical shells, and fixed lines of trenches.  The constant grim trench battles, raids and fights across no man’s land that dominate the first half of this book are very intense, gory, and pointless, and the reader is swiftly drawn into the unusual and dangerous scenario the Ghosts find themselves in.  Abnett masterfully captures so many aspects of this grim scenario, and you have to appreciate how brutal he makes the battles and the terrible conditions the characters find themselves in.

All these initial battles are expertly shown through the eyes of the many recurring characters of the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and you swiftly begin to feel their despair and the rising tensions within them.  This works well with many of the existing character arcs, as several figures deal with grudges, uncertainty about duty, and growing relationships.  This excellent use of character arcs and perspectives humanises the fight, and you can’t help but get dragged even more into their hopeless situations.  I particularly enjoyed how Abnett deliberately made the antagonists a purely human force, with no named enemy characters serving as the villain.  This helps to reinforce that the true antagonist of the plot is human nature and their ability to wage unforgiving war, as the two opposing armies destroy everything around them.

While Abnett could have kept the characters in the trenches for a while and still had a good book, he chooses to accelerate the plot about halfway through Straight Silver, as the Ghosts are given a chance to prove themselves by going on two deadly missions.  This splits the story, as Gaunt leads half the characters on a series of deadly raids behind enemy lines, while another small group of key characters find themselves away from the fighting as they scout a critical location in the woods.  Naturally both storylines result in deadly chaos for the relevant protagonists, but I loved how they played out.  The storyline with Gaunt was brutal infiltration across no man’s land at its finest, and there are so many shudder-inducing moments as they continuously encounter the horrors of war.  The other storyline is much more a slow burn, as the characters find themselves isolated in the woods and only have themselves to fight with, as the grudges and resentments introduced at the start of the book are refreshed.  While the characters come together when an enemy presents itself, they are still caught up in their raw emotions, and this results in some dark moments.  Both storylines are resolve in an impressive and compelling manner, and the reader will come away enthralled, excited, and a little angry, as one excellent villain gets away with everything again.  You are honestly left wanting more, especially as Abnett throws in some tantalising hints for the future, and the bloody battles and horrors of Straight Silver will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

As with most books in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Straight Silver can be read as a mostly standalone read, as many of the key characters and story arcs are expertly reintroduced throughout the course of the book.  While readers will always get more out of Straight Silver if they read the other Gaunt’s Ghosts books first, especially as that will allow them to become more attached to the characters, a new reader can easily pick up Straight Silver and have an outstanding time getting through it.  Straight Silver and the Gaunt’s Ghosts books can also be readily enjoyed by those people with minimal pre-knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  The Gaunt’s Ghosts books exist in their own little pocket of the universe, with the story completely focused on their own struggle as soldiers.  As such, this makes these books perfect entry level reads for those wishing to learn more about Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and anyone with a love for science fiction or military fiction is going to love Straight Silver.

I’m always impressed with the amazing range of characters that Abnett fits into each of his Gaunt’s Ghost novels, as the author tries to constantly capture the entire experience of the regiment in a Band of Brothers sort of way.  Unlike his Eisenhorn books, which had one perspective character, the Gaunt’s Ghosts follow many different protagonists, which allows you to see a massive picture of events unfolding.  This works really well, and I loved the huge range of unique perspectives and personalities that emerged, as well as the different views of the fights and internal conflicts.  I did think that Straight Silver might have featured a few too many different perspectives, as Abnett tried to bring some new characters to the fore.  This meant that several of the established cast from the previous book didn’t have a chance to shine here and were often sidelined, while the newer characters didn’t impress as much in their first big appearance.

There were still a ton of great character arcs going on, and even with less time in the spotlight, many of these characters made the most of it.  Main protagonist Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt gets a good showing, especially as he is forced into conflict with his friend, the highly moral Chief Medic Tolin Dorden, and he is forced to balance his responsibilities as a Commissar with the love he holds for his soldiers.  Newly promoted Sergeant Tona Criid proves to be an absolute badass character, and it was great to see her take command and kick butt.  Sergeant Agun Soric has some great scenes as he slowly comes to realise his latent psychic abilities, while the formerly charismatic Gol Kolea is a hard figure to read about, after suffering a head wound in the previous book and losing his intelligence.  However, the best storyline in Straight Silver involves the mad sniper Hlaine Larkin and the nefarious trooper Lijah Cuu (sure as sure).  Thanks to their interactions in the previous book, the slippery murderer Cuu has a major grudge against Larkin and is determined to kill him, just like he did Bragg.  This results in a deadly game of cat and mouse between the two, as Larkin tries to survive both the enemy and Cuu.  Cuu comes away as such a good villain for this book (even more than the enemy), and you can’t help but hate the guy, especially as there is something slick and scary in his every appearance.  These characters, and many more, helped to turn Straight Silver into an exceptional read, and you really get wrapped up in their unique experiences of war.

I doubt anyone who has every read one of my Warhammer reviews will be surprised that I ended up listening to Straight Silver on audiobook.  All Warhammer books are so much better in this format, and the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks are a great example of this, especially with narrator Toby Longworth.  Longworth, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, has lent his voice to most of Abnett’s Warhammer audiobooks, and he always does a remarkable job moving the story along and describing the book’s epic battle sequences.  This is extremely evident in Straight Silver, and I very quickly powered through this audiobook because of how good it is.

I especially loved the awesome voices that Longworth came up with for the various characters featured throughout the book, and he goes out of his way to ensure that every figure has their own distinctive and fitting voice.  Many of these voices are carried over from the previous audiobooks, and it was great to get the continuity for each of the recurring characters, so much so that by this point listeners of the other Gaunt’s Ghosts books can figure out who is talking just by hearing their particular tone.  One thing I particularly appreciate is the range of accents that Longworth distributes across the audiobook.  Each group of soldiers, such as the original Tanith troopers, the new Verghastite recruits, and the soldiers of Aexe Cardinal, are given their own distinctive accents, and this cool attention to detail is what makes Longworth such a good narrator.  This was such an epic audiobook; with a runtime of nearly ten hours, most people can power through it, especially when they get caught up in the epic story.

Straight Silver is a particularly epic and impressive addition to the Gaunt’s Ghosts series as Dan Abnett takes his fame regiment down into battle hell.  Loaded with intense moments, a powerful background setting, and multiple engaging character arcs, Straight Silver is an exceptional read, and it is honestly one of the strongest Gaunt’s Ghosts books I have so far read.  An utterly addictive Warhammer 40,000 novel, I can give it no higher honour as a reviewer than to say the moment I finished it, I instantly grabbed the next book in the series, read it, and will be putting up a review for it now.

Amazon

Throwback Thursday – Warhammer 40,000: The Guns of Tanith by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer14 Comments

The Guns of Tanith Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 25 April 2002)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Five

Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 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.  After having such a great time reviewing the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts novel, Honour Guard, in my last Throwback Thursday, I immediately read the fifth fantastic entry in the series, The Guns of Tanith, which proved to be just as awesome and exciting.

As I mentioned last week, I have been really getting into the works of Dan Abnett over the last year, and I now consider several of his books to be amongst the best Warhammer 40,000 novels I have had the pleasure of reading.  Not only did I deeply enjoy his epic Eisenhorn trilogy (made up of Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus) but I have also been powering through his Gaunt’s Ghosts books.  The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are some of the more iconic novels in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise and are often considered essential reading by fans of the franchise due to the captivating way they capture the gruelling experiences of ordinary human soldiers in this grim, futuristic setting.  The first four novels in the series, First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis and Honour Guard, as well as the prequel novel The Vincula Insurgency, are all excellent and exciting in their own way, and I have had a ton of fun seeing the impressive war narratives set around the men of the Tanith First-and-Only, informally known as Gaunt’s Ghosts.  As I was still in the mood for some awesome action at the end of last week, I just had to keep going with these books and I quickly picked up the fifth entry, The Guns of Tanith.

As the massive Sabbat Worlds Crusade continues to pit the forces of the Imperium of Man against the foul forces of Chaos, the battlelines extend across multiple planets and systems, drawing in millions of soldiers.  The latest phase of the crusade has severely stretched the supply lines of the Imperial assault and the Chaos foes are quick to take advantage, threatening to cut off and surround the main Imperial force.  To stave off disaster, Warmaster Macaroth, needs the Tanith First-and-Only to recapture the vital promethium producing planet of Phantine so the crusade can be resupplied and continue.

Led by the heroic Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, the Tanith First-and-Only engage in a deadly airborne assault on several of the planet’s domed cities.  Relying on their unique skills of navigation and infiltration, the Ghosts prove to be vital to the operation and soon take the key city of Cirenholm.  However, holding the city proves to be harder than expected.  While preparing for the next assault, the vile murder of a freed Cirenholm civilian places a Ghost on trial and opens up the festering cultural divides within the regiment.

As Gaunt attempts to get to the bottom of the crime and ensure that the innocent are left alive, the Ghosts are given a vital mission to undertake.  A dangerous Chaos warlord has taken command of the final occupied city, Ouranberg, and his lethal command threatens to devastate an attack by the Imperials.  To ensure a successful invasion of this Chaos stronghold, a specialised team of Ghosts is tasked with infiltrating the city and assassinating the enemy leader in advance of the main assault force.  Featuring some of the best the Ghosts have to offer, the assassination squad will be forced to walk through hell to achieve their objective and not everyone will be coming back.

In this fifth entry in this amazing series, Abnett continues to impress with another powerful and captivating character-driven read that takes the Ghosts through a gruelling round of battles, tragedy and growth that proves near impossible to put down.  The Guns of Tanith was a pretty strong entry in the series, expanding on some of the interesting storylines from the first novel while also introducing a new dark scenario for the characters to deal with.

The Guns of Tanith features a fantastic narrative from Abnett that contains his usual blend of high-intensity action, character growth, and intriguing examinations of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, that make all the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels such a treat to read.  Following on from the events of the previous books in the series The Guns of Tanith is told in Abnett’s typical style, with a ton of unique character perspectives, mostly those of the Ghosts, which presents the reader with a rich and vibrant view of the events, as well as the unique, character-driven storylines that emerge.  While this fifth Gaunt’s Ghosts novel can be read as a standalone book, The Guns of Tanith does see several ongoing, character focused storylines come to a head or get even more complicated. As such, readers should really consider checking out the previous novels first so they can get the full emotional weight of the revelations and twists that emerge.

The main narrative of The Guns of Tanith is bookended by major extended battle sequences that see the Ghosts and their allies engage in elaborate fights across two separate cities.  The first of these battles, in Cirenhom, sees all the Ghosts forced to engage in a particularly bloody battle with limited ammunition against a dangerous and determined foe that has set up some elaborate traps.  This extended sequence is both epic and useful as it provides the reader with a ton of intense action to draw them into the novel while Abnett introduces the characters and storylines that this latest novel is focused on.  You also get a good overview to the new setting of Phantine, a polluted planet with a toxic atmosphere that requires multiple forms of airship to traverse.  This unique location adds some great spice to the overall story, especially as it requires the characters to learn some unique aerial skills, while also allowing Abnett to have fun featuring several impressive dogfights.  There are some great moments during this first extended battle sequence, and it sets the rest of the book up nicely.

The middle of the book is where the reader gets into the real meat of the story, especially as it lowers the intensity levels down from the action-packed introduction and allows the reader to breathe and absorb all the intriguing story elements to come.  At first, I wasn’t too keen on a quieter middle section to this novel, especially as I thought it would make The Guns of Tanith more of a bridging novel in the series, rather than a book that could stand on its own.  However, Abnett soon proved me wrong as this intriguing central storyline contained a lot of major character moments and intriguing plot lines, while also expertly setting up the final third of the book.  The main storyline explored in the centre involves a murder investigation when one of the Ghosts is accused of killing an innocent civilian.  Abnett does a great job with this murder storyline, especially as it brings in compelling mystery and legal thriller elements to it, while also driving the characters in some excellent directions.  However, the real joy of this part of the book is the focus on the camaraderie and factions within the Ghosts, and the fracturing coherence in places leads to some memorable moments later on.

The final section of the book focuses on the assault of the Phantine city, Ouranberg, and the special Ghosts mission to assassinate the Chaos warlord.  Following several supporting members of the cast, this final third of The Guns of Tanith takes these characters on a particularly dark mission through a Chaos stronghold, and Abnett throttles up the tension and brutality to the maximum, ensuring that the readers are strongly hooked on everything unfolding.  Watching the separated teams attempt to navigate through enemy territory leads to some dark and bloody sequences, and everything comes together in a brutal confrontation where all the characters get a moment to shine.  The invasion in the aftermath of this assault brings the entirety of The Guns of Tanith together in an outstanding way, as several major storylines are expertly and impressively resolved, often in ways that leave the characters even more damaged than when they started.  This is also a particularly shocking death of a major character that is guaranteed to move long-term readers of the series.  Abnett does a masterful job of setting this death up, including by showcasing several misleading near-misses, so you really don’t know who is going to live or die right up to the end.  His eventual choice is one designed to wound his readers, and you will have to come back to see how it impacts the rest of this series.  Overall, this was an extremely solid and impressive Gaunt’s Ghosts narrative, and I deeply enjoyed how Abnett continued and finalised some of the great character storylines from the previous books, while also providing the reader with more action and intrigue than they can handle.

As with most of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, The Guns of Tanith is an open read to all those unfamiliar with the wider Warhammer 40,000 canon.  Abnett goes out of his way to make his books accessible for new readers, and he always provides enough detail and background so that anyone can catch up and enjoy the subsequent story.  However, for those fans more familiar with the Warhammer universe, there are always a ton of great elements or unique world building details that they will find particularly fascinating.  The new locations in The Guns of Tanith are pretty damn spiffing, and I had a lot of fun with the polluted planet, especially as it requires multiple arial sequences.  This is turn leads to the introduction of the Phantine XX Fighter Corps, who Abnett will go on to feature in his spin-off novel, Double Eagle, and it was fun to see how they get their start here.  For me, though, the best part of the universe expansion was Abnett’s in-depth look at the day-to-day life of the common soldier in the Imperial Guard.  While Abnett has always done a masterful job of capturing the footslogger experience in his novels, I felt that The Guns of Tanith was one of his best attempts to dive into the core of his beloved regiment.  Not only is there are lot of story focus on the various members and factions of the regiment, but Abnett also spent some time trying to explore the downtime and personal lives of the characters, and it was pretty intriguing to see the accompanying civilian baggage train of the regiment, which includes their families and other vital services.  I also personally loved the scenes that examined the problems associated with the Imperial bureaucracy as the Ghosts come up against their greatest enemy: bad paperwork.  Certain mistakes ensure that the Ghosts are left with minimal ammunition as the Departmento Munitorum orders the wrong power packs for their lasguns.  The following extended sequence which saw the regiment unable to fight effectively because their ammunition couldn’t fit their guns was an impressive part of the book and it definitely raised the stakes during the book’s introduction.

As usual, one of the major highlights of The Guns of Tanith is the amazing characters that the story focuses on, as Abnett once again fits a huge number of character-driven storylines into the book.  At this point in the series, Abnett has introduced a pretty substantial cast of characters, many of whom have ongoing storylines, and it is intriguing to see them unfold even further in The Guns of Tanith, especially as Abnett does a great job featuring most of them equally and then combining them into the larger narrative.  Many of the more intriguing character arcs in this book carry over from the previous novels and there are some great conclusions and expansions to them here that helps to improve the already great narrative of The Guns of Tanith.  At the same time, several new characters are introduced here or finally given prominence, and it was interesting to see how they fit into the already established character dynamics that Abnett has been building up.  The cohesiveness of the Ghosts as a regiment ends up becoming a huge fixture of this book as the Tanith-Verghastite divide is explored in greater detail by many of the characters.  It was fascinating to see how Abnett handled these character storylines in The Guns of Tanith, and several of them ended up being some of the best parts of the book.

As with most of the novels in the series, quite a lot of character focus goes towards the main protagonist, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, whose experiences as the commander of this unique regiment continue to trouble him in various ways.  In The Guns of Tanith, this takes the form of his apparent unconscious bias towards the Tanith elements of his regiment over the Verghastite recruits, which is showcased by his differing reactions during two court cases.  This results in several intense interactions between Gaunt and members of his team, which helped to showcase the protagonist’s idealism and a certain degree of naiveté when it comes to Imperial politics, both of which will cause him trouble in the future.  This is also an intriguing look at the issues caused by Gaunt holding the dual rank of Colonel and Commissar, which make him simultaneously a command officer and a political officer in charge of discipline.  This is the first time the duality of his roles has caused some major problems for him, and it was interesting to see several characters question him about it.  Watching Gaunt try to balance his various hats while also maintaining the respect of his men and his superiors makes this a rather compelling novel for Gaunt and I will be intrigued to see how this affects the character in the future.

While there is always a lot of focus on Gaunt, many of the other characters have big moments here, and it is always interesting to see which characters Abnett will focus on in each particular novel.  Firstly, this is one of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books where the major characters of Colm Corbec and Elim Rawne do not get a lot of focus, as Abnett sets them aside to make room for others.  Corbec is once again wounded early on in the plot to keeps him out of the action, while Rawne, after getting a good needling into Gaunt, is showcased as the senior commander, but that’s about it.  Instead, a lot of the focus goes towards some of the newer members of the cast, such as Gol Kolea, whose attempts to balance his complex family concerns leads only to tragedy and despair for him and the reader.  Cuu continues to be a menace, while surgeon Ana Curth acts as several character’s consciences throughout the book.  The previously overlooked but surprisingly lucky Bonin finally got some prominence in this novel, and I loved finding out how he survived Necropolis.  The newer characters of Commissar Hark and Captain Ban Daur also proved to be essential parts of the plot, and I am really glad that Abnett continued to utilise them, as they helped Gaunt see the errors of several decisions while simultaneously taking on some of Gaunt’s more unorthodox methods.  Members of the original Ghosts, such as Brin Milo, Larkin, Bragg and Mkoll all had good roles in The Guns of Tanith as well, and their balanced scenes showcased different triumphs and tragedies.  Finally, I was glad that Abnett decided to keep featuring the mysterious preacher, Ayatani Zweil, after his fun introduction in Honour Guard.  Zweil is an always entertaining yet serious figure, and it was great to see him knock some sense into several characters when they needed it.  I’m honestly only scratching the surface here, as a ton of other characters were well featured throughout The Guns of Tanith as Abnett continues to build and bring together his final cast of major characters.  Each of these amazing protagonists had some superb impacts on narrative of this novel, and I cannot wait to see how Abnett continues to develop them in the later books of the series.  I am assuming it is only a matter of time until more of the characters start to die, and I am sure that will break my heart just as much as the big death in The Guns of Tanith did.

Due to my love of the format, I of course listened to The Guns of Tanith on audiobook, which is easily the best way to enjoy any Warhammer book.  I have gone on a lot about the fantastic Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks in recent reviews, and The Guns of Tanith has all the same advantages, as one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Toby Longworth, brings the reader right into the heart of the action with his great voice work.  Every scene is masterfully showcased by his narration, and all the characters are brought to life thanks to the great voices he utilises for them.  Longworth really stretched himself when it came to accents in this latest novel, and he features a ton of great new voices, as well as the existing tones from the previous audiobooks, to bring this entire audiobook together.  With the standard runtime of just over 10 hours, The Guns of Tanith audiobook is a real snap to power through, and I honestly finished it off in only a few days.

Unsurprisingly, I absolutely loved the fifth entry in Dan Abnett’s exceptional Gaunt’s Ghosts books, The Guns of Tanith, which proved to be another powerful and enjoyable Warhammer 40,000 novel.  Filled with Abnett’s usual impressive battles, The Guns of Tanith also had a brilliant focus on characters-driven storylines that dominated most of the plot and kept the readers hooked the entire time.  An intense, addictive, and deeply personal Gaunt’s Ghosts books, The Guns of Tanith was pretty damn outstanding and I loved every second of it.

Amazon

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

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

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 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.

Amazon

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

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer17 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 41st 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.

Amazon

Warhammer 40,000: The Vincula Insurgency by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer20 Comments

The Vincula Insurgency Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 21 May 2022)

Series: Ghost Dossier – Book One

Length: 6 hours and seven minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon     Book Depository

One of the leading authors of Warhammer fiction, Dan Abnett, returns to his iconic Gaunt’s Ghosts franchise in a big way with the compelling military thriller, The Vincula Insurgency.

Few people have excelled at tie-in fiction in the same way that acclaimed author Dan Abnett has over the years.  Not only has he written multiple awesome comics and several original novels but he has contributed tie-in books to several different fandoms, including Doctor Who and Tomb Raider.  However, his most significant work has easily been within the Warhammer extended universe.  Abnett has produced a ton of impressive and compelling Warhammer novels over his career in both the Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy sub-series.  Some of his more notable works include some cool-sounding Warhammer comics, the Tales of Malus Darkblade novels (I’ve got a copy on my shelf waiting to be read), and some major Warhammer 40,000 novels, including multiple entries in the massive The Horus Heresy series, as well as his Eisenhorn, Ravenor and Bequin novels, which together paint one of the most complete pictures of the Imperial Inquisition).  However, I would say that his most notable series is probably the Gaunt’s Ghosts series of novels.

Set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels are part of the larger Sabbat Worlds crusades arc of fiction (which have come out of this series) following a unique regiment of soldiers, the Tanith First and Only.  The Tanith First and Only, also known as Gaunt’s Ghosts in respect to their commander, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, are a highly skilled unit who specialise in stealth and scouting missions.  Their planet, Tanith, was destroyed shortly after their formation, hence the designation First and Only.  The Gaunt’s Ghosts series follows their battles through the Sabbat Worlds as a major part of the crusades.  This series began back in 1999 with the awesome novel, First and Only, and the latest novel, Anarch, (book 15) came out in 2019.  Generally considered one of the most iconic and compelling series in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, I have been meaning to properly read this series for ages, although so far I have only had the chance to check out First and Only.  However, Abnett recently revisited this series with the intriguing The Vincula Insurgency.  The first entry in Ghost Dossier series, which presents never-before-seen stories of the Ghosts, The Vincula Insurgency acts as a prequel to the main series and tells an impressive and fun new tale of the early regiment.

Before the battles that would make them famous throughout the Sabbat Worlds Crusades, the Tanith First and Only, under the command of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, are still coming together as a unit.  After fighting a gruelling campaign on the planet of Voltemand, politics has forced the Tanith to remain and take over security for a backwater agricultural province and its capital, Vincula City.  Determined to get off-world and back to the frontlines, Gaunt and his regiment grudgingly prepare for the arrival of a new provincial governor and his administrators.  However, life is about to get very interesting for the Tanith forces.

A highly skilled and deadly insurgency movement has emerged within Vincular City, determined to cripple the Imperial forces within and disrupt their ability to assist the rest of the crusade.  After a series of brutal bombings, Gaunt and his troops attempt to keep the peace within the province.  However, their actions are countered at an impressive rate by the local insurgency elements, who are receiving outside help and training from a dangerous opponent who knows all the Tanith’s tricks.  Can Gaunt and his unit pull together to defeat this deadly foe?  And what happens when they discover that their mysterious opponent is linked to the Ghost’s long-dead planet?

This was another extremely awesome Warhammer novel from Abnett who has produced an intense and clever prequel to his existing Gaunt’s Ghosts novels.  The Vincula Insurgency is a relatively short novel, with a somewhat compressed story.  However, despite this length, Abnett manages to achieve quite a lot.  Not only does it set up plot points for the main series, but it also features a brilliant and very entertaining self-contained narrative that is guaranteed to keep the reader entertained.  Shown from the perspective of several of your favourite Ghosts, the author tells an excellent story that sees the protagonists under attack from a well organised insurgency group.  This results in a very fast-paced narrative that perfectly brings together the science fiction Warhammer 40,000 elements with a military thriller storyline as the Ghosts attempt to overcome the enemy attacking them from all sides.  The action flies thick and fast here, and features some impressively written battle sequences that really drag you into the heart of the fighting.  In addition, the author keeps the tension levels high throughout most of the story, and the feeling that some bad things are about to happen is never far from the reader’s mind.  The multiple character driven storylines come together extremely well within The Vincula Insurgency to create a comprehensive and powerful narrative, and I really appreciated some of the unique story elements that Abnett came up with.  This cool novel ends on an interesting note, and I will be quite intrigued to see what additional new Gaunt’s Ghosts’ stories Abnett has planned.

This was a very interesting addition to the Warhammer canon as Abnett dives back into the earlier days of his established series.  The Vincula Insurgency serves as an excellent prequel to the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and it was great to see more of the early history surrounding this awesome unit.  Abnett makes sure to load up the book with a ton of references and hints of the events that are to come in the series, which established fans will really appreciate.  However, even those readers who are unfamiliar with the Gaunt’s Ghosts series can have fun here, as Abnett tells a very inclusive narrative that anyone can enjoy, with plenty of exposition about who the Tanith are and what is happening in the Sabbat Worlds Crusades.  Indeed, The Vincula Insurgency serves as a very good introduction to the series’ characters and storylines, and many readers could use this as a jumping point into the main Gaunt’s Ghosts novels.  Abnett also takes this opportunity to do an interesting bit of lore expansion with the Tanith troops.  Due to certain plot points, the characters dive into the Tanith culture and history, which proves to be very fascinating, especially when it may connect to a new enemy.  This also serves as a very good introduction to the wider Warhammer 40,000 canon, especially as it showcases the common trooper’s role in this chaotic universe.  I often say that stories about the common Imperial soldiers result in some of the best Warhammer 40,000 novels (Steel Tread and Krieg for example), and this was extremely true in The Vincula Insurgency.  Abnett really nails the feel of an armed insurgency in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and the parallels between the battles in this book and in some real-world conflicts are pretty uncanny (think Iraq or Afghanistan with laser rifles).  An overall excellent addition to both the Warhammer and Gaunt’s Ghost canon that is really worth checking out.

I had a lot of fun with the characters in The Vincula Insurgency, especially as Abnett features slightly younger versions of all your favourite original Gaunt’s Ghosts protagonists.  This is a slightly different version of the Ghosts that you have seen before, as they are still coming together as a regiment and aren’t yet a fully cohesive team.  Abnett does a brilliant job featuring multiple key Gaunt’s Ghosts characters in this book, with many getting their own distinctive storylines.  I liked his portrayal of unit leader Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, who is still relatively new in his command of the regiment.  While he is still incredibly confident, skilled and an absolute badass, it was interesting to see a few differences here, such as his inability to remember the names of the members of his unit.  Other key characters include Colonel Colm Corbec, the regiment’s second in command who is sent on an alternate mission for most of the book where he learns all the joys of interacting with the upper echelons of the Imperial Guard.  Major Elim Rawne, the rebellious member of the unit has a great outing in this book, not only showcasing his established resentment for Gaunt, but also featuring him in an intriguing romance with an Administratum official that deeply impacts him.  Brin Milo, the youngest member of the Tanith, also has a major arc in this book, with the novel focusing on both his uncanny insights, and his rise to become Gaunt’s official aid.  Other characters who get some good showings in this book include Ceglan Varl, Bragg, Tolin Dorden, Oan Mkoll, and more, with all of them getting their moment to shine in this book.  I had a brilliant time seeing earlier versions of these great characters, and Abnett clearly had fun revisiting them and showcasing their older attitudes.

I ended up grabbing The Vincula Insurgency audiobook, which proved to be an excellent adaptation of this book.  With a runtime of just over six hours, listeners can really speed through The Vincula Insurgency audiobook, and the story just flows along, especially with the impressive narration from Toby Longworth.  Longworth, who is one of the more prolific Warhammer narrators, having voiced all the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts novels, is a very talented voice actor who brilliantly brings this compelling story and its great characters to life.  Not only does he address every bit of action and exposition for a powerful and impressive tone, but each of the characters are given their own distinctive and fitting voice throughout the book.  I particularly liked how he gave all the Tanith characters similar accents to denote that they all come from the same planet, and it was a very nice touch, especially as it contrasts well with the various non-Tanith characters, some of whom have other, often strongly European, accents.  This incredible voice work really helped to drag me into this captivating story, and I found myself getting a lot more invested in the characters and the plot as a result.  Easily the best way to enjoy The Vincula Insurgency, this audiobook comes highly recommended.

The always impressive Dan Abnett returns with another awesome addition to his fantastic Gaunt’s Ghosts series with The Vincula Insurgency.  Featuring an outstanding and exciting prequel narrative, The Vincula Insurgency takes an earlier version of the Tanith First and Only on an intense and action-packed adventure in captured enemy territory.  Tense, fast-paced, and loaded with compelling characters, The Vincula Insurgency is an excellent and highly enjoyable Warhammer 40,000 novel that will appeal to wide range of readers.

Amazon     Book Depository

Throwback Thursday – First and Only by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer28 Comments

First and Only Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1999)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book One

Length: 10 hours

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon     Book Depository

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 check out the first entry in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, First and Only, by Dan Abnett, which proved to be a very impressive Warhammer 40,000 novel.

You only need to look through my recent Throwback Thursdays to see that I have been in a real Warhammer mood lately.  I recently got into the Gotrek and Felix series by William King, and quickly made my way through the first three books, Trollslayer, Skavenslayer and Daemonslayer, all of which were incredibly awesome.  While I have got the fourth book, Dragonslayer, ready and waiting, I decided to take a break from the fantasy Warhammer novels and dive back into the science fiction Warhammer 40,000 universe.  While I only used to play Warhammer Fantasy, I have a great appreciation for the Warhammer 40,000 lore, and I have recently enjoyed two great books in this massive franchise, Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker and Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty.

While there are several intriguing Warhammer 40,000 novels on my radar, I decided to listen to the very first entry in the acclaimed Gaunt’s Ghosts series by Dan Abnett, First and Only.  Abnett is an impressive and prolific author and comic book writer who has done a lot of work across several franchises and companies, including Marvel and DC.  While he has a massive back catalogue, Abnett is best known for his input into the Warhammer extended universe.  Abnett has written an immense number of novels for the franchise, including Warhammer Fantasy books, such as the Malus Darkblade series (on my to-read list).  Most of his work is in the Warhammer 40,000 range, where he has written several major series, including the Eisenhorn and Ravenor series, as well as several major novels in the Horus Heresy extended series.  However, the most iconic of these is the Gaunt’s Ghosts series.

The long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts series follows a regiment of Imperial Guard, the basic foot-soldiers of the Imperium of Man, a major faction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Starting back in 1999 with this novel, the Gaunt’s Ghost series featured 15 individual books, as well as several short stories, and only recently finished in 2019.  The Gaunt’s Ghosts series is one of the most iconic entries in the entire Warhammer 40,000 novel range, and I have heard many positive things about it over the years.  First and Only was one of the first books published by the Black Library, the Games Workshop publishing arm, and is a major feature of their catalogue.  So I felt that I was going to take the plunge and read more Warhammer novels, this would be a pretty good place to start, and boy was I glad that I did.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war….

Throughout the entirety of space, the armies of the Imperium bring the fight to their enemies on every planet, battlefield and hellscape they can find.  One of the most deadly and destructive theatres of war is the massive Sabbat Worlds Crusade, where Imperial forces fight and die to defeat the armies of Chaos and bring an entire sector back into the Emperor’s light.  Many regiments of Imperial Guard have been recruited to battle in this war, but none have a background more steeped in blood and tragedy than the Tanith First and Only.

Formed to serve in the crusades from the once verdant world of Tanith, the first regiment of Tanith Imperial Guards could only watch in horror as their planet was destroyed by the forces of Chaos, with them the only survivors.  Now under the command of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, the men of the Tanith First and Only have taken to calling themselves Gaunt’s Ghosts, due to their superior stealth skills and in recognition of the pain they feel at being the only remnants of their planet.

Fighting in the latest phase of the crusade, the Ghosts find themselves where the fighting is thickest, using their unique skills and experiences to confound the enemy and bring about impossible victories.  However, the Ghosts are about to discover that not all battles are fought on the field, and not all enemies are in front of them.  A power struggle is brewing in the upper ranks of the Crusade’s high-command, and the Ghosts have fallen right into the middle of it.  Entrusted with a mysterious encrypted data transmission by an old friend, Gaunt soon finds himself targeted by the agents of an ambitious general.  After several devastating attacks, Gaunt is forced to choose a side, especially after he uncovers a deadly secret that could destroy everything his men have fought for.  His mission will lead him to the most dangerous battlefield in the crusade, where the lines between friend and foe have never been blurrier.

Now this was a really incredible and exciting novel.  Abnett has produced an outstanding story in First and Only, and I loved how he perfectly translated the unique feel of the Warhammer 40,000 universe into a captivating narrative.  Featuring some great characters, a dark setting, and a fantastic look at this great franchise, First and Only is a captivating and explosive novel and I had an amazing time getting through it.

Abnett has produced a pretty epic story for First and Only that not only serves as an excellent introduction to the characters and wider narrative but is also full of excitement, intrigue and action.  At its core, First and Only is a tough and gritty military action adventure, that follows the Tanith First and Only through several gory fields of battle.  The narrative is broken up into several distinctive sections, set across three separate planets and one massive spaceship, as well as several shorter scenes and flashback sequences that add context and strengthen character development.  These separate sequences flow together extremely well and form a tight and compelling overarching narrative.  I loved the way in which Abnett combined his fantastic military story with treacherous and thrilling political intrigue, as the protagonists are forced to deal with treachery from their friends and attacks from their own commanders.  The author really does a great job setting up the key plot points at the start of the book, and the entire narrative seamlessly flows on after that.  I was deeply impressed by all the amazing action sequences, and I loved the author’s use of multiple character perspectives to tell a complex and powerful narrative.  The entire narrative comes together extremely well into a big, explosive conclusion.  I really enjoyed some of the great twists that were revealed in the lead-up to the conclusion and I was pleasantly surprised by several fun turns and reveals.  An overall exciting and terrific narrative, I had an absolute blast getting through this awesome novel.

One of the best things about this fun novel is the author’s great use of the dark and gothic Warhammer 40,000 setting.  Abnett obviously has a lot of love for this universe, and he painstakingly recreates it in his novel in all its fantastic and gritty glory.  As a result, the reader is treated to some outstandingly portrayed background settings of destroyed worlds, bombarded warzones, and overpopulated Imperial worlds.  This proves to be really impressive to see, and the author makes sure to use this setting to full effect, enhancing the cool narrative and making it an excellent backing for the various fight scenes.  This attention to detail also comes into play perfectly during the book’s various action sequences, and I felt that Abnett perfectly captured the unique and chaotic feel of a Warhammer 40,000 battle scene.  I have to say that I also deeply appreciated the way in which Abnett introduced the reader to the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I personally found that very little pre-knowledge of this extended universe is needed to enjoy this book, and while those readers familiar with the game or other Warhammer novels will obviously get a lot more out of First and Only, this is actually a pretty good way to experience Warhammer 40,000 lore for the first time.

Another cool aspect of this novel was the insightful and intriguing focus on the Imperial Guard.  The Imperial Guard are the basic grunts of the Imperial faction and are often overshadowed by the flashier Space Marines in both the tabletop game and the wider extended universe.  As a result, it was cool to see a novel that focuses on a regiment of these troopers and shows them during a deadly and bloody war.  Abnett does an outstanding job capturing this faction in First and Only, diving into the psyche of the common soldier, while also showcasing their tactics, weapons, machines and motivations.  Thanks to the author’s excellent use of multiple character perspectives, you get to see various aspects of the regiment from commander down, and I loved the fascinating combination of perspectives from all the different types of soldiers and specialists.  I also really appreciated the way in which Abnett highlighted different regiments of Imperial Guard throughout the novel, which corresponds with the varied regiments and styles that can be fielded in the tabletop game.  While most of this novel focused on the Tanith First and Only, Abnett also strongly features two other regiments, the Vitrian Dragoons and the Jantine Patricians, who act as allies and rivals to the Ghosts respectfully.  It was extremely interesting to see the variations in mentality, uniforms, and tactics between these regiments, and I really enjoyed the way in which the author highlights their diverse backgrounds and planets.  This ended up being an incredible introduction to the Imperial Guard, and I imagine that quite a few Warhammer 40,000 players gained a new appreciation for this army after reading this novel.

First and Only features a fantastic collection of characters that serve as the heart and soul of the narrative.  This book follows the adventures of the Gaunt’s Ghosts regiment, and you get to see various members of this squad in action, as well as some antagonist characters.  Abnett ensures that each of the characters featured within the novel have intriguing and well-established backstories and traits, and you quickly understand their motivations.  Much of First and Only’s focus is on the leader of the Ghosts, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, who serves as the main protagonist. Gaunt proves to be an excellent and enjoyable main character, who serves as both the regiment’s leader and its inspirational political officer.  Abnett really develops Gaunt’s personality and backstory, and all of the flashbacks focus on his past, setting up his relationship with several of the characters featured in the novel and showing how several rivalries were formed.  Other fascinating and complex characters included Colonel Corbec, who was the main secondary antagonist; Major Rawne, an officer with a hatred for Gaunt who has a pretty traumatic time in this novel; Brin Milo, Gaunt’s adjutant with extreme perception (they are obviously setting up something there); and Colonel Flense, a guardsman from a rival regiment who bears a great grudge against Gaunt.  All these characters, and more, are really fun to follow, but readers are advised not to get too attached, as this is a brutal war story.  I will admit that I initially had a little trouble connecting to several of the characters and I lost track of who the different protagonists were.  However, once I got a further into the story, I grew to know each of the distinctive characters, and I appreciated their fun characteristics and capacities.

As I have tended to do with all Warhammer recently, I grabbed the audiobook version of First and Only.  This proved to be a fantastic decision, as the First and Only audiobook was an excellent and fun production that I was able to power through quickly.  First and Only has a decent run time of 10 hours, and features some amazing voice work from veteran narrator Toby Longworth.  Longworth, who has previously narrated a swathe of Warhammer audiobooks, does an outstanding job with this novel, and he moves the narrative along at a swift and exciting pace.  I love the range of great voices Longworth brings to First and Only, and each character is given a distinctive voice that fits their personality and background perfectly.  There is a certain grim nature to the voices of many of the main characters, which reflects the dark, gothic nature of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  He also utilises a series of different accents for some of the various Imperial Guard regiments, which helps to distinguish their divergent backgrounds and the influence of their home world.  This amazing narration turns the First and Only audiobook into an absolute treat, and this was an incredible way to enjoy this excellent book.  As Longworth provides the narration for the rest of the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks, I will probably check out the rest of this series in this format, and I already know that I will have an awesome time doing so.

First and Only by Dan Arbnett is an outstanding and fantastic novel that takes the reader on an exciting journey to the heart of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Featuring an incredible and epic war story that makes full use of its dark setting and amazing characters, First and Only serves as a captivating first entry in the Gaunt’s Ghost series.  I had a wonderful time listening to this book, and this was one of the best Warhammer tie-in novels I have so far had the pleasure of reading.  This novel comes highly recommended, and I full intend to check out the other entries in this series in the next few years.

First and Only Cover

Amazon     Book Depository