Tag: War

Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science FictionLeave a comment

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (Audiobook – 10 February 2026)

Series: Standalone

Length: 10 hours and 49 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The always inventive and uniquely funny Matt Dinniman kicks off a big year with the epic and outstanding read, Operation Bounce House, an incredible and heartfelt novel with one of the most distinctive plots of 2026.

In the last year, I have become one of the many readers/reviewers that has irrevocably fallen in love with the writings of Matt Dinniman.  A clever and hilarious author, Dinniman has gained attention from the world thanks to his intriguing contributions to the LitRPG franchise, producing some very compelling and over-the-top books.  This includes his most famous body of work, the beloved Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which has attracted a diehard group of fans thanks to its addictive overarching plot, complex characters and bonkers humour.  I personally read the entire Dungeon Crawler Carl collection in one straight go last year, with the then seven books in the series, including Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, The Gate of the Feral Gods, The Butcher’s Masquerade, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride and This Inevitable Ruin, all getting very easy five star ratings from me.  Due to how unbelievably addictive the Dungeon Crawler Carl books are, I just had to check out Dinniman’s latest read, the standalone novel Operation Bounce House.  Due to both my experiences with Dinniman and its very cool sounding plot, Operation Bounce House ended up being one of my most anticipated releases of early 2026, and boy did it not disappoint.

In the far future, humanity has expanded out amongst the stars, with massive ships sent to colonise remote planets.  Many planets were found and settled, but few experienced the hardships of New Sonora, where tragedy forced the colonists to adapt through minor changes to their genetics.  Now, after years of isolation, New Sonora is on the brink of opening its public transport gate back to Earth.  However, this attempt at reconnection will cause hell to reign down upon the peaceful planet.

Young New Sonoran native Oliver Lewis has only ever wanted to live peacefully on his family farm, where his biggest problems are his uncertain love life, his sister’s plans to move to Earth, and the slow decline of his family’s aging fleet of ‘honeybee’ agricultural robots.  However, the craziness of a futuristic Earth comes abruptly crashing down on him when a deadly mech descends on his farm, remotely piloted by a petulant child trying to kill him.

As more mechs land on New Sonora, it becomes clear that something disastrous is befalling the planet.  Instead of New Sonora’s promised independence, the governments of Earth and their proxy, the Apex Corporation, have declared that New Sonora is home to anti-Earth terrorists, and have initiated a plan to wipe out the entire population in a shameless landgrab.  Worse, the Apex Corporation has decided to maximise their profits by starting the online hit Operation Bounce House, in which bored Earth gamers are given the opportunity to design and remotely pilot their own armed mechs to massacre the supposed terrorists on New Sonora, all from from the comfort and safety of their own home.

Oliver and his friends decide to fight back.  Utilising a hidden defence protocol left behind by his grandfather, the fleet of honeybee robots are converted into deadly war machines, armed with impromptu but effective weaponry.  But even with these new weapons, can the remaining New Sonorans survive the relentless wave of mechs coming for them, or do they have to find another way to bring the pain to their long-lost cousins from Earth?

Operation Bounce House was another exceptional novel from Matt Dinniman, who takes a break from his Dungeon Crawler Carl books with a unique and heartfelt standalone novel.  Exciting, well-written and extremely clever, Operation Bounce House was an inescapably addictive read that I absolutely absorbed, and which gets an easy five-star rating from me.

Operation Bounce House honestly has one of the more unique science fiction plots of 2026, as Dinniman sets up a powerful narrative of survival, sacrifice and friendship.  Starting with a quick introduction to the protagonist and main point-of-view character, Oliver Lewis, and his sassy farm robot Roger, the plot quickly gets explosive when the two encounter a remotely piloted mech on the outskirts of their land, which serves as a harbinger for a larger force of mechs coming for the planet.  Perfectly utilising a single protagonist perspective to tell the main story, the reader is soon very much enmeshed in the resulting story of survival and the fun interactions between Oliver and Roger.  These opening sequences do an excellent job of setting up the larger story of Operation Bounce House, and you get addicted fairly on, especially once Dinniman started expanding the world building and introducing more characters.

After this effective introduction, Dinniman starts to the throw the readers into the action, including an extended sequence to a nearby town.  A lot of these initial action sequences are quite bleak and really showcase the stakes of the war and the innocence of the protagonists.  Dinniman cleverly cuts these sequences with some deeper dives into the history of future Earth and New Sonora, all of which is relevant for later revelations in the plot.  Many of these deeper dives include transcripts of an in-universe documentary series, The Rhythm Mafia Tapes, which are scattered throughout the plot and provide humanising shots of the main characters and the world that is being destroyed.

The plot of Operation Bounce House eventually devolves into a relentless and bloody siege, with the protagonist and other surviving New Sonoran locals defending the Lewis farm from waves of oncoming mechs.  However, their unique strategies escalate the situation beyond their control, with all of Earth and the Apex Corporation focused on them.  This results in even more carnage, tragedy and hopelessness, and you are unbelievably hooked the entire way through the second half of the book.  I don’t want to go into too much detail about the conclusion of Operation Bounce House, but I will say it is crazy, and nothing goes the way you’d expect.  The big finale sequence is the perfect way for the protagonists to respond to the war around them, and it was one of my favourite parts of the entire book.  Dinniman also lays down several impressive swerves and revelations, many of which perfectly tie back to story and worldbuilding elements he cleverly laid down earlier in the plot, and you are constantly left guessing about where this bloody standalone story will go next.  Readers are guaranteed to come away from Operation Bounce House very satisfied with its ending, and I honestly wished for a longer story.

Dinniman presented another outstanding narrative in Operation Bounce House, and I really enjoyed how this powerful story came together.  Most readers are probably coming into this novel as fans of Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl books, and as one of those people I can guarantee that if you loved the author’s previous works, you’re going to love Operation Bounce House.  This new novel has a similar style in some places to the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, especially when it comes to the over-the-top story elements and outstanding character work.  Dinniman also once again showcasing his exceptional abilities at worldbuilding, and I was very impressed by how quickly and effectively Dinniman introduced the setting and brought you into the crazy scenario, loaded with dark action, complex tragedy and some incredible personal history.  There are so many compelling details featured within this setting, and I loved how well the author utilised these details and history in the larger narrative.  Dinniman makes sure to feature some similar themes his readers may be familiar with, including his love of RPGs, his anti-corporation messaging and his focus on the uncertainty around artificial intelligence, all of which are taken to fun new extremes in this novel.  The book also works as a dark parody of the current streaming culture, with interesting comparisons between crass online personalities and humble farmers, there are a range of clever messages thrown into the story about the future of modern society.

While there are some notable similarities to the author’s previous work here, I do think that Operation Bounce House also serves as an evolution of the author’s writing ability, and I really appreciate him branching out into something more straightforwardly science fiction.  I was very impressed with how well Operation Bounce House works as a standalone story, as there was a lot of detail expertly crammed into this read.  In many ways Operation Bounce House was a somewhat more grounded and personal story than the Dungeon Crawler Carl books.  Thanks to a smaller cast and the carnage focused on the protagonist’s local area, there is a lot more emotion, and I appreciated the focus on family, friends and local community.  Dinniman also provided some more subdued humour for most of the book, which I think helped to raise the impact of the stakes at time.  There are still of course a ton of funny moments in this book though, especially when it comes to fighting back against the mech controllers in unique ways, and things do get very out of hand at times.  Dinniman also ensures that the action is extremely unique, especially considering the context of the conflict, and his depictions of overpowered mechs attacking older robots and lightly armed people were realistic, brutal and intense.

One of the most impressive things about Operation Bounce House was the complex and deeply moving character storylines that Dinniman was able to work into this standalone narrative.  Featuring a well-written cast of colonists defending their homes against insane gamers, you really get absorbed into their powerful story of loss, despair and family.  The story is primarily told through the eyes of main protagonist, Oliver Lewis, a young man who is forced to transform from a farmer worried about everyone leaving him behind, to a traumatised resistance leader trying to save the last sparks of his planet.  Thanks to powerful first-person perspective, you fully witness Oliver’s growth into a reluctant leader throughout the book, while experiencing his sadness and loss.  Dinniman does an excellent job writing Oliver as an everyman character, and while he steps up, he isn’t as overpowered or strategic as some of Dinniman’s other protagonists, allowing for a more relatable story.  I deeply enjoyed the compelling and full narrative that Dinniman wrote around Oliver in this book, which was loaded with love of family and friends, and he worked well as a main character for this plot.

The rest of the natives of New Sonora serve as a wonderful supporting cast, with all of them having a great out-of-their-depth edge to them.  Most of the main cast are Oliver’s friends who find themselves the unlikely faces of a revolution.  Featuring several excellent characters, each with their own distinctive arc, whose relationship with Oliver and each other defines them in the chaos to come.  Standouts include Sam Amboya, Oliver’s best friend and one of the main comic reliefs in the plot.  A dedicated friend and soon-to-be parent, Sam is one of the emotional hearts of the story, whose survival you become very invested in.  I also really enjoyed Oliver’s sister, Lulu, who serves as an interesting and more worldly foil to her brother.  A sassy and confident figure, Lulu has some interesting scenes around her, including her fame in an adult vocation that works surprisingly well in building her up as an independent and charismatic woman.  These great New Sonoran characters, and more, prove to be excellent focusses for the plot, who the reader can really get behind.  The Rhythm Mafia Tape interludes provide some great snapshots and help to build up the defenders as real people.  Dinniman perfectly matches these likeable farmers with some very over-the-top antagonists, primarily the Earth based mech pilots participating in Operation Bounce House, as well as some shady corporate overlords.  Dinniman clearly had fun introducing a range of sadistic gamer characters and corporate managers, who while exaggerated, seem like a natural progression for some current trends.  These antagonists contrast in very entertaining ways to the New Sonoran defenders, and it was amusing to see many of them get their just-deserts thanks to the unique tactics of the protagonists.

While all these human characters are amazing, I honestly found that one of the best figures in the book was a robot, which is typical for a Dinniman novel.  This character is Roger (short for Roger-Roger), the Oliver family hive queen, an AI robot used to manage the farm and the other honeybee robots.  Roger serves various roles in this novel, including a key deliver of exposition about the larger setting, as well as a great comedic figure due to his role as a strict tutor and disciplinarian for the adult Oliver and Lulu (and their friends).  However, when the mechs invade, he starts following a hidden “perimeter defence protocol”, turning him into the control nodule for the protagonist’s entire defence network.  Dinniman writes some intriguing narratives around Roger, as the new protocols allow him to expand his learning capacity and overcome his coded limitations to make him a truly terrifying weapon.  Roger’s history, and the fear that future Earth has for AI, also serves as a fascinating central narrative thread for Operation Bounce House, and it proves interesting to see Roger transform from a simple farm robot to a major threat to all humanity.  Despite this, there are some heartwarming personality traits attached to Roger, and he honestly proves to be one of the more loveable figures in the novel, especially when seen through the protagonist’s eyes.  All this allows for quite a powerful and personal narrative, with Dinniman once again showing his aptitude for creating distinctive and complex characters.

While I was lucky enough to receive a physical copy of Operation Bounce House, I just had to listen to the audiobook version of it, especially after loving the Dungeon Crawler Carl series on this format.  Unsurprisingly, the Operation Bounce House audiobook was also extremely awesome, and listening to the plot really enhanced the unique scenario, elaborate plot and crazy characters.  I ended up powering through Operation Bounce House’s near 11-hour runtime in a very short amount of time (it’s a great book for a road trip), and there was frankly not a single second that I wasn’t enjoying this great audiobook experience.

Part of the reason that this audiobook was so damn fun was the incredible narration that accompanied it, with two outstanding and familiar voice actors coming along for the ride.  The primary narrator for Operation Bounce House was Travis Baldree, who Dinniman fans would be familiar with due to his appearances in two of the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks, including The Eye of the Bedlam Bride where he had one of the series’ funniest lines: “I need a baby seal”.  Baldree continues his exceptional work in Operation Bounce House, successfully voicing the tense plot perfectly, ensuring that the story moved along at a tight clip while also expertly enhancing the book’s tight humour.  Baldree also does an outstanding job with the various characters, with a compelling range of voices attributed to the entire cast.  My personal favourite was probably the amazing tone he gave to Roger, which helped showcase his robot nature while also still containing some excellent emotion and humour.  I also enjoyed how his various human main characters had a good rural rasp to their voice, that fit nicely with the agricultural nature of their world, and Baldree unsurprisingly did justice to the various Latino characters featured in the plot.

On top of Baldree’s outstanding central narration, we also get the legendary Jeff Hays, the voice of the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks, voicing several secondary characters.  Hays, who is just so damn good, has a ton of fun with these characters, including one of the main antagonists, who he gifts a particularly entertaining and arrogant voice, which was just perfect.  The combination of voices coming out of this impressive narration team was so damn amazing, and they really turned this audiobook into something special.  This is frankly the absolute best way to enjoy Operation Bounce House, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Matt Dinniman has fun showcasing a new, unhinged narrative with the wonderfully powerful Operation Bounce House.  An outstanding standalone science fiction novel that perfectly showcases Dinniman’s ability to craft elaborate universes and intense character arcs, Operation Bounce House was just incredible, and I still cannot get over some of the clever twists and intense action.  A deeply impressive read, and an outstanding novel to check out before Dinniman’s new Dungeon Crawler Carl novel, A Parade of Horribles, which I am currently reading as I write this review.

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Warhammer 40,000: Chem Dog by Callum Davis

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, WarhammerLeave a comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 27 March 2026)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 9 hours and 28 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The Warhammer 40,000 universe continues to grow with an outstanding debut novel from new author Callum Davis, Chem Dog, a cool and intense read with a great plot behind it.

Readers of this blog will know that I have so much love for the awesome Warhammer 40,000 franchise, which produces so many amazing and unique books each year.  Part of the reason this works so well is that the Black Library makes use of an intriguing collection of new and established authors to tell tales of this complex and grim dark universe.  This includes a range of first-time authors, many of whom have a compelling Warhammer 40,000 book as their debut novel.  I have had a blast reading several of these debuts over the years, and the latest one I want to highlight is the impressive Chem Dog by Callum Davis.  The very first full novel from Davis, Chem Dog is a follow up to his previous short story, Those Without Mercy, and tells a gripping story of war, mistrust and unlikely camaraderie amid a brutal campaign.

Upon the vital, war-torn planet of Kruxx, disaster has struck the Imperium of Man.  Under attack by ruthless ork invaders, Kruxx’s most heavily defended fortress, the Bastion Ajaxus, has fallen.  Overwhelmed by hordes of brutish aliens, the defenders have been brutally cut down, and the bastion reforged into a crude but deadly ork fort.  To ensure victory on Kruxx, the remaining Imperial soldiers need to retake the bastion at any cost, but the fate of the war may lay in the hands of the most unlikely of soldiers, the Savlar Chem-Dogs.

The refuse of an infamous prison world, the Savlar Chem-Dogs are a notorious and unreliable penal legion.  Killers and thieves given the chance to die on the field of battle, the Chem-Dogs are an unlikely group of defenders for humanity whose only incentive to stay in the fight is the promise of loot taken from the bodies of the fallen.

Few know how imperfect the Chem-Dogs are more than Commissar Bastun Hasp, a relentless rule follower, dedicated to lethally enforcing order with his bolt pistol.  However, ordered to join the likely fatal assault on Bastion Ajaxus and recover vital intelligence from its occupied halls, Hasp begins to feel doubt for the first time in his career, especially as his only backup are a squad of Chem-Dogs he previously sentenced to death.  Forced to cross over deadly enemy-infested territory and join a bloody siege, can Hasp keep the Chem-Dogs loyal long enough to complete his mission, or will a far more sinister threat claim all their lives?

Chem Dog was an awesome new Warhammer 40,000 entry that quickly grabs your attention and keeps you hooked with its compelling narrative, entertaining characters and great action sequences.  A powerful and intense first full novel from new author Callum Davis, Chem Dog was an easy book to fall in love with and is a must read for all Warhammer fans.

Davis crafts together a very entertaining action and adventure narrative for Chem Dog that brings in some interesting character moments and overarching Warhammer intrigue to create a captivating and exciting read.  Starting off with an intense extended battle sequence with some short-lived characters that shows the helpless and grimdark nature of the Warhammer 40,000 universe perfectly, the story soon switches to the main protagonist, Commissar Bastun Hasp, as he is given his mission to journey to a besieged former Imperial citadel.  Chem Dog quickly expands on some story points introduced in the preceding short story Those Without Mercy, with several characters from this previous entry returning to accompany Hasp to the citadel.

Much of the resulting first half of Chem Dog is an exciting and brutal adventure arc, as Hasp and the Savlars travel across the hostile Kruxx terrain, fighting against deserters and rampaging ork bands.  This does an excellent job of setting up the desperate nature of the plot, as well as showcasing the unstable main characters as they attempt to work together.  After some great action set pieces and locations, several of which showcase just how expendable members of the main cast truly are, the book evolves into an intrigue-laden siege story, as the protagonists arrived at the Bastion Ajaxus and find themselves drawn into the big assault on the citadel, which quickly goes to hell in one particularly amazing extended sequence.

The second half of Chem Dog soon turns into one continuous and bloody affair, as the protagonists and some contentious allies are forced to fight throughout the enemy fortress in some unique ways.  Davis loads in some excellent action scenes here, while overlaying a level of mystery and mistrust over proceedings, especially as nothing goes the way they expect.  Things get progressively darker as the story continues, with the last major sequence seeing some very interesting antagonists, including a unique take on the threat of the orks.  The big finale of the story is brutal and features some not unexpected betrayals and revelations, as well as some genuinely tragic loss.  I rather enjoyed how the story came together, although I will admit I was a little disappointed by the somewhat abrupt ending to the book.  I think that Davis could have expanded on a few points and allowed for a more satisfying conclusion, however, it does leave some elements open for a potential sequel, which I would be very interested in checking out.

I felt that Davis did an excellent job writing his first full-length Warhammer novel, structuring his story and telling it in an effective manner.  While there were some issues with the ending, for the most part Chem Dog was a particularly powerful read that combined clever character work with some intriguing dives into the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Effectively told from several alternating perspectives, the structure draws the reader into the overarching quest as well as the unashamedly criminal protagonists.  Taking some inspirations from The Dirty Dozen (although not as directly as Gav Thorpe’s Last Chancers series), this was a brutal read that covered compelling elements of trust, loyalty and intrigue, especially in the last half.  I was quite impressed by how Davis was able to capture the gritty nature of the continuous conflict the protagonists found themselves in, with the exhaustion and anger of the characters on full display.  The real highlight of the book has to be the various battle sequences that Davis loaded into the plot, with the protagonists caught up in a ton of intense and well-written action scenes.  I had such an easy time envisioning the very realistic and intense fights that emerged, as this is clearly a part of the writing process that Davis really excels at.

Unsurprisingly, considering this is Davis’s first novel, Chem Dog works well as a standalone read, written in way that made it open to a wide range of readers.  While elements of the author’s previous short story are referenced by the characters, it is done in a way that lets the reader know what previously happened, so you won’t be lost if you hadn’t read it first.  Davis’s style also allows readers with less familiarity with the Warhammer 40,000 universe to come in and read Chem Dog, and it would serve as an interesting entry novel for potential fans, especially for those who enjoy criminal antics and grim, military aesthetics with their science fiction plots.

Chem Dog naturally will appeal more to established fans of the universe, especially those who want to see the notorious Savlar Chem Dogs in action.  The author expertly captured the resourcefulness, resentment and looter mentality of these unlikely soldiers, and it was entertaining to see them in action, especially when compared to other traditional Imperial Guard regiments.  This excellent portrayal of the Chem Dogs and other human troops, as well as the Commissars commanding them, was a great highlight of the plot, and it more than made up for some certain eccentric portrayals of the orks that Davis slipped in.  As such, I felt that Chem Dog was a particularly awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel, which is guaranteed to grab the imagination or a huge range of readers.

On top of the excellent writing, I need to highlight the amazing characters.  The most prominent of these is the relentless Commissar Bastun Hasp, who is reluctantly forced to lead these criminal soldiers into battle.  Serving as the primary narrator and protagonist for the book, much of the book’s drama is based around Hasp’s inner conflict in leading the Savlars.  Initially shown to be implacable in his disdain for Chem Dogs under his command, Hasp’s growing respect for them causes him some major issues, as his harsh commissar mentality and training requires him to see them as unredeemable.  This inner conflict is perfectly enhanced by Hasp receiving comparable contempt from other officers and commissars for leading a group of criminals, as well as Hasp’s secret reliance on the battle chems that the Savlars are forced to breath.  This great inner conflict results in some powerful moments for Hasp throughout the book, and he proved to be an excellent and compelling central character for the plot.

While Hasp serves as the main protagonist of the story, Davis does ensure that the various other members of the squad are shown in some detail.  While a generally expendable group of characters, you do get quite invested in the group of criminal misfits that Hasp leads, and it was fun to see them influence and get influenced by their commissar throughout the course of the plot.  While there are a bunch of fun Salvar members in Chem Dog, the main one you follow is the squad leader, Rastus, who serves as a great secondary protagonist and point-of-view character.  Rastus’s more straightforward, if criminally minded, narrative worked well alongside Hasp’s conflict-laden thoughts, and it was entertaining to see Rastus act as a bridge between the Commissar and his opportunistic squad.  Davis has fun with the rest of this group of killers, although my favourite had to be the extremely loyal ogryn (the universe’s equivalent of an ogre) Grukkur, who serves as a dim-witted enforcer for Hasp.  Grukkur was a wonderfully over the top and simple figure, and I felt he rounded out the cast nicely, providing both comic value and insane moments in combat.  Throw in some other human solider with uncertain motives and a particularly fanatical extra commissar, and Chem Dog is loaded with some amazing drama and character conflicts, that allows for quite an addictive read.

As is my habit with most Warhammer novels I check out, I ended up getting the audiobook version of Chem Dog, which is easily the best way to enjoy the elaborate and varied tales of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Chem Dog was a particularly good audiobook, as it easily presented its intense action narrative and unique characters, and ensured that listeners could easily power through its nine-and-a-half-hour-long runtime.  A big reason that Chem Dog was such an epic listen was thanks to the vocal talents of narrator Richard Reed.  One of more versatile narrators who lends their voice to the Warhammer franchise, Reed has previously impressed me on several previous outstanding audiobooks, including The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath, Lords of Excess by Rich McCormick (another great debut), Grim Repast by Marc Collins, just to name a few.  Reed does another outstanding job here in Chem Dog, with a range of awesome voices and a great overall tone that moves this slick action narrative along at a quick pace.  I loved the various over-the-top, yet fitting, voices that Reed came up with for several of the characters, including the stringent commissars, the unruly criminal soldiers and even a booming ogryn voice, that was particularly fun.  All this results in an exceptional listen, which allowed me to power through Chem Dog in no time at all, and I cannot recommend this format enough, especially with one of the best Warhammer narrators voicing it.

The future of Warhammer 40,000 fiction continues to look bright, as Callum Davis produced an outstanding read with his debut novel.  An exciting and intense novel, loaded with action and compelling characters, Chem Dog was an amazing read that provides some fantastic look at a unique faction in the grim dark universe.  A sharp, well-written novel that you can easily get addicted to, Chem Dog was a very impressive debut, and I hope to see more from Davis in the future, especially if he revisits the protagonists from this novel again.

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Warhammer 40,000: Renegades: Harrowmaster by Mike Brooks

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 29 October 2022)

Series: Warhammer 40,000: Renegades – Book 1 

Length: 11 hours

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of the leading authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, the highly entertaining Mike Brooks, dives into the minds of humanity’s most complex traitors with the outstanding and particularly gripping novel, Renegades: Harrowmaster.

Mike Brooks is an author who I have really grown to appreciate in recent years thanks to his ability to pull together complex and highly addictive Warhammer 40,000 narratives from across the expansive franchise.  Brooks’s great contributions to Warhammer 40,000 fiction include some deep dives into several iconic characters, such as Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom, Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives and The Lion: Son of the Forest, as well as his absolutely hilarious ork focused novels with Warboss, Brutal Kunnin and Da Big Dakka, as well as his short story contributions to Da Red Gobbo Collection.  All these amazing novels were quite exceptional reads, and it has really made me appreciate Brooks’s ability to dive into the entire Warhammer universe and bring its various characters and factions to life.  As such, when in the mood for more Warhammer 40,000 fiction, it was a very easy choice to check out his 2023 release, Harrowmaster, which has been on my to-read list for a while.  The first book in the Renegades sub-series that focuses on traitor Space Marines, Harrowmaster proved to be an epic and noteworthy first entry in this series, especially as Brooks choice to focus on the deeply intriguing Alpha Legion.

In the far future of the 41st millennium, there are many renegades and traitors assaulting the faltering Imperium of Man, but few are as dangerous or as insidious as the notorious traitor Space Marines of the Alpha Legion.  Masters of deceit, espionage and achieving victory through alternate tactics, the Alpha Legion have long haunted humanity with their spies and schemes.  But despite all their careful planning, even the Alpha Legion are unprepared when a new dangerous enemy is thrown against them.

Attempting to exploit the chaos caused by the opening of the Great Rift, the Alpha Legion warband known as The Serpent’s Teeth are the first of their legion to encounter Primaris Marines, a new breed of Space Marines that have been enhanced into something far more dangerous than anything the renegades have encountered before.  Now forced to contend with even more deadly threats from the hated Imperium, the members of the Alpha Legion gather to decide whether to hide from this new enemy or adapt to face it.

Into this uncertainty enters Solomon Akurra, the new leader of the Serpent’s Teeth.  Determined to lead a decisive war against the Imperium, Solomon claims the title of Harrowmaster and works to bind the various Alpha Legion bands to his cause.  Through deceit, lies and superior tactics, Solomon soon leads his men to victory, but that is only the start of the war to come.  With shadowy forces from the Imperium hunting him, and his own allies waiting to see if he fails, can Solomon survive all his enemies, as well as the hidden blades at his neck, to achieve his goal?  Only the most adaptable can become Harrowmaster, and the galaxy is unprepared for the carnage to come.

Harrowmaster was an exceptional Warhammer 40,000 novel from Brooks, and it is one that I wish I had read a lot sooner.  Perfectly blending action and intrigue with a fascinating dive into one of the franchise’s most notorious factions, Harrowmaster was a deeply impressive read that I couldn’t turn away from.  A very easy five-star read, this is one of my new favourites from Brooks due to its complex story and great characters.

I loved the very fun and captivating narrative that Brooks came up with for Harrowmaster, especially as it featured a lot of awesome moving parts that really came together perfectly.  Starting off with an excellent introduction that showcases the Alpha Legion’s tactics of manipulation, the villainous protagonists soon encounter a deadly new threat that forces them onto the backfoot.  From there the story takes on a bit of a lore-heavy focus, with Solomon Akurra, gathering different Alpha Legion factions and manipulating them into a single host.  This interesting focus on the Alpha Legion in this part of the book is well balanced by the appearance of a fun Inquisitor character, Kayzen Hart, who serves as an alternate protagonist for the plot, providing some excellent additional intrigue.

Following some great action sequences, the plot evolves into a complex game of cat and mouse, with the various characters trying gain advantage and achieve their varied goals.  For Solomon Akurra, this involves moulding his forces together into an effective and cohesive force, while using his Legion’s talents for deception and infiltration to their advantage.  At the same time, Inquisitor Hart finds himself not only trying to capture Solomon but also locked in a deadly battle of wits against a rival inquisitor.  The central plotlines of Harrowmaster cleverly force these two characters into greater danger, with both Solomon and Hart losing everything and being forced into some truly desperate action to get what they want.  This leads up to a great big confrontation sequence towards the end of the novel, which wraps up a lot of ongoing storylines.  There are some great twists here, including one that was particularly clever, and it was so much fun seeing it unfold.  Everything comes together very nicely, with some fitting final scenes that really highlight the underlying betrayals and battles of intrigue that categorised this novel.  Brooks ended this novel on a fun note that hints of more chaotic adventures to come.

Harrowmaster proved to be another exceptional read from Brooks, who honestly has one of the most readable and entertaining writing styles of all the current Warhammer 40,000 writers.  Presenting an intricate action narrative that expertly blends interesting character stories with some compelling dives into Warhammer lore, Harrowmaster will appeal to a wide range of readers.  Brooks does an excellent job breaking the story down across several interesting characters, which allows the reader to see various parts of the overarching and multilayered narrative.  I personally loved the combination of Alpha Legion action and deception that went alongside the inquisitor focussed shenanigans of Kayzen Hart’s storyline, and the high level on intrigue and alternating moves from the participants was a lot of fun.  Throw in some over-the-top action sequences which have an excellent flow to them, and Harrowmaster had a lot to recommend it, especially as it was easy to get caught up in the story.

One of the things I liked most about Harrowmaster was the way in which Brooks ensured it was open to new readers unfamiliar with the franchise, while also providing interesting details for Warhammer 40,000 fans.  The author ensures there is plenty of context and information for new readers to get involved in this universe, enough so that Harrowmaster would be a good introductory novel for new readers.  At the same time, Brooks also features a nuanced and layered look at the always awesome Alpha Legion, which established Warhammer readers will appreciate.  I personally enjoyed how cleverly Brooks dove into the disparate nature of the Alpha Legion, including their various philosophies and different way of interacting with the Imperium.  The focus on how they fight war through infiltration, deceit and spies was particularly awesome, and it was fascinating to see how they adapt and react to new threats, such as encountering Primaris Space Marines for the first time.  At the same time, Brooks also has fun showcasing other unique parts of the Warhammer universe here, such as the internally warring Inquisitors, who always make for entertaining narratives.  As such, I would honestly recommend Harrowmaster to readers of various experiences with Warhammer fiction, with everyone guaranteed to have an amazing time with this clever read.

I must also take this time to highlight some of the excellent characters contained within Harrowmaster, with Brooks focusing his narrative on some interesting figures.  This naturally includes the main character, Solomon Akurra, a veteran Alpha Legion member who seeks the title of Harrowmaster.  A clever and ambitious figure, Solomon proves to be an entertaining character to follow, with his schemes and plans allowing for some excellent story moments.  Despite being a member of an apparently villainous faction (very hard to judge with the Alpha Legion), Solomon proves to be an extremely likeable character, and you get really invested in seeing him succeed, even if his plans are quite destructive.  I felt a lot of Solomon’s likeability came from the entertaining friendship he had with his human sorceress comrade Tulaava Dyne.  A particularly sassy and dangerous figure in her own right, Tulaava served as a good foil to the more serious Solomon, and their partnership was a fantastic centre for Harrowmaster’s plot, especially when considering the unlikely loyalty that sprung up between them.

The other awesome main character for Harrowmaster was Inquisitor Kayzen Hart, whose obsession with hunting down the Alpha Legion, especially Solomon, resulted in some of the more compelling storylines of the entire book.  A radical Inquisitor, Kayzen attempts to understand and use his own target’s methods against them more much of the book, which has mixed results as he engages in a system-wide battle of wits against Solomon.  However, Kayzen’s methods put him at odds with his fellow Inquisitor Nessa Karnis, an old comrade who is just as obsessed with defeating the Alpha Legion.  However, the conflict between Kayzen’s radical methods and Nessa’s puritanical philosophies sees them fighting each other, and I loved how their conflict matched the infighting amongst the Alpha Legion.  Throw in a fantastic array of other over-the-top Alpha Legion members, each with different specialities and beliefs that Solomon is forced to manipulate, as well as the steadfast loyalist Space Marines of the Silver Templars, whose attempts to outthink the Alpha Legion lead to some of the book’s more exciting moments, and I have a lot of love for the characters in Harrowmaster, especially as Brooks weaves some intense and impressive storylines around them.

Unsurprisingly, I decided to check out Harrowmaster on audiobook, which is my go-to format for all things Warhammer due to how much more awesome the over-the-top stories become when read out loud.  This was the case with Harrowmaster, as its elaborate narrative of intrigue and action really came to life when read out, allowing me to absolutely power through its 11-hour long runtime.  A lot of this is due to the outstanding voice work of narrator Theo Solomon, whose work I preciously enjoyed in Leviathan by Darius Hinks.  Solomon perfectly captured the various characters contained within Harrowmaster with his narration, especially the main character Solomon Akurra, with the fitting voice for this protagonist forming the basis for much of the audiobook.  The rest of the cast was also voiced extremely well by Solomon, and I loved the fun array of voices that went to the complex and often outrageous cast, with some excellent choices for the crazed Chaos Space Marines, as well as the feuding inquisitors.  I honestly had such a great time listening to the Harrowmaster audiobook, and it is easily the best way to enjoy this incredible read.

Mike Brooks continues to showcase why he is one of the best current authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction with his fantastic Renegades novel, Harrowmaster.  An exceptional read that perfectly showcases the iconic Alpha Legion, while also telling its own outrageous story of deceit, intrigue and chaotic action, Harrowmaster was so damn good, especially on audiobook.  I honestly cannot recommend Harrowmaster enough, and I am actually reading the recently released sequel to it, Ghost Legion, at this very moment.

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Tyrant of Rome by Simon Scarrow

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction2 Comments

Publisher: Headline (Trade Paperback – 11 November 2025)

Series: Eagles of the Empire – Book 24 

Length: 403 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for more Roman era carnage as the always impressive Simon Scarrow continues his long-running Eagles of the Empire series with the epic and intriguing novel, Tyrant of Rome.

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I am a major fan of the exceptional Simon Scarrow, who is one of the top current authors of historical fiction, having written an outstanding array of historical novels over the years.  I have had a blast with many of Scarrow’s works, including his Berlin Wartime Thriller series (see my reviews for Blackout, Dead of Night and A Death in Berlin).  However, his main body of work remains his Eagles of the Empire series.  One of the premier Roman historical fiction series, Eagles of the Empire follows two elite Roman officers as they fight their way across multiple wars, provinces and battlefields.  I have been a fan of this series from the beginning, and the books within it have been a key part of my yearly review schedule, including The Blood of Rome, Traitors of Rome, The Emperor’s Exile, The Honour of Rome, Death to the Emperor, Rebellion and Revenge of Rome.  As such, the latest book in the series, Tyrant of Rome, has been a highly anticipated read for me, and I have been very keen to get my hands on it.  The 24th novel in the series, Tyrant of Rome, sees the protagonists forced to face a far more dangerous force than the recent rebellion of Boudica, politics and the howling mob of Rome.

Plot Synopsis:

AD 63. Under the reckless and tumultuous leadership of Emperor Nero, Rome is descending into near-anarchy and conspiracy. The brutal execution of 400 slaves has led to rioting and discontent. Only the strongest soldier could maintain control. And so Nero turns to Prefect Cato to help save his reign from collapse.

Cato has been lying low after a heroic campaign to quash the Boudica uprising. Now he is called upon to serve again. As the new Prefect of the Urban Cohorts in Rome, Cato needs a loyal and proven officer by his side. Centurion Macro is willing to step up.

War and rebellion hold few fears for these seasoned veterans. But the politics and intrigue of Rome make every day as perilous as the battlefield. And the fate of both men, and of the empire, lie in the hands of the most volatile emperor of the age. Death awaits anyone who dares to defy Nero.

Cato and Macro will need to call on all their experience, native cunning and bottomless courage to survive in this epic new adventure of Roman military heroism.

Tyrant of Rome was another incredible read from Scarrow, who presents another fun and deeply exciting historical tale, this time loaded with intrigue, schemes and some fascinating insights into ancient Roman society.  An outstanding continuation of one of my favourite series, I powered through Tyrant of Rome in no time at all, while also deeply appreciating its narrative differences from the typical Eagle of the Empire novel.

Scarrow provides a very interesting narrative that partially takes the reader away from the Roman battlefield fans of the series are familiar with.  Once again following the duo of Cato and Macro, this novel sees them secretly returned to Rome after surviving Boudica’s rebellion, attempting to avoid the attention of Nero.  However, when the emperor discovers that he is back, Cato is once again forced to report for duty to keep his secrets hidden.  Unexpectedly assigned to lead Rome’s Urban Cohorts, Cato attempts to impose his military order onto the corrupt and lax soldiers of Rome’s primary defence and urban control regiment.  However, Cato’s appointment couldn’t come at a worse time, as Rome is in uproar over Nero’s recent decision to execute hundreds of innocent slaves.  At the same time, Cato finds himself trapped at the whims of an increasingly unstable Nero and the dangerous people attempting to control the emperor for their own gain.  Desperate for help, Cato calls Macro out of retirement and sets him up as the Urban Cohort’s new drill sergeant and Cato’s backup against its corrupt officers.

Scarrow quickly sets much of the above scene early on in Tyrant of Rome, and the resulting mixture of the protagonist’s usual martial activity is nicely balanced by their personal concerns, and their immersion in the deteriorating politics of Rome.  As the protagonists attempt to navigate the city through several deadly events, Cato also finds himself caught up in the middle of a dark conspiracy to unseat Nero.  Caught between these conspirators and those manipulating Nero, Cato is forced to choose a side, especially when the city explodes into mob violence focused on the palace.  This results in an intense and extended battle sequence leading up to the finale of Tyrant of Rome, as the protagonists attempt to survive against deadly odds.  This awesome battle serves to bring together several of the ongoing storylines in Tyrant of Rome, with the big dark conspiracy of the novel resulting in additional carnage.  This leads to an interesting, if not surprising, conclusion, as the protagonists get their typical rewards, and Scarrow sets the board for more adventures to come for this long-running duo.

I felt that this latest outing from Scarrow was a strong entry in the Eagles of the Empire series, which played up its focus on politics, intrigue and notable historical events.  One of the few novels of this series set in Rome, Tyrant of Rome really dove into the chaotic reign of Nero, as well as some of the key figures behind the throne, and it was fascinating to see the soldier protagonists attempting to survive amid the resulting backstabbing and manipulations of an unstable emperor.  This is one of the more historically rich novels in this series, and Scarrow throws in some intriguing depictions of significant moments of Roman history, such as the Great Fire of Rome, and I really enjoyed his take on these events, as well as how the protagonists were inserted into them.  There were also some excellent depictions of a range of major historical figures, including Nero and other prominent Romans during this reign.  Scarrow has a lot of fun portraying Nero’s rule, as well as the role that several of these other figures, such as his wife and the heads of the Praetorian Guard, had during this turbulent period.  This focus on history helped to up the dramatic stakes of the plot, and it, alongside the well-written political intrigue and plotting, worked well with the more typical storyline of Cato and Macro whipping Roman soldiers into shape and leading them into battle.

While Tyrant of Rome is the 24th entry in a long-running series, Scarrow has long ensured that his Eagles of the Empire novels are mostly standalone in nature, with only a few requiring readers to check out earlier entries.  Tyrant of Rome in particular works well as an independent read, as it comes just after Scarrow wrapped up a major multi-book arc, and starts setting the series in a new direction in the later years of Nero’s reign and the lead-up to the Year of the Four Emperors.  As such, it’s easy to drop into the series here, especially as Scarrow provides excellent recaps of the protagonist’s relationships and past adventures.  Thanks to the author’s open writing style, readers with varying knowledge of either history, or the events of the previous Eagles of the Empire books, can easily read and appreciate the cool adventures and intrigues of the characters, although established fans are naturally going to get the most out of seeing Cato and Macro in action again.

Scarrow makes sure to treat these ongoing readers with some interesting movement on the series’ overarching narrative, especially as it starts to establish the protagonists as players in the oncoming civil wars, and you also get to see how these characters continue to develop after all these years.  The weariness around Cato and Macro after their multiple adventures, including their last harrowing stint in Britannia, is well showcased by Scarrow.  I particularly enjoyed seeing a far more cynical Cato as he attempted to navigate the politics of Rome, and it certainly was a far cry from the more innocent figure we saw at the start of the series.  I personally enjoyed seeing the return of a key figure from Cato and Macro’s past, the future emperor Vespasian, and the complex interactions he had with Cato, were very enlightening.

Simon Scarrow continues to showcase why he is one of the very best modern authors of Roman historical fiction with the latest Eagles of the Empire novel, Tyrant of Rome.  Combining captivating historical political intrigue with Scarrow’s typically impressive depiction of the Roman military, Tyrant of Rome was a distinctive and powerful entry in this long-running series, that comes very highly recommended.  An epic and action-packed read, I honestly couldn’t get enough of Tyrant of Rome, and I really cannot wait to see how Scarrow continues this series going forward, especially as we have a new entry, The Sword of Rome, set for release later this year.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Greater Good by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Science Fiction, WarhammerLeave a comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2013)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Nine

Length: 9 hours and 50 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Continue to follow the legendary and complex Commissar Ciaphas Cain into death and danger, with another amazing book in Sandy Mitchell’s awesome Warhammer 40,000 series, The Greater Good.

After recently reviewing the eighth book in Sandy Mitchell’s iconic Ciaphas Cain series, The Last Ditch, I just had to continue following the fun adventures of the Imperium’s most charismatic yet cowardly commissar, Ciaphas Cain.  As such, the moment I finished The Last Ditch, I immediately read the ninth book in the series, The Greater Good, which had a very interesting scenario behind it that builds on several previous storylines from the series.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, legendary hero of the Imperium of Man and self-declared fraud, is once again thrust into mortal danger when he is assigned to bolster the defences of the human planet of Quadravidia, against the high-tech attacks of the Tau.  Amid the expected brutal fighting against the advanced aliens, Cain is surprised when the Tau not only recognise him amongst the fighting but also single him out to request an unexpected ceasefire right on the cusp of a Tau victory.

Expecting the worst from this unlikely turn of events, Cain is unsurprised when the Tau reveal that an even greater threat is moving towards the sector, a hive fleet of Tyranids.  With neither side capable of fighting both each other and the ravenous Tyranids, the Imperium and the Tau agree to an uneasy truce, with both sides agreeing to coordinate their offensive against the incoming hive fleet.

Accompanied by a Tau ambassador, Cain, his trusty aid Jurgen, and the Imperial fleet journey to the vital Forge World of Fecundia, a potential target for the incoming Tyranids.  Using Fecundia as a base of operations, the Imperium are hopeful the Tyrands will focus their attack on the Tau controlled planets.  However, the chances of Cain remaining out of the fight are always slim, and the commissar soon discovers the existence of a secret facility hidden on the planet, one guaranteed to draw the Tyranids to Fecundia.

Caught between an invading fleet of ravening aliens, and the troubled politics of Fecundia, Cain must rally the defenders for another deadly battle.  However, the secrets lurking within the hidden facility look set to doom them all, and Cain must discover just how far the rot goes in Fecundia, before the entire world is devoured.

The Greater Good was another excellent and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 novel from Sandy Mitchell that combines excellent and action-packed storytelling, with a fantastic and humorous protagonist.  Featuring an outstanding story, The Greater Good was a ton of fun from start to finish, and it served as an amazing continuation of one of the best Warhammer 40,000 series out there.

I quite enjoyed the plot of The Greater Good, although it did go in some different directions to what I was expecting.  From the cover and the official plot synopsis, I assumed this novel was going to feature humans and Tau fighting side by side on the initial planet the book is set, after temporarily setting aside their differences.  Instead, the plot is primarily set on a secondary planet of Fecundia, with the only Tau being a controversial ambassador providing some interesting alternative insights.  While this was still a fun and exciting narrative, it did run the risk of being a bit too similar to some of the previous Ciaphas Cain novels that focused on Tyranid invasions.

I felt that Mitchell compensated well for this change in direction, by drawing together an interesting read about infiltration, isolated battles and the Imperium’s research in the Tyranids as they attempt to find ways to defeat them.  Revisiting key story elements from the previous two Ciaphas Cain novels, the protagonist soon finds himself trapped amid a series of controversial and dangerous experiments that begin to attract the Tyranid hive fleet.  After a series of exciting set pieces, including a great extended sequence with the protagonist trapped in an alien filled desert, you reach the final third of the book which primarily takes place in the secret research centre.  Unsurprisingly, things go wrong, and Cain and Jurgen are forced into a seemingly hopeless situation as they fight enemies on all sides.  There were some good twists here, especially around potential betrayals, and while the culprit is easy to predict, there is an excellent amount of uncertainty and red herrings to keep you guessing.  The entire story comes together in an awesome way, filled with Mitchell’s usual excellent fight sequences and humour, and this proved to be a compelling and satisfying addition to the larger series.

Long-term fans of this Warhammer 40,000 series will know that Mitchell has a set format for the Ciaphas Cain books that blends clever character-driven humour with the usual grim action and lore of the universe.  This was also the case for The Greater Good, which features the usual chronicle style told from the protagonist’s perspective, bolstered by funny external commentary from a fictional editor, who also adds in some entertaining in-universe texts for some additional context.  While this style and certain narrative elements are very familiar, especially if you read a few of these books in a row, The Greater Good was still an awesome novel, and Mitchell did make it stand out by adding in some intrigue with Tyranid infiltrators, as well as some curious looks at diplomacy between the Imperium and the Tau.  I quite enjoyed seeing the conflicts that emerged between the various factions of this impromptu alliance, especially as Cain and the Imperial Guard had more issues with their Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marine allies than the Tau.  Add to that Mitchell’s usually impressive humour and wonderful action set pieces, and The Greater Good was an overall outstanding novel that I quickly powered through.

While most of the Ciaphas Cain books work well as standalone reads that are very accessible to new readers, The Greater Good stood out as it had more of a connection to the previous entries in the series.  There were a lot of heavy references to the events of For the Emperor, The Emperor’s Finest and The Last Ditch, with key plot elements and some returning characters coming into the play during The Greater Good’s narrative.  As someone who enjoyed all the previous books, it was nice to see the consequences and aftermath of these prior adventures be utilised in this entry’s plot, and I think that long-term fans will really appreciate it.  These references also helped to dispel some of the usual issues this series has with reusing descriptions and thoughts from the previous books.  While much of the plot is geared towards established fans, new readers can still easily follow The Greater Good’s plot without too much issue, as Mitchell does an excellent job of recapping these previous adventures.  As such, The Greater Good proves to be an amazing overall entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, especially as it remains accessible and enjoyable to readers of varying experiences.

As always, I must give a shoutout to the outstanding cast of this novel, especially as there is an interesting array of unique characters contained within.  This includes a great mix of familiar and new characters, with much of the action focused on the titular Commissar Ciaphas Cain, who remains the usual complex rogue we’re so familiar with.  It is always fun to see Cain struggle with his imposter syndrome and supposed cowardice, and Mitchell ensures that the protagonist is the main source of the book’s humour thanks to his self-centred narration and hilarious insights into the usual grimdark universe.  Cain’s aide Jurgen remains an excellent source of additional entertainment, while Inquisitor Amberly Vail is once again perfect as the overarching editor of the story, providing her sarcastic insights and corrections to Cain’s actions and conclusions.  Throw in a captivating combination of new or minor characters, including a frustrated general, a calculating Tau ambassador, some returning Space Marines and a cunning Tech Priest with her own agenda, and the cast of The Greater Good is exceptional and drives the story into some fascinating places.

After hyping up the audiobook versions of all the previous Ciaphas Cain entries, I doubt anyone will be too surprised that I decided to check out The Greater Good on this format.  All Warhammer 40,000 novels are damn awesome on audiobook, and The Greater Good is a particularly epic example of this.  Coming in with a runtime just short of 10 hours, The Greater Good audiobook is an amazing listen that is easy to get addicted to, especially as the excellent use of several outstanding narrators really helps to enhance and highlight Mitchell’s unique writing style.

The Greater Good audiobook features an impressive six separate narrators, all of whom will be quite well known by Warhammer audiobook enthusiasts.  As with the rest of the series, most of the work is done by returning narrators Stephen Perring and Penelope Rawlins, both of whom have a key role in this production.  Perring serves as the entertaining and flippant voice of Cain as he recounts this adventure in his own words, while Rawlins is the voice of Inquisitor Vail as she provides her editorial notes throughout the plot and introduces other intermissions.  These two have long proven themselves to be perfect main narrators for the Ciaphas Cain books, and they fulfilled their roles in The Greater Good extremely well, full grasping the complexity of their respective characters.  The other four narrators for this audiobook, Matthew Hunt, Andrew James Spooner, John Banks and Tara Rawson, have minor but entertaining roles in this audiobook, providing voices for the various in-universe history texts and other books/messages that appear at various parts of the book, which allows for some additional comedy.  This mixed narration comes together extremely well throughout the entirety of The Greater Good, resulting in a particularly epic listen.  As such, I would once again recommend that potential readers of this Ciaphas Cain novel check out the audiobook version, as there is frankly no better way to enjoy The Greater Good.

With yet another clever, exciting and hilarious take on the epic Warhammer 40,000 universe, the ninth Ciaphas Cain novel, The Greater Good, was an outstanding addition to the series that I had a wonderful time listening to.  Utilising his tried and tested writing style, Sandy Mitchell produces another compelling and entertaining read that proves to be highly addictive and a lot of fun to get through.  I really enjoyed this excellent entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, and I am hoping to finish off this series by the end of the year.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Science Fiction, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 February 2012)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Eight

Length: 9 hours and 29 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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The mighty hero of the Imperium returns for another rip-roaring and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 adventure, with The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell, a wonderful Ciaphas Cain novel that proves exceptionally hard to put down.

I have been in a real Warhammer 40,000 mood lately, so I decided to continue my exploration of the franchise by diving back into one of its best and most hilarious series with another Ciaphas Cain novel by Sandy Mitchell.  The Ciaphas Cain series are particularly awesome Warhammer 40,000 novels that follow the adventures of the legendary human hero Commissar Ciaphas Cain as he faces down the many horrors the grimdark Warhammer universe has to offer.  However, what sets the series apart from other series in the franchise is the fantastic tongue-in-cheek way in which the supposed hero of the series sees himself as a substantial coward concerned more with his own survival, and whose heroic exploits are down more to luck and chance.  This results in a fantastic collection of books, each one of which throws the protagonist into danger despite his best efforts, often resulting in a series of hilarious and over-the-top adventures.  I have had an outstanding team reading the previous entries in the series, including For the Emperor, Caves of Ice, The Traitor’s Hand, Death or Glory, Duty Calls, Cain’s Last Stand and The Emperor’s Finest, and I have been eager to read the eighth novel in the series, The Last Ditch for some time.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, famed hero of the Imperium of Man, is at the height of his legendary career, fighting back the many enemies of humanity despite his best attempts to stay out of battle.  However, despite his reputation usually landing him in the most challenging of conflicts, Cain’s next mission seems to be relatively straightforward.  Once again accompanied by the Valhallan 597th regiment of Imperial Guard, Cain is tasked with eradicating a simple ork infestation on the frozen planet of Nusquam Fundumentibus.  However, not even Cain’s most pessimistic musings of the future can prepare him for the horrors to come.

Travelling aboard a disreputable freighter, Cain and his soldiers are forced to make a deadly crashlanding on Nusquam Fundumentibus, right into the middle of an ork horde.  Engaged in a desperate fight for their lives against the greenskins, the Imperial Guard are blind to other threats hiding on the planet, threats that are far more insidious than a group of rampaging orks.

As the conflict continues and several isolated communities on the planet start to go dark, Cain soon becomes aware that something apart from the orks are stalking the citizens of Nusquam Fundumentibus.  Something ancient and malevolent lies hidden beneath the ice of the planet, and the new war has finally woken them up.  Outnumbered and outmatched, the Imperial Guard need to pull a desperate and no doubt suicidal plan to survive.  Luckily, they have a bonified hero to lead the charge, even if he’d rather be anywhere else in the galaxy.

The always outstanding Ciaphas Cain series continues in impressive form, as Sandy Mitchell adds further depth to some of the more entertaining and gripping novels in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.  Combining intense action with the protagonist’s unique insights into the grimdark Warhammer universe, The Last Ditch was a brilliant addition to the series that I couldn’t get enough of.

Mitchell once again came up with an outstanding narrative for The Last Ditch that grabs your attention early on and keeps you hooked to the very end.  I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about reading The Last Ditch, as it looked like Mitchell was going to rehash the similar ice-world story found in Caves of Ice.  However, this book has a very different narrative, while still maintaining all the familiar story elements that make this series to dependable to read.  Starting off on a different footing with a fun transport arc that ends in deadly tears, The Last Ditch has an explosive first third (literally), which provided a lot of initial drama and risk.

The Last Ditch’s story quickly dives into even more awesome action, as the protagonist is reluctantly forced into action against the orks, while other dangerous threats lurk beneath the surface.  I liked how Mitchell did a good job building up tension in advance of the reveal about the true antagonists of the novel, with the reader knowing that something worse was coming thanks to Cain’s prescient narration from the future, and the author used this time to expand on his new setting.  The eventual sequence revealing this enemy had a great horror vibe to it as Cain explored tight quarters underground, and it led naturally into an extended campaign.  The rest of the book is a good mixture of connected action scenes, as Cain and the other characters slowly work out just how desperate the situation is and attempt to take steps to address it.  This works well as an overarching narrative, and you really appreciate the scope of the situation and the protagonist’s continued accidental heroics as he tries to run away.

All this perfectly leads up to a final big sequence, where the desperate protagonists are forced into a particularly brutal fight with little hope of survival.  Unsurprisingly, this requires Cain to engage in another suicide mission, which leads to some of the best action scenes in the entire book.  This entire last section of The Last Ditch is a particularly awesome thrill ride which I powered through so very quickly to see how everything came to an end.  Readers come away very satisfied from The Last Ditch, which honestly was one of the stronger books in this cool series, and I really enjoyed how Mitchell continues to entertain with his amazing and entertaining Warhammer 40,000 premise.

Mitchell maintains pretty much the same writing style for The Last Ditch he has previously utilised in the other Ciaphas Cain books, which allows for a very impressive light read.  It is told primarily in a chronicle/journal format written by an older Cain, which recounts the events of this adventure through the narrow focus of the protagonist’s unreliable memory.  This allows for a fun and self-centred take on events that examines Cain’s reluctant action while also loading up the story with some entertaining humour that provides a great satirical look at the usually grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe.  This main narrative of action, adventure and supposedly cowardly behaviour is cleverly interspersed with a range of entertaining footnotes, commentary and in-universe texts that have been provided by the account’s patient, if sarcastic, editor, Inquisitor Amberly Vail.  This combination of narrative elements not only cleverly provides readers with and informative and light-hearted look at events taking place outside of Cain’s selfish storytelling, but it also pumps up both the humour and the stakes of the plot, especially as you become aware of the planet-wide impacts of the central adventure.

As with all the books in the series, The Last Ditch does work well as a standalone novel that readers can enjoy without any previous knowledge of the other Ciaphas Cain books, or indeed the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe.  While this novel is set in the middle of Cain’s personal chronology and makes mentions of several previous adventures, readers should have no trouble following along, with the point of these references made clear quickly through the writing and context.  Established fans of the series will also have a lot of fun with this book, especially as Mitchell continues Cain’s adventures with the Valhallan 597th, and there are a lot of entertaining familiar beats with this newer entry.  Like many of the previous books, The Last Ditch does have some repetition issues, with Mitchell reusing a lot of basic story ideas and phrases in Cain and Vail’s descriptions that returning readers will notice.  However, I felt that this entry was distinctive enough, especially with a more horror vibe to it, that any readers can come in and easily enjoy it.  This allows The Last Ditch to remain an awesome addition to the overall series, and it’s one I personally had an outstanding time getting through.

I also must once again highlight some of the great character work in this novel, especially when it comes to the main character of Commissar Ciaphas Cain.  A complex figure and self-professed coward, Cain spends most of the book trying to come up with ways to avoid combat and survive the inevitable danger his reputation and own bad lack force him to participate in.  With a very cynical and self-deprecating writing style, Mitchell always tries to emulate classic, comedic and craven military figures like Flashman or Blackadder with his depictions of Cain.  However, despite the protagonist’s best efforts to showcase himself as a dishonourable coward, his resultant heroic actions and Inquisitor Vail’s notes help to show the reader that his is somewhat lying to both us and himself, as he continues to be an inspirational figure.  This allows for quite a complex and relatively light-hearted read, as you are constantly wondering just how honest the protagonist is being with his observations and descriptions of his actions.  This all blends well with Cain’s witty and sarcastic humour, which lightly lampoons the usually serious Warhammer 40,000 universe and ensures that you are constantly entertained as you follow Commissar Cain into danger once again.

The rest of the cast of this novel are also a ton of fun, especially as many fan favourite characters from the previous novels are well utilised here.  This includes Cain’s faithful aide, Jurgen, who continues to toe the line between gormless soldier and ultra-effective sidekick, and is a very entertaining inclusion in any of these books.  Inquisitor Amberly Vail once again has a big impact, despite her actual appearance in the novel being quite negligible, and her no-nonsense overarching commentary allows for quite an amusing read.  The returning members of the Valhallan 597th regiment were a welcome inclusion, and it is always cool to see the close relationship that Cain has with these soldiers after so many adventures.  Throw in a young gung-ho commissar that Cain is forced to school, and a planetary governor trying to stay in control of her planet amongst the chaos of war, and the cast of The Last Ditch was pretty exceptional and continues Mitchell’s habit of showcasing entertaining and complex supporting characters.

I have long extolled the impressive virtues of the audiobook format when it comes to Warhammer 40,000 fiction, as it is just so much fun having the over-the-top stories read out loud.  Some of the very best Warhammer books in this format are the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks, due to their elaborate casts and the fantastic way their narrators capture the unique style of the series.  This is particularly true for The Last Ditch, which was another absolute joy to listen to, as its amazing narrators perfectly captured both the humour and complex action.  Coming in with a decent run time of nine and a half hours, listeners can absolutely fly through The Last Ditch audiobook, which once again features all the awesome elements that the rest of the series had.  This includes the use of several different narrators, with the incredible vocal talents of Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory, Toby Longworth and Andrew James Spooner, all adding a lot to the impact of this fun and fantastic story.

Perring is particularly awesome as he voices the main plot of The Last Ditch from the perspective of Cain.  Voicing the protagonist’s conflicted memories of the events, Perring perfectly captures the complex personality of the main character, while also providing a fun take on the action and adventure occurring around the protagonist.  Perring has a great range of different voices for this part of the book, with each of the characters getting a very fitting tone that showcases their separate personalities, including many recurring voices the narrator used in previous audiobooks in the series.  Perring is once again supported by Penelope Rawlins, who voices the character of Inquisitor Amberley Vail as she edits Cain’s memoirs.  Rawlins really dives into the sarcastic character of Inquisitor Vail in these supporting parts of the book, providing a calm, indulgently humorous voice that fits the fun feel of the series.  Rawlins’s interruptions and inclusions as Vail complement Perring’s narration extremely well, adding some great  humour to the plot without ruining the flow of the main story.  These two narrators work together extremely well to bring out much of the book’s humour, and I love how they both have kept coming back to this series to ensure some excellent continuity.

While Perring and Rawlins do the main narration, the additional narrators each have a fun supporting role in proceedings.  Emma Gregory probably gets the most use of the three as she once again voices the memoirs of an ambitious officer in Cain’s regiment, retelling events in a particularly bombastic way.  Gregory deliberately over-acts her part of the audiobook to show off the brash personality of the memoir’s author, and you have to love the pomp and self-importance that Gregory adds to her voice work in these scenes.  The other two, Longworth and Spooner, both of whom are well-established narrators of Warhammer fiction in their own right, have a lot of fun with more minor supporting roles in The Last Ditch, and their cool, if short, inclusions added some fun variety to the experience.  The overall result was another excellent listen that really enhances the fun and impact of the story and the larger franchise.  I honestly think that the Ciaphas Cain series has some of the best audiobooks, and The Last Ditch perfectly showcased how well these books come across in this fun format.

With all the fun action, humour and great focus on a fantastically flawed protagonist fans have come to know and love, Sandy Mitchell continues his exceptional Ciaphas Cain Warhammer 40,000 series with The Last Ditch.  A wonderful and deeply entertaining read, The Last Ditch was a joy to read from start to finish and I had such a brilliant time with it.  Indeed, I enjoyed The Last Ditch so much that I immediately dove into the next book in the series, The Greater Good, the second I finished it.

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Lives of Bitter Rain by Adrian Tchaikovsky

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Short StoriesLeave a comment

Publisher: Head of Zeus (ebook – 15 October 2025)

Series: The Tyrant Philosophers – Book 2.5

Length: 128 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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From the amazing mind of Adrian Tchaikovsky comes a brilliant and heartfelt fantasy novella Lives of Bitter Rain, an outstanding read that provides some intriguing extra context to one of the author’s previous impressive releases.

Last year I had the great pleasure of reading the amazing Days of Shattered Faith by the legendary Adrian Tchaikovsky.  The third book in the author’s outstanding Tyrant Philosophers series (which previously featured City of Last Chances and House of Open Wounds), Days of Shattered Faith was an exceptional read that perfectly continued the loosely connected Tyrant Philosophers series with a tale of betrayal, personal growth and diplomacy gone wild in a world slowly being taken over by an empire of religion-hating perfectionists, the Palleseen.  I deeply enjoyed Days of Shattered Faith, which ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2025, and I have been eagerly awaiting the next entry in the series for some time.  However, before I get to that, I decided to also check out awesome novella Lives of Bitter Rain from Tchaikovsky, which served as an interesting companion-piece to Days of Shattered Faith, with a powerful and heartfelt personal story behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring ‘Perfection’ and ‘Correctness’ to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach – the rain before the storm.

Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy – converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.

Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, she’ll learn that the price of her nation’s success is paid in compromise and lost chances, and that the falling rain will always be bitter.

Lives of Bitter Rain was a very clever and highly addictive novella that dives into one of the main characters of Days of Shattered Faith, Sage-Invigilator Angilly, the Palleseen ambassador who spent most of the book caught between her duties and responsibilities to her people, and her feelings for the crown prince of the nation she was assigned to.  Providing a compelling personal history of Angilly that was mostly left out of Days of Shattered Faith, Lives of Bitter Rain is a wonderful tie-in to the main book that will appeal to a wide audience.

Starting off fast, as any good novella should, Lives of Bitter Rain quickly dives into the formative events of Angilly’s childhood and captured the tragic events and influences that led her to join Outreach.  From there, the book covers how Angilly went from a brainwashed Palleseen orphan to the more flexible and unconventional figure we meet in Days of Shattered Faith.  This leads naturally to the second half of Lives of Bitter Rains’ short narrative, which shows Angilly’s assignment to the nation of Usmai and the start of the relationship that will bring her so much pain in the accompanying full novel.  Tchaikovsky does an outstanding job tying up all the loose ends surrounding this main character by the end of Lives of Bitter Rain, which provides some intriguing and deeply tragic context to this character’s actions in advance of the story from Days of Shattered Faith.

This proved to be an exceptional new release from Tchaikovsky, who provides a short and sweet read in Lives of Bitter Rain.  I really enjoyed how intense and complex he made this novella, which told its own unique story while also providing some excellent additional character work.  The expansion of Angilly’s personal history, as well as her experiences in Usmai before the events of Days of Shattered Faith, really provides some fantastic context around a lot of her actions and emotional connections in the later story.  This was honestly a very perfect prequel narrative, and you can clearly see that Tchaikovsky had all these details about this character’s past and motivations in his head when he wrote Days of Shattered Faith.  Throw in some fantastic extra worldbuilding for his Tyrant Philosophers universe, especially for the always fascinating Palleseen, and this was an exceptional novella that I couldn’t get enough of.

One of the key things readers must consider when reading Lives of Bitter Rain is whether to enjoy it before or after Days of Shattered Faith.  Both options have some appeal to it, although I personally read it after enjoying the main novel, which meant that Lives of Bitter Rain provided a certain post-mortem enjoyment which I deeply appreciated.  Not only did you finally get some lingering questions about Angilly answered but it also ensured that I found certain events from the book a little more tragic in retrospect.  However, if I had read Lives of Bitter Rain in advance, I would have had a better idea of Angilly’s personality and relationships, as well as some advance knowledge about Usmai and the city of Alkhalend, both of which would have helped me appreciate the narrative more as I was reading it.  I personally think that I made the right choice reading Lives of Bitter Rain after Days of Shattered Faith, but there really isn’t a wrong answer here and readers who do it either way are guaranteed to have an amazing time with this cool, prequel novella.

Overall, Lives of Bitter Rain comes very highly recommended, especially for those who have already got caught up in the magic and insanity of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosophers series.  An exceedingly clever prequel novella with some deep character work behind it, Lives of Bitter Rain was well-worth the read, and I am now even more excited to dive into the recently released fourth Tyrant Philosopher’s novel, Pretenders to the Throne of God.

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Sins of the Fathers by John Byrnes

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Historical Fiction1 Comment

Publisher: Macmillan (Trade Paperback – 1 July 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 399 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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A rising author in the field of Australian drama and historical fiction, John Byrnes, had a very interesting book back in 2025 that I have been meaning to review for a while, Sins of the Fathers.

Byrnes is a relatively new Australian author whose work I have been rather enjoying in recent years.  Byrnes career started back in 2023 with his cool thriller Headland, a compelling modern crime fiction novel with some interesting dramatic twists around it.  Headland ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2023, and I made sure to read his next novel, the historical saga The Youngest Son (one of my favourite Australian novels of 2024).  It looks like Byrnes intends to continue his focus on Australian historical epics going forward, as his third book was the intriguing and exciting novel from last year, Sins of the Fathers, which followed several compelling characters through several major events of the 1910s.

Plot Synopsis:

In 1910s Australia, the sins of the fathers leave behind a bloody legacy in this historical epic saga, perfect for fans of Peaky Blinders.

Two fathers, their sons and the feud that binds them.

In the early years of the twentieth century, Billy and Tommy Smith are growing up on the mean streets of Sydney’s Millers Point. It’s a hungry, hard-scrabble life, made even worse when their violent father returns home from a long stint in prison.

In the wealthy eastern suburbs, Charles Davies is living an entirely different life, the beneficiary of his father’s business acumen and insatiable, unyielding greed. Charles wants for nothing – except perhaps his father’s approval.

When an incident on The Point leads to the deaths of both Charles’ and the Smith boys’ fathers, a hatred is born that will follow the three men through their lives. In an epic saga taking them from Sydney to Gallipoli and the killing fields of France in World War I, to the melting pot of Darwin and the opal fields at Lightning Ridge, the men’s paths all lead to one final revenge.

But in the end, what price must be paid for the sins of the fathers?

Sins of the Fathers was a very good historical fiction read that thrusts several damaged youths into the grinder of early 20th century Australian history.  Starting off strong, the book primarily begins in early 1910, when violent father of Billy and Tommy Smith is released from prison back into their already hard lives.  As the Smith children attempt to survive in harsh poverty, their lives take a dangerous spin when their father is murdered, and the evidence points to crooked businessman Arthur Davies, who soon also dies.  This leads to a life-long, mostly one-sided feud between the Smiths and the spoiled son of Davies, Charles, who is determined to get revenge for the slights against him.  This revenge plot also extends to the Smith’s young neighbour Angeline, who serves as a love interest to Tommy throughout the book.

After these early chapters, the plot of Sins of the Fathers keeps jumping ahead every couple of years, with the protagonists examining some key historical events that impacted Sydney in the early 1910s.  Naturally, this leads to the three male characters of the book getting enlisted in the Australian Army for World War I, with the Smiths and Charles Davies eventually ending up on the same battlefield, with disastrous results for all involved.  At the same time, Angeline remains in Sydney and serves as an interesting fourth point-of-view character, as she uses her business acumen to survive and gain status.  Back in Europe, the three male characters are eventually separated and start making their own way in the world in their own standalone adventures.  The exception is Davies, who continues to attempt to get revenge and gain money by attacking his apparent rivals.  Byres explores some interesting different historical locales and periods throughout the second half of Sins of the Fathers, with some intense and exciting adventures befalling the cast.  Everything eventually leads up to all the characters reuniting towards the end of the book, as the protagonists attempt to overcome one last plot from Davies.  The end result is a very compelling and intense standalone narrative, that drags you in with its fun characters and cool historical content.

At this point Byrnes has settled well into the historical fiction groove, producing a complex and layered narrative across several entertaining characters.  Making good use of a split between four key characters, Byrnes did an excellent job exploring the turbulent 1910s in Sins of the Fathers, with some great dives into key elements of early Australia and World War I.  This exploration of this crucial decade served as a captivating backdrop to the personal narratives of the four main characters, and the mixture of personalities and their separate struggles allows for a highly enjoyable read.

The resulting narrative is loaded with action, adventure and some excellent examples of personal determination, which allows for a very fast-paced read.  I also loved the thrilling intrigue that surrounds the book’s antagonist, Charles Davies, who is a devious and entertaining brat incapable of taking responsibility for his actions.  Byrnes did such a good job creating another repellent villain here with Davies, and watching his various schemes against the protagonists and others really amps up the stakes of the book as the reader is eager to see him fail.  I frankly had the most fun with Davies’s various chapters, and it was an entertaining foil to perspectives of the more likeable protagonists.  Throw in some interesting twists about the death of the Smith’s father and the resulting rivalry between them and Davies, and the entirety of Sins of the Fathers plot really comes together into a clever and deeply personal historical journey.

Overall, I was quite impressed with John Byrnes’s second dive into the historical fiction genre, and Sins of the Fathers proved to be a strong and highly exciting piece of Australian fiction that you could really sink your teeth into.  An addictive epic that expertly showcased some key Australian moments and locations in the 1910s, Sins of the Fathers was a great read, and I am excited for whatever historical adventure Byrnes comes up with next.

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Seven Recipes for Revolution by Ryan Rose

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy2 Comments

Publisher: Daphne Press (ebook – 25 November 2025)

Series: What We Eat – Book One

Length: 480 pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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In the mood for a tasty fantasy debut? Then look no further than the clever and distinctive 2025 release, Seven Recipes for Revolution by talented new author Ryan Rose.

Plot Synopsis:

The Bear meets Attack on Titan in this exhilarating, food-based epic fantasy filled with high stakes and monster steaks, perfect for fans of Pierce Brown and Jay Kristoff.

Seventeen-year-old Paprick is a common butcher, carving slabs of meat from gargantuan monsters so elite chefs can prepare magic-granting meals for the rich. But Paprick’s true passion is cooking, and if he can learn the secret art, his dreams of liberating his people and sharing the monsters’ magic with the world could come true. He steals the precious ingredients needed to practise recipes at home, but if he’s caught, he’ll be executed.

As his desperation grows, he ventures into the black market and uncovers a spice imported from unknown lands. Combining it with the last of his stolen meat, he cooks a dish the world has never tasted before, with side-effects he couldn’t have foreseen.

The dish’s magic grows Paprick to kaiju-size, and legends of his powers spread among the people. Immediately, the rulers arrest him, but Paprick convinces them to make him a chef’s apprentice―if they ever want to learn his Recipe. However, his exposure to the world of high cuisine reveals the rot at its centre, and with his new power, rebellion is only a few recipes away…

Seven Recipes for Revolution was a particularly awesome book that really showcased Ryan Rose’s excellent imagination and ability to craft a compelling story around his unique food-based magic.  The first book in Rose’s What We Eat series; Seven Recipes for Revolution was an outstanding read that greatly impressed me with its clever story and unique ideas.

Rose produced a delicious story for Seven Recipes for Revolution, which quickly grabs the reader’s attention.  Primarily told in a chronicle format from the perspective of a future Paprick before his execution, you are soon transported to the protagonist’s early days as a common butcher in a segregated society of magical foodies.  This early part of the book serves as an excellent introduction to the protagonist and the larger world the series is set in, as you soon learn about the food magic of this nation, as well as the magical beasts whose meat give them power.  It doesn’t take long for Paprick to find himself in the middle of a deadly revolution when, after stealing magical meat from his job, he is able to create a new recipe that allows him to grow to massive size.  Able to leverage his discovery with the rulers of the city, the Rares, Paprick is allowed to become an apprentice chef, which leads him into even greater trouble.

What follows is an interesting centre to the narrative as Paprick enters a whole new world of cuisine in an excellent magical school narrative as Rose provides some compelling looks at the city’s main chef school.  I loved the mixture of interesting classes, which feature both cool magic and awesome-sounding food, and it serves as a great background to the rest of the plot as Paprick gets further involved with the revolution, as well as a bloody conspiracy lurking underneath the surface of Rare society.  The last third of the book is a fantastic blur of action and intrigue, as various secrets come to light and the protagonist faces some very dark choices and challenges.  The build-up to these events in the main story is well supported by the sequences occurring in the present day, as the future Paprick messes with the mysterious chronicler recording his story, while also providing some interesting hints of events to come.  All this leads up to a great conclusion, and I loved the fun twists that emerged as you get towards the end.  Readers come away very satisfied from Seven Recipes for Revolution, and you are left wanting to find out what happens next.

I really enjoyed how Rose pulled together his first book, and the unique fantasy story he came up with was particularly inventive and well-written.  Rose really showed off his creative style early, quickly introducing readers to a cool new fantasy realm where magic resides in the meat of gigantic beasts, known as emphon, and the way you prepare the food grants different abilities and powers.  It was really fascinating to see a complex and segregated fantasy society built around this magical cookery, and the resulting obsession with cooking and food that the characters gave Seven Recipes for Revolution a distinctive and complex feel.  Rose made full use of these creative elements throughout his story, and the resulting training, battles and intrigues related to secret recipes and culinary abilities was quite spectacular.

In addition to the amazing worldbuilding , I must compliment the way that Rose set out the story using the chronicle method, which shows the older Paprick telling his narrative to an initially unnamed archivist who has history with the protagonist.  Having a character retell the story of their life as narrative tool doesn’t always work, but I think was particularly effective in Seven Recipes for Revolution, especially as it added some fun uncertainty and visions of the future to the mixture.  Much of this is done through various interruptions from the archivist as they refute parts of Paprick’s story and claim that he is either embellishing or adding in material to make himself look better.  I liked how this established the protagonist as a bit of an unreliable figure, and you’re never quite sure where his story will go next.  The conversations about the future Paprick and the archivist give each other also adds to the anticipation of the main plot, and you are always waiting for the events they hint about to drop.  This cool style works so well with the combined fantasy and intrigue elements of Seven Recipes for Revolution’s plot, and you really get stuck into the food-based carnage and complex betrayals that emerge both in the main story and the plot surrounding the future recording of Paprick’s tall tale.

Thanks to his outstanding imagination and excellent storytelling ability, Ryan Rose’s debut novel, Seven Recipes for Revolution, was a particularly awesome read, and it’s one I’m glad I checked out last year.  Loaded with cool food-based magic, duplicitous characters and some amazing action, Seven Recipes for Revolution was addictive fun from start to finish, and I really enjoyed how it came together.  Seven Recipes for Revolution ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2025, and I cannot wait to see how Rose continues his series later this year with his upcoming book, Eight Tastes of Treachery.

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Cold War by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, LGBT+, Science Fiction3 Comments

Publisher: Blackstone Audio (Audiobook – 14 October 2025)

Series: NecroTek – Book Two

Length: 19 hours and 33 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The insanity and complex storytelling of Jonathan Maberry’s incredible NecroTek series continues in 2025 with the impressive and deeply intense sequel Cold War.

2025 has been a pretty awesome year for fans of Jonathan Maberry, as we have not only gotten the new Joe Ledger/Rogue Team International novel, Burn to Shine, but Maberry also continued his excellent NecroTek series.  Released in collaboration with the iconic Weird Tales magazine, the series started last year with the amazing novel, NecroTek (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024), this series saw Maberry combine compelling science fiction elements with his love for Lovecraftian horror, when, in the near future, a space station of scientists and soldiers is transported across the galaxy and forced to fight eldritch horrors.  As the book continued, several of the human characters to become the titular NecroTeks, undead pilots of gigantic alien war machines, who are forced to risk the destruction of their souls to fight back against the monsters coming for them.  Due to how powerful, compelling, and occasionally scary this novel got, I have been keen for the sequel, Cold War, for quite some time, and I made sure to check it out the amazing audiobook version of it a few weeks ago.

Plot Synopsis:

In NecroTek, Asphodel space station was accidentally teleported to the far side of the galaxy, where they became embroiled in a never-ending war against ancient cosmic horrors.

But there is much more to the story …

On Earth, scientists uncover an alien spacecraft buried for millions of years beneath Antarctic ice. Inside are terrible secrets and a creature desperate to escape.

Soon the scientists studying the Artifact begin to have terrifying dreams, driving many of them to madness and acts of shocking violence. Dr. Evie Cronin and her team struggle to find answers, fully aware that they may only be found out among the stars. Their investigation brings them to the orbit of Jupiter moments before the WarpLine gun misfires. Destiny is a vicious and devious thing.

On Asphodel Station, the newly created ghost-driven NecroTek fighting machines are engaged in a desperate battle for survival against the deadly shoggoth fleets. But a new and far more dangerous race of creatures is poised to attack, both with their own fleets and with nightmares forced into the minds of the dwindling human defenders.

The group of scientists from Antarctica and the survivors on Asphodel are pitted against an unstoppable enemy. If they fail, Asphodel Station will fall, and the Outer Gods will be free to wage a war of conquest across the galaxy—to Earth itself.

Jonathan Maberry once again delivers an impressive read with his outstanding and complex Cold War.  Featuring an intense, character driven story that takes its protagonists to hell and back, Cold War was a powerful, horror-laden science fiction novel that refuses to let you go.  I loved this book so much, and it gets a very easy five-star rating from me, and I have recently featured it on my recent favourite sequels and audiobooks lists of 2025.

Maberry produced a very exciting and captivating narrative for Cold War that goes in a very different direction than I would have expected after NecroTek, but which works as a very effective and expansive sequel.  Initially showcasing the events in the aftermath of NecroTek and the first big battle for Asphodel Station, the reader is quickly and effectively reintroduced to the key characters from the first book and given an update on how they have continued to adapt to being transferred across the universe.  The early chapters of Cold War also take the reader back in time a few years before the events of the first book, when a group of scientists uncover an ancient alien artifact in the Antarctic snow, keeping it secret from the world and all the protagonists of the first book.

Cold War’s narrative soon develops an interesting and noticeably uneven split in the storylines.  While a good chunk of Cold War continues to showcase the figures on Asphodel and their multiple struggles, including the slow reveal of a new terrifying group of antagonists, much more focus is given to the Antarctic research plot line, with longer chapters dedicated to this part of the book.  While this move away from the established plot is surprising, I personally thought it was very clever, as it allowed Maberry to further expand both the cast and the lore around the threats humanity was facing, while also bringing the story back to Earth.  The cool exploration and first-contact scientific elements of this Antarctic storyline were also deeply compelling, and I got extremely absorbed in this part of Cold War’s narrative as the book continued.  While there was more of a focus on the Earth-based narrative, the story around Asphodel was still very impressive, with some complex character development, multiple ultra-exciting sequences of space combat, and a growing sense of dread as dark forces stalk the protagonists.

The final third of Cold War sees the book’s two separate storylines come together in very direct way, which allows many of the unique characters developed in both NecroTek and Cold War to come together.  While the transition to this part of the book is quite sudden, it allows for a very exciting end run of the book, as Maberry pumps up the action, and takes the protagonists through hell and back.  Maberry brings out all his best horror writing as the now combined cast are forced to contend with a terrifying array of monsters and eldritch creatures, including another zombie substitute (Maberry loves his zombies).  All the storylines from the first half pay off in this final part of Cold War, and while there aren’t too many surprises, you’re constantly on your feet as you wait to see who’s going to survive and which side characters are going to get killed off.  The author leaves Cold War on a very interesting note, and I’m already extremely curious to see where he takes the NecroTek series going forward.

Maberry utilised his distinctive and well-honed thriller writing style in Cold War, which combined nicely with the science fiction story and the overarching horror vibes to create a brilliantly intense and fast-paced read.  Once again breaking the story up into a series of short and sharp alternating perspective subchapters, Maberry constantly jumps Cold War’s story between multiple key protagonists, as well as some antagonists, to produce a wonderfully layered and powerful narrative that constantly has multiple awesome interlocking storylines on the go.  This quick-paced style works well to enhance both the book’s horror and science fiction elements, and the constant jumps also increase the tension of the plot and produce some excellent action sequences, including some truly unique and ultra-impressive space combat sequences.  There were also some new delightfully terrifying horrors determined to kill the protagonists both in their dreams and real life cleverly introduced in this novel, and Maberry did an amazing job building them up as a threat the entire book.  Maberry also effectively splits his book into two separate narratives for much of Cold War’s runtime, with alternating chapters diving between the events in the present at Asphodel Station and the prequel storyline in Antarctica.  This cool split really changed the feel and focus of Cold War compared to NecroTek, and while Maberry allowed both storylines to run mostly independently, they also worked well to support each other.  All these great writing techniques and narrative choices allowed Cold War to really stand out as a sequel, and I liked how much stronger Cold War turned out as a result.

While Cold War does work extremely well as a sequel, with the author’s excellent storytelling choices and alternating timelines really adding a lot to the story from NecroTek, it does mean that this book is probably not as accessible to new readers as some of Maberry’s other works.  Maberry does do his usual excellent job of recapping key events in the text as the book continues, so new readers do get a pretty good idea of what happened and who the key figures are.  However, the full emotional impacts of events, as well as the significance of some of the revelations coming to light in Cold War’s big prequel narrative in Antarctica really aren’t going to hit readers as hard if they haven’t read the first book.  Indeed, Cold War might be best read by established fans of Maberry, who will appreciate the author’s continued utilisation of Lovecraftian elements, as Maberry continues to showcase his love for the classic horrors with some fun science fiction twists.  Experienced Maberry readers will also be more used to the author’s extreme content, as Cold War is as dark and disturbingly over-the-top as many of his books, with some very adult horror moments.  Readers should also be on the lookout for easter eggs to some of Maberry’s works, including a fun reference to the antagonist of the Joe Ledger novel Dogs of War.  As such, this is very much a book for those readers familiar with the author, although I think new fans would be in for an excellent time.

As with most of Maberry’s writing, one of Cold War’s big strengths is its excellent contingent of complex and often highly damaged characters, whose unique interactions and experiences during these terrifying times frame the book’s captivating narrative.  Cold War contains an interesting mixture of returning figures from NecroTek and a new batch of protagonists who end up taking over a good part of the plot.  This includes Professor Evie Cronin, the leader of the expedition who discovers the alien artifact in Antarctica.  Evie serves as a great new major protagonist for the series, and Maberry’s choice to set much of Cold War’s narrative around her, ensures that the NecroTek books continue to have a strong scientific basis to their narratives.  The author really tries to capture the shock, excitement and fear that would accompany the discovery of an alien ship through Evie’s experiences in Cold War, and she serves as a relatable and likeable major focus for much of the book’s plot.  Maberry also works in a nice romance angle between Evie and shooter Jenny Spears, that serves as a big emotional part of Cold War’s plot, and which added to the stakes and impact of some of the high-tension sequences.  Of the remaining new characters introduced in Cold War, my favourite was probably Dr Torquil Brollachan, a government scientist who takes over the investigation of the alien artifact.  A complex and guarded figure, Dr Brollachan serves as an interesting foil to Evie and his secret motivations and dangerous priorities turns him into a bit of a Dr Frankenstein figure at times (an apt comparison that Dr Brollachan would appreciate), resulting in some fantastic reveals in the second part of the book.

While these new characters are impactful and have some very compelling storylines around them, their inclusion does mean that the cast introduced in NecroTek don’t get as much time to shine as they previously did.  Still Maberry keeps many of their storylines going, and all of them serve as a key part of the book’s plot.  This includes the main character from the first book, Dr Lars Soren, whose steady presence continues to be a great part of Cold War, and I enjoyed how Maberry further explored his cosmic philosophy ideas in the interludes.  The continued inclusion of the dead characters brought back as NecroTeks was also very compelling, with their experiences, including that of Bianca Petrescu, providing some complex existential elements to the plot.  I also liked how Maberry choice to focus a lot more on pilot character Lieutenant Commander Veronica Roland, better known as Calisto, who was forced to step up and lead the human pilots defending Asphodel Station.  Calisto’s struggle to become a leader, as well as the distinctive and beautifully written fighter combat sequences, are another amazing highlight, and I appreciated how well her scenes were written in this sequel.  Throw in the entertaining Irish necromancer, Lady Jessica, who spends much of the book recovering from the events of NecroTek, and the cast of Cold War was a very awesome part of this book, and I personally cannot wait to see where all their captivating and haunting personal stories go from here.

Like I have with all the other Maberry novels I have had the pleasure of reading, I ended up enjoying Cold War on audiobook, which I find is the best way to enjoy the author’s thrilling narratives.  I always find that Maberry’s dark tales and intricate and exciting writing style always translate nicely to the audiobook format, and they tend to be some of the best listens each year.  Indeed, as I mentioned above, Cold War was one of my favourite audiobooks of 2025, and I ended up powering through this new audiobook’s 19-and-a-half-hour-long runtime.  Much of Cold War’s epic success on audiobook once again lies in the narration of Maberry’s long-time audiobook collaborator, Ray Porter.  Porter, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, always perfectly matches the dark and sinister tones of Maberry’s writing, and I really love the sense of menace and intensity he brings to audiobooks like Cold War, as he conveys the underlying threat and fear Maberry weaves into his tales.  Porter also expertly delivers all the book’s awesome action, great humour, and other deeper emotions, to the listener and there is always a great synchronisation between Porter’s narration and the intent of Maberry’s writing.  Porter also has an outstanding array of distinctive voices for the book’s characters, and I love how he always manages to bring the best out of Cold War’s complex casts.  All these voices, including for the various new characters introduced in this sequel, were extremely fitting for their respective cast member, and I appreciate how effectively Porter portrays each figure’s emotions.  Porter also does an exceptional job voicing the sinister monsters and other eldritch figures haunting the protagonists, and the impressive array of creepy voices really emphasises the dark nature of Cold War’s story to the listener.  All this results in quite an exceptional listen, and it’s one that I cannot recommend enough.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be possible for me to ever not enjoy a Maberry novel on audiobook, especially if Porter is narrating, and there is a reason these epic listens always top my best audiobook lists each year.

Maberry’s outstanding NecroTek series continues in extremely strong fashion with the extremely captivating Cold War.  Cleverly expanding on the story from the first novel, NecroTek, Cold War effortlessly kept up the terrifying tension as multiple compelling characters continue to experience the dark horrors the universe has in store for them.  I had an exceptional time with Cold War, and I have no problem letting you know that this book will be appearing in my favourite novels of 2025 later this week.  I’m also extremely excited as a Maberry fan for 2026, as not only do we have the new Joe Ledger book, Red Empire, coming out in March, but the NecroTek series will also thankfully be continuing, with a third novel, Ghosts of the Void, tentatively set for release towards the end of the year.

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