- Joined
- Dec 18, 2019
I finally got back into reading 40k
(Short) Execution: Chick commissar leads imperial guard regiment and a Pysker against a seemingly impervious chaos stronghold on a former agricultural world.
It's a fact of life in 40k that the best victory's involve sacrificing your men Soviet style to secure a victory, and this book does a perfect job driving that moral home. Commissar Severina Raine is portrayed as a very cold and mathematical kind of women. The kind of person Cain would have to be if he didn't have the luck of a saint. She's no tyrant, but she broke down the formula of exactly when to blam, when to shout speeches and when to sacrifice. The supporting guard and psyker don't have as much focus, but I do like how the regiment is portrayed as religious and not entirely resentful of the Commissar for doing what she has to do. They get her in, they get her out, and then it's all about pulling the trigger.
There is a frantic Darktide quality to the fights and I really liked the framing of her origin alongside the action. It cinematically cuts between her swapping stories with her 2nd and the assault on the fortress. Particularly liked how she got beat to shit over the story and started to lose focus at the end.
My favorite little twist at the end was the novelty of a psyker misunderstanding ...
Apparently Raine has her own novel, so Ill have to check that out when I get a chance.
Short, Champions All : Black Templar and sisters penitent vs Orks that have occupied a former church
This story is even more vanilla but I really liked the back and forth between the Templar Champion and Sister. They both cheer each other up and work well in tandem. It was cute how the BT called her lucky for getting a second chance to redeem herself. Especially appreciated how the sister is clearly written as weaker then a space marine, but her willingness to close the distance and distract opponents puts her on a closer playing field. There is also a big focus on faith here, which was nice.
Novel, Rite of Passage: A recently widowed Navigator has designs on becoming head of her household, but the destruction of a planet and navigator serial killings on her homeworld interrupt her ambitions. Trouble is, her rivals didn't get the memo.
Navigators are probably one of the coolest overlooked factions of 40k and this book does a really good job highlighting them. They are an kingdom onto themselves, almost as independent as the mechanicus. Without them nothing runs ontime and they dam well know it. Trouble is, despite their pampered status in the imperium that doesn't mean rivalry's and politicking go away. Half of this book is 40k political thriller, where rival houses attempt to understand and undermine the other. And the other half is a chaos serial killer trying to murder them all. The lore is fantastic and worth the price alone, as it highlights what a prosperous core world of the imperium actually looks like. We get a planetary governor that actually seems competent, religious festivals and cool pollical/internal family drama. My favorite bit is when a scribe mentions that when Rob took over the imperium the mortality rate of the planet went from something like a thousand a day to a thousand a week. (Progress!)
The Main character Chetta is a pretty interesting figure for a 40k story. She's barely a fighter, has a bad hip and she is something of a manipulative bitch. Oh she's got a heart of gold if you do right by her, but she's fully prepared to lie and cheat her way though a problem if she has to. (She starts off the story having murdered her Husband) Chetta's the only one who realizes how bad the serial killings are, but she has to navigate the minefield laid out in front of her by the ignorance of everyone else. With rival houses she cant trust and court drama that even involves a rogue trader. The chaos side of the coin involves an assassin named Radimir. This guy was great, he's an intelligent psychopath, who knows exactly what he needs
to do in order to launch an entire planet into the warp. The whole gimmick he had reminded me of the Jackel from "Day of the Jackel". Lore wise I'm very curious about his special abilities
. He can't do it alone though, so he has to pair up with a local chaos cult. Those guys were great for how utterly naive and friendly they are. They have no idea what they are doing and no inkling that they will be just as screwed as everyone else when they finish the ritual. The Whole book was a nice treat overall
I will say I do have a minor compliant. The writing is extremely good and everybody feels like an actual character...... But this is probably the most "SJW" 40k ive ever read so far. Most of the main imperial characters are women, and ordinarily I wouldn't give a shit but there's a rather distracting scene where a male character talks about his husband. Doesn't take more then a page, and he's simply asking for their protection, but It annoyed me because I legit liked the character. (he's the administrator Scribe. I guess it makes sense for the government worker to be a fag) Again a minor complaint and I do like how everyone gets their shit kicked at some point.
I think I'll stick to single review from here out. Faster to crank out and things don't blend together.
(Short) Execution: Chick commissar leads imperial guard regiment and a Pysker against a seemingly impervious chaos stronghold on a former agricultural world.
It's a fact of life in 40k that the best victory's involve sacrificing your men Soviet style to secure a victory, and this book does a perfect job driving that moral home. Commissar Severina Raine is portrayed as a very cold and mathematical kind of women. The kind of person Cain would have to be if he didn't have the luck of a saint. She's no tyrant, but she broke down the formula of exactly when to blam, when to shout speeches and when to sacrifice. The supporting guard and psyker don't have as much focus, but I do like how the regiment is portrayed as religious and not entirely resentful of the Commissar for doing what she has to do. They get her in, they get her out, and then it's all about pulling the trigger.
There is a frantic Darktide quality to the fights and I really liked the framing of her origin alongside the action. It cinematically cuts between her swapping stories with her 2nd and the assault on the fortress. Particularly liked how she got beat to shit over the story and started to lose focus at the end.
My favorite little twist at the end was the novelty of a psyker misunderstanding ...
Her impending blindness as a sign of death
Apparently Raine has her own novel, so Ill have to check that out when I get a chance.
Short, Champions All : Black Templar and sisters penitent vs Orks that have occupied a former church
This story is even more vanilla but I really liked the back and forth between the Templar Champion and Sister. They both cheer each other up and work well in tandem. It was cute how the BT called her lucky for getting a second chance to redeem herself. Especially appreciated how the sister is clearly written as weaker then a space marine, but her willingness to close the distance and distract opponents puts her on a closer playing field. There is also a big focus on faith here, which was nice.
Novel, Rite of Passage: A recently widowed Navigator has designs on becoming head of her household, but the destruction of a planet and navigator serial killings on her homeworld interrupt her ambitions. Trouble is, her rivals didn't get the memo.
Navigators are probably one of the coolest overlooked factions of 40k and this book does a really good job highlighting them. They are an kingdom onto themselves, almost as independent as the mechanicus. Without them nothing runs ontime and they dam well know it. Trouble is, despite their pampered status in the imperium that doesn't mean rivalry's and politicking go away. Half of this book is 40k political thriller, where rival houses attempt to understand and undermine the other. And the other half is a chaos serial killer trying to murder them all. The lore is fantastic and worth the price alone, as it highlights what a prosperous core world of the imperium actually looks like. We get a planetary governor that actually seems competent, religious festivals and cool pollical/internal family drama. My favorite bit is when a scribe mentions that when Rob took over the imperium the mortality rate of the planet went from something like a thousand a day to a thousand a week. (Progress!)
The Main character Chetta is a pretty interesting figure for a 40k story. She's barely a fighter, has a bad hip and she is something of a manipulative bitch. Oh she's got a heart of gold if you do right by her, but she's fully prepared to lie and cheat her way though a problem if she has to. (She starts off the story having murdered her Husband) Chetta's the only one who realizes how bad the serial killings are, but she has to navigate the minefield laid out in front of her by the ignorance of everyone else. With rival houses she cant trust and court drama that even involves a rogue trader. The chaos side of the coin involves an assassin named Radimir. This guy was great, he's an intelligent psychopath, who knows exactly what he needs
. 8 navigator eyes, a special sanity destroying ritual symbol, and a decent chunk of his life force
. Dude can walk through walls using the ability to travel through shadow, I remember seeing those guys in the rogue trader game, what's their deal?
I will say I do have a minor compliant. The writing is extremely good and everybody feels like an actual character...... But this is probably the most "SJW" 40k ive ever read so far. Most of the main imperial characters are women, and ordinarily I wouldn't give a shit but there's a rather distracting scene where a male character talks about his husband. Doesn't take more then a page, and he's simply asking for their protection, but It annoyed me because I legit liked the character. (he's the administrator Scribe. I guess it makes sense for the government worker to be a fag) Again a minor complaint and I do like how everyone gets their shit kicked at some point.
I think I'll stick to single review from here out. Faster to crank out and things don't blend together.
