Vuron
02-08-2010, 09:48 PM
Rynn's World
Author: Steve Parker (Gunheads, Rebel Winter)
Starring/Perspective: Pedro Kantor, Captain Allesio Cortez, the entire Crimson Fists Chapter
Antagonists: Snagrod the Arsonist, Urzog Mag Kull, an entire Waaagh of orks
Locales: Rynn's World, Badlanding
Snarky synopsis: Vote for Pedro...the Space Marines Novel
This is the first of the "Space Marines Battles" novels from BL. The book is a larger format than the regular 40k paperbacks. It is about the size of a BL Omnibus. It is also longer than most BL novels at 536 pages. The book also features four pages of color maps in the center. The maps are average quality (think cheap d20 module) but give perspective for the battles the book describes.
The story concerns Snagrod's Waaagh and how it nearly decimated the Crimson Fists chapter. Anyone who has read the timeline in the recent Space Marine codex will have a good idea of what the book is about. The action is better than most BL novels and is nonstop. Parker does a good job of setting up the major battles. His first novel Rebel Winter was a promising Vostroyan novel that didn't really go anywhere. However his Gunheads was surprisingly good and mixed memorable characters with decent tank company battles.
The strength of the book are the two major characters - Pedro Kantor and Allesio Cortez. While not treading new ground for space marines the book is enjoyable. The major characters show two different heroes -- one that stands for good and the other that stands for lone wolf bravado. The rest of the characters are largely filler with a few notable exceptions. There is no "ork perspective" that I thought was a good choice. I didn't find any of the battles particularly memorable except towards the end. I also found it refreshing that the Crimson Fists were a noble chapter that stood for good - instead of the usual "we protect these people because we were made to" that is shoveled along by other authors.
In the end I am looking forward to the other Space Marine Battles Novels because I think with the larger format and page count we may get a decent series. While this doesn't approach the best of the Horus Heresy novels, it is better than the average (like Sons of Dorn) that BL puts out.
Overall: 3 Bolters out of 5
Author: Steve Parker (Gunheads, Rebel Winter)
Starring/Perspective: Pedro Kantor, Captain Allesio Cortez, the entire Crimson Fists Chapter
Antagonists: Snagrod the Arsonist, Urzog Mag Kull, an entire Waaagh of orks
Locales: Rynn's World, Badlanding
Snarky synopsis: Vote for Pedro...the Space Marines Novel
This is the first of the "Space Marines Battles" novels from BL. The book is a larger format than the regular 40k paperbacks. It is about the size of a BL Omnibus. It is also longer than most BL novels at 536 pages. The book also features four pages of color maps in the center. The maps are average quality (think cheap d20 module) but give perspective for the battles the book describes.
The story concerns Snagrod's Waaagh and how it nearly decimated the Crimson Fists chapter. Anyone who has read the timeline in the recent Space Marine codex will have a good idea of what the book is about. The action is better than most BL novels and is nonstop. Parker does a good job of setting up the major battles. His first novel Rebel Winter was a promising Vostroyan novel that didn't really go anywhere. However his Gunheads was surprisingly good and mixed memorable characters with decent tank company battles.
The strength of the book are the two major characters - Pedro Kantor and Allesio Cortez. While not treading new ground for space marines the book is enjoyable. The major characters show two different heroes -- one that stands for good and the other that stands for lone wolf bravado. The rest of the characters are largely filler with a few notable exceptions. There is no "ork perspective" that I thought was a good choice. I didn't find any of the battles particularly memorable except towards the end. I also found it refreshing that the Crimson Fists were a noble chapter that stood for good - instead of the usual "we protect these people because we were made to" that is shoveled along by other authors.
In the end I am looking forward to the other Space Marine Battles Novels because I think with the larger format and page count we may get a decent series. While this doesn't approach the best of the Horus Heresy novels, it is better than the average (like Sons of Dorn) that BL puts out.
Overall: 3 Bolters out of 5