Review by for Rating: Kudos to Graham McNeill for escaping the all too coommn trap of resorting to portrayals of the traitor legions as nothing more than thoroughly wicked, single-minded pawns of the Ruinous Powers. I have always felt that at least some of the denizens of the Eye (my beloved Iron Warriors in particular), deserved a much more in-depth treatment than the stereotypical, two-dimensional, comic book approach employed by many Black Library authors. A 40K novel narrated primarily from the point of view of a lucid and oftentimes sympathetic chaos marine was a welcome treat indeed.McNeill’s story centers around the protracted siege of an ancient Imperial stronghold by a vast contingent of Iron Warriors hoping to wrest a prize of incalculable value from the Imperium of Man. The highlight of the book for me was McNeill’s detailed account of the painstaking, systematic breach of the stronghold. I do not know whether McNeill is a student of military history and medieval siege techniques but I certainly found his narrative to be both believable and compelling.The rather surprising end to the novel leads me to believe as though a sequel is perhaps in the works and if memory serves me correct, McNeill confirmed as much when I met him briefly last year at a Games Day event. I eagerly await the second installment in this unique saga.
Review by for Rating: Kudos to Graham McNeill for escaping the all too coommn trap of resorting to portrayals of the traitor legions as nothing more than thoroughly wicked, single-minded pawns of the Ruinous Powers. I have always felt that at least some of the denizens of the Eye (my beloved Iron Warriors in particular), deserved a much more in-depth treatment than the stereotypical, two-dimensional, comic book approach employed by many Black Library authors. A 40K novel narrated primarily from the point of view of a lucid and oftentimes sympathetic chaos marine was a welcome treat indeed.McNeill’s story centers around the protracted siege of an ancient Imperial stronghold by a vast contingent of Iron Warriors hoping to wrest a prize of incalculable value from the Imperium of Man. The highlight of the book for me was McNeill’s detailed account of the painstaking, systematic breach of the stronghold. I do not know whether McNeill is a student of military history and medieval siege techniques but I certainly found his narrative to be both believable and compelling.The rather surprising end to the novel leads me to believe as though a sequel is perhaps in the works and if memory serves me correct, McNeill confirmed as much when I met him briefly last year at a Games Day event. I eagerly await the second installment in this unique saga.