Atlas Infernal Review

This is from Index Nocturnus, whose review and podcast site can be found here.



"Atlas Infernal by Rob Sanders


A 40k novel review by Sam.

Before I start this review, I just want to go on record in saying “Well done Black Library!” “What’s that?” you gasp, “That’s it, he’s finally lost it…” But no! There hasn't been a pure Inquisitorial story since the on-going Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Pariah cycle, and it was a long time between drinks for the last part of that. Prior to Abnett’s masterwork (which I am an unabashed lover of and I believe puts Gaunt in the shade), you have to trek all the way back to Ian Watson’s Jac Draco novels, including their belated omnibus release a few years ago. This is truly bizarre, as Inquisitors are walking story generators and the scope they can bring to a plot is truly unique, outside the usual meatgrinder bolter-porn we are used to from the majority of Black Library books. The concept of ‘Inquisitor’ is so perfect that none other than Lois McMaster Bujold, the First Lady of science fiction, came up with a laboriously tortured ‘Imperial Auditor’ title and backstory for Miles Vorkosigan so he could go off and have adventures (wielding power) in exactly the same way as 40k Inquisitors do by rote. So three cheers for the Black Library in re-introducing this unique aspect of the 40k universe with this novel.

The roots of Atlas Infernal are obvious, and I have mentioned its antecedents in the preceding paragraph. At some points during this novel, I envisioned Sanders grabbing one each of the omnibuses mentioned above, dipping them in acid (the kind that makes you see pink elephants), and then stirring them together in a cauldron, to see how the elements bubble in a new way. First we have Czevak’s trip to the Black Library (Draco did that), and his intermittent battles/rescues with Harlequins (Draco too), while flying all over the galaxy with a Rogue Trader (Eisenhorn) and a Daemonhost (Eisenhorn again), a crazy Navigator (back to Draco), discussing plot points with an inanimate daemon-object (hand up at the back, yes, Gregor and the Pontius); using nulls to kill stuff (Eisenhorn, Ravenor, Bequin), while a Monodominant Inquisitor sort of swings in at the last minute to provide a foe (Eisenhorn); a corrupt Marine (Draco, Eisenhorn in Pariah), hot psyker chicks (Ravenor), and hot Assassin chicks (Draco). Given this list, you scream “Derivative! Get Ye to a Sister Hospitaler nunnery!” (with a grail-shaped beacon … it is a silly place). But no, the whole thing sort of gloms together and works, forging a unique vision from a pile of stewed ideas. And if you are going to steal, steal from the best.

The first chapter of the novel is so ridiculously dense that it took me two or three tries to actually get into this book. The reader is bombarded with a plethora of Inquisitor names, planet names, festival names, ship names, conflict names and non-standard 40k terminology (nexomat, anyone?) and info-dumps about the main characters. By paragraph four, you are assailed with a potted history of the Relictor Space Marine Chapter, and the whole mass is really difficult to absorb (although that could be my poor small brain). Plus the chapters are broken down into Acts and Cantos like it is Dante or Chaucer and not military sci-fi. But we are used to the chapter name flourishes since (you guessed it) Eisenhorn, when Abnett would break down the three acts of each chapter in little snippet headings, for no apparent good reason except He Thought It Was Neat.

Czevak is removed from play and exeunts to the Black Library (literally, not the company in Nottingham, although that would be cool). His long-suffering Interrogator Klute is promoted to Inquisitor during the years of Czevak’s absence, and spends his time roaming the Eye of Terror looking for his erstwhile master. But then the thing takes off! Sanders probably also threw a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy into the mix. You have gag names – Bona Phidia? Epiphani? You have the funniest Freudian cyber-skull in the history of 40k, you have a warp-seer with a fashion fixation, Chucky the child-Daemonhost (he is supposed to be older but I imagined Chucky) and Savlar Chem-Dogs – the most bumbling, hysterically funny Imperial Guard force ever to grace the pages of a Codex. Plus hot vampires and Harlequins and the anti-hero of the piece, Czevak, whose dialogue is just a collection of one-liners strung together. I was 5/5 Gaving and slavering for more.

Czevak is discovered, having escaped the library; and we are told, almost in passing, that Ahriman of the Thousand Sons is after him because of the valuable information in his head, which he absorbed eidetically in the library due to a ‘meme-virus’ which allows him to record all data, like a savant (oh, add that to the ‘pinched’ list under Eisenhorn’s savant, Amos). ‘Meme-virus’ is a very non-40k concept; I was looking up my back issues of Transmetropolitan for something similar, as it sits much better in the scarily advanced technological society of Spider Jerusalem than the quasi-religious arcana of the 41st millennium. I am not sure the Mechanicus Biologis would approve of meme-viruses. The question of ‘what should be part of the Warhammer universe?’ can be extended into another, completely different popular science fiction franchise: imagine a character wearing a very weird and clashing Technicolor Dreamcoat, exiled from his race, with a line in pithy comments, who refuses to use guns but has no problem with his companions blazing away, who can travel in space in time, is continually getting younger (albeit this is liable to change at Christmas 2013), and uses his brains and knowledge to battle terrible enemies. Remind you of anyone?

Then we are off into a surreally executed and amazingly convoluted plot without actually seeing Czevak’s confrontation with Ahriman happen. Okay, take a breath, regroup, because here we hit the biggest problem with Rob Sanders’ writing. His first novel, Redemption Corps, was told in these giant big fat chapters that bounced around between a squad of Imperial Guard escaping from a prison and alternating with the greater plot, which involved Genestealer Orks. I hated it (1½/5 Gavs – see, two reviews for the price of one!). I thought Sanders had only just discovered the colon (:), and he thought an elliptical plot structure seemed a good excuse to write a 30,000 word first chapter, as Black Library at that time were only accepting Chapter 1 of finished novels under their submission guidelines. I thought the ellipsis was unnecessary, the huge chapters weighed the whole thing down and the experiment failed to go off. And we have a similar problem with Atlas Infernal. The core narrative is intercut with pretentious ‘Interregnums’ (interludes, for the rest of us), that zap us back to the stuff that happened to Czevak between him being taken to the Black Library and being restored to Klute and company. Which means that although Ahriman is the primary bad guy of the piece, you only find out why and how in the middle of the third act. This means that Czevak's motivation for two acts is based on him saying “Oh yeah, and Ahriman doesn’t like me.” I don’t know if Sanders thinks that intercutting between past and present makes the narrative more Prestigious and Important to go with his Cantos, like when Iain M. Banks does it (although he does it properly), because he seems pathologically unable to write a story from beginning to end without hopping about all over the place like a kangaroo on roids. Lack of motivation ends in confusion from the reader, and that is a potentially mortal wound for a novel like this.

We also have a ‘Coruscating Clause’ list (see the Index Nocturnus Rules section) – Sanders gets fixated on a single word and decides to use it repeatedly in one section, then never again: “They walked down the twisted tunnel, which was twisting away.” Words include ‘colossal,’ ‘infernal,’ ‘ferrouswood,’ 'lancet' and ’argent.’ In the ‘Pros’ column are some sensational created words, including ‘gorespittle,’ ‘automatron,’ ‘industriascape’ (actually, lots of things –scape),’ ‘dia-log,’ ‘immateriology,’ and ‘adamanticlad.’ We love created words, and these really pep up the narrative; Sanders really took the breaks off with these, and they are incredibly inventive.

Some plot holes do open in a story so serpentine, the basic one involving a webway portal that Czevak keeps on the Rogue Trader’s ship, which fortunately does not look like a blue box. He has a book allowing him to navigate the webway with pinpoint accuracy, he has a webway portal, yet the ship flies practically up to the front door of an Inquisition base so he can walk through the webway and out of the portal in its basement. Why? So they can be chased out of the system with much action and hi-jinks. Czevak could have parked anywhere, on some backwater planet or just randomly in space, gone through, come back and got on with it. But then we wouldn’t have the exciting Star Wars space escape from the Death Star. Apply the ‘webway’ rule to a lot of the plot contrivances and the whole structure starts creaking under its own spaghetti weight.

As you may surmise from this novella of a review, I am seriously conflicted about Atlas Infernal. The set piece action sequences are a lot of fun, particularly the Nurgle-world blimps (everything is better with blimps) and the Khornate kamikaze-starship. The daemonic artifact and its clues are extremely clever, as is the alien-autopsy-on-daemons conceit that causes a lot of the plot. This also reminded me of Douglas Adams: the zillion ideas just burst to life and are so far from the mundane of Black Library fiction they are a credit to a speculative author. I had to go and lie in my hermetically sealed isolation tank for a while, mulling the bizarre, derivative yet original, clunky yet elegant, binary opposed contents of Sanders’ cauldron.

And the final score: 5 Gavs, -2 for the narrative structure, +2 for getting this flawed gem through the publishing process, +½ for making me giggle and gasp and be enthralled by 40k fiction again = 4 1/2. More where that came from Rob, I will eat it up with a spoon."

The Serpent Beneath Review

This is from Index Nocturnus, whose review and podcast site can be found here.


"The Serpent Beneath by Rob Sanders


A Horus Heresy novella review by Sam. Published in The Primarchs.

I am liking the work of Rob Sanders more and more, because unlike most Black Library authors, you never know quite what you are going to get. If he was the money or the box, you would always go for the box. That’s quite a surreal image. In this novella, he is let loose on the Alpha Legion, who are by far the most interesting bunch of Marines when it comes to narratives (unfortunately they are dead boring on the battlefield, but because our job is review stories, we love them here at Index Nocturnus). And you can bet Rob loves them too, they are one of Abnett’s most genius fleshing-out-ofs (I’d say ‘creations,’ but that’s not accurate, so back off geeks).

“Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it …”
Diddle dum, diddle dum, dum dum.

The Alpha Legion are the Black Ops sneaky gitz of the Marine legions, and this novella demonstrates that fact even better than Legion or Deliverance Lost (see podcast of the latter). The story opens with Omegon, the ‘good’ Primarch who is surreptitiously battling his twin for the final direction the legion (Horus or the Imperium), discovering that a great big alien pylon that is supposed to channel psyker power (the exact purpose is vague) is being built under cover by his legion. The project must have been started by Alpharius, and Omegon decides to shut it down. He defines the mission (diddle dum) to loyal supporters around a boardroom table, and the narrative continually cuts back to them brainstorming ideas on how to knock out an installation of their own legion, with all the cloak ‘n dagger that implies.

Step one is to find some truly Spy vs Spy legionnaires, Right Little Worms, whom we cut to making a nuisance of themselves with the White Scars on some backwater planet. They then all stop to play basketball.

With the what now?

The squad in question are “running interference on the 915th Expeditionary Fleet.” Evidently the White Scar sergeant has the ball and is passing back and forth on the three-point line. He drops back, SHOOTS and is DENIED by some tenacious D by the Alpha Legion backs. Boo yeah! Alpha have the ball, approaching mid-court, a bodacious pass out wide, in to the hoop and DUNK! Although using jump packs is clearly cheating. The crowd goes wild – literally – they lay about with chainswords. These White Scars are bad losers.

This phrase, "running interference," is so indelibly dated to our own era that it stands out like a gibbon’s cherry-red ass. If only the turmoil of the loyalist and traitor legions could be solved by shooting a few hoops. But no, it’s just the Alpha Legion jive-talking, muva-faka, amongst themselves. What they meant n’ the hood is that the squad of Annoying Little Tits are blowing up canyons to force clans of Orks together, so the Orks can present a united front against the advancing White Scars and keep them busy. The end goal here is that the Khan’s men are too busy fighting greenskins they do not finally figure that there is a Heresy going on. The White Scars are, of course, riding bikes, and get butchered by the Perfidious Little Backstabbers.

Back to the boardroom: we have our operatives, the Weaselly Little Snots, Lord Omegon sir. One of them even looks like Tom Cruise and can go on the movie poster. Check.

Right, next up, we need an Alpha-level psyker, as they grow on trees. Cut to Xalmagundi, this waif little girl wreaking havoc on a whole hive (that’s how it reads!) by toppling entire spires. My understanding of a hive spire is that it is basically a long polnty sky city, population several billion. So this girlie is pretty serious. She throws around spires like Pick Up Sticks but can’t seem to take out a Silent Sisterhood gunship that is trying to bring her in. Probably because it is full of nulls. The Alphas summarily blow the gunship out of the air with a missile launcher, thus Gaining Her Trust.

I told you Rob Sanders was whack, didn’t I? Devious Little Toerag.

Cut back to Omegon: we have the Alpha-level psyker. No, we’re the Alpha legion, she’s the alpha psyker. Who’s on first? Check.

Now we need the Mechanicum magus who has gone rogue and is building the pylon thing (remember that?). Cut to Auguramus the magi wandering through a fauz-Arabian market flanked by four fighty servitors (“Crush, kill, destroy.”). All the Underhanded Little Grots have holo-amulets that allow them to pass as normal humans, which explains a great deal and is a fantastic idea, as it always bothered me how hulking great Marines get away with all these clandestine shenanigans. That’s how. In a sensational piece of sleight of hand, the Dubious Usual Suspects attach their amulets to the servitors, making them look like Marines, so Auguramus panics and yells “Don’t come near me,” thus mindlocking his own guardians. This is one of the cleverest ploys to come out of the Black Library in at least seven centuries, and I was in stitches. Rob Sanders, I drop to my knees and worship your giant pulsing red-veined brain in a jar.

Have magus. Check.

Then we’re into the third act, where Omegon leads his band of Nefarious Little Gimlets into the asteroid where the pylon is. The asteroid is being mined by demiurg, the new Squats of the 40k universe, with huge insect robots, just to add another layer of crazy to the mix. The Lying Little Scrotes have somehow previously gotten Xalmagundi incarcerated in the facility, break her out, point her at the (bad) Alpha Legion starship hangar and set her to kill. After much double, triple and quadruple-think, they manage to knock out the installation, stop anyone escaping and wipe out all of the Alpha Legionnaires who are manning the base. Omegon then pots Xalmagundi, who has suddenly become surplus to requirements.

But wait, there’s more …

Omegon then reveals he isn’t actually Omegon, but one of the Primarch’s offsiders who drank the blood of Omegon and thought he was. It’s a play on the whole “I am Alpharius” riff, but taken to another level. It turns out that the Snivelling Little Scuzzbuckets are not going to be extracted from their mission, they are there to die with everyone else and tie up any loose ends. It’s a short and brutal life in the Alpha Legion, even when you do accomplish your mission (diddle dum).

.

The novella is sometimes a little hard to follow as it is just so dense, and is full of the Sanders hallmark cool made-up words and perverse proper names. We have verminipeds, ratcrap, ghostspire, neckflesh (which is like ‘mouth-parts’), immeteorology, counterclonically, auspectra, opti-sockets, assimularum, subalterix (and his friend Obelix), astrotelecommunications, suprahormones, humpshuttles (sounds rude) and magnareactors. And my personal favourite, the Seventh-Suckle Parthenari Shieldmaidens. Gotta get me some of them some time.

Rob Sanders ekes out a pitiful living as the Head of English at a British secondary school. Sounds ghastly. But speaking personally, why did I never get an English teacher who wrote cracky pixie-stick military scifi on the side? I blame the Australian school system. If I had, I may have ended up writing this stuff, rather than reviewing it. Sniff. 4¾/5 well-earned, a fraction of a point off for intentional fouling. Robert. More please."

Cold Light of Day Review

This is from Index Nocturnus, whose review and podcast site can be found here.

"Cold Light of Day by Rob Sanders


A Warhammer short story review by Leon. Published in Tales of the Archive.

This story was previously published in Inferno! After finishing this story I was confused. We have Kislev, a whaling ship, the high seas, an heiress assuming her father's place as one of the heads of a company, an Ahab/Moby Dick theme, the Marie Celeste, nefarious double-crosses and other shenanigans. A lot happens in this story, covered in about 24 pages of narrative, but the changes happen speedily enough that just as you think this is a predictable tale of man vs whale, everything is flipped on its head.

While, like Moby Dick, revenge is a strong theme, the conclusion of the story sees it explored from another angle. However, I can't shake the feeling that this was a pitch for a longer tale which was shoe-horned into a short story when not taken up. Having said that, Sanders can write. He sets his scenes well and manages to build characters quickly and, with the captain at least, set layers of personality which establish a well-rounded character, albeit one of simple motivations. One can almost taste the sea spray and shiver along with the crew, as they sail ever further north. I would love for this to have been a novel and allow Sanders room to round out one or two other characters and explore his themes further. 4/5"

Distant Echoes of Old Night Review

This is from Index Nocturnus, whose review and podcast site can be found here.


"The reason the Death Guard never get a Heresy showing is they are basically boring dog-soldiers, who walk up to you very slowly and kill you, regardless of where you are or who you are.

But that is the charm of the Death Guard, and why they are my favourite Marine Chapter. They don’t flap about on jump packs like Night Lords or try to sing you to death like Emperor’s Children, they Just. Kill. You. By whatever means possible. Sanders has summed this up beautifully in this short story, which involves a Death Guard Chaplain and a squad of slightly unhinged Death Guard with cool toys trying to dig out fortified Imperial Fists from their crashed starship (designation unknown). Just like the gas on Isstvan, which is frowned upon by pretty much every other Marine Chapter, they use rad grenades and burning phosphor to kill the opposition. Flat. Stony. Dead. They don’t worry about whether blood is spilt for Khorne, or whether there are magic artefacts to harvest for Tzeentch, or if you are scared enough like Curze’s nancys; they use any and all means at their disposal, and it is this bludgeoning, humourless unstoppable force that makes them both credible and really fun to read about.

The hubris of the Death Guard is also demonstrated by Sanders, as they bomb the Fists with this blue clingy burning phosphex stuff (more of that on the tabletop please!) and then force themselves to go in after them and leave no one alive, as that was their original mission. The ship sinks and takes them all down with it, and the Chaplain has a last crisis of confidence about Mortarion being a big wuss, as he dies. Which is a shame, as it undermines the character’s sheer bloody-minded determination – over the brink of insanity – that the author had effectively built up prior. Of course the Death Guard are the bad guys and have to lose, but it may have been more effective and spine-chilling if they held to their beliefs right up to the end.

More Death Guard please, Mr Black Library, sir. There’s a full point of personal bias added into the final score – 4/5 "

Army of One Review

This is from Index Nocturnus, whose review and podcast site can be found here.


"Army of One by Rob Sanders


A 40k eblurt review by Sam.

This blurt has made a liar out of me, because below in the review for Immortalis I stated that it was practically impossible to write a convincing three act structure within the blurt format, and it was much better suited to doing one scene and doing it well.

This story is the ascension of an Eversor Assassin (the particularly psychopathic combat explosive assassin) from ganger to pit fighter to crazed killing machine. The ganger introduction is your standard Necromunda-style stuff, nothing too interesting there. The pit fighter paragraph is really creepy as it introduced the ‘bloated Baron,’ which immediately evokes an image in my head of floaty Baron Harkonnen from David Lynch’s Dune movie, and there is the very subtle intimation of sexual abuse.

The jump to becoming an Eversor is summed up in one sentence about an ‘offworlder’ which is easy to miss, and I did have to read it twice to pick up that some senior Assassin talent-spotter had come and taken the guy off to be trained. But it is easy to miss and maybe could have done with slightly more exposition.

The narrative cycles back so that – naturally enough – the target of the newly born Eversor is the Baron. The narrative is dense and one needs to read it carefully, but is well worth it. Beautifully slain with a neural gauntlet, 4 ½/5"

Czevak to the Dark Tower Came Review

This is from Index Nocturnus, whose review and podcast site can be found here.

"Czevak to the Dark Tower Came by Rob Sanders


A 40k eblurt review by Leon. Published in the 2012 Advent Calendar.

This blurt is based, of course, on Robert Browning's very famous poem, 'Childe Rolande to the Dark Tower' came; as if this poem hasn't had enough milking over the years. Not only has Stephen King had a good go at it, in all sorts of media - including comics - it was also the subject of The Five Doctors Doctor Who 25th anniversary special. Tried to slip one by us, didn't you Rob?

It is a moment in time with the eponymous inquisitor, subject of Sanders' novel Atlas Infernal (see review). Despite the character's existence elsewhere, Sanders includes enough detail so that we begin to know and understand Czevak in a small way, and this blurt works well as a standalone story. Sanders crams the words into this blurt (on my device it registers as being a whole page longer than other blurts, which is a lot when there is only about four pages of content once the licence, bio and book pimping is accounted for). He weaves a rich tapestry from the moment Czevak bursts from the webway into the streets of a 'college' moon at great velocity on the back of a jetbike.

Czevak's harlequin coat and the Atlas Infernal are referenced; always nice to see the iconic devices get a mention. It transpires Czevak spent time studying at the college and has recently learned information about an alien statue that had been on display in the Dark Tower of the title, a repository of 'dangerous' artifacts and information. As he slows his jetbike, Czevak sees that the populace has committed mass suicide. He climbs the Dark Tower and notices signs of bolter fire - his worst fears are confirmed when he comes across a psychic trace of Ahriman, villainous sorcerer of the Thousand Sons and Czevak's arch-nemesis. Ahriman has beaten Czevak to the punch, destroying the statue to see the future, an act which led to a massive psychic backlash that caused visions of despair leading to suicide on a planetary scale. The blurt ends with Czevak dusting himself off and preparing to continue his rivalry with the sorcerer.

Phew, I'm exhausted. Sanders' writing style in his Czevak stories is dense; crafted to be elevated above previous Black Library fare in terms of quality of prose. In a novel form this works, in a blurt form, well, it felt a little much. Coupled with the dark themes of suicide and an Inquisitor being thwarted by his foe, it makes for a surprisingly heavy five pages and something different from the blurts reviewed so far. 4/5"

ZOMBIE SPACE MARINES

OUT NOW

Archaon: The Fall and the Rise

A 12k short story included in the ebook version of Archaon: Everchosen.

______________________________________________________

Continuing with my efforts to catch up with and collate relevant material that I've missed on internet - I've surgically extracted a nice review of my short story 'Bastions', featuring the Excoriators Space Marine chapter from Legion of the Damned. The indomitable Xhalax reviewed Bastions on the commentarial tour de force that is site Fifty Shades of Geek. Here's what she had to say:

A silent star-fort is an ominous sign… But when Chaplain Rhaddecai and his Excoriators board the Semper Vigilare to investigate, they find something far more disturbing as the dead rise, human and Space Marine alike. Beset by rotting horrors and trapped in the star-fort’s depths, the Space Marines must find a way to survive, or to die with honour.



"Bastions by Rob Sanders

Chaplain Raddecai and a half squad of Excoriators have travelled to the star-fort Semper Vigilare to censure its commander for a number of infractions he has committed. However, when the Space Marines board the star-fort, they find it disturbingly quiet and seemingly empty. Yet looks can be deceiving.

The story begins at the beginning (not as odd as it sounds, honest), introducing the reader to the main characters as they board the star-fort and the tone is set very early with the derelict hangar bay that only seems to add to the list of charges the Chaplain has brought to bear. There’s a sense of wrongness woven into the prose too, quite artfully as the both the reader and marines know that something is wrong, and given the nature of the charges, they can guess. However, the marines must complete their mission to its conclusion, regardless.

Bastions is a slow burner of a story, which makes it seem longer than some of the other shorts (and it may be, though I’ve not got the actual word count), but that only adds to the oppressive atmosphere. Something is going to happen, and both the characters and the readers are braced for it, but neither knows exactly when everything will be revealed.

My only slight niggle is that I’m never given a complete sense of who the Marines are. They’re a stoic breed, descendants of Dorn, so the exchanges between the characters are to the point in their directness. It’s not until the end, when the scope of the story is shown that you really get to see who these characters truly are, when they are tested in their loyalty.

However, Bastions is a full story told succinctly in the microcosm of flash fiction and well worth a read.

9/10 "

As well as being released individually (found HERE) the short sotry was also anthologies in Space Marines: Angels of Death. Being a reading and reviewing machine, Xhalax also managed to find time to review the other stories contained within. Her reviews of those stories can be found HERE, HERE and HERE. I have added Fifty Shades of Geek to my growing list of sites on the side bar that are part of the scene and worthy of attention. I encourage you to check it out.

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'The Wastes. Its name was well-earned. A blasted, howling wilderness of twilight, blizzard and mind-numbing temperatures, Helmut Horrwitz considered the waste through which he hacked. The squandered humanity. The cost in blood.'

Archaon: The Fall and the Rise .

"Without a doubt, one of the finest fantasy novels this reviewer has ever read"

OUT NOW

The novel ATLAS INFERNAL.

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Today I'd like to look at a fantastic review for my new fantasy novel 'Archaon: Everchosen'. Lord of the Night is a veteran reviewer for The Founding Fields and Talkwargaming. He was kind enough to take the time to read and review 'Archaon: Everchosen'. There are some wonderful insights, observations and lots of delicious detail here. For those who have not read the novel yet (and you should - it can be found HERE!) you should know that the review contains SPOILERS. I have reproduced the review below but if you would like to check out the review at its original source or more reviews by Lord of the Night then they can be found by clicking the site links above or on the sidebar 'Sites Deserving of Attention'. His reviews for my novels LEGION OF THE DAMNED, ATLAS INFERNAL and the novella THE SERPENT BENEATH can be found by clicking the links. My thanks again to reviewer Lord of the Night. Enjoy!

"Lord of the Night reviews the electrifying Archaon: Everchosen by Rob Sanders.

"Without a doubt, one of the finest fantasy novels this reviewer has ever read. Filled with powerful and insane battles, complex and twisted characters and a story that takes everything we thought we knew about Archaon and turns it on it's head. A must-read for any fan of Warhammer Fantasy!" - Lord of the Night @ Talk Wargaming

I was delighted to be able to get a copy of Archaon: Everchosen from Black Library Live, though I did not attend a proxy-bought copy now sits on my shelf, signed by Rob himself no less. Archaon has always been an intriguing and controversial part of Warhammer Fantasy, the Storm of Chaos and his defeat by Grimgor Ironhide and Valten making his supposed status as Lord of the End Times rather amusing. And with the retcons of such things by recent army books and lore entries it appears as if restoring Archaon to being the anti-christ of Warhammer Fantasy is the goal for his character. And after reading this book I am quite sure they are doing a damn good job, this book and whatever follows it will hopefully turn Archaon from the Failbaddon of fantasy into a much more well-rounded and respected character.

Archaon. Lord of the End Times. Ravager of the Empire. Everchosen of Chaos. He is the one who will bring a storm of Chaos upon the realms of man and the legions of darkness shall follow in his wake, and by his blade the world shall end and all will fall to Chaos. But where did the story of the Herald of Armageddon begin? Who was the man who became Archaon the Everchosen of Chaos? What was it that made a young Templar turn his back on the God-King Sigmar and fall into darkness and insanity? From the forests of the Empire to the bizzare vistas of the Northern Wastes to the chill lands of Naggaroth and the blood-stained oceans between, this is the story of Archaon. The story of the man who will be the End.

The story in Everchosen covers the unknown events of Archaon's life prior to becoming a Chaos Warrior and the events that follow his fall, the search for the first of the Treasures of Chaos. However the story is told in a very interesting format that I won't spoil, but I will say this; When you see the Chapter numbers being repeated, remember that it isn't a typo. I very much enjoyed this interesting twist on the story because it made things unpredictable for Archaon, and added a sense of scale to his story, how important he is and the lengths that a certain someone is going to for him. I also like that the story covers years and even decades in the span of pages, chronicling Archaon's journey through the Chaos Wastes and the journey to become a Lord. But the choice to cover his early years, and yes to give him an actual name, was one that makes the majority of the book unknown territory for the reader. You may know where Archaon ends up but believe me, you don't know exactly how he gets there. Quite a few moments from the army book are presented far from what we expected, and as with all the army books somethings are are just outright wrong. (Remembering that the army books/codexes are the historical record and the books are absolute truth, at least I remember reading that once) Sanders does a fantastic job taking Archaon's story and adding much more detail to it both in what Archaon has to do to get to the Treasures and the character story that makes Archaon a far more compelling and deep character than his army book page suggests.

The characters are a vast range of madmen, sadists, abominations, liars and fanatics. One thing that I absolutely loved was the variety of Archaon's followers, some are mentioned once to note their deaths and some are with him for a few chapters, some for longer and some are still with him at the end; I found it fitting that the make-up of Archaon's army changes constantly, some die, some fail, some live and every single one is different from the Maggot-Men of Mother Fecund, Fengshen Ku and the Dreaded Wo, the Swords of Chaos whom I found the most interesting of all, Dravin Vayne and his lover Sularii, and the Great Spleen who gave us some damn good action scenes in the final third of the book; and all the others that I didn't list. The key characters of Father Dagobert and Giselle were also very interesting, both having the same goal though only one retains enough sanity to even try; though Giselle was a character whose motivations I found tricky to understand, her feelings towards Archaon being hard to understand which I think might have been the point. The standout of the book however is of course Archaon, whom we see right from the beginning of his tumultuous birth, his career as a Templar of Sigmar and his fall to Chaos; and for the first time we get to see exactly how he feels about that last part. Short answer; he isn't happy. Archaon is far from the character I expected in both his motivations and his feelings on the events that afflict him. I think the best thing that Sanders has done here is take a character who in his original lore, to me at least, felt one-dimensional and very similar to those who came before; whereas here he feels like a force never before seen in the Warhammer world and a character who I think, is ultimately a true and unequivocal victim.

The action is first-rate right from the start, there is not a single battle scene in this book that felt repetitive, stale or even anything less than epic. Sanders's battle scenes are brutal even when it's just Archaon fighting off Beastmen or Imperial Knights on his own with just the trusty blade Terminus, and when it's entire armies of Chaos monsters clashing with murderous Dark Elves or the horrors of the Northern Wastes tearing at each other for the gaze of the Gods, then it's epic. Sanders adds a lot of variety into the battle as well by giving every single one of Archaon's followers their own unique forces, and by pitting them against a nice variety of enemies that provide different tests and challenges to Archaon's burgeoning army and to the Everchosen himself. Archaon's unholy strength that makes him so unstoppable in the Warhammer game is nicely represented here, but at the same time he is not invincible and several foes in the book come close to ending the Everchosen's reign of terror before it can even begin. Without a doubt the best fight in the entire book though has to be Archaon vs The Yien-La-Long, every moment those two battled against each other or just chased after each other felt epic, it also reminded me of a somewhat similar confrontation in another fantasy, but you'll have to read the book to see for yourself. To sum it up every battle was exciting and in such a battle-filled book, that is an achievement in itself.

The pacing of the book is rather odd right from the start, but if I say why it's a big spoiler so I will just say that this book is paced likely like nothing you've read before, but that is far from a bad thing. Rather it makes many parts of the book very exciting and adds a great sense of scale to the book, it helps the reader appreciate just how much effort is being put into these events and how far someone is willing to go to make sure they happen. And as I said above the book is spread out across many years, some are told in chapters focusing on Archaon's childhood and seeing him grow up, and some of those years pass in the space of a single sentence as the more lengthy parts of Archaon's journey are told almost like a saga rather than an in-depth analysis, Sanders acknowledges these years and gives them some cover but ultimately he knows what he needs to focus on and what he doesn't, and while even just reading about Archaon kicking ass across the Chaos Wastes would have been entertaining, Sanders focuses on the more important and much more entertaining aspects of Archaon's journey. Admittedly the final quarter of the book felt a little squashed together but after thinking about it I think that the rapidity in which these events came is a consequence of what Archaon does in the book and what he fails to do, plus the background lore never actually specified the space of time between some of these events so it works out.

Another thing that I think made the novel great is that Sanders is one of the few authors whom I think truly understands how to write Chaos as an entity. The insanity, changeability and contradictions that Chaos embodies are very well portrayed here. In the treks into the Wastes, the battles that fill those chapters and the horrors that Chaos unleashes; all of them feel distinct and unpredictable, what comes next is anyone's guess and Sanders does well in using his own creations rather than relying on the already established aspects of Chaos like Bloodletters, Daemonettes, etc. It's always good to see an author attempting to make his own contributions to Chaos and when they do it makes the book(s) more exciting because you can never tell what is going to be unleashed against the protagonists, or in this case by them, until its done. Not only does Sanders give Archaon a fantastic portrayal but he also gives Chaos one as well and makes the aspects and personalities of Chaos important to the plot and to Archaon as a character, which to me greatly contributes to the book being so damn good.

Now for my favourite quote, frankly every other page has Archaon or another character saying something badass, so i'll go with this one because it was so poignant and reveals a lot about Archaon as a character (in context),

"He will not. For I am already lost to him."

The ending was great on many levels. Archaon has been put into an interesting place story-wise and the next book will not only see Archaon hunting for the rest of the Treasures but also learning how to really be a leader of monsters and men and character-wise we see that Archaon now has something that one day he must deal with if he is to become the Everchosen, but how he'll do that is a mystery for the next book. Sanders ends the story on an excellent note, Archaon has gained and lost much but he is firmly on the path and where that will take him we have some idea, but for the most part we must guess until the sequel is written and released, a date that I am very greatly anticipating.

For an enjoyable and thrilling story that surprised me at many points, characters that continually surprised me with their true motivations and their actions, battle scenes that felt like an epic movie scene and for finally giving an under-appreciated character the excellent portrayal he deserves I give Archaon: Everchosen a score of 9.2/10. This is a book that every fan of Warhammer Fantasy should try, especially those of you who don't care for Archaon or what happens to him in the Storm of Chaos because I think this book completely redeems him as a character, and it's fun to read the entire way through. I would even suggest this story to newcomers to Warhammer Fantasy, it will have you hooked, although I would not recommend the book to those who aren't familiar with Warhammer as it requires some knowledge about the lore and background of the world. That's it for this review, thanks very much for reading. Until next time,

AVE DOMINUS NOX!"

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'"Something bad is going to happen."
"This is the Eye of Terror," Torquil announced sagely. "That is a given."
-Atlas Infernal

Death Guard

OUT NOW

The Horus Heresy short story Distant Echoes of Old Night.

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While I've been away I've missed a lot of reviews. The blog tends to be the place where I collect these, like some nut-crazed squirrel preparing for Winter. I'm going to get right back on with this but in no particular order. Up today is an appraisal of my Horus Heresy short story Distant Echoes of Old Nightfrom HachiSnax Reviews. The story details the dire exploits of the Death Guard legion and in particular their controversial use of units known as 'Destroyers'. Here's what HachiSnax had to say.

“Distant Echoes Of Old Night is a Horus Heresy short by the very talented Rob Sanders, which centers around the XIV Legion, the Death Guard. In Echoes, Death Guard Brother-Chaplain Morgax Murnau is charged with guaranteeing that no survivors remain on the felled Imperial Fists ship Xanthus, which has been shot out of orbit and now lays sinking in the mire of the blighted planet of Algonquis. Well, to be exact, it is a portion of the ship, however, any amount of Imperial Fists in a fortified area makes for an extremely tough nut to crack.

Purge the ship of survivors. A seemingly impossible task. But Murnau has a trick up his sleeve. In fact, it is the dirtiest trick in all the Legiones Astartes. He is set to deploy a group of Destroyers to finish off the Fists. These Destroyers bring a horrifying array of weapons to bear, most of them high-radiation, or chemical in nature. And not just your run of the mill biochemical warfare, these are tools usually deemed too harsh for most Space Marines to use, and remember, the Spaces Marines are an elite fighting force bred to bring entire systems to compliance. The game is set: the universe's greatest defensive players versus the most nefarious plague marines around. Murnau's instructions: no survivors.

Although Echoes is technically a Horus Heresy story, it, like most recent entries, can be read independently. This is, indeed, more a Warhammer 30K work than a HH tale. Now, I am not up to date on all the Heresy books, so if there are any clever Easter eggs, story arc progression, or hints about certain events, please let me know in the comments section. So yes, if you are not up to date on your Heresy reading, you can still sit down and enjoy these 21 pages of Death Guard/Imperial Fist action.

And enjoy it I did. Sanders brings a flair for vivid imagery to the fore in Echoes. A good chunk of the earlier pages give us a stark picture of the plague that has been unleashed upon the former forest planet of Algonquis by the Death Guard. Where once lush green foliage and tall trees defined the landscapes, all is swamp and insects. "Syrupy waters" lap against Mark III armor, and the buzzing of filthy fauna pervades all. Later on, the descriptive prose gives us an "in-your-face" look at the effects of the Destroyers' devious toys.

It is a good thing that The Black Library finally put this short into general release. I've been wanting to read it since it was announced for the chapbook, and I am sure many others have been champing at the bit to get a crack at it. Here's hoping he gets a crack at a full-length Heresy novel soon.

Here's what it is:
A nasty little tale of dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Space Marine specialists ask the age-old question, if an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, who will win the day? Can anyone win?

Final Score:

90/100”

You can but the short story Distant Echoes of Old Night HERE.

You can read the original piece and more of HachiSnax's fantastic reviews HERE. You can, of course, read more reviews of my work by hitting the Reviews tab on the menu above.


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'We play at perpetuity but we were not built for forever. Warmth will leave our great bodies. Our hearts will beat to empty echoes. Blood will sit stagnant in our veins and our flesh shall rot. Accept this.'
Distant Echoes of Old Night

La Légion des Damnés

I was never very good at languages at school - well, except English. Thank goodness then for Google Translate. It's a blunt tool and has its limitations but essentially gives you the gist of documents written outside of your mother tongue. It allowed me to check out this review of Legion of the Damned on a French critique site called 'The Reclusiam'. 'The Reclusiam' is run by a great guy called Maestitia. I've added the site to 'The Scene' on the side bar. I provide both the French and English versions of the review for the polyglots out there. Thanks, Maestitia!

"Ce roman est de loin l’un des meilleurs que j’ai lu de la Saga des Space Marine Battle ! Tout d’abord, Zachariah Kersh est un personnage qu’on aime de suite. Il vient juste de perdre son titre de ‘’Champion’’ pour devenir Capitaine. Or un homme de terrain comme Kersh aura toutes les peines du monde pour se mettre à la place d’un leader et réussir à convaincre ses frères de défendre un Monde perdu d’avance.
A côté de cela, on apprendra qu’il est torturé par des rêves étranges suite à une tragédie, mais je n’en dis pas plus. Ses rêves auront une importance non négligeable.
Mais ce que j’ai le plus aimé dans ces rêves (ou plutôt cauchemars), c’est qu’ils sont écris à la première personne du singulier.

Et le ‘’je’’ vous aspire avec une étonnante force dans la peau de Kersh. J’ai vraiment adoré les passages ou Sanders nous offre cette profondeur car ils sont assez récurrents et nous mettent de façon efficace dans la tête de cet Excoriator perturbé.

J’ai aussi aimé l’originalité de l’histoire, car la défense de Certus Minor n’est pas le centre de l’intrigue. La comète Keeler (qui porte un nom qui devrait vous dire quelques chose, sinon je vous renvoie ici bande de renégats) suit un parcours vers Terra elle-même. Et dans le sillon de celle-ci, la flotte des World Eaters. Les champions de Khorne suivent cet astre mystérieux et annihilent toutes les planètes qui se trouvent sur son chemin.

Un autre bon point pour Sanders, est sa vision de l’univers de Warhammer 40 000.
Je crois que c’est le premier roman qui aborde les Space Marines et leurs actions avec un regard beaucoup plus Science-Fiction que Black Librarien si je puis m’exprimer en ces terme. J’ai ressenti le vrai, le sombre, le meurtrier univers de W40k à travers sa plume. Grâce à son approche S-F, Rob fera aussi bien voyager les fans de fluff que les amoureux de fictions. Et ce n’est pas donné à tous les auteurs. Car oui il y a du fluff, mais je vous stop encore une fois : rien à propos de la Légion des Damnés, et c’est tant mieux, car elle garde tout ses mystères, même si nous n’aurions pas dit non à quelques infos. Mais concernant les Excoriators, il y a de quoi se mettre sous la dent, comme j’aime souvent le dire.

Le rythme est totalement maîtrisé en ce qui me concerne et suivre les pérégrinations de Kersh et de son Apothicaire n’a rien de lassant. Les dialogues ne sont jamais inutiles et les descriptions ne comblent aucun vide. Il y a beaucoup de bonnes idées et de terribles scènes que je n’oublierais pas de sitôt car elles ont su s’imprégner d’originalité et de cette noirceur qu’est la guerre au 41ème millénaire.

En fin de compte les Space Marine Damnés sont vite oubliés, effacé par un roman captivant et des personnages bel et bien vivants.

Pour finir, voici les plus et les moins :

Les + :

Une vision Science-Fiction, qui renouvelle un peu le genre et que j’ai adoré.
Un personnage principal étonnant avec des passages à la première personne vraiment agréables. Un très bon rythme, des descriptions et une atmosphère de tensions palpables.
Une Feast of Blade (Fête des Lames) épique.

Les - :

La Black Library joue la carte de la carotte comme dans Prospero Brûle avec ce cover aguicheur et nous spoil cet excellent récit rien qu’à la lecture du titre.

Note :

Rob Sanders nous offre un très bon roman. Un super mélange de personnages charismatiques, de dilemmes, et de sombres réalités. Le fluff est là mais c’est celui des Excoriators que vous y trouverez.

Maestitia"




"This novel is by far one of the best I have read the Saga of the Space Marine Battle!
Firstly, Zachariah Kersh is a character you love away. He just lost his title'' Champion'' to become Captain. However, a field man Kersh will all pains to put himself in the place of a leader and succeed in convincing his brothers to defend a world lost in advance.

Besides this, we learn that he is tormented by strange dreams after a tragedy, but I say no more. His dreams have significant importance.
But what I like most about these dreams (or rather nightmares) is that they are written in the first person singular.

It sucks you in with amazing strength in Kersh. I really loved the passages or Sanders gives us that depth because they are quite recurrent and we are effectively in the head of this Excoriator disturbed.

I also liked the originality of the story, for the defense of Certus Minor is not the center of the plot. Comet Keeler (who has a name that should tell you something, if I refer you band of renegades) follows a path to Terra itself. And in the wake of this, the fleet of World Eaters. Champions of Khorne follow this mysterious planet and annihilate all the planets that lie in its path.

Another good point to Sanders, is his vision of the world of Warhammer 40,000.
I think this is the first novel that addresses the Space Marines and their actions with a much more science fiction than Black Librarien if I can express myself in these terms.

I felt the true, dark, deadly W40k universe through his pen. With its approach SF, Rob will both travel fans that love fluff fiction. And it is not given to all authors. Yes because there is fluff, but I'll stop again, nothing about the Legion of the Damned, and that's good because it keeps all its mysteries, even if we could not say no to some info . But on Excoriators there something to put in their mouths, as I often like to say.

The pace is completely controlled with me and follow the peregrinations of Kersh and his Apothecary is nothing boring. The dialogues are never useless and descriptions do not fill any empty space. There are many good ideas and terrible scenes that I will not forget anytime soon as they were able to soak originality and this darkness is war in the 41st Millennium.

Ultimately the Damned Space Marine are quickly forgotten, erased by a captivating novel and characters alive and well.

Finally, here are the most and least:

The +:

Vision Science Fiction, which renews a bit like that and I loved it.
A main character with amazing passages in the first person really nice.
A very good pace, descriptions and an atmosphere of palpable tension.
A Feast of Blade (Feast of Blades) epic.

The -:

The Black Library plays the card as in Prospero Burns with this enticing cover and risk spoiling this excellent story by just reading the title.

Note:

Rob Sanders gives us a very good novel. A great mix of charismatic characters, dilemmas, and grim realities. The fluff is the only one of Excoriators you'll find.

Maestitia"

The Choppy Waters of Crafting Titles

I came across an unusual review for Legion of the Damned a couple of days ago. It's from a video review site called 'Choppy Reviews' and run by a reader / presenter called Cocolito. A great deal of thought goes into the reviews and even more into the presentation. Cocolito had many nice things to say about Legion of the Damned , which were nice to hear. It would misrepresent his review, however, if I didn't identify a key issue he had with the novel: the four words of the title. Cocolito is not the first to identify this and I've talked about this a few times. Cocolito addresses his issue with great humour and fairness. He deserves a response for that alone, even if I don't agree with him.

While considering the book very good, he doesn't like that 'Legion of the Damned' occurs on the front cover. To justify the title, he would like even more Legion of the Damned in the book. It's not an unfair expectation. We live in a world where many book publishers and authors expect little of their readers. They give their books Ronseal does-what-it-says-on-the-tin titles because they don't expect their readership's attention span to be able to handle anything else. Meanwhile, authors who respect their readership's intellectual capabilities have been using titles as literary devices in their own right for hundreds of years. How does this work in respect to Legion of the Damned? In two ways.

Firstly, there are many books and series that utilise titles that relate to forces, phenomenons and presences that are always present in the book / series but actually spend little time 'on screen' as point-of-view characters. The best example I can think of is the famous title 'The Lord of the Rings'. The 'Lord' is always present - but not always 'on screen'. The Legion of the Damned work in a similar way. They are present in almost all chapters of the novel (read it carefully) before entering and performing their literary function. I won't give away spoilers here. If you haven't read the book, let me encourage you to do so. Not all titles are Ronseal titles. Legion of the Damned isn't. Are the Legion of the Damned present throughout the book. Yes. Do they act in accordance with the background that everyone knows and loves. Yes. Their function necessitates a group requiring their intervention. This allowed me to bring in the Space Marines Excoriators Chapter. I build them from the foundations up in the novel and many readers have loved that a Space Marine chapter could be presented in depth, at the same time as narrative intrigue and action is maintained.

Secondly, the title is a metaphor. There a several legions presented in the novel that are unequivocally 'damned'. Again, without introducing anything that isn't covered in the blurb, there is the 'Legion of the Damned', the Excoriators - who believe themselves damned and doomed to failure - and the World Eaters: a Chaos Space Marine legion enslaved to the god of bloodshed and hatred. All of these legions are damned. The title could relate to any one of them but in fact relates to all three. Titles are literary devices and a good author will make four words work hard for him. A lazy one will slap a Ronseal title on their book and underestimate their readers. It also does raise the issue of the blurb. It is the blurb's responsibility to accurately convey the content of the novel it is introducing. Check it out: it does.

Anyway, Cocolito put a good deal of effort into his review and I believe that he deserved a response. I encourage you to check out his review here. Beyond his issue with the title, he says many nice and insightful things about the novel. Beyond even that, it is a funny and entertaining review that is well worth watching. I've also put a link to Cocolito's review site - called 'Choppy Reviews' - on the side bar blog roll. He deserves to be part of 'the Scene'.

'Scintillating, Original and Captivating'

Review time! My Inquisitor Czevak novel Atlas Infernal has been out a little while now, so it's always nice to read reviews about it from people who have come to it recently. EJ Davies casts his unswerving, critical eye on it today with a review first appearing on that nexus of literary judgement and appreciation - The Founding Fields. For daily updates, opinion and reviews, you can check out The Founding Fields here. EJ Davies' blog contains a plethora of science fiction cinema and literature reviews and can be found here - but just in case you forget, it's on the list of noteworthy internet locations and hang-outs called 'The Scene' on the side bar. Lots of worthy sites to investigate there but first check out EJ Davies' review of Atlas Infernal below.

"Rob Sanders introduces a new character to the more contemporary Black Library releases – Bronislaw Czevak – and tackles a fairly weighty topic – the thievery of the fated Atlas Infernal, a map of the Eldar webway from the Black Library of Chaos. EJ Davies casts his eye over the tome. Rob Sanders book, not THE Atlas Infernal.

“From a slow start to a scintillating, original and captivating read.” ~ The Founding Fields.

From the Black Library:


“Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a hunted man. Escaping from the Black Library of the eldar, Czevak steals the Atlas Infernal – a living map of the Webway. With this fabled artefact and his supreme intellect, Czevak foils the predations of the Harlequins sent to apprehend him and thwarts his enemies within the Inquisition who want to kill him. Czevak’s deadliest foe, however, is Ahriman – arch-sorcerer of the Thousand Sons. He desires the knowledge within the Black Library, knowledge that can exalt him to godhood, and is willing to destroy the inquisitor to obtain it. A desperate chase that will bend the fabric of reality ensues, where Czevak’s only hope of survival is to outwit the chosen of Tzeentch, Lord of Chaos and Architect of Fate. Failure is unconscionable, the very cost to the Imperium unimaginable.”

Rob Sanders has had a rise akin to the meteoric within the Black Library. Although having published in Inferno! magazine, he first came to my attention with short story The Long Games at Carcharias (available as part of the Victories of the Space Marines anthology), then punched me in the face with the wonderfully refreshing The Iron Within (available in the Age of Darkness anthology.) Redemption Corps I remember being published prior to my first Black Library Live! visit in 2010, though I haven’t yet got to reading it, but my highly favourable reviews for The Serpent Beneath (in The Primarchs) and Legion of the Damned make it a certainty. Moreover, having gone from writing Guard, to Inquisition, to Space Marines, to pre-heresy in just a few short novels is worthy of note – hence my use of the ‘meteoric’ moniker.

The story is, as you would expect from the author of Alpha Legion, complex and filled with more twists than a bowl of spaghetti. Czevak, an ancient Inquisitor, in the midst of a conclave where he antagonises practically every other Ordos is turned on by a Deathwatch squad seeking to prevent him from learning the secrets necessary to transfer the God-Emperor’s essence into another vessel. During the attack Harlequins intervene and pull Czevak into the webway, and imprison him in the Black Library. Years later his former acolyte, Klute – now an inquisitor himself – has been hunting his former mentor across the Eye of Terror, accompanied by his retinue: a drug addicted warp seer, Epiphani; a bound daemon, Hessian; a Relictors Techmarine, Torqhuil – themselves famous for using daemon-technology against the daemons; and the indentured rogue trader Captain, Torres. They discover and secure an Eldar warp gate through which emerges, you guess it, Bronislaw Czevak brandishing the famous Atlas Infernal.

The book itself is not set up as a stereotypical book. Each chapter is another ‘scene’ in an overarching ‘act’ and at the opening of each is the word Enter, followed by a cast of characters. In this respect there are similarities with plays, or epic poems, but what I think Rob has tried to do is to tie this feature in to the Harlequins lore, the fact that as servants of the Laughing God they – through the medium of performance – recount tales of the past, present, and events yet to come. Between each act is a flashback to Czevak’s past which further develop the story as a whole, and our understanding of Czevak, and the unfolding story. Also, as you read the book, although the acts are chronological, some of the flashbacks feel less so – as if we are travelling through warpspace and experiencing time as we would there – in pockets of random happenstances.

Rob’s technique and style is clearly evident. Dialogue is not high on the priority list, but when it does appear it is colourful, playful, and complimentary to its characters. Particularly Czevak has a delightfully honest and open manner, often disarmingly so; and often displays humour you wouldn’t think credible coming from an Ordo Xenos High Inquisitor – but it works. There is a long (and I mean long) prologue that seeks to set the piece, and it’s only really in the context of its structure does that work. If this were a traditional novel, for example, I’m not sure a lengthy prologue would be welcomed.

The characters are delightful. The doped up warp seer is a treat, as much as a clothes horse as anything else, and for the fact she has a floating cyber-skull for a familiar (it’s that of her father, which is called Father) which reminds me of Janeane Garofalo’s Baby Bowler in Mystery Men. Hessian, the daemonhost, spends much of his time asleep, or as a bipedal torch, which tickled me no end. Klute, resolute and sturdy, though operating far outside the realms of his remit and, much like Torqhuil, makes him a target of less than tolerant beings throughout the Imperium.

The whole book is framed against that of constant peril, and relentless confrontation – right from the off. The Inquisition, the Eldar, the attentions of the Thousand Sons; and the distrust and animosity within the group. It’s a part Indiana Jones style adventure, mixed with a film noir murder mystery, with some monster movie tropes thrown in and it makes for a thoroughly entertaining read, which I’ve really enjoyed, albeit with a single reservation – that of it being a little tough to get in to. Rob is a very descriptive author with colours, smells, weather, personality, history, charm, charmlessness, and scale in every location and every encounter; and sometimes that can get a little wordy. That said, I’d rather have too much, than too little.

Some things of note, then: First, there is a scene in a bazaar where Czevak and his crew go to find an acquaintance and track down some necessary materials: brilliantly written to the point you feel you’re in Marrakech. Second, in another chapter they go to a planet in search of a coin – the whole culture of the gypsies – wonderful idea, and nicely executed. Thirdly, the interstitial scenes are brutally visceral and it’s a real talent to use these to further colour characters already in play. Finally, the final confrontation is one that I didn’t see coming; and the layers of complexity to enable us to get to this stage really pay off.

Atlas Infernal is an excellent read, with some great features. I’m very glad I got around to this, and it’s sheer entertainment value is worth the price of purchase. Atlas Infernal is available as an eBook download from Black Library, or in print from retailers.

Share and Enjoy!"

Electronic Shoeboxing #6

As I traverse the expanse of the internet like a digital hawk, I often spot snippets of discussions regarding Warhammer 40,000 literature. They are often part of larger conversations on social media, forums or in the comments sections of blogs. Sometimes they are even about little, old me. When I find such material, I use my digital claws to rend extracts from their locations and carry them back to my nest here. Today I have some insights from fellow teacher JD Dunsany on Legion of the Damned. JD also loves to write about the 40k setting and can be found shooting the breeze on The Black Library Bolthole.

“Legion of the Damned is just... epic.

Now, on to dour fatalism. Legion of the Damned is, the works of Dembski-Bowden notwithstanding, perhaps the closest I've come to my 'ideal' 40K SM literature - it's brutally inventive, steeped in the baroque culture of Space Marine Chapters (which consequently means that the central characters - Kersh, Ezrachi and Skase, in particular - feel both comprehensible and suitably removed from 'normal' human experience) and, perhaps most importantly of all, intelligently and imaginatively written. Sanders is the king of the compound neologism. I've just read, for example, of Kersh's bolters turning cultists into "a celebratory display of gore-spritz and screams"; earlier on, a downed Thunderhawk is a "crash-mangled mess". Slain daemons return to the warp in "corkscrew[s] of hate-spitting flame". Arguably, Sanders at times overdoes it (the sentence containing "torso-punching, head-blasting, limb-shearing broadside of bolts, bullets, light and devastation" made me smile wryly) but this is 40K, for crying out loud - the setting demands a literature of gothic excess and this is what Sanders delivers in spades. It is, indisputably, profoundly impressive.

And like all good 40K writers, his pacing is almost preternaturally precise - the character beats interspersed between swathes of brutal violence are exceptionally well done, Kersh's first person present tense inserts being particularly impressive and immediate. Arguably, there's nothing too new here - we've seen Space Marines having to cope with the burden of failure before, and we've certainly seen the Rourke's Drift scenario played out on numerous 40K battlefields, but it's Sanders' attention to detail, his willingness to explore the politics between the Imperium's disparate factions in a logical and entertainingly imaginative way (Chapter Five is perhaps my favourite of the book's first half) and his control of both the pacing and description of hardcore huge-scale slaughter that make this novel so damned... ahem... delightful.

Throw in echoes of a conventional ghost story and you've got something really quite special. I'm enjoying it immensely. Legion of the Damned has been finished. And it's been a profoundly satisfying read. *raises a metaphorical glass to a man who manages not only to run an English Department but also produce fiction of outstanding creativity and excitement while he does it* Here's to you, Mr Sanders.”

Thanks JD. Here’s to you, too!

Difficult To Put Down

Review time! I've been meaning to get around to this one. The ever insightful Graeme Flory at Graeme's Fantasy Book Review had some nice things to say about my novel Legion of the Damned. Graeme doesn't pull his punches and he throws in a few issues with his compliments - which I don't mind from reviewers that clearly think about their responses and give fully rounded appraisals. Check out Graeme's other reviews at Graeme's Fantasy Book Review.

"The ‘Space Marine Battle’ series has been a bit hit and miss as far as I’m concerned. Hang on, a ‘bit hit and miss’? More like ‘more than a bit hit and miss’ actually as the quality see saws wildly between superb and, erm… its polar opposite…

I keep going back though, as much for those hidden gems waiting to be found as for a morbid sense of curiosity that wonders which direction the series will swing in next.
Add Rob Sanders to the mix and my curiosity was piqued yet further. I’ve read two of Sanders’ books so far and I’m still sat firmly on the fence about his work. It’s not that Sanders can’t write, he’s very good but prone to sometimes forgetting the story and going overboard on the background. You can’t ‘not read him’ though as you are potentially missing out on some great stuff if you ignore his books.

Which side of the fence did ‘Legion of the Damned’ fall on then? Lets just say that I’m looking forward to reading Sanders’ novella in the forthcoming ‘Primarchs’ collection.

Heralded by a blood red comet, the Cholercaust has come to the cemetery world of Certus Minor… An unstoppable horde of cultists, daemonkin and World Eaters Traitor Marines seeking to burn a path to ancient Terra itself. Only one company of loyalist Excoriators Space Marines stand in their path, not nearly enough to halt such a tide of blood. Or is it?

Inquistorial forces arrive on Certus Minor to find one Excoriator left alive amidst a veritable sea of traitorous corpses. Just what happened on Certus Minor to have victory spring from inevitable and crushing defeat? Sometimes, only sometimes, prayers are answered in the strangest of ways…

Like I said, I’ve had trouble with Sanders’ books in the past and this time was no different in that respect. This time though, Sanders rose above those issues to deliver a novel that proved to be only a hairs breadth away from being a compelling read. I could put it down; to do other stuff, but doing that was very difficult. I’ll have more along these lines please!

The issue I’ve always had with the ‘Space Marine Battles’ book is that a lot of them take the easy way out and just make the battle the focal point of the entire plot. In fact there isn’t a plot, just one big battle where the outcome is predetermined because of who is involved. The good guys either win or make it so that the Traitors cannot win themselves. It kind of takes the fun out of the read for me…

Thank goodness for Rob Sanders then who turns the whole thing upside down and presents us with a question out of that seemingly foregone conclusion of a victory. Yes, there was a victory but how could there have been? What the hell really happened? It's a great hook to snare the reader on, I was certainly interested to read more and find out what happened.

This was where the journey started to get a little choppy though. Sanders likes to delve into the murky background of Warhammer 40k and give his readers a full on encompassing view of these times of war. The only problem is that the story gets shoved to one side and you’re left with a whole load of detail. That’s what happens here with the ‘Feast of Blades’, a great piece of action but one that becomes mired in the politics of the competing Chapters a little too much to hold up properly for the length of time that it takes to recount. There were some awesome bone crushing moments of raw combat but I couldn’t help but feel that I wanted to hurry along and get to the main event.

It was a good job then that the main event ended up proving to be more than worth the wait.

Sanders clearly knows that a battle isn’t just about weapons being fired, it’s also very much about the people forced to pull the trigger in the heat of the moment. What are they feeling? Do they even want to be there?
These questions are answered in the contrast between Marines bred for war and un-enhanced humans forced to defend their homes and livelihoods. There’s a full range of emotions and motivations on display here and Sanders balances these nicely with the constant bark of bolter fire to give us an in-depth look at the conflict.

What’s interesting though is that this contrast is very much evident in the lead character of Zachariah Kersh himself. Kersh is a Marine who glories in warfare but would much rather be doing it elsewhere. Duty has called him and his men to Certus Minor though and Kersh will see that duty fulfilled despite the grumbling from within his company. Kersh questions himself (and his very sanity) at every turn and this keeps his character fresh, there are lots of questions to be answered in the heat of battle.

This battle is depicted very clearly without becoming too ‘technical’ and like a White Dwarf battle report. You know just what’s at stake from the sheer energy and focus that people put into just staying alive. What you do know though is the outcome and Sanders faces a tough task springing something that we already know onto us. He does it but it’s a very close thing, the answers are with us the whole time but you won’t see them until everything fits together and the picture is complete. Yet another plot device that holds the attention superbly.

‘Legion of the Damned’ suffers from a choppy start but recovers to become something really close to a stand out moment in the ‘Space Marine Battles’ series so far. I’ll happily keep reading these books if I can have more moments like these.

Eight and a Half out of Ten"

The Gods are Hungry!

I discovered an interesting hobby site the other day called 'The Dice Gods Are Hungry' by a great guy called Neil Drakes. On there - as well as lots of brilliant material on Warhammer and Warhmmer 40k fluff, miniature conversions and gaming tournaments - I discovered the site's first fiction review. I was jazzed to find that Neil had chosen Legion of the Damned for such an honour. I have shamelessly stolen the review and reproduced it here - because I'm an internet kleptomaniac and that's what we do. I encourage you to check out 'The Dice Gods Are Hungry' here. Of course, Neil earns his place on my growing list of interesting blogs and sites that are deserving of attention - 'The Scene' - which can be found below on the side-bar of fame. Cheers, Neil!

"Firstly, the bit that might annoy you. This is not a novel that follows the exploits of Legion squad, nor does it reveal the secrets of their foundation. But dont worry! Instead you get a cracking read and you'll probably be very tempted to start yourself an Excoriators army when 6th Edition gets released!

Rob delivers character-driven prose sprinkled liberally with mouth-watering action at a relentless, unforgiving pace that pulls you into the story and doesn't let go. You feel the emotions, you see the bullets fly and there is nowhere for you to hide, no convenient line breaks or changes of scene. You will devour whole chapters at a time and come the final page, you'll be disappointed there isn't more book to read.

To begin with you get to live and breath the 'feast of blades', the centennial gladiatorial contest briefly mentioned in codex Space Marines and competed in by many chapters whose geneseed is the progeny of Rogal Dorn. You get thrown in at the deep end with our reluctant hero. A nice honour duel this isn't!

Then theres tragedy, resentment and repentance instead of honour and glory, the main character is haunted by a silent apparition that nobody else can see. There's infighting, bad blood and a desperate defense to prepare in the face of the encroaching cholercaust-a spacebound horde of frenzied Khorne worshippers baying for blood.

Infuriating beurocracy, politics and near endless bloodshed marches you on towards the final chapters, and then.........

I'm not going to spoil the ending for you (you need to buy the book!) but the titular legion is a constant feature throughout the book...I'll say no more!

Honestly though, I enjoyed this book immensely. It retains the engaging style of 'Redemption Corps' but seems more rounded, more complete in a myriad of ways that's difficult to put your finger on.

If you're familiar with Rob's previous work you'll be excited to know that this is probably his 'breakout' book, a brilliant piece of work that should see him thoroughly ensconced in the bestseller lists for the foreseeable future (he's hit the New York Times bestsellers list recently). And there will be more books from Mr Sanders, so watch this space....."

Buried!

Wow, has it been that long? Not good Rob, not good. I’ve been pretty good with the blog over the last six months or so, ensuring that posts grace the internet with a satisfying regularity. Going to get back to that. Just been sooooo busy of late. Totally buried. Guess that serves me right for trying to hold down two of the most time-consuming jobs in the universe at the same time as being a husband and father (two more time-consuming callings!) Anyway, apologies to a bunch of people that I haven’t got back to about various things. One thing that I have been meaning to do is post a fantastic review for Legion of the Damned by the equally fantastic Phillip Sobel of BookSpot Central. BookSpot Central reviews a wide range of fiction and graphic novels but has a soft spot for well-written fantasy and science fiction. I was thrilled to see that Phillip had been kind enough to read and review Legion of the Damned. Thanks Phillip! I enjoyed your review immensely. BookSpot Central can be found here and down on the sidebar under the title ‘The Scene’. I encourage you to check it out. I have reproduced Phillip’s review of Legion of the Damned below for your reading pleasure.


"Legion of the Damned is the latest addition to the ever popular and ever growing Space Marine Battles series. Author Rob Sanders has proven himself to be a descriptive writer without equal whose words stretch the boundaries of prose and occasionally tap-dance into the realm of poetry. That he has also demonstrated a sure-fire talent for action-packed 40K yarns completes the circle of awesomeness I demand from my Warhammer/40K writers.

The cover is a teensy bit misleading: a story told entirely or even partly from the point of view of the Legion of the Damned, a legendary chapter of ghostly Astartes who appear from the shadows to turn the tide in desperate battles, would be somewhat lacking in the dialogue department. Instead the story focuses on a Chapter of Space Marines who come into ‘contact’ with them. The Chapter in question is the Excoriators, an Imperial Fist successor Chapter, who pride themselves on their ability to remain standing in the face of overwhelming punishment. Anyone who has read any of Rob Sanders’ previous works will know that the limits of endurance is a favourite theme that features prominently regardless of whether his characters are human or otherwise. At last, in the shape of the Excoriators, he has found the ideal fodder to explore this theme to his heart’s content without straining the boundaries of suspension of disbelief; a chapter that values endurance in the face of overwhelming odds, lovingly marking the date and location of any battle damage to their War Plate.

The Excoriators suffer from a genetic flaw known as the Darkness, where the afflicted is paralysed by visions of the battle of the Imperial Palace during the Horus Heresy from the perspective of their Primarch and his grief at the fall of the Emperor. Suffering from this very affliction is Sanders’ protagonist, Corpus Captain Zachariah Kersh. Formerly the Scourge, the Chapter Master’s champion and bodyguard, he is now in disgrace for falling to the Darkness and in the process losing the sacred Stigmartyr, the Chapter standard, and leaving the Chapter Master open to an assassin’s blade.

When ancient pacts of protection are called in by the Ecclesiarchy, the recovered Kersh is sent, as the new Captain of the battle-scarred 5th Company, to the cemetery world of Certus Minor to protect the planet from the approaching Keeler Comet and the Khornate ‘Cholerchaust’ that follows in its wake. Facing overwhelming odds, Kersh and his Astartes prepare themselves for a battle they cannot possibly survive. But what of the black armoured, ghostly revenant that haunts Kersh’s waking life, a sign of his damnation or a last desperate hope?

I’ve mentioned Sanders’ prose before, so I won’t keep banging on about it. Suffice to say that it is amongst the richest I have ever read, and his ability to paint a visceral, heart-pounding picture with words is second to none. His battles scenes, the obvious target of the series as a whole, are fast-flowing and convey the flow of events brilliantly, as well as ably communicating the sheer brutality of the fighting. The dialogue is, without exception, emotive and powerful, particularly in the context of Kersh’s leadership of a company that hates him and feels he has damned them to die pointlessly in the defence of a minor world.

Certus Minor is a world that, for me, really embodied the whole 40K ethos. An entire planet set aside for the burial of the dead. It really conveyed the overpopulated nature of so many Imperial worlds. There isn’t room for the laying out of the dead, and some of the noble born or other worthies of the Imperium are above the pragmatic cremation that is the path of the masses. And so their mortal remains are transported to Certus Minor for burial. Sanders builds up a great picture of the unique culture of such a world and populates it with a raft of fascinating little character studies that adds to the rich atmosphere that is the hallmark of his writing.

Sanders also switches between a third person perspective, an outside observer describing the scenes, and the first person perspective of Kersh (italicised). I loved this as a literary device–it really allowed me to see the inner struggle of Kersh, and more than anything else brought me down into his armour to experience the battles as he saw them.

I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I say that the intervention of the Legion is as last minute as it’s possible to get. I will confess to finding this a little frustrating though, admittedly, entirely in keeping with their legend. But, when they finally made their presence felt, it was all I had hoped for.

As I’ve been writing this review a metric ton of all the author’s plot twists and amazing characters and scenes are clamouring for mention, but I will not try to regurgitate the book in its entirety. I will say that the story, the characters and the context of their struggle was compelling, and Sanders’ writing was almost indulgent in his obvious delight in the use of language. I was drawn into his story from the very beginning all the way to the heart-stopping finale.

Very highly recommended."