Steve Parker (2)

While not as deep or developed as some of the Horus Heresy books I've read, this is probably the best pure WH40K book I've read to date. The overwhelming scope of a massive ork invasion and the fairly linear plot make this a fairly fast and damn interesting read. I really liked the author's description of the surviving Crimson Fists and how they fought overwhelming odds not only to survive but to hold on to control of the planet until help arrives from Imperial fleets beyond the warp. Parker manages to make the super-human Space Marines seem downright human in these impossible situations. This is how you know you've read an outstanding novel: by the end of the book you really care quite a bit about the fate of the protagonists and desperately want all the orks to DIE. This book is also not for the feint of heart, as it contains graphic descriptions of characters demise, but this is not Star Wars either....… (altro)

Deep in the bowels of some backwater planet or another, a nefarious alien menace has emerged. There is only one group capable of handling such a dastardly threat. The space marines! *cue cheesy action music*

Okay, I'm poking fun, and it's hard not to. The Warhammer books aren't known for their literary merit. Despite being composed of who-knows-how-many hundreds of books, they are more known for mindless action, and enough backstory to give any enthusiastic fan a rampant lore-boner. Deathwatch doesn't do much to alter that formula, which said fans may be...pleased to hear.

The Deathwatch are an elite group of space marines, hand-picked from across the universe, whose sole purpose is to quell xenos (alien) invasions. In this case there is an alien threat and, um, the Deathwatch battle them. Yep, that's about it. The plot develops slowly, the characters don't develop much at all, and it ends pretty much how you expect. ...and, that's it.

It really wasn't that bad of a read. The first 100 pages or so were horrendous, it was all over the place and I was a drowning man desperately grasping for something to cling to. Once the plot finally formed it did become an enjoyable book though. These types of books always have interesting characters, mostly because they are ridiculously flat, over-the-top, and unbelievable; but I could live with it. After another 200 pages, at about the 300-page mark, the book started bogging down on me again. The characters spent 200 pages in a training camp, learning about group cohesion and battle-readiness, but once the action started the characters were just whiny and obnoxious. Like I said earlier, the characters didn't develop much, and they were pretty much exactly as they were at the start of the story.

Anyway, in the end it was pretty okay. It's far from the greatest thing I've ever read, but I'm interested enough in the characters to seek out more of their books. Assuming I can figure out how to navigate the tangled, convoluted labyrinth that is the Black Library.… (altro)

Vilken skillnad gentemot Scanlons roman (som utgjorde del 1 i serien om Imperial Guard)! Handlingen, miljön och karaktärerna är i utgångspunkt rätt lika mellan de två böckerna och båda är debutromaner, men trots det är skillnaden i kvalitet enorm.
Parker har differentierade karaktärer, nyanserade antagonister, tempo i berättandet och en känsla för hur olika man kan reagera på samma händelser trots att personerna utåt sett tycks vara lika varandra.
Det här är engagerande, fascinerande och rakt ut spännande. Scanlon kan lämnas därhän, men Parker är definitivt värd att följa.… (altro)

“Rebel Winter” by Steve Parker relates a hawkish tale from the annals of the distinguished Vostroyan Firstborn on ice planet Danik’s world. The story moves at a quick pace and action resounds on almost every page. However, what I truly felt was lacking were thorough character descriptions and personal stories to create a more three-dimensional Guard unit. When the characters began dropping like flies I lacked the empathy I should’ve felt because to me they were simply names on paper. At any rate, Mr. Parker does a good job in bringing the world of 40K to print and the novel’s finale was above par.… (altro)