Hollow Beginnings

Hollow Beginnings by Mark Clapham. A Warhammer 40,000 Space Wolves short story, Day 4 of the Summer of Reading 2015 (Week 1). Originally published by The Black Library, August 2015. Approx. 20 pages.

Space Wolves. Space Wolves everywhere. In the buildup to what I am guessing will be a grand mal Wolfgasm surrounding the release of Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Ragnar Blackmane, the lupine space vikings have infiltrated pretty much all of the new release slots over at the Black Library (still waiting for them to pop up in Age of Sigmar, which would be a marked improvement). Really don't need to restate that the wet leopard growl Sons of Fenris aren't my favorite Chapter, so what I will say is that so long as they are written in as fun a manner as we get here in Hollow Beginnings, I don't mind them one bit.

Another simple story premise here: we meet up with a Space Wolves pack, led by one Sergeant Anvindr, as they are helping to close up a campaign on the planet Durrl, spearheading a mission to retrieve the head of the warboss Stumpgutz. Well, actually, the first few pages of the story focuses on a detachment of Tallarn Imperial Guard, as they run cleanup duty on the perimeter of Stumpgutz's smoldering fortress. This is a nice little treat; since the Tallarns get almost no page time in recent Black Library offerings.

The actual action setpiece involving the retrieval of Stumpgutz's noggin comprises the middle of hollow Beginnings. And it is a very nice piece. The inter-pack banter is fun without teetering into obnoxiousness, and the action is solid. There's something about two primal warrior groups like the Space Wolves and Orks going literally toe to toe that makes the action extra crunchy. And it's not just the fight scenes that are done well. Clapham does a superb job setting tone, as evidenced in lines like this:

"Victory required someone to take the head of the warboss, even if it was just hacked from its scorched corpse. Proof of death was required, a trophy to take for the glory of the Emperor, and Anvindr decided that he and his squad would be the ones to take it."

Nice stuff there.

So, if the main battle is resolved 3/4 of the way through the story, what else is left? Well, first of all, let me state this. I did not realize heading into Hollow Beginnings that this isn't the first outing for Anvindr and his pack. Clapham actually penned another tale featuring them, In Hrondir's Tomb, which you can get in its original release in Hammer & Bolter 20 (along with a bunch of other good stories) for $2.99, or you can buy it on its own from the Summer of Reading program for $4.99 a la carte. You don't need to be a business major to spot the better value there. Anyway, I hadn't read it before, but now most likely will. This is a fun pack to follow, and further adventures with them look promising.

That brings us to the ending, which serves as a segue to the next tale (and also clarifies the wordplay of the story title). For this portion of the story, I'm thinking that reading In Hrondir's Tomb probably clarifies the emotional response much better, but even the first time reader can piece together what's transpiring.

In closing, reading In Hrondir's Tomb isn't a prerequisite. This story is very enjoyable on its own. The Space Wolves are done well, the Orks are done well. I just wish we could've seen more of the Tallarns.

Small Nitpick (Minor Spoiler):
I will mention one portion of the big action piece that did bother me. During the clash between the Wolves and Stumpgutz, Anvindr gets his bolter knocked out of his hands, leaving him to rely on his chainsword. Once his chainsword is destroyed, he is immediately charging in using his bolter. It might seem too particular to harp on this minor detail, but just one sentence would have clarified that a speedy retrieval had taken place. Anyway, very minor thing.

Here's what it is:
A pack of Space Wolves head into a burning fortress to give a nasty ork warboss the unkindest haircut of all.

Final Score:

8/10

Cover Score:

See? Much better without the all-black background, especially when the character image is done in muted colors.

Cover Final Score:

6.5/10

The Hour Of Hell (Fellguard Pt. 2)

The Hour of Hell (Fellguard Pt. 2) by Mark Clapham. An Imperial Guard short story, originally published by The Black Library, December 2013. Approx. 28 pages. 

Even though it boasted characters that were barely more substantial than rough outlines, The Siege of Fellguard was an enjoyable, action-packed tale with vivid descriptions of violence, decay, and ichor. The fact that the positives outnumbered the negatives warranted Part 2 of the story, The Hour of Hell, getting a read.

We left off at the end of Siege with the Cadian 39th taking the Fellguard entry point of Bastion Beta-3, suffering terrible losses all the way. With things seemingly tipping in their favor, the cultist sorcerer Mazalai, through the sacrifice of the highest ranking cultists, achieved the pinnacle of potential as a servant of Nurgle. In a mighty expolosion, his corporeal existence serves as the conduit to being something terrible in from the Warp. Something that it will take a miracle for the Cadians to overcome....

I had no idea which way Clapham was going to go in the conclusion of this storyline. One of the things that worked best in Siege was how the action alternated between the Imperial and Chaos forces. Now, with all the Chaos players dead or transformed, there would need to be a new format. With the Chaos side boasting more compelling players the first go round, I was hoping the Cadians would be more dynamic this time around, especially since it was now their time to shine in the face of great adversity. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

In Siege, the Cadian focus was centered on regimental priest Vurtch and Castellan Blakov. In Hour of Hell, veteran Lieutenant Rawl and Commissar Chavaria are at the fore. Blakov remains a person of great importance, but here the stress is on how his mettle is judged by those other officers. While Rawl and Chavaria are interesting characters, they suffer from the same lack of characterization the made Siege a good story rather than a great one. They remain painfully static and repetitive. We understood from the first mention that Chavaria relies more on threats of violence than application; and yet the point is hammered home relentlessly. Same with how Rawl and Chavaria realize that Blakov would need to be removed should his leadership falter. We got it the first time, any page space used reiterating it could have been spent more wisely developing some background characters.

Another thing that seemed odd to me was that instead of continuing the action of Siege directly, Clapham opted to retell the events of it, albeit from a different point of view. There were doubtlessly more concise ways we could have been notified what Rawl and Chavaria were doing during that time.

One other thing that faltered where Siege shined was in the description of the main antagonist. The abomination that Mazalai morphed into was none other than a Great Unclean One. Since Clapham reveled in descriptions of all things rotten, viscous, and oozing in Siege, fleshing this fleshy daemon out should have been a field day for him. And yet it seems uninspired. We get requisite commentary on open wounds, dangling entrails, etc., but there was so much more joie de grossness the first go round. Don't get me wrong, there are still excellent, gory death scenes throughout. And when Clapham describes the rot and decay that afflict dying soldiers, he is in top notch form. But just think how excellent it would have been to focus less on flashbacks and repetition and focus more on integrating the taint of Nurgle into the atmosphere, and showing us the true horror of the Great Unclean One.

What saves The Hour of Hell is the post-scripts. Like in Siege, this installment is framed by Imperial excerpts, this time from one of the survivors of the horrors of Fellguard. The closing sentiments of this memoir are honest, sentimental, and fairly profound. It is also followed immediately by a curt reminder of the Orwellian soul of this eternally dystopian universe.

All in all, The Hour of Hell is a slight step down from The Siege of Fellguard, but it still remains a solid Imperial Guard duology very worth a read.

Here's what it is:
The stalwart fighters of the Cadian 39th come face to face with a true horror from the bowels of the Warp in this somewhat anti-climactic climax to the Fellguard story.


Final Score:

73/100


Cover Score:
As in Siege, rather plain cover here. I actually prefer the cracked plaster effect of this cover to the sickly green high school locker cover of Siege. It would have been much better to try and replicate the wall of bones idea of the outer defensive wall of Fellguard, though.

Cover Final Score:

19/100

The Siege Of Fellguard (Fellguard Pt. 1)

The Siege of Fellguard (Fellguard Pt.1) by Mark Clapham. An Imperial Guard short story, originally published by The Black Library, December 2013. Approx. 31 pages.

Today we will focus on another Black Library short showcasing the Imperial Guard; this being the first of two installments in the Fellguard story arc by an author relatively new to the Black Library, Mark Clapham (Iron Guard). As said numerous times, stories like this are great primers for getting to know the authors. So, did Clapham's treatment of the Imperial Guard make the case for giving his full-length novel a look? I'd say so. The Siege of Fellguard is not a character-driven story, but an action-driven one, and the author writes with a descriptive touch that brings the situations to life. 

The story in Siege could not be any simpler; we have a force of Cadians (the 39th) working to take back the Fellguard stronghold on the planet of Kelthorn, which has fallen to cultists of Nurgle (it's turning out to be a Nurgle-heavy month here). If, by reading the title, you were expecting a siege involving a protacted waiting/mindgame, with studies of defensive positions, cutting off resources, harrying attacks, etc., you might be disappointed. A more appropriate title for this story might have been The Storming of Fellguard, since that is what it is. We open with the Cadians taking the out wall, and from there, fighting for the best way in. It might be worth noting here that said outer wall is one of the most outlandish things that I have read about in the 40K universe, a wall comprised of the bones of millions of martyrs of the God-Emperor. When I had first read that, I thought it was a pretty ridiculous notion, even for this franchise, but Clapham is a skilled enough author to believe his story, and therefore sell it to the reader.

Now, although this is an Imperial Guard story, Siege is split fairly evenly between the forces on both sides of Fellguard's walls. On the Cadian side, most of the focus centers around regimental priest Vurtch, while on the Chaos side, we follow the blessed cultist sorceror Mazalai, who, for all the favor shown to him by Nurgle, has not attained the ultimate power he seeks: the ability to raise unliving forces (zombie hordes like in Cadian Blood? yes please!).

Characterization is not particularly strong in Siege. The Nurglite cultists are far more compelling here; it is pretty thrilling to watch Mazalai ascending towards what his kind might call greatness. The most sympathetic character in the story is his assistant, a gibbering mess named Grent, who seemingly has a few crumbs of humanity strewn around his many "blessings". 

The Cadians, on the other hand, remain rather one-dimensional throughout. There is a fine duel between their commanding, Castellan Blakov and a cultist commander protected by a scabrous armor. Other than that, there are no characters of note. There is an interesting female lieutenant mentioned, but she drops off the map pretty early on (hopefully to return). Not much time is spent on the troopers. I remember that there was an obligatory griper in the crowd. As for Vurtch, he remained pretty low-key throughout. I am assuming that the Cadians' time to shine will be in Pt.2, as this first installment focuses more on building up to a grand cliffhanger. So here's hoping we'll see some grit and resolve against insurmountable odds in The Hour of Hell.

Clapham's best strength in Siege comes in physical descriptions. Authors must feel like kids in candy stores when they get to write for the servants of Nurgle. There are so many opportunities for grossness, for pus and ooze, decay and insect swarms. And Clapham revels in this. The yellowish funk that surrounds Fellguard is nearly tangible, and in battle, wounds weep horribly discolored ichor. It is all gloriously repulsive.

For what it is, Siege is put together nicely. The pacing and alternating between armies is all done well. It opens and closes with portions of an Inquisitorial report on the encounter, replete with all the redactions and trimmings. While it lets you know outright how things will turn out, it is still fun to watch. Like all things in the Imperium, when things go bad it is terrible, but when things go right, well, they still end up pretty bad too. It's all part and parcel of serving in the Guard:

"Be all that you can be."

Here's what it is:

Part one of Mark Clapham's Cadians vs. cultists duology starts off with a bang (actually a lot of bangs), but not a lot character development. Very enjoyable for what it is, straight up Guard action with commendable attention to detail on the disciples of Nurgle. Look for the review of Pt.2: The Hour of Hell later this month.

Last Note:

Was just looking up some stuff on the Warhammer 40K wiki and found an entry on the Cadian 39th. Interesting reading here. Did not realize that they were such a notable unit in previous canon.

Final Score:

78/100

Cover Score:

Nothing of note here. You have the text and an Imperial Guard logo in front of a metal plate that could either be part of a fortress wall or a high school locker. Greenish saturation is, I suppose, a nod to the corruption of Nurgle. It's a decent enough nauseous green to do the job.

Cover Final Score:

16/100