Flashback Book Review - Cadian Blood by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Cadian Blood by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. A Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guard novel, published originally by The Black Library, October 2009. Approx. 320 pages. 

Cadian Blood

Cadian Blood (CB) is a Warhammer 40,000 (W40K) novel, I believe it is the first Black Library novel by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (AD-B), and it showcases the Imperial Guard, notably the Cadian 88th Mechanized Infantry.

CB is the story of an effort by the Imperium of Man to reclaim the planet of Kathur, a planet of significant religious importance which has suddenly fallen victim to an extremely powerful Chaos taint. This taint kills off the inhabitants of the planet, as well as travelling pilgrims and the Planetary Defense Force in record time, a span of about a week. Worse yet, those that died have became a horde of "plague-slain", shuffling undead minions of the Chaos that has lorded over them. Yup, all those Amazon reviews are right! It's W40K with zombies, and honestly, how can that be a bad thing?

Suffice to say, it isn't. It works, and works big time. AD-B is a great writer. To think this is one of his first offerings bodes well for the future of the Black Library. Now like I've said before, I'm still a relative newbie to the W40K world, and still haven't read an entire Space Marine novel yet. I like the rank and file aspect of the Imperial Guard, and the characters AD-B serves up are awesome. 88th Warden-Captain Thade, Darrick, Seth, Osiron, Dead Man's Hand, Jevrian, Caius, Tionenji, you really come to root for (or against) these guys.

Back to the story overview, the 88th is part of the Kathur Reclamation Spearhead force. They are charged with retaking some key landmarks until the main Imperial force arrives to purge the taint from the world. However, something is afoot. Unlike other taint situations where the world would be firebombed to nothingness, they are instructed to leave all artifacts intact, thus making their job more difficult against the plague slain. By why the precaution? Why is the 88th suddenly seconded to an high ranking Inquisitor and assigned a Commissar? And what is the mysterious voice that calls out, and to whom is it calling?

The Good: Like I said, AD-B is a solid writer. He is the most character-oriented Black Library author I've read. And for a "W40K Zombie Book", it's driven more by character interaction than bloody gibbets. There is action, and in no short order, but the cast is the treat here. Battle situations are tactically sound and exciting. Plus, there are three more specifics about AD-B's writing that caught me:

1. Descriptive keywords. Don't you hate authors that drastically go overboard or totally bare bones in their scenic descriptions? Not a problem here. AD-B knows to trust his readers intelligence, and lays out enough detail for them to draw a coherent picture. Hence, no wasted paragraphs, no boredom! Not easy given that he was describing a world full of religious architecture.

2. Quicky character bios. I love when authors do this. Take a minor background character who's about to have their moment, and flesh out a quick bio as to what lead them to this point. Guess what? It makes you care about that character! Take note, writers. Case in point, the captain of the Depth of Fury.

3. Sense of Astartes scale. AD-B's real strength may be in writing about Space Marines. They've popped up in other Guard books I've read, but never with the descriptive scale seen here. They're not just jacked-up supermen here, when they enter a room, you feel yourself looking up to them, hear the armor and augmetics at work. You get a sense of their pride, their own agenda, honor. And his descriptions of the tainted Death Guard, well, let's just say I can still here the buzzing of bloated blood flies. Great stuff.

The Bad: No real complaints, actually. Hate to say it, but Cadian Blood may have bumped off Gunheads as my favorite W40K title. My only complaint is that the Black Library made this title Out Of Print after only about a year (if even) here in the States. As a result, I am forced to report the library copy I read as lost. Or maybe I should report it.......Unbroken.

My Rating, for what it is: 4 1/2 out of 5 Aquilas

Here's what it is:

AD-B's debut novel shows why so many consider him the best writer in The Black Library. This title is not only a great foray for an Imperial Guard Cadian unit, but other denizens of WH40K lore get stellar treatment as well. Chaos minions, Space Marines, tainted Astartes, psykers, even the Imperial Navy. Even if you do not care for Guard novels, this one deserves a shot.

Final Score:

90/100

Cover Score:

Unfortunately, the cover for Cadian Blood is not as stunning as the content. Doing the bulk of the jacket in a steely camo pattern is decent looking, however the cover pic itself is stiff and unbelievable. Obviously the background was created first, with the the characters placed afterwards. But the postures are just random and, odd. To be honest they reminded me of Colorforms. Composition was not at the forefront of these drawings either. For a black and white comic book panel, this pic works fine. For a mass-market paperback cover, not so much.

Cover Final Score:

61/100

Flashback Book Review - Star Wars: Republic Commando - Triple Zero

Hi all- New content still seems to be stalled in coming. Took the day off to enjoy Father's Day, and working on a few posts simultaneously, and, well, I guess I should actually try to read some new stuff to eventually review. So, just to keep some blog traffic moving, here is another flashback book review(and I better hustle with the new stuff as I am running out of these). This one is on a steaming little pile of such and such from the Star Wars expanded universe. In fact, this little turd is what broke my habit of finishing anything I had started reading regardless of the content. No wait, scratch that. I did finish A Dance With Dragons. Ugh. Painful memories. Anyway, enjoy Triple Zero. I sure didn't.... Cheers, Hach (this review was originally posted 08/20/10)

Star Wars Republic Commando: Triple Zero by Karen Traviss. Published 2006. Approx. 448 pages.

Star Wars: Republic Commando - Triple Zero



A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I finally read a SW:EU book cover to cover without busting a seam laughing. That book was SW:RC-Hard Contact, and despite it's many shortcomings, was a fun, fluffy read. What can I say, I like books that give a face to the rank and file, and I made a mental note to continue the series someday. In March, I figured, what the hey, and went back on a trip to Cloneland.



For a quick recap, in Hard Contact, we met Omega Squad, made of Clone Commando survivors from other groups. There are, Niner, the de facto leader, Darman, explosives specialist and sentimental mush, Fi, wise-cracking sniper, and Atin, sullen computer/tech specialist. They met up with newbie Jedi Etain Tur-Makin (I just mentally refer to her as Etain Tur-Ducken), on their mission on some mining planetoid to counter a germ agent that ONLY affects clones (howsabout some butter for that slab of corn?). It was cut and dry, like the video game adaptation it was, and while there were too many 20th/21st Century military terms, it was fun enough. Darman and Etain (SPOILER!) fall in love, and in the end, everyone goes on their next missions. **1/2 out of ***** stars.



Now we have Triple Zero. Before the basic review, keep in mind that the Dramatis Personae has increased since Hard Contact. In addition to Omega Squad, and Etain, we also have Bardan Jusik, the most annoying Jedi created, Delta Squad, that squad upon which the RC game was based, Ordo, the Null-ARC, and finally, Kal Skirata. Ah, Kal. Well, let me just say that this book is a Kal Skirata book, not an RC book in any way. For those of you lucky enough to not know who Kal Skirata is, it's like this: When the Jedis decided to use Jango Fett as the sperm donor to create their clone army, apparently Jango was supposed to stay on and train them, and also bring in some people he recommended to help train. He recruited a bunch of old Mando merc friends, two of which were the cold, calculating Walon Vau (also in the book) and Kal Skirata, the tough drill sergeant with a heart of gold. He was referred to in Hard Contact as the one who snuck them sweets and tried to give them a little of their Mando culture, and it was fine at that. Apparently, Ms.Traviss has fallen so in love with this character that he straight up hijacks the book.



Now, onto the story. We start with a flashback to Kal's first day on Kamino, where he meets and "adopts" the Nulls, early test clones that are a little too Jango-y for mass-production. Instead of letting them be terminated, he takes them on as sons. The lead one, which he dubs 'Ordo', plays a big role in the book. Flash forward to the present, the Omega boys are working a checkpoint in space, doing ship inspections. Scenes like this showcase Traviss' good points, hell, if the whole book were the Omega guys doing ship searches, I'd be happy. Also, Etain, now a general, is leading clones on other fronts. Now a confident, skilled warrior, she is tolerable, unlike the unconfident Padawan she was in HC. Then, there is an explosion on Coruscant that blows a Clone barracks to bits. Since Kal does love his clones ever so much (and you will be reminded of this in nigh every page of the book), he forms a super-secret team to investigate what he assumes is a Separatist Splinter Cell and kill them before they can kill more clones. To do this, he pools Delta and Omega squads, Etain and Bardan Jusik, the two-fisted hot-rodding Jedi upstart (oh puh-leeze), and his rival, Walon Vau. There are many stake-outs, much research, and a resolution. Also a short story at the end which really blows.



Praise: When she sticks to the military stuff, Traviss is a good writer. Her action scenes, when she includes one, are decently choreographed. She has tried to flesh out Mando culture and language. And honestly, the Omega boys were interesting. However, in this book, they are seriously only background filler.



Complaints: Kal. He shouldn't be the main character. He doesn't need to think and fret like a woman. He doesn't need to try and get girlfriends for 'his boys' One Amazon reviewer stated that it got so repetitive, that you could read up to page 150, skip to 400, finish the book and not miss anything. So sad to say, it's so true. Also, still too many current terms. I don't care if the Coruscant Security Forces wear blue, calling them "the boys in blue" is modern terminology, not SW-lingo. Also, the showcasing of Kal relegates Omega to the background, and including Delta was unnecessary. The characters are just renamed versions of Omega. Fi, supposedly the comic relief, is just painfully unfunny. Bardan Jusik is a weak character. Towards the end, he dons Mando armor for the final battle. This fact is presented to us in a manner that suggests it's as shocking as your daughter coming home married to a dog. It's not. No one cares. And poor Etain; just as she was getting interesting, she (SPOILER!) gets pregnant and spends the rest of the book seeking Kal's paternal acceptance and approval. Yeah, seriously.

Finally,

(MAJOR SPOILER)

Ok, I can accept that there is almost no action in the book. It's commando work, not frontline firefights. But, after all the black ops work, you'd think the group they're chasing would be something special. No. Actually, the final fight is wrapped up in like 5 pages, and it's just a standard Separatist group looking to kill Republic troops. This is a shame, since the book begins with hints that the Nulls are prone to go rogue, well at least Ordo. I was kind of hoping to find one of them behind it all, see if Kal could live with taking down one of his "sons". At least it would have been compelling. Also, all the planning work for the operations is done by Kal and Vau, making you question what amount of commando-ing the commandos are left to do.



To sum it up, Traviss is best left to writing military fiction. Maybe I'll read her Gears of War work someday. I'd actually like to see her write a G.I.Joe novel, based on the 80's toyline. The next Republic Commando installment, True Colors, lays in wait in the book bin. I may give this series one more try, but if it turns into another Kal-fest, sorry Charlie.



Triple Zero, for what it is: *1/2 out of ***** stars.



Here's what it is:
Could've been, should've been. But for what it is, I hand the podium to my old friend Joel:

Final Score:

29/100



Cover Score:

All of the Republic Commando covers (save Order 66) have great artwork. I personally prefer the poses rendered on the cover of Hard Contact slightly more than this one, but it is nicely done. The highly detailed, but still sketchy and somewhat unfinished look remind one of an expertly done colored pencil work. Great cover, crap book.

Cover Final Score:

83/100

Flashback Book Reviews - Armor

HachiSnax Note: As it is taking a bit longer than expected to finish up Double Eagle, I am re-posting another old review. Today's is for Armor, by John Steakley. This is a book that always seems on the periphery when people discuss military sci-fi classics, but there is some great stuff in here. Alas, Armor 2 will never see the light of day in its entirety, as Mr. Steakley passed away on November 27th, 2010. I posted this review originally on August 18th, 2010, and I hope you like it. Maybe one day I can get a chance to read Vampire$ and put up a review on that as well. Cheers, Hach.

Armor, by John Steakley. Originally published 1984. Approx. 432 pages.

Armor, by John Steakley. Originally published 1984. Approx. 432 pages.



Armor



Armor was the second book read this year, after the W40K pulpy masterpiece Gunheads.



When you are looking for good military SF to read, certain names and books invariably pop up. Orson Scott Card's Ender Books, Heinlen's Starship Troopers, Haldeman's Forever War, Scalzi, Weber, Drake, Abnett, Zahn, etc. And sure enough, if you check any Amazon Listmania! list of Military SF, you'll see a little book called Armor by John Steakley. Read some of the reviews, you see some serious accolades, a few claiming 'overhyped', and, a few "eh"'s. Some people claim that that battlefield depictions are the most realistic they've ever read. Let's see what all the hype and hate is about.



Steakley is a good writer, no doubt about it. He only has two published books, Armor and Vampire$, upon which the supposedly shitty John Carpenter's Vampires movie was based. Also, Armor 2 is rumored to be in the works.



Armor is primarily billed as the story of Felix, a talented grunt in Earth's battle against 2-meter tall ant-like aliens named, creatively, Ants. Be forewarned, the book actually has two completely separate storylines, with two protagonists as different as night and day, linked by one suit of armor. More on that later. As it is, Armor is broken down into 4 basic parts; the first records of Felix, our introduction to Jack Crow, the last records of Felix, and Jack Crow's stand to defend Sanction.



Sorry, can't complete this review without some spoilers. I'll try to keep it minimal.



Armor opens with Felix, a seemingly typical grunt, preparing for his first 'jump' onto a hostile, Ant-infested planet called Banshee. Banshee is named so for it's howling winds, poisonous, frigid atmosphere, and acidic waters. Not a nice place to say the least. Earth soldiers going into battle go wearing battle armor, with formidable blaster, high explosive grenades and an additional, nasty, last-resort goody. Felix has apparently performed so well in tests that his superiors want to put him on officer duty. When he declines, they stick him with an even more dangerous duty, that of a scout; a lightly armored, recon unit. (Personally, I imagined the battle armor as looking like Halo armor, and the black scout armor as looking like Dr. Calico's henchmen in the movie Bolt). When the soldiers land, there is of course more resistance than they expected. At times Felix finds himself alone, other times, he finds himself the most capable of his peers.



At all times, during battle, Felix, who normally appears apathetic about the war's cause and his life in general, allows his natural skills and instincts to take over. All independent thought stops, as he terms it, the "Engine" takes over. This engine mode carries him through the first jump, and all the subesequent jumps. Even though all laws of probability dictate he should die, he keeps surviving jump after jump, sustaining broken limbs, getting patched up and sent right back out.



Through this all, Steakley's prose shines. You feel like you are running behind Felix, desperately trying to find safety, not knowing where the next group of Ants will appear from, knowing that even if you survive you are still just a battlefield commodity to your superiors. Honestly, it's mentally exhausting.



Part 2 of Armor introduces us to Jack Crow, a smooth pirate rogue type. Actually, he's what Han Solo would have been if George Lucas could write worth a damn. Jack's portions of the book are written in first person, and he is a clever, funny, interesting character. So just prepare yourself as a reader, since it's such a jolting 180 fromthe tone of the first part. We meet Jack as he is breaking out of a prison mining planet. Aiding his escape is the notorious space pirate Borglyn, who 'insists' on Jack's help with a mission. Borglyn's ship is in the vicinity of a privately-owned planet called Sanction, which the military finances and runs a research center, as well as providing living facilities for refugees. Jack is to go to Sanction, meet Borglyn's contacts, made buddy-buddy with the military folk so that he can lower the shields for Borglyn to gas up and go.



As payment for his help, Borglyn gives Jack an abandoned ship he found, as well as some cash. On the ship however, Jack finds a suit of black scout armor, which he gives to the head military scientist, Holly, as he works to make buddy-buddy. Holly becomes obsessed with finding the secrets of this armor, and finally, he finds a way to link himself, his girlfriend, and Jack into the armor's archives. It should be a surprise to no one that this was once indeed Felix's armor.



This brings us to part 3, which shoots us back to Banshee and Felix. The Earth forces are getting confident now, and have gone so far as to create a bunker type base of operations on Banshee. Also, a ghost from Felix's past arrives, and we finally learn his backstory. In the end, overconfidence on the part of the Earth Forces and a crop of new recruits and scientists start poking around in places they shouldn't touch, and guess what happens. Part 3 ends as Felix's suit recording ends.



Part 4 brings us back to Sanction. Jack & Co. are understandably psychologically numb, they've been living Felix's memories through the suit. It affects every facet of their day to day lives. Finally, in the end, Jack has to help resolve issues with Borglyn, who is still hovering outside of Sanction with his plans. All the loose ends are wrapped up nice and tidy, and concluding with a few of the corniest lines I have ever seen in print.



But is it good? Yes, well, part by part, I'd say it's great, very good, very good and good.



Criticisms: Felix's backstory, first and foremost. The man you are reading about in part one is someone you can relate to. You feel his pain, his fear, his hesitance to connect to others, the notion that instinct takes over in horrid situations. After they shoehorn his backstory in, it turns him from a sympathetic character into an action figure. Big fumble. Second, the edition I got has a lot of typos, so not Steakley's fault, it's just annoying. Plus, if you like extensive backgrounds and explanations, look elsewhere. When they say the lakes on Banshee are acid, that's it. No reason, no contributing factors, nada. That's acid, don't swim there.



Overall: Like I said before, Steakley can write. The verbal exchanges are believable never corny or forced. People are flawed and fucked-up. They are scared, insecure, just like real people in wartime. Jack Crow is a hoot. Over the course of the book, his personal regard for different characters changes, and Steakley keeps his perspective constant. It just works. Like most said, a better ending would've been nice. Actually, I think the ending worked, except for the last few lines. You decide for yourself.



Armor. One suit of armor unites two different story threads.



For what it is: 3.5 out of 5 stars ***1/2




Here's what it is: The military sci-fi book that coulda' been a contender. If only Steakley hadn't dropped the ball with Felix's history. Still a solid read with some of the most jarring battle scenes I have ever read. R.I.P. Mr. Steakley.

Final Score:

72/100

I know I am being a bit harsh with that, but the low points of Part 3, some corny dialogue, and even the typos took their toll.

The Cover:

There are at least three covers for Armor that I have seen floating around. The original fashions the suit like a medieval knight about to bash an ant. I like that one. The most recent is more stylized, and in tune with today's technique. The one I got (pictured above), was from that awkward stage when cover artists hadn't mastered drawing tough military types without making them into 'roided monstrosities. This picture of Felix looks more like Guile from Street Fighter after a few too many trips to the Chinese buffet. The suit looks more like an astronaut suit, and the gun is an ungainly beast that is even a stretch as a design for a 99-cent store water gun.

Cover Final Score:

43/100

Flashback Book Review - Gunheads

HachiSnax Note: The Flashback Book Review sections will feature reviews that I had previously posted to Facebook, or other sources. It's mostly a way to get some content on the blog while I compose new stuff. And also, hopefully promote some good books. This one here is for Gunheads, by Steve Parker (originally posted 8/17/2010). I cannot tell you how much fun this book was. I know Mr. Parker is focusing on his Deathwatch books now, but I wish we could see even a short story featuring Wulfe & Co. again. Great stuff! Cheers, Hach.

Gunheads



Gunheads had been taunting me for a while before I read it. Countless times I've been suckered into a shitty book by an awesome cover (haven't we all), and Gunheads does indeed have an awesome cover. You've got bitchin' retro-style tanks and orks in dune buggies. However, at time of release, Mr. Parker's other W40K offering, Rebel Winter, had only garnered middling reviews. Luckily I had a brain fart and in the end reserved it from the library. Good move on my part.



Gunheads is a Warhammer 40,000 stand alone book, showcasing the Imperial Guard (no Space Marines here kiddos). It focuses on a Cadian tank group, the 81st IIRC, who are being sent on a fool's errand to recover a Baneblade tank (The Fortress of Arrogance, how awesome a name is that?) from the desolate, ork-infested desert planet of Golgotha, for Yarrick to use in his uber-war on Armageddon.



So our set-up is Imperial Guardsmen in tanks vs. millions of orks. Sounds pretty standard, right? So what makes it work? Characters, and Mr.Parker's writing style.



The story is billed as centering around one Sgt. Oskar Andreas Wulfe, although honestly, the entire cast list gets their fair share of screen time. This is all for the best. Wulfe is a great character. One Amazon reviewer compared him to Sgt.Nick Fury in the Howlin' Commandoes days, and it's true. This book reads like an awesome WWII pulp novel. Wulfe is real, a hard-nosed, gritty grunt, who knows enough to question the logic of the Imperium and keep it to himself, and who genuinely cares about his tank crew and the unit in general. He worries for his men to the point of overprotection, which is what managers in hostile environments have to do. He also has the frustration of dealing with an upstart newcomer to the unit. Unfortunately, this royal bastard, Cpl. Lenck, can back up his trash-talk on the battlefield. You just know a sweet showdown with these two is coming. Other characters include Lt. Van Droi, who leads his men from the front, and tries to balance his caring for them with his mandated adherence to beaurecratical B.S., Major General Bergen, a born leader, who is forced to lead his men on a glorified suicide mission, and General DeViers, an ancient, image-obsessed leader who takes on the mission in the hopes of one day having a statue erected of himself somewhere, someday. But don't get him wrong; his resume includes plenty of decisive victories and he still is more than happy to participate in the firefights. Also along for the ride are some representatives from the Adeptus Mechanicus, who have their own agenda on Golgotha; and it's no major spoiler to say that it doesn't involve a pimped-out tank.



Mr. Parker's writing style is superb; world building is descriptive without being encyclopediac. The planet Golgotha is sinister, the atmosphere itself is sickening the men, poisoning their lungs, reddening their skin and eyes. Parasites threaten to infect at all turns. As for the characters, the banter between men has an authentic vibe, and the depiction of orks is on point. These Golgothan orks have been conditioned by their environment, they are bigger, leaner, stronger, their skin a leathery brown. Smarter too, in that they actually try to utilize basic concepts of human warfare strategies. Plenty of times in the action scenes you could feel their presence, smell them closing in, feel their hot steaming breath as they get ready to bash you to bits. The Adeptus Mechanicus are written well too; creepy, haughty, calculating, cold. Yikes.



Are there any criticisms? Very few. Sometimes that battlefield deathtoll becomes hard to envision. You'll be told ten thousand men are squaring off with 2 million orks, then you are reading about "scores" of Guardsmen being blown away and "piles" of dead orks. It makes it hard to keep score of how many Guardsmen are left at any given time, and if millions of orks are dying, are the tanks really riding over small hills of ork corpses? Other than that, the book is solid. No boring spots, no unbelievably ridiculous "bad-ass" characters, and especially, unlike other Guard novels, the commanding officers are not portrayed as simply blundering idiots, wimpy sycophants or cruel tyrants(like in the novels Fifteen Hours and Ice Guard). Everyone has their merits, their faults, their time to shine and their time to die. Oh yes, the death toll is appropriately high for the mission involved. Don't spend too much money on Christmas cards for the 81st, you have very few to send out in the end.



Gunheads. Buy it, read it. After I returned it to the library, I bought my own copy. It's good stuff.



My review, for what it is: 4 out of 5 stars.



P.S.- A good intro to Sgt. Wulfe and Co. is the short story Mercy Run, available in the Planetkill compilation. Pretty standard stuff, but if you're a completist, go for it. It also explains the secret Wulfe is trying to keep the other men from finding out.

Here's what it is: 

Everything an Imperial Guard novel should be. A knock-down drag out brawl between tanks and orks. A WWII-style, pulpy, action-packed read.

Final Score:

87/100

The Cover:

Oh, man. As I had said in the old review, I loved this cover. I know it might look like a Codex or module-type cover, but I love it. Tanks vs. dune buggies, 'nuff said! Alex Boyd captures the spirit of the Imperial Guard like few others!

Cover Final Score:

90/100

Yes, I'm biased. Sue me.