The Black Library Review: Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill

Vital Stats:
Page Count: 413
Era: 40k (no specified year)
Perspective: Iron Warriors
Major Characters: [Inquisitor-text]Honsou (Iron Warrior), Forrix (Iron Warrior), Vaubun (Imperial Guard), Kroeger (Iron Warrior), Guardsman Hawke (IG), Magos Naicin (Adeptus Mechanicus), Leonid (Imperial Guard), The Warsmith, (Frankly I could go on and on).
Special Guest Stars: [Inquisitor-text]Alaric Eshara
Location: Hydra Cordatus

One Sentence Review: Definitive novel for the phrase "in the grim dark future there is only war."

A Few Musings: This is easily the best 40k book I have read this year. This one has it all (literally). If McNeill threw in a rogue inquisitor, he would be batting 1.000. The pacing in this book is nonstop once it gets going (which it does quickly). The twists and turns are surprising and welcome. The battles are well conceived and beautifully described. This was one I could not put down and had me guessing until the last page.

The book feels like a war epic from the 1950s and early 1960s. There is a David Lean-esque majesty to some of the battles and it feels like there is a huge cast of characters...because there is a huge cast of characters. There are a number of set pieces in this book and each feels special.[Inquisitor-text] I particularly liked anything involving a titan and especially one sequence involving a missile. You will know what I mean when you see them.

I am very happy Black Library re-released the book. I had always looked for a copy, but did not get one until this year. I am very glad I did. [Inquisitor-text]I really want to see more of Honsou or books with action of this scale. This book should be the manual for how big battles are described for the Horus Heresy books (which have too few such battles so far).

I generally don't re-read books. However this one is marked to do so in the future.

Bolters (Out of Five): Five

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About This Website/Spoiler Policy

The purpose of this blog is to review Black Library books in the Warhammer 40k setting. Since November 2005 I have read nearly every Black Library novel (and short story) published in the 40k universe. Since Black Library has published many books (good and bad), I have done a lot of reading. The books are compelling and does credit to the incredible setting of Warhammer 40k. This blog is to chronicle my thoughts and my reviews of Warhammer 40k fiction.

My reviews are organized by giving a short synopis. I follow this with a one sentence review. This is kind of a "pitch" to you the reader as to why you would read the book. This is followed by some "musings" of mine of what I liked and disliked about the book. The final "grade" is a number of bolters. This is a general outline of how I felt about the book. Here are some examples,

Five Bolters - Exceptional 40k novel, would be considered great in any genre - Storm of Iron, Sabbat Martyr

Four Bolters - Very good 40k novel, any fan of 40k would enjoy - Ravenor, Horus Rising

Three Bolters - Good 40k novel, occassional Black Library readers should pick it up - The Traitor's Hand, Fifteen Hours

Two Bolters - Average to Below Average 40k novel, die hard Black Library fans will want to read - Rebel Winter, Dead Sky, Black Sun

One Bolter - Poor 40k book, everyone should avoid - Inquisition War, Lord of Night

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