This book is written from the first person perspective of a bane blade tank driver from Belial. It details a battle against the forces of Karsk IV who believe in the Emperor and the Angel of Fire.
One sentence synopsis - Alexander the Great...IN SPACE.
The Good
Kings writing is very good. He captures the characters and tone of the conflict. He also seeds pearls of wisdom in the narration that is not common in most BL fiction. After Space Wolf this is his best work.
I really liked the first person perspective. Sometimes this style works (Eisenhorn) and sometimes it is shallow. I also really liked that this book read like a Heresy novel - it is not written from Macharius' perspective (like a Primarch). The events feel very real and there is a great blend of action and introspective.
The Bad
The book is only 316 pages. While the story concludes and does not feel rushed, I would have enjoyed more in the first volume of a series. Also where is the "new style" cover like The Last Ditch where the dust cover is printed on the cover.
I also did not like the constant foreshadowing. The main character (Leo) constantly hints Macharius is ruthless for example or the excerpts from years after the crusade indicate the Inquisitor Drake may be a traitor. I appreciate we will not have these answers immediately in this story but we don't need constant reminders.
The Verdict
I really enjoyed this one. I have not read such a good non-Heresy book since Battle for the Fang. I recommend it for anyone who has read Kings past work or fans of the Imperial Guard.
One last note. Macharius is clearly patterned after Alexander the Great. Surprisingly this is the first BL series about him. Bell of Lost Souls did a homebrew expansion about the crusade a few years ago which collected most of what was known from the fluff. I recommend that PDF (available on their website) as a decent reference.
I would give it four bolters out of five.
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