Book Review: Fell Cargo by Dan Abnett


Fell Cargo is a new Warhammer Fantasy novel that features a lively cast of jaunty pirates, demons, vampires, and zombies, and that's just the beginning in this rousing new fantasy adventure by Dan Abnett. Abnett is perhaps best know for his Warhammer 40,000 novels and his tales of Gaunt's Ghosts but shows he is equally adept at swashbuckling adventure. Captain Luka Silvaro, thought dead by his former crew, returns to challenge his would-be usurper who just happens to be his brother. After defeating his sibling he reclaims his ship "The Rumor" and his rightful place as leader of his band of cutthroats known as The Reivers. Soon the crew is out to sea but not to plunder and pillage this time. Luka and his crew are given a letter of marque from the Prince of Luccini and offered amnesty for the past crimes as well as a thousand gold crowns. All they have to do is find the marauding demon ship known as the Butcher ship and sink her. The Butcher Ship has been attacking ships throughout the seas and taking no prisoners.

Joining the crew is Sesto, a special envoy from Luccini who is working for the Prince to verify that Silvaro's crew follows through with their end of the bargain. The ship is filled with as lusty a band of pirates as one could ever hope to meet and include Tall Willm, Roque, and the creepy Sheerglas, the ship's master gunner. The crew discovers the ship of another notorious pirate Reyno Bloodlock, lying in a harbor seemingly deserted. A small party goes to investigate and discovers what's left of Reyno's crew. As the small band attempts to return to their ship they find themselves pursued and battling a horrific demon as several of the crew are killed. Only the intervention of Tende, a member of the crew familiar with the dark arts, manages to save them. Tende manages to destroy the demon but not before finding out that the demon was none other than Reyno himself, horribly twisted into this foul form but able to at least tell Silvaro who the captain of the Butcher ship is.

Before Silvaro can continue his quest to find the demon ship his crew are running low on supplies and visit the tiny port town of Porto Real to stock up. The Governor of the Island greets them warmly and invites the entire crew to his mansion for a feast. There the Governor relates how the small town is dying because there is no trade coming in thanks to the Butcher Ship. The crew is having a marvelous time until they discover the sinister secret of the island. Will Silvaro and his crew survive to even have a chance to sink the Butcher Ship? Fell Cargo is a marvelous fantasy, combining the fun and adventurism of old Hollywood swashbucklers and colorful, salty pirates, in a fantasy setting very different than what you see in most books. Moving from one adventure to another, Abnett paces the story quickly, allowing the reader to come up for a brief breath of air before plunging into the next thrilling exploit. The book is very character driven with animated dialog and the ever growing shadow of the menace of the Butcher Ship.

Two things i want to add... everyone says.. how this is Jake Sparrow alike.. oh please, give me a break (what a cliché) .. they both are pirates and white, everything else is different.. their attitudes and visions...

The second ... The end was kind of strange... he just throw the amulet overboard and that's it... problem solve... allrighty...

Well there is another thing is the sailors when in the cities didn't went were we would expect.. like brothels and such places eheh... well I don't read books of erotic of sexual content but it would give some kind of .. hmm i think the world is reality or proximity to reality.. i don't know..

I've read a lot of books from warhammer, around 15, and i've almost got them all.. (I think around 120 books) and i've never seen a sex scene.. but gore that is another question..
My question is... thus warhammer books have some... i don't know how you say but there some books or movies that are only allowed beyond some age.. like pg-13 book, or 18 or something like that..

Well for all the gore and actions I would say18.. but i don't know... anyone knows?
Another thing... this is not forgotten realms or dragonlance.. It's more

7/10

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