Book Review: Double Eagle - Dan Abnett

Synopsis

When the elite fighter pilots of the Phantine XX arrive on the beleaguered world of Enothis, they know this is a desperate hour. The forces of Chaos are closing in and their final push could well wipe out all human life on the planet. Thousands of refugees flee the dark armies and the infamous Chaos fighter pilot Khrel Kas Obarkon is always hunting the skies for more prey…And so it falls to the brave men and women of the Phantine fighter corps. Can they hold up the Chaos advance until reinforcements arrive? In the high-speed white-knuckle terror of aerial combat, can they defeat an enemy possessed by daemons?

Double Eagle sees the focus put on the pilots of the Imperium, specifically a group of fighter- and bomber-pilots who were first seen in one of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels. As per usual, Abnett has superior character development. This book, as with all his others, is truly a page-turner. Something of an aside to the Ghosts storyline, this novel takes place on a planet suffering from a Chaos invasion in the Sabbat Campaign that Abnett has written so much about. (In fact, there are some references to the Ghosts storyline, but not so that the reader is left confused.)

As with Abnett's other works, we see comparatively little of the enemy in terms of internal thoughts, only getting that before they interact with the heroes. There is only one such villain, actually, an ace of aces who seems unstoppable. He makes several appearances, always defeating those he faces, or driving them to extreme measures to flee. One of the primary characters is the flight commander of the Phantine XX fighter wing. She is a great character, mixing in-combat skill with concern for her wingmates. Others in the unit also provide great characters, the old nice guy, the new kid trying to prove himself. The planes are also like characters, given their jinxes and idiosyncrasies. The unit really is a whole, from machine, to tech, to pilots. Another arc of the story deals with a bomber pilot who is in another unit. He was saved by one of the Ghosts in another novel, and feels he is on borrowed time, that he should be dead. He meets a woman who has lost pretty well everything, and they find in each other that which they were missing. This is really my favorite part of the book. The human side. There is a great deal of air combat, which Abnett delivers with exquisite skill. I could feel all the losses and exult in the victories as though I were there. There are a number of close calls, tight squeezes, near-misses. All those things that make such situations interesting to read. This novel shows again that Abnett is the best of the WH40k authors, at least in my opinion. Despite the lack of a well-determined enemy, this book is a great read. After all, the reader is supposed to feel for the Imperium, not those who hate all life. In that respect, the lack of depth in the enemy is perfect.

In other way, if you want to point a fault to the book, it's that the chaos invaders are presented as a faceless, nameless horde with little character or individuality. Abnett wasted an excellent opportunity to create a small, elite cadre of enemy pilots who might have shed some much welcome light and understanding on the chaos psyche. Instead, the reader is treated to only the briefest of glimpses of the one enemy ace who is given a name. This character had a great deal of potential but sadly, that potential was never really realized. It's a shame that Abnett did not see fit to create antagonists as nuanced as the other main characters in the book.

I have read several books from Dan Abnett, Double Eagle, two books of Malus Darkblade, Riders of the Dead and several others small stories. I am now reading Fell Cargo.

In every story by him you see it all... and you feel it all as well.. in double eagle you feel you are in the air and fell cargo you see yourself in the waters... riders of the dead you change your attitude on the main characters.. you move from loving one character and hate another and in the end the inverse.

Dan Abnett is a good writer... I am glad he likes fantasy and science fiction... he makes great books.. Hope he never change..

9/10

Book Review: For the Emperor - Sandy Mitchell - Ciaphas Cain I

Title For the Emperor - First book from Ciaphas Cain

Author  Sandy Mitchell

Synopsis

Commissar Ciaphas Cain - hero of the Imperium and renowned across the sector for his bravery and valour - is sent to help maintain order on an outpost world on the borders of Tau space. But when the alien ambassador is murdered and the situation quickly spirals out of control. cain and his regiment of Valhallans find themselves in the middle of war. As the Imperial Guard struggle to contain worldwide civil insusrrectino can the wily Commissar Cain identify the real villain before the planet is lost to the Imperium forever?

Review

For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell is the first novel in the new Warhammer 40K series starring the (somewhat)amusing, irreverent and, ultimately, heroic Commissar Ciaphas Cain of the Imperial Guard. This new series recounts the adventures and exploits of Ciaphas Cain as he tries to fake and smooth talk his way out of what he thinks are dangerous and life-threatening situations. This sort of behavior is very unusual for a man of his rank and resposibility since as a Commissar of the Imperial Guard he's suppose to be represent a symbol of bravery in the face of danger, especially insurmountable ones. Cain does so through all his adventures, but usually due to his actions of self-preservation actually putting him in danger. And when he gets out of it he's hailed a hero of the Imperium.

The reluctant hero is sent to a Valhallan regiment. Problems occur from the instant he sets foot on the hangar bay of the Righteous Wrath. Two Valhallan regiments have been consolidated from the survivors of 301st and 296th. One is a female regiment, one is a male regiment, and each believe themselves better than the other. Cain has his hands full keeping them from each other's throats and eventually welding them into a single cooperating regiment (597th Valhallan). This is barely accomplished before they are sent to help maintain order on an outpost world on the borders of Tau space. But when the alien ambassador is murdered and the situation quickly spirals out of control, Cain and his new regiment find themselves in the middle of a war. Accompanying him is his ever-present and ever-loyal aide Jurgen whose personal appearance and hygiene doesn't conform to the most minimum of standards of what a soldier is suppose to look. But Jurgen's administrative talent makes him a valuable sidekick to Cain, and whose more secret talent Cain later finds out through another companion makes him even more invaluable in keeping him alive.

Jurgen has a skin disease, a disease that remembered me my girlfriend.

As Cain works to make the newly formed 597th Valhallan become a well-drilled and proper Imperial Guard force he and his men soon become part of a diplomatic delegation between Imperium diplomats negotiating with Tau counterparts in the Damocles Gulf sector. One thing leads to another and soon Cain and his men must solve the mystery that is putting the Imperium and the Tau Empire in the path to war. It is through his investigation that Cain first meets Amberley Vail. A woman who seems to be nothing more than a political hanger-on and courtesan, but whose outward appearance hides a much more dangerous personality. It is actually through Vail's recollection and annotations throughout the novel that Cain's exploits are told. From the get go there's a mutual respect and attraction between Cain and Vail. This is a new one in the series of novels released about the Warhammer 40K universe. Though the romance is minimal it is hinted at early on and given mention as something that both pursue as they get to know each other throughout their lives. The whole novel is a very good start to a new character for the Warhammer 40K and at times the pacing of the story shows this. There's less of the intense battle scenes that makes another series about a Commissar very good and intense. But the unveiling of Cain, Jurgen, Vail and the 597th more than makes up for the smaller amount of action. The foundation laid down in For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell shows that bigger and better things await those who have the patience to stick with Ciaphas Cain. Here's to hoping that Amberley Vail picks the right volume from Cain's memoirs for us readers to read through.

As I said before this is the first of a series reporting the archived memories of Commissar Cain. Each is told as written by Cain, after his retirement. It also describes the first time Cain meets Amberley Vail, an agent of the Ordo Xenos, and the Valhallan regiment he spends most of his career with. Vail is the one putting Cain's archives together for her fellow inquisitors to read if they so wish. She has annotated several sections to fill in Cain's gaps. As the reader, I found many of these footnotes interesting, as they made Cain's campaign seem more realistic; however, some of these footnotes are pointless. This novel covers the Gravalax campaign and will be referred to often in the upcoming books of the series. All-in-all, I believe this novel to have succeeded in creating a solid foundation for the Cain series to build upon. 7/10

Book Review: Grudge Bearer - Gav Thorpe

Book Grudge Bearer - Gav Thorpe
Pages 250 pages
Publisher- Black Library

Respect your ancestors. Never trust an elf. And always hold a grudge. King Barundin, the new dwarf lord of Zhufbar, must fulfil an oath of vengeance for his father, betrayed and killed on the field of battle. As his son Barundin takes up the mantle of king, he must fulfil a mighty oath of vengeace.

In the epic tale that spans centuries, Grudge Bearer follows Barundin as he battles his way through enemies on a desperate quest to avenge the wrongs against his father and save his people from a terrible war against the dark forces of Chaos.

Among Fantasy books, I prefer ones that have non-humans as the main characters. Elf, dwarves, dark-elves and others... (evil characters are also particular good.. it's difficult to be in their head.)

I have read so far a book from William King's Warhammer epic Gotrek & Felix "Slayer" series, which have a slayer and a human. I have enjoyed so much the dwarf that I read this book with a particular interest...

This book takes us right inside the daily life of one such underground city stronghold of the Dwarves. In particular it focuses on the aspect of Dwarven (Dwarvish?) culture that deals with grudges, and their great relish in carrying them on for generations if need be in order to finally settle perceived wrongs against them. There are epic battles aplenty in this book, with the Dwarves facing off against Orcs, Skaven, massive Chaos hordes and even....each other?

But one part that had me questioning was that the Dwarves are depicted as very bloodthirsty when in the course of carrying out a grudge, so much so that they would even be willing to massacre innocent women and children. (this is the conclusion we see in the sixth grudge against the humans who have betrayed Barundin's father)

I must say that came with a shock.. I didn't knew that.. they were so bloodthirsty...

Well this book overall was a good book and sincerily made me want to read the others books from William King...

-- Well worth checking out while you're waiting for William King to get busy and give us more Gotrek.

6/10