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Space Marine Battles #7
The Gildar Rift
When the ancient warship Wolf of Fenris emerges from the warp, Imperial forces find that it has been overrun by the dreaded Red Corsairs. However, this is no mere raiding party – Huron Blackheart and his entire renegade fleet soon follow, intent on conquering the Gildar Rift and tightening their grip on the sector. Lance batteries and torpedo salvos burn fiery contrails through the void, and only Captain Arrun of the Silver Skulls Space Marine Chapter can halt the renegades’ advance. The fate of the Rift will not be decided in the heavens but on the surface of Gildar Secundus below.
411 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2011
22 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Cawkwell
59 books45 followersA freelance writer based in the north east of England, Sarah is old enough to know better, but still young enough not to care. When not slaving away over a hot keyboard, Sarah's hobbies include reading everything and anything, running around in fields with swords screaming incomprehensibly, and having her soul slowly sucked dry by online games. Her minimum bribe level is one chocolate orange.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 7, 2013
"I got the impression the author liked to quote action movies in this novel - all twenty one lines"
What a pleasant surprise The Gildar Rift was. I've been going through a patch with Black Library novels lately. The majority being fairly bog-standard bolter porn. Now, Sarah Cawkwell is one of the few female authors for the publishers. I don't buy into the theory that females can't write science fiction, it's a myth and rather short-sighted of those who cling onto this draconian ideal. Sarah really grabs hold of the Space Marines and puts her own twist into them. There is some rather refreshing approaches to them here. Read on and I'll give you my take on what was good and what was bad.
The Gildar's Rift is a system in space that is patrolled by the Chapter, Silver Skulls, who are mainly there to protect the production of promethium on Gildar Secundus, the life force of the Imperium. It fuels everything from starships to hab-lights. Surronding Secundus is a asteroid belt that has become riddled with wreckage from past battles. There's space hulks, destroyed ships and even the occasional frozen body bouncing about. I'm only guessing that is where the debris has come from, as no real reason is presented to us why all this junk is within the asteroid belt.
The Silver Skulls are bored, shall we say, of patrolling this irrelevant area of space. Luckily for them, the dastardly Red Corsairs are on the lookout for new recruits and raw fuels to bolster their already considerable forces. Huran Blackheart aka Lugft Huran, former Chapter Master of the Astral Claws has concerted a plan beyond even his foes to calculate. Fleet Master Arrun has no clue what is about to occur when a lone Space Wolf strike cruiser The Wolf of Fenris drifts into The Rift.
One of the best Warhammer 40K space battles plays out from then on. Along with that we are presented with a unravelling story from the Silver Skulls side. Captain Arrun is one of the more interesting characters, he is completely flawed for a Astrates. Ruled by his temper and not by his reason, we see some interesting inner-conflicts that hamstrung his ability to lead a effective command. To keep Arrun in check, is Prognosticar Brand. He is both a librarian and chaplain to the Silver Skulls, and a fortune teller. They are a guide to the Chapter, something which in my opinion really doesn't play out to well for the Silver Skulls - the Prognosticars getting about everything wrong (when it is stated several times how they are always right) during the cause of the novel. Handy that *sarcasm*.
During this little merry-go-round of a space battle, we get introduced to other interesting personalities. The wonderful macabre Corpsemaster, who you could liken to Fabius from the Emperor's Children. He lusts to dissemble both Astrates and humans alike. Luckily for him, there is no shortage of donors for the Corpsemaster, whether willing or not. Later in the final third of the book there is a lovely scene involving the Red Corsair's Apothecary and Sergeant Porteus of the Silver Skulls. Without delving to deeply into spoilers, this scene asks a lot of questions in regards to the canon of 40K. Personally I think this might have slipped the editors knife, as if this did happen to a Space Marine, it is well known they would die. Now you have no clue to what I am talking about - it involves the GeneSeed, which essentially turns a basic human being, into a superhuman.
Brief mentions to both Techmarine Correlan and Volker Straub. The latter created for a Silver Skulls experiment, one that proves to be successfully, though at the same time a abomination. Sorry to be vague once again, but let me know what you think if you read about Volker.
One of the better land battles I've come across for Black Library has to be the train chase (ok Mag-Lav). Captain Arrun who is guided by his rage for Huron, locates him on a train - and a brilliantly ensuing battle takes place. It sort of reminded me of those old Western films. You know the one where they case the train with all the treasure on, jumping off the horse and grabbing the railcar, only to shoot their way through. Seriously, it was like that (just without the horses). Really enjoyed that scene. Though if you wanted to play devil's advocate, then you'd ask yourself how much of a stretch it was for Arrun to chase a train down with only a handful of marines. A big one.
So drawbacks. The authors tendency to borrow quotes from action films was, well, just lazy. It didn't really bother me to begin with, then it was just getting silly by the final third of the book, as I counted twenty one quotes. Such beuts as:
What new devilry is this?
If it bleeds, we can kill it.
Send these foul creatures into the abyss.
You get the impression. It's one thing to be a fan of something, but then to put it into printed copyright is another. Why did it bother me? Lazy writing always bothers me. Gildar Rift was original, so why tarnish it with such tardiness?
What did I enjoy? A fair bit, as you can tell. Really well written prose was supported by some of the more interesting characters, Huron Blackheart and the Corpsemaster being two of the more appealing. If you reinforce this with some genuinely brilliant action scenes, then it's a win for me.
What a pleasant surprise The Gildar Rift was. I've been going through a patch with Black Library novels lately. The majority being fairly bog-standard bolter porn. Now, Sarah Cawkwell is one of the few female authors for the publishers. I don't buy into the theory that females can't write science fiction, it's a myth and rather short-sighted of those who cling onto this draconian ideal. Sarah really grabs hold of the Space Marines and puts her own twist into them. There is some rather refreshing approaches to them here. Read on and I'll give you my take on what was good and what was bad.
The Gildar's Rift is a system in space that is patrolled by the Chapter, Silver Skulls, who are mainly there to protect the production of promethium on Gildar Secundus, the life force of the Imperium. It fuels everything from starships to hab-lights. Surronding Secundus is a asteroid belt that has become riddled with wreckage from past battles. There's space hulks, destroyed ships and even the occasional frozen body bouncing about. I'm only guessing that is where the debris has come from, as no real reason is presented to us why all this junk is within the asteroid belt.
The Silver Skulls are bored, shall we say, of patrolling this irrelevant area of space. Luckily for them, the dastardly Red Corsairs are on the lookout for new recruits and raw fuels to bolster their already considerable forces. Huran Blackheart aka Lugft Huran, former Chapter Master of the Astral Claws has concerted a plan beyond even his foes to calculate. Fleet Master Arrun has no clue what is about to occur when a lone Space Wolf strike cruiser The Wolf of Fenris drifts into The Rift.
One of the best Warhammer 40K space battles plays out from then on. Along with that we are presented with a unravelling story from the Silver Skulls side. Captain Arrun is one of the more interesting characters, he is completely flawed for a Astrates. Ruled by his temper and not by his reason, we see some interesting inner-conflicts that hamstrung his ability to lead a effective command. To keep Arrun in check, is Prognosticar Brand. He is both a librarian and chaplain to the Silver Skulls, and a fortune teller. They are a guide to the Chapter, something which in my opinion really doesn't play out to well for the Silver Skulls - the Prognosticars getting about everything wrong (when it is stated several times how they are always right) during the cause of the novel. Handy that *sarcasm*.
During this little merry-go-round of a space battle, we get introduced to other interesting personalities. The wonderful macabre Corpsemaster, who you could liken to Fabius from the Emperor's Children. He lusts to dissemble both Astrates and humans alike. Luckily for him, there is no shortage of donors for the Corpsemaster, whether willing or not. Later in the final third of the book there is a lovely scene involving the Red Corsair's Apothecary and Sergeant Porteus of the Silver Skulls. Without delving to deeply into spoilers, this scene asks a lot of questions in regards to the canon of 40K. Personally I think this might have slipped the editors knife, as if this did happen to a Space Marine, it is well known they would die. Now you have no clue to what I am talking about - it involves the GeneSeed, which essentially turns a basic human being, into a superhuman.
Brief mentions to both Techmarine Correlan and Volker Straub. The latter created for a Silver Skulls experiment, one that proves to be successfully, though at the same time a abomination. Sorry to be vague once again, but let me know what you think if you read about Volker.
One of the better land battles I've come across for Black Library has to be the train chase (ok Mag-Lav). Captain Arrun who is guided by his rage for Huron, locates him on a train - and a brilliantly ensuing battle takes place. It sort of reminded me of those old Western films. You know the one where they case the train with all the treasure on, jumping off the horse and grabbing the railcar, only to shoot their way through. Seriously, it was like that (just without the horses). Really enjoyed that scene. Though if you wanted to play devil's advocate, then you'd ask yourself how much of a stretch it was for Arrun to chase a train down with only a handful of marines. A big one.
So drawbacks. The authors tendency to borrow quotes from action films was, well, just lazy. It didn't really bother me to begin with, then it was just getting silly by the final third of the book, as I counted twenty one quotes. Such beuts as:
What new devilry is this?
If it bleeds, we can kill it.
Send these foul creatures into the abyss.
You get the impression. It's one thing to be a fan of something, but then to put it into printed copyright is another. Why did it bother me? Lazy writing always bothers me. Gildar Rift was original, so why tarnish it with such tardiness?
What did I enjoy? A fair bit, as you can tell. Really well written prose was supported by some of the more interesting characters, Huron Blackheart and the Corpsemaster being two of the more appealing. If you reinforce this with some genuinely brilliant action scenes, then it's a win for me.
January 21, 2025
Fun action packed space marines murder novel.
July 5, 2013
I give the author, S. Cawkwell, a lot of benefit of the doubt because I have not read anything of hers set in the Warhammer 40K universe yet. In fact, the only time I came across her infinitely memorable name was on the back of Sons of Dorn with a quote. Sons of Dorn was a bit of a generic tale, and kind of a let down.
Gildar Rift is interesting enough. But sadly, it falls into the grey haze of pretty much all the other Space Marine Battles books. I have thought all of them, and I have read most of them, were all pretty bland, the exception being Battle of Fang, that one was pretty good. The sad part about the others is that the authors for the others are some of the Black Library's heavy hitters. Kyme, ADB, Gav Thorpe...these guys have written some of the best the BL has to offer. And their SMBs books fell kind of flat. At least I did not have expectations based on past works of this author.
That being said, it was fine. Kind of bland, the action was not particularly inventive, action packed, or heart stopping, it was kind of just OK. The Silver Skulls were boring as hell. Really, Space Marines that are hand cuffed by their Librarians reading the future? That smacked of nonsense to me. Though the book tries to play it that there is conflict in the chapter because of this practice, but it NEVER gets enough spotlight to play out.
The Red Corsairs were great, but they are interesting to me, and I suspect I think whatever information or dramatization of them I get would seem interesting to me. I would love it if some author down the road made an in joke about how the Red Corsairs get their neat nicknames. ADBs AMAZING Nightlords series has an ex-Red Corsair Apothecary named, Flayer in the mix, and here we meat the Apothecary named Corpsemaster. Both awesome names, and awesome charactes.
All in all the book was ok, but sadly just that, ok. It is on par with the rest of the SMB series. Read it, or skip it, you wont be missing much.
Gildar Rift is interesting enough. But sadly, it falls into the grey haze of pretty much all the other Space Marine Battles books. I have thought all of them, and I have read most of them, were all pretty bland, the exception being Battle of Fang, that one was pretty good. The sad part about the others is that the authors for the others are some of the Black Library's heavy hitters. Kyme, ADB, Gav Thorpe...these guys have written some of the best the BL has to offer. And their SMBs books fell kind of flat. At least I did not have expectations based on past works of this author.
That being said, it was fine. Kind of bland, the action was not particularly inventive, action packed, or heart stopping, it was kind of just OK. The Silver Skulls were boring as hell. Really, Space Marines that are hand cuffed by their Librarians reading the future? That smacked of nonsense to me. Though the book tries to play it that there is conflict in the chapter because of this practice, but it NEVER gets enough spotlight to play out.
The Red Corsairs were great, but they are interesting to me, and I suspect I think whatever information or dramatization of them I get would seem interesting to me. I would love it if some author down the road made an in joke about how the Red Corsairs get their neat nicknames. ADBs AMAZING Nightlords series has an ex-Red Corsair Apothecary named, Flayer in the mix, and here we meat the Apothecary named Corpsemaster. Both awesome names, and awesome charactes.
All in all the book was ok, but sadly just that, ok. It is on par with the rest of the SMB series. Read it, or skip it, you wont be missing much.
March 1, 2021
Overall the book was ok. Confused why the other used much non-40K terminology, although perhaps that is due to my limited knowledge of the two chapters.
I was extremely disappointed at any fighting or action scene, particularly for a space marine book, description and detail was surface level at best. The outcome of the book was also clear..... the front cover also gives a lot away as to what will happen to the space marine captain.
Overall the story is a decent read but definitely not a gripping space marine novel.
I was extremely disappointed at any fighting or action scene, particularly for a space marine book, description and detail was surface level at best. The outcome of the book was also clear..... the front cover also gives a lot away as to what will happen to the space marine captain.
Overall the story is a decent read but definitely not a gripping space marine novel.
May 1, 2025
This just wasn't for me. The Silver Skulls' quirk of needing their soothsayers (Prognosticators) to approve before they act was potentially interesting, but that was it. I couldn't really get behind any of the characters, and the plot felt only ok. Not strictly speaking a 'bad' book, since the style itself is fine and there are some nice little references in there (mostly dead is slightly alive), but personally, I just didn't enjoy it
July 6, 2020
Honestly I think this is one of the best Space Marine Battles books I've read. The characters are all compelling and the action never gets boring, which is all you can ask for. Cawkwell did a great job making all of the important characters feel relevant and humanly identifiable.
July 29, 2018
hard to get into, but once it hit its stride It really got exciting and as all WH40k books ended up a real page turner!!!
August 9, 2021
The Silver Skulls has to purge the Red Corsairs from their system of planets.
November 24, 2021
Quite boring.
January 16, 2017
This is one of the early Space Marine Battle novels and I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the books in this series.
They tend to have a habit of being cinematic and all about the action and less about interesting plot and characters. Though for every rule there are exceptions.
For some the initial draw of the book will be Huron Blackheart, the Tyrant of Badab. I was certainly aware of he was before reading the book and had the briefest recollection that the Silver Skulls were involved in the Badab Wars. I was therefore wondering how Huron would be portrayed and I was expecting something of a grudge match.
I was also aware of the ill-fated Wolf of Fenris and that it represented one of the limited occasions on which the Space Wolves fell to chaos.
Therefore, looking at the front and book of the book I wondered how this one might play out.
The story starts off by the introduction of a human crew on a trader ship that is entering ‘Silver Skull protected space’. Through the eyes of these characters we are given our first glimpse of the Silver Skulls and how this brand of space marines interacts with normal humans.
We then switch to the POV of the Silver Skulls and we are introduced to a number of important characters, including the protagonist, and a host of side characters which enrich the setting. We have the somewhat typical captain, librarian type-character, techmarine, apothecary and so on. I was particularly fond of Captain Arrun, the techmarine (especially his development and the humour), the navigator and the Resurgent.
As the story develops we get our first taste of the Red Corsairs and all the well-known special characters get a name check. I was a little worried about how Huron Blackheart was going to be portrayed and I was left broadly happy with the outcome. In some ways he is the typical mad villain (which is what I was worried about) but then you get moments that you see something more of him. There was an excellent event that that happened towards the end of the book that saved him for me.
In terms of the plot we have lots of things that are going on. We have a big event midway through the book, which is arguably more potent that the climax. We also have lots of other little bits and pieces in multiple sub plots which I think I enjoyed more than the main plot. It’s a book that is a typical Space Marine Battles book on the surface but there are lots of gems within it that are lore expanding (prognosticators), novel (the resurgent), and which add a lot of depth to the story/characters (e.g. Proteus’ story).
In terms of theme, i’ve got a few thoughts. One thing that this novel exudes is 40k grim dark. The author convinced me that at some point (maybe not today … maybe not tomorrow … but soon) the Silver Skulls are doomed. Now in universe this doesn’t have to be the case, but the fact that this was realistically conveyed says a lot. I also liked the ideas that were thrown around via the prognosticators and the protagonists story line, which run something along the lines of ‘seeing the future and fate needn’t be intertwined, but nor does knowing something bad is coming mean you should avoid it’.
In terms of action the two big duels were really well written and I’m not a fan of action/descriptive scenes. I was also impressed with the space battle. I wasn’t as bowled over by the train chase, though it was written in such a way that it was easy to visualize and then sense of urgency was carried across well.
Once final thing I like was the wind down at the end. It was reminiscent of Return of the King (the film at least). There was a nice slow wind down that picked up on all the characters that I had thought forgotten and this wrapped up the book nicely.
This is screaming out for a sequel if only to put to rest the ultimate fate of the Silver Skulls.
They tend to have a habit of being cinematic and all about the action and less about interesting plot and characters. Though for every rule there are exceptions.
For some the initial draw of the book will be Huron Blackheart, the Tyrant of Badab. I was certainly aware of he was before reading the book and had the briefest recollection that the Silver Skulls were involved in the Badab Wars. I was therefore wondering how Huron would be portrayed and I was expecting something of a grudge match.
I was also aware of the ill-fated Wolf of Fenris and that it represented one of the limited occasions on which the Space Wolves fell to chaos.
Therefore, looking at the front and book of the book I wondered how this one might play out.
The story starts off by the introduction of a human crew on a trader ship that is entering ‘Silver Skull protected space’. Through the eyes of these characters we are given our first glimpse of the Silver Skulls and how this brand of space marines interacts with normal humans.
We then switch to the POV of the Silver Skulls and we are introduced to a number of important characters, including the protagonist, and a host of side characters which enrich the setting. We have the somewhat typical captain, librarian type-character, techmarine, apothecary and so on. I was particularly fond of Captain Arrun, the techmarine (especially his development and the humour), the navigator and the Resurgent.
As the story develops we get our first taste of the Red Corsairs and all the well-known special characters get a name check. I was a little worried about how Huron Blackheart was going to be portrayed and I was left broadly happy with the outcome. In some ways he is the typical mad villain (which is what I was worried about) but then you get moments that you see something more of him. There was an excellent event that that happened towards the end of the book that saved him for me.
In terms of the plot we have lots of things that are going on. We have a big event midway through the book, which is arguably more potent that the climax. We also have lots of other little bits and pieces in multiple sub plots which I think I enjoyed more than the main plot. It’s a book that is a typical Space Marine Battles book on the surface but there are lots of gems within it that are lore expanding (prognosticators), novel (the resurgent), and which add a lot of depth to the story/characters (e.g. Proteus’ story).
In terms of theme, i’ve got a few thoughts. One thing that this novel exudes is 40k grim dark. The author convinced me that at some point (maybe not today … maybe not tomorrow … but soon) the Silver Skulls are doomed. Now in universe this doesn’t have to be the case, but the fact that this was realistically conveyed says a lot. I also liked the ideas that were thrown around via the prognosticators and the protagonists story line, which run something along the lines of ‘seeing the future and fate needn’t be intertwined, but nor does knowing something bad is coming mean you should avoid it’.
In terms of action the two big duels were really well written and I’m not a fan of action/descriptive scenes. I was also impressed with the space battle. I wasn’t as bowled over by the train chase, though it was written in such a way that it was easy to visualize and then sense of urgency was carried across well.
Once final thing I like was the wind down at the end. It was reminiscent of Return of the King (the film at least). There was a nice slow wind down that picked up on all the characters that I had thought forgotten and this wrapped up the book nicely.
This is screaming out for a sequel if only to put to rest the ultimate fate of the Silver Skulls.
September 16, 2012
This is a perfect example to any young budding authors out there of how NOT to write a book. Of the 411 pages, there is probably less than 50 pages of conversation. The rest of it is description, and an awful lot of it, unnecessary. There is also FAR too much usage of the (made up) word 'Prognosticator'. In one small paragraph that was less than 7 lines long, it was used 4 times.
There are also 4 drawings in the middle of the book, one of the main ship in the book, one of the system the book is set in, and 2 of the main battleground on the planet the finale of the book is set on. The drawing of the ship especially is horrific. It looks as though it has been drawn with a ruler in the 1980's for starters, and then there is, what appears to be, a large skyscraper on to of it that makes the entire thing look ridiculous on every level. The drawings of the main battle ground are barely any better either. They would have been better off letting you imagine what the 'Dread Argent' (Which is a crap name) for yourself.
A further thing that annoyed me, and this may be prevalent in any/all Warhammer books, was the constant praying to various gods, including the moronic spirits that live in technology. It was like a religious propaganda book, telling you to pray to your computer and television.
The book did improve markedly in the final quarter, once the battle got going, but the damage was already done and wasn't able to save this from being just a truly awful book. The author was clearly getting mixed up in her writing too in the battle sequences. As at one point the Space Marines are riding on motorbikes following a train through a tunnel in a mountain, and at times, they are riding underneath the train and weaving around pillars that the track is on, and at others, the author seems to forget this and has them riding on the same level as the train, judging by the fact that the main character reaches out and pulls himself in to the train. More evidence of this confusion is when the main character is climbing up a mountain to draw the main 'baddie' to his destruction, and one sentence he is clambering up the mountainside, the next he is on a narrow ledge which has never been mentioned before, but is described to the reader thus 'He stepped on to the ledge' This left me confused and I had to re-read the previous 2 pages to make sure if I had missed something. I had not. Other times on this ledge, he is seemingly facing his enemy and in the space of a word, is facing the other way, without actually doing anything. If the author doesn't even know what is going on in the main sequences of the book, then how is the reader ever going to know?
I had looked many times at reading this series of books, right from when I first spotted 'Rynn's World'. I now know two things, one, I will never read a Warhammer book again, and two, if ever I see a book that I think looks good, but see it has been written by Sarah Cawkwell, I will put it back, and avoid it like the plague.
There are also 4 drawings in the middle of the book, one of the main ship in the book, one of the system the book is set in, and 2 of the main battleground on the planet the finale of the book is set on. The drawing of the ship especially is horrific. It looks as though it has been drawn with a ruler in the 1980's for starters, and then there is, what appears to be, a large skyscraper on to of it that makes the entire thing look ridiculous on every level. The drawings of the main battle ground are barely any better either. They would have been better off letting you imagine what the 'Dread Argent' (Which is a crap name) for yourself.
A further thing that annoyed me, and this may be prevalent in any/all Warhammer books, was the constant praying to various gods, including the moronic spirits that live in technology. It was like a religious propaganda book, telling you to pray to your computer and television.
The book did improve markedly in the final quarter, once the battle got going, but the damage was already done and wasn't able to save this from being just a truly awful book. The author was clearly getting mixed up in her writing too in the battle sequences. As at one point the Space Marines are riding on motorbikes following a train through a tunnel in a mountain, and at times, they are riding underneath the train and weaving around pillars that the track is on, and at others, the author seems to forget this and has them riding on the same level as the train, judging by the fact that the main character reaches out and pulls himself in to the train. More evidence of this confusion is when the main character is climbing up a mountain to draw the main 'baddie' to his destruction, and one sentence he is clambering up the mountainside, the next he is on a narrow ledge which has never been mentioned before, but is described to the reader thus 'He stepped on to the ledge' This left me confused and I had to re-read the previous 2 pages to make sure if I had missed something. I had not. Other times on this ledge, he is seemingly facing his enemy and in the space of a word, is facing the other way, without actually doing anything. If the author doesn't even know what is going on in the main sequences of the book, then how is the reader ever going to know?
I had looked many times at reading this series of books, right from when I first spotted 'Rynn's World'. I now know two things, one, I will never read a Warhammer book again, and two, if ever I see a book that I think looks good, but see it has been written by Sarah Cawkwell, I will put it back, and avoid it like the plague.
August 8, 2016
La única razón por la que empecé a leer esta novela fue porque descubrí que había al menos una autora en Black Library y tenía curiosidad por ver cómo escribía. Ahora puedo decir que acerté, y que tengo una autora favorita más de las novelas ambientadas en Warhammer 40 000.
La novela tiene un tono perfecto para la ambientación. La melancolía, la sensación de pérdida constante incluso ante las victorias, ese estar continuamente al borde del abismo que suele permear el mundo de WH40K están perfectamente reflejadas. Incluso las batallas y los combates tienen una cierta fatalidad en su descripción, un "ya no luchamos para ganar, sino para no perder". El tema recurrente es la pérdida y de qué forma se enfrenta cada uno a ella.
El mérito que tiene caracterizar bien a un reparto compuesto en un 90% de Marines Espaciales sólo lo entiende quien haya leído novelas de WH40k de forma habitual. Ha sido una sorpresa agradable encontrarme personajes bien desarrollados y a los que afectan los hechos que se desarrollan en la obra.
Los combates están muy bien narrados, incluidas las batallas de naves espaciales (que es un apartado en el que se suele flojear), aunque quien busque Rule of Cool en esta novela no lo va a encontrar. Tampoco lo necesita.
La novela tiene un tono perfecto para la ambientación. La melancolía, la sensación de pérdida constante incluso ante las victorias, ese estar continuamente al borde del abismo que suele permear el mundo de WH40K están perfectamente reflejadas. Incluso las batallas y los combates tienen una cierta fatalidad en su descripción, un "ya no luchamos para ganar, sino para no perder". El tema recurrente es la pérdida y de qué forma se enfrenta cada uno a ella.
El mérito que tiene caracterizar bien a un reparto compuesto en un 90% de Marines Espaciales sólo lo entiende quien haya leído novelas de WH40k de forma habitual. Ha sido una sorpresa agradable encontrarme personajes bien desarrollados y a los que afectan los hechos que se desarrollan en la obra.
Los combates están muy bien narrados, incluidas las batallas de naves espaciales (que es un apartado en el que se suele flojear), aunque quien busque Rule of Cool en esta novela no lo va a encontrar. Tampoco lo necesita.
May 25, 2015
Yech. Editing might have saved this. I went into this really hoping to like it, as the Silver Skulls are a chapter I know nothing about, and I was very excited to read something from a female author in the 40K universe (Ms Cawkwell is the ONLY one that I know of). While the story itself seemed like it had potential, there was FAR too much overwriting. Oftentimes points would be explained once in dialogue, then again in narration. It felt like this was written for a 7-year-old audience rather than, as I assume most Black Library books are, for a precocious 15-year-old audience. I'm hoping maybe this novel just showed SC finding her 'groove' with 40K, and look forward to trying something else from her in the future.
September 16, 2013
A Space Marine Battle Novel that is... mostly space battle, as in "battle in space". It's a good book, well written and such. But, in my opinion, the plot is poor or at least just not deep enough. As a whole, I think the story would do better as a shortstory max 150 pages.
Everything good about this novel is the quality how it's written, the quality of language. Haven't read much from Sarah Cawkwell but so far everything's quality stuff.
I recommend this book to Red Corsair fans, and...no that's that.
Everything good about this novel is the quality how it's written, the quality of language. Haven't read much from Sarah Cawkwell but so far everything's quality stuff.
I recommend this book to Red Corsair fans, and...no that's that.
April 29, 2012
Very badly written. The only saving point was the space battle between two space marine battle barges, 3 executor class grand-cruisers (the last of their kind!) and a strike cruiser. The author must be new to the W40k universe because she made them sound like a bunch of whiny, emotional pansies. It totally churned my stomach but alas, I had to keep reading just to figure out why the usually awesome Space Marines have been nerfed...total waste of time imo.
December 29, 2016
This is a good novel from a very talented author, with an excellent grasp of 40k lore and an ability to add immense depth to the characters and situations. however, I found the novel slow at times and the pacing static. The descriptions of the Silver Skulls Space Marine chapter is very well written and gives a real sense of individuality. The protrail of the Red Corsairs is effective and feels too much like 'we're evil just because'. All in all a good read though and I enjoyed.
September 30, 2015
Good debut of the first woman writing W40k novels for Black Library (Nic Vincent, Dan Abnett's wife, just wrote short ones for now). But of the BIG spoiler on the cover and some editing flaw (a character in a tube with his arms and legs severed put his hand on the tube? Wtf???) it was 4\5. Awesome void battle.
November 21, 2012
Silver Skulls getting a beating from the Tyrant of Badab and him escaping unscathed by a fight with one of their best.
Really? The Tyrant of Badab seems to have alot of unfair luck i think il write a novel about the collapse of his forces due to infighting and him being haunted by a relentless foe who is implacable to his petty mockery.
Really? The Tyrant of Badab seems to have alot of unfair luck i think il write a novel about the collapse of his forces due to infighting and him being haunted by a relentless foe who is implacable to his petty mockery.
January 25, 2013
intresting read with some major fundamental questions throughout the book. also good portrayals of both captains. overall a good read but it needs work to reach its full potential. a good author with lots of promise, one to watch
March 19, 2012
Finished it!!!! Brilliant Sarah!
March 30, 2013
Great story telling by Sarah. Believable characters and a good story line.
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