Iron Warriors: The Omnibus

Warhammer 40,000

by Graham McNeill

Warsmith Honsou, embittered nemesis of the Ultramarines and champion of Chaos. This omnibus edition collects all of Graham McNeill’s Iron Warriors series together in one volume. The Iron Warriors are Chaos Space Marines with unrivalled expertise in the art of siege warfare. With great batteries of artillery and all the favours of the Ruinous Powers at their command, there is no fortress in the galaxy that can stand against them for long. This omnibus follows the schemes of the embittered Warsmith Honsou in his struggles against the hated Space Marines of the Imperium. Drawing upon characters and events from author Graham McNeill’s popular Ultramarines series and for the first time in a single publication, Storm of Iron and the novella Iron Warrior are gathered along with short stories The Enemy of My Enemy, The Heraclitus Effect and The Skull Harvest.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction

608 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2012

About the author

Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in surveying to work for Games Workshop as a games designer. He has a strong following with his novels Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar, Dead Sky, Black Sun and Storm of Iron.

Reviews

[Big Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Iron Warriors Omnibus is the ultimate work of literature on the post-Heresy IV Legion. It links in with the Ultramarines series (also by Graham McNeill), and has a Horus Heresy-era prequel, Angel Exterminatus (of which my review can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
Right. The IV Legion are the ultimate practitioners of siege warfare amongst the Traitor Astartes, and this omnibus plots the course of the half-breed Astartes Honsou, from his rise to power to after his campaign on Calth (as seen in Chapter's Due).
First up is the only novel in the collection: Storm of Iron (my separate review of that worthy tome can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).

Following that is the short story, The Enemy of my Enemy which follows some of the Imperial survivors of Hydra Cordatus as they walk the nightmare landscape of Medrengard. It's a direct prequel to Dead Sky, Black Sun, and, though not necessary reading, is totally worth your time. 7.8 out of 10.

Comin' straight outta Medrengard is The Heraclitus Effect ; a short story that occurs a while after Dead Sky, Black Sun. It follows Honsou, his lieutenant Cadaras Grendel, the renegade Raven Guard warrior Ardaric Vaanes and the disturbed clone of Uriel Ventris; the Newborn, as they get up to some planet-razing and mass destruction. The Heraclitus Effect is where the Omnibus really hits its stride prose-wise, creating a high standard that the rest of the book lives up to really well. The main characters are interesting, nuanced anti-heroes who all have different motives and personalities, from the brutal violence coupled with worldly savvy that makes the veteran Cadaras Grendel, to the infantile mind, ancient melancholy and stone-cold killing of the Newborn. 8.4 out of 10.

And now comes the best of the Omnibus' short stories: The Skull Harvest. Set on the Red Corsair's fortress-world of New Badab, it follows our band of murderers, traitors, abominations and general psychopaths as they assemble an army to take on Ultramar. Huron Blackheart is hosting an event in which the champions of Chaos have a murderfest - winner takes everything belonging to the defeated. There are a few sly homages to other Black Library works - the flects from Ravenor get a mention, for example - and it's good to see the Red Corsairs again, even if they're only in a supporting role. Blackheart isn't as physically insecure as he is in Blood Reaver, and the inevitable chaos (no pun intended) that is bound to occur when too many worshippers of the dark gods get together happens in all its storming glory. 8.7 out of 10.

Iron Warrior is a novella, and a good one at that. Set a few months before Chapter's Due, it follows our anti-heroes and their army as they free M'Kar from its prison. 8.4 out of 10.

The Iron Within is about Vull Bronn and the breaking of the walls of Calth. Plenty of SIEGES and interesting character development, as well as a cameo from Sergeant Learchus. 8.4 out of 10.

The Beast of Calth, while a good story, is not quite to the calibre of the other tales within the omnibus. Takes place post-invasion. 7.7 out of 10.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always felt that of the 9 traitor legions, 3 have missed something the other six had; a protagonist. The world eaters have Khärn, the death guard have Typhus, the thousand sons have Ahriman and both the word bearers and emperor's children have two with Erebus and Khor phaeron for the first and Lucius and Fabius Bile for the latter while the black legion has Abbadon off course. The Alpha legion, Nightlords and the Iron warriors don't have one of those titular characters. The Alpha Legion because the whole "I am Alpharius" thing to confuse their enemies, the nightlords had several at contenders like Malcharion, Sevatar and Talos but they all perished but still have a potential contender with Zso Sahaal that could grow to be the Kharn of the legion. The Iron warriors big protagonist is supposed to be Honsou of which this omnibus is supposed to cement that, unfortunately..... it failed....

As stories, the iron warriors bundle is fun and captivating, I like the idea behind this legion that truly feels unique among both traitor and loyalist. Combining the ideals and culture of 15-17 century Italian siege warfare and military engineers corps with the soulgrinding brutality of the trench warfare of WWI. The result is a legion of bitter spiteful warriors who combine an elegance and sophistication with savagery and a meat for the meatgrinder view on warfare. But, that is not what this bundle was supposed to do; this was meant as the launching pad for the Iron warriors protagonist character, Honsou.

On the surface Honsou has quite a bit going for him to be the big name; he has the connections to the core of the legion, a unique backstory, as a halfbreed geneseed mix he is something unique compared to all other titular characters who had been on the top of their legions in their heyday. But he lacks a clear motive, in the first book, he expresses a desire to continue the long war against the imperium while legion legends such as trench stormer Kroeger and old war smith Forrix have lost the focus and drive they once had. Combine this with the standard paranoia reflex of the Iron warriors legion and a feeling of inadequacy, could have made a unique titular character that could have and should have dominted every context he is in.

But, Graham mcNeill had Honsou cross paths with the ultra marine series hereo, Uriel Ventis and afterwards Honsou's only goal in life is avenging himself against the ultra marines. I can't help but feel this is really shallow when compared to the big names from other legions. Destroying the ultramarines could be a big goal but because it is inspired by a personal vendetta, it becomes something far less; is this the same war smith who wanted to be the one to reignite the long war among the iron warriors? The one to drag Perturabo out of his spite and get back to the fight against the imperium? I fail to see how a private war will do that. Another thing that lessened Honsou in my eyes was his encounter with Huron Blackhearth, the titular character of all renegade space marines. This should have been a meeting of equals but in stead Honsou is described as nearly being in awe of the Tyrant of badab. I can't help but compare to Talos from the nightlords who has far less power and influence then Honsou and yet he mocked Huron right in his face and lived to tell the tale!!

What is really a shame, is that Graham Mc Neill, by making Honsou part of Uriel Ventris story, has made it unlikely that the character will ever be anything but an antagonist of Uriel Ventris and considering that same character has met a C'tan star god....well even on that front Honsou fails to keep up. The biggest problem for the Iron warriors, is that there aren't any real alternatives. Kroeger, Forrix, Berossus and Falk the warsmith are all either death or ascended to demon status and these were the big names of the legion, three of whom formed the trident, the leading council of the primarch Perturabo. The weird thing is, Mcneil also wrote angel exterminatus, one of the best if not the best Horus heresy novels and the first time the iron warriors got center stage in the heresy. He gave all of the mentioned characters their big moments and really any of these could have been their Kharn or Ahriman but no... This could have been avoided by simply not having them part of the same army in the 40k setting and not having them die or ascend nearly at once. Why did they all fight in the same army still? I can't really get why Kroeger and Forrix would still work together, they should have had their own warbands!

So in conclusion, as war stories with a focus on sieges and the brutality of all that it implies, these are fun to read stories but because of Mcneil choice to integrate Honsou into his Ultramarines setting he has for now ruined Honsou's chance to be the character he was obviously meant to be and because of McNeill there is no real alternative to take the role that Honsou has failed to live up to. A shame, really is. Although ironically quite fitting, because one of the core reasons that the iron warriors became traitors was because of how they got left in the shadows of other legions and their glories; it seems that history is repeating itself.

[Ciro Cavaliere · Rating 5 out of 5]

4TH LEGION ON TOP
I HATE IMPERIAL FISTS
WARSMITH, I WANT THAT DIRECTION OBLITERATED!!!!!

[DanielG · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are well written, but there is some major problem when you want to only the Iron Warriors Omnibus.
First of all is that a lot of the story is hidden away in books of Uriel Ventris, so there are some major time gaps. For example we never really learn how Honsou got his Super-Metall arm.
And this Uriel ventris books are also the second problem, as another user has pointed out, Honsous main arc is his vengance against Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines and all we who know GW, know that this is meant to fail, they will never allow a character that has his own Plastic-Model to fail against a CSM, so without spoiling the story on fanpages you know from advance who will win this war...
Hopefully Graham McNeill continues the story and places him against enemies where he will have the permission to win.

[Betawolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a bit of a risk involved in reviewing this omnibus as a whole rather than the individual stories. I might not give each item the space it needs. However, I think it's worthwhile, because I get to address something which only makes sense when you know I've read the omnibus. That is the 'missing stories', the bits of this tale which aren't there.

Iron Warriors is McNeill's collection of tales about Honsou, an up-and-coming Warsmith in the eponymous Legion. It contains a novel, _Storm of Iron_, a number of short stories and a sort of 'novella' length tale, _Iron Warrior_. The stories are roughly chronological, but there are noticeable gaps in the narrative. This is my biggest complaint with the series - events critical to Honsou's story aren't in the omnibus (They are part of the Ultramarines series, where he features as a villain). This gives the omnibus the feel of being less a story centred around a character, and more a collection of snippets the author had lying around, really detracting from the value.

_Storm of Iron_ is the most substantial part of the omnibus, and by far my favourite item. It's one of the first 40k stories I ever read, and really captures a splinter of the universe well. The Iron Warriors are a disciplined, dangerous adversary, ultimately the victors despite unreasonable time constraints. The dangers of following the Chaos Gods are highlighted, fragments of ages past hang over the conflict (_Dies Irae_, for example). The writing isn't always amazing, but it doesn't get in your way. The story wraps up quite well, and I somewhat feel that McNeill made a mistake in reopening Honsou's tale.

The short stories and the novella are much less recommendable. The first short tale is almost incidental to the Iron Warriors, though it does show the Imperial forces from before labouring in servitude. The next one is a well-written revenge story, though you're made very conscious of the missing content regarding Ventris, which diluted my enjoyment. _The Skull Harvest_ begins to paint Honsou as far more 'typical Chaos warlord' than I'd felt he was from _Storm of Iron_, and the obvious inevitability of his victory takes the immediacy out of what is meant to be a competition. The following novella, for all its attempt to return to a grand siege stage, is far too straightforward (no doubt due to its length). Honsou's emerging reckless disregard for losses grates on me a bit. When they were slaves, you could understand this attitude, but with allies this reads far more like 'Chaos are evil and therefore don't need to be sensible'.

The second-to-last short story is something of a fragmentary account of the Iron Warriors' assault on Calth. It made me sympathetic to the Iron Warriors and hostile to Honsou, who was basically destroying them. This, and the last story, start to portray Honsou as more humorous, basically a comedic comic-book foe, a cunning enemy who slips away after his schemes to ruin the hero fail. While the dialogue is nice, I dislike that theme quite a lot, as it undermines him as a serious threat (or serious character). Again, you're made aware that a large part of the story is missing from the omnibus.

All-in-all, I'd say most here should read _Storm of Iron_, but the rest of the omnibus is a somewhat unpalatable addition. McNeill doesn't dazzle with his writing, but doesn't flounder either - my main objection is the direction he takes the Iron Warriors, and the gaps in the omnibus' coverage of Honsou.

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Post: http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/02/...


Having only started reading Black Library novels about three years ago, I’m still quite a newcomer to the worlds of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy. Which is why, I found myself missing the original release of Graham McNeill’s Storm of Iron, the first novel to introduce one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 characters, Honsou the Iron Warrior, and one of the first novels about Chaos Space Marines.

So, when the Omnibus came out, naturally, I was really excited to see its release, especially when an advanced review copy turned up on my doorstep, and dove into it enthusiastically and quickly devoured not only Storm of Iron but also the short stories and novella contained within its pages in a very short time, for an Omnibus at least.

And, I can say that what a fantastic Omnibus it was. Although by no means a work of literacy brilliance, this wasn’t what McNeill set out to create in the first place. Storm of Iron, the first (and only) novel in the Omnibus, contains possibly one of the best siege battles that I’ve read yet. It was unputdownable, and a real edge-of-your seat page-turner that kept me hooked right the way through.

I think it’s probably best to point out that you don’t want to get yourself attached to any of the loyalist characters in Storm of Iron. Although there are some excellent ones out there, such as Guardsman Julius Hawke, one of the key characters in the novel, you’ll find that should you get attached to them, you might find yourself disappointed as McNeill isn’t afraid to kill of key characters in the novel. However, don’t let that stop you from reading it – after all, why should you?

The pace throughout the entire omnibus, not just Storm of Iron, is brutal, ruthless, action-packed and extremely fast, which is probably why I finished the seven-hundred odd page collection quicker than I normally would a standalone novel this size. Although it may be one of the small Omnibuses that Black Library have on the market, it is probably one of their best that I’ve read to date (including all of the Gaunt’s Ghosts Omnibuses, and the Eisenhorn one), and I can’t recommend it enough to anybody who hasn’t read any of these stories before.

Most of them are indeed, reprints, with the only two new additions being The Iron Without and The Beast of Calth, both set during and after the Ultramarines novel The Chapter’s Due. Whilst I disliked The Chapter’s Due, I loved the two short stories in this Omnibus, and they have almost made me want to go back and revisit the latest addition to the Ultramarines series, no matter how much I disliked it the first time around.

I should point out here, that after Storm of Iron, it’s pretty much essential that you read the Ultramarines novels before you read the rest of the books in the series, otherwise – you’ll be completely lost as to what is happening in each short story/novella, as you’ll find time, place and setting jumps confusing.

Unlike most Graham McNeill works, this Omnibus doesn’t contain any typos or grammar errors that frequented both The Chapter’s Due and The Outcast Dead, which is a welcoming change for me, and I didn’t find myself being disrupted from the flow of reading.

Back to Storm of Iron, the novel. This is the first time we see Honsou of the Iron Warriors, who later becomes a major character in the Ultramarines series, and this novel basically follows a fantastic description of a siege, the Iron Warriors against the Imperium of Man. It breeds pure awesomeness, and in my opinion, this was the strongest addition to the Omnibus, containing several key characters, introducing them for the first time. We see Titans clash and views from both sides of the conflict, as McNeill makes us want to root for the losing side despite the fact that we know, ultimately, who will emerge on top.

Following on from Storm of Iron, we have a trio of short stories. Kicking off with The Enemy of My Enemy, this explores the fate of some Imperial Guardsmen who survived the siege, and introduces the renegade Vaanes, a former Raven Guard. Like Storm of Iron, this short story was fast-paced, fantastic and a joy to read. I don’t believe this is available elsewhere. This short story takes place before Dead Sky, Black Sun in the Ultramarines series.

Following on from The Enemy of My Enemy, we have The Heraclitus Effect, which takes place after Dead Sky, Black Sun – and we learn that Honsou is out for Ventris’ blood. Failing that, hurting him by any means possible. And, he’s found the next best thing to getting his blood.

Keeping up the consistent pace in the Omnibus, The Heraclitus Effect is an awesome short story and again shows McNeill at his best. In fact, I believe that this whole Omnibus is one of his best works. I would say his best, but I believe that A Thousand Sons still holds that title. This short story is probably my second favourite, with the first being The Beast of Calth, for reasons that you will discover if you read it. This short story, I believe is available as an eBook, and can be found in the Planetkill anthology.

Next on the list is Skull Harvest, also available as an eBook, and can be found in the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology, and is the only short story that I’ve read something of this Omnibus from before. It shows how Honsou built up his forces for the invasion of Ultramar in The Chapter’s Due, and shows the Iron Warrior, along with his assistants, Vaanes and Grendel, plus the Newborn, who was first introduced in Dead Sky, Black Sun, and is shown to be first learning what it means to be a Chaos Marine in Skull Harvest.

Following on from Skull Harvest, is Iron Warrior, once available as a limited edition novella, which was brutal, fast paced – enjoyable and a proper action-packed page-turner, showing a battle between the Ultramarines and Honsou’s Iron Warriors in all its glory.

Iron Warrior is an awesome addition to the Omnibus and I believe, if I had been a fan of the Iron Warriors at the time when the novella Limited Edition originally came out, I would have no doubt brought it, rather than waiting for the Omnibus release. Now however, it’s available as an eBook, if you prefer the digital publishing industry and have already read most of the stories in the Iron Warrior Omnibus.

There are only two new additions to the Iron Warrior Omnibus, also being made available as eBooks, and they are the final two short stories, The Iron Without, and the Beast of Calth. Both take place on Calth during (and after) the Iron Warriors invasion in The Chapter’s Due, and prove that McNeill is more consistent with good things with Iron Warriors over Ultramarines, and I feel that the series would have benefited a lot more if it had been the Iron Warriors who received the bulk of the attention, and the Ultramarines reduced to a novel and a few short stories, and shared points of view in the Iron Warriors novels.

Storm of Iron Verdict: 4.5/5

The Enemy of My Enemy Verdict: 4/5

The Heraclitus Effect Verdict: 4/5

Skull Harvest Verdict: 4.5/5

The Iron Without: 4/5

The Beast of Calth: 4.75/5

[Gali Gali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graham McNeill demonstrates his talent with the Iron Warriors: Omnibus. To be outright, this is a fantastic read and one that I recommend to everyone, loyalist and heretic alike. It's a novel with many admirable qualities and very few not-so admirable ones.

To begin with the pro's, it's an exciting story with expertly developed characters. We as the readers get to see the cast of character personalities evolve over the novel's course, as they endure experiences that are more often than not horrific and hardening. This is something McNeill has done extremely well, and it cannot be said for some authors of 40,000.

Con's are few, if any. I did find the latter half to be a tad bit duller than the first, but with that said, I can't give a definitive reason why. It's just preference. Other complaints I could muster would just be petty nitpicking.

All-in-all, I highly recommend the Iron Warriors: Omnibus to anyone. I'd give it a 4.8/5

[Alaric · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books had their moments, but I feel like it could have been better.

Honsou feels a bit like too much like generic chaos lord. At no point did I feel he really stood out from any of the other Chaos Lords you read about in the books. Ironic enough, Honsou seemed to have the most personality in the Uriel Ventris books, who run side-by-side with these.

In my opinion, Forrix and Kroeger, the other two captains in the original Storm of Iron had more personality.

I almost feel like McNeill should have used Forrix because a story arc dealing with him rediscovering his own strength and purpose in the Long War would have been much interesting than just "Muh revenge!" angle of Honsou.

But the action scenes are fun, intense in places, and there are interesting lore bits here and there.

[Lou Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My boyfriend really likes warhammer, and he REALLY likes the iron warriors. They're his faves. I do not have a penny to my name big enough to get into 40k but I did dedicate a good amount of time to this book.
It gripped me more than I expected, I'd wake up excited for an excuse to continue the story and recount it to him.
It can feel a bit odd to read towards the end when the stories get smaller, McNeil clearly has a certain way of describing the same thing in the same way- but to be fair to him this is a bunch of small stories in one.
Generally, very good, very characterful. Good read, would recommend to all partners who want to understand those silly iron warriors more for their mega nerd partners- or if you like Honsou.

summary: Sassy space marine kills and maims and is really funny.

[Jack Creagh-Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"From Iron Cometh Strength"

I chose this rating because I have a soft spot for Iron Warriors.
I like how we're given a good look at the mind of an example Warsmith like Honsou.
I like the slow corruption of one of the Imperial characters in Storm of Iron.
It was a real feat to finish, but I imagine that's the case for any omnibus.
This omnibus alone has many noted defeats for the Imperium and Ultramar, which is just a bonus for a heretical heart like mine.
I wonder if Honsou will make another appearance in upcoming work, as I was pleased to see Ventris, Honsou's nemesis, in Dark Imperium: Plague War.

[Abhinav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadowhawk reviews Graham McNeill’s first omnibus of the year, focusing on the jaded siege-masters of the Iron Warriors Chaos Legion.

“An absolute joy to read from start to finish, the omnibus is a book of the year for me!” ~The Founding Fields

I’m a huge fan of Graham’s work, whether its Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines of M41 or the Emperor’s Children and Thousand Sons of the Horus Heresy. At times his prose is highly descriptive, at times it is very straightforward. Some times he brings you to tears, and other times he makes you punch the air with a grin on your face. Suffice to say that he is a very versatile author who can write for anything and everything. He’s written everything from High Elves and Kislevites for Warhammer Fantasy, Space Marines of all stripes and Imperial Guard for Warhammer 40,000, has a horror series in progress for Fantasy Flight Games, has written for StarCraft and has also worked extensively with the Games Workshop Design Studio. Among other things. I would easily set him up in the top 5 Black Library authors any time of the day or year. He just has that quality of drawing the reader into his narrative and not letting them go until they are done reading. So I was quite excited for his first omnibus of the year, Iron Warriors, to arrive in the mail.

This collection contains one of his earliest novels, Storm of Iron, alongside his (I believe) first novella, Iron Warrior, and a whole bunch of short stories, some of which have been in print before and some of which are brand new. Simply put, this is one of the best collections of stories that Black Library has ever put out. Period.

First in the omnibus is Storm of Iron, a no-holds barred novel about the cold and analytical Chaos Space Marines of the Iron Warriors legion, the siegemasters of the Chaos forces. Beginning with a simple infiltration of one of the most heavily-defended fortress-worlds of the Imperium and then laying waste to the entire planet in a series of brutal and bloody sieges, Storm of Iron, shows why the Iron Warriors are a serious force to be reckoned with and what makes them tick.

Beginning to end there is no letup at all in the story. We see a whole host of perspectives in the novel, which tell the battles on Hydra Cordatus from both sides, whether it is the triumvirate of treacherous Iron Warriors captains and their Chaos-favoured Warsmith, or the brave and loyal men of the Imperial Guard. My three favourite characters in the entire novel are: the bastard Iron Warriors captain Honsou who has Imperial Fists gene-seed and is considered impure by his peers, the stoic Lieutenant-Colonel Mikhail Leonid of the Jouran Dragoons 383rd who garrison Hydra Cordatus, and a certain character who is simply bad-ass because he dual-wields power swords. I cannot give the identity of the third character because that would be quite a major spoiler for the novel, but I will say that it is a pity Graham hasn’t been able to go back and write more of him. As a side-character, he shines very brightly.

Overall, I do like Graham’s characterisation for all his characters, be they small ones like Guardsman Hawke or big ones like Honsou. This is a very early Black Library novel so a decent amount of the nuance and subtleties we get and expect today from the writers are missing but I did still enjoy reading about both the good guys and the bad guys equally. Some solid building blocks for future stories about these characters. The pacing of the novel is also brilliant as it closely follows nearly all aspects of the Iron Warriors conducting a grand siege and the action throughout is incredibly descriptive and visceral. The dialogue is at times quite straightforward and cliche but that’s fine, going back again to the point about the novel being one of the very early novels and what with Graham still getting the hang of the setting and the character types he is working with.

To date, Storm of Iron remains one of the best novels from Graham and Black Library alike for me and it is just one of those early novels that are a joy to read again and again. The only thing I would really fault the novel on is that there is a lot of implied backstory to the characters and that can sometimes prove to be detrimental since the reader is led on for quite a bit and then nothing. But all well and good. Its all worth it just to see some massive artillery shaking things up and Titans in action!

Verdict: 8.5/10

Next up we have the short story The Enemy of My Enemy, featuring the survivors of the Jouran Dragoons who have been captured and forced to work as slaves for Honsou’s Grand Company back on Medrengard, the legion’s homeworld in the Eye of Terror. Its not as enjoyable of a short story as the rest in the anthology but it is still pretty darn good. It marks the first chronological appearance of the renegade Raven Guard warrior Ardaric Vaanes, who is always quite a bit of a bad-ass the way I see it. Almost downright honourable too at times although he does well at hiding it all beneath an exterior so rough you’ll cut up your skin into sheesh-kebab. Good pacing of the story however and personally this is very a necessary story since it fills in some much-required lore gaps between Storm of Iron and the third Ultramarines novel, Dead Sky, Black Sun. I always wanted to find out about Vaanes and his renegades band and this story fleshes that out very well. A thumbs-up for this one.

Verdict: 7/10

You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:

http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/03/...

[Roybot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calling this the "complete Honsou omnibus" is a bit misleading when it only includes half the material you'd actually need to read to get the complete story; there are huge gaps here, but nothing in this book tells you where to pick up or what books you should have read to fill in the gaps. Characters vanish or undergo pretty significant changes with no warning because there's hundreds of pages of material you didn't realize you were missing between chapters, which is very disorienting.

[Abraham Moshekh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review pertains to the storm of iron:

Deeply gripping action filled with the vicissitudes of a desperate war. It takes a little bit of investment on your end to get there, but it is well worth it!!

My only real flaw with this is that the author rapidly changes scenes and actors with little signaling. It can be incredibly jarring and can take you out of it. This isn't something really improved upon, but you do get used to it.

[David Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half breed but fully evil

The collective of Housou really makes you loathe him. He's always five steps ahead of his foes. Just a real greasy slime ball that always get his way. A true villian with venomous blood cells.

[andy cobbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

very entertaining

I have really enjoyed this book given me a more insightful perspective of the iron warriors I’ve even built and painted a 40K army with a Honsou kit bashed model.
Iron with in Iron without shall be my cry as a crush my enemies and lay waste to their armies

[Tom S · Rating 2 out of 5]

It ties into the Uriel Ventris novels which are required to fill in plot holes and time gaps between books 1&2 of this omnibus. Overal I like the style and gore filled action. The fact that you can't read this omnibus as a standalone is a bit disappointing.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick impressions: Overall, this is a very good volume. As in may collections and anthologies, some tales are better than others but all in all this is a very good read.

(Detailed review available on my blog soon.)

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good bit of duplication from the Ultramarine Omnibus. Probably better off buying what you lack from there instead of possibly spending more for this omnibus.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This omnibus is just a complication, I NEED A SEQUEL RELATED TO THE IRON WARRIOR !!!

[Matt Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun reading from a villian's persoective.

[James Mcgrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it, dark and brutal but with characters that you can connect too!

[Morgan Cosma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed in Honsou

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt 'Storm of Iron' to be the weakest part of the omnibus - bolter-porn and cookie-cutter bad guys. I would have rated this book 2 stars were it not for the accompanying novellas.

[Travis Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

All around amazing read. The build up of characters and the right amount of action makes this a amazing omnibus.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Iron Warriors omnibus was written by Graham McNeill, a collection of stories, a novelette, and a full novel about the iron-willed, siege-mastering Iron Warriors, a Chaos Space Marine chapter that is considered one of the most dangerous enemies to all. The chronology focuses on the main antagonist within the chapter, the mighty and genius leader Honsou who carves his name's fame and worthiness in total and merciless destruction of his enemies.
The chronology can be split into two parts; the first being in exploring Honsou's past and promotions in an army led by a soon-to-be-daemon Warsmith. The second way describes his path of destruction and war as a new Warsmith after his master's ascension to daemonhood and his construction of a legion and daemonic allegiances for one goal; slaying his nemesis, the Ultramarines captain Uriel Ventris.
The major part of the first omnibus's half starts with a bang, exploring the way of warfare within the legion of Iron Warriors. It truly describes the hopelessness and despair of their foes as well as the tactical and military brilliance of such traitors. It also offers a very solid beginning for a big name within the galaxy such as the mighty Honsou.
Through the middle of the collection the short stories explain how he built his army and gained his officers both on Medrengard, home of the Iron Warriors, and other Chaos-controlled planets. It is a welcomed, calming passage through the book, because indeed, the first novel just explodes with action, death, destruction, and total obliteration. The smaller works also give light onto the lives of the Iron Warriors and their subjugates when there is no enemy to fight against.
The second half, which consists of the novelette Iron Warrior and closing short stories, again gives us amazing amount of action, tactical brilliance of Honsou's mind, and further expansion of his hatred towards Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines.
Mr. McNeill amazingly describes the battles and combat actions, as well as the atmospheres on both sides of the conflict. When it comes to Honsou alone, it is an interesting and well-built character, and through the end of the last short story, we sure must expect more devastations wrought by his hands in the future.
However, not even this omnibus escapes some flaws and dents in the work. The characters of the assaulted and besieged side are too childish and easily dislikeable to quickly gain appraisal and approval for the Iron Warriors. Only two or three characters are an exception, but the rest are too one-sided, thus making the stories sadly simplistic. It is more apparent from the fact that the evil characters are much more developed and interesting than their enemies.
However, all in all, Mr. McNeill does an excellent job as a writer of the Iron Warriors. His skill and capabilities in describing a battle/combat situation is simply stunning and will draw you into the merciless and cruel stories that focuses on the Chaos Space Marines. It is a worthy and highly recommendable read, even for those who have not yet read anything from the traitor side - in fact, this collection might be an excellent starter, as it was for me!

[Brett Dunning]

The story starts off in the perspective of a captain in an evil military force known as the Iron warriors named Honsou. They are experts at siege warfare and are very skilled at breaking into fortresses and heavily defended spots. The Iron warriors seek to invade a barren red planet in order to attack a fortress for an unknown reason only known to the leader of the army himself. The defenders put up an enduring fight with long ranged artillery and blast any of the attackers before they get close. Honsou and his men eventually destroy the artillery and map out their positions by using captured civilians and prisoners as cannon fodder, which shows a lot about who they are and what they will do to achieve these goals. Without the arterially and multiple sabotages, the attackers break into the fortress outer walls and begin to battle the defenders who fight desperately. Outmatched and outnumbered, the defenders are easily swept away after days of defending. The Iron warriors take their prize, materials to make more super human warriors.

People who like science fiction, war and a good and evil perspective would like this book. This book has a lot of war, especially on the offensive and defensive fronts. Tanks, planes, and other monsters are prevalent throughout the story, used by both sides. There are heavy science fiction elements throughout the story, including other planets and space travel. People who like multiple perspectives would enjoy this story because it offers multiple accounts of the plot on both the good and evil side, and it’s very interesting to see how these perspectives correlate and how their thoughts tie to each other.

I was very sastisfied with the story. It was very interesting seeing the story from the account of an evil side, showing how true evil thinks and how in some cases redefine the word evil. The story had a lot of action and war in it, and the different perspectives the story offered both the good and evil side showed how their tactics and ideals differed. The different perspectives of the story allowed you to get connected to each of the characters and when two characters conflicted from opposite sides, it made the character vs character conflict better.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graham McNeill is not afraid to buck the common Black Library trend of Imperium vs Xenos (usually Orks) with the good guys inevitably winning against impossible odds. Instead of having the menace stop with a single climatic battle at the end of one book, McNeill continues long drawn out conflicts, rivalries and feuds across his works.

This omnibus is one of only a few focusing on a traitor Legion (Word Bearers is another), and interestingly enough, it ties in with the characters of his two Ultramarine Omnibus' as well. Uriel Ventris, the conflicted Ultramarine captain that McNeill has used to move that chapter away from the 'do no wrong' Games Workshop poster boy Space Marines is a motivating factor for the Iron Warriors in these stories.

This omnibus fleshes out the siege-masters, the Iron Warriors, by focusing on a rising half-breed Warsmith (Chaos Lord) Honsou, who has a special place in his hateful heart for Uriel and the Ultramarines. If you want to read a book where Chaos isn't merely beaten back into the Eye of Terror because of plot-armored Loyalists this is a book for you. If you want to experience the merciless sledgehammer that is the Iron Warriors, or even get a glimpse of renegade Astartes and Xenos fighting for the glory of Chaos under the patronage of Huron Blackheart than this is the book; in fact it is the only book for you.

Iron Within, Iron Without

[John Behles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows the chaos warrior group called the iron warriors. The book follows the specific character known as Honsou and his ban of misfits from other groups. This initially follows Honsou's master as he searched for demonhood and as this story continued, he became a demon and passed his reign onto Honsou. The end I'm not willing to share because of the great end to the book and the true beginning of the Iron Warriors. They continue to plague the galaxy in the end of the book.
I gave this book 5 stars because of the literature, story and the true complete awe this book left me with.
One significant qoutation in the book is "Whatever you are, I can garuntee that that you will fail your assault.- No mortal, I am the leader of your greatest fears and I have completely overwhelmed you. And by the way, you can call me Honsou."(McNeill, 594)
This reminds me of the memoirs that we are working on currently because of the style of writing that it is in certain parts that talk about the past in a way that puts a first person spin on the book instead of an outside source writing in.
I would recommend this book to people who play warhammer 40k and deeply love the stories that follow evil entities throughout this universe as well as my friends because they have a tendency to read what I've read.

[Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iron Within, Iron Without. The book begins with a bang, calms down a bit with chaotic lunacy on mid-way, and closes up with another bang. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants some knowledge base on how the 41M. timeline Chaos Space Marines do stuff, and especially to those who has read the Ultramarines Omnibus novel that has a fight against the Iron Warriors.

Honsou. Not much of spoiler to mention the name. This is the story of Honsou, the halfbreed, mongrel, s*um, etc; of he's greatest successes and plans.

Graham McNeill did a good job with this; containing his style of high-level storytelling just as fine as in any other book of his I've read. Although, of all of his novels, this ones the first that went reaaaaally slow forward with me. It was not the story, the plot, or anything like it. The start was slow, yet awesome. My pace went up after the first ~300 pages and the ending left me want more.

[Hilmi Isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iron Warriors. The Omnibus is a collection of several novel, novella, and short stories (five in total) of traitor legion, Iron Warriors. Originally, all of the stories have been published before. The main focus of this anthology book is to its Warmaster, the half-breed Honsou.
Initially, Honsou is just a champion who been looked down with disdain by his battle brethren due to his unpure gene-seed and not an original member of Iron Warriors since Horus Heresy. Despite of it, his valuable contribution in breaking formidable defenses of Imperial fortress, in Hydra Cordatus, was recognized by his superior predecessor. He was given Warmaster title and commanded Grand Company of Iron Warriors.
Overall, a great read. However, this omnibus is best read as a companion book for Ultramarines First and Second Omnibuses books. Both books, in term of storylines, are related between each other. Iron Warrior Omnibus is a book which must be read especially to those who like stories about Chaos Space Marines.