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Warhammer 40,000
Seventh Retribution
Novel focused on Lysander, peerless captain of the Imperial Fists Space Marines and wielder of the Fist of Dorn
Captain Darnath Lysander, hero of the Imperial Fists and captain of their elite First Company, leads his brothers in an assault on a daemon world. Beset by unimaginable horrors and tortured by memories of his time imprisoned by the dark forces of the Iron Warriors Legion, Lysander must rally his Space Marines to defeat the master of the daemonic hordes before they are all consumed - or corrupted - by the insidious powers of Chaos.
Captain Darnath Lysander, hero of the Imperial Fists and captain of their elite First Company, leads his brothers in an assault on a daemon world. Beset by unimaginable horrors and tortured by memories of his time imprisoned by the dark forces of the Iron Warriors Legion, Lysander must rally his Space Marines to defeat the master of the daemonic hordes before they are all consumed - or corrupted - by the insidious powers of Chaos.
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
13 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Ben Counter
170 books215 followersBen Counter, as well as making several contributions to Inferno magazine, has written the Soul Drinkers and Grey Knights series and two Horus Heresy novels for the Black Library. He is an ancient history graduate and avid miniature painter with a bronze demon under his belt.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 4, 2014
"Lacklustre and rather dull bolter-porn action
I'm a fan of Ben Counter for two reasons; firstly he has written the excellent Soul Drinkers series of novels and secondly, he is a ancient history graduate, like myself. Having said that, Seventh Retribution was badly written and I struggled with the characters as well as the ponderous plot and generic antagonists.
Seventh Retribution is pitched as a story focusing on the exploits of Captain Lysander, leader of the Imperial Fist Chapter. There is also mention of his incarceration when he was imprisoned previously with the Iron Hands. This is part of the blurb on the back of the book. It's misleading and rather a lie. There is literally no mention of this.
Opis is the world that is the focus of the novel. A social structure of sorts, see the aristocrats tending over a utterly classless hierarchy. The citizens of Opis are there to serve, and with a confessed hegemony system - degradation takes root throughout the world. That being the forces of Chaos. What I found strange was that those moral threats (daemons and traitor marines) actually had names. Names that even the Imperial Guard knew about. Strange, given that to even hearing/reading a name of the Chaos gods is meant to send a mere mortal insane. They call this 'canon' so surely it should be important to follow the modus operandi? Hmm.
There are some nice touches within the story though such as the variant model of the Thunderhawk, called a Shadowhawk which is essentially a flying-tank. A lot of detail is revealed to the reader about the Officio Assassinorum, which I personally found interesting. The main antagonist is something right out of Marvel's Venom/Sandman abilities. Her 'abilities' all rather get a bit silly - giving both Space Marine and specialist assassins a damn good thrashing. This is from a universe which essentially states 'no mortal can stand against a Astrates' - or along those lines. Kind of neglects why they are around doesn't it.
Lysander characterisation is weak, he is overshadow by the Imperial Fists Champion - he never gets to grips with any of the Chaos champions himself - always leaving that to Utrachon to deal with. This in turn (for me) undermines any authority Lysander has and also makes you think he is rather cowardly not to get stuck in himself.
In short, the adversary is laughable to the point of being lubricious. Don't get me wrong, I like ideas (especially in a universe that canon is strictly guarded) that come from left-field, but within the structures of what are plausible. Lysander is a bystander and the plot is contrived, much like the conflict ironically was. I'd avoid this, even as a fan.
I'm a fan of Ben Counter for two reasons; firstly he has written the excellent Soul Drinkers series of novels and secondly, he is a ancient history graduate, like myself. Having said that, Seventh Retribution was badly written and I struggled with the characters as well as the ponderous plot and generic antagonists.
Seventh Retribution is pitched as a story focusing on the exploits of Captain Lysander, leader of the Imperial Fist Chapter. There is also mention of his incarceration when he was imprisoned previously with the Iron Hands. This is part of the blurb on the back of the book. It's misleading and rather a lie. There is literally no mention of this.
Opis is the world that is the focus of the novel. A social structure of sorts, see the aristocrats tending over a utterly classless hierarchy. The citizens of Opis are there to serve, and with a confessed hegemony system - degradation takes root throughout the world. That being the forces of Chaos. What I found strange was that those moral threats (daemons and traitor marines) actually had names. Names that even the Imperial Guard knew about. Strange, given that to even hearing/reading a name of the Chaos gods is meant to send a mere mortal insane. They call this 'canon' so surely it should be important to follow the modus operandi? Hmm.
There are some nice touches within the story though such as the variant model of the Thunderhawk, called a Shadowhawk which is essentially a flying-tank. A lot of detail is revealed to the reader about the Officio Assassinorum, which I personally found interesting. The main antagonist is something right out of Marvel's Venom/Sandman abilities. Her 'abilities' all rather get a bit silly - giving both Space Marine and specialist assassins a damn good thrashing. This is from a universe which essentially states 'no mortal can stand against a Astrates' - or along those lines. Kind of neglects why they are around doesn't it.
Lysander characterisation is weak, he is overshadow by the Imperial Fists Champion - he never gets to grips with any of the Chaos champions himself - always leaving that to Utrachon to deal with. This in turn (for me) undermines any authority Lysander has and also makes you think he is rather cowardly not to get stuck in himself.
In short, the adversary is laughable to the point of being lubricious. Don't get me wrong, I like ideas (especially in a universe that canon is strictly guarded) that come from left-field, but within the structures of what are plausible. Lysander is a bystander and the plot is contrived, much like the conflict ironically was. I'd avoid this, even as a fan.
December 3, 2013
There is one exact word to describe this novel: Overstuffed. Ben Counter has always been an author of great ideas when it comes to big concepts or Chaotic conspiracies. He has repeatedly shown this well in the past and more than once been able to combine the two together to great effect, Dark Mechanicus for instance. Here though, it felt simply like he was trying to press several ideas at once without fully exploring or developing any individual one. Perhaps also going a little too far in bending the lore of the universe for once.
Sent into open rebellion and drawn the attention of the Imperium thanks to the death of an Inquisitor, a massive Imperial assault fleet is sent to bring the world of Opis back into compliance. With moral threats appearing on the battlefield and an entire world to reconquer, the Imperial Guard call upon Captain Lysander and a company of Imperial Fists. However, this is no simple compliance and someone is working very carefully to make sure the war stays on a specific track…
Let’s make this very clear to begin with: For all the novel’s flaws, the Imperial Fists themselves are not one of them. Despite a chapter who seems to be brought up whenever someone needs a space marine to be brutally killed, often en-mass to make someone look better, they are treated with dignity. They die, but no more than other space marines would and are frequently shown to be a very effective fighting force. Better yet, their status as a first founding chapter is made clear with the relics and knowledge they bring into the fray. Besides the very confusing presence of an Emperor’s Champion among them (meaning we might be able to blame this book in part for the character assassination in Sentinels of Terra) they are otherwise depicted accurately without invoking the idea they are only skilled at siege warfare. While not as well explored in their background as some other forces, the real problem comes from the other factions involved.
Multiple times descriptions of engagements bring up unique ideas for Guardsmen regiments, daemons and the like but never fully utilise them. In the massive ground assaults you are given the impression this is a huge Imperial undertaking with many regiments involved, countless figures with different tactics and traditions, but none seem to be used more than once. Unlike Crimson Tears, the book never focuses upon one group long enough to leave a proper impression. The same goes with many daemons. They will be described in quite extensive detail, sometimes fully named and with descriptions, but then discarded never to be utilised again. Overall, the narrative just doesn’t flow as well as previous titles and feels too often caught up on minor points. It just fails to truly re-incorporate many of the elements it brings up. This is likely something done to suggest the powers involved and scale of the battle, but it just ends up making many points feel extremely disjointed.
The few times such elements work are when they are minor background elements which are interesting enough to be well detailed in brief, or those with a visible purpose as a character. Well, that’s not entirely true with some being overused while others are obviously more interesting. One champion encountered early on proves to be fascinating thanks to the book outlining his history and acts. This is done thanks to a very graphically detailed invasion by a Librarian who rips into the creature’s mind and tries to wrestle information from it. Unfortunately he doesn’t last long. By comparison Karnikal, a World Eater, lasts throughout the book and serves as a major figure but is utterly one dimensional in his behaviour. This goes for a lot of people, where the ideas behind them seem much more interesting than the characters themselves.
Much of the book’s problem leads back to the conspiracy in question, which runs throughout the narrative. We see far too little of the right parts throughout most of the book, and as a result it seems more like a distraction at first, involving more efforts of the cover up. When finally revealed, everything is explained In one massive info-dump which has an Imperial agency performing multiple acts of outright heresy in their ambitions and getting away with it. It’s honestly up there to the point of making a certain Grey Knight Khornate blood ritual look tame by comparison, and just like there the group is never called on it. The core idea might have worked were it not so heavy and not compressed down to fit in with everything else, but far too much is simply told to the reader in a statement. Not naturally developed over time so it can be accepted or eve properly shown.
Perhaps the only thing to really credit is that most of the battles themselves are competently handled. There’s no truly massive failings in the descriptions and pacing themselves, just often how they fit in around the conspiracy plot.
This should have been a relatively straight forwards plot to help the Imperial Fists in their first novel since Sons of Dorn. Just to help readers adjust to the chapter, like it for a direct conflict and perhaps have Counter weave his usual brilliant madness in later tales. Unfortunately, this ends up being a major let down. Buy it if you want some decent Imperial Fists action, but you should really be looking for something elsewhere.
Sent into open rebellion and drawn the attention of the Imperium thanks to the death of an Inquisitor, a massive Imperial assault fleet is sent to bring the world of Opis back into compliance. With moral threats appearing on the battlefield and an entire world to reconquer, the Imperial Guard call upon Captain Lysander and a company of Imperial Fists. However, this is no simple compliance and someone is working very carefully to make sure the war stays on a specific track…
Let’s make this very clear to begin with: For all the novel’s flaws, the Imperial Fists themselves are not one of them. Despite a chapter who seems to be brought up whenever someone needs a space marine to be brutally killed, often en-mass to make someone look better, they are treated with dignity. They die, but no more than other space marines would and are frequently shown to be a very effective fighting force. Better yet, their status as a first founding chapter is made clear with the relics and knowledge they bring into the fray. Besides the very confusing presence of an Emperor’s Champion among them (meaning we might be able to blame this book in part for the character assassination in Sentinels of Terra) they are otherwise depicted accurately without invoking the idea they are only skilled at siege warfare. While not as well explored in their background as some other forces, the real problem comes from the other factions involved.
Multiple times descriptions of engagements bring up unique ideas for Guardsmen regiments, daemons and the like but never fully utilise them. In the massive ground assaults you are given the impression this is a huge Imperial undertaking with many regiments involved, countless figures with different tactics and traditions, but none seem to be used more than once. Unlike Crimson Tears, the book never focuses upon one group long enough to leave a proper impression. The same goes with many daemons. They will be described in quite extensive detail, sometimes fully named and with descriptions, but then discarded never to be utilised again. Overall, the narrative just doesn’t flow as well as previous titles and feels too often caught up on minor points. It just fails to truly re-incorporate many of the elements it brings up. This is likely something done to suggest the powers involved and scale of the battle, but it just ends up making many points feel extremely disjointed.
The few times such elements work are when they are minor background elements which are interesting enough to be well detailed in brief, or those with a visible purpose as a character. Well, that’s not entirely true with some being overused while others are obviously more interesting. One champion encountered early on proves to be fascinating thanks to the book outlining his history and acts. This is done thanks to a very graphically detailed invasion by a Librarian who rips into the creature’s mind and tries to wrestle information from it. Unfortunately he doesn’t last long. By comparison Karnikal, a World Eater, lasts throughout the book and serves as a major figure but is utterly one dimensional in his behaviour. This goes for a lot of people, where the ideas behind them seem much more interesting than the characters themselves.
Much of the book’s problem leads back to the conspiracy in question, which runs throughout the narrative. We see far too little of the right parts throughout most of the book, and as a result it seems more like a distraction at first, involving more efforts of the cover up. When finally revealed, everything is explained In one massive info-dump which has an Imperial agency performing multiple acts of outright heresy in their ambitions and getting away with it. It’s honestly up there to the point of making a certain Grey Knight Khornate blood ritual look tame by comparison, and just like there the group is never called on it. The core idea might have worked were it not so heavy and not compressed down to fit in with everything else, but far too much is simply told to the reader in a statement. Not naturally developed over time so it can be accepted or eve properly shown.
Perhaps the only thing to really credit is that most of the battles themselves are competently handled. There’s no truly massive failings in the descriptions and pacing themselves, just often how they fit in around the conspiracy plot.
This should have been a relatively straight forwards plot to help the Imperial Fists in their first novel since Sons of Dorn. Just to help readers adjust to the chapter, like it for a direct conflict and perhaps have Counter weave his usual brilliant madness in later tales. Unfortunately, this ends up being a major let down. Buy it if you want some decent Imperial Fists action, but you should really be looking for something elsewhere.
August 13, 2017
Review will be up on Wordpress, follow me @wordaholicanonymous.
August 17, 2022
Generic but comparatively well-executed Space Marine stuff. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
February 1, 2024
Spess Mehreens
December 29, 2014
I had hoped for better but could have been worse.
Its pretty much your standard 40k story line, planet in revolt, renegades, deamons, waves of expenable Guardsmen, throw in some imperial fists, boss fight and move on. Its not badly written, the battle scenes are well handeled and Bens gives live to the forces of the warp giving them his own unique take rather than throwing in standard stock deamons but it just lack focus or any real development.
The blurb talks about a conflict Lysander and his someone dark past which would be a pretty interesting read if it actually featured anywhere in the book, aside from a few throw away lines hinting at Lysanders pact with the forces of chaos we may as well have been reading the adventures of generic space marine captain of any old space marine chapter.
Without going into spoilers there are some nice twists on what the true motivations behind the events on Opis and a big bad that will atleast raise some eyebrows but it does,nt really move this book into being anything above your average 40k romp.
Its pretty much your standard 40k story line, planet in revolt, renegades, deamons, waves of expenable Guardsmen, throw in some imperial fists, boss fight and move on. Its not badly written, the battle scenes are well handeled and Bens gives live to the forces of the warp giving them his own unique take rather than throwing in standard stock deamons but it just lack focus or any real development.
The blurb talks about a conflict Lysander and his someone dark past which would be a pretty interesting read if it actually featured anywhere in the book, aside from a few throw away lines hinting at Lysanders pact with the forces of chaos we may as well have been reading the adventures of generic space marine captain of any old space marine chapter.
Without going into spoilers there are some nice twists on what the true motivations behind the events on Opis and a big bad that will atleast raise some eyebrows but it does,nt really move this book into being anything above your average 40k romp.
July 6, 2014
Seventh Retribution begins with an agent of the Inquisition arriving on the planet of Opis. Having followed the trail of Chaos to the planet the Inquisitor and his retinue are attacked and killed shortly after landing. The Imperium of course doesn't take too kindly to its agents being murdered and we have the reason for the invasion of Opis.
The book focuses on the Lysander, first Captain of the Imperial Fists. He has traveled to the planet with his brethren to root out the evil that has infested it. After a few battles the Space Marines learn that everything isn't as straight forward as they thought.
Fairly entertaining overall, as long as you don't try to analyze it too deeply. The Space Marines are well characterized and there are quite a few Chaos champions as well. Lots of action and well written battle scenes.
The book focuses on the Lysander, first Captain of the Imperial Fists. He has traveled to the planet with his brethren to root out the evil that has infested it. After a few battles the Space Marines learn that everything isn't as straight forward as they thought.
Fairly entertaining overall, as long as you don't try to analyze it too deeply. The Space Marines are well characterized and there are quite a few Chaos champions as well. Lots of action and well written battle scenes.
October 5, 2014
We wuz promizd CHAOS... Where the hell was the kind of Lovecraftian Chaos no one is allowed to know of?
Everybody, including all the kitchen boys I guess, knew about "moral threats" which ran around the scenes like simple monster-of-the-week. Once upon a time the Inquisition killed entire armies which had the misfortune of surviving a chaotic engagement, and even Space Marines were only mind-wiped because it was so extremely hard to create them in the first place.
Apart from that, the complete book felt like one bolter porn scene stringed after the other, without any solid background story tying them together. Just compare the amount of pages given to story to the amount of shooty smashy bitey action :-(
Everybody, including all the kitchen boys I guess, knew about "moral threats" which ran around the scenes like simple monster-of-the-week. Once upon a time the Inquisition killed entire armies which had the misfortune of surviving a chaotic engagement, and even Space Marines were only mind-wiped because it was so extremely hard to create them in the first place.
Apart from that, the complete book felt like one bolter porn scene stringed after the other, without any solid background story tying them together. Just compare the amount of pages given to story to the amount of shooty smashy bitey action :-(
August 27, 2013
Another one where I wish we could give half-stars in our ratings. LOL It's not really a 4-star book, but nor is it just a 3-star one, either. While I enjoyed it, it made the Imperial Fists seem as dour and humorless as possible. They seemed much more like what I would expect from Ultramarines fiction.
September 20, 2014
This one starts off in the thick of things and it gets worse. The Imperial Fists Space Marine Chapter are known for siege building, and siege breaking. They end up in open war upon a planet going down the drain. It is definitely a ride and a well written tale. You can't help but feel for these characters as they go through the trials they face. Read this book!
May 7, 2013
Crazy Chaos and Imperial Fists action.
September 16, 2014
A slower book than I was hoping for from Counter, but good to see the Imperial Fists on the winning side, Lysander is an epic character and well portrayed here.
March 7, 2015
Too much gore and brainless fighting
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews