What do you think?
Rate this book
Ultramarines #1
Nightbringer
Newly promoted Ultramarines Captain Uriel Ventris is assigned to investigate Pavonis, an imperial planet plagued by civil disorder and renegade elder raiders. Nothing is as straightforward as it seems, and wheels are turning within wheels. Uriel and his allies are forced into a deadly race against time to destroy their shadowy enemy - or the whole planet must be sacrificed for the good of humanity.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
94 people are currently reading
1008 people want to read
About the author
Graham McNeill
339 books903 followersHailing 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
February 9, 2023
Uriel Ventris, recién ascendido a capitán de los Ultramarines, recibe la orden de intervenir en la investigación de un cercano planeta, Pavonis, un mundo imperial azotado por los disturbios internos y piratas eldars renegados.
Sin embargo, nada es lo que parece, y hay planes que ocultan otros planes.
Uriel, su compañía y aliados se verán obligados a comenzar una mortífera carrera contrarreloj para destruir a su siniestro y muy escurridizo enemigo.
.. O deberán destruir por completo el planeta por el bien de la humanidad..
En el universo ficticio de Warhammer 40,000, los Marines Espaciales, también conocidos como Adeptus Astartes, y son monjes guerreros sobrehumanos que luchan por el Imperio de la Humanidad. Visten armaduras mecanizadas enormes y tienen genomas modificados que les otorgan una fuerza y resistencia sobrehumanas.
Algunos Marines Espaciales han traicionado al Imperio y sirven a los Dioses del Caos, por lo que son conocidos como Marines Espaciales del Caos.
Que maravilla mi segunda entrada a mundo de Warhammer, como no quería empezar por la titánica saga de Horus, decidí empezar o bien por esta saga de los implacables ultramarines o por Eisenhorn, el inquisidor.
Una gozada de libro, acción, historia, mucha CF interesante. Warhammer es una pasada. Lleno de acción y lleno de intriga. Se ha llevado mis 5⭐️. Lo he disfrutado.
Cualquiera que disfrute de los libros de ciencia ficción o fantasía debería al menos probar este libro y no querrá dejarlo hasta que llegue a su glorioso final a través de un camino épico.
Ningún siervo del Imperio es comparable a los monolíticos Marines Espaciales del Adeptus Astartes: la voluntad del Emperador hecha manifiesta y los avatares de su glorioso castigo. Estos dioses de la guerra suelen ser lo único que impide la caída de la Humanidad ante el envite de la conquista alienígena y de las herejías internas.
Los Ángeles Sangrientos, los Templarios Negros, los Lobos Espaciales y los Ultramarines son un ejemplo de los ilustres Capítulos que sirven al Imperio.
Se extraen grandes fragmentos de la historia de todos los lados, y en solo unas pocas páginas McNeil tiene personajes de los Ultramarines, Necrons y el imperio luchando
Las escenas de acción son geniales y, a medida que avanzaba, me sorprendió el desarrollo de los personajes. McNeil no busca simplemente llenar el espacio entre las secuencias de acción, intenta crear personajes realistas y para mi lo consigue. Te sumerges con ellos a través de sus perspectivas.
Tenemos múltiples puntos de vista a lo largo del libro. Podemos ver ángulos de la misma historia desde diferentes personajes simplemente hace que la historia y la imagen cobren vida en tu cabeza.
Los personajes son interesantes, realistas y tienen profundidad. Un gran trabajo al hacer que cada personaje se sienta único y como una personalidad diferente.
Hay batallas épicas y muchas escenas sombrías y sangrientas que son geniales y lo que esperas de este universo. Seguir a los Ultramarines ha sido un acierto enorme. Que pasada..✍️
Sin embargo, nada es lo que parece, y hay planes que ocultan otros planes.
Uriel, su compañía y aliados se verán obligados a comenzar una mortífera carrera contrarreloj para destruir a su siniestro y muy escurridizo enemigo.
.. O deberán destruir por completo el planeta por el bien de la humanidad..
En el universo ficticio de Warhammer 40,000, los Marines Espaciales, también conocidos como Adeptus Astartes, y son monjes guerreros sobrehumanos que luchan por el Imperio de la Humanidad. Visten armaduras mecanizadas enormes y tienen genomas modificados que les otorgan una fuerza y resistencia sobrehumanas.
Algunos Marines Espaciales han traicionado al Imperio y sirven a los Dioses del Caos, por lo que son conocidos como Marines Espaciales del Caos.
Que maravilla mi segunda entrada a mundo de Warhammer, como no quería empezar por la titánica saga de Horus, decidí empezar o bien por esta saga de los implacables ultramarines o por Eisenhorn, el inquisidor.
Una gozada de libro, acción, historia, mucha CF interesante. Warhammer es una pasada. Lleno de acción y lleno de intriga. Se ha llevado mis 5⭐️. Lo he disfrutado.
Cualquiera que disfrute de los libros de ciencia ficción o fantasía debería al menos probar este libro y no querrá dejarlo hasta que llegue a su glorioso final a través de un camino épico.
Ningún siervo del Imperio es comparable a los monolíticos Marines Espaciales del Adeptus Astartes: la voluntad del Emperador hecha manifiesta y los avatares de su glorioso castigo. Estos dioses de la guerra suelen ser lo único que impide la caída de la Humanidad ante el envite de la conquista alienígena y de las herejías internas.
Los Ángeles Sangrientos, los Templarios Negros, los Lobos Espaciales y los Ultramarines son un ejemplo de los ilustres Capítulos que sirven al Imperio.
Se extraen grandes fragmentos de la historia de todos los lados, y en solo unas pocas páginas McNeil tiene personajes de los Ultramarines, Necrons y el imperio luchando
Las escenas de acción son geniales y, a medida que avanzaba, me sorprendió el desarrollo de los personajes. McNeil no busca simplemente llenar el espacio entre las secuencias de acción, intenta crear personajes realistas y para mi lo consigue. Te sumerges con ellos a través de sus perspectivas.
Tenemos múltiples puntos de vista a lo largo del libro. Podemos ver ángulos de la misma historia desde diferentes personajes simplemente hace que la historia y la imagen cobren vida en tu cabeza.
Los personajes son interesantes, realistas y tienen profundidad. Un gran trabajo al hacer que cada personaje se sienta único y como una personalidad diferente.
Hay batallas épicas y muchas escenas sombrías y sangrientas que son geniales y lo que esperas de este universo. Seguir a los Ultramarines ha sido un acierto enorme. Que pasada..✍️
March 21, 2023
4/10. 42% - 175 págs y abandonado.
Me encantan las pelis de Statham o The rock o Cruise o Vin Diésel. O sea, que las macarradas me gustan si a cambio me dan entretenimiento y enganche. Aunque historia y personajes no se los crea ni el tato.
Los ultramarines de esta novela no me dan ni entretenimiento ni enganche. Los personajes no llegan ni a clichés. La historia y su Emperador son lastimosos. El lenguaje utilizado me hacía llorar los ojos en alguna de las ultramacarras frases…
Y no sigo que Over me pega, pero pilláis la idea, ¿eh?
Mi muy estimado Over, seguiré cargando en mi saca tus 5 estrellas a pesar de esta flagrante divergencia de opiniones.
Y conste que las novelas bélicas me gustan y puedo citar un montón de ejemplos, desde Tropas del espacio a la hiperbólica Bill héroe galáctico. Pero a esta no la he pillado el truco en ningún momento.
Me voy a tiro hecho a gozar del siguiente: pillo uno de Baldacci.
Me encantan las pelis de Statham o The rock o Cruise o Vin Diésel. O sea, que las macarradas me gustan si a cambio me dan entretenimiento y enganche. Aunque historia y personajes no se los crea ni el tato.
Los ultramarines de esta novela no me dan ni entretenimiento ni enganche. Los personajes no llegan ni a clichés. La historia y su Emperador son lastimosos. El lenguaje utilizado me hacía llorar los ojos en alguna de las ultramacarras frases…
Y no sigo que Over me pega, pero pilláis la idea, ¿eh?
Mi muy estimado Over, seguiré cargando en mi saca tus 5 estrellas a pesar de esta flagrante divergencia de opiniones.
Y conste que las novelas bélicas me gustan y puedo citar un montón de ejemplos, desde Tropas del espacio a la hiperbólica Bill héroe galáctico. Pero a esta no la he pillado el truco en ningún momento.
Me voy a tiro hecho a gozar del siguiente: pillo uno de Baldacci.
March 18, 2023
3,5 ⭐
Qué lástima recios Ultramarines haberos leído hace 25 años. Os habría endosado 5 estrellas como 5 cruceros imperiales. Pero hoy no es ayer, sino mañana... (jajaja qué ganas tenía de meter al maestro Sabina en mi review!!!)
Ahora en serio.
✔ He disfrutado bastante de la lectura, por momentos trepidante
✔ Hay batallitas de naves espaciales
✔ Hay piratas alienígenas malos malosos
✔ Hay episodios gore
✔ Hay sangrientas batallas de tierra donde los Ultramarines marcan su ley
✔ Hay toda una parafernalia imperial rollo Star Wars, pero en esta ocasión son los adalides de la humanidad. Como si fueran Harkonen pero en plan protectores de la galaxia
Con estos mimbres diréis que joer Pedrin, qué poco te estiras en la nota. Ya. Es verdad. La novela es bien palomitera y me ha hecho evocar por momentos, como decía al principio, mis primeras lecturas. Reinos olvidados, Dragonlance...Ah buenos tiempos aquellos! Subo media estrella más para dejar la puntuación bien redonda, 4⭐.
Lectura amena, sin muchas pretensiones, adecuada para intercalar con otras más sesudas. Continuaré con la saga. Larga vida, Warhammer 40k!!
![Profile Image for [Name Redacted].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1347082397i%2F287915._UY200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
August 21, 2024
This is...interesting. It's supposed to be the first Uriel Ventriss novel, but he's barely a factor in this narrative -- if anything, this is an ensemble piece, focusing more on the Eldar, the Inquisitor, the politicians, etc. than any of the Ultramarines, let alone Uriel. He's barely a character at all. Also, the resolution of the main plot is too abrupt and wastes what could have been something glorious...
But the action is good, everything is well-written, the setting is suitably small, the non-Uriel characters are all engaging, etc. so I'll move on to the next one eventually.
But the action is good, everything is well-written, the setting is suitably small, the non-Uriel characters are all engaging, etc. so I'll move on to the next one eventually.
November 30, 2008
I was an avid Abnett fan until I read this book. McNeil really kicks the proverbial ass on this one! Action packed and full of intrique! I find it unfortunate that the 40k novels are mostly read by gamers and people in the know about warhammer because this book is truly awesome. In fact the ultramarines trilogy is just epic! Anyone who is a fan of sci-fi or fantasy books should at least give this book a try and I guarantee that you will not want to set it down until it comes to it's glorious end!
December 18, 2014
Enter Graham McNeill into the Warhammer 40K universe with a story about the Ultramarines, the kind of ultimate "stick up their arses" Space Marine Chapter. Graham proves himself a skilled writer by making their initial outing both fun and full of dry humor, both of which should not be applied to the Ultramarines (cf. Abnett's sadly empty-feeling "Ultramarines" movie).
Uriel Ventris is newly appointed the head of his squad (or whatever; I suck at keeping track of all the military terms), and is grappling with that (the short story included in the omnibus where he gains that leadership role is awesome; the imagery used in it had me sold on this series as a whole). Uriel and his flamer-wielding best friend Pasanius fight Chaos cultists in this first outing, whilst dealing with political monkeyshines and a serial killer on the loose. There is, of course, a Nightbringer (evil Necron big bad) that appears in the story.
Fun notes:
-One of the most entertaining parts of the 40K universe, to me, is the idea of "machine spirits." One's gun does not misfire because you took bad care of it - it happened because you did not appease the machine spirit (...usually by taking care of it). There's one point in this story where Uriel is trying to get the heavy machinery rolling (I believe Lehman Russes) to fight off a wave of baddies, and he's told it can't be done b/c the priests are still blessing the tanks. He tells them to start them rolling & keep the priests behind them while they move, blessing on the go. Brilliant way to strategize with the rules of the world without looking stupid.
-McNeill begins his odd habit here of setting up a mystery with either a really obvious answer, or else just revealing it at any given moment, not necessarily dramatically. The serial killer on the loose in this book is a kind of big buildup, then randomly there's just a chapter in the middle of the book where we see the POV of the killer taking someone's life. I was so confused at this placement, I thought that character had killed another for some OTHER reason, but no ... just ... thrown in there. Relatedly, the titular Nightbringer is in fact a MASSIVE surprise at the end of the book, whose terrifying appearance and shocking existence is a LIIIITTLE ruined by the fact the book is called Nightbringer, and you've got 30 pages to go, and there's been no Nightbringer yet. That was very possibly not McNeill's fault, however.
-I think what I enjoyed most about this book was seeing the snippets of Imperial life on the world the Ultramarines are trying to assist. McNeill does a good job of bringing the setting to life, and filling in each character in broad strokes.
Uriel Ventris is newly appointed the head of his squad (or whatever; I suck at keeping track of all the military terms), and is grappling with that (the short story included in the omnibus where he gains that leadership role is awesome; the imagery used in it had me sold on this series as a whole). Uriel and his flamer-wielding best friend Pasanius fight Chaos cultists in this first outing, whilst dealing with political monkeyshines and a serial killer on the loose. There is, of course, a Nightbringer (evil Necron big bad) that appears in the story.
Fun notes:
-One of the most entertaining parts of the 40K universe, to me, is the idea of "machine spirits." One's gun does not misfire because you took bad care of it - it happened because you did not appease the machine spirit (...usually by taking care of it). There's one point in this story where Uriel is trying to get the heavy machinery rolling (I believe Lehman Russes) to fight off a wave of baddies, and he's told it can't be done b/c the priests are still blessing the tanks. He tells them to start them rolling & keep the priests behind them while they move, blessing on the go. Brilliant way to strategize with the rules of the world without looking stupid.
-McNeill begins his odd habit here of setting up a mystery with either a really obvious answer, or else just revealing it at any given moment, not necessarily dramatically. The serial killer on the loose in this book is a kind of big buildup, then randomly there's just a chapter in the middle of the book where we see the POV of the killer taking someone's life. I was so confused at this placement, I thought that character had killed another for some OTHER reason, but no ... just ... thrown in there. Relatedly, the titular Nightbringer is in fact a MASSIVE surprise at the end of the book, whose terrifying appearance and shocking existence is a LIIIITTLE ruined by the fact the book is called Nightbringer, and you've got 30 pages to go, and there's been no Nightbringer yet. That was very possibly not McNeill's fault, however.
-I think what I enjoyed most about this book was seeing the snippets of Imperial life on the world the Ultramarines are trying to assist. McNeill does a good job of bringing the setting to life, and filling in each character in broad strokes.
July 2, 2013
Excellent entry. I actually think Ario Barzano, the second lead character, is far more interesting than Uriel Ventris here. Barzano would be great to explore in other books. I'll have to see how Uriel is in the follow up novels. But O'Neill is really in top form here, with strong characterization mixed with the action. I thought this was even stronger than First and Only. Very good use of settings and elements from WH40k
June 18, 2023
Моя перша книга із всесвіту Warhammer.
Перші 50 сторінок далися дуже важко. Незрозуміла зброя, незрозумілий період (минуле/майбутнє/альтернативний всесвіт), незрозумілі технології (політ через галактику на космічному кораблі із освітленням свічками в каютах)… але з часом приходить розуміння, що не треба шукати пояснень, а просто зануритись у всесвіт.
Цікава історія. Пішов читати наступну книгу з цього всесвіту.
Перші 50 сторінок далися дуже важко. Незрозуміла зброя, незрозумілий період (минуле/майбутнє/альтернативний всесвіт), незрозумілі технології (політ через галактику на космічному кораблі із освітленням свічками в каютах)… але з часом приходить розуміння, що не треба шукати пояснень, а просто зануритись у всесвіт.
Цікава історія. Пішов читати наступну книгу з цього всесвіту.
August 17, 2021
Having read many many 40k books, im definitely part of the snobby group that views Abnett and Demski-Bowden as a clear mark above the rest, and so have been reluctant to read works by other authors. But the Uriel Ventris books have always been quite highy regarded, so i decided to give them a whirl. In the modern, rebooted days of 40k, its certainly nice to read something seated in the lore of yesteryear. No aeldari or astra militarum here! You definitely get the feeling that McNeil had more free rein to have some creative fun with the plot and characters.
This book is definitely more 'comic booky' than the works of Abnett or ADB. Not that their books dont have crazy plots and violence, but Nightbringer is less than 300 pages and the action starts early and never gives up. The writing feels quicker and slicker than some other works such as those in the Horus Heresy series that have to deal with a lot of exposition. If you dont know much about 40k, these perhaps arent the best books to start on. If you do though, you re in for a treat!
Great bits of lore are pulled in from all sides, and in only a few pages McNeil has characters from the Ultramarines, Necrons and the imperium all fighting it out, which is certainly great fun. The action scenes are great, and as the book went on, i was pleasantly surprised by the subtlety (such as it was) and character development: McNeil is not simply looking to fill space between action sequences, he tries and succeeds to create 3D characters who you believe in and have real reactions to.
I will say the prose is somewhat stilted at times, and sometimes doesnt flow terribly well. The book ironically sometimes feels almost like a piece of propaganda you would find in the 40k universe itself. But the great characters and sections where McNeil DOES get it right more than make up for the weaker moments. Looking forwards to the next one!
This book is definitely more 'comic booky' than the works of Abnett or ADB. Not that their books dont have crazy plots and violence, but Nightbringer is less than 300 pages and the action starts early and never gives up. The writing feels quicker and slicker than some other works such as those in the Horus Heresy series that have to deal with a lot of exposition. If you dont know much about 40k, these perhaps arent the best books to start on. If you do though, you re in for a treat!
Great bits of lore are pulled in from all sides, and in only a few pages McNeil has characters from the Ultramarines, Necrons and the imperium all fighting it out, which is certainly great fun. The action scenes are great, and as the book went on, i was pleasantly surprised by the subtlety (such as it was) and character development: McNeil is not simply looking to fill space between action sequences, he tries and succeeds to create 3D characters who you believe in and have real reactions to.
I will say the prose is somewhat stilted at times, and sometimes doesnt flow terribly well. The book ironically sometimes feels almost like a piece of propaganda you would find in the 40k universe itself. But the great characters and sections where McNeil DOES get it right more than make up for the weaker moments. Looking forwards to the next one!
March 10, 2025
Actually way better than I expected, but not a lot of Ultramarines for book 1 of “The Ultramarines”
October 5, 2021
This is a good solid well rounded story with plenty of action. It surprised me to have so much political intrigue in an Ultramarines book and I definitely enjoyed that about it. It makes the whole 40k universe feel more real as you see in depth how one planet in the Imperium runs.
The author uses multiple points of view of different characters throughout the book which I love. Seeing different angles of the same thing from different characters just brings the story and picture to life in your head. I love it when authors do this as it can get stale following the same pair of eyes for a whole book.
The characters themselves are interesting, realistic and have depth. McNeill does a great job at making each character feel unique and like a different person. Even the side side side characters which you don’t see much of are more than just extra names on the page.
There’s some epic battles in this book and lots of grim and gory scenes which is awesome and what you expect with this universe. The story equally follows regular human characters as much as the Ultramarines. I didn’t expect this either but I really enjoyed the diversity and the different POVs this created.
A solid read but for me it was just missing something to make it a 5 star book. However, I would recommend it and would happily reread it in the future.
The author uses multiple points of view of different characters throughout the book which I love. Seeing different angles of the same thing from different characters just brings the story and picture to life in your head. I love it when authors do this as it can get stale following the same pair of eyes for a whole book.
The characters themselves are interesting, realistic and have depth. McNeill does a great job at making each character feel unique and like a different person. Even the side side side characters which you don’t see much of are more than just extra names on the page.
There’s some epic battles in this book and lots of grim and gory scenes which is awesome and what you expect with this universe. The story equally follows regular human characters as much as the Ultramarines. I didn’t expect this either but I really enjoyed the diversity and the different POVs this created.
A solid read but for me it was just missing something to make it a 5 star book. However, I would recommend it and would happily reread it in the future.
November 21, 2024
I'll start by saying I'll likely end up reading more Warhammer Novels or at least more Ultramarines novels. I realize that as far as Warhammer goes the Ultramarines and Ventris are "basic" and the simple poster boys of a much wider universe but that's ok.
There's not a lot of nuance to be found here though, this is as you'd expect of 40K, it is a gorey and brutal killing fest with some calm moments in between. 3 stars even feels like a stretch, many of the named characters get little to no character development and even the main protagonists are not that deep.
All told, this novel is just average, it didn't wow me, it didn't disappoint me either and sure the combat was well written, I'd just like to see some deeper character work, for example, I don't care if named characters get killed if they've had no development.
There's not a lot of nuance to be found here though, this is as you'd expect of 40K, it is a gorey and brutal killing fest with some calm moments in between. 3 stars even feels like a stretch, many of the named characters get little to no character development and even the main protagonists are not that deep.
All told, this novel is just average, it didn't wow me, it didn't disappoint me either and sure the combat was well written, I'd just like to see some deeper character work, for example, I don't care if named characters get killed if they've had no development.
February 14, 2020
Was really good. I'm still new to the Warhammer 40K universe but man oh man there is alot to take in. McNeill is a damn good writer. This was a page turner.
May 16, 2023
Захоплення битвами, безумовна жертовність заради спільної безпеки і блага, огидні й жаскі небезпеки та зради, сум за полеглими героями - суголосно і натхенно сучасною епохою.
September 1, 2023
- Хороша книжка
- Бойовик
- Читається добре, але й чогось особливого немає
- Мабуть гарна "сходинка" для входження у всесвіт Воргамеру 40к
- Є кліфгенгер
- Бойовик
- Читається добре, але й чогось особливого немає
- Мабуть гарна "сходинка" для входження у всесвіт Воргамеру 40к
- Є кліфгенгер
November 4, 2023
Звичайний космічний бойовик, книга не вирізняється чимось особливим, але я отримав від те, що і очікував, легке і стрімке чтиво для відпочинку.
October 18, 2023
Meet Uriel Ventris, newly-promoted Space Marine captain at the centre of Graham McNeill's Ultramarines series. The Ultramarines are, of course, the poster boys of the Imperium of Mankind; best known for stomping handsomely around a galaxy littered with the corpses of their fallen enemies, and then retiring home to reflect on their tactical brilliance over (presumably) tea and biscuits. These guys are the Space Romans of the setting. All very nice, all very efficient, but not nearly as interesting as the Space Vikings, Space Vampires, or Space Dark-Secret-Hoarders found in more colourful sub-factions.
Ventris himself, then, has an uphill struggle in order to be considered a compelling lead character. On this evidence, he balances the strong-jawed naivite of Buzz Lightyear with the super-competent wandering-hero vibes of Jack Reacher. The plot sees him up against enemies seen and unseen, and embroiled in the sort of complex planetary politics that might usually be considered unworthy of the attention of the Emperor's Finest.
It's certainly noticeable that Ventris cares about the little people and sees himself as the unquestionable good-guy, whereas his enemies are uniformly evil. This feels like quite the departure from more recent novels where the Marines typically prioritise vengeance and territorialism over the greater good. Perhaps that's a symptom of this book being released back in 2002 - four years earlier than the first Horus Heresy book and at the height of the popularity of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both of which drew very clear lines between good and evil.
Overall a solid if unspectacular introduction to the Ventris-led series. It will be interesting to see how the character develops as the series progresses.
Ventris himself, then, has an uphill struggle in order to be considered a compelling lead character. On this evidence, he balances the strong-jawed naivite of Buzz Lightyear with the super-competent wandering-hero vibes of Jack Reacher. The plot sees him up against enemies seen and unseen, and embroiled in the sort of complex planetary politics that might usually be considered unworthy of the attention of the Emperor's Finest.
It's certainly noticeable that Ventris cares about the little people and sees himself as the unquestionable good-guy, whereas his enemies are uniformly evil. This feels like quite the departure from more recent novels where the Marines typically prioritise vengeance and territorialism over the greater good. Perhaps that's a symptom of this book being released back in 2002 - four years earlier than the first Horus Heresy book and at the height of the popularity of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both of which drew very clear lines between good and evil.
Overall a solid if unspectacular introduction to the Ventris-led series. It will be interesting to see how the character develops as the series progresses.
Read
November 25, 2025Read a M41 loyalist Space Marine novel AND it's the Ultramarines? What is the world coming to...
It does feel like a little bit of an exaggeration to call this an Ultramarines novel because while they are there, the book is hardly about them, until like the last 50 or so pages. I kind of liked that, quite honestly. I really did think it was fun to read about the insane local politics on this planet while Ventris was just. There. It's kind of interesting to think that the audience surrogate character in this book that's mostly about human bullshit IS the Space Marine but it really does feel like it.
Ventris himself is a fun guy. I don't really go in for Ultramarines as a breed but he's kind of Ultramarine to the point where it verges on self-parody, which I really enjoyed. It's cute. He's cute. He's JUST a little guy. Getting all the local political players explained to him and having him go "Hmm. Well I really like the guy who didn't die of elf torture" cracked me up. Full disclosure I did start his books specifically because I have seen him CRAZY pregnant and wanted to know why exactly this random blueberry was getting the business like that but even without that context I do quite like him and do want to read more about him. I will make an exception because he looks very polite.
As an aside, if I had a nickel for every time I've read about a man getting graphically sexually assaulted in 40K I would have two nickels, which isn't necessarily weird except for the fact that it was written by the same person both times. The author's barely disguised fetish (said with UTMOST affection, do NOT get it twisted).
It does feel like a little bit of an exaggeration to call this an Ultramarines novel because while they are there, the book is hardly about them, until like the last 50 or so pages. I kind of liked that, quite honestly. I really did think it was fun to read about the insane local politics on this planet while Ventris was just. There. It's kind of interesting to think that the audience surrogate character in this book that's mostly about human bullshit IS the Space Marine but it really does feel like it.
Ventris himself is a fun guy. I don't really go in for Ultramarines as a breed but he's kind of Ultramarine to the point where it verges on self-parody, which I really enjoyed. It's cute. He's cute. He's JUST a little guy. Getting all the local political players explained to him and having him go "Hmm. Well I really like the guy who didn't die of elf torture" cracked me up. Full disclosure I did start his books specifically because I have seen him CRAZY pregnant and wanted to know why exactly this random blueberry was getting the business like that but even without that context I do quite like him and do want to read more about him. I will make an exception because he looks very polite.
As an aside, if I had a nickel for every time I've read about a man getting graphically sexually assaulted in 40K I would have two nickels, which isn't necessarily weird except for the fact that it was written by the same person both times. The author's barely disguised fetish (said with UTMOST affection, do NOT get it twisted).
July 11, 2025
Як і очікувалось, епічність і брутальність зашкалює!
Стилістика ультрамаринів сподобалась - браві воїни, які керуються виключно справедливістю несуть волю імператора людства. З того самого світу серія книг про Ейзенгорна більш сюжетна і захоплива, але ця книга теж варта уваги, хоча б задля загальної обізнаності всесвіту.
Стилістика ультрамаринів сподобалась - браві воїни, які керуються виключно справедливістю несуть волю імператора людства. З того самого світу серія книг про Ейзенгорна більш сюжетна і захоплива, але ця книга теж варта уваги, хоча б задля загальної обізнаності всесвіту.
January 13, 2021
A very good introduction into the 40k universe, though slightly jumpy in how it read the overall story is very good.
October 22, 2024
He shouted: Courage and Honour, You are the Ultramarines! Stand Firm!
November 19, 2024
Muy lento al principio describiendo perfectamente las distintas luchas de poder entre corporaciones imperiales, pero a medida que se acerca el final se desata. Narración maravillosa de los combates.
July 10, 2020
With "Nightbringer," Graham McNeill's Ultramarines series stumbles out of the blocks. After a prologue action sequence that serves to see Uriel Ventris rise to the rank of Captain of the Ultramarine's 4th company, Ventris is re-assigned to the distant Imperial planet of Pavonis to help rein in a world reeling with social unrest. He is accompanied by a cocky and mysterious member of the Administratum, sent to evaluate the governor, and perhaps foment change in the planet's leadership if he so deems it. This book is from 2002, and I wonder if McNeill was influenced by the Star Wars prequels (in all the wrong ways), because the first half lingers for a painfully long times on trade disputes and politics. Our cast of political characters are vague, interchangeable, and not very interesting, which is a shame because we sure spend a lot of time with them. The plot at this point jumps between several largely unconnected stories that sort of tie together in the end when an ancient threat from the Warhammer 40k universe re-emerges to briefly imperil our heroes. For all the build-up, the threat of the novel doesn't really pay off in a big way. But the biggest issue with Ultramarines book 1, is how bland and underdeveloped the eponymous Ultramarines are. It's especially stark in the coda to the novel after the big action climax where Uriel reflects on the events of the book and the fate of his battle brothers, and each one he names I was just completely baffled by. Wait, which one was that? Who was he again? Outside of having a name and being a space marine, we really don't know anything about any of Uriel's soldiers. Many in fact, we only learn their names when they suffer some form of grizzly death on the battlefield; "and then Brother Scrotorius had his head stove in by melon baller." We never heard of Brother Scrotorius before, and will sure never hear from him again, but RIP, I guess. Heck, Ventris is supposed to be our protagonist, but we barely know anything about him either. His arc, I suppose, is he feels a sense of inadequacy about leading the 4th Company, but by the end of the novel he feels confident in his ability to lead. But even this is woefully underdeveloped, and seems to be reflected exclusively by whether or not he feels the need to use the former Captain's sword, which he seems to regard as a totem that earns him the respect of his men. But their lack of faith in him is never really explored, or even suggested, making Uriel just seem like a bit of a worry wort. And because we never really know our Ultramarines, and they just sort of charge fearlessly into battle regardless of who's giving the orders, we don't really see them gaining trust in their new Captain. And without seeing that change, we can't really appreciate, or even see Uriel's arc. So generally, a very rough start to the Ultramarines series that didn't really motivate me to pick up the second.
August 14, 2015
I really enjoyed this sci-fi thriller. I am still new to the world of Warhammer 40K, but Nightbringer was a good introduction for me. I had previously read a Nightbringer prequel short story,
, plus a couple of Imperial Assassins novellas.
Nightbringer has several key elements from Star Trek (the Kirk/Spock Trek), ancient Rome, political aspects like Dune, and then the good ole sci-fi action of the Ultramarines. Several different plot lines going on, but in the end they all come together. The story was basically built around two characters: Space Captain Uriel Ventris and a political type character called Ario Barzano (who was more than he appeared to be). The story bounced back and forth between these two characters and then all the political wheeling and dealings going on. The big battle at the end was pretty cool, with only the fate of the universe on hand.
Some great intense action scenes featuring this cool Ultramarines. Tough guys indeed. The action gets pretty graphic at times, but not overboard. I like every part of this story and will continue on to more Ultramarine stories like
. In addition I plan on starting on
by James Swallow (space nuns!!), another Warhammer 40K series.
, plus a couple of Imperial Assassins novellas.Nightbringer has several key elements from Star Trek (the Kirk/Spock Trek), ancient Rome, political aspects like Dune, and then the good ole sci-fi action of the Ultramarines. Several different plot lines going on, but in the end they all come together. The story was basically built around two characters: Space Captain Uriel Ventris and a political type character called Ario Barzano (who was more than he appeared to be). The story bounced back and forth between these two characters and then all the political wheeling and dealings going on. The big battle at the end was pretty cool, with only the fate of the universe on hand.
Some great intense action scenes featuring this cool Ultramarines. Tough guys indeed. The action gets pretty graphic at times, but not overboard. I like every part of this story and will continue on to more Ultramarine stories like
. In addition I plan on starting on
by James Swallow (space nuns!!), another Warhammer 40K series.
October 3, 2021
I recently reignited a long dormant interest in the Warhammer 40k hobby by purchasing the Command Edition boxset, which includes both Space Marines and Necrons. I've been having a lot of fun assembling and painting the Space Marines in Ultramarines colours, and so I wanted to dig a bit more into the lore and keep this newfound passion alive by reading Nightbringer - a book all about Ultramarines.
Unfortunately, this book rapidly became a real chore to read. It's sometimes randomly quite violent, which provided for bursts of intrigue, but for the most part Graham McNeill seems to have quite lazily slapped this story together. It feels largely like a first draft. There's a lot of characters with a lot of names, but no actual characterisation so I found it incredibly challenging keeping track of who was who. Perhaps I was burdened by not being more familiar with the lore.
It's not all bad. I quite liked the characters Ario Barzano and Mykola Shonai, although Shonai is unfortunately embroiled in a political plot which does little to sustain interest. I often found myself yearning to be back reading a Joe Abercrombie book, an author who is amazingly skilled at weaving a story involving many characters with their own political motivations.
This just did so little to capture my imagination. It's telling that it took me 45 days to finish reading this 448 page book, whilst it only took me 41 days to read The Stand (1325 pages!).
1/5
Unfortunately, this book rapidly became a real chore to read. It's sometimes randomly quite violent, which provided for bursts of intrigue, but for the most part Graham McNeill seems to have quite lazily slapped this story together. It feels largely like a first draft. There's a lot of characters with a lot of names, but no actual characterisation so I found it incredibly challenging keeping track of who was who. Perhaps I was burdened by not being more familiar with the lore.
It's not all bad. I quite liked the characters Ario Barzano and Mykola Shonai, although Shonai is unfortunately embroiled in a political plot which does little to sustain interest. I often found myself yearning to be back reading a Joe Abercrombie book, an author who is amazingly skilled at weaving a story involving many characters with their own political motivations.
This just did so little to capture my imagination. It's telling that it took me 45 days to finish reading this 448 page book, whilst it only took me 41 days to read The Stand (1325 pages!).
1/5
August 23, 2025
I think there is a glimmer of a fine story buried beneath a pile of sloppy writing.
I’ll start with a positive, which is that I found it fun that Uriel needlessly announces things before doing them directly to his enemy, which I recall being a detail about the Ultramarines in one of the Night Lords novels. i’m not sure if this was done on purpose or simply for fun, but I thought it was an interesting connection, and a fun characteristic of Ultramarines, if that’s the intention.
On the subject of Uriel, however, I would ask a reader of this book who they perceive the main character to have been. There are so so many side characters thrown into chapters constantly to detail the planet this book takes place on, most of which I unfortunately found extremely uninteresting. The local politics of Pavonis were boring and got in the way of explaining a lot of other details of the story, which I’ll get to. Furthermore, because of this, Uriel is barely in this book, which I find strange considering that it is considered the first Uriel Ventris novel (which I am aware that is a modern byproduct, but at the time of this books publication it was still intended to be the first of perhaps many Ultramarine novels, and the Ultramarines are in less than half of this book.) I thought it was a little ridiculous that it took around two hours for the story to be about an Ultramarine killing something. I am more inclined to think of Barzano as the main character, given how the slow reveal of his true nature throughout the book was way more interesting than anything that had to do with Uriel (it is also funny that for an extremely long time the center stage Ultramarine is one of the guys in Uriel’s group, I can’t recall his name, and the entire time they’re in the palace or whatever I was basically screaming internally where in the Emperors name is Uriel). However, Barzano does not really change as a character, nor does he accomplish anything relating to some loose form of a hero’s journey, discounting him as the main character. This leaves Uriel, who also does not exhibit a hero’s journey, as from the very start of the story he is depicted the same way as he is at the end; there is no change in Uriel from beginning to end. His character desires to prove himself a capable leader. There is no scene that details him as incapable and requiring growth, he is described as carrying whatever battle occurred before the book starts to victory, and is elected (I guess by Calgar?) to become the new squad or company commander, whatever it is he’s leading. I suppose the only thing Uriel overcomes is his own self doubt, however that is not interesting, nor is it entirely relevant in all of his sections of the book. It is especially stupid to me that he is able to defeat the Dark Eldar guy on the second go, simply because I guess now Uriel believes in himself, and also Barzanos dagger he drops is important. I do not find that the characters in this story were well written.
I also found the story occurring to be very confusing, mostly due to the extremely large amount of worthless side characters constantly introduced needlessly. If the author had focused on developing a few characters, ideally JUST Uriel and Barzano, keeping the amount of names to a minimum, I think events would be much more followable.
There are a lot of things about the events of this novel I don’t understand. Why is the Nightbringer, if it is so so powerful and awesome, hibernating beneath the surface of this planet? Why do the antagonists learn of it at all, and come to the idea that they would somehow be able to take its power? There was some detail that the power was in the Nightbringers ship but then at the end it turns out the Nightbringer is its own entity and is very evil? Why did the evil Pavonis guy have a Dark Eldar aiding him at all? Literally what happened at the end, how did Uriel defeat it? Barzano was dying and said hey Uriel you still have that random piece of the Nightbringers own ship on you and then Uriel holds up a meltabomb and says, out loud “check this out,” and then the Nightbringer just disappears, and in the epilogue is shown to be eating stars again. Nothing was even resolved in this book. Also, why was there a random guy at the start who suggests to Calgar that they know about the Nightbringer and the odds they’re sending Uriel, a newly promoted captain, and a very small and ill equipped amount of Ultramarines to deal with? The Ultramarines are literally like the biggest Chapter in the Imperium, if Calgar already knows about the Nightbringer I find it insanely foolish that he would be like mmmmm this will be Uriel’s greatest test. Also I am pretty sure the guy in the prologue sees the rogue Mechanicus priest Barzano info dumps about, but then we don’t see him again? (Rereading my review I remembered the evil Pavonis guy was the head of an evil church, and I suppose that church would have been an offshoot of the following the rogue Mechanicus guy started, which Barzano explains. That still does not really lead me to understand how the existence of the Nightbringer is discovered, much less how the Nightbringers power would be taken and used to make the evil Pavonis guy immortal).
Another thing that made no sense is the authors depiction of the Ultramarines. Perhaps Space Marines were a bit conceptually weaker at the time this novel was written, and sure every author of Warhammer fiction is going to perceive the setting in their own way, but Uriel literally struggles to overcome a trench and bunker held by local planetary PDF forces, who are not even Imperial Guard, and are suggested to be much poorer in combat than Imperial Guard. But then later Uriel is able to defeat the Dark Eldar guy and also scare the Nightbringer away.
I listened to this book as an audio book, which is why I am failing to appropriately name all names, and I have no desire to relisten to sections, because I just didn’t like this book that much. However, I do like Graham McNeill and want to continue with his Ultra books, so I will. I think overall there is something decent buried beneath something that must have been written terribly quickly and lightly edited after.
I’ll start with a positive, which is that I found it fun that Uriel needlessly announces things before doing them directly to his enemy, which I recall being a detail about the Ultramarines in one of the Night Lords novels. i’m not sure if this was done on purpose or simply for fun, but I thought it was an interesting connection, and a fun characteristic of Ultramarines, if that’s the intention.
On the subject of Uriel, however, I would ask a reader of this book who they perceive the main character to have been. There are so so many side characters thrown into chapters constantly to detail the planet this book takes place on, most of which I unfortunately found extremely uninteresting. The local politics of Pavonis were boring and got in the way of explaining a lot of other details of the story, which I’ll get to. Furthermore, because of this, Uriel is barely in this book, which I find strange considering that it is considered the first Uriel Ventris novel (which I am aware that is a modern byproduct, but at the time of this books publication it was still intended to be the first of perhaps many Ultramarine novels, and the Ultramarines are in less than half of this book.) I thought it was a little ridiculous that it took around two hours for the story to be about an Ultramarine killing something. I am more inclined to think of Barzano as the main character, given how the slow reveal of his true nature throughout the book was way more interesting than anything that had to do with Uriel (it is also funny that for an extremely long time the center stage Ultramarine is one of the guys in Uriel’s group, I can’t recall his name, and the entire time they’re in the palace or whatever I was basically screaming internally where in the Emperors name is Uriel). However, Barzano does not really change as a character, nor does he accomplish anything relating to some loose form of a hero’s journey, discounting him as the main character. This leaves Uriel, who also does not exhibit a hero’s journey, as from the very start of the story he is depicted the same way as he is at the end; there is no change in Uriel from beginning to end. His character desires to prove himself a capable leader. There is no scene that details him as incapable and requiring growth, he is described as carrying whatever battle occurred before the book starts to victory, and is elected (I guess by Calgar?) to become the new squad or company commander, whatever it is he’s leading. I suppose the only thing Uriel overcomes is his own self doubt, however that is not interesting, nor is it entirely relevant in all of his sections of the book. It is especially stupid to me that he is able to defeat the Dark Eldar guy on the second go, simply because I guess now Uriel believes in himself, and also Barzanos dagger he drops is important. I do not find that the characters in this story were well written.
I also found the story occurring to be very confusing, mostly due to the extremely large amount of worthless side characters constantly introduced needlessly. If the author had focused on developing a few characters, ideally JUST Uriel and Barzano, keeping the amount of names to a minimum, I think events would be much more followable.
There are a lot of things about the events of this novel I don’t understand. Why is the Nightbringer, if it is so so powerful and awesome, hibernating beneath the surface of this planet? Why do the antagonists learn of it at all, and come to the idea that they would somehow be able to take its power? There was some detail that the power was in the Nightbringers ship but then at the end it turns out the Nightbringer is its own entity and is very evil? Why did the evil Pavonis guy have a Dark Eldar aiding him at all? Literally what happened at the end, how did Uriel defeat it? Barzano was dying and said hey Uriel you still have that random piece of the Nightbringers own ship on you and then Uriel holds up a meltabomb and says, out loud “check this out,” and then the Nightbringer just disappears, and in the epilogue is shown to be eating stars again. Nothing was even resolved in this book. Also, why was there a random guy at the start who suggests to Calgar that they know about the Nightbringer and the odds they’re sending Uriel, a newly promoted captain, and a very small and ill equipped amount of Ultramarines to deal with? The Ultramarines are literally like the biggest Chapter in the Imperium, if Calgar already knows about the Nightbringer I find it insanely foolish that he would be like mmmmm this will be Uriel’s greatest test. Also I am pretty sure the guy in the prologue sees the rogue Mechanicus priest Barzano info dumps about, but then we don’t see him again? (Rereading my review I remembered the evil Pavonis guy was the head of an evil church, and I suppose that church would have been an offshoot of the following the rogue Mechanicus guy started, which Barzano explains. That still does not really lead me to understand how the existence of the Nightbringer is discovered, much less how the Nightbringers power would be taken and used to make the evil Pavonis guy immortal).
Another thing that made no sense is the authors depiction of the Ultramarines. Perhaps Space Marines were a bit conceptually weaker at the time this novel was written, and sure every author of Warhammer fiction is going to perceive the setting in their own way, but Uriel literally struggles to overcome a trench and bunker held by local planetary PDF forces, who are not even Imperial Guard, and are suggested to be much poorer in combat than Imperial Guard. But then later Uriel is able to defeat the Dark Eldar guy and also scare the Nightbringer away.
I listened to this book as an audio book, which is why I am failing to appropriately name all names, and I have no desire to relisten to sections, because I just didn’t like this book that much. However, I do like Graham McNeill and want to continue with his Ultra books, so I will. I think overall there is something decent buried beneath something that must have been written terribly quickly and lightly edited after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2017
Good but not great darkly violent story. Not on par with the Eisenhorn novels I just read, but a solid entry into the mythos of the Ultramarines. Uriel Ventris is a compelling enough character that I want to see what happens next in his story. I'll definitely read more of McNeill's Ultramarines books.
January 19, 2024
Oficialmente, mi primera lectura del universo (gigante) de Warhammer 40K y no estoy decepsionado para nada. Hay algunas decisiones creativas del autor que pondría en cuestión, pero que no terminan afectando para nada a toda la experiencia de la lectura.
Es gracioso sentir que, por unos hechos de la novela, la peor pesadilla distópica de alguien del primer mundo, sea un planeta demasiado parecido a Latinoamérica en sus manejes políticos, sociales y económicos.
Por otro lado, se nota que Graham McNeill adora este universo y se ha zambullido con ganas en él, entregándonos un personaje como Uriel Ventris, que si bien no es el epítome de los protagonistas, resulta en un personaje interesante por su composición y su forma de pensar. Para ser la primera entrega, queda un poco opacado por Ario Barzano, otro pesonaje que es un gusto gigante leer.
En sí, es un libro recomendable para entrar a este universo tan vasto, complejo y rico como es Warhammer 40K.
Es gracioso sentir que, por unos hechos de la novela, la peor pesadilla distópica de alguien del primer mundo, sea un planeta demasiado parecido a Latinoamérica en sus manejes políticos, sociales y económicos.
Por otro lado, se nota que Graham McNeill adora este universo y se ha zambullido con ganas en él, entregándonos un personaje como Uriel Ventris, que si bien no es el epítome de los protagonistas, resulta en un personaje interesante por su composición y su forma de pensar. Para ser la primera entrega, queda un poco opacado por Ario Barzano, otro pesonaje que es un gusto gigante leer.
En sí, es un libro recomendable para entrar a este universo tan vasto, complejo y rico como es Warhammer 40K.
May 28, 2012
Not bad...but not good. First part of the Ultramarines Omnibus.
The Marines are vs. a batch of Dark Eldar and a twisted human who's trying to reincarnate a multi-million year old evil dark creature who consumes stars for nourishment. Some good action, but as enemies go the Dark Eldar are always disappointing and I didn't really believe that the main character was a Space Marine. He was a little bit too concerned with everything. I wanted more dogma...
The Marines are vs. a batch of Dark Eldar and a twisted human who's trying to reincarnate a multi-million year old evil dark creature who consumes stars for nourishment. Some good action, but as enemies go the Dark Eldar are always disappointing and I didn't really believe that the main character was a Space Marine. He was a little bit too concerned with everything. I wanted more dogma...
December 1, 2013
Only reason I read it, and thought it was worth reading is the sequel to this book I was interested in. I'm going to say it's safe to skip this book just read the sequels which have more interesting opponents and story. It helps that all the important bits of this book are summed up rather nicely whenever relevant in the future.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews