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Warhammer 40,000
Shadowsun: The Last of Kiru's Line
Commander Shadowsun, child of the famed Kiru and protégé of the legendary Commander Puretide, is destined to lead the next phase of the Tau Empire’s expansion… if she can survive the trials before her. Crash-landed on an enemy-held planet, with foes all around and a seemingly impossible mission to complete Shadowsun is determined to achieve victory, even at the cost of her life. But when she receives a message that tears her world apart, Shadowsun must make a choice unthinkable to most tau: to abandon her duty for the sake of family, or continue to fight for the Greater Good.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A new Tau Empire novella from Braden Campbell
ABOUT THE BOOK
A new Tau Empire novella from Braden Campbell
- Genres40kScience Fiction
128 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2013
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111 people want to read
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April 13, 2013A decent read into the earliest part of Shadowsun's legend. This novella shows her struggle to rejoin her forces while navigating through Imperium held territory. There is some contrast between Tau and human cultures although nothing as stark as in Fire caste. Campbell shows Shadowsun's toughness and naescent combat prowess. She will grow into her strategic prowess elsewhere than here. And it seems, that even in the grim darkness of the far future women are still hounded with the question: Family or career?
April 6, 2013
Shadowsun: The Last of Kiru’s Line is a novella which could have easily worked but failed due to the direction it took. As an isolated short story it is adequate. Nothing exceptionally outstanding but fine for a few read throughs. As a character piece on the other hand, as the first book to have both a tau protagonist and show things from their perspective since Fire Warrior, it falls short of the mark. You can see the talent there, you can see the reasoning behind Braden Campbell’s decisions, you can see why the story was written in this way, but for all that there are big flaws in what he’s writing.
The story this time follows the commander’s attempts expanding the Empire further into the Imperium during the Third Sphere Expansion. Despite previous successes against the backwater human worlds, the tau fleet is hit by a surprise attack which cripples Shadowsun’s flagship and leaves her stranded on the planet below. With limited supplies, few troops and an encroaching Imperial Guard force hounding her every step, she must take an unlikely route to victory. Yet a greater decision hangs over her. With the death of her siblings in recent conflicts and the last of her line, she must decide between leaving to continue her bloodline or continue her service furthering the Greater Good.
The problems mentioned above are exemplified in its characters. Like Fire Warrior the novella makes the point of distinguishing between the human and aliens involved with multiple differences and distinguishing traits to differ them from one another. At the same time they’re written to be their own characters as much as possible within the short story. While not featuring the most diverse ensemble of figures despite the setting, with perhaps five in total present, there is a feeling of the book trying to use them to create a layered story within the space allowed.
Shadowsun herself is perhaps the best example of this between her actions, decisions and character development. Within the first chapter she has a very striking impression upon the reader, balancing out her ambition, desire for victory and no small degree of arrogance born out of her successes. The arrogance itself is used as a point to try and represent her perspective of the world and by extension that of the tau, but it’s here that cracks in what Campbell was trying to do start to appear. While it does help to characterise her and gives greater leeway for her development, it often veers into contradicting her person.
The book tries to make a point of Shadowsun’s duty and role to the Empire but much of the time this is driven towards thoughts of herself and how much of a legacy she might leave upon the world. More than once she effectively daydreams about statues being made in her honour after her death. While this was intended to serve a purpose with her decision in the conclusion, it contradicts the “cog in a machine” mentality and dogma which define the tau and makes many of her remarks seem out of place. The same goes with her talk about the planet’s beauty and of humans, many times they contradict one another or shift on a whim making her look like a hypocrite or sometimes overly petty. While probably intended as character development it isn’t written in a way in which her decisions develop and gradually change.
The same goes for the Imperial major character to a lesser degree, Colonel Hollett, whose motivations seem very questionable when they are revealed. He seems to be assisting the tau to save something dear to himself but when you actually put some thought into it he’s losing something vastly greater. This is only exemplified by a scene in which the tau openly mock his beliefs in the Emperor, we’ll get to that in a minute, and commit a form of sacrilege.
The more you think about what he’s doing the less sense things make. These wouldn’t be quite so bad were the novella not so heavily character driven.
Perhaps the worst aspect however is the way the book treats the tau themselves and has a case of severe artistic when it comes to the canon. The aforementioned bit with the Emperor? The scene might make sense until you consider that it’s been long established the tau don’t care about the religion of others. So long as they follow the Greater Good and accept their place within the Empire they don’t give a damn about who a person prays to. Another point is soon introduced with tau technology where messages are repeatedly broadcast to the whole of the empire and to T’au itself and replies are given within hours. Whereas previously they were long established to be required to use message boats for long distance communication, they just send e-mails and get responses within a day or two. More of these just keep happening until they build up into bigger problems and become severely immersion breaking for anyone with knowledge of the alien race.
Now you might think this was an entirely bad tale, but no. When you ignore the canon and character problems to focus upon the plot you can see talented writing. Elements both major and minor are introduced long before they come into play in a very fluid manner, both keeping up the novella’s fast pace and allowing for rapid development. Furthermore the book is extremely tightly and well-structured in how each event builds and flows into one another, creating the sense of a much greater story than would usually be allowed for such a small number of words. Unfortunately neither of these mean much when the novella’s content has so many problems, leaving the infrequent battle scenes only aspects to truly appreciate.
There really isn’t much fun to be had with this one. While it has good intentions it definitely needed a few rewrites and an editor who knew the tau better before it was released. As it stands for both character drama and as an example of the tau way of thinking you’re better off buying a copy of Fire Warrior and reading that.
Addendum -
Now, usually this would be enough for two stars on Goodreads. It's bad below average but not too bad. What pushes it down to one star was something I realised after reading: It performs complete character assassination on the tau military. The Fire Caste display none of the tactics they are known for and Shadowsun, supposedly a tactical genius, is reduced to being a complete fool. Full details can be found here.
The story this time follows the commander’s attempts expanding the Empire further into the Imperium during the Third Sphere Expansion. Despite previous successes against the backwater human worlds, the tau fleet is hit by a surprise attack which cripples Shadowsun’s flagship and leaves her stranded on the planet below. With limited supplies, few troops and an encroaching Imperial Guard force hounding her every step, she must take an unlikely route to victory. Yet a greater decision hangs over her. With the death of her siblings in recent conflicts and the last of her line, she must decide between leaving to continue her bloodline or continue her service furthering the Greater Good.
The problems mentioned above are exemplified in its characters. Like Fire Warrior the novella makes the point of distinguishing between the human and aliens involved with multiple differences and distinguishing traits to differ them from one another. At the same time they’re written to be their own characters as much as possible within the short story. While not featuring the most diverse ensemble of figures despite the setting, with perhaps five in total present, there is a feeling of the book trying to use them to create a layered story within the space allowed.
Shadowsun herself is perhaps the best example of this between her actions, decisions and character development. Within the first chapter she has a very striking impression upon the reader, balancing out her ambition, desire for victory and no small degree of arrogance born out of her successes. The arrogance itself is used as a point to try and represent her perspective of the world and by extension that of the tau, but it’s here that cracks in what Campbell was trying to do start to appear. While it does help to characterise her and gives greater leeway for her development, it often veers into contradicting her person.
The book tries to make a point of Shadowsun’s duty and role to the Empire but much of the time this is driven towards thoughts of herself and how much of a legacy she might leave upon the world. More than once she effectively daydreams about statues being made in her honour after her death. While this was intended to serve a purpose with her decision in the conclusion, it contradicts the “cog in a machine” mentality and dogma which define the tau and makes many of her remarks seem out of place. The same goes with her talk about the planet’s beauty and of humans, many times they contradict one another or shift on a whim making her look like a hypocrite or sometimes overly petty. While probably intended as character development it isn’t written in a way in which her decisions develop and gradually change.
The same goes for the Imperial major character to a lesser degree, Colonel Hollett, whose motivations seem very questionable when they are revealed. He seems to be assisting the tau to save something dear to himself but when you actually put some thought into it he’s losing something vastly greater. This is only exemplified by a scene in which the tau openly mock his beliefs in the Emperor, we’ll get to that in a minute, and commit a form of sacrilege.
The more you think about what he’s doing the less sense things make. These wouldn’t be quite so bad were the novella not so heavily character driven.
Perhaps the worst aspect however is the way the book treats the tau themselves and has a case of severe artistic when it comes to the canon. The aforementioned bit with the Emperor? The scene might make sense until you consider that it’s been long established the tau don’t care about the religion of others. So long as they follow the Greater Good and accept their place within the Empire they don’t give a damn about who a person prays to. Another point is soon introduced with tau technology where messages are repeatedly broadcast to the whole of the empire and to T’au itself and replies are given within hours. Whereas previously they were long established to be required to use message boats for long distance communication, they just send e-mails and get responses within a day or two. More of these just keep happening until they build up into bigger problems and become severely immersion breaking for anyone with knowledge of the alien race.
Now you might think this was an entirely bad tale, but no. When you ignore the canon and character problems to focus upon the plot you can see talented writing. Elements both major and minor are introduced long before they come into play in a very fluid manner, both keeping up the novella’s fast pace and allowing for rapid development. Furthermore the book is extremely tightly and well-structured in how each event builds and flows into one another, creating the sense of a much greater story than would usually be allowed for such a small number of words. Unfortunately neither of these mean much when the novella’s content has so many problems, leaving the infrequent battle scenes only aspects to truly appreciate.
There really isn’t much fun to be had with this one. While it has good intentions it definitely needed a few rewrites and an editor who knew the tau better before it was released. As it stands for both character drama and as an example of the tau way of thinking you’re better off buying a copy of Fire Warrior and reading that.
Addendum -
Now, usually this would be enough for two stars on Goodreads. It's bad below average but not too bad. What pushes it down to one star was something I realised after reading: It performs complete character assassination on the tau military. The Fire Caste display none of the tactics they are known for and Shadowsun, supposedly a tactical genius, is reduced to being a complete fool. Full details can be found here.
April 28, 2022
Despite being a novella, it's too long and often written in a wordy way that feels stretched out. The entire section with the wildlife is filler. Some of the action scenes are written more like detailed choreography for a movie, making the fights drag on more than they should.
Probably the worst part of this story is that it makes Shadowsun not a particularly interesting or impressive character. She shows little respect for her allies or enemies, belittling and underestimating both. She repeatedly walks into traps and makes hasty choices that make her feel more like a rookie than a commander who has already served a long time. And the final battle feels downright insulting. The only thing that really stands out about Shadowsun is her family vs career conflict, as stereotypical as it is.
Outside the unique element of Shadowsun, this is a very dry story that at times feels interchangeable with Braden Campbell's other Tau/Imperial Guard stories. 'Commander Shadow' especially is similar, right down to the real world allusions ('Mountain men', huh). The only major character outside Shadowsun, Hollett, is an odd one; his loyalty to Shadowsun feels unearned even though it's supposed to be the climactic victory. Likewise, his presence as the 'normal' human doesn't really work when the Tau already occupy that narrative role.
Probably the worst part of this story is that it makes Shadowsun not a particularly interesting or impressive character. She shows little respect for her allies or enemies, belittling and underestimating both. She repeatedly walks into traps and makes hasty choices that make her feel more like a rookie than a commander who has already served a long time. And the final battle feels downright insulting. The only thing that really stands out about Shadowsun is her family vs career conflict, as stereotypical as it is.
Outside the unique element of Shadowsun, this is a very dry story that at times feels interchangeable with Braden Campbell's other Tau/Imperial Guard stories. 'Commander Shadow' especially is similar, right down to the real world allusions ('Mountain men', huh). The only major character outside Shadowsun, Hollett, is an odd one; his loyalty to Shadowsun feels unearned even though it's supposed to be the climactic victory. Likewise, his presence as the 'normal' human doesn't really work when the Tau already occupy that narrative role.
August 11, 2021
С такими командующими - непонятно как Тау чего-то там захватили. С такими офицерами - непонятно как Империум ещё не разнесли. Да-да дуэлится с ксеносом имперскому полковнику очень интересно, всегда мечтал.
April 18, 2018
The payoff ending making Shadowsun win with hostage imeperial officer help and luck makes Shadowsun looks like a joke. A AI Drone Crisis Suit would had been more interesting than her charcter in the novel. In the end of the day Tau cannot win aggainst the imperial without imperial help seem to be the theme of the story. Cool being for the story though.
August 18, 2022
This book, even if interesting setting, after all there are few books written in Tau perspective failed completely.
Bad writing, worse action sequences and unbelieveable plot that went nowhere.
The only good part was Shadowsun life and her struggly to choose legacy versus duty/Tau mentality. I also enjoy the few instances that the writer gave informationa about Tau Society but at the same time I think he should have search a bit better. The incongruencies are also one of those things that make you wanna think How hard the writer researched.
For what I know reading other places about Tau (Fire Caste) and Shadowsun I don't think she and they would behave at times as they did. Quite weak. Maybe for a newcomer to the game it doesn't really matter but to me it does since I consider BL as Canon to GW worlds.
The humans protagonists, even the traitor, are no more than one-dimmension.
Should you read this? Yes if you are a fan of BL or tales about the Tau. If you are just arriving to 40K I would not reccomend this tale. There are better out there.
For the Greater Good.
Bad writing, worse action sequences and unbelieveable plot that went nowhere.
The only good part was Shadowsun life and her struggly to choose legacy versus duty/Tau mentality. I also enjoy the few instances that the writer gave informationa about Tau Society but at the same time I think he should have search a bit better. The incongruencies are also one of those things that make you wanna think How hard the writer researched.
For what I know reading other places about Tau (Fire Caste) and Shadowsun I don't think she and they would behave at times as they did. Quite weak. Maybe for a newcomer to the game it doesn't really matter but to me it does since I consider BL as Canon to GW worlds.
The humans protagonists, even the traitor, are no more than one-dimmension.
Should you read this? Yes if you are a fan of BL or tales about the Tau. If you are just arriving to 40K I would not reccomend this tale. There are better out there.
For the Greater Good.
April 5, 2013
Short, to the point, and you could "almost" feel the rules in the battle descriptions (which I liked).
Didn't delve too much into much background detail for the universe or the Tau race, if you were a new reader of 40k material you would have been lost.
Kinda wrapped up a little too fast for my taste, I thought I was about 80% finished, when in fact I was 98% done.
Didn't delve too much into much background detail for the universe or the Tau race, if you were a new reader of 40k material you would have been lost.
Kinda wrapped up a little too fast for my taste, I thought I was about 80% finished, when in fact I was 98% done.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews