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Astra Militarum #5
Deathworlder
An Astra Militarum Novel
On a planet trapped in the closing jaws of the Great Devourer, Major Wulf Khan of the Catachan 903rd receives a final, desperate mission – one which will take her soldiers into the maw of the tyranid threat.
READ IT BECAUSE
It’s a chance to see the Catachan Jungle Fighters in action on a planet almost as deadly as their homeworld. Dive into their gripping battle for survival as they face a voracious force of invading tyranids.
THE STORY
Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed.
The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System.
Facing impossible odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way through an endless xenos jungle. The enemy is merciless, relentless, endlessly adaptable and formidably resourceful... but so too is Khan.
On a planet trapped in the closing jaws of the Great Devourer, Major Wulf Khan of the Catachan 903rd receives a final, desperate mission – one which will take her soldiers into the maw of the tyranid threat.
READ IT BECAUSE
It’s a chance to see the Catachan Jungle Fighters in action on a planet almost as deadly as their homeworld. Dive into their gripping battle for survival as they face a voracious force of invading tyranids.
THE STORY
Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed.
The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System.
Facing impossible odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way through an endless xenos jungle. The enemy is merciless, relentless, endlessly adaptable and formidably resourceful... but so too is Khan.
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2024
68 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Hayward
19 books27 followersVictoria Hayward is a historian by training, publicly funded artist and mother of birds. She is the author of ‘The Carbis Incident’ and ‘The Siege of Ismyr’ for Black Library and is a contributor to the academic anthology ‘Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine.'
When not writing SFF she works in science communication, helping academics tell stories about their research whether it be on black holes or the palaces of despots. She spent one weird summer working in Westminster which has absolutely nothing to do with her interest in writing about dystopian bureaucracies.
When not writing SFF she works in science communication, helping academics tell stories about their research whether it be on black holes or the palaces of despots. She spent one weird summer working in Westminster which has absolutely nothing to do with her interest in writing about dystopian bureaucracies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
April 21, 2024
Victoria Hayward continues to impress with her first novel. I’ve drifted away a little from BL of late, but if there was no chance I was going to ignore this one.
Deathworlder is set on a planet in the final stages of consumption by an unnamed Tyranid Hive Fleet. We’ve had stories set in the earlier stages of an invasion, and some visiting the trademarked barren-balls-of-rock but I don’t recall reading about the latter digestion-pool-and-atmospheric-straw part in fiction. It’s really horrible. Hayward manages to gradually instill the horror of a whole ecosystem slowly becoming more lethal of that of Catachan brilliantly. In not using the official names of most bioforms most of the time, she also manages to keep them as an unknowable force- it’s arguably the most ‘other’ depiction of a Xenos species in BL, individuals rarely are mentioned and most of their actions are alluded to rather than depicted on-page. It makes them supremely creepy.
Early in the book, a character muses “Every regiment dealt differently with the stress, she thought. Some were lost to denial, others to despair. Catachans tended to become more Catachan, aggressively so, as Lief had”; and this novel gets down quickly to what being Catachan actually boils down to. Justin Wooley’s recent novel Catachan Devil also makes a good (power) fist of this, but here we pare away the bravado and expose the essential pragmatism. Admittedly some characters gleefully live up to the caricature but this book manages to make it feel like a plausible one. I guess it’s inevitable that a deathworld would lend itself to an introspective culture, but like the wider Imperium I hadn’t really considered it.
Also, it’s great how even on a world that pointedly features no avians, a cameo from a bird is heartbreaking.
Deathworlder is set on a planet in the final stages of consumption by an unnamed Tyranid Hive Fleet. We’ve had stories set in the earlier stages of an invasion, and some visiting the trademarked barren-balls-of-rock but I don’t recall reading about the latter digestion-pool-and-atmospheric-straw part in fiction. It’s really horrible. Hayward manages to gradually instill the horror of a whole ecosystem slowly becoming more lethal of that of Catachan brilliantly. In not using the official names of most bioforms most of the time, she also manages to keep them as an unknowable force- it’s arguably the most ‘other’ depiction of a Xenos species in BL, individuals rarely are mentioned and most of their actions are alluded to rather than depicted on-page. It makes them supremely creepy.
Early in the book, a character muses “Every regiment dealt differently with the stress, she thought. Some were lost to denial, others to despair. Catachans tended to become more Catachan, aggressively so, as Lief had”; and this novel gets down quickly to what being Catachan actually boils down to. Justin Wooley’s recent novel Catachan Devil also makes a good (power) fist of this, but here we pare away the bravado and expose the essential pragmatism. Admittedly some characters gleefully live up to the caricature but this book manages to make it feel like a plausible one. I guess it’s inevitable that a deathworld would lend itself to an introspective culture, but like the wider Imperium I hadn’t really considered it.
Also, it’s great how even on a world that pointedly features no avians, a cameo from a bird is heartbreaking.
August 16, 2024
Catachans are now my second favourite imperial guard armies - after Death Korps of Krieg. To be fair they were already but this just consolidated. Catachans are amazing force , legendary even among the best of the best imperial guard, some rival Space Marines in terms of bravery and strength, among other qualities. To be fair I don't doubt that Sly Marbo couldn't kill a space marine without any weapons.
In this tale we follow a world, Lazulai, in a brink of destruction due to the Tyranids. The planet has fallen , it just don't know it. We follow a couple of companies from Catachans & Cadians in one of the last fortress still standing. On this tale we follow several characters like Major Khan (F), Adair (F), Ghost (M), Haruto (M) plus Wrathe (F) a tech priest on a mission & Anditz (M) a Captain from Cadian. They are in a mission to unearth , a last mission in a dying world. IS it a weapon or something different? Who knows.
Lazulai , we are told is a world that has been change to have a high concentration of Minerals and people just live from that tithe. They have a not so good life, as almost all worlds in the Imperium, and a cultist that we accompanies briefly tells them that indeed they brought the "angels" to save them.
- "The ones who cut the rocks and shape the gems and die of lung-rot in the mines and who the Imperium grinds to dust, the Imperium whose thirst will never be slated.
- Do you mean the people that you and your cult condemned to death? Khan said coldly
- Condemned to death? Lamya hissed. What do you call life under your imperium? Endless toil in the grip of a Iron Fist, a miserable choiceless existence solely to serve the endless hunger of your Corpse Lord? You think it's any better? You think any of it is a choice' We are all being consumed by something. At least I have the agency to choose"
In the end, read only if you wish since it's a spoiler
The story basically is a journey through the vast wastelands of this world rapidly dying , as the planet is being slowly consumed , like we ourselves eat food, the Tyranids are eating the planet, with new "trees" or vegetation, acid stuff and so on.
This book is more or the journey than the end - although the end was very interesting although very predictable. I thought of what this thing could be after a couple of pages after telling us they were going on a journey.
I really loved the interaction between Adair & Anditz, of Khan and Haruto & Wrathe. Very cool to watch interaction between different types of guards and if you your goal is to know more about the Catachans or Post-Cadians this would be a brilliant book to do it. It's even better than Deathworld (although Sly Marbo is on that) but I have yet to read Catachan Devil & Straken - but I will be reading in the near future. It's full of action scenes but also deep thoughts of what it means to be a Imperial Guard Soldier on a dying world, honour, pride & dedication. Catachans are more than brute force.
I will confess I was a bit worried this book would go more for modern audience, and why shouldn't I be worried with all the stuff going around, since all the main characters were female but it was handled quite nicely by Victoria Hayward. This is how you handle female characters that are not Mary Sue or just a "woman" in men clothes. I Will keep reading her books, I wonder what she will tackled next.
Going to rate 92/100
In this tale we follow a world, Lazulai, in a brink of destruction due to the Tyranids. The planet has fallen , it just don't know it. We follow a couple of companies from Catachans & Cadians in one of the last fortress still standing. On this tale we follow several characters like Major Khan (F), Adair (F), Ghost (M), Haruto (M) plus Wrathe (F) a tech priest on a mission & Anditz (M) a Captain from Cadian. They are in a mission to unearth , a last mission in a dying world. IS it a weapon or something different? Who knows.
Lazulai , we are told is a world that has been change to have a high concentration of Minerals and people just live from that tithe. They have a not so good life, as almost all worlds in the Imperium, and a cultist that we accompanies briefly tells them that indeed they brought the "angels" to save them.
- "The ones who cut the rocks and shape the gems and die of lung-rot in the mines and who the Imperium grinds to dust, the Imperium whose thirst will never be slated.
- Do you mean the people that you and your cult condemned to death? Khan said coldly
- Condemned to death? Lamya hissed. What do you call life under your imperium? Endless toil in the grip of a Iron Fist, a miserable choiceless existence solely to serve the endless hunger of your Corpse Lord? You think it's any better? You think any of it is a choice' We are all being consumed by something. At least I have the agency to choose"
In the end, read only if you wish since it's a spoiler
The story basically is a journey through the vast wastelands of this world rapidly dying , as the planet is being slowly consumed , like we ourselves eat food, the Tyranids are eating the planet, with new "trees" or vegetation, acid stuff and so on.
This book is more or the journey than the end - although the end was very interesting although very predictable. I thought of what this thing could be after a couple of pages after telling us they were going on a journey.
I really loved the interaction between Adair & Anditz, of Khan and Haruto & Wrathe. Very cool to watch interaction between different types of guards and if you your goal is to know more about the Catachans or Post-Cadians this would be a brilliant book to do it. It's even better than Deathworld (although Sly Marbo is on that) but I have yet to read Catachan Devil & Straken - but I will be reading in the near future. It's full of action scenes but also deep thoughts of what it means to be a Imperial Guard Soldier on a dying world, honour, pride & dedication. Catachans are more than brute force.
I will confess I was a bit worried this book would go more for modern audience, and why shouldn't I be worried with all the stuff going around, since all the main characters were female but it was handled quite nicely by Victoria Hayward. This is how you handle female characters that are not Mary Sue or just a "woman" in men clothes. I Will keep reading her books, I wonder what she will tackled next.
Going to rate 92/100
April 29, 2024
A truly remarkable debut grounded in a very human story; brimming with heart, creative action, and a very nice resolution.
Two things more than anything else shine through in this novel: the supremely capable humanising of its two core regiments, handily subverting the stereotypes while playing into them in terms of sly (ha) references to the canon.
Secondly, a commitment to describing rather than naming the individual Tyranid breeds that makes them more alien, more horrific, affording them a perfect alien grace.
This is a novel utterly anchored by its core characters and their relationships, and I hope they return.
Two things more than anything else shine through in this novel: the supremely capable humanising of its two core regiments, handily subverting the stereotypes while playing into them in terms of sly (ha) references to the canon.
Secondly, a commitment to describing rather than naming the individual Tyranid breeds that makes them more alien, more horrific, affording them a perfect alien grace.
This is a novel utterly anchored by its core characters and their relationships, and I hope they return.
June 24, 2024
The Best of a Bad Deal
The planetary war for Lazulai is over, the Imperium has retreated, and the Tyranids have won. Deathworlder is the tale of those left behind. The story is nothing groundbreaking. It’s a last-ditch effort to rescue some one-shot MacGuffin, where you expect every character to die horribly and conclude in a Pyrrhic victory. Readers have experienced it all before, though this is repetitive even by Warhammer standards, as Ice Guard by Steve Lyons has the same kill team and ticking clock scenario. Lower your expectations, as Cadians have starred in three of the previous four Astra Militarum novels, and the Catachans had top billing in the remaining one. Nothing screams creativity like giving readers both.
Yet Deathworlder is an example of strategic failure saved by tactical successes. The author focuses on developing each member of the kill team. Catachans and Cadians are worlds apart. It’s a joy to watch them work out their differences. They discover shared commonalities and poke fun at stereotypes. A Tech Adept rounds out the team, and her nuanced approach to achieving the AdMech’s conceited, tactless goals adds layers to the suicidal mission. By the third act, the cast’s camaraderie is natural. They’re a family stalked by the Tyranids, which the author imbues with a sense of menace without ever relying on an alien POV.
Similar to the excellent depiction of Guardsmen, the Xenos portrayal is superb. Ignorance is key. Horror slowly dawns on the Tech Adept as the world is slowly Tyrannoformed. Equally, the Guardsmen recognize too late how the Hive Mind wields every organism as a part of the greater whole, with infantry wave attacks and clever misdirection. The author has made lemonade out of lemons. The otherworldly, inhuman foe evokes a sense of dread despite a lack of personal animosity. The bog-standard protagonists show off their personalities, backgrounds and cultures in the quiet moments between action set-pieces. Deathworlder is excellent writing held back by its weak outline, and one should keep an eye on its author.
Recommended.
The planetary war for Lazulai is over, the Imperium has retreated, and the Tyranids have won. Deathworlder is the tale of those left behind. The story is nothing groundbreaking. It’s a last-ditch effort to rescue some one-shot MacGuffin, where you expect every character to die horribly and conclude in a Pyrrhic victory. Readers have experienced it all before, though this is repetitive even by Warhammer standards, as Ice Guard by Steve Lyons has the same kill team and ticking clock scenario. Lower your expectations, as Cadians have starred in three of the previous four Astra Militarum novels, and the Catachans had top billing in the remaining one. Nothing screams creativity like giving readers both.
Yet Deathworlder is an example of strategic failure saved by tactical successes. The author focuses on developing each member of the kill team. Catachans and Cadians are worlds apart. It’s a joy to watch them work out their differences. They discover shared commonalities and poke fun at stereotypes. A Tech Adept rounds out the team, and her nuanced approach to achieving the AdMech’s conceited, tactless goals adds layers to the suicidal mission. By the third act, the cast’s camaraderie is natural. They’re a family stalked by the Tyranids, which the author imbues with a sense of menace without ever relying on an alien POV.
Similar to the excellent depiction of Guardsmen, the Xenos portrayal is superb. Ignorance is key. Horror slowly dawns on the Tech Adept as the world is slowly Tyrannoformed. Equally, the Guardsmen recognize too late how the Hive Mind wields every organism as a part of the greater whole, with infantry wave attacks and clever misdirection. The author has made lemonade out of lemons. The otherworldly, inhuman foe evokes a sense of dread despite a lack of personal animosity. The bog-standard protagonists show off their personalities, backgrounds and cultures in the quiet moments between action set-pieces. Deathworlder is excellent writing held back by its weak outline, and one should keep an eye on its author.
Recommended.
April 25, 2024
Astra Militarum soldiers from one of Warhammer 40,000s most recognisable deathworlds running around causing death on a world condemned to death? Sounds like… well sounds like a lot of death is on its way. It’s a Warhammer 40,000 novel, after all.
And yes, there is death. But there’s so, so, so much more.
In the book we meet Major Wulf Khan and her merry band of Catachans on the Tyranid infested world of Lazulai. Both Khan and the Catachans we spend the most time with in the book are well fleshed out (quite literally, as any good Catachan should be) and play off each other well. Adair in particular is a character a lot of people are going to grow quite fond of, myself included. Sure there’s tension between them, but author Victoria Hayward manages to find a sweet spot between too much inter-character anger to be outright unbelievable and so little it’s effectively pointless, then tiptoes across that trapeze without tumbling as a small cast of other characters joins the fray.
One in particular, Lamya, would’ve been relegated to little more than a three paragraph tirade ending in a plasma bolt to the face in most. But in Deathworlder she, a captured Genestealer Cult propagandist, adds a curiously human element to it all. The sheer horror of what’s going on around them might wash off the soldiery like water off a Termagants back but in Lamya we see what the whole horrible experience can do to a person, even one as bought in to the notion of creatures from beyond the edges of the void devouring a world as her.
The insights we’re treated to in how Catachans think and the way they act in relation to what we expect from decades of their exploits in codex books and background books and past novels is quite spectacular. Rather than merely humanising the 6ft something musclebound caricatures of 80s action movies, their behaviour and concerns make it far easier to empathise with them than in almost any past Astra Militarum-focused fiction I can remember. Seeing how they interact and reflect against a Cadian is a particularly enjoyable element to the whole thing.
My favourite part of the book, though? Nobody on the planet is really sure what’s going on. They know what Tyranids are and sort of how to deal with them at a command level, but for the normal soldiers it’s just another hellish fight. When a serpentine floating Tyranid monster with a bulbous head appears, the characters don’t go “oh, that’s a zoanthrope, this is how you deal with it” like one might find in some past novels. They’re flummoxed, they’re horrified, but they’re going to do everything they can to win. That more than anything else (minus the endless fun that is Trooper Adair being Trooper Adair) kept me glued to Deathworlder. I liked these characters, and I wanted to know exactly what they would face and how they would face the nightmare creatures in much the same way your or I might on finding a Haruspex crawling around the churchyard on a Thursday afternoon.
Beyond the ubiquitous ‘horde’ creatures a trooper would’ve likely seen in the months of conflict on a world under tyranid attack like gaunts and rippers, the more rareified and ‘strange’ creatures are just that. Creatures. Creatures whose motions and actions through the lens of people watching them are ramped up in sheer nightmare to eleven. We the readers know what they’re facing. We know what that bioform can do. We know it’s name. We know how tough it is to kill. But the characters in the book don’t, and watching as they come to terms with and find ways to combat what the Tyranids can do is almost as entertaining as them actually fighting the beasts.
Seeing a world slowly devoured and how it’s done without the initial need for a purely military victory is ten times more horrifying than anything else. There is one particular scene, which I’m reticent to spoil, which will stick in my mind for a very very very long time. You know That Bit from Deep Rising everyone remembers? Yeah. That. And it’s wedged itself into my mind with just as much gusto. It’s the real main antagonist of the book, far outweighing the sheer biological horror of the Tyranid creatures themselves tenfold.
Deathworlder takes larger than life soldiers, teams them up with other larger than life soldiers, then throws them wholesale into a literal churning hell of darkness, death, and biological creatures set against a planet which is just as deadly as the blade-limbed monster racing across it.
If I were to level any gripes against the book, it’d be that there’s not enough of it. That’s not to say it wraps up too quickly or draws itself out to much. Not at all. More, we only really get to spend a lot of time with a handful of Catachans throughout the book. I could have quite happily sat through a few more chapters of more of them chumming around and getting into fights before the plot kicked in at full pace.
And then find out whether Adair will love them or punch them square in the face.
Disclosure. Copy of Deathworlder provided by Black Library
And yes, there is death. But there’s so, so, so much more.
In the book we meet Major Wulf Khan and her merry band of Catachans on the Tyranid infested world of Lazulai. Both Khan and the Catachans we spend the most time with in the book are well fleshed out (quite literally, as any good Catachan should be) and play off each other well. Adair in particular is a character a lot of people are going to grow quite fond of, myself included. Sure there’s tension between them, but author Victoria Hayward manages to find a sweet spot between too much inter-character anger to be outright unbelievable and so little it’s effectively pointless, then tiptoes across that trapeze without tumbling as a small cast of other characters joins the fray.
One in particular, Lamya, would’ve been relegated to little more than a three paragraph tirade ending in a plasma bolt to the face in most. But in Deathworlder she, a captured Genestealer Cult propagandist, adds a curiously human element to it all. The sheer horror of what’s going on around them might wash off the soldiery like water off a Termagants back but in Lamya we see what the whole horrible experience can do to a person, even one as bought in to the notion of creatures from beyond the edges of the void devouring a world as her.
The insights we’re treated to in how Catachans think and the way they act in relation to what we expect from decades of their exploits in codex books and background books and past novels is quite spectacular. Rather than merely humanising the 6ft something musclebound caricatures of 80s action movies, their behaviour and concerns make it far easier to empathise with them than in almost any past Astra Militarum-focused fiction I can remember. Seeing how they interact and reflect against a Cadian is a particularly enjoyable element to the whole thing.
My favourite part of the book, though? Nobody on the planet is really sure what’s going on. They know what Tyranids are and sort of how to deal with them at a command level, but for the normal soldiers it’s just another hellish fight. When a serpentine floating Tyranid monster with a bulbous head appears, the characters don’t go “oh, that’s a zoanthrope, this is how you deal with it” like one might find in some past novels. They’re flummoxed, they’re horrified, but they’re going to do everything they can to win. That more than anything else (minus the endless fun that is Trooper Adair being Trooper Adair) kept me glued to Deathworlder. I liked these characters, and I wanted to know exactly what they would face and how they would face the nightmare creatures in much the same way your or I might on finding a Haruspex crawling around the churchyard on a Thursday afternoon.
Beyond the ubiquitous ‘horde’ creatures a trooper would’ve likely seen in the months of conflict on a world under tyranid attack like gaunts and rippers, the more rareified and ‘strange’ creatures are just that. Creatures. Creatures whose motions and actions through the lens of people watching them are ramped up in sheer nightmare to eleven. We the readers know what they’re facing. We know what that bioform can do. We know it’s name. We know how tough it is to kill. But the characters in the book don’t, and watching as they come to terms with and find ways to combat what the Tyranids can do is almost as entertaining as them actually fighting the beasts.
Seeing a world slowly devoured and how it’s done without the initial need for a purely military victory is ten times more horrifying than anything else. There is one particular scene, which I’m reticent to spoil, which will stick in my mind for a very very very long time. You know That Bit from Deep Rising everyone remembers? Yeah. That. And it’s wedged itself into my mind with just as much gusto. It’s the real main antagonist of the book, far outweighing the sheer biological horror of the Tyranid creatures themselves tenfold.
Deathworlder takes larger than life soldiers, teams them up with other larger than life soldiers, then throws them wholesale into a literal churning hell of darkness, death, and biological creatures set against a planet which is just as deadly as the blade-limbed monster racing across it.
If I were to level any gripes against the book, it’d be that there’s not enough of it. That’s not to say it wraps up too quickly or draws itself out to much. Not at all. More, we only really get to spend a lot of time with a handful of Catachans throughout the book. I could have quite happily sat through a few more chapters of more of them chumming around and getting into fights before the plot kicked in at full pace.
And then find out whether Adair will love them or punch them square in the face.
Disclosure. Copy of Deathworlder provided by Black Library
April 27, 2024
A brilliant novel in strong competition to be my all time favourite guard book. The story is interesting and well paced, with some good books. It’s maybe not the hit universe changing sort of story, which isn’t an issue unless that’s what you’re specifically looking for. The guard characters are well written and interesting and they each see a lot of personal development throughout their stories. The Tyrannids are likewise extremely well written, though maybe a little more akin to the aliens from the Alien movies than usual. I liked that though.
I think the GSC are the novels weak point. I much prefer the much more self-aware and self-conscious GSC characters we see in novels like Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Day of Ascension. Being aware of what is going to happen and wanting it is just so much more grimdark than being brainwashed. But it’s a minor issue that wont annoy most of you.
If you like the Imperial Guard (Cadian and Catachan) the Nids, the GSM you should absolutely read this Starship Troopers meets Alien in the grimdark future blast of a book.
I think the GSC are the novels weak point. I much prefer the much more self-aware and self-conscious GSC characters we see in novels like Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Day of Ascension. Being aware of what is going to happen and wanting it is just so much more grimdark than being brainwashed. But it’s a minor issue that wont annoy most of you.
If you like the Imperial Guard (Cadian and Catachan) the Nids, the GSM you should absolutely read this Starship Troopers meets Alien in the grimdark future blast of a book.
April 27, 2024
This is a really good book, the characters are very well fleshed out, and the story has elements of horror, comradery and hints of romance (or perhaps that's just excellent chemistry between them)
Hayward should and must (at least in my opinion) write more books for BL, she has taken a regiment which has always been portrayed a bit one dimensional in the past and transformed them into something so much more
The horror of the Tyranid invasion was really cool and between this and Leviathan, the bugs have never been more horrifying, like this has taken the species into some amazing new areas, kinda would like to see a follow up, even if just a short, to see how the survivors deal with the biological damage
Also SPOILER, of course the 40K version of the Genesis Device would be so much more terrible than the Star Trek original!
Hayward should and must (at least in my opinion) write more books for BL, she has taken a regiment which has always been portrayed a bit one dimensional in the past and transformed them into something so much more
The horror of the Tyranid invasion was really cool and between this and Leviathan, the bugs have never been more horrifying, like this has taken the species into some amazing new areas, kinda would like to see a follow up, even if just a short, to see how the survivors deal with the biological damage
Also SPOILER, of course the 40K version of the Genesis Device would be so much more terrible than the Star Trek original!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2024
This was a rousing bit of Imperial propaganda: action packed, sympathetic and likable characters, and fast easy to understand plot. I would love to read more about Major Khan and a hopefully reconstituted fighting force she leads in battle against the Tyranid. The last 30 pages of the book have the most intense drama especially between the characters. This was a very fun and diverting read. More like this please!
April 26, 2024
I have read Warhammer horror, crime, space marines etc but never romance, platonic naturally, I really enjoyed this book, it enhanced my tyranids knowledge (thank you Victoria) it was a really good behind enemy lines saving the day type story with ROMANCE, Black Library please get Victoria Hayward to continue this tale with these characters, great narration too
May 28, 2024
Full review here: https://civilianreader.com/2024/05/28...
Really enjoyed this one, and look forward to reading more by Hayward in the future.
Really enjoyed this one, and look forward to reading more by Hayward in the future.
May 3, 2024
My first trip into Warhammer 40k and a fun one it was a blend of war, SF and cosmic horror with a good cast and varied set pieces. Work really well
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
September 30, 2024
Outstanding grimdark novel that really manages to hit on all the elements of Warhammer that make it a great universe for storytelling.
There are no heroes, just survivors.
There are no heroes, just survivors.
April 17, 2024
Every time I pick up one of these new Astra Militarum books, I fear the worst kind of generic military page-filler. While not every book has been great, they've all proved me wrong - you'd think I'd have learned by now.
I think this is the first novel where I really buy the horror of Tyranids. They're usually an afterthought or are reduced to flavourless "chittering masses" for the protagonists to fight. Here, probably in part because I didn't recognize most of the variants and could imagine something scarier than the tabletop models, they're genuinely threatening, dangerous, and downright gross. I hope you're ready for a few passages describing things getting digested. This isn't a world getting stripped of life, it's a world curdling into a slurry for things beyond the stars to slurp up in stage by grotesque stage. And it's *awesome*.
With such descriptions in mind, the book is more of a trek through a putrefying hell than some protracted battle against endless foes. The 'Nids clearly aren't paying any special attention to the protagonists and the journey is more of an effort to go around them where possible than some non-stop battle; the bioforms are a deadly part of the environment more than a horde of individuals. Which isn't to say it's all shock value, the characters get lots of time to introspect throughout, and their tactical decisions often require much deliberation as well.
Speaking of the characters, the Catachans are already well drawn by the end of their introductory chapter. It takes some books upwards of a hundred pages to pull that off, meanwhile Deathworlder makes you understand each Catachan within a few passage. Our Cadian tag-along, Anditz, takes longer to solidify and his introductory chapter is probably the book's weakest moment. Worry not though, he becomes more and more compelling as things go. By the end you want to see him pull through just as much as the Catachans. Our two other side characters are also great, Wrathe is believably cordial despite her machine-cult fanaticism, and the cultist Lamya is a fun look at how someone who drank the Tyranid Kool-Aid reacts to their actual presence. None of them are anything super novel, but Hayward's strength comes in giving each believable layers to their surface-level tropes. The Catachans having plenty of respect for patience, tactics, and teamwork despite what other regiments see them as is probably the book's central example.
Not much to critique, IMO. Once they reach their goal things start to get a little shaky, with a few attempts at pathos that seem random when every character has emotional investments to be pushed on already by that point. As an example, Major Kahn notices a dead married couple towards the end of the book which stokes further hatred in her (despite not knowing what wedding rings are.) Considering she was already pretty fired up by both the loss of her regiment and many dead civilians throughout, it seemed almost out of place. This happens a few times in the last quarter - I think the scenes are written well but they read like a late addition to an already complete novel.
I also think it could have ended with something more bleak, but that's an issue I level at 99% of Black Library books, and I know it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.
Great stuff. My mind was never blown, but I was constantly thinking "excellent, well handled" throughout. Another new author I want to read more novels from.
I think this is the first novel where I really buy the horror of Tyranids. They're usually an afterthought or are reduced to flavourless "chittering masses" for the protagonists to fight. Here, probably in part because I didn't recognize most of the variants and could imagine something scarier than the tabletop models, they're genuinely threatening, dangerous, and downright gross. I hope you're ready for a few passages describing things getting digested. This isn't a world getting stripped of life, it's a world curdling into a slurry for things beyond the stars to slurp up in stage by grotesque stage. And it's *awesome*.
With such descriptions in mind, the book is more of a trek through a putrefying hell than some protracted battle against endless foes. The 'Nids clearly aren't paying any special attention to the protagonists and the journey is more of an effort to go around them where possible than some non-stop battle; the bioforms are a deadly part of the environment more than a horde of individuals. Which isn't to say it's all shock value, the characters get lots of time to introspect throughout, and their tactical decisions often require much deliberation as well.
Speaking of the characters, the Catachans are already well drawn by the end of their introductory chapter. It takes some books upwards of a hundred pages to pull that off, meanwhile Deathworlder makes you understand each Catachan within a few passage. Our Cadian tag-along, Anditz, takes longer to solidify and his introductory chapter is probably the book's weakest moment. Worry not though, he becomes more and more compelling as things go. By the end you want to see him pull through just as much as the Catachans. Our two other side characters are also great, Wrathe is believably cordial despite her machine-cult fanaticism, and the cultist Lamya is a fun look at how someone who drank the Tyranid Kool-Aid reacts to their actual presence. None of them are anything super novel, but Hayward's strength comes in giving each believable layers to their surface-level tropes. The Catachans having plenty of respect for patience, tactics, and teamwork despite what other regiments see them as is probably the book's central example.
Not much to critique, IMO. Once they reach their goal things start to get a little shaky, with a few attempts at pathos that seem random when every character has emotional investments to be pushed on already by that point. As an example, Major Kahn notices a dead married couple towards the end of the book which stokes further hatred in her (despite not knowing what wedding rings are.) Considering she was already pretty fired up by both the loss of her regiment and many dead civilians throughout, it seemed almost out of place. This happens a few times in the last quarter - I think the scenes are written well but they read like a late addition to an already complete novel.
I also think it could have ended with something more bleak, but that's an issue I level at 99% of Black Library books, and I know it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.
Great stuff. My mind was never blown, but I was constantly thinking "excellent, well handled" throughout. Another new author I want to read more novels from.
July 15, 2024
Rating of 4.75.
Debuting author Victoria Hayward presents one of the year’s most compelling entries to the Warhammer 40,000 canon, with the outstanding and grim novel, Deathworlder.
There are many dangerous foes and deadly enemies stalking the galaxy in the far future, but none are as insidious, destructive and terrifying as the alien menace, the tyranids. Made up of innumerable biological lifeforms, the tyranids traverse the galaxy, devouring entire planets and adding it to their biomass. Hundreds of former human planets have fallen to the hivefleets of the tyranids, and the next world to be consumed is the planet of Lazulai.
Once a magnificent planet of beauty and rich resources, Lazulai is currently on the brink of destruction. The armies of humanity were unable to hold back the invading tyranid hordes, and now the planet has begun to change as it is devoured by the alien lifeforms covering its surface. Only a few small pockets of resistance remain, including the 903rd Catachan Night Shrikes, who garrison one of the last fortresses still standing. However, hope remains in the most unlikely of places.
Receiving intelligence about a mysterious piece of archeotech that may hold the key for saving the entire system, Major Wulf Khan is given one final mission to retrieve the technology. Leading a small mixed squad, Major Khan must use all the innate Catachan skills of infiltration and survival in extreme environments to lead her soldiers through the alien jungles that have sprouted up in the wake of the tyranid advance. However, while the Catachans might be the best jungle fighters humanity has to offer, they are facing off against an unstoppable foe, capable of adapting to the greatest of obstacles. Can Khan and her Catachans prove they are the deadliest survivors in the galaxy or will the tyranid horde consume them alongside the last remnants of Lazulai?
Deathworlder was a particularly dark and intense Warhammer 40,000 novel that grabbed my attention from the very beginning. Hayward came up with a wonderful story that expertly highlighted the opposing Warhammer factions while also making full use of some very strong character work to tell an emotionally charged narrative.
To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2024/07/15/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Debuting author Victoria Hayward presents one of the year’s most compelling entries to the Warhammer 40,000 canon, with the outstanding and grim novel, Deathworlder.
There are many dangerous foes and deadly enemies stalking the galaxy in the far future, but none are as insidious, destructive and terrifying as the alien menace, the tyranids. Made up of innumerable biological lifeforms, the tyranids traverse the galaxy, devouring entire planets and adding it to their biomass. Hundreds of former human planets have fallen to the hivefleets of the tyranids, and the next world to be consumed is the planet of Lazulai.
Once a magnificent planet of beauty and rich resources, Lazulai is currently on the brink of destruction. The armies of humanity were unable to hold back the invading tyranid hordes, and now the planet has begun to change as it is devoured by the alien lifeforms covering its surface. Only a few small pockets of resistance remain, including the 903rd Catachan Night Shrikes, who garrison one of the last fortresses still standing. However, hope remains in the most unlikely of places.
Receiving intelligence about a mysterious piece of archeotech that may hold the key for saving the entire system, Major Wulf Khan is given one final mission to retrieve the technology. Leading a small mixed squad, Major Khan must use all the innate Catachan skills of infiltration and survival in extreme environments to lead her soldiers through the alien jungles that have sprouted up in the wake of the tyranid advance. However, while the Catachans might be the best jungle fighters humanity has to offer, they are facing off against an unstoppable foe, capable of adapting to the greatest of obstacles. Can Khan and her Catachans prove they are the deadliest survivors in the galaxy or will the tyranid horde consume them alongside the last remnants of Lazulai?
Deathworlder was a particularly dark and intense Warhammer 40,000 novel that grabbed my attention from the very beginning. Hayward came up with a wonderful story that expertly highlighted the opposing Warhammer factions while also making full use of some very strong character work to tell an emotionally charged narrative.
To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2024/07/15/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
September 6, 2024
Victoria Haywards novel 'Deathworlder' is a strong story that has a few hiccups along the way.
Pros:
- An interesting enough plot to keep you reading.
- A writing style that flows nicely, keeping you turning the pages with speed.
- A simple, small cast of characters that can be quickly understood and differentiated. I did like the characters and I did want them to succeed in their quest.
- Some interesting set pieces - I particularly liked the siege at the start of the novel, where the base is quickly over-run by Tyranid forces.
- A fitting conclusion to the story.
Cons:
- Many of the characters fall into general stereotypes. A sniper called Ghost? A big, strong soldier? One that's good with technology?
- An over-reliance on description that lengthens the book. I think a good 50 pages here could have been cut out if you were to take out a lot of the fluff. How many times was I told the main character had taken out a cigarette, I don't know, but it was A LOT. Similarly, how many times are we told that Catachan are raised in a jungle? It just seemed like repeating old ground.
- Some rather bizarre decisions made by characters don't always make logical sense.
- There's a lot of speaking when characters are apparently in life-threatening situations, about to be over-run by Tyranid forces. Call me sceptical, but I don't know how much you'd be able to have a chat to the person next to you while firing multiple guns and they enemy are metres from you.
It's definitely worth a read, and if you're a fan of Catachan warriors then this is certainly for you. All of the Militarium novels that I've read have been really good and this one stands proudly alongside them.
Pros:
- An interesting enough plot to keep you reading.
- A writing style that flows nicely, keeping you turning the pages with speed.
- A simple, small cast of characters that can be quickly understood and differentiated. I did like the characters and I did want them to succeed in their quest.
- Some interesting set pieces - I particularly liked the siege at the start of the novel, where the base is quickly over-run by Tyranid forces.
- A fitting conclusion to the story.
Cons:
- Many of the characters fall into general stereotypes. A sniper called Ghost? A big, strong soldier? One that's good with technology?
- An over-reliance on description that lengthens the book. I think a good 50 pages here could have been cut out if you were to take out a lot of the fluff. How many times was I told the main character had taken out a cigarette, I don't know, but it was A LOT. Similarly, how many times are we told that Catachan are raised in a jungle? It just seemed like repeating old ground.
- Some rather bizarre decisions made by characters don't always make logical sense.
- There's a lot of speaking when characters are apparently in life-threatening situations, about to be over-run by Tyranid forces. Call me sceptical, but I don't know how much you'd be able to have a chat to the person next to you while firing multiple guns and they enemy are metres from you.
It's definitely worth a read, and if you're a fan of Catachan warriors then this is certainly for you. All of the Militarium novels that I've read have been really good and this one stands proudly alongside them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2024
What an adventure this is! I could practically see the end credits of Predator by the end in my head, but right from the moment you get introduced to the characters, vivid and certainly memorable all round by the way, you know what you're getting yourself into. There's enough tension, personal motivation, and camaraderie to keep you going straight from the go.
As for the action, the thing I'd most expect to be happening is to feel the sheer relentlessness of a terrifying and unknowable enemy. The Tyranids are bad enough when they're just getting on with their horrors without a care in the world for anything else. When they start making things a little more personal, in that weird way they can, well, now we've got ourselves some trouble.
Favourite characters too numerous to mention, but Adair is fantastic in that on paper, she's the most stereotypical, but that's just part of the joke. And that of course she has way more nuance than that anyway.
For disclosure, I read this through the audiobook, and adored the narration from Gabrielle Nellis-Pain, who brings something wonderfully distinct to everyone with a name badge - and a good few without. I especially enjoyed Lamya for this, where she really draws out a wonderfully tragic (and sometimes comic) performance from a character who had no right to be as entertaining as she was.
I enjoyed every page of this, and look forward to more from Victoria Hayward soon! Though I've got my BL reading fairly mapped out for the near future...
As for the action, the thing I'd most expect to be happening is to feel the sheer relentlessness of a terrifying and unknowable enemy. The Tyranids are bad enough when they're just getting on with their horrors without a care in the world for anything else. When they start making things a little more personal, in that weird way they can, well, now we've got ourselves some trouble.
Favourite characters too numerous to mention, but Adair is fantastic in that on paper, she's the most stereotypical, but that's just part of the joke. And that of course she has way more nuance than that anyway.
For disclosure, I read this through the audiobook, and adored the narration from Gabrielle Nellis-Pain, who brings something wonderfully distinct to everyone with a name badge - and a good few without. I especially enjoyed Lamya for this, where she really draws out a wonderfully tragic (and sometimes comic) performance from a character who had no right to be as entertaining as she was.
I enjoyed every page of this, and look forward to more from Victoria Hayward soon! Though I've got my BL reading fairly mapped out for the near future...
October 4, 2025
In a lot of ways, DEATHWORLDER is the perfect companion book to DAY OF ASCENSION. That book ends with the Tyranids invading a world after a Genestealer cult paved the way. DEATHWORLDER shows a planet's destruction by the Tyrannids. The Cult is in disarray after their angels turn out to be vicious killer Xenos. The Astra Militarum is barely holding onto a few key military positions, and the remaining humans are either insane or resigned to their fate.
Enter the Catachan fighters. A regiment from a world covered in deadly jungles. On a planet where everything is trying to kill them, you breed a soldier uniquely right to take on a planet that's terraforming to kill all it's inhabitants.
Thus begins a slow march to discover a secret weapon that might save the planet and beat back the Tyrranids once and for all. There's Major Kahn, her 2nd in command and the brash young fighter who keeps defying the odds (The three on the cover) Add in a Catachan sniper, a lone Cadian regiment survivor, a cult member prisoner and an Adeptus Mechanicus priest and you've got your team ready to save the day.
Except they don't. There are no happy endings in this book. Certain characters you know from the start just aren't going to survive. Not through lazy writing, more the inevitable tropes of these kinds of stories. What really sparks are the relationships. Kahn and her 2nd in command, Haruto. Haruto and the female Mechanicus. The brash female Catachan Adair and the haunted Cadian survivor, Anditz. It's a shame there isn't much romance in 40k books as it was obvious 2 of those 3 examples were catching feelings for their partners.
DEATHWORLDER is about putting this team through their paces as they try to cross terrain that is growing more and more inhabitable to the planet's occupants. Insane cults, Tyrranid hunters, poison spores filling the air. The actual march is somewhat slow for my taste. They don't even reach their destination until the last chapter or two. But pacing aside the book is never boring. Hayward keeps throwing obstacles in the way of the team. The story is primarily told from two POVs. Khan, the leader who's wants to save her people or die with them and Anditz, who sees his fellow Cadians die and is desperate to salvage meaning from their loss.
It's a good book filled with fascinating characters and settings. The pacing to the end goal could be a little better. Sometimes the book reads as "random encounters" on the quest, but that's a small quibble.
Enter the Catachan fighters. A regiment from a world covered in deadly jungles. On a planet where everything is trying to kill them, you breed a soldier uniquely right to take on a planet that's terraforming to kill all it's inhabitants.
Thus begins a slow march to discover a secret weapon that might save the planet and beat back the Tyrranids once and for all. There's Major Kahn, her 2nd in command and the brash young fighter who keeps defying the odds (The three on the cover) Add in a Catachan sniper, a lone Cadian regiment survivor, a cult member prisoner and an Adeptus Mechanicus priest and you've got your team ready to save the day.
Except they don't. There are no happy endings in this book. Certain characters you know from the start just aren't going to survive. Not through lazy writing, more the inevitable tropes of these kinds of stories. What really sparks are the relationships. Kahn and her 2nd in command, Haruto. Haruto and the female Mechanicus. The brash female Catachan Adair and the haunted Cadian survivor, Anditz. It's a shame there isn't much romance in 40k books as it was obvious 2 of those 3 examples were catching feelings for their partners.
DEATHWORLDER is about putting this team through their paces as they try to cross terrain that is growing more and more inhabitable to the planet's occupants. Insane cults, Tyrranid hunters, poison spores filling the air. The actual march is somewhat slow for my taste. They don't even reach their destination until the last chapter or two. But pacing aside the book is never boring. Hayward keeps throwing obstacles in the way of the team. The story is primarily told from two POVs. Khan, the leader who's wants to save her people or die with them and Anditz, who sees his fellow Cadians die and is desperate to salvage meaning from their loss.
It's a good book filled with fascinating characters and settings. The pacing to the end goal could be a little better. Sometimes the book reads as "random encounters" on the quest, but that's a small quibble.
April 28, 2024
As if Games Workshop needed another reason to make new Catachan Models, this novel definitely provides another one. It gives an excellent insight into the Catachan mindset while providing some great action sequences and memorable characters. If you're a fan of the guard or the Catacahns specifically, this one is a must-read.
From the very beginning of the book Victoria Hayward sets the tone of the story, that of a world whose apocalypse has well and truly come. Throughout the story she manages to convey both the horror of a Tyranid invasion but also the tragedy of a society that tore itself apart. One genestealer propagandist especially gives us a window into what Lazulai was and how these people rationalize their decisions then the hive mind no longer cares to control them.
As for the characters themselves, Major Wulf Khan is a standout addition to the lore. Even if she isn't seven feet tall, she embodies that gritty Catachan spirit munching her cigar and doing some genuine action movie shit and walking away somewhat unscathed. I'd love to see a prequel about her before her days in command or another book about her Night Shrikes. There's a ton of potential here in my eyes.
Her squad, meanwhile, makes for some amusing and compelling characters. Narrowing the focus down to just five guardsmen really allows each one to shine. Sgt. Haruto provides a stubborn and businesslike demeanour to balance out Khan's more emotional and hopefully tendencies. Ghost gives us a great window into a Sly Marbo-like lone Catachan, someone who survived in the jungle on his own and survived. Trooper Adair was my favourite character after Wulf thanks to her shit-disturber personality, recruiting poster-worthy good looks and truly superhuman feats of strength. Lieutenant Anditz, meanwhile, was our token Cadian but watching how he interacted and contrasted with the Catachans gave us an even better understanding of their ethos and culture.
The Tyranids were handled as the horror from the stars that they are. It was an inspired decision to set the story on a planet as it is being digested/devoured by the hive fleet. At a certain point, the nids are no longer that concerned with killing the squad but instead on consuming all the biomass. There's even one fascinating scene where a genestealer is fighting one of the devouring beasts which raises some interesting questions about how the hive mind works.
Overall if you're looking for a good story that showcases the Catachans' indomitable spirit, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.
From the very beginning of the book Victoria Hayward sets the tone of the story, that of a world whose apocalypse has well and truly come. Throughout the story she manages to convey both the horror of a Tyranid invasion but also the tragedy of a society that tore itself apart. One genestealer propagandist especially gives us a window into what Lazulai was and how these people rationalize their decisions then the hive mind no longer cares to control them.
As for the characters themselves, Major Wulf Khan is a standout addition to the lore. Even if she isn't seven feet tall, she embodies that gritty Catachan spirit munching her cigar and doing some genuine action movie shit and walking away somewhat unscathed. I'd love to see a prequel about her before her days in command or another book about her Night Shrikes. There's a ton of potential here in my eyes.
Her squad, meanwhile, makes for some amusing and compelling characters. Narrowing the focus down to just five guardsmen really allows each one to shine. Sgt. Haruto provides a stubborn and businesslike demeanour to balance out Khan's more emotional and hopefully tendencies. Ghost gives us a great window into a Sly Marbo-like lone Catachan, someone who survived in the jungle on his own and survived. Trooper Adair was my favourite character after Wulf thanks to her shit-disturber personality, recruiting poster-worthy good looks and truly superhuman feats of strength. Lieutenant Anditz, meanwhile, was our token Cadian but watching how he interacted and contrasted with the Catachans gave us an even better understanding of their ethos and culture.
The Tyranids were handled as the horror from the stars that they are. It was an inspired decision to set the story on a planet as it is being digested/devoured by the hive fleet. At a certain point, the nids are no longer that concerned with killing the squad but instead on consuming all the biomass. There's even one fascinating scene where a genestealer is fighting one of the devouring beasts which raises some interesting questions about how the hive mind works.
Overall if you're looking for a good story that showcases the Catachans' indomitable spirit, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.
July 21, 2024
Have just finished this gloriously effective novel and it is fantastic. Humanising the Catachans is its first major strength and we are introduced to some fantastic characters in Khan, Haruto, and Adair in the first instance. There's some excellent supporting characters (Lamiya is wonderfully bonkers) and some wonderfully grim moments, my two most memorable involving a rite of atonement and some gems, and the other involving two big cuddly moths. For somebody who's always found the Tyranids a bit dull, this book made them sinister and terrifying again. From the seething mass of warrior forms and gaunts to the spore chimneys and the sea of digestive juices, the whole of a Tyranid bio-fleet becomes almost a single character filled with brooding menace. This is a fantastic book for imagining the aftermath of a Tyranid invasion and the impact on the human population and the environment. It is a stunningly accomplished 40K novel and I hope we get to see more of the Catachan 903rd. Also hoping we get to see a refreshed model range inspired by this excellent book. And, most importantly, lets hope that Victoria Hayward writes another Black Library novel soon!
September 24, 2024
Good beginning, let down by its ending. It’s very readable but as it progresses it slows down, as if it could have afforded to be a shorter book. Up until about the halfway point I felt it could be the best Tyranid book yet written, but the threats become repetitive as the story continues. What I liked best about it was how well it explored the Tyranid ecosystem as the swarm consumes a planet. From titan esque beasts to micro organisms all working in concert to maximize resource extraction. I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel.
I also enjoyed what mild exploration of the cadian and catachan cultures we got. Unfortunately there was a lot more telling than showing. We hear the whole novel about various forms of art and poetry yet we don’t get a single example.
I also enjoyed what mild exploration of the cadian and catachan cultures we got. Unfortunately there was a lot more telling than showing. We hear the whole novel about various forms of art and poetry yet we don’t get a single example.
June 1, 2024
This book fails on almost every level as a military fiction novel. The characters don't act or feel like military personnel, the writing feels like something from a fan fiction novel. For those who want a comparison, the quality of dialogues would fit like a glove in Homeworld 3. characters act stupid for the sake of a plot. ( an officer in first chapter acts like a stereotypical dumb commissar just so we could have a scene where characters tell us how baddass our protagonists are). The only saving grace are really good descriptions of Tyranids and how they consume the world.
August 31, 2024
A really good first novel! I watched Victoria Hayward's interview with Ian and Mira on YouTube and it really showed how much she cares about the story she's telling, and it shows. Much lighter in tone (but still about a glimmer of hope in an indifferent at best universe) than most 40k I've read but still effectively grisly. If we spent more time with the commandos from Predator (and they also had mixed gender units and also had healthier emotional balances) you'd eventually get the pathos you have here with Adair and Anditz. Tip top.
October 15, 2025
I love this, this is a great book full of action, dark and gritty and full of horrifying detail.
I also like how the Catachans and the Cadians are compared and presented here, including their way of thinking and their motivations.
The characters are also interesting and well written, this is not simple bolter porn, but a great character study.
A great way to help me with painting my new Tyranid army (since the book describes a desperate battle of the last Guard survivors against a Tyranid invasion).
I also like how the Catachans and the Cadians are compared and presented here, including their way of thinking and their motivations.
The characters are also interesting and well written, this is not simple bolter porn, but a great character study.
A great way to help me with painting my new Tyranid army (since the book describes a desperate battle of the last Guard survivors against a Tyranid invasion).
May 16, 2024
When I began reading this novel, I expected an exciting, action-filled story with the Catachans as its protagonists, (and I was right!) but it is so much more. Great, flavorful characters which you’ll inevitably fall in love with. A terrifying enemy and an incredibly well paced story that becomes an absolute nail-biter as you reach the final pages.
Also loved the Sly Marbo jokes.
Incredible debut for Victoria Hayward with her first full-length novel for Black Library. Hoping to see more soon!
Also loved the Sly Marbo jokes.
Incredible debut for Victoria Hayward with her first full-length novel for Black Library. Hoping to see more soon!
July 1, 2024
Absolutely love this novel, it was a fun ride. It has chuck norris memes, disgusting aliens and catachan women kicking ass.
In a more serious note, I like that it tried to go for class conflict. The characters of this military branch just seem completely unbothered to the struggles. It makes the novel even greater, they don’t get the reasoning behind the people choosing the Tyranids.
Definitely a good start for someone that wants to get into 40K.
In a more serious note, I like that it tried to go for class conflict. The characters of this military branch just seem completely unbothered to the struggles. It makes the novel even greater, they don’t get the reasoning behind the people choosing the Tyranids.
Definitely a good start for someone that wants to get into 40K.
November 10, 2024
Victoria Hayward did an excellent job I think of what it would be like at the end of a world suffering from the maws of the Great Devourer. The characters having to carry out their orders while knowing the world around them has zero chance of survival, and having to deal with the fact of that heavy burden on their conscious sets this story apart from others. It's not about winning, it's about surviving. I recommend this story and I am happy to have read it.
September 9, 2025
No space marines in sight!
Chronicling the heroic acts of a group of Catachans as they try to finish a mission that could have a long-lasting impact on the war against the Tyranids. It made me want to paint a Catachan army so that i could have some of those same kinds of heroics during a game of Warhammer 40k.
I found this a quick, fun book to chew though. I might not ever reread this it but I'm glad I read it once. if only for the perspective of the Guard against a foe like the Tyranids.
Chronicling the heroic acts of a group of Catachans as they try to finish a mission that could have a long-lasting impact on the war against the Tyranids. It made me want to paint a Catachan army so that i could have some of those same kinds of heroics during a game of Warhammer 40k.
I found this a quick, fun book to chew though. I might not ever reread this it but I'm glad I read it once. if only for the perspective of the Guard against a foe like the Tyranids.
May 9, 2024
Me quito el sombrero. Este si que es un buen libro. A ver, no es una obra de arte ni se compara con autores de la literatura universal. Pero dentro de su género es excelente y además de la emoción y acción implícita en black library, tiene también simbolismo literario y un lenguaje íntegro. Me encantó.
May 12, 2024
An outstanding addition to the Astra Militarum range. Hayward has knocked it out of the park - a gripping plotline with compelling well realised characters and some gut wrenching moments of anguish and tragedy on a dying world. All of the main characters are excellent but for me it's the Cadian Lieutenant Anditz who steals the show. Highly recommended.
June 22, 2024
This is the best kind of 40K novel. Your knowledge of the lore doesn't have to plumb the depths of several books to know what's going on, but there's enough grimdark Warhammer spice to put it in the setting. It also covers the Imperial Guard (Astra Militarum) who are just normal humans (kind of loosely since Catachans are extraordinary by human standards) doing their best in alien (sometimes literally) circumstances.
The characters are unique and engaging, the story is gripping. It may not be the colossal space opera of other 40K books, but what it does offer it delivers in spades
The characters are unique and engaging, the story is gripping. It may not be the colossal space opera of other 40K books, but what it does offer it delivers in spades
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews