The Killing Ground

Ultramarines #4

by Graham McNeill

In the dark and dangerous world of the forty-first millennium, Uriel Ventris and Pasanius escape from the Eye of Terror and must make their way on a perilous journey through a hostile universe to seek safety and redemption on Ultramar, in a new novel of the Ultramarines.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Military Science Fiction, Adventure

320 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2008

About the author

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

Reviews

[Ozan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Warhammer 40K novel. I know that it's the 4th book of Ultramarines series, but i started from here anyway by coinsidace. It was the only 40k novel on the shelf in the bookstore... So i got it and started. It was a nice read. I will read the rest of the series and Iron Warriors series which was written by the same author and Iron Warrios books are somewhat connected to the Ultramarines series.

The Killing Ground book was mainly about the war crime of genoside. Commander Barbaden ordered a genoside at the Kathurian Providance of Planet Salinas, the Killing Ground was another given name for the place after the genoside... Barbaden made The Genoside in the name of the God Emperor and all but that was never the less a crime against humanity which would not by approeved by the God Emperor.... Barbaden was a monster, and punished as such in the end of the novel with all the accomplices. Captain Uriel Ventris and his loyal friend Sergent Passanius of The Ultramarines chapter of Adaptus Astartes arrived at Salians with a device that relesed a big amount of wrap energy in to the world of Salinas with their arrival. They came from notorious The Eye of Terror Planet of Ruinous Forces... Uriel and Passanius were exiled from the home planet of Ultramaerines because Uriel as a Captaion of the Ultramarines acted against Codex Astartes which was the scripture which was written by Robout Gulliman, the Primarch of Ultramarines himself which all Ultramarines lived by and obeyed. Uriel and Pasaneus had monsters with them which believed in the God Emperor. Their hearts were at the right place even if their horrific appearances and Uriel wanted to save them so he brought them along. They were called the unfleashed. Uriel and Passanious found the local authorties which were led by Barbaden, sent a message to home and The Adaptus Astartes Gray Knights chapter answered the call. Leodegarius as the inqusitor leader of Gray Knights put Uriel and Passanius in to some tests to see if they came from The Eye of Terror wihtout corroption before starting to help them, and they passed all of The Tests. Then Leodegarious, Uriel, Passanious and Grey Knights acted to save the Planet of Salinas because Salinas was in grave danger of evekaning of Daemon Prince. Barbaden made the genoside to bring the rebel forces out to open battle, and achived his purpose... mad with sadness and revenge at their hearts, The Sons of Salinas went into open battle against Barbaden and lost, they all died... only with one survior, their former leader. If you could call that surviving... He lost his both legs, one arm, eyes and he was burnt all over, but he gained latent power with his excuritiatingly painful experience.... With this psytic powers, he ripped a hole in reality and elready warp sensitive planet was about fell pray to the daemons, a daemon prince was about wake becase the wrap energy which was released to the planet by the device that brought Urial and his friends to Planet Salinas fed the hole which was ripped opend by the psytic power of former leader of Sons of Salinas, but this was stopped by Leodegarious, Uriel and Passanious.

All the Unfleahed and The last moment of The leader of Unfleshed was as tragic as their lifes, but as monsters from Eye of The Terror, they were all corropted...The last moments of the Leader of Unfleahed was really tragic... But it had to be done... After Uriel dealt with The Tragic stutation, him and Passanious were sent back to Macraggea as Ultramarines who regained their honoures by the help of The Grey Knights, Macraggea was The Home Planet of all Ultramarines.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read that many Warhammer 40,000 novels, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read. For those of you unfamiliar with them, these books are a rather odd mix of far-future space opera and gothic horror, featuring various groups of Space Marines who do battle for their emperor against not only aliens but also demons and other supernatural monsters. They’re related to the Warhammer sword-and-sorcery novels (both series are based on role-playing games produced by the same company, after all), but they can be read independently of each other.

THE KILLING GROUND is the fourth book in the Ultramarines series, featuring a couple of rugged Space Marines, Captain Uriel Ventris and Sergeant Pasanius Lysane. Picture, say, Gunner and Sarge in the far future, with no Pooch, for those of you with long memories of DC war comics. This is the first one I’ve sampled from this series, as well as the first thing I’ve read by author Graham McNeill, and while it’s very unusual for me to jump into a series in the middle – I’m obsessive enough to feel like I have to read a series from the first, in order – I didn’t have any trouble getting up to speed on the story, which says something for the author’s skill. Escaping from the calamitous events in the previous book, Uriel and Pasanius find themselves on the planet Salinas, which has a grim, bloody past and now finds itself engaged in guerrilla warfare as rebels battle against the local governor. As space-hopping science-fiction heroes always do, the two Ultramarines wind up being forced to choose which side they want to be on.

I’ve come to expect big, sprawling action scenes in both Warhammer and Warhammer 40K novels, and in that respect, the first half of THE KILLING GROUND sort of disappoints. The pace is a little slow, as McNeill spends a lot of time setting up the conflict on Salinas. But the second half of the book makes up for that with plenty of action. Stuff blows up real good, to say the least, and McNeill conjures up a number of bleak but striking images. Also, Uriel and Pasanius are really likable heroes and the reader can’t help but root for them.

It took me longer than usual to read this book, which is usually a sign that I don’t like what I’m reading. That’s not the case here. I’ve just been really busy and haven’t had much time to read. I thought THE KILLING GROUND was very good and liked it enough that I’m definitely going to search out the first three books in the series and read them, too. If you think you’d like space opera with some horror elements blended in, I recommend it.

[Andrew Ziegler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the continuation of the Ultramarine's stories via one Captain Ventris. I think that McNeill nails the emotionality of the space marines here without making them seem like whiny humans. Where other authors have failed at making the Marines approachable (I am looking at you Ben Counter) and turned them into something untrue to the source material, McNeill expounds upon their cannon and their reaction to humanity in general.



There is a really interesting possibility for discussion and philosophy in this book, 2 marines sworn to the Emperor should fight on the side upholding that banner yes? We have all seen countless battles where planets are exterminated because a few have turned their back on the true light. However, I think the story gets kind of muddled in act 3, the main plot of Uriel returning to good favor comes to the for and the planet ant the possible discussion there is quickly glossed over and summed up. Still a good book and continuation of the series. I recommend.

[Vladislav Okishev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Відплата, найзагадковіший орден Адептус Астартес, пророцтва таро, привиди минулого й неминуча смерть — саме ці слова найточніше передають дух четвертої частини пригод капітана Урієля Вентріса та його вірного товариша Пасанія.

Після неймовірної перемоги в попередній битві, герої намагаються повернутися додому — на славний Макраг, скориставшись нечистивим транспортом. Та щось іде не так. Їхні душі вириваються з реальності та опиняються в зловісному, давно забутому куточку Імперії, де колись трапилася страшна трагедія. Транспорт зникає, і Вентріс із Пасанієм мусять розібратися, що коїться на цій планеті. Їх прибуття сюди — не випадковість, а зловісний пролог до подій, здатних занурити світ у кривавий хаос.

Їхній шлях сповнений випробувань: арешт, визнання, нові бої — на поверхні та під землею. Паралельно розгортаються інші сюжетні лінії, які поступово сплітаються в єдине полотно. Приємною для мене несподіванкою стає поява старого ордену Астартес (не буду казати якого, бо це спойлер) та містичний розклад таро, здійснений легендарним воїном з древньої капітули Астартес. Градус жорстокості набагато нижчий, порівняно з 3ою частиною, але все одно деякі моменти можуть викликати неприємні відчуття.

Загалом прикольно, але це просто героїчні пригоди двох людей.
Сюжет насправді дивний) Чому? Бо знову якійсь планеті загрожує небезпека, проте дії головних персонажів виявляються майже... непотрібними) Типу, вся проблема розсмокчується поволі сама собою. Так, герої розвиваються і проходять через низку різних психологічних та філософських моментів і це круто, але ядро сюжета досить підкачало. Я просто в кінці подумки сказав: "По суті ви могли просто вже почекати і все вирішилося би само собою, але нехай")

[Trenton McConnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this but I wish I had read the other three preceding books. It was really interesting to read a ghost story set in the 40k universe but I certainly would have felt much more attachment to the characters if I had read the full series.

[Stefan Popovici · Rating 4 out of 5]

No short story intro this time, it's straight to the main story.

After the events of the previous book Uriel Ventris along with his loyal sergeant Pasanius and the Unfleshed arrive on an unknown planet. It is immediately obvious however that not everything is as it should be.

From the start this is not like the rest of the books. There is no daemon world, no ancient god, no alien threat. This is a much more grounded story about humans and what war does to them. The characters are simple but they join together to serve the greater plot. In parallel to the story of the planet, Ventris and Pasanius have their own quest for redemption. Uriel in particular is still tormented by what he experienced in the previous book and still feels a great deal of responsibility to the Unfleshed.

This is probably the most story focused book in the series so far. The action is brief and mostly limited to the final third of the book but this helps the plot build at a steady pace towards its inevitable conclusion.

Obviously it's not a perfect book, some of the arcs have a rather dull conclusion and there are precious few surprises but it is very effective in what it tries to do and in the emotions it tries to evoke. It is a story about the ruthlessness of war, about how conflict can change men and ultimately about the fact that we are all responsible for our actions or lack thereof.

[Christian Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. Definitely the least impressive of the Ultramarine novels I have read thus far. Much of it seems to be written as a course-correction to a decision made at the end of the previous novel. It’s still well-written and a fun read, but it isn’t the best.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Master piece.

[Ronan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The grey knights are in this one raaahhhhh

[Aster · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Emperor loves me!’
‘Yes, the Emperor loves you,’ said Uriel, and pulled the trigger.

[Bill Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continues where Sky left Uriel and the Unfleshed. The Unfleshed story takes a bit too long to get moving, Uriel and his buddy have to deal with strangely hostile Imperial forces. At several points the antagonists keep the ultramarines around for no apparent reason given the ruthless nature of their previous actions. Basically I felt the story, while interesting, didn't actually make sense the way the characters were written. This book is a solid 'meh'

[Leon Pescador · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the Ultramarines series because you like the action, this is probably going to be your least favorite book. If you desire deeper struggle and developments from its main characters, this is one of the best books among the Ventris Chronicles.

After the rollercoaster action and moral turmoil of Dead Sky, Black Sun, McNeill appropriately takes the Ventris and Pasanius tempo down a few gears and gives our main characters a book to reflect and move on from the overall arc of both characters. The pair has just plumbed the depths of their own (flexible by Astartes standards) ethical code and the setting of Salinas offers an interesting environment for our two heroes to reflect and question whether they should go against the local powers on the planet or lay low.

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished and even though Ventris tries his best to do right by his Unfleshed allies, he is forced to make hard decisions that deviate from his sense of honor. The strongest parts of this book are the moral struggles of its main characters. I personally love the entrance of the Grey Knights and the trials that our main characters must cross to clear their name. Similarly, Killing Ground adds much needed depth to the mortal servants of the Imperium, who previously fit two molds: humble and hardworking or greedy and conniving. This book adds guilt, resentment, revenge, and grief to the mix, making the side cast more fleshed out (sorry Unfleshed) and able to carry the story forward.

Together with Dead Sky, this is the best of the Ultramarines books.

[Gordon Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

I complained earlier in this series that Captain Uriel Ventris was a bit too goody-goody for such a totalitarian and xenophobic universe. He still is, but it's nice to see layers and layers of grey introduced in the characters around him. In this case we deal with a bunch of groups and factions who believe themselves loyal to the emperor but don't necessarily see eye to eye, and flirt with strange ideas like justice and fairness.

McNeill deserves credit for keeping things fresh; so far in this series we've had a detective story, a last stand against overwhelming enemy forces, a suicide mission, and now Mandalorian-style adventure where hero and sidekick ride into town and try to sort good from evil. Fun, violent, but difficult to recommend to anyone not already a fan of the series.

[Sebastian Zaldua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta entrega es solo un cierre formal de la entrega anterior, utilizando los elementos de la tercera parte para esta. No está mal, pero se siente que faltan elementos que se pueden aprovechar. Se nota el desgaste de la saga lamentablemente, ya que convierten a unos guerrero como los caballeros grises en Marines que pueden ser vencidos con facilidad como si fueran guerreros comunes (en la misma novela se plantea que son los más poderosos de entre todos), y los protagonistas demuestran una muy fuerte armadura de guión.
Más allá de eso, es de lectura entretenida, ágil y se puede leer bien rápido.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could easily have been a short story, 200 pages of boring story line you have no connection to, that serves only to fill the book out. It was read out of necessity rather than joy, given where the 3rd book ended I was expecting this to be far better. The only saving grace is the introduction of some chapters and space marine lore, but even that feels very forced and only there to tick a box.

[Jordan Brantley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bookworm Speaks!

Warhammer 40,000: The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill

****

The Story: Having fulfilled their Death Oath, Ultramarines Uriel Ventris and Pasanius Lysane managed to escape the damned world of Medrengard, deep in the warp-infested Eye of Terror. Alongside their mutant allies, the Unfleshed, they emerged from the warp on the war-torn world of Salinas, where rebellion has been stirring under the iron fist of the Imperial Guard Regiment that rules the world. Uriel and Pasanius most now survive the restless spirits of Salinas both living and dead, if they are ever to return to their chapter.

The Good: This story is the fourth volume in the Ultramarines series by Graham McNeill and continues from the previous story of Dead Sky Black Sun and continues the adventures of the two Ultramarines, Uriel Ventris and Pasanius Lysane, who have found themselves stranded on a planet ruled by a contingent of the Imperial Guard.

The Space Marines tend to look down upon the mere mortals of the Imperial. The Ultramarines tend to be the exception to this role, still it visibly disconcerting for Uriel and Pasanius to be completely at the mercy of mortals. This is an interesting dynamic that takes the Space Marines out of their element, which is essential to creating a good character. The further exploration of Uriel and Pasanius and by extension the Space Marine’s personalities is well done here. A good way to test a characters is too take them out of their element. This was done superbly in Dead Sky, Black Sun, and it continues in the Killing Ground. The two Ultramarines have no idea where they are, Pasanius lost an arm, and Uriel is without his armor. Finally, they have a bunch of mutant abominations in their stead and they have no idea what to do with them.

Uriel’s caring persona is a great part of his appeal and the way he bonds with the Unfleshed is very appealing in its innocence, but there is a Steinbeckian tragedy in the works here and their ending while tragic is almost inevitable. In fact, there is a parallel between Of Mice and Men and The Killing Ground, in regards to the Unfleshed.

Leto Barbaden is an excellent villain and really reflects the mindset of the Imperium of Man. A character like Leto Barbaden is not that unlikely in the 41st millennium. The Imperial Guard or Astra Militarum, cannot be considered an ideal army even by today’s standards. Most don’t survive their first year and win by little more than sheer numbers than any real strategy. Since even their own officers could execute them at will, those that manage to survive for any length of time are conditioned to see enemies all around them, even if none are present. They are disciplined with an iron fist and tend to see the world through those lenses. It is not a big stretch of the imagination that they are not good at ruling civilians who are not soldiers. Barbaden sees human lives as numbers and not living souls which is common throughout the Imperium. All he cares about is results regardless of the cost of lives or material. The truth of the matter is…that in a lot of battlefields that mindset can bring victory, but it does not work on peaceful worlds. Barbaden doesn’t care and is convinced that his way is the best way. The worst kind of bad guy is the one who is totally convinced of their moral high ground. Emperor knows that we see enough of those in the real world.

The writer does a good job of building up the atmosphere. Even though Salinas is a whole lot better than the Eye of Terror, there is a definitely a gloomy and brooding atmosphere saturating the whole planet and city. The book begins in a rain storm after all. It really sets a stage for the more horror story that is being told.

The Flaws: One of the problems, or at least where this book is lacking is in the character of Pasanius Lysane. He is not a boring character by any means, but at the same time he is a bit of blank slate. The main focus of the Ultramarines series is Uriel Ventris and it is primarily his story. Pasanius is sort of a big lug, sidekick character. There is nothing wrong with that but it would be nice to see the story from his perspective every now and then. We never get into his head for more than fleeting moments.

This can also be said for Leto Barbaden, good character but not very three dimensional. That is not always necessary but it does add a nice touch. This also extends to several other of the side characters, who are simply not allotted a great deal of time to expand on their natures. Again, this simply can’t be done with every character.

While the ghost story elements are good, some may argue that they do not really fit in with the style of Warhammer 40K. It is good to stretch boundaries in storytelling, but the author has to be careful to not stretch them too much, lest they alienate the reader base.

Final Verdict: A different approach to the typical Adeptus Astartes story but it is a good approach and a good addition to the tales of the Ultramarines.

Four out of Five Stars


thecultureworm.blogspot.com

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A return from damnation onto a world almost as cursed as the one they just left.

[Travis Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very slow book compared to the first three books. I also find the ending lacking and the threat was over to quick. I hope the next books are better.

[Tammy Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story! Enjoyed it a lot.

Very sad about what happened to the Unfleshed. They deserved better than to be used by angry spirits of the dead.

[Ulzeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite fun.

[Dallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uriel Ventris makes the usually cold Space Marines feel like real heroes!

[Jakob · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Hector Segura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and yet very sad. Love that Uriel Ventris is a grounded character that we can count on to do what's right

[Joe Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grey Knights cameo >>>> any Marvel cameo

[Ceasar Navarro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read, really enjoyed the POV of the Unfleshed🥲

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really had fun reading the book especially that I was following Ventris Journey as an Ultramarine Captain.

As to the book itself, it was like Dante's Inferno but with an Astartes as the hero. Hence, there is no poetry to it nor deep theological or even philosophical debates or ideas being thrown into the reader. The book is simply WAR and how it played out in hell which is quite entertaining especially that the good guys won. :)

And that was fun to read. It was cool and really worth the time I spent reading it while I was in the bus and during weekends. As such, give it a try.

[Alexander Seifert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first (ever) dip into the world of Warhammer 40k. My previous experience with the series had been watching my best friend play some of the RTS games on his laptop during college. So it goes without saying that I had very little clue what I was getting myself into when I grabbed this for cheap at a book store (although it did sit on my shelf for a while before I got around to it).

Book-wise, The Killing Ground isn't anything TOO special. I was somewhat taken aback when I was just hurtled into the intricate realm of the future that is Warhammer. A series this long-running has amassed a wealth of jargon and other terms, and they just lay it all on you without any sort of heads up. By the end of the book, I respected that, but I was more than frustrated when I started reading and had all these future tech words thrown at me and all this history of things I didn't even know about. Warhammer is rich with factions and they all have tens of thousands of years worth of history behind them, and the authors at the Black Library will willingly drown you in that.

The story is actually pretty rich, although I later realized that this is further in on a series of Ultramarine books (whoops!). The story revolves around two banished marines who survive their Death Oath and return to a planet and find themselves pulled into the drama of a recent conquest and bitter feelings toward the army of occupation. There's also another plot about decayed creatures lurking on the planet that may or may not be related to our two marine 'protagonists.'

A mixture of science-fiction and fantasy, Warhammer 40k allows for some very interesting stories, and while this one had all the standard tropes of a science-fiction story, it has enough to stand on its own legs as a good story. I like it, and I imagine that anyone who enjoys scifi would also probably get a kick out of the plot and the various twists and turns it takes.

[Abhinav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent novel. I had been looking forward to this quite a bit but the novel failed to impress me. The characterisation was off in many places and it made it hard to connect with the characters, even though I've been following Uriel and Pasanius' adventures for a long time now. Even the portrayal of the Grey Knights was off. They came across more as a checklist rather than believable characters. And given the events of the previous novel, Dead Sky Black Sun, Uriel and Pasanius' new 'friends' were far too accepting of what they had been through. I can't really recommend the novel but I do have to say that the ending is almost worth it. The last 3-4 pages are some of the most powerful reading ever because they are so emotionally charged.


You can also check out a slightly longer review over on the page for Ultramarines: The Second Omnibus

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

A full review for the novel is now available over at The Founding Fields

http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/05/...

[Robert Mccarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story of camaraderie (Uriel and Pasanius), A planet wide insurgency, the unfleshed, and the pestilent nightmares. All of the characters were very well rounded Uriel and Pasanius being my two favorite characters after Ragnar Blackmane (of the Space Wolves Chapter). Their comaraderie and shared experiences really enhances the book as the two characters balance one another impeccably. The story is an excellent follow up to Black Sun, Dead Sky picking up where it left off and thrusting our heroes into yet another rip roaring adventure, granted not nearly as dark as the one they just finished. Bravo Graham McNeil, bravo.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting 40K novel. Essentially similar to Peter Straub's "Ghost Story," except ... much more bolter fire in the third act. Probably the best place to go with Uriel & Pasanius, a quieter, more creeping horror setting after the building insanity of the last two books in the series. Possibly a little long in the tooth come Part Four, but eminently readable. Definitely made me want to keep reading.