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Space Marine Battles
Overfiend
For many long years, the ork warlord known as the Overfiend of Octarius has bedevilled the Imperium, ruling his alien empire in the heart of the Emperor’s realm. Now, at last, three Chapters of Space Marines come together to destroy the greenskin menace and restore Imperial rule. The Salamanders, White Scars and Raven Guard, together with their allies from the Astra Militarum and bolstered by the aid of the mercurial alien eldar, fall upon the worlds of Octarius system with chainsword and bolter, bringing death to the orks.
This unabridged audiobook has an approximate running time of 14 hours and is narrated by Saul Reichlin.
This unabridged audiobook has an approximate running time of 14 hours and is narrated by Saul Reichlin.
Audiobook
First published September 24, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 8, 2023
A collection of three novellas set in the same campaign, in which the alien-hating Imperium of Mankind sends forth three of its most famous Space Marine chapters to bully a (mostly) innocent Ork warboss out of existence.
I found the second novella the most compelling, partly because I find the (tortured and sneaky) Raven Guard more interesting than the (enigmatic biker-gang) White Scars or the (compassionate and anvil-fixated) Salamanders and partly due to the Eldar introducing some plot complexity. Overall though this is a straightforward action tale, with character development playing second fiddle to big guns and bigger explosions. It's all fine, but nothing tremendous. The Orks are repeatedly described as dangerous and there's a reasonably high Imperial body-count, but they rarely feel as menacing as they should, nor are the Marines particularly easy to root for.
Some decent action moments, but without the peril and urgency of Rynn's World or Helsreach, both of which also feature Orkish onslaught elsewhere in the Space Marine Battles series.
I found the second novella the most compelling, partly because I find the (tortured and sneaky) Raven Guard more interesting than the (enigmatic biker-gang) White Scars or the (compassionate and anvil-fixated) Salamanders and partly due to the Eldar introducing some plot complexity. Overall though this is a straightforward action tale, with character development playing second fiddle to big guns and bigger explosions. It's all fine, but nothing tremendous. The Orks are repeatedly described as dangerous and there's a reasonably high Imperial body-count, but they rarely feel as menacing as they should, nor are the Marines particularly easy to root for.
Some decent action moments, but without the peril and urgency of Rynn's World or Helsreach, both of which also feature Orkish onslaught elsewhere in the Space Marine Battles series.
November 20, 2017
Pretty disappointed with this book. Lots of space marines running around shooting things. No character development.
Overfiend is three smaller stories.
1. White Scars on the moon fighting orks
2. Raven guard on the planet fighting orks
3. Salamanders boarding the ork crusier
The short stories did get better. I really hated the first one. I'd maybe give the first one 1-star. The middle one 2-stars. And the last one 3 stars.
Probably worth skipping.
Overfiend is three smaller stories.
1. White Scars on the moon fighting orks
2. Raven guard on the planet fighting orks
3. Salamanders boarding the ork crusier
The short stories did get better. I really hated the first one. I'd maybe give the first one 1-star. The middle one 2-stars. And the last one 3 stars.
Probably worth skipping.
August 13, 2022
This book ruled. It’s like 80% awesome fight scenes, and does a great job showcasing each of the three chapters it centers around. Each of the individual novellas is engaging, and they build on each other well. I especially liked the third piece, which centers on a tech-marine undergoing an existential crisis while beating the hell out of some orcs. Just a fun time.
May 14, 2024
"‘Techmarine Ha’garen has done well. He hasn’t just narrowed the field of our search. He has provided us with an actual destination.’
‘What of the path to it?’
‘Through the bodies of orks,’ Ha’garen said."
Not a bad read.
‘What of the path to it?’
‘Through the bodies of orks,’ Ha’garen said."
Not a bad read.
April 30, 2025
This was a great pallet cleanser. 3 distinct parts of story, three different chapters of space marines one overarching enemy: ORKS! If you like marines vs orks this is the book for you. It is as simple as that. Really enjoyed listening and to this
July 24, 2019
Pretty much three different flavors of bolter porn. Not bad as such, but pretty basic bitch.
July 8, 2020
Pretty boring. Not badly written, as so many 40k books are, but just not very interesting...
September 7, 2022
Quite fun.
May 1, 2024
Three space marine chapters pit their strength against an ork invasion.
November 19, 2020
Collection of three connected stories.
Orks are attacking the planet Octarius, and different groups of Space Marines have to blunt the invasion.
The White Scars have to investigate and stop the build up of forces on the moon.
Raven Guard are sent to the planet to see what the Orks are fighting for.
In space, the Salamanders have to stop the Ork space hulk before it reaches the planet.
They all also find that the Eldar are apparently working to the same cause, for their own alien reasons.
Lots of good action scenes, an infinite amount of Orks, and decisions to be made by each chapter regarding whether to work with the Eldar or try to stop them as well.
Each of the Marine Chapters are well described by the things that make them different to the others. The overall story really gels together.
Some of the Space Marine Battles books that focus on one particular chapter can be a long slog through the list of names. By doing this book as separate but connected stories then it keeps it interesting all the way through.
Orks are attacking the planet Octarius, and different groups of Space Marines have to blunt the invasion.
The White Scars have to investigate and stop the build up of forces on the moon.
Raven Guard are sent to the planet to see what the Orks are fighting for.
In space, the Salamanders have to stop the Ork space hulk before it reaches the planet.
They all also find that the Eldar are apparently working to the same cause, for their own alien reasons.
Lots of good action scenes, an infinite amount of Orks, and decisions to be made by each chapter regarding whether to work with the Eldar or try to stop them as well.
Each of the Marine Chapters are well described by the things that make them different to the others. The overall story really gels together.
Some of the Space Marine Battles books that focus on one particular chapter can be a long slog through the list of names. By doing this book as separate but connected stories then it keeps it interesting all the way through.
February 22, 2015
The first novella, Stormseer, slightly let the side down, and I'd contend that the overall plan throughout the book and its execution didn't feel like the work of three companies of three separate Space Marines which, for a SMB novel, is a big and somewhat damning criticism.
However, I was massively buoyed by the characters and actions that ran through the second two novellas (and the first really wasn't bad, it was just a bit mediocre). They gave a lot more, a bit of heart and a bit of an almost worms-eye view into things.
I found it a very rewarding collection, perhaps more for how it evoked and fired my imagination than by how dazzling the content was - but the content was still good and well-suited for me in a collection that I has a little trepidation about. Not perfect, but nevertheless markedly enjoyable.
However, I was massively buoyed by the characters and actions that ran through the second two novellas (and the first really wasn't bad, it was just a bit mediocre). They gave a lot more, a bit of heart and a bit of an almost worms-eye view into things.
I found it a very rewarding collection, perhaps more for how it evoked and fired my imagination than by how dazzling the content was - but the content was still good and well-suited for me in a collection that I has a little trepidation about. Not perfect, but nevertheless markedly enjoyable.
September 6, 2015
Argh! I'm so frustrated. I LOVED Annandale's short story in the Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters collection, so I was really excited about this, but ... oy. This is basically three short stories about Space Marines vs. Orks in a ... some famous conflict. I fairly quickly gave up on story #1, then tried to plow through story #2. I eventually just said, I'm not enjoying this at all, why bother? and gave up. There was one subplot I was vaguely interested in (the Librarian who knew he was fated to fight some big bad ork on this planet), but not interested enough to finish the tale. Yikes.
March 16, 2023
Very interesting book about a single campaign. It looks at the battles from three different angles and pushes the limits of the new reader. I enjoyed this book a great deal.
April 6, 2017
Three really good stories that link together well for the overall narrative. I'm not usually a fan of the three Chapters involved here, but David Annandale writes well and makes up for that.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews