Siege of Vraks: Warhammer 40,000

by Steve Lyons

A Death Korps Audiobook

Vraks is an armoury world that is vital to the struggling Imperium and its efforts to resist the wider threats to humanity. The planet is a key link in the long supply chain that keeps the beleaguered Imperial regiments stationed around the Eye of Terror and ready for war.

The stoic Death Korps of Krieg have been assigned to this desperate world's defence. The grim soldiers of this regiment are born to serve the Emperor, as below Krieg’s irradiated surface is a human factory, existing only to produce soldiers destined for the front line in the Imperium’s most toxic and gruelling warzones. These indoctrinated soldiers are unflinchingly loyal and willing to sacrifice themselves without question or regard to ultimately win victory.

And they will need all these qualities to face the horrors awaiting them on Vraks…

LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE

Understand just how the Death Korps of Krieg have earned their reputation as the Imperium’s most ruthless fighters in this gripping tale of desperate defence and defiant loyalty. Even when all seems lost, new ways to survive and fight are unearthed, as an officer named Tyborc, expecting to die, finds a new way to live.

THE STORY

Vraks has fallen.

Mustering an army from the ranks of the Death Korps of Krieg, the Astra Militarum embarks on a long and desperate siege to save the planet from the madness of an apostate preacher. It will last seventeen years, cost the lives of millions, and attract the attention of daemons and heretics alike, but the Death Korps must claw back victory, inch by bloody inch, from the hands of the enemy.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction

Audible Audio

First published June 22, 2024

About the author

Steve Lyons is a science fiction writer, best known for writing television tie-ins of Doctor Who for BBC Books, and previously, Virgin. The earliest of these was Conundrum in 1994, and his most recent was 2005's The Stealers of Dreams. He has also written material for Star Trek tie-ins, as well as original work.

Reviews

[Ridel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siege of Morale

After decades apart, the venerable Steve Lyons returns to WH40K with two novels starring the Korpsmen of Krieg. Having written Death World and Ice Guard in the mid-2000s, the author helped dictate the feeling of being a baseline human in a universe of terror. Siege of Vraks proves why he gets the universe at its most fundamental level. The worldbuilding is a masterclass of subtlety. Scaling up WW1 by a hundredfold, Vraks is a planetary siege that sees millions dead in a week. Air power, armour and artillery are plentiful but never in the quantities necessary for our guardsmen’s viewpoints. Void war, fleet blockades, and warp-based logistics dictate the remaining lifespan of every Imperial trooper yet remain aloof and inscrutable. It’s a naturally immersive experience in the future of war.

Despite the plethora of detail, the author never resorts to info dumps. Siege of Vraks is instead a slice-of-life novel. It dares to cover seventeen (17) years of war using vignettes of disposable Korpsmen. Grimdark in a universe of such, the people of Krieg seek atonement and consider themselves expendable. They even eschew names and refer to one another by their Munitorum numbers. It’s a monumental task to assemble a coherent narrative with such personalities, and the author doesn’t quite get there. While non-Krieg personnel provide consistency through the decades, the purposefully uncharismatic troopers dominate the narrative. It’s hard to get emotionally attached to the nameless. Their acts might be stunningly heroic, but after chapter after chapter of such sacrifices, it all blurs together.

The author doesn’t make this an easy read either. The material is depressing on average. There’s some sardonic humour, but any sensation of hope is fleeting. I was surprised despite being prepared for the subversion of tropes. Some of the cast even survive long enough to grow as people. They debate the nature of religious devotion and the value of life, topics that might be relevant to the author's muse. By taking inspiration from WW1, Siege of Vraks is the definitive grimdark war. The convoluted plot is a see-saw of victories and defeats. The stakes increase over time. Space Marines and Titan Legions lend their support, but what’s critical are the inexhaustible armies barely holding off heretics and daemons. Their deaths might be senseless, their sacrifices might be wasted, and even their triumphs might be forgotten. But readers, Siege of Vraks will make you feel the despair of the far future.

Highly Recommended for WH40K fans.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A humane look at the Krieg

If you're reading this, there's a HUGE chance you've seen a certain someone's Vraks YouTube series. This book will not rehash that tale. We know it, we know Vraks. What this book does is tell the human story, the missing story, the emotional story. You'll see the true cost of Vraks, not in millions of lives lost, not in equipment, but the damage done to the human psyche. This is the closest to "All Quite on the Western Front" Warhammer has ever gotten, and it's great.

[Dimitris Zisis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a constant fight after fight, battle after battle. 18 years of a siege, more than 20 million lost souls.

We see Death Korps at their finest! Commanders, commissars, confessors and every tank. Waves of Korps charging through a dead land to reach the citadel they besieged.
And of course the politics, ethical and difficult decisions Korpsmen have to take.

This book is a piece of art!

[Jacob Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts fairly slow, but does a great job of characterising the Death Korps, and even follows characters long enough to see them grow and come to grips with their existence as nothing more than a number in the ranks of soldiers around them.

Awesome read with some great action and even small delves into the horror elements in the warhammer universe.

[Jack Parsons-Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insight to the lives of a Krieg Korpsman, the daily meat grind of the Emperors Militarum mortals. the constant battle against, heretics mutants and the unclean. the Eldritch horrors and hulking monstrosities of the heretic astartes that a normal soldier must face, are there such things as Krieg Heroes?

An excellent book. Thoroughly enjoyed!

[Jack Neighbour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing novel from Steve Lyons on death korps of Krieg. Really enjoyable from a ww1 trench warfare perspective and adds a human element following multiple characters across a 20 year war.

[Austin Loney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything Death Korps of Krieg related is a knockout for me. I especially liked how Steve Lyons attempted to, and succeeded at, humanizing the Kriegsmen of this story. That's not something you see too often as this guard regiment is all about dying in service to the Emperor to repent for past sins against the Imperium. Without spoiling anything, I hope to see a sequel of some kind to this one!

[Unseen Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating of 4.5.

The always impressive Steve Lyons once again dives into the wars of the legendary Death Korps of Krieg with this epic new novel that shows just how massive a Warhammer 40,000 campaign can be with the ultra-exciting and intense Siege of Vraks.

In the far future, humanity has been forced to fight on many brutal battlefields, but none are as infamous as the slaughter that occurred on the planet Vraks. Once a vital armoury world used to supply regiments throughout the Imperium of Man, Vraks has become tainted by humanity’s greatest enemy. Thanks to a corrupted cardinal, the entirety of Vraks’s population has fallen under the sway of the Chaos Gods and have risen in rebellion against the rest of the Imperium, believing themselves to be fighting in the god Emperor’s name.

Desperate to reclaim the vital world, the Imperium has no choice but to send in a massive besieging invasion force to purge the traitors. Only a completely relentless force has a chance of success on the bloody fields of Vraks, and to that end the stoic soldiers of the Death Korps of Krieg have been chosen to lead the attack. Experts at sieges, fanatically stubborn, and desperate to wipe away the stain of their planet’s historical betrayal, the soldiers of Krieg are prepared to destroy their enemy no matter the cost.

However, even with the implacable Krieg soldiers leading the assault, Vraks is no simple planet to conquer. Its massive central fortress is impregnable, and the entire population of planet has been mobilised to fight against the Krieg, equipped with the massive arsenal of weapons previously held in Vraks’s armoury. To defeat their enemy, the Krieg will need to spend years and millions of soldiers to slowly approach and wear down Vraks’s fortresses. But with the constant battle drawing the attention of other malign Chaos forces to Vraks, can even the massed forces of the Krieg win this impossible siege, or will these fearless soldiers finally face an army even their devotion and dedication to duty is unable to overcome?

Siege of Vraks was another particularly strong Warhammer 40,000 novel from Lyons, who excels at diving into the grimdark core of Warhammer fiction. Filled with an insane amount of action, Siege of Vraks proves to be an intense and addictive siege novel that cleverly explores a well-established lore event and presents it in an outstanding and moving way to the reader.

To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2024/09/21/...

For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/

[Ben Amos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable, grimdark tale about everyone's favorite gasmask wearing guardsmen, this time exploring their iconic siege of Vraks. Overall, its pretty good, this time the novel actually exploring the modern Kriegsmen POV for nearly the entire novel (Krieg did this in parts, but not to the same effect), and giving good insight into the fatalistic stoicism that embodies the Krieg and their need for atonement. The battles and descriptions are right out of a World War One battlefield (minus the demons and space marines of course), and did a good job of really capturing what an absolute slugmatch of a war this was, not won through just one decisive battle, but the back and forth of slowly pressing forward, where every foot is paid for in blood (a detail which as a world war one history enthusiast I enjoyed).

The only really issue I have with the story is the actual format it is told, with the best parts being when we get to follow a single soldier for extended periods of time and get a feel for how the 'faceless' Krieg go about the messy business of war. There are some 'named' POVs we get which are nice, as well as some side characters which act as juxtaposition to the almost alien like Kriegmen, but there also chunks of the book where it feels like text from an interesting history textbook, describing the events with a detached point of view. I did actually enjoy these as they helped again with the detached feel which is so crucial to the Kriegsmen being grimdark, but it would have been nice if, perhaps in between, we could have seen moments of the Krieg in the times they aren't fighting past the few glimpses we got.

In conclusion, having not read the original Imperial Armour books depicting this battle, I can say this did a good job on getting me invested, and following the back and forth, meatgrinder nature of this war which the Krieg are so suited for. It is grimdark, well-written, with great action and good characters, when they get the chance to shine. As far as warhammer novels go, you could certainly do worse, this one being quite excellent.

4/5, a fun read (as fun as the brutal horrors of trench warfare can be, anyways)

[Chris Whybrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not the best version of this story.

Originally, the Siege of Vraks campaign was written by the staff at Forge World, who used to make even larger, more expensive Warhammer models out of resin for people with even more money. You can find the whole thing online for free. It tells the story of two armies of men in gas masks, backed up by mutants and daemons and giant mechs, fighting what is basically WW1, but for almost twenty years. It's also really well written, there's a lot of twists and turns and for a story that is basically a fictional historical account, it's surprisingly emotionally gripping. So you can see why I was excited to see this story being turned into a novel, with actual characters and a closer look at the most iconic moments.

The problem is, you can't really cram a story of that scale and complexity into a book of this size, with comparatively few important characters. The book struggles to balance telling the personal, emotional stories of a handful of key players whilst also trying to summarise the gargantuan story of the entire campaign, and I have to wonder why. You could easily tell a smaller, self-contained story set within the campaign, in fact you could probably make a whole series out of them. As it is, none of the characters come across as especially memorable, possibly because they're all members of a brainwashed death cult expected to act the same, and possibly because we don't get to spend much time with them.

I won't say it's badly written. There are some excellent action scenes, and some very atmospheric moments, but the central flaw of the novel is that it's simply trying to cram far too much into far too few pages. I'm not pointing any fingers, obviously this is a licensed product, and one following a pre-written story, and I have no idea how much creative control the author had and who made what decisions, but judging what we got out of the process, I have to say that the summary of the entire campaign I read online was not only a more gripping read, but also somehow a more emotional one.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Siege of Vraks (A Death Korps Novel)" by Steve Lyons.
One word for this book, Bleak. Which I think is appropriate for any book involving the Death Korps of Krieg.
The planet of Vraks has fallen to a corrupted Cardinal who has turned from the light of the emperor and taken the population with him. He uses a botched assassination attempt to prove to the masses that he is divine and also protected.
The Death Korps of Krieg are called upon to retake the holy place and purge it of the corruption within.
As with any Death Korps battle plan they are relying on total attrition as they throw themselves at the enemy over and over not caring whether the live only that their death means something.
I enjoy stories about the Krieg as you don't really have time to get that attached to any characters, before they are blown to pieces, which is just a nice change of pace from the name barrage that can happen in 40k novels.
One of the main themes of the Siege of Vraks is that the Krieg are deliberately nameless and that it serves an important purpose in carrying out their mission.
It is a rare thing for a korpsman to be given a name but it does happen in this battle to a captain that is given the name Tyborc after a particularly heroic event.
The tale of him is spread among the troops to inspire them while he is kept at the back because a dead hero is not much use to anyone but we then get to see how he is affected by this while regular korpsman are still performing equally heroic acts.
There are Space Marines involved on both sides and Titans but the battle still hinges on the Kriegs relentless sense of duty and atonement no matter what they are faced with.
The fact that I've read this in under a week gives you some idea of how much I enjoyed it.

[shawn leavell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Grim and Intense Warhammer Epic

Siege of Vraks is a brutal and captivating addition to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The story plunges you into the heart of one of the most devastating campaigns in Imperial history, blending detailed lore with intense battles and a bleak atmosphere that perfectly captures the grimdark essence of Warhammer.

The book excels in its portrayal of the sheer scale of warfare, with meticulously detailed descriptions of trench warfare, massive siege engines, and the relentless grind of the Imperium's forces against the heretical defenders of Vraks. The sense of hopelessness and the weight of attrition are palpable, making the conflict feel both epic and deeply personal.

However, the pacing can sometimes feel slow due to the heavy emphasis on military logistics and the intricate details of the siege. While this adds to the realism and depth, it may be a bit overwhelming for readers who prefer a faster-paced narrative.

Despite these minor drawbacks, *Siege of Vraks* is a must-read for any Warhammer 40,000 fan. It offers a deep dive into one of the most iconic battles in the lore, complete with rich storytelling and unforgettable moments of heroism and despair. A solid 4 stars.

[Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Siege of Vraks is an interesting and compelling story, but the author's shortcomings really dampen the experience. As in the book, Krieg, the author can't really paint a vivid picture of what's in front of us. Most of the time, the environments are vague, and it's often up to the audience to fill in the empty void ourselves. For example, we know that the militiamen have worker overalls and swords grafted onto their arms, but illustrations of them show them to have far more than that. Once more, as in the previous book, it's as if the author himself doesn't know what's in front of him, and thus, can't describe it to us.

Another thing that is greatly annoying and the greatest fault in the book for me, is that the author keeps important information close to himself, and divulges when we're half way across the story. This is the case as to the disposition of troops, the nature of the defenses, and the mission of certain characters, including an important one who has no cause or reason to keep it from us, the audience. At times it feels as if, once more, the author himself doesn't know the information, and he comes up with it much later in the story but doesn't bother to tell us or at least drop feed it to us much earlier in the book.

[Paul Fischer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not well written, he skips over major events constantly way too fast. I also do not recommend to read "Krieg" before this because the major plot point that is left as a cliffhanger at there is *spoiler* that the Krieg are using heretical cloning technology to clone the war hero jürten wich makes all Krieg soldiers vat born clones of one person Wich is why they don't remove their gas masks. That is just casually ignored in this book with no explanation, suddenly there are Immersion breaking female Krieg troopers. So either the Krieg book is useless wrong Information or this is inconsistent for obvious political reasons. The book itself is 2 to 3 /5, verry bland and rushed. The lore inconsistency was too immersion breaking for me after listening to Krieg for 8 hours. Maybe it's a decent book if you don't have a lot of lore Background painting a picture in your mind.

[Jacob Bennike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not quite sure how to feel about this book. I think it may have been the worst Krieg book I’ve read in terms of how warfare works. Unconnected trenches, holding tanks back from assaults on enemy trenches, using artillery in a weird way and so on… Tanks were invented to be siege breakers in trench warefare and even if you argue that Krieg command wants to save them… it just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, the actual in character fighting when soldiers fight in the trenches is very well written. There are also some really great insights into the Krieg soldiers themselves, and it’s nice to see so many women within their ranks. I think Steve Lyons is really starting to break out the Krieg characters from the hole that GW and Black Library sort of put them in where they were mostly spoken of by non-Krieg. I really liked that.

I think the one major disadvantage this book has is that it kind of requires you to read Steve Lyon’s Krieg novel before you read this one. I think most people will have done so, and at least it’s another excellent book if you haven’t.

[Benjamin Ho · Rating 5 out of 5]

The men and women who make up the Death Korps of Krieg are barely human to the Imperium, their off world commanders, and even each other. But through the fires of war we see that they fear the horrors like anyone else, only that they are trained to push through and get the job done. Veteran Colonel Tyborc’s character arc was fascinating read, and his end makes you question which side you’d take(to avoid spoilers I won’t mention which sides I mean)? Confessor Tenaxus is also one who grows, finally putting her words into action. The others, while great, are really creative channels through whom the author paints the interminable Siege of Vraks. Job well done on turning a bleak world into a colorful novel!

[Chris Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

The siege of Vraks is a story written by Steve Lyon's the story as the name applies is a 18 year long siege on the planet of Vraks we have varies of different points of views throughout the story. I have heard of The Siege before but read a book dedicated to it was really interesting The story is a bit of a slow paced i think this works really well with the Krieg mentality stopping at nothing to achieve their goal the Krieg are a fraction that I have been reading more and more content about and this book is a perfect deep dive into how they work function and think would recommend this to any imperial guard fan

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does exactly what you want it to do. Very solid military sci fi with a focus on brutal trench warfare.

Something like this is hard to make great and I’m not sure it can be. There are many things limiting it. However, despite that, what we are given is lot of fun!

I hope this author continues writing krieg books because he is very good at it. If he keeps improving and honing his style & this type of story telling I imagine he’ll surpass all my expectations and give us a masterpiece of military sci fi. I will follow his career with great interest.

8/10. Very fun. Worth a read for 40k fans and those who enjoy military sci fi

[Key Holiday · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel hits very hard and doesn't ever disappoint. While I think my main issue with most of the 40k books I've read or listened to thus far is that they usually end lacklusterly, this one does not. The focus stays on the Krieg with little distraction so if you're a DKoK fan, you're going to love this book. It manages to humanize the Krieg without breaking their core concepts of self-reproach, shame, and redemption in their own sacrifice. The final realization of the novel's protagonist is both heart wrenching and inspiring.

[Jason Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was an interesting read!

The Siege of Vraks stands apart from the first Krieg book. It follows the story of a long Siege on a single planet. The Siege itself is the main story here - characters flit in and out of the story giving different perspectives of the war but never seem to hang around for too long.

If you're a fan of the Krieg or enjoy long descriptions of drawn out battles, you'd enjoy this, but I think if you're looking for more character focused tales you should look elsewhere.

[Yael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A more human story about the Krieg that further explores what it means to be a Death Korpsman and the nature of heroic figures in war, as well as how a soldier can raise the ranks in a deadly setting like Warhammer 40k.

I couldn't help but get emotional at certain parts, feeling the struggle of these nameless soldiers who only seek atonement for something their ancestors did, while they are basically born to be canon fodder.The conclusion is very grim, yet hopeful in a way. Definitely should be read as a sort of sequel to the Krieg novel.

[James Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, Steve Lyons does such a good job making this seem like actual history. I loved that it had traces of hope while still steeped in grim futile warfare. The Krieg are true perfect for 40K and I feel Steve Lyons does them such justice. 100% read for just a great story, I loved the whole thing I honestly have no complaints maybe a more death riders action but thats just preference. Give it a read if you love trench warfare and war of attrition. Also the struggle with finding their place in humanity was great, it’s honestly a deep book in ways.

[Cam Cieslak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally a Krieg book that actually has Krieg POVs! The narrative jumps around a lot, focusing on many characters throughout the 20 years covered in the story with only a few named ones and fewer who survive. This makes the themes of sacrifice, belief, and every life having a purpose, even if that purpose is to take an enemy bullet, tortured as many of the nameless and soon-to-be-dead characters learn the exact same lessons many times.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent, probably my favourite Krieg book by Lyons. Like his prior two books he really tackled the Krieg from an interesting lens, this time viewing them from the view of the Ecclesiarchy.

This was everything that I would have wanted from a Siege of Vraks story, I revisited the Imperial Armour books after reading this and the sheer amount he manage to bring to life in this book is really impressive.

[Stephen Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I wanted from the latest Krieg book. As we follow millions of the Imperiums legendary gas masked soldiers into the infamous siege of an important Armory World and Ecclesiarchical shrine that has been usurped by an Apostate Cardinal, we are confronted with themes of heroism vs duty, sacrifice vs waste, and thinking for yourself vs following orders.

Sieges are slogs, but this book is not.

⚠️Parental Warnings ⚠️
Damn is used 3 times
War violence

[Joffrey Gielen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting but jarring read that grants insight into the minds of one of the most notorious Astra Militarum Regiments in de Warhammer 40.000 universe.
The main characters are well written if, in some cases, interchangeable. The author balances the bombastic violence of the universe with the mindset of individuals in a doomed struggle with powers beyond their understanding. Hereby showing the limits of human endurance whilst criticizing and satirizing the horrors of real life war.

[Timothy James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Lyons does a great job as always with Krieg but the countless shifts in POV made this one a little less enjoyable for me than his other novels. A strong ending though rescued the middle of the book which had begun to drag on a bit for me.

Still, highly readable! Hope the ending leads to a spinoff!

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG that was good. That was satisfyingly grimdark. The action was absolutely epic and apocalyptic. That’s how you write characters in battles. Sometimes the writing gets too pretentious in these books and it loses sight of the basics. Not this. This was foundational and unpretentious and bleak and horrifying. This is not the future you want to live in. This is the hell and madness of war.

[Paul Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man this was a depressing book but its perfect for the Krieg. This was my first Krieg novel and I loved every minute of it. I enjoyed the different POV changes since it portrays well how the Krieg think of themselves as, just an unimportant guy doing their part to atone. Bought it due to the bad ass special edition cover and cant wait to purchase more from Steve.

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo que muchas personas quizá no entiendan de estas entregas de Lyon es que el personaje principal es la guerra en sí. Visto desde ese punto de vista es mucho más fácil reconocerlo como uno de los mejores libros del universo 40K. No esperaba un extenso desarrollo de personaje ni un viaje del héroe detallado, y sin embargo me dio un poquito de eso también.