Elemental Council

by Noah Van Nguyen

A Warhammer 40,000 Novel

Since the T’au Empire annexed the world of Cao Quo, its benighted human population has caused setback after setback for their new rulers, resisting the light of the Greater Good. Now, an armed rebellion has taken root, led by the ruthless but brilliant Artamax – a Space Marine of the Raptors Chapter.

READ IT BECAUSE
Explore the inner workings, politics, and challenges facing members of the T'au as they face a full-scale planetary insurrection from within their own empire. Can a selection of experts from across the castes come together to defeat this insurgency?

THE STORY
In a moment of crisis for the T'au Empire, the enigmatic ethereal Yor’i assembles an elite Elemental Council – a veteran Fireblade, a water caste spy, a peerless air caste pilot, and a maverick earth caste engineer – in the hope of curtailing the growing insurgency on the planet Cao Quo.

But as a full-scale planetary insurrection looms, enemies more cunning than Yor’i’s council could have imagined begin to surface from both sides, and Cao Quo soon finds itself teetering on the brink of being plunged back into a dark age of ignorance, and all-out war.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Military Science Fiction

498 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 2024

About the author

I'm the author of Elemental Council, Yndrasta: The Celestial Spear, and Godeater's Son. I live in the US with my wife. In early 2025, our son's going to join us and ruin our good time. We can't wait.

Check out my blog, The Lingual Fantast! (noahvannguyen.com)

I like coffee. It's a problem. I'm decent with foreign languages. I'd love to hear from you if you care to share.

Reviews

[Samuel Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this since it was announced. It promised to be a look into the internal structures of the T'au Empire and the relations between members of the different castes and it most certainly delivered.
"Elemental Council" feels like a deconstruction of the T'au Empire, the Greater Good, the caste system, and what it means to be T'au. It explores the supposed righteousness of the Ethereals and asks how much that they can truly represent the Greater Good. It breathes life into the characters and gives them vibrant personalities. The characters are very likable and each one of them has an interesting story and relation to the other characters, whether it's already existent or developed during the course of the story.
The story shows both hope and despair for the future of the T'au Empire. It shows the good parts of the Empire, as well as showing its failures and inadequacies, all without dwelling one too much.
The T'au are allowed to be right, they're allowed to have good ideas of peace and unity, but they're also allowed within the story to be misguided and passive to their authoritarian empire that governs them.
The book also adds a lot of potential for future T'au stories, while also not feeling like it's all too important. And it really feels like an appropriately grimdark story for the universe that it takes place in.
Overall, "Elemental Council" is a superb book that balances deconstruction of the T'au faction with a good story and entertaining events throughout the book. I'd recommend it for any T'au fan or anyone seeking to learn more about the T’au. It was truly amazing to experience and is likely my favorite Warhammer 40,000 book.

[Paul Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book
Probably the best I have read dealing with the tau and their castes and infrastructure
Superbly narrated by Emma Gregory

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally a book on Tau without Phil Kelley writing it

[Alex Van De Wiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

The T'au take over an imperial planet, but an underground rebel force led by a space marine tbreaten to unravel the enture campaign. Worse, an ethereal is missing somewhere on the planet.

A fellow ethereal creates an elemental council to find her. There's the elderly water caste spy, whose faith in the empire is failing. The clone of clones of a fire warrior hero, a shadow of the person her propaganda teams claim she is. A disgraced but brilliant engineer of the Earth Caste, encased in her handmade battle suit. The air caste pilot grieving for his lost wingman, and the endlessly hungry kroot.

On the surface, this story about a rag-tag team has a lot of potential. Much of it is delivered; there are strong moments between Orr, the water caste spy, and almost everyone else. Swordlight, the fire caste hero's clone, has her big moment of triumph. Ke finds herself in the comraderie of her peers, and we get a neat glimpse into the day to day operations of a T'au occupation. Artamax, the space marine villain, is portrayed as insanely competent and as a force multiplier, both things missing in many space marine books. The plot was solid, and improved towards the end.

At the same time, there were many pieces which didn't make sense. Orr, a logical and philosophical T'au, constantly flip flops between beliefs, and it gets repetetive and annoying. He and swordlight are too hot and cold; they go from enemies to friends after a single bonding scene. Ke also changes too fast; her later confidence growth seems earned, but almost as soon as she joins the team she goes from timid to self-assured for no apparent reason. The misdirection over who was behind the T'au Supremacy movement felt pointless, as Yor'i was so suspicious throughout.

Additionally, I found myself needing to reread sections constantly to figure out what was going on. Not sure if it was a flaw with my e reader, but the perspective changes would happen without notice, including time skips.

Still easily one of the better T'au representations in lore overall, but on the weaker side of the recent Xenos novels like Infinite & Divine or the Ufthak Saga.

[Alej · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars don’t get too excited!

Lord almighty, what am I doing reading two Warhammer novels back to back, am I really gonna be lured onto that side of the hobby now? I can barely keep up with painting minis!

Anyway, this book was honestly amazing. It blew me away, it was riveting, it was dark, it had a Kroot character in it (and you know my rule). My god Noah Van Nguyen has to keep writing Tau books, this is one of the best I’ve ever read. He really captured their society, their idiosyncrasies, their similarities to the Imperium of Man and their key differences. It’s a dark book, no one in Warhammer is “the good guys” even the Tau, however this book made me terrified of Space Marines. It’s crazy, I was half expecting the book to not commit to have a loyalist marine be such a villain, I expected a twist that he had fallen to chaos, but no, a Space Marine is a demon to anyone they face. Brutal action sequences, but where the book really shines in is the political intrigue and double crossings. It really feels more like a spy thriller than anything else, with random Bolter-porn stuck in it because it’s a 40K novel. Still I loved all the characters, I really did, and some of the deaths actually made me very sad. The final scene was absolutely insane though, what a closing moment. I LOVE THE KROOOOOOOOOT.

Side note, I read and listened to this and I gotta say the audiobook is incredible. The VA does an excellent job, and thankfully no odd East Asian accents that sometimes they give the Tau.

Overall as you can guess I loved it, I want to read more like this. Maybe it’s time I hop back onto my sci fi train. Enough horror, fantasy, and the small sprinkling of Literary Fiction I read.

[Dominic Trump · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a faction that is definitely revising its portrayal in the setting this was a really strong showing of, I hope, things to come. The layered take on an alien culture, broken up by the diverse perspectives in the book really made it feel like if I was to recommend one novel for the Tau it would be this. The ending felt maybe a touch hand-wavey but this was outshone by my most surprising positive of the book: Really effectively treating humanity like something to be scared of. Without going into it too much I came for the protagonists but I stayed for the villain.

[Isaiah Z.-McGuire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the characters in this, and Space Marines serve so effectively as antagonists. Artamax is so intimidating as a lone rebel leader. My one gripe with this story is the Kroot. I get that they're meant to be a contrast to the Tau, but I'd like to see them written away from "noble savage" tropes.

[Fresh Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elemental Council has done for Tau, what Jonathan Beer did for Mechanicus. Which is to say, they have discovered the secret sauce to actually write their faction well. Like Beer, Noah Van Nguyen seems to have finally realised how to write an alien faction in an interesting way.

To boil it down, its suicide squad in space, with Tau. Which turns out to be excellent.

It genuinely reads like a love letter to the full breadth of tau lore over twenty years, recognizing the present while honoring the past. Van Nguyen weaves story threads that have been introduced as far back as Kill Team, Fire Warrior, and Imperial Armour III with acknowledgment of the Empire's more modern displays of cruelty in Fire Caste and Kelly's novels (often with contempt). Instead of presenting readers with yet another contradictory depiction of both the Tau'va and the Ethereals, we get a story that feels considered and intentional, where the consequences of such acts of cruelty are ever-present. We get that old desire for genuine altruistic unity, marred and stained by individuals' loss, prejudices, or desperation.

I’ve heard a lot of people didn’t enjoy the ‘over-glazing’ of the Space Marine here; but honestly I enjoyed it. It’s easy to forget how absolutely terrifying they are in comparison to basically any non-standard humanoid race in the Galaxy. Not to mention the chapter he comes from is essentially the ‘in-universe’ reasonable-marines. It’s what you’d get if you put special forces in Astartes armour. They don’t f*** about with cqb and pastel colours.

Ultimately, Elemental Council emerges as an exceptional work, its merit extending beyond the context of the Black Library to stand as a distinguished contribution to mature science fiction. Van Nguyen demonstrates considerable literary talent, and I look forward to his future endeavours. We might be interning a Golden Age of 40k, where middling authors don’t get to hog whole chapters and factions. A faint future where Nick Kyme can get his grubby mitts off the Salamanders. 😂

[AA_Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noah Van Nguyen, unsurprisingly, has written an immaculate 40k novel.

I adored his earlier shorts in the broad setting, and his Godeater’s Son is the standard by which I now judge all AoS novels against. Elemental Council sets the standard for all books about the Tau going forward, and shows the potential for future Xenos novels. Recent books like Rob Young’s Longshot have done a really good job of setting them apart from the Imperium, but the complete focus on Tau characters really gives them room to breath,

The Tau here don’t feel like caste-based humans painted blue; they’re not wholly unrepeatable but they do have a distinctly ‘other’ feel. In looking at the interactions and frictions within Tau society, and having the characters forced to analyse their place within it, Van Nguyen paints such an impressive and realised picture that one almost forgets the book is designed to sell toy soldiers.

It’s not short on the traditional thrills or spills though, and whilst it makes the Tau look great, it really shows the resilience and power of an individual Astarte, almost akin to Abnett’s Brothers of the Snake, which is rather neat.

On a personal note, I started the ebook of this in one of my spells when I just didn’t feel like reading and struggled to get into it- nothing about the text, just me. I restarted it as an audiobook and couldn’t stop listening. Emma Gregory, once again, does an excellent job reading this, imbuing each of the characters with so much personality.

[Patrick Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Listened to this on Audible). A pretty great book about the Tau.

Emma Gregory does a typically excellent job with the narration. She really seems to have enjoyed the Kroot voice.

Is this another somewhat complex book about colonialism in a world where existential supernatural evil actually exists? (After Godeaters Son?) well yes, but the existential supernatural evil isn't in this, jut humanity, who are pretty bad.

Humanity makes a great villian in the 40k universe but is rarely used for this to the best possible effect because, even when seen from other eyes, most other options are worse. The recent Necron book had a nice vision of humanity as a horde of crazed fanatics - but the necrons were still pretty nutty. Tau are much bettter for this. The imperium really comes across as utterly maliciously and vividly evil in a way it rarely does in other stories, (and as ancient and inexplicable, which is interesting). Artimax, a Raptor Marine, one of the most sane and reasonable of humanities defenders, being an utter utter bastard consumed with a textured hate for all things nonhuman and a religious devotion to the Imperium, is a lovely vision of how even apparently-sane marines would come across to anyone else.

The moral challenge of humanity for the Tau makes up the core axis of the book and is the most interesting aspect, (though its somewhat ruined, or de-powered, by the end, spoilers below).

Humanity exist in the Tau's cognitive shadow, in that particular blend of like and unalike that makes someone exceptionally difficult to deal with. There are too many humans. Even the Tau don't really understand just how many there are. A strange threat posessed by Man is that we actually might like the Tau'va too much. This is a message of (relative) hope, sanity and reason that humanity has not heard for a long time, many would probably actually go for it, and if the Tau can provide military support, perhaps even more. But there are so many humans, the galaxy throngs with them, the human imperium is massive, many many many more humans than Tau, even more than Tau-plus-auxillia. So what happens when the majority of believers in the Tau'va.. are human? They have no magical respect for Etherials and their culture, passions, family loyalties, even their psychic potential, make them inherently different to the Tau. They would change the Tau'va, the governing ethos of the Tau Empire. The closest equivalent I can think of this is maybe the seismic effect Persian thinkers had on Islam and the gradual outnumbering of Arabs in Islam with other peoples. Is this thing an actual Universal Faith, (which is its moral excuse for existing), or simply an ethnic cult, (which is its practical manner of surviving and spreading). If you accept humanity into the Tau'va they may take it from you and ruin it. If you treat humanity as they would treat you, as Tau, as animals and sub-things to be exterminated, or at least controlled, then you make the Tau'va a lie, which kills it anyway. Its and interesting problem to deal with.

SPOILERS AND (MILD) DISSAPOINTMENT)

Someone has been spreading a Tau supremacy cult in a backwater world, hoping to use the brushfire conflict there to crack open the Tau'va like an egg, spreading the challenge of the fundamental incompatabliity of Man and breaking the ethos of the Tau empire. Thoughout the story its a bit of a whodunnit game trying to work out who did this. My main guesses were;

- the female Ethereal who went missing investigating the cult.
- the chilly male Ethereal running the Elemental Council trying to find her.
- The local Tau fire caste commander
- some clone of one of the main cast (they don't know they've been cloned)
- the inquisition somehow

It trned out to be the inquisition somehow. This ties everything up neatly, or close-to in a plot sense, but closes some of the morally discomforting elements in a way that I find less interesting. (Though its still left open that it might have been the chilly Ethereal).

.....

Are Tau just Asians now? They are more just space asians, or the asians from the Karate Kid movies, in this than perhaps they were before, almost a parody of pop culture asian traits, uniform and obedient to the point of lunacy, meditating on rocks etc etc. Well it works so why worry. Study the blade, they have god and anime on their side.

[Lincoln Koehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A distinctly fascinating look at a Xenos Empire that is underrepresented (and often misunderstood) within the Warhammer 40k Lore. Frankly, getting a novel of this quality on something other than the Imperium (as cool as they are) is a wonderful thing to get period, but to also have it be on the T'au who so often get a bad rep as being non-conformative to the "Grim Darkness of the 41st millenium" is even better. Noah Van Nguyen does a brilliant job of illustrating the unique circumstance of the T'au Empire, warts and all in trying to truly pursue the T'au'Va, the Greater Good.

The book is riddled with great characters from different castes, giving a varied perspective on the T'au's way of operation, additionally featuring an Ethereal, which in a way for me at least, showed the nuance to these characters that are often discussed as utterly alien, unknowable, and most importantly, evil (within basic lore discussions). Nothing is as simple as it seems, and the T'au Empire faces a grave threat in this book from 1 singular Space Marine, that's right, a singular surviving Space Marine poses such a grave threat that it takes up more or less the whole plot of this novel (just for those Imperium glazers who think they're being disrespected, you're not at all).

The greatest strength however of this novel I think, lies in the essence with which the T'au'Va is presented. As mentioned, great danger is posed to the T'au occupation of this new world throughout the novel; however, this novel simultaneously shows the true conviction all T'au have, and that generally speaking... they are better than your Empire I'm sorry to say it folks. Regardless of the narratives people bring, this book shows the truth of the T'au in terms of spy networks, clandestine operations, full on suppression and indoctrination, but few of those things are first resorts, and none of them are half-as-bad as Exterminatus or the usual operations of the Inqusition/Ministorum, so... yeah just thought I'd mention that lastly. It is truly a great standalone novel that wraps up perfectly, at the least, it left me satisfied and had mysteries throughout I have rarely seen in 40k novels.

[Niklas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best WH 40K/Back Library books transcend the IP and join the illustrious category of “genuinely good science-fantasy writing”. This is one of them. Given this argument, here are reasons why Elemental Council can be enjoyed by three types of people: non-40K fans, 40K fans, and T’au fans (the latter two very much not being the same category).

a) This book is decent military science fantasy. For military nerds, it touches upon discussions of how to wage complex combined arms warfare and counter-insurgency. The author’s prior service shines through. The titular Elemental Council serves as a window into the 4+1 castes of the T’au empire and how tradition and idiosyncrasies have to be surmounted to maximise a society’s output (in this case, to wage war/pacify a planet). The society under the looking glass feels quite human politically despite their alien anatomy, as such it feels quite grounded.

b) For habitual 40K readers, Elemental Council belongs to a category of BL publications that examines a particular aspect of the universe by fleshing out some aspects and tidying up other contradictions in prior lore. There is plenty of shooting and even some melee combat (sometimes you can’t avoid being charged, sadly), but those scenes are coherently placed within a wider narrative. There is a bit of a twist at the end that echoes prior BL publications which does not work entirely well for me but otherwise EC does justice to the faction and actors it portrays.

c) Perhaps sadly for some, Elemental Council means T’au players and fans have to cease their whining for a bit at how terrible their lore has become. The T’au Empire has never felt more cohesive and “breathing”, given Noah Van Nguyen took the time to take a serious and mature look at a faction that often is painted in extreme colours (e.g. naiveté vs genocidal zeal). Elemental Council calls back to these extremes but places them in their contexts: timelines, actors, and factions matter. This is highly subjective, but I think NVG’s vision of the T’au Empire is pretty close to perfect. I hope this book sells well, and he gets to expand upon it.

Two negatives I noticed were a) the twist I mentioned at the end, which was perhaps drawn out a bit too much (and then fell somewhat flat, given we have read similar twists before) and b) I felt the descriptions of geography and topography sometimes were not particularly clear. Cao Quo is quite alien (more so than “Mars with violet bushes” or “Gothic cathedrals in a swamp”) and a lot of the set pieces have quite a pronounced element of verticality to them. Maybe it is my lack of spatial comprehension or imagination, but I thought the initial explanations often were not entirely intuitive. But as I implied, those topographies are rather ambitious, which I weigh in the book’s favour. 4.7/5 final score, I very much hope this gets read widely and is enjoyed (and noticed by BL).

[Mellon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this great addition into Tau lore, but it felt like the writing overcompensated in many areas.

Positives
+Great characterisation of each elemental caste and overall addition to Tau lore.
+Main villain was brilliantly written. Whenever they were about to appear, I could not help but read on. Space marines as villains are truly terrifying.
+Internal politics was constantly being played out with a constant back and forth tug between what the Tau members thought was right in their heart and their own moral code.

Negatives
-Overly descriptive and excessive use of technical jargon. Some parts I just thought, 'ok, their comms aren't working.' And after so many pages, I still don't feel like I know what the author really intended Cao Quo to look like (make it up in your own minds eye).
-Inconsistencies between character feelings and actions that would play out just a few paragraphs later.
-Gaping plot holes and weak ending. After years of intelligence work on Cao Quo, Orr really didn't know anything about the rebels' latent support among the human populace or the Syra cult. However, the worst part was the final missing puzzle piece being a newly introduced macguffin as a shapeshifter.
-As a big fan of the Kroot, they were handled overly simplistic and insensitively in my opinion, 'Meat, meat, meat' come on.

It's a good read if you want to better understand the Tau empire and don't mind reading through nonsense to get to the meat (lol). The book would easily be 4* if it was 100 pages shorter and when it described important areas the author was able to capture the imagination with detail rather than rely on constant superficial descriptives every time the protagonists returned to home base.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, the writer fumbles the ball BAD when it comes to the portrayal of the Space Marine -and a Primaris one, no less-, especially by the end. At the beginning, artamax easily handles whatever comes his way, despite being in a barely functioning armor.
In the end, however, he's in fully functioning armour yet is easily dispatched by ke and the fireblade working together via the power of friendship. Plus, he gives the typical villain monologue explaining his plan to the captive audience.
Also in the fumbling the ball field is the callidus assassin, first for not making sure her victim was dead (something 100% out of character given how incredibly well trained imperial assassins are) and then by wasting time insulting ke instead of immediately attacking her.

Other than that, a very enjoyable book, since it gives a ton of depth to the tau society, how their different castes interact, etc.

[Remembrancer S Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

a warning first and foremost.
if you're going into this book expecting a bit of a look into the raptors space Marine chapter... this is not the book for you. I was hoping for the same thing.. it's just not the focus sadly.

no this is a Tau story through and through.
with all the good and bad that entails.

that being said the book is actually pretty good.. it does drag on in parts. I feel like the book could be 3 hours shorter and nothing significant would be lost.

however the greatest thing about this book is the characters.. you got troops of every sort... from the grim and stoic to the naive and hopeful.

you even get a crazy side character with the Kruit that I just love!

and an entire storyline about a clone trying to come to terms with being their own person.

all in all worth your time, but just know what you're getting into.

[Andy Hoover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, for the second time, I find rating niche books like 40k Novels hard - buuuuut - this one is pretty solid. Still requires a lot of beforehand knowledge of the Universe, which is unfair, but also, probably not a concern since I doubt casual readers are picking these up.

The way humans, especially The Space Marine, are observed and described by an alien as alien is probably the most interesting part, although a bit rare. Mostly, the book has a good story about shame, honor, duty - in a very Asian-coded way by an Asian author, and I really liked that perspective. In my ignorance, I felt it skewed Japanese, but I confess this is ignorance.

Anyway, fine 40k novel, a bit serious, a downer of an ending, probably going to read something a little more 40k silly next.

[Sebastiaan Vanbesien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book. It was great to read a book that both provides and in-depth insight into the Tau empire and their cast system and also offer up loveable and interesting characters. It is a classic tale of a cast of loveable misfits that’s brought together for a monumental task, facing unfavourable odds and the threat of Arthamax looming in the background. But the way Noah Van Nguyen plays with this classic tale and puts his own spin on it is superb. The Tau feel refreshing and interesting, a complex, living and breathing, growing empire facing down the forces of humanity. I highly recommend this book!

[Ethan Lapointe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily my favorite book of 2024, Elemental Council introduces and interrogates T'au culture as a backdrop for a compelling character dynamic that reflects the Empire's castes and auxilaries. Twists and turns, telegraphed or otherwise, lend themselves towards ongoing mystery and emotional resonance. As with many Black Library novels, Elemental Council doesn't shy away from endangering its cast through grand conflict, but the true tension is in the hate festering on its vividly-imagined world of Cao Quo.

[Lars Skjeggestad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book I would only recommend to someone who already are big fans of the T'au faction in 40k. You need a basic reportoire of knowledge of names and concepts within the faction to get the most out of it. Otherwise it is a below average teamup rescue/coming of age story with decent character motivations and developments. Towards the end if the book, the story falls into a trap of silly action where multiple characters survive in miraculous ways, which is one of my most disliked tropes in fiction.

[Shane Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, a story of tau trying to keep to their philosophy of the Greater Good whilst battling an intense human rebellion on a captured world, that challenges their core tenets. I’ve read many Warhammer books and was very refreshing to read something that is a bit different to the standard imperial vs chaos/orks/tyranids story. A detailed insight into tau society and mindset. Recommended

[Andy Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy - this has got to be one of the best bits of Warhammer fiction I've ever read, because it's straight up a good book!
it does incredible worldbuilding of an alien species without resorting to exposition dumps; it has a compelling plot driven by interesting and flawed characters; it makes the normal main character faction terrifying; it weaves mystery, intrigue, and action.
a few things at the end felt too convenient, but that's really my only criticism. it's an excellent read!

[tornado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m certain an avid Tau player would enjoy this book more than I did. It takes an extraordinary amount of time to get moving. Twists are great, and come as a nice surprise RIGHT before the reveal. As cool as kroot are, I don’t know that a carnivore could take out an assassin, even a wounded one.

Excellent description of Tau tech, such as battle suits, cockpit descriptions, and drone interactions.

[Mason Kendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book! It deftly avoids feeling like a "warhammer book," delivering a great story in a well developed world with a beautiful cast of characters. You need virtually no prior knowledge of the universe to be able to enjoy this work, and even veterans of The Lore will find it fascinating as we get to see individuals of the Tau, their dedication to the greater good, and what that truely means in a galaxy so full of darkness. Strongly recommend to any fan of scifi!

[fruit brutalist · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Their patience will outlast your hatred.”

This rules. Van Nguyen is the king. He gets what makes the Tau compelling. The main six characters (including Ghodh and Jules) feel so human and relatable. By the end of this book you will be all-in on The Greater Good.

Couple of highlights I gotta shout out:
1. Ke at the columbarium
2. Jules misplaced romantic feelings
3. Orr and Sixes relationship
And most importantly
4. Ghodh’s come to Jesus moment when he’s debating the Raptor

[jzthompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A whisker over long and could have done with a judicious editor, did that slightly annoying thing of reminding us of certain physical traits of the characters every time they appeared and a lot of repeated phrases started to wear... but still a good and quite intelligent SF actioner. Writing from an alien perspective is always difficult and it's hard to dodge that there's a lot of orientalist cliché in the tau's make up, but this succeeds in making them interesting as a society and as individuals. Using a space marine as a (frankly terrifying) villain was a clever touch.

[Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elemental Council was a very pleasant surprise. I went into it not being a Tau enjoyer, and came out of it quite impressed. Van Nguyen balances his characters effortlessly and each gets plenty of screen time and development - you really feel for all of them by the end. And I just have to say Artamax is one of the most intimidating depictions of a space marine I've seen in 40k media. Definitely a "must read"

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Er nok, sammen med "The Infinite and The Divine", den beste 40k boken jeg har lest. Trekker en stjerne for den konstante repetisjonen av enkelte setninger som burde ha blitt redigert ut og for en litt svak avslutning. Et irritasjonsmoment er jo også den konstante bruken av hele navn på forskjellige enheter fra miniatyrspillet som føles ganske unaturlig, men når dette til syvende og sist er (underholdende) reklame for spillet er jo det noe man egentlig bare må godta.

[Artemis Arampatzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book, kept me at the edge of my seat all the way through, I liked the balance of action and intrigue, although I was not entirely satisfied with the twist after all the tense build up. Still, an excellent book, and one that is a good entry for Tau as well as begginers in 40k in general.

9/10 (rounded up for stars because I am confident this book deserves the 5 over the 4)

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Warhammer story that really highlights all of the flaws inherent in both the Tau empire, and the Imperium.

Our main cast was truly magnificent with deep characters who feel really special.

Any fans of sci-fi, not just Warhammer should definitely check this one out.

[Lando Calrissiono · Rating 5 out of 5]

FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!!