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The Beast Arises #9
Watchers in Death
Book 9 of The Beast Arises
Brute force has failed – and drastically so. The assault on the ork home world has ended in disaster and new tactics are needed. But will Koorland's new force – his so-called ""Deathwatch"" be effective?
The attempt to hunt down and kill the orks’ leader has ended in catastrophe. The Imperium is reeling from the loss of so many beloved heroes, and the military forces of mankind have been reduced to tatters. Koorland now knows that brute force is not the answer – but how else can the orks be fought? In a radical move, he creates small, mixed Chapter units of Adeptus Astartes – compact teams that will hit the enemy hard and fast, and with deadly accuracy. With armour painted the black of mourning, the new strike teams become known as the Deathwatch. But will this be enough to tip the balance, or does the Imperium need to discover other new means to defeat the orks?
It chronicles the birth of a beloved Warhammer 40,000 force and shows the Imperium in transition, finally learning from their mistakes in order to move forward to – hopefully – victory.
Brute force has failed – and drastically so. The assault on the ork home world has ended in disaster and new tactics are needed. But will Koorland's new force – his so-called ""Deathwatch"" be effective?
The attempt to hunt down and kill the orks’ leader has ended in catastrophe. The Imperium is reeling from the loss of so many beloved heroes, and the military forces of mankind have been reduced to tatters. Koorland now knows that brute force is not the answer – but how else can the orks be fought? In a radical move, he creates small, mixed Chapter units of Adeptus Astartes – compact teams that will hit the enemy hard and fast, and with deadly accuracy. With armour painted the black of mourning, the new strike teams become known as the Deathwatch. But will this be enough to tip the balance, or does the Imperium need to discover other new means to defeat the orks?
It chronicles the birth of a beloved Warhammer 40,000 force and shows the Imperium in transition, finally learning from their mistakes in order to move forward to – hopefully – victory.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 20, 2016
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292 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 29, 2016
Review also published here
Watchers in Death was quite enjoyable to me. It suffers from some contrivances of the overall series, but the overall story was a satisfying origin piece for the Deathwatch and their particular style of engagement.
Firstly, though, the cover presents a discrepancy with the book's content. The Deathwatch marine shown is wearing an Inquisition-branded shoulder guard, whereas in the book, the Deathwatch are autonomous. They are allying with Inquisitors Veritus and Wienand, but over the course of the book the two merely discuss the possibilities inherent in the new Space Marine formation, foreshadowing future developments. But at the book's present, the Deathwatch is not a militant chamber of the Inquisition yet, and is under the sole direction of Chapter Master Koorland of the Imperial Fists, with Maximus Thane of the Fists Exemplar as his second.
The whole creation myth of the Watchers in Death was interesting to follow, especially seeing the animosity between Dark Angels and Space Wolves, and how that takes the backseat as the Kill Teams get more invested into their role as new elite strikeforce. In general, I felt that Annandale did a bang-on job depicting how the various Astartes grew into their new identities. It was moving in places, and neat to see how Deathwatch and Chapter origin could coexist.
A big woe of mine was that, once more, this was pretty much limited to the usual bunch of Chapters. Imperial Fists/Fists Exemplar in the leaders Koorland and Thane, Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Ultramarines. We knew the Salamanders took part in the assault on Ullanor, but none of them seemed to join the DW. Neither did the infiltration specialists of the Raven Guard make an appearance, or any of the successor Chapters beyond the Fists Exemplar. It was a meek turnout, and seeing how the diversity of Chapters and their individual tactics are perhaps the biggest strength of the Deathwatch to come, this seemed too vanilla for my taste. It ticked the necessary boxes based on previously involved Chapters, but didn't go beyond, which it well could have.
Either way, the Kill Teams go on to finally deal with the attack moon above Terra, which is a plotline I would have liked to see tackled a few volumes ago. Thankfully, there is some finality here, as the Deathwatch come into their own. Where The Hunt for Vulkan and The Beast Must Die were stuffed with big action setpieces, Watchers in Death focused more on small groups of combatants, which was a needed change of pace and delivered something notably different from the rest of the series with its massive scale.
About half the book deals with another hunt for a legendary leftover force from the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy era: The Sisters of Silence. Like with Vulkan before, it is Veritus who divulges the secret of their continued existence. I thought that too typical. Using Veritus again might make sense considering his position, but it was also a bit of a cheap way to handle it. I keep wondering if much would have changed had Wienand found an old dusty tome instead, while Koorland dealt with the attack moon. If anything, that might have benefitted the book by exploring the Inquisition's customs a bit more, and had been more emergent from the events of TBMD, whereas Veritus just has a "oh, by the way, I know this and that" moment. Doing it the way I suggest here would also have made a stronger case for later events to turn out the way they did, involving the two Inquisitors.
But thankfully, we are back to Terra for half of the book. There are politics to be watched unfold again, from the proposal of the Deathwatch's establishment over power play predictions and the Inquisition's scheming. Mesring's role developed a little further, as did Juskina Tull, and even the uneasy relationship between Koorland and Fabricator General Kubik. Vangorich, too, has a chance to spread his influence directly again, which was welcome. His role has been moving to the back lately, whereas I still consider him the true star of the series, for (soon to be) obvious reasons.
However, the story soon moves on to Thane and his Kill Team searching for the long-lost and forgotten Sisters of Silence, guided by the Inquisitors. This was fascinating in a way, but also a little disjointed and could have benefitted from more pagetime and switching back to Terra once in a while.
I'd like to note though that I do not in theory object to the Sisters only entering the stage now. After all, their relevance was only clear to the reader, not the characters. Or rather, the characters who found out about the threat of the Ork psykers took quite a beating in past volumes and their messages only reached Terra now, after the disaster at Ullanor. So, in a way, while Vulkan hinted at the Sisters coming in handy, nobody knew why he'd say that, or that they still endured.
While yes, this drags the series out, it feels like more natural progression resulting from previous novels' plotlines finally developing further.
The individual Deathwatch missions were enjoyable to follow and had some pretty cool moments, especially involving ork-derived technology. If I have one criticism though, it is how comparatively easy their jobs were. Their success was always a given, seeing how their concept gives birth to a full force in the future, but even then, there was a surprising lack of losses and hard choices involved. That could have been handled better, even though the action scenes and infiltration sections were well executed.
In the end though, this was a solid entry in the series. I had a good time. Some memorable scenes came from the formation of the Watchers, which I remember fondly. A few tweaks could have made it better, but even without them it holds up and brings us one step close to the series' completion.
Watchers in Death was quite enjoyable to me. It suffers from some contrivances of the overall series, but the overall story was a satisfying origin piece for the Deathwatch and their particular style of engagement.
Firstly, though, the cover presents a discrepancy with the book's content. The Deathwatch marine shown is wearing an Inquisition-branded shoulder guard, whereas in the book, the Deathwatch are autonomous. They are allying with Inquisitors Veritus and Wienand, but over the course of the book the two merely discuss the possibilities inherent in the new Space Marine formation, foreshadowing future developments. But at the book's present, the Deathwatch is not a militant chamber of the Inquisition yet, and is under the sole direction of Chapter Master Koorland of the Imperial Fists, with Maximus Thane of the Fists Exemplar as his second.
The whole creation myth of the Watchers in Death was interesting to follow, especially seeing the animosity between Dark Angels and Space Wolves, and how that takes the backseat as the Kill Teams get more invested into their role as new elite strikeforce. In general, I felt that Annandale did a bang-on job depicting how the various Astartes grew into their new identities. It was moving in places, and neat to see how Deathwatch and Chapter origin could coexist.
A big woe of mine was that, once more, this was pretty much limited to the usual bunch of Chapters. Imperial Fists/Fists Exemplar in the leaders Koorland and Thane, Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Ultramarines. We knew the Salamanders took part in the assault on Ullanor, but none of them seemed to join the DW. Neither did the infiltration specialists of the Raven Guard make an appearance, or any of the successor Chapters beyond the Fists Exemplar. It was a meek turnout, and seeing how the diversity of Chapters and their individual tactics are perhaps the biggest strength of the Deathwatch to come, this seemed too vanilla for my taste. It ticked the necessary boxes based on previously involved Chapters, but didn't go beyond, which it well could have.
Either way, the Kill Teams go on to finally deal with the attack moon above Terra, which is a plotline I would have liked to see tackled a few volumes ago. Thankfully, there is some finality here, as the Deathwatch come into their own. Where The Hunt for Vulkan and The Beast Must Die were stuffed with big action setpieces, Watchers in Death focused more on small groups of combatants, which was a needed change of pace and delivered something notably different from the rest of the series with its massive scale.
About half the book deals with another hunt for a legendary leftover force from the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy era: The Sisters of Silence. Like with Vulkan before, it is Veritus who divulges the secret of their continued existence. I thought that too typical. Using Veritus again might make sense considering his position, but it was also a bit of a cheap way to handle it. I keep wondering if much would have changed had Wienand found an old dusty tome instead, while Koorland dealt with the attack moon. If anything, that might have benefitted the book by exploring the Inquisition's customs a bit more, and had been more emergent from the events of TBMD, whereas Veritus just has a "oh, by the way, I know this and that" moment. Doing it the way I suggest here would also have made a stronger case for later events to turn out the way they did, involving the two Inquisitors.
But thankfully, we are back to Terra for half of the book. There are politics to be watched unfold again, from the proposal of the Deathwatch's establishment over power play predictions and the Inquisition's scheming. Mesring's role developed a little further, as did Juskina Tull, and even the uneasy relationship between Koorland and Fabricator General Kubik. Vangorich, too, has a chance to spread his influence directly again, which was welcome. His role has been moving to the back lately, whereas I still consider him the true star of the series, for (soon to be) obvious reasons.
However, the story soon moves on to Thane and his Kill Team searching for the long-lost and forgotten Sisters of Silence, guided by the Inquisitors. This was fascinating in a way, but also a little disjointed and could have benefitted from more pagetime and switching back to Terra once in a while.
I'd like to note though that I do not in theory object to the Sisters only entering the stage now. After all, their relevance was only clear to the reader, not the characters. Or rather, the characters who found out about the threat of the Ork psykers took quite a beating in past volumes and their messages only reached Terra now, after the disaster at Ullanor. So, in a way, while Vulkan hinted at the Sisters coming in handy, nobody knew why he'd say that, or that they still endured.
While yes, this drags the series out, it feels like more natural progression resulting from previous novels' plotlines finally developing further.
The individual Deathwatch missions were enjoyable to follow and had some pretty cool moments, especially involving ork-derived technology. If I have one criticism though, it is how comparatively easy their jobs were. Their success was always a given, seeing how their concept gives birth to a full force in the future, but even then, there was a surprising lack of losses and hard choices involved. That could have been handled better, even though the action scenes and infiltration sections were well executed.
In the end though, this was a solid entry in the series. I had a good time. Some memorable scenes came from the formation of the Watchers, which I remember fondly. A few tweaks could have made it better, but even without them it holds up and brings us one step close to the series' completion.
November 21, 2023
I believe this book meeting was something like this;
- Hey Annan (that's how I call him), you know what? You are the man to introduce the deathwatch and at the same time reunite the Imperium with the sisters of silence. You think you can?
- Sure, do I have a trilogy of novels, maybe a duology where I can write one each?
- No. This you've got one novel.
- I can do it. But at least give me 500 pages.
- Hmm , no can do. Yours is going to be one of the smallest one. You've got 200 page novel.
- What?
- We've got paper shortage (in a few years). It's like you writing for lexicanum, just copy paste and give them some dialogues and that's it.
- Oh shit... (I don't know if he said frak, shit or any other stuff but I bet he did say something)
This book follows the last where humanity destroyed the Beast (or not), Vulkan disappeared, the vast majority of space marines died, billions dead. IT was a disaster. So, Koorland say, well, if brute force doesn't work, let's go 5 or 10 go there and destroy the ork moon. That will work. And thus DeathWatch were born (with the help of Vangorich of the Officio Assassinorum- probably one of my favourite characters in the series - I know that next books will feature him, the last two I guess)
I think the books in the series have their hits and misses. It's like they outline the main story and then divided in 12. Each writer would write one of book (Annandale wrote the 4th, 7th and 9th). It seems some novels felt too long, while others too short. This last two were two short. They could easily be bigger. All the Lords acceptance of Kill Teams felt rushed and disjoined. I opened for more politics and such. Oh well. Overall it was a good novel, don't get me wrong. I just hoped for more. 8/10
- Hey Annan (that's how I call him), you know what? You are the man to introduce the deathwatch and at the same time reunite the Imperium with the sisters of silence. You think you can?
- Sure, do I have a trilogy of novels, maybe a duology where I can write one each?
- No. This you've got one novel.
- I can do it. But at least give me 500 pages.
- Hmm , no can do. Yours is going to be one of the smallest one. You've got 200 page novel.
- What?
- We've got paper shortage (in a few years). It's like you writing for lexicanum, just copy paste and give them some dialogues and that's it.
- Oh shit... (I don't know if he said frak, shit or any other stuff but I bet he did say something)
This book follows the last where humanity destroyed the Beast (or not), Vulkan disappeared, the vast majority of space marines died, billions dead. IT was a disaster. So, Koorland say, well, if brute force doesn't work, let's go 5 or 10 go there and destroy the ork moon. That will work. And thus DeathWatch were born (with the help of Vangorich of the Officio Assassinorum- probably one of my favourite characters in the series - I know that next books will feature him, the last two I guess)
I think the books in the series have their hits and misses. It's like they outline the main story and then divided in 12. Each writer would write one of book (Annandale wrote the 4th, 7th and 9th). It seems some novels felt too long, while others too short. This last two were two short. They could easily be bigger. All the Lords acceptance of Kill Teams felt rushed and disjoined. I opened for more politics and such. Oh well. Overall it was a good novel, don't get me wrong. I just hoped for more. 8/10
October 22, 2016
Ah Watchers in Death!
Book 9 in Black Library's The Beast Arises series sees our lords and heroes defeated, and looking for any way to continue this galaxy spanning war with The Beast and his innumerable orks. The story was fantastically written, and there were plenty of shocking or interesting reveals that impact the greater setting outside the story that were an absolute delight to read.
The formation of the Deathwatch, which is really what this novel was all about, was fantastic. Seeing the different, and often feuding, Space Marines chapters band together to maximize a squads strength against the xenos threat was fantastic. Especially in the individual squads growth, and the precise cut-throat tactics employed by our newly blackened friends. Getting to see the Deathwatch's birth, and subsequent growth and evolution was certainly massively enjoyable, and was further developed in further books in the series.
Annandale keeps the Beast Arises series plowing forwards full steam ahead, and I definitely can't wait for the next one!
Book 9 in Black Library's The Beast Arises series sees our lords and heroes defeated, and looking for any way to continue this galaxy spanning war with The Beast and his innumerable orks. The story was fantastically written, and there were plenty of shocking or interesting reveals that impact the greater setting outside the story that were an absolute delight to read.
The formation of the Deathwatch, which is really what this novel was all about, was fantastic. Seeing the different, and often feuding, Space Marines chapters band together to maximize a squads strength against the xenos threat was fantastic. Especially in the individual squads growth, and the precise cut-throat tactics employed by our newly blackened friends. Getting to see the Deathwatch's birth, and subsequent growth and evolution was certainly massively enjoyable, and was further developed in further books in the series.
Annandale keeps the Beast Arises series plowing forwards full steam ahead, and I definitely can't wait for the next one!
February 11, 2023
I have been a long-time Deathwatch fan. I still remember when they first released the Warhammer 40K rules for making your own Deathwatch Kill-Team and I placed a big order of bitz and models to convert to make my own Kill-Team (or Kill-Teams to be more accurate). I also ran an over decade-long Dark Heresy/Deathwatch RPG campaign and I’ve read a decent chunk of 40K books focused on the Deathwatch. To say I was stoked to read this book and learn the origins of the Deathwatch is an understatement.
So now that I’ve finished the book, what did I think? Well, it was good, but not as great as I had hoped (or I was overly enthusiastic about making it be). I liked how there was a significant event that triggered the formation and authorization of the Deathwatch. I liked how there was a significance to the black armor color choice and I like how there was a development and understanding of how different Chapter members could work effectively together by combining their various strengths.
The book emphasizes the effectiveness of the Deathwatch Kill-Teams by having them take on what amounts to suicide missions to conduct surgical strikes against seemingly impossible odds to cripple and defeat the enemy. All good and very Deathwatch, right? Sure, especially when you think about how these are the elite of the elite from their Chapters, but after a while I started to question if this elite-ness was being a bit over sold. They are fighting HUNDREDS of Orks at times (the same type of Orks who not too long ago were kicking Space Marine butt) without too much trouble (spoiler: not one member of the Deathwatch teams gets killed). I also don’t know how they are carrying the massive amounts of ammunition and grenades they are expending in these epic battles (we’re talking small teams here- smaller than ten-man squads). Sure there are Librarians using psychic powers and melee combat to offset some of this, and the confusion of war and other factors involved, but compared to other Deathwatch stories, which portray the Deathwatch fighting with more realistic odds and actions, I felt this portrayal was not as good. I felt like the story really wanted to have a standard Adeptus Astartes battle with squads, or a company of Space Marines blasting apart Orks and cutting them down in vicious melee, but realized the focus was to showcase the Deathwatch, so just swapped the “standard” Space Marines for Deathwatch marines.
And the final reveal (another SPOILER, so discontinue reading if you don’t want to know) at the end of the book was exciting to hear (I’m a big fan of the Sisters of Silence), but lacking in execution. The debate (if you want to call it that) between Wienand and the Sisters was not interesting and felt like a cursory hurdle just to clear to get the Sisters’ assistance. We’re talking about one of the Emperor’s own zealous elite fighting forces that turned its back for thousands of years from the “corrupt” Imperium (not even the Custodes did this) and after a few minutes of talk, all is good? But what about the mention of Vulkan you say? What about it, I really didn’t see how that was such a strong tipping point, or at least how it was argued didn’t seem so. I was really hoping to get into the heads and history of the Sisters and I think this was a missed opportunity. Why did they turn away from the Imperium? What were the events that lead to that choice? They said they serve the Emperor, and the Emperor didn’t die (true, he’s not very mobile or active as he used to be), but his living carcass was still respected enough for the story to point out the Sisters going to him and renewing their vows at the end.
I know the last part of review didn’t sound very positive, but I still got enjoyment from this book. If you’re a Deathwatch fan, Warhammer 40K nut, or started the Beast Arises series and want to finish it, you should give it a read.
So now that I’ve finished the book, what did I think? Well, it was good, but not as great as I had hoped (or I was overly enthusiastic about making it be). I liked how there was a significant event that triggered the formation and authorization of the Deathwatch. I liked how there was a significance to the black armor color choice and I like how there was a development and understanding of how different Chapter members could work effectively together by combining their various strengths.
The book emphasizes the effectiveness of the Deathwatch Kill-Teams by having them take on what amounts to suicide missions to conduct surgical strikes against seemingly impossible odds to cripple and defeat the enemy. All good and very Deathwatch, right? Sure, especially when you think about how these are the elite of the elite from their Chapters, but after a while I started to question if this elite-ness was being a bit over sold. They are fighting HUNDREDS of Orks at times (the same type of Orks who not too long ago were kicking Space Marine butt) without too much trouble (spoiler: not one member of the Deathwatch teams gets killed). I also don’t know how they are carrying the massive amounts of ammunition and grenades they are expending in these epic battles (we’re talking small teams here- smaller than ten-man squads). Sure there are Librarians using psychic powers and melee combat to offset some of this, and the confusion of war and other factors involved, but compared to other Deathwatch stories, which portray the Deathwatch fighting with more realistic odds and actions, I felt this portrayal was not as good. I felt like the story really wanted to have a standard Adeptus Astartes battle with squads, or a company of Space Marines blasting apart Orks and cutting them down in vicious melee, but realized the focus was to showcase the Deathwatch, so just swapped the “standard” Space Marines for Deathwatch marines.
And the final reveal (another SPOILER, so discontinue reading if you don’t want to know) at the end of the book was exciting to hear (I’m a big fan of the Sisters of Silence), but lacking in execution. The debate (if you want to call it that) between Wienand and the Sisters was not interesting and felt like a cursory hurdle just to clear to get the Sisters’ assistance. We’re talking about one of the Emperor’s own zealous elite fighting forces that turned its back for thousands of years from the “corrupt” Imperium (not even the Custodes did this) and after a few minutes of talk, all is good? But what about the mention of Vulkan you say? What about it, I really didn’t see how that was such a strong tipping point, or at least how it was argued didn’t seem so. I was really hoping to get into the heads and history of the Sisters and I think this was a missed opportunity. Why did they turn away from the Imperium? What were the events that lead to that choice? They said they serve the Emperor, and the Emperor didn’t die (true, he’s not very mobile or active as he used to be), but his living carcass was still respected enough for the story to point out the Sisters going to him and renewing their vows at the end.
I know the last part of review didn’t sound very positive, but I still got enjoyment from this book. If you’re a Deathwatch fan, Warhammer 40K nut, or started the Beast Arises series and want to finish it, you should give it a read.
December 11, 2024
C'mon then, who had 'Institute a Space Marine Foreign Exchange Programme' on their 'Strategies for Repelling Ork Invasion' bingo card? No? Me neither.
Things didn't exactly go to plan for the Imperial forces in the previous book so it's side-quest time as wounds are licked and new strategies are sought out.
The action scenes are strong enough and the political wrangling is kept to a minimum, to the extent that fairly seismic organisational changes are passed with surprisingly little challenge.
Some interesting easter eggs are enough to make this enjoyable but, as is often the case in this series, the lack of drama and tension is notable.
Things didn't exactly go to plan for the Imperial forces in the previous book so it's side-quest time as wounds are licked and new strategies are sought out.
The action scenes are strong enough and the political wrangling is kept to a minimum, to the extent that fairly seismic organisational changes are passed with surprisingly little challenge.
Some interesting easter eggs are enough to make this enjoyable but, as is often the case in this series, the lack of drama and tension is notable.
August 15, 2016
And so the new episode of TBA has arrived and just in time - to (Here Come The Drums!) be a true origin story for Deathwatch, which Codex coincidentally went for sale this Saturday. Being not a penultimate episode, it's not a great corebuilding story. But it's an interesting 'adventure/disaster' story on it's own. Let's get to the point.
Episode 9 of the TBA was written by a very amusing and talented fella David Annandale. Being one of the Triumvirate authors (Guy Haley Gav Thorpe ) who has several books written in the series, he created a story of adventure, catastrophe and heroism. That kind of stuff - he is actually famous for, as an author.
Writing style - the story is written in easy to comprehend style and language. With exact number of quotes not to overcumber the story, he did a very good job to create an easily to follow story.
Characters - being number 9 in the series, novel use characters that are long in the show. David hasn't destroyed their images and solidly continued building their personal traits. One of the best here is Mesring. That lovely obfuscated and ignorant main cleric, who slowly going on the road to damnation and being a sycophant and first true Imperial heretic after the HH and Scouring.
Plotline David Annandale as already mentioned above has created a great adventure/catastrophe novel. All the worse that shouldn't have happened - became a reality. And that reality has a lot of traits in the making during the thousand year period after the Scouring. As the most beloved character of the TBA Drakan Vangorich verified in his dialog with Koorland:
'Obfuscation, illusion, denial, ignorance, they have brought us disaster'.
Event's are running not so smoothly for the Empire, so it's in need of new force, to be on par with the orcs. Previous disaster at Ullanor and Orc moon seating over Terra are a great motivation to speed up it's creation. And thus - the new force has been built.
Yes Watchers in Death are the origins of enigmatic and uber cool Deathwatch force, that was always fighting the Xenos threat for the next thousands of years, up to 40K.
Forging of it's own methods, ideology and chain of command - is exactly what this novel is about.
To quote master Drakan Vangorich:
'Sometimes... a single knife can be more effective than a broadsword'.
Add to that a greatly depicted event's of catastrophic ruination in the void/land/moons (that haven't been seen in Imperium for thousands of years since the HH) - and this novel could quickly become a great judgement day narrative. At least some future 'heretics', like Mesring sees that this way :)
Separately - there are a lot of actions, made by the Deathwatch teams. And that's where the story is getting not so excited. Repetitive bolter porn and annihilation of the orcs infantry will get you bored very quickly. Plus, sadly, that's actually the stuff where David are not so great as a writer. That's (and another 'to be continued...' ending of course) actually, what does not push this novel to a high tier reading list.
Also the question remains (after the 4 books still) - since book 5 'Echoes of the Long War': 'Why we even follow Fists Exemplars captain Zerberyn and his 'friends' in Iron Warriors traitor force? Is where some major event hidden where? If so, I can't see it. That secondary plotline is absolutely unnecessary and only created to take some pages. Maybe I'm wrong and we will see the fruits of all this labour eventually - but until then, it's a simple filler that should not have place in a good TV series.
All in all - the book is a good read, quite a splendid episode. It totally deserve 4 stars - I would have given it 5, but too much bolter porn and Zerberyn sidestory ruined some of the fun for me.
There are a lot TBA promise us in the future. After all - it's almost ran it's course.
And to put it mildly what I do expect from the last book in TBA:
'Your point, when you reach it, will have to be an impressive one, Drakan'...
Ohh boys, remember my words, due to great Drakan being what he is and Guy Haley writing 12th book - IT WOULD BE AN OUTSTANDING END OF THE SERIES.
See you all after the next episode :)
Episode 9 of the TBA was written by a very amusing and talented fella David Annandale. Being one of the Triumvirate authors (Guy Haley Gav Thorpe ) who has several books written in the series, he created a story of adventure, catastrophe and heroism. That kind of stuff - he is actually famous for, as an author.
Writing style - the story is written in easy to comprehend style and language. With exact number of quotes not to overcumber the story, he did a very good job to create an easily to follow story.
Characters - being number 9 in the series, novel use characters that are long in the show. David hasn't destroyed their images and solidly continued building their personal traits. One of the best here is Mesring. That lovely obfuscated and ignorant main cleric, who slowly going on the road to damnation and being a sycophant and first true Imperial heretic after the HH and Scouring.
Plotline David Annandale as already mentioned above has created a great adventure/catastrophe novel. All the worse that shouldn't have happened - became a reality. And that reality has a lot of traits in the making during the thousand year period after the Scouring. As the most beloved character of the TBA Drakan Vangorich verified in his dialog with Koorland:
'Obfuscation, illusion, denial, ignorance, they have brought us disaster'.
Event's are running not so smoothly for the Empire, so it's in need of new force, to be on par with the orcs. Previous disaster at Ullanor and Orc moon seating over Terra are a great motivation to speed up it's creation. And thus - the new force has been built.
Yes Watchers in Death are the origins of enigmatic and uber cool Deathwatch force, that was always fighting the Xenos threat for the next thousands of years, up to 40K.
Forging of it's own methods, ideology and chain of command - is exactly what this novel is about.
To quote master Drakan Vangorich:
'Sometimes... a single knife can be more effective than a broadsword'.
Add to that a greatly depicted event's of catastrophic ruination in the void/land/moons (that haven't been seen in Imperium for thousands of years since the HH) - and this novel could quickly become a great judgement day narrative. At least some future 'heretics', like Mesring sees that this way :)
Separately - there are a lot of actions, made by the Deathwatch teams. And that's where the story is getting not so excited. Repetitive bolter porn and annihilation of the orcs infantry will get you bored very quickly. Plus, sadly, that's actually the stuff where David are not so great as a writer. That's (and another 'to be continued...' ending of course) actually, what does not push this novel to a high tier reading list.
Also the question remains (after the 4 books still) - since book 5 'Echoes of the Long War': 'Why we even follow Fists Exemplars captain Zerberyn and his 'friends' in Iron Warriors traitor force? Is where some major event hidden where? If so, I can't see it. That secondary plotline is absolutely unnecessary and only created to take some pages. Maybe I'm wrong and we will see the fruits of all this labour eventually - but until then, it's a simple filler that should not have place in a good TV series.
All in all - the book is a good read, quite a splendid episode. It totally deserve 4 stars - I would have given it 5, but too much bolter porn and Zerberyn sidestory ruined some of the fun for me.
There are a lot TBA promise us in the future. After all - it's almost ran it's course.
And to put it mildly what I do expect from the last book in TBA:
'Your point, when you reach it, will have to be an impressive one, Drakan'...
Ohh boys, remember my words, due to great Drakan being what he is and Guy Haley writing 12th book - IT WOULD BE AN OUTSTANDING END OF THE SERIES.
See you all after the next episode :)
January 26, 2017
More like 3 1/2 stars.
"A new approach is most definitely in order. Which brings us to Watchers in Death.
After conferring with Grand Master Vangorich, Koorland realizes that instead of massive frontal assaults against the orks, the Astartes should custom make 5 marine mixed-Chapter "kill teams" to conduct surgical strikes and precision kills. Never mind the fact that at the climax of The Beast Must Die, a kill-team of various Chapter Masters failed in their task of taking out the Beast, but I digress.
Koorland proposes the notion to the Council of High Lords, knowing full well that a) they will balk at the notion and oppose it vehemently, and b) he's going to do it anyway. As to why the High Lords are perfectly fine with planetary assault forces composed of mixed Chapters at full strength, but fear the notion of 5 member teams (I'm assuming they are worried that they might be utilized for purposes of assassination, at which point I'd remind them about Vangorich glaring over their shoulders).
So, there's a lot on the line going into this installment. There's the sense of urgency, and the palpable tension between Koorland and the High Lords. Ergo, this should be a slam dunk for Annandale, whose prior two installments were fairly strong.
The problem is, the finished product is anything but a slam dunk. While not bad in the least, Watchers in Death is, in areas, flat and mundane. It just shouldn't be this was. Let's have a look-see...
Characters:
Much better here than in some previous installments. Koorland is still showing maturation and increased capability as a leader, but we aren't seeing enough of the rage, sorrow, and loss that must be huge drivers for him.
We get to see more of the High Lords in all of their conniving action again. I would implore writers of this series (well, the series is already over, but you know what I mean) to not lose focus of the importance of these characters, as their appearances have been a bit lean lately. Especially of interest in Ecclesiarch Mesring's further mental declination into madness in the light of his impending death.
Also enjoyed was the continued duel of one-upmanship between Inquisitorial representatives Wienand and Veritus. This is enhanced by one of the story's subplots - a covert mission to determine whether or not the secretive Sisters of Silence (they of the infamous Sister of Silence audiobook) still exist.
However, not all of the characters fare this well. Also, I need to mention; for all the positives that I mentioned, there still, in my opinion, needed to be a bit more. We should've seen more of the fallout of Koorland's Deathwatch mandate across the entire swathe of High Lords; how it affected each of their positions, spheres of power, and machinations. And, I really don't think that is asking too much, either - Watchers in Death is definitely one of the leaner tomes in the series. An extra five pages for character development would have worked absolute wonders.
Also, the members of the first Deathwatch units are, to be frank, a tad dull. First of all, there is a frustrating lack of diversity in the initial groups. They are populated primarily with Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Ultramarines, and Blood Angels. This same assortment is applied to all three of the original teams. There is nothing spectacular about these characters, either, and I had a hard time with both keeping up and caring to. I could tell you that the Space Wolf would be the growly one, and the Dark Angel would have "ie" in their name somewhere. There was a librarian in each team. That's about it. For the initial group that would set the standard for how this method would turn the tide in the battle against the Beast, it's a pretty boring batch.
One last note: it's nice to see an appearance by Annandale's best character from his entries, Galatea Haas, even if her job here is little more than a cameo.
Plot:
Not much to say here. Koorland proposes the idea, the High Lords balk. The teams assemble; there is a cringe-worthy moment that explains why they choose to wear black. Then, they go on a few missions to show how effective this dynamic is. Plus, Wienand, Veritus, and Thane go on their SoS wild goose chase. It tells the story, to be sure, but that's it."
As always, you can read the full review here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
"A new approach is most definitely in order. Which brings us to Watchers in Death.
After conferring with Grand Master Vangorich, Koorland realizes that instead of massive frontal assaults against the orks, the Astartes should custom make 5 marine mixed-Chapter "kill teams" to conduct surgical strikes and precision kills. Never mind the fact that at the climax of The Beast Must Die, a kill-team of various Chapter Masters failed in their task of taking out the Beast, but I digress.
Koorland proposes the notion to the Council of High Lords, knowing full well that a) they will balk at the notion and oppose it vehemently, and b) he's going to do it anyway. As to why the High Lords are perfectly fine with planetary assault forces composed of mixed Chapters at full strength, but fear the notion of 5 member teams (I'm assuming they are worried that they might be utilized for purposes of assassination, at which point I'd remind them about Vangorich glaring over their shoulders).
So, there's a lot on the line going into this installment. There's the sense of urgency, and the palpable tension between Koorland and the High Lords. Ergo, this should be a slam dunk for Annandale, whose prior two installments were fairly strong.
The problem is, the finished product is anything but a slam dunk. While not bad in the least, Watchers in Death is, in areas, flat and mundane. It just shouldn't be this was. Let's have a look-see...
Characters:
Much better here than in some previous installments. Koorland is still showing maturation and increased capability as a leader, but we aren't seeing enough of the rage, sorrow, and loss that must be huge drivers for him.
We get to see more of the High Lords in all of their conniving action again. I would implore writers of this series (well, the series is already over, but you know what I mean) to not lose focus of the importance of these characters, as their appearances have been a bit lean lately. Especially of interest in Ecclesiarch Mesring's further mental declination into madness in the light of his impending death.
Also enjoyed was the continued duel of one-upmanship between Inquisitorial representatives Wienand and Veritus. This is enhanced by one of the story's subplots - a covert mission to determine whether or not the secretive Sisters of Silence (they of the infamous Sister of Silence audiobook) still exist.
However, not all of the characters fare this well. Also, I need to mention; for all the positives that I mentioned, there still, in my opinion, needed to be a bit more. We should've seen more of the fallout of Koorland's Deathwatch mandate across the entire swathe of High Lords; how it affected each of their positions, spheres of power, and machinations. And, I really don't think that is asking too much, either - Watchers in Death is definitely one of the leaner tomes in the series. An extra five pages for character development would have worked absolute wonders.
Also, the members of the first Deathwatch units are, to be frank, a tad dull. First of all, there is a frustrating lack of diversity in the initial groups. They are populated primarily with Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Ultramarines, and Blood Angels. This same assortment is applied to all three of the original teams. There is nothing spectacular about these characters, either, and I had a hard time with both keeping up and caring to. I could tell you that the Space Wolf would be the growly one, and the Dark Angel would have "ie" in their name somewhere. There was a librarian in each team. That's about it. For the initial group that would set the standard for how this method would turn the tide in the battle against the Beast, it's a pretty boring batch.
One last note: it's nice to see an appearance by Annandale's best character from his entries, Galatea Haas, even if her job here is little more than a cameo.
Plot:
Not much to say here. Koorland proposes the idea, the High Lords balk. The teams assemble; there is a cringe-worthy moment that explains why they choose to wear black. Then, they go on a few missions to show how effective this dynamic is. Plus, Wienand, Veritus, and Thane go on their SoS wild goose chase. It tells the story, to be sure, but that's it."
As always, you can read the full review here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
March 14, 2017
As usual Annandale can make a poor fist of making combat in his writing seem distant and unimportant.
With the return of the Sisters of Silence, and previously of Vulkan, we are seeing the foundation to the mentality of Roboute Guilliman in the Gathering Storm when he wakes up to find the Imperium gone to knackers.
The Iron Warrior/Black Templar/Fists Exemplar alliance storyline literally got a page dedicated to it and that was all. Have the authors given up on that thread or the main story as after the multiple personalities of the Master of Assassins, due to the different authors take on him, that was all that was keeping me in this series?
Oh well, I've gotten this far...
With the return of the Sisters of Silence, and previously of Vulkan, we are seeing the foundation to the mentality of Roboute Guilliman in the Gathering Storm when he wakes up to find the Imperium gone to knackers.
The Iron Warrior/Black Templar/Fists Exemplar alliance storyline literally got a page dedicated to it and that was all. Have the authors given up on that thread or the main story as after the multiple personalities of the Master of Assassins, due to the different authors take on him, that was all that was keeping me in this series?
Oh well, I've gotten this far...
April 9, 2019
Space Marines are ubiquitous with Warhammer 40,000, but interestingly enough they were not the heroes that brought me into the game and the universe. No that honor belongs to Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn and his retinue, the stars of Dan Abnett’s “Xenos.” They were the first 40K heroes I really got into. However, the elite Space Marines of the Deathwatch were a part of that first Eisenhorn novel, and they did make an impression on me. I thought the Deathwatch were even cooler when I picked up Fantasy Flight Games now defunct “Deathwatch” RPG, which revolved around the titular Adeptus Astartes alien hunters. So I was very curious when I learned that book nine in Black Library’s “The Beast Arises” storyline would be the in cannon origin of the Deathwatch. I just finished that book, “Watchers in Death” by David Annandale, and I’m happy to report that it’s a lot of fun.
The formation of the Deathwatch is a momentous event in 40K history because it david_annandalerepresents a shift in the way the Imperium of Mankind and its Space Marines fight wars. So there needed to be something huge to lead to the creation of the organization. That big event was the massive defeat and loss of the Salamanders Primarch, Vulkan, in the previous “Beast Arises” novel. Annandale makes good use of that event in “Watchers in Death.” He gives you a real sense that the superhuman Space Marines are shocked to the core and ready to try different tactics like fielding small Spec Ops style teams of Adeptus Astartes from different chapters. You also get a believable reason for the Deathwatch’s signature black armor, that they are in mourning for the brothers they lost at Ullanor in the previous book of the series.
One of my favorite aspects of “The War of the Beast” storyline are the political thriller elements to it, and Annandale works in some of that in “Watchers in Death” in some pretty cool ways. We see how the idea for the Deathwatch comes about, and we also see the chaos and tension that explodes when Koorland, the lone survivor of the Imperial Fists who we first met back in book one, tries to market that idea to the High Lords of Terra. You also get some fun moments with the representatives of the Inquistion, Wienand and Veritus. They’re especially interesting to pay attention to if you know of the Deathwatch’s ties to the Inquisition.
For the most part though, “Watchers in Death” is a novel jam packed with fun and thrilling action set pieces. We get to see newly formed Deathwatch Kill Teams perform boarding actions in a variety of settings. These scenes are the highlights of the book. You can tell Annandale had a great time writing the almost Guerilla Warfare style tactics Deathwatch Kill Teams used against the larger ork forces. The action is fast, furious and fun.
Credit also goes to Annandale for creating Deathwatch Kill Teams readers care about. A couple of the Kill Teams include characters established in previous novels like Koorland and Thane, Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists. Most of them though feature characters readers meet for the first time in the book. And by the end of the novel I was rooting for them to survive. My favorites of the new cast included a Space Wolf named Asger War Fist and a Dark Angels Techmarine named Abathar.
So, all in all, “Watchers in Death” was a pretty fun novel with interesting characters that moved the plot of the “Beast Arises” storyline forward in some interesting ways, especially at the end. There is however still three novels in the series left for me to read. So my concern is that there are more novels left in the series than there are actual story. I hope I’m wrong, but even if I’m not if the last three novels in the 12 book series are even half as enjoyable as “Watchers in Death” they’ll have been worth the read.
The formation of the Deathwatch is a momentous event in 40K history because it david_annandalerepresents a shift in the way the Imperium of Mankind and its Space Marines fight wars. So there needed to be something huge to lead to the creation of the organization. That big event was the massive defeat and loss of the Salamanders Primarch, Vulkan, in the previous “Beast Arises” novel. Annandale makes good use of that event in “Watchers in Death.” He gives you a real sense that the superhuman Space Marines are shocked to the core and ready to try different tactics like fielding small Spec Ops style teams of Adeptus Astartes from different chapters. You also get a believable reason for the Deathwatch’s signature black armor, that they are in mourning for the brothers they lost at Ullanor in the previous book of the series.
One of my favorite aspects of “The War of the Beast” storyline are the political thriller elements to it, and Annandale works in some of that in “Watchers in Death” in some pretty cool ways. We see how the idea for the Deathwatch comes about, and we also see the chaos and tension that explodes when Koorland, the lone survivor of the Imperial Fists who we first met back in book one, tries to market that idea to the High Lords of Terra. You also get some fun moments with the representatives of the Inquistion, Wienand and Veritus. They’re especially interesting to pay attention to if you know of the Deathwatch’s ties to the Inquisition.
For the most part though, “Watchers in Death” is a novel jam packed with fun and thrilling action set pieces. We get to see newly formed Deathwatch Kill Teams perform boarding actions in a variety of settings. These scenes are the highlights of the book. You can tell Annandale had a great time writing the almost Guerilla Warfare style tactics Deathwatch Kill Teams used against the larger ork forces. The action is fast, furious and fun.
Credit also goes to Annandale for creating Deathwatch Kill Teams readers care about. A couple of the Kill Teams include characters established in previous novels like Koorland and Thane, Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists. Most of them though feature characters readers meet for the first time in the book. And by the end of the novel I was rooting for them to survive. My favorites of the new cast included a Space Wolf named Asger War Fist and a Dark Angels Techmarine named Abathar.
So, all in all, “Watchers in Death” was a pretty fun novel with interesting characters that moved the plot of the “Beast Arises” storyline forward in some interesting ways, especially at the end. There is however still three novels in the series left for me to read. So my concern is that there are more novels left in the series than there are actual story. I hope I’m wrong, but even if I’m not if the last three novels in the 12 book series are even half as enjoyable as “Watchers in Death” they’ll have been worth the read.
February 5, 2019
The Beast died on Ullanor, but did it? Did it really? Was Vulkan's death completely in vain? The Adeptus Astartes no longer have the numbers to mount another planetary assault on Ullanor, so what's next? It's time to switch up tactics and try something else.
This is book 9 in the year-long event known as "The Beast Arises". Anything other than brute force is anathema to space marines, and yet brute force has failed to save the Imperium for 8 books now, so the time comes to assemble humanity's finest: THE DEATHWATCH! Individual marines are carefully drawn from each chapter, and they launch stealthy, pin-point strikes under the watchful eye of the Inquisition.
The High Lords of Terra don't approve, obviously, but it's not like they've been competent enough for their whining to matter. After the politics ends, it's time to hunt down the Sisters of Silence, who may be the only people who can reliably quash the WAAAGH field that Ork psykers use to push the greenskins to absurd new heights.
The surviving Sisters shared Vulkan's opinion of the current Imperium, and I shared their grief when they realized he's no more. Inquisitor Wienand is the best, and it's going to suck when it's her turn to die. Surprised to see that the original intent was for the Deathwatch to be free of the Holy Ordos, and not their lap dogs... but when does anything ever go according to plan?
This is book 9 in the year-long event known as "The Beast Arises". Anything other than brute force is anathema to space marines, and yet brute force has failed to save the Imperium for 8 books now, so the time comes to assemble humanity's finest: THE DEATHWATCH! Individual marines are carefully drawn from each chapter, and they launch stealthy, pin-point strikes under the watchful eye of the Inquisition.
The High Lords of Terra don't approve, obviously, but it's not like they've been competent enough for their whining to matter. After the politics ends, it's time to hunt down the Sisters of Silence, who may be the only people who can reliably quash the WAAAGH field that Ork psykers use to push the greenskins to absurd new heights.
The surviving Sisters shared Vulkan's opinion of the current Imperium, and I shared their grief when they realized he's no more. Inquisitor Wienand is the best, and it's going to suck when it's her turn to die. Surprised to see that the original intent was for the Deathwatch to be free of the Holy Ordos, and not their lap dogs... but when does anything ever go according to plan?
June 2, 2019
This is the ninth book in this enjoyable series.
Annandale progresses the story in a reasonable manner after 2 consecutive volumes of full on "bolter porn" carnage we are presented with a similar amount of action on a slightly smaller scale. Required to ret-conn the creation and nature of the elite Deathwatch, Annandale does a creditable job of making the revamp interesting and credible. This also sees the canonical return of one of the more arcane aspects of the Imperium's military in the Sisters of Silence and they are also presented in an interesting light. Annandale does a great job of adding a twist to their already badass nature.
Weirdly. this series is more interesting when it avoids the enormous battles that are the cornerstone of WH40K. This series is at it's best with the political battles around the venal, self serving and grossly incompetent "High Lords of Terra. This novel hints at that, without expanding the matter too much, concerning itself with the tactical rebirth of the Imperial response to the horrifying assault of the Orks.
All in all this is a satisfying, if not astonishing, addition to the series.
Annandale progresses the story in a reasonable manner after 2 consecutive volumes of full on "bolter porn" carnage we are presented with a similar amount of action on a slightly smaller scale. Required to ret-conn the creation and nature of the elite Deathwatch, Annandale does a creditable job of making the revamp interesting and credible. This also sees the canonical return of one of the more arcane aspects of the Imperium's military in the Sisters of Silence and they are also presented in an interesting light. Annandale does a great job of adding a twist to their already badass nature.
Weirdly. this series is more interesting when it avoids the enormous battles that are the cornerstone of WH40K. This series is at it's best with the political battles around the venal, self serving and grossly incompetent "High Lords of Terra. This novel hints at that, without expanding the matter too much, concerning itself with the tactical rebirth of the Imperial response to the horrifying assault of the Orks.
All in all this is a satisfying, if not astonishing, addition to the series.
May 5, 2017
Very pleased with this book, it drops the overall scheme of the Beast Arises series from the galaxy-wide to a microcosm of the pressures upon the Imperium, and the subsequent (whisper it) innovation that follows. This culminates in a wonderful and evocative explanation of the creation of the Deathwatch that really adds wonderful extra layers of illustrious, born-in-the-fire history to this particular type of group within the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
November 10, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. The forces of the Imperium finally give up with their usual tactics and they form the Deathwatch to fight the orks. There are some very cool stories about small kill teams infiltrating ships & blowing them up. As well as some fights within mega titans.
December 13, 2017
If only the beginning of this series was as good as the ending has been. Still disjointed and crammed together but the story is a good one. Covering the formation of the deathwatch it made for an informative and great read.
October 6, 2019
Very mych an origin story for the deathwatch. This does bring back some characters we hadnt seen for awhile, which was good. Also the plot of the series is moved on nicely. The action is well done but doesnt overstay its welcome.
January 13, 2018
"Sometimes a single knife can be more effective than a broadsword"
February 21, 2018
wow a real page turner, we are finally getting somewhere with the BEAST
October 10, 2020
Something, something, Deathwatch.
April 17, 2021
Superb.
March 1, 2022
I really loved this one - I think Annandale’s style just gels with me, and he manages to balance the politics and action really well.
February 29, 2024
loved this book... i finally understand the lore behind my deathwatch army properly
December 4, 2024
just going through the motion of finishing this serie
December 21, 2025
fast paced
One new faction is created and one is rediscovered in this book and it’s a great story that leads up to those.
One new faction is created and one is rediscovered in this book and it’s a great story that leads up to those.
December 25, 2025
One of the better ones in the series - maybe the end will be better then some of the first books .
Also the book where the deathwatchers are born!!!
Also the book where the deathwatchers are born!!!
June 19, 2017
You can read the full review over at my blog:
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Off the bat, you may not realize it, but a lot of what has been happening in The Beast Arises is all a precursor to the status quo we know from the M41 era. There have already been rumblings about the division of specialities in the Inquisition and we also know that there are some High Lords among the High Twelve who do not have that seat by those familiar times. So in many ways, this series is charting out the history of the Imperium and no book does that more than Watchers In Death by David Annandale, his third book in the series.
As its name implies, Watchers In Death is all about how Lord Commander Koorland forms the Deathwatch Kill-Teams that are so famous and ubiquitous in M41 lore. It all begins with a need to fight the Orks on a different axis, brains over brawn essentially, and I absolutely loved how it all turned out. It made for some stirring reading, especially since it was all used to strike back against the Orks with immediate effect. And the Deathwatch aren’t the only ones to have made their mark here, for we also see the return of some of the most badass Imperial warriors from the Great Crusade era.
Note: Some major spoilers from the previous novels and this novel are mentioned here.
There are two major moments in this novel. The first is the formation of the Deathwatch Kill-Teams, establishing a precedent that will be set in stone for the next 8500 years, and then the second is the return of the feared Sisters of Silence, a women-only force of psychic blanks who were the Emperor’s premier anti-psyker bullet during the Great Crusade. Either one of these on its own would have been enough to make this a memorable novel, but having both of them together and even working together against the Orks in extremely relevant ways? That’s just golden.
With the supposed fall of Vulkan on Ullanor, and the Ork threat still grinding gears without pause, Koorland is forced to come up with a unique way to fight against the xenos. The conversations that lead up to this are fascinating as Inquisitor Veritus once again imparts bits of secret knowledge that it seems only he is privy to, with respect to the Sisters of Silence. We first them them in the Horus Heresy novels, specifically Flight of the Eisenstein, and they have done little since. As it turns out, in the intervening years since the end of the Heresy, they have disappeared from all (almost!) recorded memory and are little more than a myth. We already know as well that Vulkan wanted the Sisters on his side as a strong opposing force to the Ork psykers to nullify their strengths.
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Off the bat, you may not realize it, but a lot of what has been happening in The Beast Arises is all a precursor to the status quo we know from the M41 era. There have already been rumblings about the division of specialities in the Inquisition and we also know that there are some High Lords among the High Twelve who do not have that seat by those familiar times. So in many ways, this series is charting out the history of the Imperium and no book does that more than Watchers In Death by David Annandale, his third book in the series.
As its name implies, Watchers In Death is all about how Lord Commander Koorland forms the Deathwatch Kill-Teams that are so famous and ubiquitous in M41 lore. It all begins with a need to fight the Orks on a different axis, brains over brawn essentially, and I absolutely loved how it all turned out. It made for some stirring reading, especially since it was all used to strike back against the Orks with immediate effect. And the Deathwatch aren’t the only ones to have made their mark here, for we also see the return of some of the most badass Imperial warriors from the Great Crusade era.
Note: Some major spoilers from the previous novels and this novel are mentioned here.
There are two major moments in this novel. The first is the formation of the Deathwatch Kill-Teams, establishing a precedent that will be set in stone for the next 8500 years, and then the second is the return of the feared Sisters of Silence, a women-only force of psychic blanks who were the Emperor’s premier anti-psyker bullet during the Great Crusade. Either one of these on its own would have been enough to make this a memorable novel, but having both of them together and even working together against the Orks in extremely relevant ways? That’s just golden.
With the supposed fall of Vulkan on Ullanor, and the Ork threat still grinding gears without pause, Koorland is forced to come up with a unique way to fight against the xenos. The conversations that lead up to this are fascinating as Inquisitor Veritus once again imparts bits of secret knowledge that it seems only he is privy to, with respect to the Sisters of Silence. We first them them in the Horus Heresy novels, specifically Flight of the Eisenstein, and they have done little since. As it turns out, in the intervening years since the end of the Heresy, they have disappeared from all (almost!) recorded memory and are little more than a myth. We already know as well that Vulkan wanted the Sisters on his side as a strong opposing force to the Ork psykers to nullify their strengths.
May 17, 2021
So in Hunt for Sisters of Silence, we hunt for the Sisters of Silence ‘cause Vulkan mentioned them once and they’re good for blocking out the ork Psykers, who are being a real ball ache apparently. Deathwatch is made, though only like, five people join, and FINALLY it seems like humanity is ready to deal with the orks, who again have been borderline friendly and sophisticated throughout
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2020
Quite an interesting insight of the situation and the consequences of the new evolution. I liked the charactes and the treatment of their psychology, quite entertaining.
February 18, 2017
Awesome! *spoilers*
The origination of Deathwatch told! So cool!
The origination of Deathwatch told! So cool!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews