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Space Marine Legends
Shrike (3)
From the shadows, he strikes… Kayvaan Shrike is a legend among the Raven Guard and beyond, a swift and silent killer whose journey has taken him to Chapter Master. This is his story.
Vaunted warrior of the Raven Guard, Shrike has ascended the ranks of this most mysterious and deadly brotherhood all the way to Chapter Master. He is a legend amongst his battle-brothers, one that began humbly enough in the wilds of Kiavahr. Shrike has fought and bested many foes, but one in particular, the Ork Warlord Gorkrusha, dogged him throughout many campaigns. From veteran to Shadow Captain, Shrike clashed with his old nemesis time and again, determined to bring about a final reckoning and bloody vengeance to the greenskin.
George Mann, undisputed master of Raven Guard fiction, weaves the tale of the Chapter's new leader and his decades-long feud with the vicious greenskin warboss Gorkrusha. It's a tale of obsession and vengeance, and it's wholly satisfying.
Vaunted warrior of the Raven Guard, Shrike has ascended the ranks of this most mysterious and deadly brotherhood all the way to Chapter Master. He is a legend amongst his battle-brothers, one that began humbly enough in the wilds of Kiavahr. Shrike has fought and bested many foes, but one in particular, the Ork Warlord Gorkrusha, dogged him throughout many campaigns. From veteran to Shadow Captain, Shrike clashed with his old nemesis time and again, determined to bring about a final reckoning and bloody vengeance to the greenskin.
George Mann, undisputed master of Raven Guard fiction, weaves the tale of the Chapter's new leader and his decades-long feud with the vicious greenskin warboss Gorkrusha. It's a tale of obsession and vengeance, and it's wholly satisfying.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published March 21, 2017
17 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
George Mann
371 books675 followersGeorge Mann is an author and editor, primarily in genre fiction. He was born in Darlington, County Durham in 1978.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 11, 2025
How badly I wanted to love this book. Yet even this 3-star rating is actually biased on my part, given that I’m a hardcore Raven Guard girl at heart and I had already liked Shrike before reading this. This is more of a 2.5 for me really, and that is only because I see the potential this book had, which it sadly fell short of.
I have a long list of grievances about this book, and foremost of it is how the timelines just do not match up with the already established lore for Shrike scattered about. Part 2 was especially guilty of this because my God, Part 2 of this book may be one of the worst short stories I ever read from Black Library. Shrike was a captain in Part 2 and yet, he acted in a way that is completely at odds with the Shrike depicted in Steve Parker’s Deathwatch, and the Shrike depicted in the Damocles campaign. It makes no sense for him to still be this rash and impulsive as a captain when past lore established him as a pretty levelheaded guy. I could have accepted it much better if Part 2 took place when he was sergeant.
Part 2 in general is mostly responsible for my poor opinion here, because I saw absolutely no point in that story. It didn’t further the plot. We didn’t learn anything new about Shrike as a character. It was just… there. Like filler. Bad filler at that.
The pacing was atrocious in this book too. Part 1 had some real potential and it could have been actually GOOD if the story had been given more time to breathe but I felt rushed through the story, the action was dull and didn’t spark any tension or excitement, and it was simply just written so plainly that it felt almost boring to read. Let’s not even get to the pacing of Parts 2 and 3 because that was just awful. If Part 1 felt rushed, the rest of the book felt like that x3. This book could have done well if it was longer and more carefully thought out, because 208 pages simply didnt cut it this time.
I have no clue who the target audience was for this book, but it didn’t work for me as a long time RG fan. The inconsistencies and wonky timeline just frustrated me because it didn’t match up with what I already know from years of hoarding RG content and info like a magpie. This book even retconned Shrike’s past, because it certainly doesn’t match up to what is generally known as the story of how he became Astartes. And if the point was to attract non-RG fans, I think it failed at that too, because there was little said about the RG culture, battle doctrine and tactics. And I’m very saddened to say this, but if I’d gone into this book not already a fan of Shrike, I’d have walked away completely uncaring of him, he was so flatly written.
I am honestly sad. George Mann’s other RG book, Sons of Corax, was my first Black Library read not from the Horus Heresy line, and I had thoroughly enjoyed it. The flow was good, the action was enjoyable and thrilling, and I loved the bond of mutual trust and respect between Captain Daed and Shadow Captain Koryn. I was so excited to receive Shrike as a gift, but I’m afraid I’ve been left disappointed in an RG-centric book for the first time.
I have a long list of grievances about this book, and foremost of it is how the timelines just do not match up with the already established lore for Shrike scattered about. Part 2 was especially guilty of this because my God, Part 2 of this book may be one of the worst short stories I ever read from Black Library. Shrike was a captain in Part 2 and yet, he acted in a way that is completely at odds with the Shrike depicted in Steve Parker’s Deathwatch, and the Shrike depicted in the Damocles campaign. It makes no sense for him to still be this rash and impulsive as a captain when past lore established him as a pretty levelheaded guy. I could have accepted it much better if Part 2 took place when he was sergeant.
Part 2 in general is mostly responsible for my poor opinion here, because I saw absolutely no point in that story. It didn’t further the plot. We didn’t learn anything new about Shrike as a character. It was just… there. Like filler. Bad filler at that.
The pacing was atrocious in this book too. Part 1 had some real potential and it could have been actually GOOD if the story had been given more time to breathe but I felt rushed through the story, the action was dull and didn’t spark any tension or excitement, and it was simply just written so plainly that it felt almost boring to read. Let’s not even get to the pacing of Parts 2 and 3 because that was just awful. If Part 1 felt rushed, the rest of the book felt like that x3. This book could have done well if it was longer and more carefully thought out, because 208 pages simply didnt cut it this time.
I have no clue who the target audience was for this book, but it didn’t work for me as a long time RG fan. The inconsistencies and wonky timeline just frustrated me because it didn’t match up with what I already know from years of hoarding RG content and info like a magpie. This book even retconned Shrike’s past, because it certainly doesn’t match up to what is generally known as the story of how he became Astartes. And if the point was to attract non-RG fans, I think it failed at that too, because there was little said about the RG culture, battle doctrine and tactics. And I’m very saddened to say this, but if I’d gone into this book not already a fan of Shrike, I’d have walked away completely uncaring of him, he was so flatly written.
I am honestly sad. George Mann’s other RG book, Sons of Corax, was my first Black Library read not from the Horus Heresy line, and I had thoroughly enjoyed it. The flow was good, the action was enjoyable and thrilling, and I loved the bond of mutual trust and respect between Captain Daed and Shadow Captain Koryn. I was so excited to receive Shrike as a gift, but I’m afraid I’ve been left disappointed in an RG-centric book for the first time.
May 29, 2017
Perhaps providing something of a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t followed recently-told events in the Damocles Gulf, this follows Shrike through the years and his advancing rank as he finds himself time and again facing up against the same ork warlord, Gorkrusha.
It’s all good fun, and there’s nothing that feels outright wrong or particularly badly done, but there’s a sense that this doesn’t really offer much of an insight, which is a shame.
Read the full review at http://www.trackofwords.com/2017/05/2...
It’s all good fun, and there’s nothing that feels outright wrong or particularly badly done, but there’s a sense that this doesn’t really offer much of an insight, which is a shame.
Read the full review at http://www.trackofwords.com/2017/05/2...
February 15, 2020
not a bad tale. I enjoyed the symmetry between the past and present of the protagonist.
The nemesis was less well developed so the end felt abrupt. As the reader I feel there should have been some foreshadowing that the Ork Warlord also sought to have a one to one showdown with Shrike.
The descriptions were vivid. The main characters likable. It could be developed into a longer novel with more of the career related as to how he moved up through the ranks as well as developing the Chaplin character further.
The nemesis was less well developed so the end felt abrupt. As the reader I feel there should have been some foreshadowing that the Ork Warlord also sought to have a one to one showdown with Shrike.
The descriptions were vivid. The main characters likable. It could be developed into a longer novel with more of the career related as to how he moved up through the ranks as well as developing the Chaplin character further.
November 11, 2019
Would have liked this more if it had expanded more on how Shrike obtained different ranks over his battle brothers. But fora time skip sequence short novella it was fine. Space marines versus orks. It was also an interesting take on strength of one versus many.
April 21, 2021
Average
Characters aren’t particularly well fleshed-out and are lacking depth, as is the narrative. Not great overall, but not bad either.
Characters aren’t particularly well fleshed-out and are lacking depth, as is the narrative. Not great overall, but not bad either.
June 25, 2023
Enjoyed
The time jumps give little explanation to how they got there. But a pretty decent book overall. Love Shryke the character.
The time jumps give little explanation to how they got there. But a pretty decent book overall. Love Shryke the character.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews