The Ultramarines Omnibus

Ultramarines #1-3

by Graham McNeill

The Ultramarines are a byword for loyalty and courage, their martial prowess is legendary and is second only to the God-Emperor.

Graham Mcneill's epic trilogy of Ultramarines novels is a masterpiece of non-stop action! Containing the novels Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar and Dead Sky, Black Sun, plus a connected short story, Chains of Command, the series follows the adventures of Space Marine Captain Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines as they battle against the enemies of mankind. From their home world of Macragge, into the dreaded Eye of Terror and beyond, Graham McNeill's prose rattles like gunfire and brings the Space Marines to life like never before.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Fiction, Fantasy, War, Science Fiction Fantasy, Military Science Fiction

768 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2006

About the author

Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in surveying to work for Games Workshop as a games designer. He has a strong following with his novels Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar, Dead Sky, Black Sun and Storm of Iron.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK I admit, this kind of book is for guys what I suppose a Harlequin romance is for girls. Ultramarines has a lot of testosterone-loaded action and won't win any literature prizes, but it's fun.

[Chip Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collecting McNeill's first three Ultarmarines novels, this omnibus represents some of the best WH40K fluff to be found. IMO, it is a close call between Graham McNeill and Dan Abnett for the most talented writer publishing under Black Library company, with the slight edge going to Abnett. If you're already a fan of WH40K fiction, this is a Must-Read, and if you're new to the universe, this would be a fine place to start. Following the intrepid Uriel Ventris in his earliest adventures, these stories take you throughout the Imperium and beyond, and give you a taste of a broad range of WH40K-specific settings and inhabitants. As with most other Warhammer 40K titles, these books are full of rip-roaring action, powerful heroes, and sinister villains. Each novel in this omnibus stands fairly well on its own, but they do form a continuous story, and will be better appreciated if read in order. Very highly recommended for fans of WH40K or gritty SciFi in general.

Graham McNeil's first full-length novel, Nightbringer, is an excellent book. As newly appointed captain of an Ultramarine team, Uriel Ventris at first seems to be in over his head. A mission to Pavonis as an escort for Ario Barzano, a snooty-seeming official of the Administratum, initially looks to be a fairly straight forward undertaking. Obviously, it turns out to be a lot more complicated (and dangerous) than it first appeared, with the appearance of Necrons, scheming politicians, and civil unrest. The story takes off and never looks back as Ario and Uriel start uncovering deadly plots. Ario turns out to be one of the best characters I've come across in a long time. Truly a fantastic story. [5-stars]

The second novel in this collection is Warriors of Ultramar. As the Ultramarines and their desperate allies face off against an insatiable Tyranid hive fleet, you get nonstop and highly-exciting action. Well-described and gruesome battle scenes are interspersed with the development of a whole host of intriguing characters. Even though the primary enemy is distinctly non-human and impossible to understand, you get plenty of great characters here, including Space Marines, Inquisitors, Imperial Guardsmen, nobles, and even slum-living gangsters. While the action really drives the story, the characters in this book are without a doubt some of the best I've found in WH40K lit. [5-stars]

Dead Sky, Black Sun is the last novel in this collection and stands out as being the most graphically disturbing of the three. Set in a Chaos world close to the Eye of Terror, this novel takes you to a whole different level of horror, even in the already dark and gritty world of WH40K. As Uriel and Pasanius are sent to fulfill an impossible-seeming death oath, their fate seems sealed as they find themselves in the middle of a internecine war among the Iron Warriors Chaos Marines. Many readers have complained of this one being too over-the-top with the amount of gore, torture, and pure evil, but what do you expect in the Eye of Terror? While the constant blood and pain do become numbing, this is still a great story that reveals part of the WH40K universe that was generally lacking in detail. [5-stars]

**Note that you should get Storm of Iron along with this book, which starts McNeill's Iron Warriors series, and closely ties into these books between WARRIORS OF ULTRAMAR and DEAD SKY, BLACK SUN. It is critically important for your enjoyment of DEAD SKY, BLACK SUN that you read this one first.

Great characters, wonderfully flowing writing, and engaging plots make these novels some of the most popular in the WH40K universe. These books should be pleasing to any fan of the genre. Very highly recommended!

[Doreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 1, Nightbringer, was good, definitely 4 stars. It had intrigue, interesting characters, plot twists: so a good read. Book 2, Warriors of Ultramar, was like that sequel they make in the movie industry to capitalize on the deserved success of the first one: pretty bad, but having enough of the flavor of the first that you forgive it its flaws. The 3rd book, Dead Sky, Black Sun, was just awful. All blood and killing and synonyms thereof. The worst part is, I borrowed this book to make some sense of the Warhammer 40k universe and... well, does the setting just not make sense? Is it just not a deep setting for writers to work with? If anyone is interested in reading these novels, I'd recommend reading just the first then not ruining the experience by reading the rest.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually a collection of 3 books set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Overall, not a bad collection if your a fan of the setting or a fan of war stories.

Book 1 & 2 in this collection were by far the best. The second was especially good if you like men fighting against impossible odds (think Alamo, but on planetwide scale).

Book 3, sad to say, was a waste of space. Unless perhaps you like Dante's Inferno. It was pretty much the story of 2 space marines (super soldiers), journey through the Warhammer universe's version of hell. It was pretty grotesque and I stopped reading after the first couple chapters.

[Jean-Luc · Rating 4 out of 5]

30,000 years from now, a God-Emperor will arise and unite all of mankind against the many, many forces that seek our enslavement and/or eradication. Most beloved of the Emperor's sons was Horus, his warmaster, who rebelled because daddy wasn't paying enough attention to him. But greatest of his sons was Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the XIII Legion. To call Guilliman a genius would be a horrendous understatement. Among his many achievements, he authored the Codex Astartes, the rules by which a chapter of space marines may make war. The Ultramarines, the sons of Guilliman, adhere to the Codex Astartes rigidly. Very rigidly. No deviation, however small, can ever be tolerated.

This omnibus edition is composed of 1 short story and 3 novels.

* Chains of Command - Before Uriel Ventris was Captain of the 4th Company of Ultramarines, he was a Veteran Sergeant under Idaeus, Captain of the 4th Company of Ultramarines. You know how this story ends. :-(

* Nightbringer - The planet Pavonis is under attack by Dark Eldar pirates and terrorists. Worse, they haven't payed their taxes. Uriel Ventris is tasked w/ defeating the Eldar and protecting the bureaucrats auditing the Pavonis government. The Eldar are looking for something.

* Warriors of Ultramar - Tyrannids are OM NOM NOM-ing their way towards Tarsis Ultra, and the 4th Company of Ultramarines, the Defends of Ultramar, must somehow stop them. Knowing they have no hope of stopping them on their own, and faced w/ overwhelming logistics problems, the Ultramarines call upon the Mortifactors, a sibling chapter of space marines. The noble and stuffy Ultramarines are disgusted by how far the blood-drinking Mortifactors have "fallen", and see this as proof that all who deviate from the Codex must be punished immediately. The cost of defending Tarsis Ultra is catastrophically high, pyrrhic even, but there is indeed a way to defeat the invaders and Uriel Ventris leads the way.

* Dead Sky, Black Sun - Uriel Ventris and his faithful sergeant Pasanius Lysane, for violating tenets of the Codex Astartes on Tarsis Ultra, have been exiled from the Ultramarines. Their only hope of regaining their lost honor was to take a death oath and die fighting the forces of Chaos in the Eye of Terror. Almost immediately, they are waylaid by the Omphalos Daemonium, who takes them to Medrengard, the Iron Warriors' homeworld. The Omphalos Daemonium has a very simple request for them: retrieve the Heart of Blood, the daemonic artifact powering the fortress defenses of the Iron Warriors Warsmith Honsou.

The Ultramarines are paladins one and all, paragons of Lawful Good, everything that is right and noble about space marines. The internet calls them Ultrasmurfs because they're so damn boring. Graham McNeill's challenge was to root around the 40k lore and find an Ultramarine who would be interesting to write about. Someone who's always perfect all the time is boring, too boring to sustain this many books. The answer is to make that perfection an illusion. Ventris knows the Codex Astartes is the moral fibre by which the Ultramarines lead, but he can't help but question it. Pasanius stands by his friend always, but can't bear to tell him what's happened to his arm. But despite those contradictions, their friendship endures the perversion of the Eldar, the moistness of the Tyrannids, and the mind-numbing horror of Chaos.

There's a short story, Consequences, that takes place between Warriors of Ultramar and Dead Sky Black Sun, but it's not in this omnibus edition; a dumb oversight. Anyone who isn't used to seeing things from the Chaos perspective may find themselves repulsed by the general setting of Dead Sky, Black Sun. When they say "blood for the blood god", boy howdy, do they mean blood. There are philosophical discussions of what it means to be a space marine, but nothing approaching the depth found in the Soul Drinkers saga.

"Oh awesome, the Ultramarines are here!" is a reaction I had more than once. Pretty stupid thing to say when reading a collection titled "Ultramarines", but that should give you an idea of how hopeless the situation can seem before the Defenders of Ultramar show up. Good fist-bumping fun, just don't read Dead Sky, Black Sun before bed.

[Kos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great books for war/battles oriented sci-fi. Thought I consider book 1 weaker entry then 2 and 3rd.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great action, and a quick fun read.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ultramarines series is shaping up to be a master piece! And I don't give that title out lightly.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first to fall from my extended convalescence. :) Truth is, I started this book almost three years ago, but to be fair to me, this is one of those "omnibus" editions that contains three full novels. Let's be honest: the dark and brutal world of 40K makes a novel a year more than sufficient.

Overall, I liked this book(s). Because it took me three years to conclude, I am not able to give a thorough review of each - details fade - but I can say the following:

The first book, "NightBringer" was about the Ultramarines encounter, led by Space Marine Captain Uriel Ventris, with an "ancient star god" that was made in the mold of a Cthulhuian terror. I don't recall much about this novel other than it largely revolved around Ventris uncovering a cult on some alien world. I also recall enjoying it.

The second book, "Warriors of Ultramar," was a slam-bang, knock-down, drag-out fight between Ventris' Ultramarines and an ork and Tyrannid planetary invasion (as if one wasn't bad enough!). Anything with Tyrannids gets my attention, so I enjoyed this book immensely as it lived up the 40K reputation for battles against terrible foes at a massive level. Highly recommended.

The last book, which I just completed, was "Dead Sky, Black Sun." Overall, I thought it was the weakest of the three, but not bad. Here, we have Ventris and his trusted sergeant Pasanius, finding themselves in the Eye of Terror on the cursed Chaos forgeworld of Medrengard. My main complaint with this story is that is was a bid derivative. Here, we have Ventris and company needing to travel across the cursed and poisoned landscape of Mordor...er, Medrengard, to reach Mount Doom...er, Khalan-Gol and destroy the One Ring...er, Heart of Blood. Get it? In addition to more than a few Lord of the Rings references, there are also a lot of Dante's "Inferno" imagery, albeit this is entirely appropriate considering the hellish nature of this planet. I will say that I did think McNeill might have laid on the gore and depravity of Chaos a bit thickly as there was enough in this story to make Clive Barker's tales of homo-erotic sadomasochism pale by comparison.

Another complaint: early in the novel, Ventris said something that I would think would damn him as a heretic. That is, in a brief interior monologue, Ventris confessed that he did not believe that the Undying Emperor of Man was a god. "A great man, surely, but not a god" (I believe was the quote). Get behind me, satan! I thought perhaps this was the beginning of a plot point where Ventris would have a crisis of faith, but no such moment arrived. Just the opposite, in fact, as Ventris would return to pious Space Marine form and invoke the blessings of the Emperor and so on on more than a few occasions. Ventris guilty of double-think? Or just McNeill unable to resist the urge of injecting some secularism into his novel? Not sure. But it was an uncharacteristic moment for a Space Marine, one bordering on breaking with core canon. Odd.

Despite its derivativeness and borderline heresy, the bulk of this novel entertains even if it ended with a bunch of major cliffhangers.

While the quality of the stories fluctuated, there in no denying this this three novel omnibus proves a lot of bang for your buck. Hence, the overall four-star review.

[JT · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is 40k fluff, pure and simple. Marines are sort of tough to write about since they're all essentially gods, physically and mentally engineered successfully to be flawless (unless you're corrupted by Chaos of course, and then you're still incapable of flaw or weakness but just evil minded). So everything that isn't dealing with a fall from grace storyline (which all authors end up trying to utilize...and most fail) turns into a straight action shoot em up. Which is fine as far as reading for entertainment goes, and this collection does a good job of entertaining. It is, however, pretty shallow other than that. My bolter goes boom-boom, "they shall know no fear," die xenos-scum, dost thou question my honor, I smell Chaos here!

This one does have its little fall from grace storyline with Uriel and his buddies being excommunicated from The Ultramarines for going outside of their rules (they're all about dogma and following their tactical handbook unerringly) when scrapping with some Tyranids. So they have to go on a death mission to restore their honor...which is a Catch 22 because there's no coming back.

There are some high points other than the boom-boom. One is the stream of consciousness craziness that the author uses to describe Chaos when it rolls into a spaceship on a giant freight train. Yes, a giant, steam-powered freight train. I thought it was one of the better handlings of Chaos that I've seen in any of these books because, although they tell a lot, no one really SHOWS just what Chaos is supposed to be. And that is madness--a pure, all-encompassing distortion of reality. The author did a good job with that scene.

Another "high" point, and I mean that in a loose way, is the final story in the compilation. The general story is just funny in its conception. It's basically a Milo and Otis story with Space Marines--two dudes left on an Iron Warriors Death World to just kinda find their way around. I thought it was just funny...although I know it's unintentional. So though not high literature, just the goofiness factor kept me going...plus more of the Chaos craziness that shows up inside the Iron Warriors citadel is an imaginative tour-de-force (giant bloated humans, who are so fat that extra skin is flayed from others to accommodate extended surface area, that are engineered to breed other Space Marines inserted into their viscera to gestate into Chaos Marines...for example).

So anyway, goofy? Yes. Lots of boom-boom? Yes. Some interesting scenes? Yes. But it's shallow and mostly fanboi fap-fapping...so two stars. I would recommend it for 40k fluff geeks like myself, but no one else.

[Sebastián Muena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Después de meses, finalmente termine este ómnibus.
Para empezar la junta de las tres novelas es meramente artificial puesto que no forman una sola gran historia y leerlo todo de una es agotador ya que no hay mucho que haya sentir que hay un avance.
La primera novela es bastante buena y muy bien estructurada. El único problema es que los Marines espaciales no salen tanto como me gustaría considerando que la novela trata sobre ellos.
La segunda es absolutamente magnífica hasta que se llega al final y ves que se corta de una manera estúpidamente abrupta. No sé si el autor tenia un límite de páginas o de fechas pero el bajón de calidad en ese sentido es terrible, ni siquiera deja algo para otra novela, si no fuera que la siguiente novela estaba en la siguiente página hubiera abandonado la saga. Incluso llegó a apreciar a los personajes secundarios de la entrega anterior (los cuales admito que no me interesaban solo por no ser ultramarines)por si estar bien concluidas sus tramas.
La tercera no retoma la trama anterior. Pero lo bueno es que asume que ya conoces a los personajes y va directo a la acción, por lo que compensa la basura de final del anterior supongo. Me habían dicho que esta entrega era inconmensurablemente angustiante por su gore, pero ni es tanto (los que dicen han de ser gente que solo lee warhammer), eso si, logra crear una muy buena atmósfera de tensión.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does exactly what is says on the tin.
Plenty of battles, tankfuls of honourable chaps in enormous armour and the nastiest bad guys you've ever come across...
Happily, the many and varied fight scenes are interspersed with a surprising amount of interesting characters and enough back story to ensure your attention doesn't wander too far and the book become overly repetitive.
Will take a break from the Ultramarines for a while, but will definitely return to the second omnibus before long

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick impressions: If you are a Warhammer 40K fan, you should be reading this. If you are not a WH40K fan, but you enjoy military science fiction, I think you will enjoy this collection as well.

(Full review on my blog.)

[Kaohlir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please forgive the use of differing tags to those of use upon Goodreads, I originally intended this review for a different site.

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx...

Admittidly, this Omnibus, a trio of stories revolving around Ultramarine Protagonists naturally involves a degree of the imfamous strict Codex-Astartes adherence, thus, often bringing about boredom and the bland flavours of Ultramarine society, culture and tradition. So the authour`s intention of portraying our Main-character - Uriel Ventris, as lost in his turmoil at both his natural pressure to adhere to his Primarch`s doctrine of war, but also his former liege`s natural flares of disobediance, is cunning in how an unorthodox character can still function within the Chapter, and help bring about more intruige in the way potential threats are combatted; a clever move by that of McNeill to relish in the untypical nature of his chosen Ultramarines characters. It sets Uriel apart from the cliched ultramarine-clad Space Marines who ply the void in text-book fashion, and with varied supporting characters: The doubting, self-loathing giant of Pasanius, the traditional, rival of Learchus, makes for a strong character foundation.

[B:][SIZE="2":]Nightbringer[/SIZE:][/B:]. Such characterisation dosen`t really flow into the first novel, [I:]Nightbringer[/I:] however. The portrayel of the Dark Eldar is mediocre at best, and is drastically overshadowed by far better interpretations of these heartless and archaic foes in other Black Library works. The Ultramarines of 4th Company are overshadowed by the Adeptus Arbites- the planetry law-enforcers, aptly named 'judges' of the Industy-blanketed world, Pavonis. Varying battles against Rebel Planetry Defence Force regulars, accompanying armoured divisions and a rebel kill-team masquerading as Judges to deliver precise anarchy within the civilian populance, is the pinnacle of the growing unease between Manufactorum cartels and the Planetry Governer; all manipulated by traitors and the Dark Eldar Xenos.
[I:]Nightbringer[/I:] culminates with the rebirth of the C`tan, the ''Nightbringer''. Although for one understanding and familliar with the background of thr 40k Universe, I thought a definitive lacking of history surronding this mystical figure would lead to many readers believing it of Chaos origin; infact the ''Nightbringer'' being a C`tan is the stark opposite of the Ruinous Powers, and unfortunately seemed to gift Uriel with no negative Warp-presence, as one would expect after their climatical encounter; a possible boon against any daemonic foes to come?

Overall, the first book sets about to describe the Ultramarines, although covers too great a spectrum of the Imperium`s society and millitary to achieve this exactly. 3/5 stars for ever-strong talent by Graham McNeill, but a dissapointing portrayel of the Xenos, alongside little emphasis on the Astartes is only saved by the beautiful and almost languid flow of descriptive genius that populated the finale and the birth-throes of the C`tan. Readers not familiar with the Universe may enjoy this, but I found it lacking overall.

[B:][SIZE="2":]Warriors of Ultramar[/SIZE:][/B:] is far more simple in its synopsis: A conglermeration of Ultramarines, led by our hero - Uriel Ventris, a starkly clashing and baroque branch of the Ultramarines Legion, the Mortifactors sharing their lineage to Primarch Roboute Guilliman, and the ''Deathwatch'', concise but deadly, Special Operatives tasked by the Ordo Xenos in the pin-point execution of Aliens. Amongst a sea of Imperial Guardsmen from varying Regimental worlds and the PDF of Tarsis-Ultra, the Space Marines face a simple, yet impossible challenge: To hold a tendril of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan at bay until reinforcements can relieve the System. Several truly fantastic Naval-conflicts within the depths of the cold, void of space against Bio-constructs of colossal proportion perfectly atunes the reader to the scale of warfare. The eventual defeat of the Imperial armarda embarks us the the ground-defense of Tarsis-Ultra by the remnants of the Imperial forces.
Several mores assaults by the Tyranid menace and varying levels of successful resistance, counter-assaults and expendature by the Space Marines is balanced in its single-minded ferocity and bloody nature by emphasis upon human-greed and selfishness during the conflicts by other characters, chancing the ongoing threat to proffit in this unexpected boon. This anthithesis of Astartes values leads to a far more successful portrayel of these supporting characters than the poor attempt of [I:]Nightbringer[/I:]. Each given a nickname based on some trait, these press-gangers are an interesting effort to adding a less superhuman flavour overall. The Deathwatch`s incersion into the biological heart of the Hive Fleet by Uriel Ventris, whilst Learchus and the Imperial nemnants dig-in for all-out siege and a glorifying last-stand, concludes the simple, yet brutal war. A baleful Inquisitor Kryptman sheds an interesting light upon the Tyranids, and the weakness of these Xenos. A Bio-virus drugged into the Queen of the Hive-Fleet ignites an evolutionary bombshell, dissolving the Xenos invaders into cellular mush instantaneously.

4/5, although only barely, for a more succinct plot, but far better portraying of the Ultramarines, their zealous allies of the Deathwatch and Mortifactors, and the myriad of other human-personna`s. A far better finale and the rivers of blood shed sate the wanton-bloodlust of a reader like myself.

[B:][SIZE="2":]Dead Sky, Black Sun[/SIZE:][/B:]. The finale of this epic trilogy, and yet-to-be series ends in a cataclysm of daemon-wrought adventure, into the heart of Chaos itself, the Eye of Terror, and the spawned monstrosities lurking within its turbulent depths. Having the crisis of banishment from Ultramar and the Ultramarines Chapter, for Uriel`s and Pasanius` abandonement of the Codex Astartes sacred lore in Warriors of Ultramar , by joining the Xenos-hunting Deathwatch, our pair of Astartes protagonists are whisked from Maccragge, totally oblivious of the utterly wretched challenges they blindly stumble towards. Challenges that will test, and even break their doctrines of faith, pushing their warrior-spirit and iron-hard mentalities to breaking- and beyond through pacts with Daemon`s, mutants and McNeill`s darker, and more sinister son: Honsou; upon the industry-charred daemon-world of Medrengard. The vile, repulsive, cesspit of corruption and slavery, made dominion by the Traitor Legion, the Iron Warriors.

True to McNeill`s nature, this book is rivited by flowing descriptions of a complex-depth, unmatched within his collective peers. The sheer volume, and omniscient nature of this talent is ever-present, with every sequence of high-action events or subdued, emotional turmoil explained in a multitude of enjoyable ways. Additional characters within[I:] Dead Sky, Black Sun [/I:]allows for greater flesh to be added to each frame of a personality, in contrast to the forlorn, but ever righteouss Ultramarines: The self-loathing, honour-severed Raven Guard, Vaanes, the ill-fated Blood Raven Seraphys and the blugeoned but ever-hopeful Guardsmen, rebel slaves from Hydra Cordatus. The book follows these Renegades, Uriel and Pasanius legion amongst them, as they dare to infiltrate Honsou`s fortress of Khalan-Gol to retrieve the artifact the Heart of Blood, for their daemonic overlord, in a bid for freedom. Our heroes are caught up in the turmoil of arch-Warsmith`s Berossus and Toramino, as they challenge Honsou in a bloody siege of truly colossal proportion. Several high-octane battles later, and with Khornate Daemon-Princes, Possessed-Titans, Packs of feral Dreadnaughts, scuttling adepts of the Dark Mechanicus` Biologis wing, and Unfleashed mutants all bloodied and rotting amongst the boiling rubble, Honsou`s fortress is in tatters and his forces seriously depleted, with Uriel and Pasanius, escaping through the Warp-borne tunnels of the fortress.


Though fallen beneath the double-hammer stroke of the arch-Warsmith`s, Honsou makes a pact with the Heart of Blood- a colossal Daemon Prince bound to Khorne and recruits followers amongst the Renegade Astartes, such as Vaanes, the Raven Guard, alongside a clone of Uriel Ventris, a result from the distasteful methods employed in the creation of new Chaos Astartes. The interesting, vengeance-riven epilogue sets a revenge plot in motion, to be fulfilled during [I:]The Chapter`s Due[/I:].

I would still only rate [I:]Dead Sky, Black Sun [/I:]as a 4/5, despite its harsh, and arguably deserved critisisms towards the more grotesque, gory and repulsive details and theme`s. (But this [I:]is[/I:] a Daemon-World, lost within the epitome of madness...)The fighting is more harsh, bloody and on a far grander scale, with Antagonists of a darkly interesting and vile nature. But differing to previous novels, more emotional pressure is heaped onto our struggling protagonists, and their zealous-faith under immense strain. The subtle interwining story of Honsou, and his Warband of Iron Warrior`s from [I:]Storm of Iron[/I:] works well, the famed hero and anti-hero of McNeill facing one another for the first time.

Overall: Enjoyable for a reader not as embedded within the 40k Universe, and a [I:]real [/I:]delight to one who is.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ultramarines Omnibus introduces to us to the Ultramarines Chapter of The Space Marines, a chapter who has such a squeaky clean honourable reputation for honesty, integrity, etc that the serve as shining examples of what they other chapters should look up to! :D Or do they? :D The answer is a unequivocal yes indeed! :D But at the same time they are human like everyone else and beneath the surface they all have their personal conflicts and interpretations of the Codes that they are supposed to follow as Ultramarines! :D This provides for personal conflict and different viewpoints in abundance throughout the book! :D

The Ultramarines Omnibus follows the adventures of Captain Uriel Ventris and his 4th Company of the Chapter! :D The stories also branch off and we get to see things from Sergeants Pasanius, Uriel's best friend. and Learchus who is a Ultramarine through and through but is rather dogmatic! :D This makes for a great combination of characters who all have a different point of view on things! :D

The first short story Chains of Command sees Uriel's promotion to Captain, Nightbringer sees the the Ultramarines taking of a 60 million year old alien known as the C'tan who threatens the system of Pavonis as well as all the other Galaxies! :D This story serves as the breaking in of Ventris's new command and seems to have consequences for both Uriel and Pasanius! :D Arms should remain attached! :D

The second full novel Warriors of Ultramar sees our heroic gang on the eponymous planet of Taris Ultra where they have to defend of the Tyrannids who are looking for planet sized meals! :D On the face of it this looks to be a simple plot but this is deceptive as it is compounded by the presence of the Mortifactors a somewhat crazed seeming band that formed after the breaking up of the the original Ultramarine Legion following the Horus Heresy! :D This chapter has evolved along very different lines to that of what the original Ultramarine Primarch Roboute Guilliman laid down! :D This immediately leads to bucket loads of character conflict that drip off the page! :D There are also the classic moustache twirling villains featured here as well! :D Though even with these characters there are unexpected twists, just deserts and rip breaking humour! :D

Dead Sky, Black Sun is extremely different but as great as the previous stories with Uriel and Pasanius getting kicked out of the Ultramarines for the equivalent of not tying their shoelaces up properly, then promptly finding themselves on the chaos planet of The Eye of Terror! :D They find themselves caught in a war between Chaos Lords, Honsou, Berossus and Toramino, and and this leads them on a merry adventures full of horrors best described as 'Salted Pork' in Gimli style! :D There they run into a band of renegade Space Marines led by a former Raven Guard named Vaanes who despite Uriel's best attentions is clearly determined to win 'most likely to turn to the dark side' award much like Anakin Skywalker! :D Ventris manages to get the outlaws together and they manage to extract themselves and accomplish their mission, along with some half built Chaos Marines who underneath are on the right side! :D The book is a gritty adventure and puts Ventris and Pasanius into a real edge of the seat situation that never let up from the beginning! :D McNeil really put his characters through the wringer and this shows all the characters to all three-dimensionally realised with all the characters having their own motivations and objectives! :D

The Ultramarines Omnibus really shows the Ultramarines as being more than their reputation but at the same time as greater that it! :D The Ultramarines Omnibus work on all levels and serves as brilliant gritty book but at the same time it works on many layers! :D As you get with all types of Science Fiction and Fantasy, these levels work brilliantly and at the same time thing set things up for new books! :D Brilliant, gritty, philosophical fist pumping action adventure throughout! :D Brilliant and highly recommend! :D Go and get the next one! :D

[Strix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short Story: Uriel Ventris blows up a bridge.
Book 1: Uriel Ventris fails to quell civil unrest; Dark Elf Party
Book 2: Uriel Ventris VS SPACE BUGS
Book 3: Uriel Ventris goes to Hell

These are Graham McNeill's first novels and it shows: the first book is super bloated with lots of characters, the second is almost worst, and the character writing is flimsy as hell. He can't write action scenes; they're boring. He can juggle a plot, but without characters or action it's like, why?

Why did I sit through this entire thing? Because there is one thing Graham McNeill is good at, and he's so good at it that if there was any justice in this world he'd be hailed as one of the masters of body horror.

Whenever Graham McNeill writes about something awful - a Tyranid swarm devouring a village, crucified space marines, an entire world of chaos demons doing awful things - it's like he transforms into a different, better author. His descriptions become vivid and enthralling, the atmosphere glistens, and you can't put it down.

To that end, it's the third book in this trilogy that makes the entire journey worth it. I've never been so repulsed and fascinated at once before, and every page brought fresh new horrors. It's the kind of joy only a certain kind of reader will get, because the rest will be retching. There are so many gross things well described in Dead Sky, Black Sun that it is amazing.

If you are thinking of reading this, please don't unless you're a body horror junkie like me. The plots are generic and flat and he managed to make an assault on a Tyranid hiveship boring, god knows how.

Oh, one more thing: if you don't know what Warhammer 40k is, you don't really need any knowledge to read these. They're space marines vs evil aliens/demons, no background knowledge required.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first novella in the omnibus is very good. There is several lines of intrigue and mystery. There's a good example of a spaceship battle written well. Overall, "Nightbringer" is worth a read.

The second novella in the omnibus is where things fall short. It's not terribly written, but it has a lot of mass-combat scenes which make the novella feel like it drags on for a long time. Contains a boring space battle. It also partly follows a street gang on Ultramar, which are not terribly interesting or entertaining. Nor are they critical to the plot. Also, they are just badly named (even by 40K standards). It did have a good ending though. Unless you're very interested in reading a book with the tyranids, I'd recommend skipping "Warriors of Ultramar."

The final novella is pretty entertaining. Two of the ultramarines are split up from the main force and end up on a chaos planet. The story follows them and their mission to break into the keep of a chaos lord. It's probably the most gory of the books and really does the idea of a chaos planet justice. It's not quite as compelling as "Nightbringer" was, but "Dead Sky Black Sun" is also worth a read.

[Rich McGilvray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid books set in the Warhammer 40k universe. Uriel Ventris is a stark departure from the stereotypical Mary Sue attitude that many Ultramarines seem to display. He's a grounded, down to Ear- Terra genetically modified superhuman. The Omnibus sees Ventris go through many trials and tribulations, including conquering the now infamous Daemonculaba - one of the most horrifying creatures and situations that has ever been described in the 40k universe. Seriously, that scene is right up there with Fulgrim in terms of being totally messed up.

This was my first foray into 40k, and served as a hell of an introduction to the series.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Warhammer 40,000 universe is such a massive and entertaining one that it takes awhile to get to know it's major players. As you read and become acquainted with the various heroes, villains, and armies that populate it you start to hear intriguing things from other fans about characters and concepts you may like. So when you finally get a chance to read about something like a Space Marine Legion you've heard so much about it you wonder if what you've heard will live up to the hype.

That's what happened to me with the Ultramarines and writer Graham McNeill's novels about their 4th company and it's heroic leader Uriel Ventris. When I started the first “Ultramarines Omnibus” that contained McNeill's novels “Nightbringer,” “Warriors of Ultramar” and “Dead Sky Black Sun” the Salamanders were my favorite Space Marine Legion thanks to their humanity and Nick Kyme's great novels about the Sons of Vulkan. I was very curious about the Ultramarines though and their battle cry of “Courage and Honour” it seemed to me that they might be like the Captain Americas of the 40K universe.

Having finished the first “Ultramarines” omnibus I now realize the warriors of Ultramar are not quite like my favorite super hero, but they are fascinating and fun heroic characters and I loved reading about them. I'd say their now my second favorite Space Marine Legion.

For me part of the appeal of the Ultramarines is they're consummate heroes. Their fun guys to root for when the chips are down and they refuse to let themselves be broken, but what makes their Legion especially interesting is that they're literally the most “by the book” Space Marine Legion ever. That's because their Primarch, Roboute Gulliman wrote the “Codex Astartes,” a sort of 40K version of “The Art of War.” A number of other Space Marine Legions follow the “Codex Astartes,” but to the Ultramarines it's almost a sacred text. So it can hamper their effectiveness in the field.

That means characters like Uriel Ventris are faced with a great challenge. What happens when they're put in a conflict where following the rigid instructions of the “Codex Astartes” means innocents and fellow battle brothers will die? Is Ventris' duty to “Codex” alone or the larger principles of courage and honor?

Those are some of questions Ventris wrestles with over the course of the three novels. It's fascinating to watch him grow as both a leader and a person as he sometimes decides he has to break away from the “Codex.” It's also exciting to watch him deal with the consequences of his actions. And even though Ventris is an eight foot tall genetically engineered super soldier and no longer technically human he's still easy to identify with. He suffers moments of doubt, uncertainty, sadness and horror as he navigates the three novels.

Uriel isn't the only great character in the Ultramarine Omnibus. We also get to know a number of his battle brothers like Sergeant Pasanius; a big bruiser even for a Space Marine, and Uriel's best friend. I have a soft spot for loyal strongmen types I think because of my love for Marvel Comics Thing, and Pasanius does share some of Grimm's qualities especially when it comes to sticking by your friends. That loyalty was pretty moving and by the third book there's almost a Frodo and Sam vibe to Ventris and Pasanius that is especially poignant

I also grew to really like Uriel's sort of rival in the 4th Company, Sergeant Learchus. In the second book, “Warriors of Ultramar” McNeill gives him some scenes that shows just how cunning, capable and badass he is. McNeill also populates each book with an interesting cast of characters that inhabit the particular world Ventris and his battle brothers are fighting for or fighting on; like the law enforcers of the Adeptus Arbites in “Nightbringer,” the soldier and physician who is haunted by survivor's guilt in “Warriors of Ultramar,” and the renegade Space Marines that Ventris and Pasanius encounter in “Dead Sky Black Sun”

As for the actual stories of the novels? They're a lot of fun and it's great that each book is a very different kind of tale. In “Nightbringer” Ventris and the 4th Company find themselves embroiled in a mysterious alien conspiracy that could spell doom for an entire planet and perhaps the galaxy. “Warriors of Ultramar” finds the 4th Company battling the Ultramarines most hated foe, the savage, ravenous bio organic monstrosities of the Tyranids. The fallout from that battle is felt in the final novel “Dead Sky Black Sun” where Ventris and Pasanius suddenly find themselves stranded on a demon world in the heart of the infernal “Eye of Terror.”

Of the three novels I think “Dead Sky Black Sun” is probably my favorite. I don't want to spoil anything, but it reads like “Return of the King” if Mordor was turned up to 11 and Frodo and Sam were ass-kicking sci-fi warriors relying on nothing but their courage, cunning, and combat skills. Yes it's that fun. McNeill has a great and cinematic way of writing fast and furious action scenes that reminded me of something that you'd see in a Matthew Vaughn film.

So, once again, yes the “Ultramarine Omnibus” did live up to the hype for me. It was an exciting and action packed read full of diverse stories and characters I really cared about. I can't wait to tackle the second volume, which features the next three adventures in the saga of Uriel Ventris.

[Hugo Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to a young adult, were it not for the endless references to the huge warhammer universe and the long difficult Latin words, which, ultimately, would make for simple (almost said shallow) but slow reading. The author has definitely matured since this early work.

Read Iron Warrior omnibus together with this book. There are stories or characters which tie in to the last story. Date of publication for each work is on the copyright page on the first few pages.

[Hogan]

I think that this book was spectacular because of all that duty, honor, courage and sacrifice. I also liked it because when I’m going through bad times, this book makes it seem like my problems are nothing compared to their problems. I think that this is the type of book that you would keep rereading again and again.

[Justin D. Emrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really fantastic. This was a recommendation from a friend who was big into sci-fi while I was big into fantasy. It not only turned my onto the genre itself as a whole but prompted my to dig in to the entire Warhammer 40k universe which is epic.

[Nargis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Ventris is a very cool dude, loved his evolution over the three books, from going from the staunchest of adherents to his teachings to slowly allowing himself to question and in some cases, stray from those teachings.

[Jakob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good! My guy Uriel really does go through it. Every time it escalated i was like this is looking pretty grim but surely it cant get much worse! (dead sky black sun stares hauntingly at me from ahead)

[Chisdragon . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy bueno

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Не осилил :( Первые три книги еще кое-как, но дальше уже не мог выносить эту тягомотину.

[Spencer A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, definitely have to read the fire since I bought it but haven't started it yet.

[Eben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection of Space Marine novels from the Black Library

[Martin Sunnus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey, it's three Warhammer 40k stories. Lot's of action and violence with a bunch of heroic dudes.

This was my entry drug to SciFi literature. Thanks train station kiosk for selling this in 2010.

[Ulzeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read.