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Death's Head #1
Death's Head
Set in a chillingly realistic far-future world, and featuring a gritty antihero even more frightening than the evil empire he serves as soldier and assassin, Death’s Head is sure to be one of the most talked-about novels of the year. David Gunn is loaded—and he shoots to kill.
At the top of the galactic pecking order is the United Free, a civilization of awe-inspiring technological prowess so far in advance of other space-faring powers as to seem untouchable gods. Most of the known universe has fallen under their inscrutable sway. The rest is squabbled over by two empires: one ruled with an iron fist by OctoV, a tyrant who appears to his followers as a teenage boy but is in reality something very different, the other administered by the Uplifted, bizarre machinelike intelligences, and their no-longer-quite-human servants, cyborgs known as the Enlightened.
Sven Tveskoeg, an ex-sergeant demoted for insubordination and sentenced to death, is a vicious killer with a stubborn streak of loyalty. Sven possesses a fierce if untutored intelligence and a genetic makeup that is 98.2 percent human and 1.8 percent . . . something else. Perhaps that “something else” explains how quickly he heals from even the worst injuries or how he can communicate telepathically with the ferox, fearsome alien savages whose natural fighting abilities regularly outperform the advanced technology of their human enemies. Perhaps it is these unique abilities that bring Sven to the attention of OctoV.
Drafted into the Death’s Head, the elite enforcers of OctoV’s imperial will, Sven is given a new lease on life. Armed with a SIG diabolo–an intelligent gun–and an illegal symbiont called a kyp, Sven is sent to a faraway planet, the latest battleground between the Uplifted and OctoV. There he finds himself in the midst of a military disaster, one that will take all his courage—and all his firepower—to survive.
But an even deadlier struggle is taking place, a struggle that will draw the attention of the United Free. Sven knows he is a pawn, and pawns have a bad habit of being sacrificed.
But Sven is nobody’s sacrifice. And even a pawn can checkmate a king.
Praise for Death's Head
“The finest military science-fiction debut in years.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Hardboiled, laser-blasting science fiction as it’s meant to be.” —Charlie Huston, author of Caught Stealing and Already Dead
At the top of the galactic pecking order is the United Free, a civilization of awe-inspiring technological prowess so far in advance of other space-faring powers as to seem untouchable gods. Most of the known universe has fallen under their inscrutable sway. The rest is squabbled over by two empires: one ruled with an iron fist by OctoV, a tyrant who appears to his followers as a teenage boy but is in reality something very different, the other administered by the Uplifted, bizarre machinelike intelligences, and their no-longer-quite-human servants, cyborgs known as the Enlightened.
Sven Tveskoeg, an ex-sergeant demoted for insubordination and sentenced to death, is a vicious killer with a stubborn streak of loyalty. Sven possesses a fierce if untutored intelligence and a genetic makeup that is 98.2 percent human and 1.8 percent . . . something else. Perhaps that “something else” explains how quickly he heals from even the worst injuries or how he can communicate telepathically with the ferox, fearsome alien savages whose natural fighting abilities regularly outperform the advanced technology of their human enemies. Perhaps it is these unique abilities that bring Sven to the attention of OctoV.
Drafted into the Death’s Head, the elite enforcers of OctoV’s imperial will, Sven is given a new lease on life. Armed with a SIG diabolo–an intelligent gun–and an illegal symbiont called a kyp, Sven is sent to a faraway planet, the latest battleground between the Uplifted and OctoV. There he finds himself in the midst of a military disaster, one that will take all his courage—and all his firepower—to survive.
But an even deadlier struggle is taking place, a struggle that will draw the attention of the United Free. Sven knows he is a pawn, and pawns have a bad habit of being sacrificed.
But Sven is nobody’s sacrifice. And even a pawn can checkmate a king.
Praise for Death's Head
“The finest military science-fiction debut in years.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Hardboiled, laser-blasting science fiction as it’s meant to be.” —Charlie Huston, author of Caught Stealing and Already Dead
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
55 people are currently reading
1343 people want to read
About the author
David Gunn
25 books114 followersSmartly dressed, resourceful, and discreet, David Gunn has undertaken assignments in Central America, the Middle East, and Russia (among numerous other places). Coming from a service family, he is happiest when on the move and tends not to stay in one town or city for very long. The author of Death’s Head and Death’s Head: Maximum Offense, Gunn lives in the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
December 2, 2021
”You’re right, he’s human.”
“Plus?”
“One point eight percent something else.”
I’ll come straight to the point: this book is pretty hardcore. I’ve been rummaging my mind for suitable words to describe it, but I’m still falling short. As a stop-gap, in the meantime, I’ll probably have to settle for something like bleak and brutal.
What we have here is something akin to an x-rated and unsanitized version of the Sten books (the protagonist even boasts a similar sounding name, but that is more than likely just a coincidence). Expect a lot of explicit sex and gory violence. In fact, this book has an exceedingly limited regard for reader sensitivities. Since the author (cleverly) utilizes a first-person present tense point of view, there is an immediacy that sometimes borders on unnerving (or at the very least uncomfortable), given the nature of the novel.
It used to be me that made people nervous; now it’s my wrapping as well. Black combat armor, black visored helmet, black gloves… And that dinky little silver skull on the front of my helmet, just in case anyone’s too stupid to realize the obvious.
Let’s take a moment to discuss the protagonist. Despite the intimate nature of the narrative, the reader is never really inside his head. You’re never quite sure of his motivations, and the author manages to hide plot surprises in the first-person depiction to an impressive degree. While Sven Tveskoeg is not what you might call a nice guy, he has a streak of decency that he seems to want to impress upon the reader. He frequently implores insight into his actions; he wants the reader to “understand”.
The soldier behind grabs the launcher and swears as red-hot steel burns his hands, but he still has time to fire off a rocket before shrapnel opens his stomach and he stumbles, torn between reloading and the need to repack his own guts.
Death’s Head boasts one the most brutal and uncompromising futures in all of Science Fiction, with High Tech armies waging wars of attrition costing hundreds of thousands of lives. To the victors belong the spoils, too (i.e. “rape and pillage”).
This level of mayhem, and the generally seedy tones of this gritty universe, makes it easy to miss the rather clever streak running through the novel. Such as the small reveals about the nature of the protagonist, the foreshadowing, the interesting aliens, the enlightened and uplifted, the interesting world-building (specific example: the worm of Paradise) et al. Oh, and there’s a talking gun.
There’s confidence and there’s arrogance, and then there’s blind stupidity, which is closer to the previous two than most people imagine.
In the end, not all the protagonist’s decisions make perfect sense. He remains an enigma (if not a bigger one than at the novel’s start). There are some themes of redemption, but more notably, he remains true to himself. All in all, my curiosity has been truly piqued regarding Sven’s true nature and
So, in conclusion: yes, it’s a rough and tumble, down and dirty, sometimes offensive, story. But it’s also well written (the workmanlike, conversational first-person approach works very well to put you in the boots of the man on the ground) and very, very well paced. With more grey areas than not, this book will not be for everyone, but it is a fine entry into the Military SF genre, and should appeal to readers who like their fiction gritty.
As of writing this there are three Death’s Head books. The author seems to be an enigmatic figure himself, so there’s no telling if and when there are going to be any more books. I’ve already ordered book two: Death's Head Maximum Offense.
“Kaboom,” says the gun.
I have to agree.
February 24, 2012
Well, I know I’m enjoying a book when everything else stops until I’ve completed it. This had its faults, but probably the same faults as mine in that the reader is too hooked into the action to take in all the detail. I was confused about the political set-up here until the end, and the snake heads were right out of Stargate Atlantis, but none of this was enough to distract me for long.
David Gunn’s Death’s Head started off loaded with violent action and horror and continued in that vein, so I was hooked from about page two, then hooked landed gutted and fried in batter as soon as the talking gun put in an appearance. Yeah! Fuck the literarty-farty crap in the SFF world that has the self-proclaimed arbiters of taste creaming their panties. Take those oh-so-worthy tomes and shove ‘em where the sun don’t shine. This took me right back to the fun I had reading E. C. Tubb’s Dumarest saga, Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter on Mars or the old Robert E Howard Conan books!
Only those were books I enjoyed as a teenager … um, perhaps I haven’t grown up … do I want to? Nah.
Nice to read unpretentious solid cover-to-cover entertainment without any concessions to the pc-focus-group-bullshit age we live in. Nice to read something that isn’t a dreadfully sincere allegory on our times, or a sophomore comment on this that or the other political, social, racial, religious or environmental situation by some prick having an attack of literature.
It's often the way when describing books to compare them to other books, or films - whatever. This I would call Starship Troopers meets Commando.
Great fun.
David Gunn’s Death’s Head started off loaded with violent action and horror and continued in that vein, so I was hooked from about page two, then hooked landed gutted and fried in batter as soon as the talking gun put in an appearance. Yeah! Fuck the literarty-farty crap in the SFF world that has the self-proclaimed arbiters of taste creaming their panties. Take those oh-so-worthy tomes and shove ‘em where the sun don’t shine. This took me right back to the fun I had reading E. C. Tubb’s Dumarest saga, Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter on Mars or the old Robert E Howard Conan books!
Only those were books I enjoyed as a teenager … um, perhaps I haven’t grown up … do I want to? Nah.
Nice to read unpretentious solid cover-to-cover entertainment without any concessions to the pc-focus-group-bullshit age we live in. Nice to read something that isn’t a dreadfully sincere allegory on our times, or a sophomore comment on this that or the other political, social, racial, religious or environmental situation by some prick having an attack of literature.
It's often the way when describing books to compare them to other books, or films - whatever. This I would call Starship Troopers meets Commando.
Great fun.
October 1, 2013
You know what really impressed me about this book? How STUPID the main character is. Sven, Space Barbarian, is a man who doesn't know much about technology. He's a practical man, for whom book-learnin' isn't on the agenda, and the kind of guy who doesn't deal much with explanations.
This is a shame, since the book is from his perspective.
I'm left looking at this interesting post-human universe through the goggles of a moron who doesn't understand the significance of an AI-powered gun, or the biological modem that's stuck in his throat. Here's a guy who would probably assume a transhumanist is a breakfast food, dropped into a transhuman world. Sometimes, this gives us brief flashes of interesting character drama. Most of the time, it's just aggravating as I, as a reader, had to puzzle through annoyingly stupid semi-explanations of established sci-fi concepts.
The plot? Yeah, I guess there's one of those. It involves bullets, as you may be surprised to learn. Also some betrayal, I guess? But the whole setting kind of feels Warhammer 40K-ish, so betrayal was kind of just on the agenda in my mind.
7 AM : Wake up
7:10 AM : War
9 AM : Breakfast
10 AM : More War
11 AM : Light Lunch, Talk to Squad
11:02 AM : Betrayal
11:03 AM : War
Noon : Wartrayal
Rest of the day allocated for whoring
Overall, I cannot recommended this. In fact, I think it's kind of awful. It's still readable, though, and while its theme of brutal violence as a serviceable solution to every problem is unsettling, it's not so bad that I'll give it a perilous 1-star. There are some tiny sparkles of good ideas in here, and I hope the author can switch gears in future books and let them show a bit more.
This is a shame, since the book is from his perspective.
I'm left looking at this interesting post-human universe through the goggles of a moron who doesn't understand the significance of an AI-powered gun, or the biological modem that's stuck in his throat. Here's a guy who would probably assume a transhumanist is a breakfast food, dropped into a transhuman world. Sometimes, this gives us brief flashes of interesting character drama. Most of the time, it's just aggravating as I, as a reader, had to puzzle through annoyingly stupid semi-explanations of established sci-fi concepts.
The plot? Yeah, I guess there's one of those. It involves bullets, as you may be surprised to learn. Also some betrayal, I guess? But the whole setting kind of feels Warhammer 40K-ish, so betrayal was kind of just on the agenda in my mind.
7 AM : Wake up
7:10 AM : War
9 AM : Breakfast
10 AM : More War
11 AM : Light Lunch, Talk to Squad
11:02 AM : Betrayal
11:03 AM : War
Noon : Wartrayal
Rest of the day allocated for whoring
Overall, I cannot recommended this. In fact, I think it's kind of awful. It's still readable, though, and while its theme of brutal violence as a serviceable solution to every problem is unsettling, it's not so bad that I'll give it a perilous 1-star. There are some tiny sparkles of good ideas in here, and I hope the author can switch gears in future books and let them show a bit more.
March 4, 2015
5 Stars for a throw-back, kick-ass military scifi extranvaganza of blood, gore, sex and cool tech. I loved it. Think of it as Sten meets Scalzi's Ghost Brigade SF with some Stargate, Farscape and Starship Trooper mixed in. Sven, the prime killer, is a Death's Head legion soldier with special capabilities and a SIG Diabolo gun equipped with AI...the gun is as much a character as Sven. Brilliant. Emperor OctoV sends Sven on special missions, usually resulting in many people ceasing to exist. The makeup of the political universe takes some time to become clear--Uplifted, Enlightened, the United/Free. Lots of battles and missions. Couldn't put it down.
COMBAT BATWINGS come in hard and fast over stunted trees, their guns blazing as they dip to just above ground level and try to kill everything in their path, which happens to include me.
These machines are fast, hellishly fast, maneuvering at g’s that must take their pilots to the edge of unconsciousness with every twist and turn. A trooper next to me raises his pulse rifle and takes aim.
The batwing stays steady and the man is gone. As burning meat mixes with mud on my uniform, I roll into the nearest ditch and see the batwing bank tightly to come around again.
“Big man, small ditch,” says the gun. “Go figure.”
So I flip myself out and roll behind the wreckage of a fat-wheeled combat bot. We’ve a thousand of the bastards and they’re about as useless as a nun in a brothel.
As the batwing screams toward me, I raise my gun.
“Locked on,” it says.
“Take it.”
The SIG does what it’s told. In doing so it trashes 15 percent of its power pack. When this is over I’m going to find the wreckage, because I want to know what the Enlightenment have flying those things, and why shooting them makes my gun burn through its battery.
Batwings are small, much too small to take a human pilot. Rumor says they’re flown by the heads of dead Uplift soldiers. But rumor is usually wrong. In the meantime I’m working out what to do next and wondering how the fuck I got here.
COMBAT BATWINGS come in hard and fast over stunted trees, their guns blazing as they dip to just above ground level and try to kill everything in their path, which happens to include me.
These machines are fast, hellishly fast, maneuvering at g’s that must take their pilots to the edge of unconsciousness with every twist and turn. A trooper next to me raises his pulse rifle and takes aim.
The batwing stays steady and the man is gone. As burning meat mixes with mud on my uniform, I roll into the nearest ditch and see the batwing bank tightly to come around again.
“Big man, small ditch,” says the gun. “Go figure.”
So I flip myself out and roll behind the wreckage of a fat-wheeled combat bot. We’ve a thousand of the bastards and they’re about as useless as a nun in a brothel.
As the batwing screams toward me, I raise my gun.
“Locked on,” it says.
“Take it.”
The SIG does what it’s told. In doing so it trashes 15 percent of its power pack. When this is over I’m going to find the wreckage, because I want to know what the Enlightenment have flying those things, and why shooting them makes my gun burn through its battery.
Batwings are small, much too small to take a human pilot. Rumor says they’re flown by the heads of dead Uplift soldiers. But rumor is usually wrong. In the meantime I’m working out what to do next and wondering how the fuck I got here.
Read
September 8, 2019Again no rating I suppose. I dropped it after the first quarter. This has been on my "to be read" list for a long time. Too bad.
So why? Well I've met this main character...often. He's the disillusioned, too tough for words rebel who's just tougher (to use the same word) meaner and harder to kill than ANYONE else ANYWHERE. As for the plot???? Yeah, been there done that...only better.
So if you like it, I am truly happy for you, really I mean that. To each their own and so forth. Enjoy.
Not for me. To few hours left in life with too many books I still want to read.
I returned the book.
So why? Well I've met this main character...often. He's the disillusioned, too tough for words rebel who's just tougher (to use the same word) meaner and harder to kill than ANYONE else ANYWHERE. As for the plot???? Yeah, been there done that...only better.
So if you like it, I am truly happy for you, really I mean that. To each their own and so forth. Enjoy.
Not for me. To few hours left in life with too many books I still want to read.
I returned the book.
May 10, 2019
If you ever want to get into Military SciFi DO NOT READ THIS BOOK FIRST. If you do you will be sad because every book you read after this will suck by comparison. This series of books is intense and action packed. Even if you don't like this genre you will like this book. And if you don't, unfriend me now.
January 15, 2010
This is definitely a guy's book. It hits the ground running and never looks back. Fast paced, no fat, and gets right to it. Total instant gratification.
It's set in some unknown time in the future and told first person style from Sven. Sven is a soldier, a nobody really. For some reason, the universe has a special fate for Sven. And we go along for the ride while he plows through battles, bars, and brothels from planet to planet.
We like Sven because he's unflinching, unforgiving, and always in control of the situation. The fact that he's a self-healer helps in all of this.
The only other characters that even get mildly fleshed out in this book are the ones that become part of his posse. As for the others, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between any of the generals, sergeants, lieutenants and the like throughout - they all seemed to be either a clueless superior or a clueless subordinate - more ideas than people. But somehow you don't care.
The most interesting supporting character by far was his "intelligent" gun, whose witty banter reminded me a lot of Marvin from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What's really surprising too is that, with such little overall character depth, the author manages to create such a richly detailed and believable universe. All of the body augmentations, military tech, and planetary inhabitants are as highly imagined as some of the best stuff I've ever read.
Lots of blood, gore, and sex in this one. I think I just might pick up the sequel.
It's set in some unknown time in the future and told first person style from Sven. Sven is a soldier, a nobody really. For some reason, the universe has a special fate for Sven. And we go along for the ride while he plows through battles, bars, and brothels from planet to planet.
We like Sven because he's unflinching, unforgiving, and always in control of the situation. The fact that he's a self-healer helps in all of this.
The only other characters that even get mildly fleshed out in this book are the ones that become part of his posse. As for the others, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between any of the generals, sergeants, lieutenants and the like throughout - they all seemed to be either a clueless superior or a clueless subordinate - more ideas than people. But somehow you don't care.
The most interesting supporting character by far was his "intelligent" gun, whose witty banter reminded me a lot of Marvin from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What's really surprising too is that, with such little overall character depth, the author manages to create such a richly detailed and believable universe. All of the body augmentations, military tech, and planetary inhabitants are as highly imagined as some of the best stuff I've ever read.
Lots of blood, gore, and sex in this one. I think I just might pick up the sequel.
May 9, 2009
This is probably one of my more biased reviews, seeing as how I read it after a string of unimpressive romance novels. I was ready for a military sf novel where the protagonist is very good at killing instead of fluttering eyelashes. Even if he's not the most intelligent guy, he gets things done (with a generous side helping of extraordinary abilities and, of course, a talking gun), to the point where he gets shuttled around from place to place on crazy missions. Each time he wins promotions despite his insubordinate attitude, and inspires loyalty without evincing charm.
I'm vaguely suspicious of the worldbuilding, but that's really not the focus. Consider this the literary equivalent of a big-explosion action movie, without the slickness.
I'm vaguely suspicious of the worldbuilding, but that's really not the focus. Consider this the literary equivalent of a big-explosion action movie, without the slickness.
April 19, 2016
Death's Head is pretty damn awesome. Think Riddick drafted into the Foreign Legion.
Death's Head is pure unadulterated enjoyment of blood, guts. and guns, in military fashion -cause everyone knows, there's the right way and the military way.
Sven is big, bad, and, from the words of White Zombie, "More Human than Human". He has major authority issues which, in this far future society, makes for some real problems. Well, maybe not for Sven so much, cause he has the ultimate resolution for any and all problems, kill something.
As soon as I finished Death's Head, I bought and dove right into the next book in the series, Maximum Offense. It's been a long time since I've done that with a series.
Death's Head is pure unadulterated enjoyment of blood, guts. and guns, in military fashion -cause everyone knows, there's the right way and the military way.
Sven is big, bad, and, from the words of White Zombie, "More Human than Human". He has major authority issues which, in this far future society, makes for some real problems. Well, maybe not for Sven so much, cause he has the ultimate resolution for any and all problems, kill something.
As soon as I finished Death's Head, I bought and dove right into the next book in the series, Maximum Offense. It's been a long time since I've done that with a series.
June 22, 2015
as this is a pre-Goodreads novel (Goodreads has been around only since 2008) it has been missing from my reviews as I have read it on publication - anyway one of the best series debuts of the past 10 years and I still hope more of Sven's adventures will be forthcoming though I have no idea how likely it is; even so, all 3 series books available are still worth reading
October 12, 2017
Gritty, action-packed military sci-fi with a protagonist with a "don't fuck with me"-attitude and a talking gun. The talking gun might be my favourite character. It took me a while to get into the book, the first third felt too slow and dragged out despite quite a bit of action happening, but after that it sucked me in, and the ending left me looking forward to the next part.
May 2, 2018
Excellent military science fiction, dirty and greasy, with beer and whoring.
Three major political factions in the galaxy of the story:
First: The United Free. They remind me of Iain Banks' Culture: youthful people with godlike powers. The United Free is by far the most powerful of the factions.
Second: The Uplifted are sentient computers with diamond cores, and and Enlightened are elite humans infected with a virus that gives them computer minds and magic-like powers like telepathy and the ability to phase through solid objects. Uplifted and Enlightened apparently work together. Together they rule over regular, unenhanced humans.
Third: The Octovians, ruled by OctoV, who looks like a 13-year-old boy but isn't. The capital city of the Octovians, Farlight, is a large metropolis with slums and gangs and protection rackets, ruled over by an oligarchy of nobles who buy officers' commissions for their sons and marry each others' daughters.
From what I can tell, the Octovians are the weakest and poorest of the 3 factions.
The main character, Sven, a soldier in the Octovian military. Sven is a 7-foot tall and powerfully built man with a healing factor, a mechanical arm, and a very brutal and single-minded view of the universe. He has almost no social skills and very little in the way of conscience.
Sven has plenty of what we would call bad sides: He has to think before he remembers to be modest about his naked body. He is forthright about his desire for beers and whores. He kills quickly and easily and is not troubled by it. Nearly everyone irritates him, and nearly everyone is frightened of him. I am pretty sure he has witnessed post-battle rapes and he has done nothing about it.
He has good sides. He is loyal to his friends. He is a survivor. He has a very high pain tolerance. He doesn't seem to feel fear much, or to let it rule him.
I like Sven.
Three major political factions in the galaxy of the story:
First: The United Free. They remind me of Iain Banks' Culture: youthful people with godlike powers. The United Free is by far the most powerful of the factions.
Second: The Uplifted are sentient computers with diamond cores, and and Enlightened are elite humans infected with a virus that gives them computer minds and magic-like powers like telepathy and the ability to phase through solid objects. Uplifted and Enlightened apparently work together. Together they rule over regular, unenhanced humans.
Third: The Octovians, ruled by OctoV, who looks like a 13-year-old boy but isn't. The capital city of the Octovians, Farlight, is a large metropolis with slums and gangs and protection rackets, ruled over by an oligarchy of nobles who buy officers' commissions for their sons and marry each others' daughters.
From what I can tell, the Octovians are the weakest and poorest of the 3 factions.
The main character, Sven, a soldier in the Octovian military. Sven is a 7-foot tall and powerfully built man with a healing factor, a mechanical arm, and a very brutal and single-minded view of the universe. He has almost no social skills and very little in the way of conscience.
Sven has plenty of what we would call bad sides: He has to think before he remembers to be modest about his naked body. He is forthright about his desire for beers and whores. He kills quickly and easily and is not troubled by it. Nearly everyone irritates him, and nearly everyone is frightened of him. I am pretty sure he has witnessed post-battle rapes and he has done nothing about it.
He has good sides. He is loyal to his friends. He is a survivor. He has a very high pain tolerance. He doesn't seem to feel fear much, or to let it rule him.
I like Sven.
April 24, 2009
t might be much calling what follows a book, but Death's Head: Maximum Offense, by David Gunn (can you get a name better than that for military sci-fi?) is a quick and hugely entertaining read. The pace is break neck and it doesn't let up for a second. I found my self leaning forward in my chair, airline style, braced for impact. I finished this in one sitting, not because it was a must read but because its simple good honest fun.
The main character of this military science fiction novel is a muscular skin envelope stitched together to cover a ton and a half of pressurized testosterone, who leads a rag tag unit of dysfunctional super soldiers. Macho hardly begins to describe the protagonist--insane probably does. But boy o boy insanity is fun when you combine it with future tech and a frequent desire to exterminate your enemies, and generally anyone that's an annoyance.
Hive minds, godlike emperors, ring worlds, and desperation make this an enjoyable if slightly shallow read. Highly recommended if you just want to go along for the ride.
The main character of this military science fiction novel is a muscular skin envelope stitched together to cover a ton and a half of pressurized testosterone, who leads a rag tag unit of dysfunctional super soldiers. Macho hardly begins to describe the protagonist--insane probably does. But boy o boy insanity is fun when you combine it with future tech and a frequent desire to exterminate your enemies, and generally anyone that's an annoyance.
Hive minds, godlike emperors, ring worlds, and desperation make this an enjoyable if slightly shallow read. Highly recommended if you just want to go along for the ride.
March 27, 2024
Military sci-fi with a paper-thin plot and one-dimensional characters.
You aren't going to read this for the plot, however. You are going to read it for all of the nonstop action, which this book excels at.
You aren't going to read this for the plot, however. You are going to read it for all of the nonstop action, which this book excels at.
March 27, 2019
Neal Asher reviewed this book as "Starship Troopers meets Commando". Sorry Neal...not even close. Just another Gary Stu military pulp...in spaaaace. Meh
June 22, 2019
Brutal and very realistic military and less science fiction. No hundred-page explanation of imaginary science, a lot of action and live charactes
December 23, 2025
talk about a boring book gee whizz
July 28, 2011
Effectivement, il est plus que nécessaire de se faire une ablation du cerveau si l'on veut arriver au bout de ce roman, surtout si l'on est une femme. Sinon c'est de la bonne grosse SF testostéronée à mort, avec de l'action bien couillue et sanguinolente et puis du cul, du cul, du cul.
En gros, on a un héros qui ne s'encombre pas beaucoup de moralité ni de finesse,il tue, il boit, il baise, rien ne l'arrête car aujourd'hui c'est la fête ! ^^ Suivi d'une galerie de personnages secondaires qui ne valent pas beaucoup mieux . Parfois l'histoire est un peu brouillonne aussi et on se perd dans un malstrom de têtes tranchées au couteau et de balles double-dérouillée tirées à tout va !
Bref amateur de petites fleurs et autres Fascination à la mord-moi-le nœud s'abstenir. Pour sûr on ne s'ennuie pas une seconde, mais je ne pense pas lire la suite quand même. Parce que bon, un tome d'action non-stop débilitante ça va, deux, bonjour les dégâts !
Pour résumer, l'intérêt de ce livre est comparable à une partie d'un quelconque FPS ou d'un Diablo 2, ça défoule, c'est jubilatoire, ça fait du bien sur le moment, ça fait pas trop réfléchir, mais à fortes doses, ça peut rendre franchement idiot !
A consommer avec modération.
En gros, on a un héros qui ne s'encombre pas beaucoup de moralité ni de finesse,il tue, il boit, il baise, rien ne l'arrête car aujourd'hui c'est la fête ! ^^ Suivi d'une galerie de personnages secondaires qui ne valent pas beaucoup mieux . Parfois l'histoire est un peu brouillonne aussi et on se perd dans un malstrom de têtes tranchées au couteau et de balles double-dérouillée tirées à tout va !
Bref amateur de petites fleurs et autres Fascination à la mord-moi-le nœud s'abstenir. Pour sûr on ne s'ennuie pas une seconde, mais je ne pense pas lire la suite quand même. Parce que bon, un tome d'action non-stop débilitante ça va, deux, bonjour les dégâts !
Pour résumer, l'intérêt de ce livre est comparable à une partie d'un quelconque FPS ou d'un Diablo 2, ça défoule, c'est jubilatoire, ça fait du bien sur le moment, ça fait pas trop réfléchir, mais à fortes doses, ça peut rendre franchement idiot !
A consommer avec modération.
June 18, 2016
(spoiler free)
Hell yes.
This book took was like a cold refreshing splash of water followed by a right hook to the face, I'm dazed but wonderfully alive. Gunn describes each scene's action in brutal detail to the great pleasure of the reader, followed up with gritty war settings and menacing factions all from the perspective of one Sven Tveskoeg, an anti-hero that could be described as someone more animal than man, accompanied by his sidekick talking gun. Did I forget to mention that?
The moment I started reading this book I was captivated by both the main character as well as the setting and found myself reading it up to 3am wanting to finish that one last chapter. The atmosphere is one that is almost dystopian yet somehow not quite there, which wanted me to to find out all the more about it.
It's truly a shame that so many authors these days shy away from writing stories like this in fear of rebuttal by self dignified defenders of literature. If books had attitude this one would be "No fucks given."
4 and a bit out of 5, rounded down to 4.
Hell yes.
This book took was like a cold refreshing splash of water followed by a right hook to the face, I'm dazed but wonderfully alive. Gunn describes each scene's action in brutal detail to the great pleasure of the reader, followed up with gritty war settings and menacing factions all from the perspective of one Sven Tveskoeg, an anti-hero that could be described as someone more animal than man, accompanied by his sidekick talking gun. Did I forget to mention that?
The moment I started reading this book I was captivated by both the main character as well as the setting and found myself reading it up to 3am wanting to finish that one last chapter. The atmosphere is one that is almost dystopian yet somehow not quite there, which wanted me to to find out all the more about it.
It's truly a shame that so many authors these days shy away from writing stories like this in fear of rebuttal by self dignified defenders of literature. If books had attitude this one would be "No fucks given."
4 and a bit out of 5, rounded down to 4.
September 23, 2013
It’s been a while since I hit a sci-fi series I wasn’t already reading, and this one seems like the beginning of a pretty good military sci-fi series. The book focuses on the journey of the main character from a barely functioning legionary to one of the most the elite of the empires military. While it is straight up military fiction and adventure fodder, it is interesting to have a book which is almost a study in character progression. Very unusual for a military fiction book.
When it comes to the building of the world, it’s hard not to draw comparisons with the world of Starship Troopers, what with the futuristic fascist thing going on. We have seen this kind of setting before, but Gunn does a good job not making it feel too much like a copy of previous books.
Read Full Review
When it comes to the building of the world, it’s hard not to draw comparisons with the world of Starship Troopers, what with the futuristic fascist thing going on. We have seen this kind of setting before, but Gunn does a good job not making it feel too much like a copy of previous books.
Read Full Review
February 28, 2017
I thought the story, characters and world were all very well done and enjoyable. However, the author failed to explain many things and skipped over necessary descriptions. Because of this some of the time I found it difficult to figure out what was happening or what they were even talking about because there was so much technology and political aspects that were never explained and they simply talked about them like we should already be familiar with it. But all around a good book.
December 5, 2009
While I consider myself a science fiction/fantasy fan, I must admit that, realistically, I’m more of a fan of fantasy. My taste in science fiction reading is fairly limited. I am not nearly as enamored of “hard” sci-fi: pages of realistic and scientifically feasible explanations of how the featured Mechawidget actually works. I’m really just into good futuristic yarns. This may be why I tend to watch more science fiction movies and TV than read science fiction books. That and it has been far too long since a good fantasy movie has been made. For good, old-fashioned, pulpy, space adventure, you can’t get much better than David Gunn’s Death’s Head series.
Read the full review on my blog: http://tinyurl.com/yh5mk8p
Read the full review on my blog: http://tinyurl.com/yh5mk8p
August 8, 2011
Wow, talk about gratuitous sex. It's as if Gunn realized he can write details of the process to be shocking but give it a facade of a soldier who just doesn't care.
I had high hopes for the premise (an intelligent gun and symbiote), but it just devolved into an illogical world driven by machines (with elements of Warhammer 40k as a cheap knock off thrown in).
The story of an invincible soldier who has sex with anyone he wants to and can get away with insubordination against the most elite army in the galaxy just doesn't hold water at all. And it's cliche at best.
I had high hopes for the premise (an intelligent gun and symbiote), but it just devolved into an illogical world driven by machines (with elements of Warhammer 40k as a cheap knock off thrown in).
The story of an invincible soldier who has sex with anyone he wants to and can get away with insubordination against the most elite army in the galaxy just doesn't hold water at all. And it's cliche at best.
November 9, 2009
The action starts with a roar and never stops for a second. The action was intense, the plot is fast, and the main character is both fascinating and repelling. The settings are well developed, the characters engaging, the surprises are many, and the dialogue was sarcastic and humorous. This book is one of the most fun, most totally entertaining, and most gritty military science fiction books I have read of late.
March 21, 2012
Having only read 3-4 military sci-fi novels, a friend of mine(sci-fi fan) said this was good. So, thought I'd give it a try.
This was like reading a hard-boiled story, taking place in the future. Gunn's sparse writing style, an anti-hero who doesn't mind adding to the body count, but is as loyal they come. Then comes along the "intelligent" gun, a character in himself. Gun fights, sex, booze, more sex and more gun fights...and, you have an action packed tale.
Glad I gave it a try.
This was like reading a hard-boiled story, taking place in the future. Gunn's sparse writing style, an anti-hero who doesn't mind adding to the body count, but is as loyal they come. Then comes along the "intelligent" gun, a character in himself. Gun fights, sex, booze, more sex and more gun fights...and, you have an action packed tale.
Glad I gave it a try.
April 5, 2020
Story about legionaries or mercenaries and their malicious, and sometimes no so, activities. Set in the future with its technology that offers present related war criticism. One of those books written in the present simple tense that is doing its narration using only main character's point of view. Which works well here. With war and brutality everywhere, all characters end up being too much of die hard type, unbelievable, unfortunately.
June 8, 2008
I didn't finish this book, so maybe it is better later on, as other reviews seem to indicate... I picked it up because it sounded maybe interesting, and I wanted to find out what is so special and different about the main character, but I didn't find Sven convincing and the plot seemed sort of boring (sordid, yet slow) so I dropped it.
October 18, 2015
Love a book that suck you in within the first 20 pages and never let's you go. Love the characters and the world created in this one.
This is highly recommended for anyone that likes high octane sci-fi/military books. Accessible by anyone as at the heart it's a great action adventure story. Looking forward to part 2!
This is highly recommended for anyone that likes high octane sci-fi/military books. Accessible by anyone as at the heart it's a great action adventure story. Looking forward to part 2!
July 18, 2017
The story had good potential and elements of the classic hero's journey; the protagonist was suitably badass with decent powers. But the novel felt disjointed and listless, at times, with forced melodrama, to boot. The action sequences were not up to the mark given the hero's powers. Not an impressive start to the series.
September 21, 2014
Death's Head is brutal, in-your-face and bursting with creativity. The plot can be difficult to follow, but the roller coaster ride of action-adventure science fiction is extremely entertaining.
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