Crusade

Warhammer 40,000

by Andy Clark

On the world of Kalides Prime, an Ultramarines strike force of Primaris Space Marines battles to thwart the machinations of the plague-ridden Death Guard.

New-forged sons of the primarch Roboute Guilliman, the Primaris Ultramarines are peerless warriors whose sworn duty is to protect mankind from the predations of the xenos and the foul traitors of the Heretic Astartes. In a galaxy riven by eternal war, they and the other armies of the Imperium are all that stand between mankind and damnation... Their ship damaged by warp storms, the Ultramarines of Strike Force Cassian make for Kalides Prime. Here they hope to find safe harbour to repair their craft before rejoining the Indomitus Crusade. Instead, the Primaris Space Marines discover a world reduced to rot and ruin by the plague-ridden warriors of the Death Guard.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2018

About the author

Andy Clark is a background writer for Games Workshop.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Andy^^^^^Clark

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novella is set in the titular “Indomitus Crusade” time period during which the newly-resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman is attempting to take back massive segments of the galaxy from the forces of Chaos. Here we see the Ultramarines and Imperial Guard fight the Death Guard in a scene that’s being repeated across thousands of worlds.

While reading, I rolled my eyes at the cartoonish simplicity of the characters. The dialog is pretty rough...like listening to amateur community Shakespeare. But after thinking about it for a bit, I imagine this really is how the Primaris Marines should be cast. They’re vat-grown, brain-washed soldiers whose only aim in life is to impress their genetic father by exterminating demons, xenos, and heretics. And similarly the Death Guard in this book do stay in character as gross germ lovers making perverse offerings to their god.

The unexpected surprise of the book for me was how much I enjoyed the Cadian guardsmen segments. I’ve never set out to read a Guard-centric book, but every time they appear in a story I love them. I can recommend the exceptional book Fire Caste if this peaks your interest.

If you go into Crusade with the full understanding that it was written as a “Welcome to the Warhammer Universe” introduction and not expecting some great piece of literature, you’ll enjoy the book. It’s a perfect example of Black Library “Bolter Porn” (i.e. loose narrative wrapped around Space Marine-centric firefights). And I think it’s a fun companion book to read if you’ve purchased the “First Strike”, “Know No Fear”, or “Dark Imperium” box sets.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

This review is just for the novella itself, not the accompanying anthology stories. Color me unimpressed. I found the narrative clunky and the Primaris Space Marines utterly dull and unconvincing. I don’t really dig the concept. This was standard fare written at a lower level than Andy Clark’s other work. Only the Death Guard were written with any attention to character and I would read more about them.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and breezy read to bring folks into the Warhammer 40,000 universe. At first the author seemed really eager to namedrop unit types and such as a way to establish setting, but the book picked up halfway through with some decent action and closed well.

[Jess Big Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read (probably took me less than 5 hours) that was pretty decent.
Crusade definitely had good momentum, lots of action and gives you a glimpse at the combined tactics of Ultra Marines and Imperial Guard against a force of dug in chaos Death Guard who relish the thought of prolonged combat.

[Vincent Iannaco · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I'm enjoying the 41k era stories more than I did the Horus Heresy era stories. On to Guy Haley's Dark Imperium next!

[Matt Zitron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit Warhammer jargony but soldier wee read. My first foray into the 40k world but want to read more.

Power through the first chapter to enjoy it. Solid action.

[Bearle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to pick up, fun read.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ken Giles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story. Short but really fun. It covers some really interesting aspects of wH40K

[Hei Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories starting from The Purity of Ignorance (Featuring the Inquisition) are great. Those before and the title story, not quite so.

[Travis Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a decent set of stories.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially an introductory story for readers new to Black Library’s Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Crusade is a straight-up action tale of Ultramarines taking on Death Guard in the still-new surroundings of the Dark Imperium. Forced into real space by a harrowing warp storm, Lieutenant Cassian’s strike force of Primaris Space Marines reach the Imperial world of Kalides Prime only to find it besieged by the Death Guard. Determined to rejoin the Indomitus Crusade, the Ultramarines aim to fight their way through the traitor lines to a vital Imperial emplacement and get word out about the plight of Kalides.

Let’s be clear, this isn’t a sophisticated story and it’s not aimed at long-term fans wanting something unusual. It’s pitched just right to give someone their first taste of 40k fiction, and while it might feel a little simplistic for some existing fans, if you approach it with that in mind there’s plenty to enjoy in just kicking back and losing yourself in a good old fashioned Space Marine action story.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/01/...

[Michael Knolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an appetizer for Dark Imperium it isn’t enough to cleanse my palate of the bitter taste of the fact that we’re still waiting for them to conclude the Horus Heresy as they launch this new series...

[Samuel Broadhurst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paperback