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Castellan Crowe #2
Castellan
A strike force of Grey Knights led by Castellan Garran Crowe is sorely tested when the planet they are fighting on is swallowed by a mighty warp storm.
For more than a century, Garran Crowe has served as Castellan of the Grey Knights, protecting the Imperium against the foulest daemons, and holding prisoner in his grasp the monstrous Black Blade of Antwyr. Now he is tested as never before when the planet he and his strike force are fighting on, Sandava III, is swallowed by the mighty warp storm known as the Cicatrix Maledictum. But their struggle for survival is only just beginning, for when the Grey Knights return to a transformed Imperium, they discover that the fate of Sandava III is just one part of a more monstrous danger. Crowe must fight an enemy whose patiently laid plans have at last come to fruition, threatening the Imperium with inconceivable destruction.
For more than a century, Garran Crowe has served as Castellan of the Grey Knights, protecting the Imperium against the foulest daemons, and holding prisoner in his grasp the monstrous Black Blade of Antwyr. Now he is tested as never before when the planet he and his strike force are fighting on, Sandava III, is swallowed by the mighty warp storm known as the Cicatrix Maledictum. But their struggle for survival is only just beginning, for when the Grey Knights return to a transformed Imperium, they discover that the fate of Sandava III is just one part of a more monstrous danger. Crowe must fight an enemy whose patiently laid plans have at last come to fruition, threatening the Imperium with inconceivable destruction.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 17, 2018
This was a decent continuation of the Warden of the Blade. It had Crowe, the Blade of Antwyr and a solid cast of supporting characters. The slaughter and carnage are, again, on an epic scale but the ending, for me, was a little underwhelming and the possible survival of some supporting characters is a little head scratching. I look forward to reading more battles with Crowe and his crew.
January 15, 2018
Following on from Warden of the Blade and bringing the series right up to the current 40k timeline, we catch up with Crowe and his fellow Grey Knights as they look to finish the job on Sandava III, which seems simple enough until the Cicatrix Maledictum splits reality apart and engulfs the Sandava system, all hell literally breaking loose. Meanwhile Canoness Setheno (remember her from Death of Antagonis?) hunts Emperor’s Children on Angriff, a world with powerful meaning to another Grey Knight – Justicar Styer.
There’s no doubt that the central concept of the Grey Knights in the Cicatrix Maledictum is a cool one, and in places it’s chillingly dark and powerful. Too often that’s interspersed with repetitive action scenes which start to drag after a while; it could have done with livening up either through stronger arcs for the secondary characters or, at times, simply more for them to do. Overall this isn’t quite as effective as Warden of the Blade, but it’s got some great moments and is worth checking out if you’re a fan of the first book, or Grey Knights in general.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/01/...
There’s no doubt that the central concept of the Grey Knights in the Cicatrix Maledictum is a cool one, and in places it’s chillingly dark and powerful. Too often that’s interspersed with repetitive action scenes which start to drag after a while; it could have done with livening up either through stronger arcs for the secondary characters or, at times, simply more for them to do. Overall this isn’t quite as effective as Warden of the Blade, but it’s got some great moments and is worth checking out if you’re a fan of the first book, or Grey Knights in general.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/01/...
January 5, 2019
Another book that shows the might of the Grey Knights. It must be hard to portray such god-like warriors and indeed some times in the book this portrayal may reach an hyperbole. All of us who know and love the 40k universe though, are familiar with normal (and not so normal) humans fighting against gods and demons alike. So it is nice to know that the Imperium has ''immortals'' of its own fighting on its side for a change. Maybe the Grey Knights are there to even the odds a bit!
Good writing but some times confusing (during some fighting scenes). Mr. Annandale though has captured the essence of the 40k universe and hopefully will continue to do so. Overall a very enjoyable read!
Good writing but some times confusing (during some fighting scenes). Mr. Annandale though has captured the essence of the 40k universe and hopefully will continue to do so. Overall a very enjoyable read!
January 18, 2019
This book took a bunch of tries to read. It's got a good story, but it's narration has a problem:
The action scenes can get dragging at times because the words are just plain and simple that have no emotion, and some scenes just become a wack. At the start and a quarter to the end, there are some scenes that would just try to explain so many things that's happening at once. However, to be fair, this is my second book in the 40k universe, so I don't have much experience with warp presentation per say. Going back though, as entities of the warp attack and teleport at every material space available, it's difficult to read what's going as actions that occur are heavily repeated it gets annoying to read. Like, the daemon appeared and attack the castellan, then there's gonna be another text with some added context going like that over and over again.
It could've improved by focusing on one particular action and build it up in a way it doesn't try to paint the entire picture in one sentence. This book really had a potential in it being good. It's got three stars for the lore.
The action scenes can get dragging at times because the words are just plain and simple that have no emotion, and some scenes just become a wack. At the start and a quarter to the end, there are some scenes that would just try to explain so many things that's happening at once. However, to be fair, this is my second book in the 40k universe, so I don't have much experience with warp presentation per say. Going back though, as entities of the warp attack and teleport at every material space available, it's difficult to read what's going as actions that occur are heavily repeated it gets annoying to read. Like, the daemon appeared and attack the castellan, then there's gonna be another text with some added context going like that over and over again.
It could've improved by focusing on one particular action and build it up in a way it doesn't try to paint the entire picture in one sentence. This book really had a potential in it being good. It's got three stars for the lore.
September 2, 2021
This one was not a good squeal,a shame as I really like Crowe. The plot armour of grey knights hits you on the face in this one(with grey knights not receiving a single casualty in the catastrophe,even their vehicles are intact until the end). I was more excited about how antagonists would manipulate the plot and it did have some good moments. Although I felt disconnected from Crowe's ability to view wrap different. This ability is always refered in the first novel,yet in this novel Crowe relies on a librarian to view changes in wrap this time(Which feels totally odd). Crowe is also reduced to space Sherlock with clues just hitting him out of thin air with no pshyic things involved (which we want to see more of in a grey knights story), again feels odd. My major compliant is the deviation from the main character's core abilities.
July 15, 2019
Wasn't until I finished this and came to add it to my 2019 goodreads reading challenge tonight that I find it is a second part it was so well self contained. Grey Knights vs Slaanesh demons and Emperor's Children. Was pretty interesting to see the corruption and falling into heresy from a heretic's viewpoint. Daemonette giving out an oracle of what to come for a dying Chaos Marine was striking. Ended with a cliffhanger quest. I would have enjoyed it more had the chaos forces had more screentime over Crowe but it was a decent 40k novel all in all.
April 28, 2021
I actually enjoyed this story of Crowe, the blade of Antwyr, and the supporting characters. It was intriguing yet was suspenseful and I love the orbital analysis part which it was discovered the system was moving in a logarithmic rhythm to bring the perfect ruination. I thought it was well thought through and even though some parts make it weird on why certain people lived it was still very enjoyable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 28, 2018
Decent storyline but I felt like it was lacking in detail at some points. The story brings you to the current Dark Imperium time frame. Much has changed for Crow and he's become quite the champion.
If you love the Grey knights, it's a must read.
Happy Reading!
If you love the Grey knights, it's a must read.
Happy Reading!
July 18, 2018
Not the best book in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, but quite a good reading among the other books about Grey Knights.
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October 12, 2017No rating - proofread
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews