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Gaunt's Ghosts #14
The Warmaster
After the success of their desperate mission to Salvation's Reach, ColonelCommissar Gaunt and the Tanith First race to the strategically vital forge world of Urdesh, besieged by the brutal armies of Anarch Sek. However, there may be more at stake than just a planet. The Imperial forces have made an attempt to divide and conquer their enemy, but with Warmaster Macaroth himself commanding the Urdesh campaign, it is possible that the Archenemy assault has a different purpose to decapitate the Imperial command structure with a single blow. Has the Warmaster allowed himself to become an unwitting target? And can Gaunt's Ghosts possibly defend him against the assembled killers and war machines of Chaos?
Read it Because
It's been a long time, but Gaunt's Ghosts are back! After the dangers of Salvation's Reach, the Tanith are thrown into something new and different for them, but just as dangerous as their previous adventures…
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 5, 2018
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1140 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
April 14, 2018
This is another book about Colonel-Commissar Gaunt. Taking place after the events at Salvation's Reach- the Tanith First and Gaunt are caught up in a warp-space translation error. They enter realspace and find that more than a decade has passed since they were in real-time. The Forge World of Urdesh is under attack from the Chaos warbands of Anarch Sek.
Gaunt and the Tanith First are sent to Urdesh to help with the defense. It turns out that Gaunt, posthumously, was awarded the rank of Lord Militant Commander. But there seems to be a great deal of conflict at the High Command- Warmaster Macaroth's postion is seemingly weak and his underlings are vying for the position. On top of this, the Chaos forces are up to something, since their strategy is hard to decipher. What is on Urdesh that they want? These are the mysteries that shape the story behind the conflict for Urdesh.
A good story, one without focusing on the Space Marines, that shows how the Imperial army fights its battles. The Tanith First is the best of the Imperial Army units and this shows in this story. Gaunt is an impressive figure and is one of the coolest non-Space Marine characters around. Highly recommended for any Warhammer fan.
Gaunt and the Tanith First are sent to Urdesh to help with the defense. It turns out that Gaunt, posthumously, was awarded the rank of Lord Militant Commander. But there seems to be a great deal of conflict at the High Command- Warmaster Macaroth's postion is seemingly weak and his underlings are vying for the position. On top of this, the Chaos forces are up to something, since their strategy is hard to decipher. What is on Urdesh that they want? These are the mysteries that shape the story behind the conflict for Urdesh.
A good story, one without focusing on the Space Marines, that shows how the Imperial army fights its battles. The Tanith First is the best of the Imperial Army units and this shows in this story. Gaunt is an impressive figure and is one of the coolest non-Space Marine characters around. Highly recommended for any Warhammer fan.
October 23, 2019
The Warmaster is the Gaunt's Ghosts novel with the least warfare in it, and I think this makes it one of the strongest entries in the series. The series has long been effectively a soap opera in spaaaaaaaaaaaace, with a whole lot of combat thrown in to keep the interest of readers. Abnett is, in my mind, the best author in the Black Library arsenal, and in particular excels at depicting combat. However here he shows how well he can write a labyrinthine knot of plots. With just one book left in the series, there are many plot threads just waiting to be resolved, in ways that are not entirely clear. What's also clear from this book is that no one is safe...
Let's be real, if you're not already a fan of the series you're not going to read this book. But you absolutely should go back and read the preceding novels and then read this one, because they're seriously good fun. And in particular The Warmaster is a riveting read, with multiple plot twists from left field, and more than a few gut punches along the way. I'm desperate for Abnett to finish Anarch so I get closure on this series. And can re-read them all in preparation.
Let's be real, if you're not already a fan of the series you're not going to read this book. But you absolutely should go back and read the preceding novels and then read this one, because they're seriously good fun. And in particular The Warmaster is a riveting read, with multiple plot twists from left field, and more than a few gut punches along the way. I'm desperate for Abnett to finish Anarch so I get closure on this series. And can re-read them all in preparation.
November 22, 2017
longum iter iam fecimus
It is indeed 'a long time between now' and then we saw the last Adventures of the Gaunt Ghosts. Five years have passed since Salvation's Reach, that mission in the long lost 2012 then Gaunt and his beloved by fan regiment went on the top rated mission with minimal chances on success. Dan Abnett, one of the most beloved authors in BL for thousands of fans, was hunted on every social web or event with the same question all over again - 'When Warmaster would be released?'. And now after five years and 'thousands of crying fething bloody tears fans' later 'Warmaster, Concerning the Liberation of Forge World Urdesh' WAS RELEASED. At long last. To be honest it is not a general release - that one is coming in December. But I was able to get my copy at Black Library Weekender.
A little bit about the Limited Edition - it is a mastercrafted box with a lot of stuff. What inside you could find at BL official site. But what is really good here is a short story 'Killbox' which goes after Salvation's Reach but before The Warmaster (and which is hilarious and very Mkoll-centric) and the cover of the novel. The level of filigree on it and snippets trying to make the novel look like a strategic manuscript are indeed awesome. (Like a stamp - Departmento Tacticae. Collegia Vellum Urdeshi, Urdeshic Palace, Eltath).
Also we provided with a nice 'Afterword', where author did mention the reasons while it took so long to get here and why the end result is better then the one that could have been released earlier. Plus as a lot of people were telling me and only now I indeed was able to reconcile with myself - authors do not owe us anything. So then author tells us that he write to entertain himself and do a good story - he show us his own vision. That's why we always get a different 'tome' to the one we expected so long.
He also covers the missing years with a brilliant workaround - but we will get to it later.
But most of all you cant expect to get that kind of preambule for the book: "The King of the Knives! ...He comes in the darkness and he takes all our lives!' (children skipping chant, Tanith). Which is quite unexpected but goes brilliantly with the story that follows.
vetus amicitia
It is indeed a return of an 'old friend'. The one you missed something for eternity and can't pinpoint your exact feeling as to his return.
So let's delve into the lair of the beast himself.
Confidence Level required is Vermillion Clearance Only.
Storyline
First time in a long while BL synopsis done it right. It actually indeed corresponds almost fully as to what happen in the novel, but with some solid differences. So what do we have?
After the success of their desperate mission to Salvation's Reach, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and the Tanith First race to the strategically vital forge world of Urdesh, besieged by the brutal armies of Anarch Sek. However, there may be more at stake than just a planet. The Imperial forces have made an attempt to divide and conquer their enemy, but with Warmaster Macaroth himself commanding the Urdesh campaign, it is possible that the Archenemy assault has a different purpose - to decapitate the Imperial command structure with a single blow. Has the Warmaster allowed himself to become an unwitting target? And can Gaunt's Ghosts possibly defend him against the assembled killers and war machines of Chaos?
As usual for the GG serie in the Daniverse at the beginning we have an excerpt as to the events that transpire in the book. A small overview from 'A History of the Later Imperial Crusades'. If fans would be very curious indeed - they would closely check the year, which is mentioned in the blurb. It is one of the nicest hints done by Dan Abnett.
Dan starts his book, which is number fourteen in the serie (reminder just to pinpoint the face that even after the previous 13 books author is still able to get our full attention with just a prologue), with an amazing bang - we all know how 'Salvation's Reach' has ended. So to see that 'Prologue' titled as a 'Corpse' is a nice touch from the author:
Human ship. Imperial human ship. Cold thing from which life-heat has bled. Nothing-thing. Corpse-wreck, broken, inert, adrift... Highness Sir Armaduke'.
What follows is one of the best descriptive scene that was ever written in BL club. It shows anew why a lot of us adorn Abnett's prose and style. The smallest details in the environment make you believe that you are actually where, right at the stage with your beloved characters and their feelings.
Without spoilers - what's happens next is one of the best tricks as to how fix the time contradictions. Which again it shows the brilliance of an author.
Eventually as anyone could expect from the book about GG we get to the 'main' front-line. In our case it's a suffering world of Urdesh.
What follows next is one of the most intriguing and interesting storylines about a regiment which goes through struggle of war losses, command changes and trying to find their place in the 'new' universe. Universe which is not kind to the poor Astra Militarum guardsmen.
This time on the other hand to the boiling mix author has added a Crusade High command with it's own ambition, glory hounds, politics and intrigues.
Eventually - the story is a mix of political/army tension and warfare on micro/macro level.
In what book 14 of the serie is different from the titles from 1 to 11, is that starting with 'Blood Pact' Dan Abnett started one storyline to tell in 4 books. Previous titles of GG books were essentially self-contained. It was only with the last Arc 'Victory', beginning with 'Blood Pact', that he decided to make them more connected for a change. Essentially it is a 'one' mega-novel across four volumes.
Daniverse descriptiveness
Urdesh - is a character in itself. One particular scene with the docking ship in the stratosphere is one of the best you will ever read in sci-fi. Dan Abnett didn't forget anything. Weather effects, magnetism, human reaction - it's all here made into the absolute.
Urdesh - a war ravaged world shine in all it's glory and scientific horror. Small scenes like the one where Ghosts are explained to about the coverage from the snipers shows how belligerent and struggling Urdeshians are. And who could doubt them - their world change hands a lot during the Last Sabbat Worlds Crusade.
Dan was able to give us a long forgotten view on the enemy in all it's horror, by doing almost nothing to show us the enemy. Yeap - that's Dan Abnett, he could do that. Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of fighting and enemy soldiers for show. Even our beloved stalk tanks are back. But we does not have a 'defined' Chaos POV here.
First time in a long while (since the times of Sabbat Martyr - 7th book in the serie) we see an enemy 'fleet' in action. And not just the 'ship/s' - but it's structure. V'heduak is a masterful creation of an author. Now we saw at last as to how the enemy get's to the world's they invade. And what their 'sailors' do while they are waiting for the world to be conquered.
As for the description of warfare. As expected - Dan created a vivid picture of death, bravery and destruction. The minor issue is - it is too few. Novel is more a political beast than a warfare centric story.
Characters.
As expected The Warmaster drops us back into the cauldron of a regiment on war footing, with all the attending 'human train', which is kinda normal for a regiment during a Napoleonic wars. After all GG regiment has an amazing semblance to the Sharps Rifles of the 95-th Riflemen regiment.
We met the same command structure we knew from the previous books (the ones which survived of course) and the same grunts from the bottom.
And everyone on every level of the regiment and it's 'relatives' suffer from the loss they experienced during Salvation's Reach incursion. For some it is lost friends, for some almost a family members, for some it is a 'death of hope'. But Dan is indeed an amazing and brilliant author. So he glued it all with new 'environment' and 'unexpected hope for the best'.
Gaunt, Rawne, Kolea, Daur, Baskevyl, Mkoll, Domor, Curth; our lovely commissars Hark, Ludd, Fazekiel, Blenner are all here and kicking. The secondary characters the like Criid, Beltayn, Raglon, Bonin, Brostin, Larkin has their small window to shine. But most of all - this time author gave the main stage to shine for the newcomers. Pasha, Zuckova, Spetnin, Dalin, Felix, Maddalena and a lot of poor grunts given a view in and out of fire.
In his showcase of the regiment Dan Abnett mentioned a lot of army and social problems from our today's life. Sexism, brutality, unfairness, stupidity, struggling with the loss of a friend or relative, loneliness, dominant opinions of the society that makes you wonna cry and die in the corner - all mentioned in one scope or another.
A lot of major and secondary characters - as with each GG book goes through a lot of pain, suffering and loss. But this time Abnett as a real wizard gives them all something to cheer for. Shattering the cheering mood 2 pages after. That's usual Dan Abnett for you. And that's one of the main reasons a lot of us 'fans' love and adorn his writing.
Minor spoilers ahead.
Person of Warmaster Macaroth has been shown at last. And it was a hilarious experience. Because he is an absolutely 'human' being and totally different to the figures the likes of Macharius. Never expected 'Warmaster' to be like that - 'a small, cumbersome, tired and grandpa character'.
Also, what Dan did again on the 'Oskar' level - he created the same 'evil' character we haven't seen since Cuu's devilness in the flesh. You need to read that novel - to start despising a character on 'that' level. Especially at one moment followed up with a character death.
Which reminds me to mention that it is a 'proper' GG Abnett's novel. By proper I mean that 'Nobody is safe from the Grim Reaper'. We had 2 GG novels in which not one secondary/major GG character died. 'Warmaster' is not that case. With his usual eagerness Dan Abnett easily kills your beloved character, not shedding a tear ;)
And now to the issues I had with the novel. That's just my personal opinion - so I do not suggest that you don't gonna like described below.
There are no 'ideal' writers in the world, who will create everything 'right', without even 1 minor issue. All the stuff which would be mentioned is indeed a list of minor issues. But they do exist.
What is not so good with the Warmaster
First of all - even though Dan's great 'descriptiveness', the beginning chapters up to the arrival on Urdesh were too streched. Scenes of boarding actions and actually getting through space to Urdesh took too long. If we add stories from the 'Sabbat Crusade' here, which took place after the 'Salvation Reach' - it take even longer.
Usually a lot of fans will mention that Dan create such amazing stories that then getting to the end he has no time/space to create solid endings. They are 'rushed'. Here it is vise versa. It is the beginning that is too long for it's own good.
Second point - which in my opinion has place in the most of the Gaunt Ghosts novels are the luck or fate. Then some Ghosts or characters are getting to die, some universal force will save them from destruction. Space Marine arrival (no disrespect for Dan - but that 'trio' was definitely redundant here), another regiment, other enemy, high command etc.
Usually I do a full spoiler free review - but I can't do that here. Because some events are 'exactly' an 'issue' here.
Minor spoilers ahead - do not proceed further if you haven't read the book
Third point is based on a characters.
Saint Sabbat is mentioned several times throughout the book - but we never saw her in it. Gaunt never met her in The Warmaster in person. And all mentions of the Saint are grounded to: 'She is where or she is at the main battleground'. Which is kind of disappointing. Because a lot of us were expecting to see her and Milo for quite a long time since 'Sabbat Martyr'.
Same could be said about a person of Mabbon Etogaur, the one we liked by now and have solid respect as to his professionalism, - is quickly dropped from the plot. Dropped so simply on an order from HQ, which define belief. Especially after all GG went through to keep him safe.
Another of the 'character problems' of a narrative list is Gaunt's 'son' Felyx. Without major spoiler - in my personal opinion it was a mistake to do what Abnett did with him. Not because it was a bad decision. Quite contrary. It is wrong because of 'how it was added into the story'. We had the character for a full previous novel Salvation's Reach and nobody see 'that' coming and where weren't any hints about 'that' reveal. It's like author has decided to change something on a fly, without a solid background to it.
Fourth and the biggest one is 'THE ENDING'.
If you think that Salvation's Reach had a cliffhanger - well, The Warmaster ends with a CLIFFHANGER OF ALL CLIFFHANGERS. Now we should pray that 'Anarch', the last book in the 'Victory' arc - would be written quickly and released in 2018. Because with 'that' kind of ending - waiting till the next book is a 'seven circles of hell'.
BIG Spoilers ahead. Last warning - 'ending' spoilers ahead, can't skip them - or my point would be nil without them.
Why Sons of Sek did retreat - they didn't get the stones, they didn't killed the High Command of the Crusade? With horrible casualties - but they were at the point of breaking through and destroying Imperial command structure once and for all. And that's years of rebuilding it - years in which Archenemy and Sanguinary Tribes under the united command would get back everything they lost so far.
What's happening with Anakwanar Sek - he was always a rational and genius being? Great tactician and one of the biggest boogeyman of the Sabbat Worlds? Why he use his troops as a diletant?
What really happened to Mkoll? Another miraculous save in the last moment?
And probably by now the biggest question of them all - Who IS Yoncy, 'daughter' of Gol Kolea? (Who by the way has 2 sons (not a son and a daughter) - I see what you did here Dan). Archenemy covets here, she sees the future, anyone getting to her dies or guard her with their own life. Is she part daemon now, is she somehow connected with Anakwanar Sek? Having part of his soul inside her? Is she a full alpha class psyker?
If so - wild theory but maybe she is one of the kids of Pater Sin? And covered herself since Sabbat Martyr?
Is she an assassin to get to the Saint/Macaroth - planted for a long game going dozens of years in planning/operation?
That ending to The Warmaster totally ruined every produced theory so far and totally turned everything upside down. But which again shows that Dan Abnett is a brilliant authors, whose books are totally worth the wait.
.
'Warmaster' is an amazing and brilliant book. Which suffers from trying to be more than it could.
'Warmaster' ask more questions from a reader than gave answers to the old ones.
Don't get me wrong - the book is awesome, but that ending - geeze. I would have definitely prefer to have a defined ending like 'Guns of Tanith'; 'Sabbat Martyr' or 'Only in death' instead of 'this'. The patience till the next book would be impossible.
But - it is Gaunt Ghosts, regiment we all love and longed for. It is a story which should be definitely read by all fans - because it's totally worth your time.
I give 'Warmaster' 4,5 out of 5. If not for the 'issues' I mentioned above - it's definitely would have got a 10 out of 5.
Dan Abnett - you did it sir. It is a book we waited for, longed for and counted days, months and years till it's release. Thank you for the great job you did and now please proceed with the 'Anarch' - we need it ASAP.
P.S. What I could definitely tell you with all my belief - READ THE BOOK. And slowly suffer till the release of Anarch. After all - life is so unfair ;)
It is indeed 'a long time between now' and then we saw the last Adventures of the Gaunt Ghosts. Five years have passed since Salvation's Reach, that mission in the long lost 2012 then Gaunt and his beloved by fan regiment went on the top rated mission with minimal chances on success. Dan Abnett, one of the most beloved authors in BL for thousands of fans, was hunted on every social web or event with the same question all over again - 'When Warmaster would be released?'. And now after five years and 'thousands of crying fething bloody tears fans' later 'Warmaster, Concerning the Liberation of Forge World Urdesh' WAS RELEASED. At long last. To be honest it is not a general release - that one is coming in December. But I was able to get my copy at Black Library Weekender.
A little bit about the Limited Edition - it is a mastercrafted box with a lot of stuff. What inside you could find at BL official site. But what is really good here is a short story 'Killbox' which goes after Salvation's Reach but before The Warmaster (and which is hilarious and very Mkoll-centric) and the cover of the novel. The level of filigree on it and snippets trying to make the novel look like a strategic manuscript are indeed awesome. (Like a stamp - Departmento Tacticae. Collegia Vellum Urdeshi, Urdeshic Palace, Eltath).
Also we provided with a nice 'Afterword', where author did mention the reasons while it took so long to get here and why the end result is better then the one that could have been released earlier. Plus as a lot of people were telling me and only now I indeed was able to reconcile with myself - authors do not owe us anything. So then author tells us that he write to entertain himself and do a good story - he show us his own vision. That's why we always get a different 'tome' to the one we expected so long.
He also covers the missing years with a brilliant workaround - but we will get to it later.
But most of all you cant expect to get that kind of preambule for the book: "The King of the Knives! ...He comes in the darkness and he takes all our lives!' (children skipping chant, Tanith). Which is quite unexpected but goes brilliantly with the story that follows.
vetus amicitia
It is indeed a return of an 'old friend'. The one you missed something for eternity and can't pinpoint your exact feeling as to his return.
So let's delve into the lair of the beast himself.
Confidence Level required is Vermillion Clearance Only.
Storyline
First time in a long while BL synopsis done it right. It actually indeed corresponds almost fully as to what happen in the novel, but with some solid differences. So what do we have?
After the success of their desperate mission to Salvation's Reach, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and the Tanith First race to the strategically vital forge world of Urdesh, besieged by the brutal armies of Anarch Sek. However, there may be more at stake than just a planet. The Imperial forces have made an attempt to divide and conquer their enemy, but with Warmaster Macaroth himself commanding the Urdesh campaign, it is possible that the Archenemy assault has a different purpose - to decapitate the Imperial command structure with a single blow. Has the Warmaster allowed himself to become an unwitting target? And can Gaunt's Ghosts possibly defend him against the assembled killers and war machines of Chaos?
As usual for the GG serie in the Daniverse at the beginning we have an excerpt as to the events that transpire in the book. A small overview from 'A History of the Later Imperial Crusades'. If fans would be very curious indeed - they would closely check the year, which is mentioned in the blurb. It is one of the nicest hints done by Dan Abnett.
Dan starts his book, which is number fourteen in the serie (reminder just to pinpoint the face that even after the previous 13 books author is still able to get our full attention with just a prologue), with an amazing bang - we all know how 'Salvation's Reach' has ended. So to see that 'Prologue' titled as a 'Corpse' is a nice touch from the author:
Human ship. Imperial human ship. Cold thing from which life-heat has bled. Nothing-thing. Corpse-wreck, broken, inert, adrift... Highness Sir Armaduke'.
What follows is one of the best descriptive scene that was ever written in BL club. It shows anew why a lot of us adorn Abnett's prose and style. The smallest details in the environment make you believe that you are actually where, right at the stage with your beloved characters and their feelings.
Without spoilers - what's happens next is one of the best tricks as to how fix the time contradictions. Which again it shows the brilliance of an author.
Eventually as anyone could expect from the book about GG we get to the 'main' front-line. In our case it's a suffering world of Urdesh.
What follows next is one of the most intriguing and interesting storylines about a regiment which goes through struggle of war losses, command changes and trying to find their place in the 'new' universe. Universe which is not kind to the poor Astra Militarum guardsmen.
This time on the other hand to the boiling mix author has added a Crusade High command with it's own ambition, glory hounds, politics and intrigues.
Eventually - the story is a mix of political/army tension and warfare on micro/macro level.
In what book 14 of the serie is different from the titles from 1 to 11, is that starting with 'Blood Pact' Dan Abnett started one storyline to tell in 4 books. Previous titles of GG books were essentially self-contained. It was only with the last Arc 'Victory', beginning with 'Blood Pact', that he decided to make them more connected for a change. Essentially it is a 'one' mega-novel across four volumes.
Daniverse descriptiveness
Urdesh - is a character in itself. One particular scene with the docking ship in the stratosphere is one of the best you will ever read in sci-fi. Dan Abnett didn't forget anything. Weather effects, magnetism, human reaction - it's all here made into the absolute.
Urdesh - a war ravaged world shine in all it's glory and scientific horror. Small scenes like the one where Ghosts are explained to about the coverage from the snipers shows how belligerent and struggling Urdeshians are. And who could doubt them - their world change hands a lot during the Last Sabbat Worlds Crusade.
Dan was able to give us a long forgotten view on the enemy in all it's horror, by doing almost nothing to show us the enemy. Yeap - that's Dan Abnett, he could do that. Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of fighting and enemy soldiers for show. Even our beloved stalk tanks are back. But we does not have a 'defined' Chaos POV here.
First time in a long while (since the times of Sabbat Martyr - 7th book in the serie) we see an enemy 'fleet' in action. And not just the 'ship/s' - but it's structure. V'heduak is a masterful creation of an author. Now we saw at last as to how the enemy get's to the world's they invade. And what their 'sailors' do while they are waiting for the world to be conquered.
As for the description of warfare. As expected - Dan created a vivid picture of death, bravery and destruction. The minor issue is - it is too few. Novel is more a political beast than a warfare centric story.
Characters.
As expected The Warmaster drops us back into the cauldron of a regiment on war footing, with all the attending 'human train', which is kinda normal for a regiment during a Napoleonic wars. After all GG regiment has an amazing semblance to the Sharps Rifles of the 95-th Riflemen regiment.
We met the same command structure we knew from the previous books (the ones which survived of course) and the same grunts from the bottom.
And everyone on every level of the regiment and it's 'relatives' suffer from the loss they experienced during Salvation's Reach incursion. For some it is lost friends, for some almost a family members, for some it is a 'death of hope'. But Dan is indeed an amazing and brilliant author. So he glued it all with new 'environment' and 'unexpected hope for the best'.
Gaunt, Rawne, Kolea, Daur, Baskevyl, Mkoll, Domor, Curth; our lovely commissars Hark, Ludd, Fazekiel, Blenner are all here and kicking. The secondary characters the like Criid, Beltayn, Raglon, Bonin, Brostin, Larkin has their small window to shine. But most of all - this time author gave the main stage to shine for the newcomers. Pasha, Zuckova, Spetnin, Dalin, Felix, Maddalena and a lot of poor grunts given a view in and out of fire.
In his showcase of the regiment Dan Abnett mentioned a lot of army and social problems from our today's life. Sexism, brutality, unfairness, stupidity, struggling with the loss of a friend or relative, loneliness, dominant opinions of the society that makes you wonna cry and die in the corner - all mentioned in one scope or another.
A lot of major and secondary characters - as with each GG book goes through a lot of pain, suffering and loss. But this time Abnett as a real wizard gives them all something to cheer for. Shattering the cheering mood 2 pages after. That's usual Dan Abnett for you. And that's one of the main reasons a lot of us 'fans' love and adorn his writing.
Minor spoilers ahead.
Person of Warmaster Macaroth has been shown at last. And it was a hilarious experience. Because he is an absolutely 'human' being and totally different to the figures the likes of Macharius. Never expected 'Warmaster' to be like that - 'a small, cumbersome, tired and grandpa character'.
Also, what Dan did again on the 'Oskar' level - he created the same 'evil' character we haven't seen since Cuu's devilness in the flesh. You need to read that novel - to start despising a character on 'that' level. Especially at one moment followed up with a character death.
Which reminds me to mention that it is a 'proper' GG Abnett's novel. By proper I mean that 'Nobody is safe from the Grim Reaper'. We had 2 GG novels in which not one secondary/major GG character died. 'Warmaster' is not that case. With his usual eagerness Dan Abnett easily kills your beloved character, not shedding a tear ;)
And now to the issues I had with the novel. That's just my personal opinion - so I do not suggest that you don't gonna like described below.
There are no 'ideal' writers in the world, who will create everything 'right', without even 1 minor issue. All the stuff which would be mentioned is indeed a list of minor issues. But they do exist.
What is not so good with the Warmaster
First of all - even though Dan's great 'descriptiveness', the beginning chapters up to the arrival on Urdesh were too streched. Scenes of boarding actions and actually getting through space to Urdesh took too long. If we add stories from the 'Sabbat Crusade' here, which took place after the 'Salvation Reach' - it take even longer.
Usually a lot of fans will mention that Dan create such amazing stories that then getting to the end he has no time/space to create solid endings. They are 'rushed'. Here it is vise versa. It is the beginning that is too long for it's own good.
Second point - which in my opinion has place in the most of the Gaunt Ghosts novels are the luck or fate. Then some Ghosts or characters are getting to die, some universal force will save them from destruction. Space Marine arrival (no disrespect for Dan - but that 'trio' was definitely redundant here), another regiment, other enemy, high command etc.
Usually I do a full spoiler free review - but I can't do that here. Because some events are 'exactly' an 'issue' here.
Minor spoilers ahead - do not proceed further if you haven't read the book
Third point is based on a characters.
Saint Sabbat is mentioned several times throughout the book - but we never saw her in it. Gaunt never met her in The Warmaster in person. And all mentions of the Saint are grounded to: 'She is where or she is at the main battleground'. Which is kind of disappointing. Because a lot of us were expecting to see her and Milo for quite a long time since 'Sabbat Martyr'.
Same could be said about a person of Mabbon Etogaur, the one we liked by now and have solid respect as to his professionalism, - is quickly dropped from the plot. Dropped so simply on an order from HQ, which define belief. Especially after all GG went through to keep him safe.
Another of the 'character problems' of a narrative list is Gaunt's 'son' Felyx. Without major spoiler - in my personal opinion it was a mistake to do what Abnett did with him. Not because it was a bad decision. Quite contrary. It is wrong because of 'how it was added into the story'. We had the character for a full previous novel Salvation's Reach and nobody see 'that' coming and where weren't any hints about 'that' reveal. It's like author has decided to change something on a fly, without a solid background to it.
Fourth and the biggest one is 'THE ENDING'.
If you think that Salvation's Reach had a cliffhanger - well, The Warmaster ends with a CLIFFHANGER OF ALL CLIFFHANGERS. Now we should pray that 'Anarch', the last book in the 'Victory' arc - would be written quickly and released in 2018. Because with 'that' kind of ending - waiting till the next book is a 'seven circles of hell'.
BIG Spoilers ahead. Last warning - 'ending' spoilers ahead, can't skip them - or my point would be nil without them.
Why Sons of Sek did retreat - they didn't get the stones, they didn't killed the High Command of the Crusade? With horrible casualties - but they were at the point of breaking through and destroying Imperial command structure once and for all. And that's years of rebuilding it - years in which Archenemy and Sanguinary Tribes under the united command would get back everything they lost so far.
What's happening with Anakwanar Sek - he was always a rational and genius being? Great tactician and one of the biggest boogeyman of the Sabbat Worlds? Why he use his troops as a diletant?
What really happened to Mkoll? Another miraculous save in the last moment?
And probably by now the biggest question of them all - Who IS Yoncy, 'daughter' of Gol Kolea? (Who by the way has 2 sons (not a son and a daughter) - I see what you did here Dan). Archenemy covets here, she sees the future, anyone getting to her dies or guard her with their own life. Is she part daemon now, is she somehow connected with Anakwanar Sek? Having part of his soul inside her? Is she a full alpha class psyker?
If so - wild theory but maybe she is one of the kids of Pater Sin? And covered herself since Sabbat Martyr?
Is she an assassin to get to the Saint/Macaroth - planted for a long game going dozens of years in planning/operation?
That ending to The Warmaster totally ruined every produced theory so far and totally turned everything upside down. But which again shows that Dan Abnett is a brilliant authors, whose books are totally worth the wait.
.
'Warmaster' is an amazing and brilliant book. Which suffers from trying to be more than it could.
'Warmaster' ask more questions from a reader than gave answers to the old ones.
Don't get me wrong - the book is awesome, but that ending - geeze. I would have definitely prefer to have a defined ending like 'Guns of Tanith'; 'Sabbat Martyr' or 'Only in death' instead of 'this'. The patience till the next book would be impossible.
But - it is Gaunt Ghosts, regiment we all love and longed for. It is a story which should be definitely read by all fans - because it's totally worth your time.
I give 'Warmaster' 4,5 out of 5. If not for the 'issues' I mentioned above - it's definitely would have got a 10 out of 5.
Dan Abnett - you did it sir. It is a book we waited for, longed for and counted days, months and years till it's release. Thank you for the great job you did and now please proceed with the 'Anarch' - we need it ASAP.
P.S. What I could definitely tell you with all my belief - READ THE BOOK. And slowly suffer till the release of Anarch. After all - life is so unfair ;)
May 19, 2022
As always with Abnett, it's a great read about more than just the shooting. But...
Having waited years for something that feels like half of a book really doesn't sit well. Here's hoping the next one actually has an ending.
--
And now, five years later on a re-read, I've re-examined this book. It does still feel like half a story, but with Salvation's Reach behind it and The Anarch ahead, it fits neatly into the arc. It's far more political than the rest of the Ghosts series, and that's no bad thing. Especially as the next book pays off everything set up here.
The horror foreshadowing is also clear as day when you know what's coming next. Or, rather, half of it is. One final twist in the next book still comes out of nowhere.
3.5*. Still doesn't work as a standalone, but you don't have to read it as one.
Having waited years for something that feels like half of a book really doesn't sit well. Here's hoping the next one actually has an ending.
--
And now, five years later on a re-read, I've re-examined this book. It does still feel like half a story, but with Salvation's Reach behind it and The Anarch ahead, it fits neatly into the arc. It's far more political than the rest of the Ghosts series, and that's no bad thing. Especially as the next book pays off everything set up here.
The horror foreshadowing is also clear as day when you know what's coming next. Or, rather, half of it is. One final twist in the next book still comes out of nowhere.
3.5*. Still doesn't work as a standalone, but you don't have to read it as one.
December 2, 2017
Holy thrones. I can't believe I've been reading this series for 17 years, and it's still amazing.
March 4, 2018
The worst of the series. Very little happens, and it's padded out with battle scenes that don't have consequences. It also has the stupidest plotline I've yet seen in a Black Library book yet concerning Ibram Gaunt's progeny. I have Dan Abnett's "Magos" on order, and I hope that all Dan's writing mojo went into that book because it sure wasn't here.
October 8, 2024
I enjoyed this book a lot, but I felt it was pretty rushed? I kinda wish it either focused on Gaunt, his kid and the politics around them or just the ghosts.
It was just too many things being focused on without enough time to let them all marinate together.
It was just too many things being focused on without enough time to let them all marinate together.
December 22, 2017
It's strange to think this is the first time this website has visited this series. It's stranger still to think that we have gone so long after the previous novel's cliffhanger. Serving as one of Black Library's big flagship series and rivaled only by the Horus Heresy novels now Gotrek and Felix has ended, Gaunt's Ghosts is quintessential Warhammer 40,000. Equal parts Napoleonic War epic and science fiction battle campaign, it follows the efforts of Commissar-Colonel Gaunt and Tanith First and Only light infantry regiment. Fighting their way across the Sabbat worlds, they are shown fighting various opponents across a multitude of battlegrounds.
The series was praised for its balance of Warhammer's key elements, its "anyone can die" mentality without it becoming gratuitous, and was one of the key sagas which promoted the Imperial Guard's popularity. So, as you can imagine, its return is a big thing.
Synopsis
Following the harrowing battle of Salvation's Reach, the remaining Ghosts are on their return flight back to Imperial lines. Still reeling from the heavy casualties taken in the conflict, the atmosphere is tense and tempers are running high. Yet, they are not out of the fight just yet. Assailed by Chaos forces as they attempt to return, the Ghosts must fight tooth and nail to hold their transport vessel against the corsairs aligned with Sek. Even should they survive, stranger things still await them back with Imperial Command, along with an astounding revelation for Gaunt himself.
The Good
Trying to start up a series after a six year gap was always going to be difficult, especially in the case of this one. Rather than having any kind of conclusion, Salvation's Reach was almost a cliffhanger, with the deaths of several major characters and the heroes stuck in enemy territory. They were on their way out, the journey and their return still had to be dealt with. So, this left the conundrum of both trying to directly resolve the stories established in that book while leaving it open to anyone who simply wanted to start up again. Thankfully Abnett pulled this off spectacularly. The intro reminds the reader of who is alive and dead, but it does so in a natural and understated way. This is also folded into reminding people of the ongoing character changes, developments and recent repercussions as well. This is all done within the first few pages and, while it is clearly written with series familiars in mind, it's open enough that anyone who has missed one or two books can quickly adjust to the current events.
There is enough character drama on hand in these early stages to remind readers of the major issues plaguing its heroes, and of the tensions between units. The First and Only has been reborn several times now, with the most recent event still fresh in the memories of its troopers and the book does a good job of balancing this out against greater threats. While it does prove to be combat heavy even by Gaunt's Ghosts standards, it nevertheless still has the quiet moments of character drama people value most. These serve to divide up the combat, but also to keep people guessing when it comes to certain new revelations. A mystery surrounding Gaunt's son in particular runs throughout the first act, and as one ends another quickly starts up. The book doesn't string you along with these plots, nor does it deny you answers. It just makes sure that there is enough character drama and questions to keep you hooked. That and very concerned when the Ghosts are put on the firing line.
Right from the outset, the book puts its heroes in a number of extremely desperate fights, from close range engagements to a sniper duel while they are running low on ammo. It repeatedly hammers home just how dangerous and utterly hellish a Guardsman's life is, even for hardened veterans like the Ghosts, and many of the problems which come with it. Both from within and without, the regiment struggles to hold itself together, beset on one side by a relentless enemy and confronted on the other by both rival officers and conflicts borne of their strange merged status. While there are clear divides and periods of peace throughout the book, it nevertheless manages to make sure that no single scene serves as conscious "downtime" to another. The aforementioned sniper scene runs concurrently to a major revelation surrounding Gaunt himself, and is then followed by a similar act with a major character. This gives the book a constant pace, preventing it dragging at any moment, and combined with its treatment of sub-plots as events which can arise or stop at any moment, it gives the book a sense of real life.
The use of acronyms in Warmaster is far more pronounced than those of previous books, which have started to notably downplay a few of the more aged qualities to the universe. While the series itself has always seen an odd relationship with this quality, to the point where it juggles between various eras at a time, here it is obviously fixed upon a blend of Napoleonic and 1940s societal aspects. These are deftly handled at various points, and Abnett makes the time to delve into the problems with a few particular ones. The issues of nobility fighting one another and how that might impact its recruits proves to be a surprisingly pronounced and well written moment for the book. Equally, the shadowy actions of Gaunt's superiors could have been written off as a cartoonish moment of self-interest when they come into play later on. Instead, the book makes it very clear just why they are following through with their actions, and how the years have reshaped them.
Even when the book does opt to focus upon territories which have been trodden many times before, there's always a new spin to them. This is especially evident when it comes to the subject of the Inquisition and possible corruption. The Ghosts have been questioned about such matters from Ghostmaker onward, and yet the use of the divine KGB of the Imperium is an interesting take to be sure. There's different methods of censorship on display, different figures and different methods behind the faces, making sure you can never be wholly reliant upon past experiences. The same is even true of the command staff up to Warmaster Maccaroth himself, who have a few notably different takes made on them than you might expect. It might take you some time to even fully realise just why the book has been named after a character who is barely in it, but the reasoning quickly becomes evident as you progress through the chapters.
The Bad
The bad here largely stems more from the awkward nature of the book's placement over anything else. While Abnett certainly handled an awkward situation extremely well, there is no denying that a few key plot elements stand out like a sore thumb, and are abruptly disposed of with little ceremony. The trio of space marines who were accompanying them to Salvation's Reach are hit hard by this factor. While they certainly make an impression, and you are reminded of the rift between humanity and its enhanced angels of death, they serve as a walking plot device here. They show up, deal with a few situations, wait around in the background for a while, and then promptly vanish partway through a chapter. There is a goodbye, but it's fairly clear the author wanted them out of the way at the earliest opportunity.
The problem of trying to weld both older narrative arcs and a new beginning divides the book into three clear-cut sections. While this isn't a problem in of itself, you can also separate these out into mini-stories with a few loose links connecting them together. The series has done this before, but it often worked best when it came to the early tales or brief side stories. For a main book it is oddly distracting, as you can almost immediately see the immersion breaking intent behind how it was structured to serve the series as a whole. This hurts it primarily because a few particular sub-plots seem rushed in order to fit them into certain events, while one or two deaths are so quickly breezed over that it lacks the expected punch the series is known for. It doesn't necessarily make the book weaker as a whole, but it does limit the potential behind certain ideas.
In addition to the above points, the story also seems to have problems fitting in so many characters now. It re-introduces many, reminds the audience of their role and jumps between them, but some can arise for just one or two chapters only to fade away again. These aren't minor figures either, these are a few major players who have been here since the initial trilogy. As a result, it's difficult to get to grips with what archetypical role each figure is playing within the narrative or how they will be important to the overall tale. This might sound like a strange criticism, but it's as if the book is desperately trying to find something of importance for each of them to do, rather than fitting it naturally into the narrative as a whole. As a result of this, certain stories can come across with an uneven feeling, and it contributes to a rather abrupt end to the novel.
The Verdict
You have to credit Abnett at least this much with his works - Upon returning to an old favourite he proved once again he was unafraid of change. While he could have easily relied more upon past victories or re-establishing old ideas, he very effectively managed to balance the role of a re-introduction to the series with a new status quo and major changes. As a result, it's a book which relies upon prior familiarity with the series, but almost anyone who has kept up to date with the last trilogy can quickly get to grips with it. More importantly though, rather than feeling like some throwback to a past saga, the conclusion makes it clear that there is a much bigger tale yet to be told with Gaunt. How this will impact the Ghosts or the war in general we will only find out at a later date, but it makes one thing very clear: Gaunt's Ghosts is back, and it's as great as ever.
The series was praised for its balance of Warhammer's key elements, its "anyone can die" mentality without it becoming gratuitous, and was one of the key sagas which promoted the Imperial Guard's popularity. So, as you can imagine, its return is a big thing.
Synopsis
Following the harrowing battle of Salvation's Reach, the remaining Ghosts are on their return flight back to Imperial lines. Still reeling from the heavy casualties taken in the conflict, the atmosphere is tense and tempers are running high. Yet, they are not out of the fight just yet. Assailed by Chaos forces as they attempt to return, the Ghosts must fight tooth and nail to hold their transport vessel against the corsairs aligned with Sek. Even should they survive, stranger things still await them back with Imperial Command, along with an astounding revelation for Gaunt himself.
The Good
Trying to start up a series after a six year gap was always going to be difficult, especially in the case of this one. Rather than having any kind of conclusion, Salvation's Reach was almost a cliffhanger, with the deaths of several major characters and the heroes stuck in enemy territory. They were on their way out, the journey and their return still had to be dealt with. So, this left the conundrum of both trying to directly resolve the stories established in that book while leaving it open to anyone who simply wanted to start up again. Thankfully Abnett pulled this off spectacularly. The intro reminds the reader of who is alive and dead, but it does so in a natural and understated way. This is also folded into reminding people of the ongoing character changes, developments and recent repercussions as well. This is all done within the first few pages and, while it is clearly written with series familiars in mind, it's open enough that anyone who has missed one or two books can quickly adjust to the current events.
There is enough character drama on hand in these early stages to remind readers of the major issues plaguing its heroes, and of the tensions between units. The First and Only has been reborn several times now, with the most recent event still fresh in the memories of its troopers and the book does a good job of balancing this out against greater threats. While it does prove to be combat heavy even by Gaunt's Ghosts standards, it nevertheless still has the quiet moments of character drama people value most. These serve to divide up the combat, but also to keep people guessing when it comes to certain new revelations. A mystery surrounding Gaunt's son in particular runs throughout the first act, and as one ends another quickly starts up. The book doesn't string you along with these plots, nor does it deny you answers. It just makes sure that there is enough character drama and questions to keep you hooked. That and very concerned when the Ghosts are put on the firing line.
Right from the outset, the book puts its heroes in a number of extremely desperate fights, from close range engagements to a sniper duel while they are running low on ammo. It repeatedly hammers home just how dangerous and utterly hellish a Guardsman's life is, even for hardened veterans like the Ghosts, and many of the problems which come with it. Both from within and without, the regiment struggles to hold itself together, beset on one side by a relentless enemy and confronted on the other by both rival officers and conflicts borne of their strange merged status. While there are clear divides and periods of peace throughout the book, it nevertheless manages to make sure that no single scene serves as conscious "downtime" to another. The aforementioned sniper scene runs concurrently to a major revelation surrounding Gaunt himself, and is then followed by a similar act with a major character. This gives the book a constant pace, preventing it dragging at any moment, and combined with its treatment of sub-plots as events which can arise or stop at any moment, it gives the book a sense of real life.
The use of acronyms in Warmaster is far more pronounced than those of previous books, which have started to notably downplay a few of the more aged qualities to the universe. While the series itself has always seen an odd relationship with this quality, to the point where it juggles between various eras at a time, here it is obviously fixed upon a blend of Napoleonic and 1940s societal aspects. These are deftly handled at various points, and Abnett makes the time to delve into the problems with a few particular ones. The issues of nobility fighting one another and how that might impact its recruits proves to be a surprisingly pronounced and well written moment for the book. Equally, the shadowy actions of Gaunt's superiors could have been written off as a cartoonish moment of self-interest when they come into play later on. Instead, the book makes it very clear just why they are following through with their actions, and how the years have reshaped them.
Even when the book does opt to focus upon territories which have been trodden many times before, there's always a new spin to them. This is especially evident when it comes to the subject of the Inquisition and possible corruption. The Ghosts have been questioned about such matters from Ghostmaker onward, and yet the use of the divine KGB of the Imperium is an interesting take to be sure. There's different methods of censorship on display, different figures and different methods behind the faces, making sure you can never be wholly reliant upon past experiences. The same is even true of the command staff up to Warmaster Maccaroth himself, who have a few notably different takes made on them than you might expect. It might take you some time to even fully realise just why the book has been named after a character who is barely in it, but the reasoning quickly becomes evident as you progress through the chapters.
The Bad
The bad here largely stems more from the awkward nature of the book's placement over anything else. While Abnett certainly handled an awkward situation extremely well, there is no denying that a few key plot elements stand out like a sore thumb, and are abruptly disposed of with little ceremony. The trio of space marines who were accompanying them to Salvation's Reach are hit hard by this factor. While they certainly make an impression, and you are reminded of the rift between humanity and its enhanced angels of death, they serve as a walking plot device here. They show up, deal with a few situations, wait around in the background for a while, and then promptly vanish partway through a chapter. There is a goodbye, but it's fairly clear the author wanted them out of the way at the earliest opportunity.
The problem of trying to weld both older narrative arcs and a new beginning divides the book into three clear-cut sections. While this isn't a problem in of itself, you can also separate these out into mini-stories with a few loose links connecting them together. The series has done this before, but it often worked best when it came to the early tales or brief side stories. For a main book it is oddly distracting, as you can almost immediately see the immersion breaking intent behind how it was structured to serve the series as a whole. This hurts it primarily because a few particular sub-plots seem rushed in order to fit them into certain events, while one or two deaths are so quickly breezed over that it lacks the expected punch the series is known for. It doesn't necessarily make the book weaker as a whole, but it does limit the potential behind certain ideas.
In addition to the above points, the story also seems to have problems fitting in so many characters now. It re-introduces many, reminds the audience of their role and jumps between them, but some can arise for just one or two chapters only to fade away again. These aren't minor figures either, these are a few major players who have been here since the initial trilogy. As a result, it's difficult to get to grips with what archetypical role each figure is playing within the narrative or how they will be important to the overall tale. This might sound like a strange criticism, but it's as if the book is desperately trying to find something of importance for each of them to do, rather than fitting it naturally into the narrative as a whole. As a result of this, certain stories can come across with an uneven feeling, and it contributes to a rather abrupt end to the novel.
The Verdict
You have to credit Abnett at least this much with his works - Upon returning to an old favourite he proved once again he was unafraid of change. While he could have easily relied more upon past victories or re-establishing old ideas, he very effectively managed to balance the role of a re-introduction to the series with a new status quo and major changes. As a result, it's a book which relies upon prior familiarity with the series, but almost anyone who has kept up to date with the last trilogy can quickly get to grips with it. More importantly though, rather than feeling like some throwback to a past saga, the conclusion makes it clear that there is a much bigger tale yet to be told with Gaunt. How this will impact the Ghosts or the war in general we will only find out at a later date, but it makes one thing very clear: Gaunt's Ghosts is back, and it's as great as ever.
April 3, 2024
Edit: After the abomination that is The Anarch I can't encourage anyone to listen beyond Only in Death. The following books get systematically worse and as a total final story arc are exceptionally poor. It's not worth your time due to the nature of how the stories connect, with unsatisfactory conclusions that are either lack luster or nonsensical. Enjoy Gaunts Ghost up to Only in Death, then consider the series done.
Unfortunately quite poor. The worst of the entire series (which is worrying as this reads as a penultimate book).
The series continues to go down hill after Only in Death.
The first few hours of the audio book are full of pointless repetitive nonsense and the middle point jumps the shark so quickly that it feels as if Abnett has found out he has to get these books done and certain elements need to happen NOW.
The pacing is off entirely and the big grand fight at the end simply has no substance behind it. Unlike previous Ghost build ups, where the conflict grows, this just happens in a blur that feels unrewarding and hard to grasp as to scale and importance.
This is a book designed to connected two other books together, which means as a story, it's quite lack luster. There's no real arc or purpose across the entire book. If this was a series of short stories it likely would be better received in my mind.
At least this narrator wasn't as bad as the last one, but the sound quality is poor. You tell which parts have been re recorded and when the narrator has returned the next day and forgotten the tone and accent of his delivery. Some of his cadence is rushed and other times it's slow and ponderous, but all without reason or purpose.
God I hope the final book is actually decent.
Unfortunately quite poor. The worst of the entire series (which is worrying as this reads as a penultimate book).
The series continues to go down hill after Only in Death.
The first few hours of the audio book are full of pointless repetitive nonsense and the middle point jumps the shark so quickly that it feels as if Abnett has found out he has to get these books done and certain elements need to happen NOW.
The pacing is off entirely and the big grand fight at the end simply has no substance behind it. Unlike previous Ghost build ups, where the conflict grows, this just happens in a blur that feels unrewarding and hard to grasp as to scale and importance.
This is a book designed to connected two other books together, which means as a story, it's quite lack luster. There's no real arc or purpose across the entire book. If this was a series of short stories it likely would be better received in my mind.
At least this narrator wasn't as bad as the last one, but the sound quality is poor. You tell which parts have been re recorded and when the narrator has returned the next day and forgotten the tone and accent of his delivery. Some of his cadence is rushed and other times it's slow and ponderous, but all without reason or purpose.
God I hope the final book is actually decent.
November 15, 2018
Over six years after Salvation’s Reach was published, Dan Abnett’s long-awaited fourteenth Gaunt’s Ghosts novel arrives with a heavy weight of expectation. Part three of The Victory, it picks up almost immediately after Salvation’s Reach as the surviving Ghosts attempt to return to the Crusade, aboard the battered Highness Ser Armaduke. They completed their mission, but the danger isn’t over – even when they limp to the hotly-contested forge world Urdesh the perils, and surprises, keep coming.
Thankfully for us as readers, that translates into more of the great Gaunt’s Ghosts drama that we know and love. This might not be what a lot of people expect after Salvation’s Reach, especially in terms of the vivid, unusual opening scenes, but rest assured it’s typically gripping, entertaining Abnett material.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/12/...
Thankfully for us as readers, that translates into more of the great Gaunt’s Ghosts drama that we know and love. This might not be what a lot of people expect after Salvation’s Reach, especially in terms of the vivid, unusual opening scenes, but rest assured it’s typically gripping, entertaining Abnett material.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/12/...
June 16, 2019
The Tanith First have completed a near-impossible strike mission to the remote enemy outpost of Salvation's Reach. As well as stealing a vast amount of intelligence material from the enemy, their attack has triggered an internal conflict within the Chaos armies between Sek and Gaur, allowing the Crusade to reach new levels of success. But a warp mistranslation on the way home throws the First into a dire new battle, as Gaunt and his team have to face a desperate Sek in battle on the forge world of Urdesh, and face a renewed threat from within the Crusade's own leadership.
The Warmaster is the fourteenth novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series and the penultimate volume in the "Victory" arc. It was also released after an unprecedented five-year publishing gap in the series, the result of internal realignments within the Black Library and Games Workshop.
As a result, the book takes a little while to rev up to speed, with a somewhat disjointed narrative that attempts a lot of ideas - the Ghosts being shipwrecked in deep space, visited by Chaos horrors and suddenly in the thick of urban warfare and political intrigue on Urdesh - before the story comes together.
When it does, the results are impressive. We are fourteen books into this series now and we've never even met the guy in charge of the entire operation, and in fact (as Abnett's Sabbat Worlds Crusade companion book makes clear) the Ghosts have been operating on the fringes of the main war effort. Their actions have occasionally been decisive and even affected the main course of the war here and there, but only to a small degree. That revelation gives a real sense of scale to the war - in which tens of thousands of Imperial starships are carrying hundreds of millions of Imperial Guard troops, millions of support vehicles, thousands of Space Marines and hundreds, if not thousands, of skyscraper-sized Titans into battle across dozens of star systems simultaneously - which is remarkable. The Warmaster does a good job of pivoting the action, so suddenly the Ghosts and Gaunt are right in the middle of the key decisions being made for the entire war effort.
Abnett's key gifts are characterisation - finding ways of differentiating the two dozen or so characters of import within the Ghosts, plus various recurring side-characters - and action. He makes you care about the characters and their stakes. Like Bernard Cornwell before him (as tired as the "Sharpe/Uhtred in Space" comparisons are, they remain somewhat apt), he paints these soldiers as individuals with their own strengths, weaknesses and quirks, and makes you care about what happens to them (even the cowards and malcontents). That continues through The Warmaster, with an astonishing array of subplots being furthered in a remarkably constrained page count.
The Warmaster (****) does a good job of bringing together plot threads from the previous books in the series and making it feel like the war has reached a decisive turning point. The temptation to carry on this series forever must be strong, but in this book it does feel like the end of the Crusade is starting to lurch into view. On the minus side, aside from the slightly choppy opening, the ending to the book does feel a bit perfunctory for a Gaunt's Ghosts novel, although the reasons for this become clearer in the following book (Anarch), which is less of a successor and more of a direct continuation of this novel. No five-year wait this time for the next part of the story, fortunately.
The Warmaster is the fourteenth novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series and the penultimate volume in the "Victory" arc. It was also released after an unprecedented five-year publishing gap in the series, the result of internal realignments within the Black Library and Games Workshop.
As a result, the book takes a little while to rev up to speed, with a somewhat disjointed narrative that attempts a lot of ideas - the Ghosts being shipwrecked in deep space, visited by Chaos horrors and suddenly in the thick of urban warfare and political intrigue on Urdesh - before the story comes together.
When it does, the results are impressive. We are fourteen books into this series now and we've never even met the guy in charge of the entire operation, and in fact (as Abnett's Sabbat Worlds Crusade companion book makes clear) the Ghosts have been operating on the fringes of the main war effort. Their actions have occasionally been decisive and even affected the main course of the war here and there, but only to a small degree. That revelation gives a real sense of scale to the war - in which tens of thousands of Imperial starships are carrying hundreds of millions of Imperial Guard troops, millions of support vehicles, thousands of Space Marines and hundreds, if not thousands, of skyscraper-sized Titans into battle across dozens of star systems simultaneously - which is remarkable. The Warmaster does a good job of pivoting the action, so suddenly the Ghosts and Gaunt are right in the middle of the key decisions being made for the entire war effort.
Abnett's key gifts are characterisation - finding ways of differentiating the two dozen or so characters of import within the Ghosts, plus various recurring side-characters - and action. He makes you care about the characters and their stakes. Like Bernard Cornwell before him (as tired as the "Sharpe/Uhtred in Space" comparisons are, they remain somewhat apt), he paints these soldiers as individuals with their own strengths, weaknesses and quirks, and makes you care about what happens to them (even the cowards and malcontents). That continues through The Warmaster, with an astonishing array of subplots being furthered in a remarkably constrained page count.
The Warmaster (****) does a good job of bringing together plot threads from the previous books in the series and making it feel like the war has reached a decisive turning point. The temptation to carry on this series forever must be strong, but in this book it does feel like the end of the Crusade is starting to lurch into view. On the minus side, aside from the slightly choppy opening, the ending to the book does feel a bit perfunctory for a Gaunt's Ghosts novel, although the reasons for this become clearer in the following book (Anarch), which is less of a successor and more of a direct continuation of this novel. No five-year wait this time for the next part of the story, fortunately.
April 30, 2024
This was a refreshing entry in the series. Book 10 (The Armour of Contempt) was the high point for me, and each book since has been a bit lackluster in one way or another. The Warmaster has everything I like in a Gaunt's Ghosts book, even if the execution is a bit disjointed.
Why you should read this book:
- The three part opening is masterful. Chilling, mysterious, and hooked me immediately.
- Gaunt as a character was pretty one-dimensional in the last few books. You could accurately describe him as just "the guy in charge" and not leave much out. This story includes several moments that make him feel real again.
- The Tanith get to show some of their identity for the first time in a while. They're not just soldiers screaming, running, and shooting at the bad guys. They're the Tanith First and Only and we get some nuggets of them doing what they're known for.
- Some very good drama, politics, and character development. Rawne, Blenner, Curth, Zhukova and others get some really nice screentime. Gaunt's experience in Crusade HQ was very engaging the entire time.
- The reveal of Warmaster Macaroth is pretty awesome. Not what I was expecting but made complete sense.
- One of the most heartbreaking deaths in the series.
Why you should not read this book:
- Could just be me, but I found Felix to be rather annoying when Abnett clearly expects you to be sympathetic. It was bad in the last book and gets worse here.
- The Inquisition turns up and does some pretty brutal torture to the reader with repetitious recap exposition.
- Dalin is disappointingly naive and inept. It's like the events of The Armour of Contempt never happened.
- The story feels kind of unfinished? Some majorly tragic stuff happens but the story ends before Gaunt finds out about it.
- One of the most heartbreaking deaths in the series.
Why you should read this book:
- The three part opening is masterful. Chilling, mysterious, and hooked me immediately.
- Gaunt as a character was pretty one-dimensional in the last few books. You could accurately describe him as just "the guy in charge" and not leave much out. This story includes several moments that make him feel real again.
- The Tanith get to show some of their identity for the first time in a while. They're not just soldiers screaming, running, and shooting at the bad guys. They're the Tanith First and Only and we get some nuggets of them doing what they're known for.
- Some very good drama, politics, and character development. Rawne, Blenner, Curth, Zhukova and others get some really nice screentime. Gaunt's experience in Crusade HQ was very engaging the entire time.
- The reveal of Warmaster Macaroth is pretty awesome. Not what I was expecting but made complete sense.
- One of the most heartbreaking deaths in the series.
Why you should not read this book:
- Could just be me, but I found Felix to be rather annoying when Abnett clearly expects you to be sympathetic. It was bad in the last book and gets worse here.
- The Inquisition turns up and does some pretty brutal torture to the reader with repetitious recap exposition.
- Dalin is disappointingly naive and inept. It's like the events of The Armour of Contempt never happened.
- The story feels kind of unfinished? Some majorly tragic stuff happens but the story ends before Gaunt finds out about it.
- One of the most heartbreaking deaths in the series.
March 25, 2019
A sharp, dark, and surprisingly complex novel in the traditionally straightforward gore-fest universe of warhammer 40k.
I've been reading "Gaunts Ghosts" since it was a new series in the very early 2000s. Its been a fascinating exercise to watch both the story and author evolve. Like most 40k stories (I'll admit, I'm a fan) Gaunts Ghost's started off as the light, pulpy gore-fests that most do, but in contrast to many of the other stories, it didn't stay there.
The last few books and collections have moved solidly into involved, sharp, complex stories with a variety of (relatively) dynamic characters. I appreciate that Abnett moved away from the straight "battle" stories of the earlier, and instead has breathed life into a dark and intricate universe, while also managing to avoid the stagnation I see in so many other epic sci-fi arcs that get mired in details and needlessly byzantine plots (Destroyermen, Safehold, Fire and Ice).
That said, I can see a bit of frustration to someone who's not steeped generally in 40k, and specifically in Gaunts ghosts, because this novel in particular requires an enormous amount of background to really appreciate, and I wish I could tell a non-fan to read this so I could chatter about it with them, but I also recognize that telling someone to read a dozen prior books is just not realistic...
Anyways, after all that, I'd rank this as the best book of the series, with the caveat that it very much requires a lot of background to truly appreciate.
I've been reading "Gaunts Ghosts" since it was a new series in the very early 2000s. Its been a fascinating exercise to watch both the story and author evolve. Like most 40k stories (I'll admit, I'm a fan) Gaunts Ghost's started off as the light, pulpy gore-fests that most do, but in contrast to many of the other stories, it didn't stay there.
The last few books and collections have moved solidly into involved, sharp, complex stories with a variety of (relatively) dynamic characters. I appreciate that Abnett moved away from the straight "battle" stories of the earlier, and instead has breathed life into a dark and intricate universe, while also managing to avoid the stagnation I see in so many other epic sci-fi arcs that get mired in details and needlessly byzantine plots (Destroyermen, Safehold, Fire and Ice).
That said, I can see a bit of frustration to someone who's not steeped generally in 40k, and specifically in Gaunts ghosts, because this novel in particular requires an enormous amount of background to really appreciate, and I wish I could tell a non-fan to read this so I could chatter about it with them, but I also recognize that telling someone to read a dozen prior books is just not realistic...
Anyways, after all that, I'd rank this as the best book of the series, with the caveat that it very much requires a lot of background to truly appreciate.
December 3, 2023
One of the few Warhammer books that rises above "okayish". This is my favorite - so far - of the Gaunts Ghosts series, having read about 75% of the books by now.
Its hard to expand and develop any story without ending up as a Hollywood movie script. Here, somehow, after all these books, the Ghosts are part of a sector-defining event, we get a lot of screen-time from otherwise unseen higher-ups, and still it does not feel too grandiose to lose touch.
About 1/3 of the secondary characters fall flat, but i'd consider this a good ratio for this genre.
Solid read, if you want to get more background for your belowed sci-fy tabletop game, Abnett and the GG is still a good start.
Its hard to expand and develop any story without ending up as a Hollywood movie script. Here, somehow, after all these books, the Ghosts are part of a sector-defining event, we get a lot of screen-time from otherwise unseen higher-ups, and still it does not feel too grandiose to lose touch.
About 1/3 of the secondary characters fall flat, but i'd consider this a good ratio for this genre.
Solid read, if you want to get more background for your belowed sci-fy tabletop game, Abnett and the GG is still a good start.
December 26, 2017
Guant and the Ghosts finally get the credit they deserve in a series of heartwarming moments, but the book ends on a cliffhanger, with a major status quo shake up, and half the plot threads still open. That last part would have hurt it more, but is has been promised that it will be cleared up in "The Anarch."
January 19, 2025
The Warmaster, book 14 of 15 books in Gaunt’s Ghosts books by Dan Abnett. The next one completes storylines. Anxious to go to it as I will need to find another dependable series that makes me, angry, tear up, and laugh like this one has.
August 23, 2022
Once again dan Abnett delivers the feels all through this book. What an absolute thriller. Can’t wait to see these open threads get tied off in anarch. Superb.
December 22, 2017
It's strange to think this is the first time this website has visited this series. It's stranger still to think that we have gone so long after the previous novel's cliffhanger. Serving as one of Black Library's big flagship series and rivaled only by the Horus Heresy novels now Gotrek and Felix has ended, Gaunt's Ghosts is quintessential Warhammer 40,000. Equal parts Napoleonic War epic and science fiction battle campaign, it follows the efforts of Commissar-Colonel Gaunt and Tanith First and Only light infantry regiment. Fighting their way across the Sabbat worlds, they are shown fighting various opponents across a multitude of battlegrounds.
The series was praised for its balance of Warhammer's key elements, its "anyone can die" mentality without it becoming gratuitous, and was one of the key sagas which promoted the Imperial Guard's popularity. So, as you can imagine, its return is a big thing.
Synopsis
Following the harrowing battle of Salvation's Reach, the remaining Ghosts are on their return flight back to Imperial lines. Still reeling from the heavy casualties taken in the conflict, the atmosphere is tense and tempers are running high. Yet, they are not out of the fight just yet. Assailed by Chaos forces as they attempt to return, the Ghosts must fight tooth and nail to hold their transport vessel against the corsairs aligned with Sek. Even should they survive, stranger things still await them back with Imperial Command, along with an astounding revelation for Gaunt himself.
The Good
Trying to start up a series after a six year gap was always going to be difficult, especially in the case of this one. Rather than having any kind of conclusion, Salvation's Reach was almost a cliffhanger, with the deaths of several major characters and the heroes stuck in enemy territory. They were on their way out, the journey and their return still had to be dealt with. So, this left the conundrum of both trying to directly resolve the stories established in that book while leaving it open to anyone who simply wanted to start up again. Thankfully Abnett pulled this off spectacularly. The intro reminds the reader of who is alive and dead, but it does so in a natural and understated way. This is also folded into reminding people of the ongoing character changes, developments and recent repercussions as well. This is all done within the first few pages and, while it is clearly written with series familiars in mind, it's open enough that anyone who has missed one or two books can quickly adjust to the current events.
There is enough character drama on hand in these early stages to remind readers of the major issues plaguing its heroes, and of the tensions between units. The First and Only has been reborn several times now, with the most recent event still fresh in the memories of its troopers and the book does a good job of balancing this out against greater threats. While it does prove to be combat heavy even by Gaunt's Ghosts standards, it nevertheless still has the quiet moments of character drama people value most. These serve to divide up the combat, but also to keep people guessing when it comes to certain new revelations. A mystery surrounding Gaunt's son in particular runs throughout the first act, and as one ends another quickly starts up. The book doesn't string you along with these plots, nor does it deny you answers. It just makes sure that there is enough character drama and questions to keep you hooked. That and very concerned when the Ghosts are put on the firing line.
Right from the outset, the book puts its heroes in a number of extremely desperate fights, from close range engagements to a sniper duel while they are running low on ammo. It repeatedly hammers home just how dangerous and utterly hellish a Guardsman's life is, even for hardened veterans like the Ghosts, and many of the problems which come with it. Both from within and without, the regiment struggles to hold itself together, beset on one side by a relentless enemy and confronted on the other by both rival officers and conflicts borne of their strange merged status. While there are clear divides and periods of peace throughout the book, it nevertheless manages to make sure that no single scene serves as conscious "downtime" to another. The aforementioned sniper scene runs concurrently to a major revelation surrounding Gaunt himself, and is then followed by a similar act with a major character. This gives the book a constant pace, preventing it dragging at any moment, and combined with its treatment of sub-plots as events which can arise or stop at any moment, it gives the book a sense of real life.
The use of acronyms in Warmaster is far more pronounced than those of previous books, which have started to notably downplay a few of the more aged qualities to the universe. While the series itself has always seen an odd relationship with this quality, to the point where it juggles between various eras at a time, here it is obviously fixed upon a blend of Napoleonic and 1940s societal aspects. These are deftly handled at various points, and Abnett makes the time to delve into the problems with a few particular ones. The issues of nobility fighting one another and how that might impact its recruits proves to be a surprisingly pronounced and well written moment for the book. Equally, the shadowy actions of Gaunt's superiors could have been written off as a cartoonish moment of self-interest when they come into play later on. Instead, the book makes it very clear just why they are following through with their actions, and how the years have reshaped them.
Even when the book does opt to focus upon territories which have been trodden many times before, there's always a new spin to them. This is especially evident when it comes to the subject of the Inquisition and possible corruption. The Ghosts have been questioned about such matters from Ghostmaker onward, and yet the use of the divine KGB of the Imperium is an interesting take to be sure. There's different methods of censorship on display, different figures and different methods behind the faces, making sure you can never be wholly reliant upon past experiences. The same is even true of the command staff up to Warmaster Maccaroth himself, who have a few notably different takes made on them than you might expect. It might take you some time to even fully realise just why the book has been named after a character who is barely in it, but the reasoning quickly becomes evident as you progress through the chapters.
The Bad
The bad here largely stems more from the awkward nature of the book's placement over anything else. While Abnett certainly handled an awkward situation extremely well, there is no denying that a few key plot elements stand out like a sore thumb, and are abruptly disposed of with little ceremony. The trio of space marines who were accompanying them to Salvation's Reach are hit hard by this factor. While they certainly make an impression, and you are reminded of the rift between humanity and its enhanced angels of death, they serve as a walking plot device here. They show up, deal with a few situations, wait around in the background for a while, and then promptly vanish partway through a chapter. There is a goodbye, but it's fairly clear the author wanted them out of the way at the earliest opportunity.
The problem of trying to weld both older narrative arcs and a new beginning divides the book into three clear-cut sections. While this isn't a problem in of itself, you can also separate these out into mini-stories with a few loose links connecting them together. The series has done this before, but it often worked best when it came to the early tales or brief side stories. For a main book it is oddly distracting, as you can almost immediately see the immersion breaking intent behind how it was structured to serve the series as a whole. This hurts it primarily because a few particular sub-plots seem rushed in order to fit them into certain events, while one or two deaths are so quickly breezed over that it lacks the expected punch the series is known for. It doesn't necessarily make the book weaker as a whole, but it does limit the potential behind certain ideas.
In addition to the above points, the story also seems to have problems fitting in so many characters now. It re-introduces many, reminds the audience of their role and jumps between them, but some can arise for just one or two chapters only to fade away again. These aren't minor figures either, these are a few major players who have been here since the initial trilogy. As a result, it's difficult to get to grips with what archetypical role each figure is playing within the narrative or how they will be important to the overall tale. This might sound like a strange criticism, but it's as if the book is desperately trying to find something of importance for each of them to do, rather than fitting it naturally into the narrative as a whole. As a result of this, certain stories can come across with an uneven feeling, and it contributes to a rather abrupt end to the novel.
The Verdict
You have to credit Abnett at least this much with his works - Upon returning to an old favourite he proved once again he was unafraid of change. While he could have easily relied more upon past victories or re-establishing old ideas, he very effectively managed to balance the role of a re-introduction to the series with a new status quo and major changes. As a result, it's a book which relies upon prior familiarity with the series, but almost anyone who has kept up to date with the last trilogy can quickly get to grips with it. More importantly though, rather than feeling like some throwback to a past saga, the conclusion makes it clear that there is a much bigger tale yet to be told with Gaunt. How this will impact the Ghosts or the war in general we will only find out at a later date, but it makes one thing very clear: Gaunt's Ghosts is back, and it's as great as ever.
The series was praised for its balance of Warhammer's key elements, its "anyone can die" mentality without it becoming gratuitous, and was one of the key sagas which promoted the Imperial Guard's popularity. So, as you can imagine, its return is a big thing.
Synopsis
Following the harrowing battle of Salvation's Reach, the remaining Ghosts are on their return flight back to Imperial lines. Still reeling from the heavy casualties taken in the conflict, the atmosphere is tense and tempers are running high. Yet, they are not out of the fight just yet. Assailed by Chaos forces as they attempt to return, the Ghosts must fight tooth and nail to hold their transport vessel against the corsairs aligned with Sek. Even should they survive, stranger things still await them back with Imperial Command, along with an astounding revelation for Gaunt himself.
The Good
Trying to start up a series after a six year gap was always going to be difficult, especially in the case of this one. Rather than having any kind of conclusion, Salvation's Reach was almost a cliffhanger, with the deaths of several major characters and the heroes stuck in enemy territory. They were on their way out, the journey and their return still had to be dealt with. So, this left the conundrum of both trying to directly resolve the stories established in that book while leaving it open to anyone who simply wanted to start up again. Thankfully Abnett pulled this off spectacularly. The intro reminds the reader of who is alive and dead, but it does so in a natural and understated way. This is also folded into reminding people of the ongoing character changes, developments and recent repercussions as well. This is all done within the first few pages and, while it is clearly written with series familiars in mind, it's open enough that anyone who has missed one or two books can quickly adjust to the current events.
There is enough character drama on hand in these early stages to remind readers of the major issues plaguing its heroes, and of the tensions between units. The First and Only has been reborn several times now, with the most recent event still fresh in the memories of its troopers and the book does a good job of balancing this out against greater threats. While it does prove to be combat heavy even by Gaunt's Ghosts standards, it nevertheless still has the quiet moments of character drama people value most. These serve to divide up the combat, but also to keep people guessing when it comes to certain new revelations. A mystery surrounding Gaunt's son in particular runs throughout the first act, and as one ends another quickly starts up. The book doesn't string you along with these plots, nor does it deny you answers. It just makes sure that there is enough character drama and questions to keep you hooked. That and very concerned when the Ghosts are put on the firing line.
Right from the outset, the book puts its heroes in a number of extremely desperate fights, from close range engagements to a sniper duel while they are running low on ammo. It repeatedly hammers home just how dangerous and utterly hellish a Guardsman's life is, even for hardened veterans like the Ghosts, and many of the problems which come with it. Both from within and without, the regiment struggles to hold itself together, beset on one side by a relentless enemy and confronted on the other by both rival officers and conflicts borne of their strange merged status. While there are clear divides and periods of peace throughout the book, it nevertheless manages to make sure that no single scene serves as conscious "downtime" to another. The aforementioned sniper scene runs concurrently to a major revelation surrounding Gaunt himself, and is then followed by a similar act with a major character. This gives the book a constant pace, preventing it dragging at any moment, and combined with its treatment of sub-plots as events which can arise or stop at any moment, it gives the book a sense of real life.
The use of acronyms in Warmaster is far more pronounced than those of previous books, which have started to notably downplay a few of the more aged qualities to the universe. While the series itself has always seen an odd relationship with this quality, to the point where it juggles between various eras at a time, here it is obviously fixed upon a blend of Napoleonic and 1940s societal aspects. These are deftly handled at various points, and Abnett makes the time to delve into the problems with a few particular ones. The issues of nobility fighting one another and how that might impact its recruits proves to be a surprisingly pronounced and well written moment for the book. Equally, the shadowy actions of Gaunt's superiors could have been written off as a cartoonish moment of self-interest when they come into play later on. Instead, the book makes it very clear just why they are following through with their actions, and how the years have reshaped them.
Even when the book does opt to focus upon territories which have been trodden many times before, there's always a new spin to them. This is especially evident when it comes to the subject of the Inquisition and possible corruption. The Ghosts have been questioned about such matters from Ghostmaker onward, and yet the use of the divine KGB of the Imperium is an interesting take to be sure. There's different methods of censorship on display, different figures and different methods behind the faces, making sure you can never be wholly reliant upon past experiences. The same is even true of the command staff up to Warmaster Maccaroth himself, who have a few notably different takes made on them than you might expect. It might take you some time to even fully realise just why the book has been named after a character who is barely in it, but the reasoning quickly becomes evident as you progress through the chapters.
The Bad
The bad here largely stems more from the awkward nature of the book's placement over anything else. While Abnett certainly handled an awkward situation extremely well, there is no denying that a few key plot elements stand out like a sore thumb, and are abruptly disposed of with little ceremony. The trio of space marines who were accompanying them to Salvation's Reach are hit hard by this factor. While they certainly make an impression, and you are reminded of the rift between humanity and its enhanced angels of death, they serve as a walking plot device here. They show up, deal with a few situations, wait around in the background for a while, and then promptly vanish partway through a chapter. There is a goodbye, but it's fairly clear the author wanted them out of the way at the earliest opportunity.
The problem of trying to weld both older narrative arcs and a new beginning divides the book into three clear-cut sections. While this isn't a problem in of itself, you can also separate these out into mini-stories with a few loose links connecting them together. The series has done this before, but it often worked best when it came to the early tales or brief side stories. For a main book it is oddly distracting, as you can almost immediately see the immersion breaking intent behind how it was structured to serve the series as a whole. This hurts it primarily because a few particular sub-plots seem rushed in order to fit them into certain events, while one or two deaths are so quickly breezed over that it lacks the expected punch the series is known for. It doesn't necessarily make the book weaker as a whole, but it does limit the potential behind certain ideas.
In addition to the above points, the story also seems to have problems fitting in so many characters now. It re-introduces many, reminds the audience of their role and jumps between them, but some can arise for just one or two chapters only to fade away again. These aren't minor figures either, these are a few major players who have been here since the initial trilogy. As a result, it's difficult to get to grips with what archetypical role each figure is playing within the narrative or how they will be important to the overall tale. This might sound like a strange criticism, but it's as if the book is desperately trying to find something of importance for each of them to do, rather than fitting it naturally into the narrative as a whole. As a result of this, certain stories can come across with an uneven feeling, and it contributes to a rather abrupt end to the novel.
The Verdict
You have to credit Abnett at least this much with his works - Upon returning to an old favourite he proved once again he was unafraid of change. While he could have easily relied more upon past victories or re-establishing old ideas, he very effectively managed to balance the role of a re-introduction to the series with a new status quo and major changes. As a result, it's a book which relies upon prior familiarity with the series, but almost anyone who has kept up to date with the last trilogy can quickly get to grips with it. More importantly though, rather than feeling like some throwback to a past saga, the conclusion makes it clear that there is a much bigger tale yet to be told with Gaunt. How this will impact the Ghosts or the war in general we will only find out at a later date, but it makes one thing very clear: Gaunt's Ghosts is back, and it's as great as ever.
January 22, 2018
Pretty good continuation of the story, but feels like kinda half a book - it ends just as it's ramping up to speed. Now we have to wait for the next one. :(
March 19, 2018
As a long term Ghost fan, I was desperately waiting for this to finally arrive. Especially after the decent, but disappointing, Salvation's Reach.
In the run up to this, I re-read the Sabbat Crusade short story omnibus as this contains three stories that directly link the previous novel to Warmaster. I recommend you do this too.
Warmaster sees the Ghosts return from their mission, but something very wrong has happened as they translate from the Warp - they're gained a decade! Welcomed back as heroes, Gaunt is sucked straight into the political intrigue of high command, and it seems like nothing will be the same again.
Warmaster is well written and gripping, and I chewed through it in a day. Our beloved characters are just as we remember them, their lives and woes become our lives and woes and worry about them as we worry about friends. Some plot strings are tied up nicely, whilst new ones are laid out that will have your emotions in turmoil as you read them - in the very best of ways.
Dan sets up some great plot arcs which will continue into the next installment(which he promises me won't be another 5 years in the writing...). There will be heartache when you read this book, but for once there will be true elation as well, as some good things happen to the Ghosts. Promotions, prestige and just rewards all happen.
The actions sequences are top notch and you actually feel like you're in the thick of it was las rounds streaking past, and the Sons of Sek charging your position. Abnett describes the environments well and ensures you have a great mental map of the fighting and are never left wondering where or what is going on.
I would rank this up there with Sabbat Martyr and His Last Command, but not quite as high as Necropolis.
In the run up to this, I re-read the Sabbat Crusade short story omnibus as this contains three stories that directly link the previous novel to Warmaster. I recommend you do this too.
Warmaster sees the Ghosts return from their mission, but something very wrong has happened as they translate from the Warp - they're gained a decade! Welcomed back as heroes, Gaunt is sucked straight into the political intrigue of high command, and it seems like nothing will be the same again.
Warmaster is well written and gripping, and I chewed through it in a day. Our beloved characters are just as we remember them, their lives and woes become our lives and woes and worry about them as we worry about friends. Some plot strings are tied up nicely, whilst new ones are laid out that will have your emotions in turmoil as you read them - in the very best of ways.
Dan sets up some great plot arcs which will continue into the next installment(which he promises me won't be another 5 years in the writing...). There will be heartache when you read this book, but for once there will be true elation as well, as some good things happen to the Ghosts. Promotions, prestige and just rewards all happen.
The actions sequences are top notch and you actually feel like you're in the thick of it was las rounds streaking past, and the Sons of Sek charging your position. Abnett describes the environments well and ensures you have a great mental map of the fighting and are never left wondering where or what is going on.
I would rank this up there with Sabbat Martyr and His Last Command, but not quite as high as Necropolis.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2021
As the Penultimate entry in the Ghosts series it tries to be the book that sets up the finale however the actually meaningful story points are very very few, it was truly disappointing that so little happens in it and significant portions of the book are simply pointless padding out of the page count, that really have no impact on the story or the characters.
For example the first 140 pages are spent just getting the Ghosts to the planet where the story, what there is, actually happens that's a third of the book!
While a few of the events in these pages set up future plot arcs within the book, if you removed these plot aspects the story would remain they're are just padding, while others are completely unnecessary padding.
The same happens later too, plot lines are overly complex when the same could have been achieved with much simpler arcs and the complexity doesn't add anything
While some of them pay off more in Anarch which really is the second part of this book, but even then it's not enough of a payoff to warrant the bloat in this book,
It's Abnett, thou if his name wasn't on the cover I could be convinced someone else wrote this one, and it's the Ghosts so it's a enjoyable read while it's being read but unlike most of the earlier books afterwards you'll be asking what actually was the point, what happened that actually meant anything.
For example the first 140 pages are spent just getting the Ghosts to the planet where the story, what there is, actually happens that's a third of the book!
While a few of the events in these pages set up future plot arcs within the book, if you removed these plot aspects the story would remain they're are just padding, while others are completely unnecessary padding.
The same happens later too, plot lines are overly complex when the same could have been achieved with much simpler arcs and the complexity doesn't add anything
While some of them pay off more in Anarch which really is the second part of this book, but even then it's not enough of a payoff to warrant the bloat in this book,
It's Abnett, thou if his name wasn't on the cover I could be convinced someone else wrote this one, and it's the Ghosts so it's a enjoyable read while it's being read but unlike most of the earlier books afterwards you'll be asking what actually was the point, what happened that actually meant anything.
December 1, 2020
I'm confused at the positive reviews of this book.
The series has been spiraling ever downward pretty much since the end of the Saint arc. Abnett trots out the same story time after time, but more recent entries are half of the same story and the bit he has dispenses with is the meaningful bits.
A good editor could have cut half this book and pushed to publish an actual book focusing on the story. This feels like half a book, and perhaps it is with the follow up, and whilst I would argue you should publish one larger book the GW never misses a chance to cash in.
It's EastEnders in 40k with a focus on human drama with a story and combat tacked on. I'm fine with a character focus in a series that has lasted so long and has such good characters but it worked early days by being a strong, focused story with the addition of good characters. Now it's a weak, mealy mouthed mess with good characters tacked on.
I'll finish it, I'm a sucker for completion, but it's a real shame such promise is ending like this.
Gave it a second star as despite my litany of issues with Abnett his prose are still very, very good and very readable so even a half ass boring book can at least be tolerable.
The series has been spiraling ever downward pretty much since the end of the Saint arc. Abnett trots out the same story time after time, but more recent entries are half of the same story and the bit he has dispenses with is the meaningful bits.
A good editor could have cut half this book and pushed to publish an actual book focusing on the story. This feels like half a book, and perhaps it is with the follow up, and whilst I would argue you should publish one larger book the GW never misses a chance to cash in.
It's EastEnders in 40k with a focus on human drama with a story and combat tacked on. I'm fine with a character focus in a series that has lasted so long and has such good characters but it worked early days by being a strong, focused story with the addition of good characters. Now it's a weak, mealy mouthed mess with good characters tacked on.
I'll finish it, I'm a sucker for completion, but it's a real shame such promise is ending like this.
Gave it a second star as despite my litany of issues with Abnett his prose are still very, very good and very readable so even a half ass boring book can at least be tolerable.
February 13, 2018
This is not over yet! With the story raging on we get to wait out for its conclusion on another day.
Loved every moment of it, loved to see these long lost friends again, can´t wait to have them over again.
Loved every moment of it, loved to see these long lost friends again, can´t wait to have them over again.
September 16, 2018
I love me some Gaunt's Ghosts.
With how great it was to finally return to the series, the ending is really nasty.. Ending it on such a cliffhanger... Damn you, Abnett!
Can't wait till the next installment.
With how great it was to finally return to the series, the ending is really nasty.. Ending it on such a cliffhanger... Damn you, Abnett!
Can't wait till the next installment.
August 23, 2021
I think I’ve said this multiple times over the course of my blog posts, but I’ve been reading the Gaunt’s Ghosts series for about 15 years now. It remains one of my favourite series of books. Picking up a new one feels like coming home, comfort food for the mind, taking me back to those long summers spent in the Lincolnshire countryside where I first started writing my own science fiction. Back then the Ghosts and the Black Library generally provided me with a rich seam of inspiration, and I always enjoy thinking back to the times when I would be out walking the dogs for hours, dreaming up new ideas and storylines.
Given how important they are to me, it’s about time I did a proper long review of at least one of them. I should probably do a series retrospective at some point. In the meantime, here is my review of the Warmaster:
Intro
I love the series. There aren’t really any bad books, just weaker and stronger ones. Abnett has been releasing them relatively regularly now for decades, and the old unofficial strapline “like Sharpe in space” pretty much still holds true. They have the well-deserved reputation as being BL’s flagship series (probably now knocked off that perch by the Horus Heresy novels, although I haven’t read beyond the fourth one of those and that was some years ago). Needless to say, they have a special place in my heart, as close a companion as any human friend.
GG has been retroactively split into arcs: the Founding, the Saint, the Lost, and now the Victory, which are linked thematically. We are currently in the somewhat spoilery-titled the “Victory”, though I suppose technically we don’t know whose victory we are concerning ourselves with.
Plot Summary
[The below plot summary contains mild spoilers so skip it if you’re yet to read the book].
With the Warmaster, Gaunt and his men have just returned from their desperate Salvation’s Reach mission, recovering a cache of vital, potentially war-winning Archenemy intelligence in the process. However, thanks to a Warp accident en route back to relative safety, the Ghosts—and everyone else on the ship—lose ten years of real time. Gaunt and his men are presumed lost, and when they finally get back to safety, Gaunt finds himself in the slightly uncomfortable position of having been posthumously lauded as a hero of the Imperium—and promoted to Lord Militant to boot.
Now back on one of the key worlds of the Sabbat campaign, Urdesh, the crusade’s lords militant bring Gaunt back into the fold, turn the posthumous promotion into a humous one, and begin the difficult task of trying to win the campaign whilst simultaneously plotting to overthrow their brilliant but reclusive and slightly insane (and eponymous) warmaster.
In true Abnett form, battles are fought (both the war kind and the political kind) and characters’ and story arcs are developed. In other words, hijinks ensue, and a generally bad time is had by all.
The Bad
OK, so what isn’t so good about the Warmaster? Well, the ending for starters. I do not tend to read reviews or interviews or generally read about authors or their lives, so I was a bit out of the loop on this, but apparently Abnett forewarned readers that the Warmaster would end on a cliff-hanger.
Although, I’m not sure that cliff-hanger is necessarily the right word; it’s not abrupt and dramatic enough to be a cliff-hanger. It’s more just a petering out. It’s the kind of ending you’d get at the end of a chapter, or a part of a book, rather than an entire book.
Normally with this kind of ending, where you’re writing another book in a long running series, you tie up a few sub-stories by the end so that the reader achieves some closure, whilst leaving the meta-arc running. Abnett is usually very good at this; read any given GG book and you’ll find that an individual battle or engagement is won (or at least brought to a conclusion) whilst the wider war rumbles on.
In the Warmaster, nothing ends. The main war hasn’t ended, the battle for Urdesh hasn’t ended… hell, most of the minor plot threads haven’t even really started.
The result is that the Warmaster feels like the first half of a book split into two parts. This may well have been the intention, but if you’re like me and you don’t know the IRL context or background or the author’s thoughts on the matter, all you’ve got to go on is the book itself. So that was a bit pants, although really it doesn’t matter too much. When you’re on book 14 of a series, the odd cliff-hanger can be forgiven.
What else? Well, not much really, except perhaps the volume of characters. GG has been running for so long now that we really are into a cast of thousands. Unlike many other mil-si-fi authors (or just military fiction authors), Abnett eschews prefacing his books with a regimental structure for reference, even a basic one. One can only assume that such a structure does exist for Abnett himself, probably, we might conjecture, in Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel, with new sheets for each book with lists of character deaths etc.
The point is, it gets hard to keep up with all the names. Some are easy because they are primary or mid-tier characters in and of themselves; Mkoll, Larkin, Blenner, Curth, Criid, Wilder, Meryn, Rawne, Brostin, etc. etc.; these are people who have been with us for a very long time and have their own distinct feel (see The Good below). But there are many others who are just names, even familiar names. Some names are just throwaways, redshirts who we don’t care about. But there are dozens (literally) of names which I know I’ve seen many times before but I just can’t quite remember who they are. This becomes more frustrating when some of the Ghosts themselves are the baddies, running little criminal rings within the regiment etc, because then it matters who the minor characters are. Are they good Ghosts, bad Ghosts, redshirt Ghosts? When you read a GG novel once every one or two years like I do, these minor and mid-tier characters quickly fade from memory and whilst Abnett does go to some lengths to remind us of what’s going on, he also probably expects too much of the reader’s memory.
I imagine the answer to why Abnett does not have a structure is “because it would be massive” but I don’t know. If you can get maps in there, you can get an organogram. Look at James Jones’ The Thin Red Line as an exemplar of how to do it.
The Good
I’m pleased to say that despite the gripes above, I thought the Warmaster was probably one of the best in the series. Abnett has always been a good writer, but like Cornwall with Sharpe, one can see in the early books a writer perhaps still honing his long-form craft. Here, the writing is assured. I imagine Abnett can hammer out books like the Warmaster now with relative ease and probably relatively little editing. The pacing is all there, the prose flows, and the book is generally very engaging.
When I was a teenager I loved the huge battles, and one of Abnett’s true skills is writing battle scenes, even ones that last basically the entire book (ref. the fan-favourite Necropolis, or one of my own favourites, Sabbat Martyr). As an amateur author myself, I often find writing battle scenes that are engaging very difficult and actually quite boring, but Abnett is really an auteur when it comes to this. It is little wonder that BL shovels all their flagship books his way.
Now I’m a little older (30 trips round the sun this year), however, I find that my interest in the battle scenes wanes. I sense that, perhaps in some respects, Abnett’s does too. I’ve noticed in his novels of late we are treated to lengthy scenes behind the action; a greater focus on regimental life, of the nightmarish logistics of transporting the regiment, of the relationships between the retinue and the soldiers, of internal struggles, criminal schemes, sexual tensions (PG rated!), of the difficulties of commanding a crusade, the strategies, the meta campaign, the Ordos interrogations, the departmental conflicts, church vs state, inquisition vs military… Here the inspirations from Abnett’s other wildly popular Eisenhorn and Ravenor works are clear. Whereas before this stuff would have been window dressing, a mere precursor contriving to gett the Ghosts to the front lines as soon as possible, now we get as much as half the book or more dedicated to these intrigues.
This fresh approach is to be commended to the highest degree. The books are so much richer and more interesting with these different angles explored. With the Warmaster I found myself reading the battles very quickly to get back to the political manoeuvrings at high command. I do hope that Abnett continues in this vein, because the books are so much better and more mature as a consequence.
Similarly, the characters have real depth now. The cowardly but charming Blenner is a joy to read. Curth is becoming a reckless, depressed alcoholic. Mkoll is becoming a joyless old man. Rawne’s arc, from sullen, vengeance-seeking asshole to respected brevet colonel of the regiment, is really satisfying. Zweil is still the rambling, awkward and mad old priest. Kolea is the tortured father (and I sense not long for this world). These characters, once somewhat two-dimensional, have really come into their own, and it’s clear why Abnett chooses these people to tentpole the novel.
With these adulations I therefore add this book to my unofficial and uncodified list of the best Gaunt’s Ghosts books.
Conclusion
I don't really have a proper conclusion except to say on to the Anarch!
Given how important they are to me, it’s about time I did a proper long review of at least one of them. I should probably do a series retrospective at some point. In the meantime, here is my review of the Warmaster:
Intro
I love the series. There aren’t really any bad books, just weaker and stronger ones. Abnett has been releasing them relatively regularly now for decades, and the old unofficial strapline “like Sharpe in space” pretty much still holds true. They have the well-deserved reputation as being BL’s flagship series (probably now knocked off that perch by the Horus Heresy novels, although I haven’t read beyond the fourth one of those and that was some years ago). Needless to say, they have a special place in my heart, as close a companion as any human friend.
GG has been retroactively split into arcs: the Founding, the Saint, the Lost, and now the Victory, which are linked thematically. We are currently in the somewhat spoilery-titled the “Victory”, though I suppose technically we don’t know whose victory we are concerning ourselves with.
Plot Summary
[The below plot summary contains mild spoilers so skip it if you’re yet to read the book].
With the Warmaster, Gaunt and his men have just returned from their desperate Salvation’s Reach mission, recovering a cache of vital, potentially war-winning Archenemy intelligence in the process. However, thanks to a Warp accident en route back to relative safety, the Ghosts—and everyone else on the ship—lose ten years of real time. Gaunt and his men are presumed lost, and when they finally get back to safety, Gaunt finds himself in the slightly uncomfortable position of having been posthumously lauded as a hero of the Imperium—and promoted to Lord Militant to boot.
Now back on one of the key worlds of the Sabbat campaign, Urdesh, the crusade’s lords militant bring Gaunt back into the fold, turn the posthumous promotion into a humous one, and begin the difficult task of trying to win the campaign whilst simultaneously plotting to overthrow their brilliant but reclusive and slightly insane (and eponymous) warmaster.
In true Abnett form, battles are fought (both the war kind and the political kind) and characters’ and story arcs are developed. In other words, hijinks ensue, and a generally bad time is had by all.
The Bad
OK, so what isn’t so good about the Warmaster? Well, the ending for starters. I do not tend to read reviews or interviews or generally read about authors or their lives, so I was a bit out of the loop on this, but apparently Abnett forewarned readers that the Warmaster would end on a cliff-hanger.
Although, I’m not sure that cliff-hanger is necessarily the right word; it’s not abrupt and dramatic enough to be a cliff-hanger. It’s more just a petering out. It’s the kind of ending you’d get at the end of a chapter, or a part of a book, rather than an entire book.
Normally with this kind of ending, where you’re writing another book in a long running series, you tie up a few sub-stories by the end so that the reader achieves some closure, whilst leaving the meta-arc running. Abnett is usually very good at this; read any given GG book and you’ll find that an individual battle or engagement is won (or at least brought to a conclusion) whilst the wider war rumbles on.
In the Warmaster, nothing ends. The main war hasn’t ended, the battle for Urdesh hasn’t ended… hell, most of the minor plot threads haven’t even really started.
The result is that the Warmaster feels like the first half of a book split into two parts. This may well have been the intention, but if you’re like me and you don’t know the IRL context or background or the author’s thoughts on the matter, all you’ve got to go on is the book itself. So that was a bit pants, although really it doesn’t matter too much. When you’re on book 14 of a series, the odd cliff-hanger can be forgiven.
What else? Well, not much really, except perhaps the volume of characters. GG has been running for so long now that we really are into a cast of thousands. Unlike many other mil-si-fi authors (or just military fiction authors), Abnett eschews prefacing his books with a regimental structure for reference, even a basic one. One can only assume that such a structure does exist for Abnett himself, probably, we might conjecture, in Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel, with new sheets for each book with lists of character deaths etc.
The point is, it gets hard to keep up with all the names. Some are easy because they are primary or mid-tier characters in and of themselves; Mkoll, Larkin, Blenner, Curth, Criid, Wilder, Meryn, Rawne, Brostin, etc. etc.; these are people who have been with us for a very long time and have their own distinct feel (see The Good below). But there are many others who are just names, even familiar names. Some names are just throwaways, redshirts who we don’t care about. But there are dozens (literally) of names which I know I’ve seen many times before but I just can’t quite remember who they are. This becomes more frustrating when some of the Ghosts themselves are the baddies, running little criminal rings within the regiment etc, because then it matters who the minor characters are. Are they good Ghosts, bad Ghosts, redshirt Ghosts? When you read a GG novel once every one or two years like I do, these minor and mid-tier characters quickly fade from memory and whilst Abnett does go to some lengths to remind us of what’s going on, he also probably expects too much of the reader’s memory.
I imagine the answer to why Abnett does not have a structure is “because it would be massive” but I don’t know. If you can get maps in there, you can get an organogram. Look at James Jones’ The Thin Red Line as an exemplar of how to do it.
The Good
I’m pleased to say that despite the gripes above, I thought the Warmaster was probably one of the best in the series. Abnett has always been a good writer, but like Cornwall with Sharpe, one can see in the early books a writer perhaps still honing his long-form craft. Here, the writing is assured. I imagine Abnett can hammer out books like the Warmaster now with relative ease and probably relatively little editing. The pacing is all there, the prose flows, and the book is generally very engaging.
When I was a teenager I loved the huge battles, and one of Abnett’s true skills is writing battle scenes, even ones that last basically the entire book (ref. the fan-favourite Necropolis, or one of my own favourites, Sabbat Martyr). As an amateur author myself, I often find writing battle scenes that are engaging very difficult and actually quite boring, but Abnett is really an auteur when it comes to this. It is little wonder that BL shovels all their flagship books his way.
Now I’m a little older (30 trips round the sun this year), however, I find that my interest in the battle scenes wanes. I sense that, perhaps in some respects, Abnett’s does too. I’ve noticed in his novels of late we are treated to lengthy scenes behind the action; a greater focus on regimental life, of the nightmarish logistics of transporting the regiment, of the relationships between the retinue and the soldiers, of internal struggles, criminal schemes, sexual tensions (PG rated!), of the difficulties of commanding a crusade, the strategies, the meta campaign, the Ordos interrogations, the departmental conflicts, church vs state, inquisition vs military… Here the inspirations from Abnett’s other wildly popular Eisenhorn and Ravenor works are clear. Whereas before this stuff would have been window dressing, a mere precursor contriving to gett the Ghosts to the front lines as soon as possible, now we get as much as half the book or more dedicated to these intrigues.
This fresh approach is to be commended to the highest degree. The books are so much richer and more interesting with these different angles explored. With the Warmaster I found myself reading the battles very quickly to get back to the political manoeuvrings at high command. I do hope that Abnett continues in this vein, because the books are so much better and more mature as a consequence.
Similarly, the characters have real depth now. The cowardly but charming Blenner is a joy to read. Curth is becoming a reckless, depressed alcoholic. Mkoll is becoming a joyless old man. Rawne’s arc, from sullen, vengeance-seeking asshole to respected brevet colonel of the regiment, is really satisfying. Zweil is still the rambling, awkward and mad old priest. Kolea is the tortured father (and I sense not long for this world). These characters, once somewhat two-dimensional, have really come into their own, and it’s clear why Abnett chooses these people to tentpole the novel.
With these adulations I therefore add this book to my unofficial and uncodified list of the best Gaunt’s Ghosts books.
Conclusion
I don't really have a proper conclusion except to say on to the Anarch!
December 24, 2017
I loved how Abnett put this together and how it was tied into Salvations Reach (of which I’m glad I listened to immediately before embarking on The Warmaster). I'd guess there's a lot more connections in the books that have lead up to The Warmaster, but it's been a few years since I've read them. (I'm really hoping they come up on Audible because I really want to read them again, and listening is quicker for me as I can listen while at work).
The Warmaster picks up for Gaunt and his Ghosts right after their mission to Salvations Reach, but all is not right with their return.
Now, I am a huge fan of this series of books, this being the fourteenth, and I've been eagerly anticipating this one since I first heard about it a little while ago. There was a gap of time between Salvations Reach and The Warmaster, but it was worth the wait. Dan Abnett really turns things up to eleven in this book. He pushes characters into places that I wasn't expecting, but that said I wasn't really sure what to expect. With the Gaunt's Ghosts books it feels like each book goes in somewhat of a different direction. This one is no different. A lot of the events in this book I didn't see coming or where they were going to go. A lot of the characters had their lives turned upside down and Abnett wasn't scared to kill any of his characters. That is something I learnt a long time ago about Abnett with this series. He is not afraid to kill the most beloved of characters, often in brutal and unfair ways. Even in war where people die for what can be the most silly of reasons, some of the deaths in these books have been a huge kick in the gut. Even when a character doesn't die, but they are pushed into something harsh and tough to stomach it feels the same as when a loved character dies.
That is one of Abnett's biggest strengths I think. He can write these stories with a huge cast of characters and you either love or hate them, with the odd middle of the road character in between. You get their motivations, you get their mentalities. It all works very well.
This book really opened up a whole can of hell yeah! And it puts so much out on the table for future novels that has left me bouncing and determined to re-read the previous books again in the new year.
There are many reasons why Dan Abnett is one of my favourite writers, the Gaunt's Ghosts series is one of them. Beautifully written, to the point where you're almost there when the las-bolts are flying.
The Warmaster picks up for Gaunt and his Ghosts right after their mission to Salvations Reach, but all is not right with their return.
Now, I am a huge fan of this series of books, this being the fourteenth, and I've been eagerly anticipating this one since I first heard about it a little while ago. There was a gap of time between Salvations Reach and The Warmaster, but it was worth the wait. Dan Abnett really turns things up to eleven in this book. He pushes characters into places that I wasn't expecting, but that said I wasn't really sure what to expect. With the Gaunt's Ghosts books it feels like each book goes in somewhat of a different direction. This one is no different. A lot of the events in this book I didn't see coming or where they were going to go. A lot of the characters had their lives turned upside down and Abnett wasn't scared to kill any of his characters. That is something I learnt a long time ago about Abnett with this series. He is not afraid to kill the most beloved of characters, often in brutal and unfair ways. Even in war where people die for what can be the most silly of reasons, some of the deaths in these books have been a huge kick in the gut. Even when a character doesn't die, but they are pushed into something harsh and tough to stomach it feels the same as when a loved character dies.
That is one of Abnett's biggest strengths I think. He can write these stories with a huge cast of characters and you either love or hate them, with the odd middle of the road character in between. You get their motivations, you get their mentalities. It all works very well.
This book really opened up a whole can of hell yeah! And it puts so much out on the table for future novels that has left me bouncing and determined to re-read the previous books again in the new year.
There are many reasons why Dan Abnett is one of my favourite writers, the Gaunt's Ghosts series is one of them. Beautifully written, to the point where you're almost there when the las-bolts are flying.
April 18, 2021
Despite all odds, the Tanith 1st and Only successfully attacked Salvation's Reach. That means they get welcomed back as heroes, right? Not exactly... After surviving a pirate attack thanks to the timely (if unexpected!) intervention of the Chaos battleship Tormageddon Monstrum Rex, the Highness Ser Armaduke finally arrives at its destination, the Forge World of Urdesh... about 10 years later than expected.
Urdesh has changed hands so many times over the course of the Sabbat Crusade that it's difficult to consider the planet to be safe. Yet the factories are once again safely under Imperial control, so this is the place where Inquisition arranged to receive the Macguffin(s) that Gaunt's Ghosts retrieved from the Reach... Along with Etogaur Mabbon, whose usefulness is at an end. This doesn't sit well with some of the Ghosts, since Mabbon had only ever been cordial and helpful, and his reward is to be tortured for additional information before being executed.
While everyone twiddles their thumbs, Anakwanar Sek has come to Urdesh. The Imperium controls the space around Urdesh, so while any armchair general would think this should be as easy as bombing the Archon's forces, there is yet another problem: no one can find them! Until they make their presence known by attacking, of course.
Meanwhile, the entire Imperial high command has also descended on Urdesh... and they want Colonel-Commisaur Gaunt to join them! This should be great news, because now Gaunt will be able to have some say in where his men go... and then he learns why exactly they want him to join their ranks. There is indeed a threat to Warmaster Macaroth, a very real threat, but it is very, very different from how the book was advertised!
Too many goodbyes and not enough hellos, savage turns, and incredible cliffhangers. There's soooo many different threads to wrap up, and too many of them wrap up by just killing everyone involved. That's not closure... but it is business as usual for Dan Abnett!
Urdesh has changed hands so many times over the course of the Sabbat Crusade that it's difficult to consider the planet to be safe. Yet the factories are once again safely under Imperial control, so this is the place where Inquisition arranged to receive the Macguffin(s) that Gaunt's Ghosts retrieved from the Reach... Along with Etogaur Mabbon, whose usefulness is at an end. This doesn't sit well with some of the Ghosts, since Mabbon had only ever been cordial and helpful, and his reward is to be tortured for additional information before being executed.
While everyone twiddles their thumbs, Anakwanar Sek has come to Urdesh. The Imperium controls the space around Urdesh, so while any armchair general would think this should be as easy as bombing the Archon's forces, there is yet another problem: no one can find them! Until they make their presence known by attacking, of course.
Meanwhile, the entire Imperial high command has also descended on Urdesh... and they want Colonel-Commisaur Gaunt to join them! This should be great news, because now Gaunt will be able to have some say in where his men go... and then he learns why exactly they want him to join their ranks. There is indeed a threat to Warmaster Macaroth, a very real threat, but it is very, very different from how the book was advertised!
Too many goodbyes and not enough hellos, savage turns, and incredible cliffhangers. There's soooo many different threads to wrap up, and too many of them wrap up by just killing everyone involved. That's not closure... but it is business as usual for Dan Abnett!
September 6, 2019
Are you fething kidding me with that ending, Mr Abnett?? Damn it. I mean, come on! Let me be clear, I have the benefit of finishing this book less than a mile from my local library and a few feet from my phone and Amazon and can have the final novel in this arc in my greedy little hands in no time. However, if I had not waited 2 years to read this and had to wait on Dan Abnett sequel time(which can be glacial because he is the busiest author out there) I would be beside myself. That being said, and if you look through my reviews of the previous 13 novels to this one then you have to see a familiar pattern in regards to my feelings on the Gaunts Ghosts novels, I abso-fething-lutely love them. This was no exception. I love everything about this book and its place in this series. I hate the same thing I always do, my broken heart at the death of any character. I read Salvations Reach when it released six years ago and none of the intervening DA ghosts shorts so when i caught up with the Ghosts I did a lot of “who is this again?” But soon it was like being in my favorite barn jacket from the early 90s that was out of style by the late 90s and totally unacceptable to still be wearing in the 20teens but wearing it was the best. I miss it to this day. Gaunts Ghosts is a series that is just the best most comfortable beloved garment that you can adorn and just let it drench you in luxury and safety. Read this series.
May 30, 2021
First time read this one for me, after a lot of rereading, and a strong story it is as usual :) Certainly an interesting beginning, as things have gone wrong since leaving Salvation's Reach, and an interesting time jump that results, along with the repercussions of the regiment being missing as such for that period of time.
Once we get to Urdesh, certainly quite a bit of intrigue and action that results, with things getting messy for Gaunt and the Ghosts, building up to a reasonable cliff-hanger of an ending.
It is nice to see Gaunt and the Ghosts finally getting the recognition they deserve here as well, culminating in quite a promotion for Gaunt by the end.
The sub plots for Chass, Meryn, Wilder, Blenner etc gets more development here, with quite a shocking end for some of the characters (I did not see it coming for Ezra). Really seems that of the 4 malcontents (Meryn, Gendler, Blenner, Wilder) there are really two different types - the nasty pieces of work (The first two), and a couple who aren't happy and allowing their decisions to lead them down a dark path which they don't really want to do (the latter two) - certainly Wilder did not look to be wanting go as far as Gendler, but paid the price by association, and Blenner similarly not liking situation he is being driven into by his decisions and Meryn. I actually felt sorry for Wilder here, which I did not expect.
All round, a strong read that left me thirsting for the next one :)
Once we get to Urdesh, certainly quite a bit of intrigue and action that results, with things getting messy for Gaunt and the Ghosts, building up to a reasonable cliff-hanger of an ending.
It is nice to see Gaunt and the Ghosts finally getting the recognition they deserve here as well, culminating in quite a promotion for Gaunt by the end.
The sub plots for Chass, Meryn, Wilder, Blenner etc gets more development here, with quite a shocking end for some of the characters (I did not see it coming for Ezra). Really seems that of the 4 malcontents (Meryn, Gendler, Blenner, Wilder) there are really two different types - the nasty pieces of work (The first two), and a couple who aren't happy and allowing their decisions to lead them down a dark path which they don't really want to do (the latter two) - certainly Wilder did not look to be wanting go as far as Gendler, but paid the price by association, and Blenner similarly not liking situation he is being driven into by his decisions and Meryn. I actually felt sorry for Wilder here, which I did not expect.
All round, a strong read that left me thirsting for the next one :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2018
I gather that a lot of reaction to this work has been partially affected by the great delay in its publication relative to the last few books in the series. I did not suffer from this wait (being only dimly aware of it) and was prompted mainly by the goodies in Black Library's collector's edition to purchase it in very well presented 'tactical manual' format.
The story was very enjoyable, full of interesting developments in many characters ranging from the sinister to the rather comical. Abnett has kept up with the zeitgiest and it was refreshing and interesting to have misogyny appear and be directly refereed to as such in a fiction without it devolving into the central plot point in either a virtue-signalling right on way, or a reductive 'ugh, snowflakes' way.
The action was well presented, the author seemingly as elite as his subjects in giving a strong link between the tactical and strategic - you know what is at stake! The 'high politics' of great generals and their staffs away from the front was also very well illustrated and enjoyable also, far too often books about 40k in general - and the Imperial Guard in particular - can drop into "A shot B, B died, C threw a grenade" style scripts; so to have this 'admin' written so well was refreshing on many levels.
The story was very enjoyable, full of interesting developments in many characters ranging from the sinister to the rather comical. Abnett has kept up with the zeitgiest and it was refreshing and interesting to have misogyny appear and be directly refereed to as such in a fiction without it devolving into the central plot point in either a virtue-signalling right on way, or a reductive 'ugh, snowflakes' way.
The action was well presented, the author seemingly as elite as his subjects in giving a strong link between the tactical and strategic - you know what is at stake! The 'high politics' of great generals and their staffs away from the front was also very well illustrated and enjoyable also, far too often books about 40k in general - and the Imperial Guard in particular - can drop into "A shot B, B died, C threw a grenade" style scripts; so to have this 'admin' written so well was refreshing on many levels.
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