Attack of the Necron

Warped Galaxies #1

by Cavan Scott

Warhammer Adventures: Warped Galaxies Book 1

A new adventure begins in the far future! When her world is attacked by Necrons, Zelia Lor and a rag-tag group of survivors must fight to escape and reach the mysterious Emperor's Seat.

READ IT BECAUSE
It's a brand-new and exciting way to experience the 41st Millennium – and it's designed to be the perfect starting point for younger readers. Read it with your children to introduce them to your favourite universe!

THE STORY
On the hive world of Targian, Zelia Lor helps her mother search for ancient tech, digging up treasures of the past on the wind-blown plains. They are happy. They are safe. All that changes when the Necrons attack. Without warning, a host of robotic ships appear in the skies above Targian and rip the planet apart. Separated from her mother, Zelia must escape the doomed world, her only hope a scrambled transmission promising safety at a mysterious place known only as the Emperor’s Seat. Launched in an escape pod, she crashes on an icy wasteland far, far from home. But Zelia is not alone. She is joined by a rag-tag group of survivors – the street-tough juve Talen, gadget-obsessed Martian boy Mekki and super-intelligent alien-ape, Fleapit.

Written by Cavan Scott

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Childrens, Young Adult, 40k, Middle Grade, Space Opera

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2019

About the author

is a freelance comic writer and author. He is best known for his work on a variety of spin-offs from both Doctor Who and Star Wars, as well as comics and novels for Vikings, Pacific Rim, Sherlock Holmes, and Penguins of Madagascar.

Cavan Scott, along with Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, Daniel Jose Older, and Charles Soule are crafting a new era in the Star Wars publishing world called Star Wars: The High Republic. Cavan's contribution to the era is a comic book series released through Marvel Comics titled Star Wars: The High Republic.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor of Mankind has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the vast Imperium of Man for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that he may never truly die.Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat to humanity from aliens, heretics, mutants -- and far, far worse. To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

The Imperium of the Far Future
Life in the 41st millennium is hard. Ruled by the Emperor of Mankind from his Golden Throne on Terra, humans have spread across the galaxy, inhabiting millions of planets. They have achieved so much, from space travel to robotics, and yet billions live in fear. The universe seems a dangerous place, teeming with alien horrors and dark powers. But it is also a place bristling with adventure and wonder, where battles are won and heroes are forged.



On the heavily populated hive world of Targian, young Zelia Lor helps her mother Elise searching for ancient lost technological artefacts, digging up treasures from the past on the wind-blown plains of the planet. They are happy and safe, but all that changes when the Necrons attack.



Without warning, a host of scythe shaped fearsome ships appear in the skies above Targian and start ripping the planet apart with deadly emerald rays. Separated from her mother, Zelia must escape the doomed world, her only hope is a scrambled transmission promising safety at a mysterious place known only as the Emperor’s Seat. Launched in an escape pod, she crashes on an icy wasteland far, far from home. But Zelia is not alone, she is joined by Erasmus, Lexmechanic and archaeological partner to her mother, and an exotic rag-tag band of survivors: street-tough juvenile ganger Talen, young gadget-obsessed martian born Mekki, and super-intelligent alien-ape, Flegan-Pala.



A grimdark lite series for kids sounded like heresy to a long time fan of Games Workshop tabletop games based franchises like me, so when my 7 years old daughter saw these books in our local Warhammer shop and begged me to buy her one I was far from enthusiastic about it.



We started reading this book together before her bedtime and, surprise, it turned out to be far better than expected, with all trademarks and iconic characters making W40K great, just watering down violence and adult topics without taking away its identity or, worst, ruining it.



So, do not expect to find references to the Emperor’s divinity or Chaos Gods here, lobotomized servitors and floating servo-skulls were replaced with more kid friendly generic robots and cute flying servo-sprites too.



Besides that, you have relentless xenos blowing up a whole planet, heavily populated hive cities with gangs of thugs living in their underbellies, Warp travel, and a crew of young main characters struggling to survive while chased by a relentless Necron Hunter looking for something in their hands.



And when the heroic Ultramarines arrive to save the day, the final outcome is not the one you are expecting from a Black Library book aimed for a younger audience… My daughter was so shocked and disappointed about it that she took a long pause reading it at bedtime.



And I’ve not seen that bleak ending coming at all either.



A solid and entertaining book for kids, and a clever, goreless, and well written introduction to the grim darkness of the 41th millennium for your kids if you are an old Warhammer 4000 fan.



There was a Necron on the ice planet, and not just any Necron – a Hunter.
He had thought they were safe here, but he was wrong. Maybe he was as foolish as the humans.
The Necron had come for them, and this time there would be nowhere to hide.

Nice move, Games Workshop, a nice move indeed.

[Tepintzin · Rating 4 out of 5]

40k fanboys have been horrible about BL books for children existing. They can stuff it. The world of Warped Galaxies is still grimdark, with its hive cities and high body count. A version for kids just doesn't go into the gore, although it does retain the danger. I felt this was more compelling than its Age of Sigmar counterpart, "City of Lifestone" and it has more of a complete story. It ends on one heck of an ominous note, and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[Callum Shephard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's easy to forget that Warhammer 40,000 tends to have a fairly young audience along with its older one. As many voices within the fandom these days range from thirty to seventy-year-old hobbyists, the seven to thirteen demographic that Games Workshop tries to keep itself open can be easily overlooked. In that sense, it's almost a surprise to think that we have not seen something like Warhammer Adventures sooner.

The very idea of these stories and their possible direction was discussed some time ago here, which largely weighed concerns against possible execution. The short version was simple: A PG rating on any work will not declaw it of all dark elements, and creative writers can work with that. Thankfully, it's a lesson which seems to have remained true here.

Following a chance to listen to this story in full, it looks like things are off to a good start for the Warped Galaxies series.

The Synopsis


During an era of turmoil within the Imperium, one of its more stable Hive Worlds has found itself under siege from a Necron Dynasty. Attacking without warning or seemingly any reason, the Imperium's armies are quickly forced into a desperate battle, with both the Imperial Guard and Ultramarines quickly forced into a rearguard action. However, the focus is not upon them but a trio of figures trying to escape the violence: The young spacefaring Zelia Lor, assistant to her mother's archeological expeditions, the fledgling hive ganger Talen, and the Martian born Mekki. As the war takes a turn for the worse, they soon find themselves relying upon one another for survival, and uncover a crucial element behind the Necron uprising.


The Good


As with anything intended to be a gateway into a setting, Attack of the Necron needed to offer the right amount of explaining details to the reader. It needed to both offer up a number of key pointers on how the universe worked but without bogging itself down in exposition or the grander scale elements. While this is something most people expected to be a challenge, Scott manages to accomplish the exact balance needed for such a tale. While the story won't go into detail behind Chaos, the Emperor or how the Imperium works, you learn how it is reliant upon Warp technology, a few of its basic ideological viewpoints, some milder dystopian elements, relationship with technology and even attitude towards aliens. Through simple conversation, thoughts, events, and expressions, the story conveys an immense amount to the listener in an extremely short amount of time.

The way in which the story is able to rapidly express so much is largely thanks to the varied viewpoints as much as the characters themselves. While it is true that every story needs its audience surrogate, Attack of the Necron is able to utilise several at once. For example, Talen is able to detail an immense amount about the more dystopian elements within the Imperium and the hive city. At the same time, however, he is completely at odds with space travel and the more advanced technologies the others take for granted. It's not subtle in its execution, but there's rarely a "LOOK AT THIS! SEE! SEE WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT THE IMPERIUM!!!!" moment as you might expect. This is also without getting into small bits which add life to the setting. Specifically, nuanced moments like a character using the Old Ones in place of the Emperor when appropriate in its mind.

The characters themselves are also a nicely rounded bunch, most of who can fall into certain archetypes but never delve into full-on cliches. To offer examples of the other two - Zelia is capable, has great leadership qualities and is forward thinking, but her inexperience in a leading role and desire to always look for the best in others can undermine her. Equally, Mekki is overly calm, distant and tends to empathize with machines over humans, but his social shortcomings are milder than you might expect and he never devolves into the extremes we tend to see from Tech-Priests. While none of them are wholly genre-breaking, each avoids enough pitfalls that it's difficult not to praise it within a Young Adults series.

So, what of the story itself? The greatest element working in its favour stems from its narrative pacing, as it keeps throwing new elements and ideas at the reader in quick succession. While Scott typically finds good ways to use a small armory of Chekhov's Guns, he is equally able to keep the story moving at a brisk pace while introducing a multitude of new ideas to the narrative. The book rarely revisits past scenes, and the way it keeps finding new ideas to tap into the story without cheating the reader is quite masterful. You can usually guess what might happen and how at key points, but there are still more than enough curve balls thanks to the setting or environment to keep anyone invested.

The pacing itself never undermines the opportunity to have quieter character moments, and this is something which places it head and shoulders above even some adult stories. Attack of the Necron features a full-scale invasion, multiple battles, a car chase and a firefight, but it always pauses long enough to better establish the people involved. It's a human element which helps each of the characters to stay in your mind, along with breaking up the action-heavy setpieces. Without that, so many key moments could have come across as white noise, or been lost entirely due to sheer narrative exhaustion. This would have been an especially great loss, as the story avoids conventional engagements in favour of traps, trickery, and intelligence in the name of survival.

The last thing to truly keep in mind about Attack of the Necron's narrative is that it serves as an opening. Much like Corsair: The Face of the Void, this has clearly been written as the start to something greater, so more than a few elements are left unexplained. Unlike that example, however, it still works as a one-off outing, with better closure and a much more coherent three-act arc to events. You can tell the story is going somewhere, but even isolation it still proves to be an engaging and satisfying tale in of itself; the few loose strings are alluded to or relate to mild sequel bait over leaving parts wholly unexplained.

Still, as this is a look at the audiobook version, one last part has to be praised: David Tennant. While Tennant's presence might seem like a case of stunt casting, Tennant himself has a broad vocal range and experience with audio work which played to the story's strengths. While Black Library has no shortage of talented actors returning to its productions there are more than a few who tend to have odd limitations or vocal choices. Even my personal favourite, Jonathan Keeble, has fallen victim to this at times with certain characters, which made the likes of Talon of Horus difficult to follow at times. For a new series, it needed a narrator who could get every role absolutely right regardless of age, gender or race, and Tennant knocked it out of the park.

After all of this you might think that Attack of the Necron is a perfect work. Sadly, that's not entirely true.


The Bad


With any story set in M42, one fact was always going to be true: In some areas, the story was going to need to pull its punches. It's a Young Adult series, and many of the darker elements are tied so close to the mythology that skipping them would be inevitable. There's no reason to bring up the fact that the Emperor is kept alive only by consuming the souls of a thousand unlucky sods per day, after all. However, even while accepting this, there were various major and minor occurrences which proved irksome. The greatest among these relates to the hive city itself and what we see of the overall underhive. To be blunt, it needed more Judge Dredd. What little we do get downplays so much of the squalor such places are infamous for, that it seems to be almost viable as a living location. Equally, the risks and problems relating to the Imperium's power structure are all but ignored, allowing characters to get away with things that they would otherwise never be permitted to accomplish. In both cases, these might have been easily ignored, were it not for the fact they factor heavily into the background of key characters.

The Mechanicus is especially hit hard in this book in regards to its darker elements. On the one hand, Attack of the Necron ditches the more egregious sins of the past few years thanks to this. On the other, it does away with almost anything grim in regard to technology, its limitations or even the anacronysms which define it. The story reaches the point where it seemingly sidesteps key parts of Warp travel and servo-skulls are replaced wholesale with servo-sprites in every situation. Well, that and any mention of the word servitor is replaced with "robot". Yes, the Mechanicum has access to robots still, but the wider Imperium still utilises the mind-wiped cyborgs. Some of these are especially confusing, as the story could get away with using their names but not elaborate on the grimmer details, and get away with it.

Even accounting for the liberties taken - because every Warhammer story does them to a degree - characters also seem to understand far more than they should about the wider universe. Space Marines show up and are treated simply super soldiers, rather than divine angels or crusaders as so much of the Imperium seems to think of them as, while the Inquisition is freely mentioned without any of the fear that might usually inspire. None of this is to say that the story completely botches this element - there's an awful lot of xenophobia brought up for one thing - but Scott seemed to pull his punches in the wrong places.

Still, focusing on issues with the story over how it fits into the overall universe, we then have the aliens to consider. The Necrons themselves are a major element within the story, and another (perhaps surprising) non-human character ends up sticking with the protagonists throughout the bulk of the story. In each case we see inside their minds and get a feeling for things. There's just one problem - They're too human. In the case of one, we see a few hints of older things, negative regard for the Imperium and a greater awareness of the galaxy. In the other, the Necron in question, we get the impression that they are a dutiful hunter devoted to their task. The problem is that neither offers the impression of originating from a different culture or holding different values, to the point where you could easily think of them as simply being of a different culture. It's an especially notable problem when more than a few opportunities to emphasise the often fragmented mental state of the sentient Necrons is completely passed up, seemingly for the sake of simplicity.

Finally, and most notably there is one factor above all which proves to be irksome: A lack of immensity. The writing style present here was certainly aiming for simplicity, and a direct nature which was both easy to follow and comprehend. In that regard, it certainly succeeds, and it helps to make it open to younger readers. However, in doing this, Scott passed up much of what makes Black Library novels often so memorable - The sense of age in the universe, the sheer immensity of events, and the archaic qualities of the cultures present. Attack of the Necron didn't need weapons grade purple prose to execute this, but it would have benefitted significantly from a few vivid descriptions to establish scenes or time to better establish a sense of atmosphere. Without this, the story and setting are interesting, but they do not fully convey what can help to make it so engaging.


The Verdict


Ultimately, Attack of the Necron is more Animorphs and it is Redwall. That's not a mark against the story itself (or even either of those series) but it should help to give you a better impression of just what to expect from it. It's an adventure tale with a relatively narrow focus, which succeeds in being a starting point for new readers, but there is a definite emphasis on accessibility. The characters are likable, the story is easily accessible, it's well thought out and fits in well with the better examples of major Young Adult series over the years.

Some of its accessibility comes at the cost of details relating to the broader universe in question, and your mileage may vary on how much this ultimately impacts the story. In my personal opinion, it is a detractor but it hardly ruins what is ultimately a very entertaining tale. Given the fact that this premise was fighting an uphill battle in the first place, we could have ended up with something far, far worse than what is ultimately a solid first entry in what should be a great series.

If you have a youngster who might not be able to cope with the likes of Gaunt's Ghosts, this would be an excellent gateway into the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

[Milou · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Husband almost exclusively reads Warhammer books. So seeing as I am currently partaking in Believathon (a middle-grade based readathon) and one of the prompts was to read a scifi, I decided to pick this one up. My second ever Warhammer read. And I quite enjoyed it.

We mainly follow Zelia as she has to flee her home planet when it gets attacked by Necrons. She is joined in this by Talen and Martian Mekki. Also, there are Space Marines, and an alien-ape. Pretty good stuff. I do have some basic knowledge of the world from what the Husband has told me, but you can definitely go into this series completely blank. I liked Zelia, she was feisty and kind. Mekki has some fun quirks and is brilliant. Talen I didn’t really care for. There were some attempts at developing his character, but it didn’t quite work.



The pacing of this story was incredibly fast, making is extremely easy to read in a single sitting. This is also helped by the fact that it is only 200 pages, and has massive fond. Which brings us to my main issue with it… it was too short. And not in a ‘it was so good I wanted more’ way, but in a it wants to do too much in too little time way. There is no space left for any depth. The characters are pretty flat, and the few attempts at developing them aren’t enough. There are some scenes that are supposed to be emotional, but they are raced through so fast that again there is no time for it to have any real impact on the reader. Which is a shame.

Overall this was a fun read, one I am happy to have read but also one that won’t stick with me. There is great potential, and if it had slowed down just a bit to give the reader the chance to actually connect with the characters it would have been great.

[⚜️XAR the Bookwyrm · Rating 4 out of 5]

FTC DISCLAIMER: I RECEIVED AN E-ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER THROUGH NET GALLEY. I VOLUNTARILY OFFER MY HONEST REVIEW OF THE BOOK, THOUGH IT IS NOT EXPECTED OF ME! RECEIPT OF THIS BOOK IN THIS MANNER DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION OF THE BOOK OR THE CONTENT OF MY REVIEW!

I was intrigued by the idea of a Warhammer book for young adults, so when I saw this on offer on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it for review in order to see if it was something I could possibly interest my son in. I found this book to be a sound introduction to the Warhammer 40,000 universe!

By using young adults as the focus for the characterization in the story, it gave readers a sense of a kindred spirit that they could more easily connect with, showing them the universe without all of its more adult appropriate detail. The story was a good adventure, showcasing a female lead that could be used as someone for girls to look up to and aspire to emulate. However, the book used a lot of jargon and concepts that were unique to Warhammer 40K that may intimidate readers not familiar with the universe, even with the included Glossary of Terms at the end of the story. Another issue I had was that I thought that the book might be mislabeled. Parents of sensitive readers should be cautious, as this does showcase a lot of wanton destruction on the part of the Necrons, and I felt it might be a more appropriate read for older young adult readers.

With developed characters that still have room to grow and an engaging story that left the reader with a sense that they had completed one adventure but still had many more to come, I found this to be an enjoyable read that I would recommend to my reluctant reader son!

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attack of the Necron is a planet-hopping tale of action, danger and bravery in the face of an ancient alien menace. Zelia Lor and her mother, along with Lexmechanic Erasmus and young Martian tech-savant Mekki, travel the galaxy excavating ancient technology and unearthing pre-Imperial history. When their latest expedition is curtailed by a devastating alien invasion, Zelia finds herself torn from her familiar life and thrown into a perilous journey through the void of space with the relentless Necron threat looming ever-present.

Yes, it’s a children’s book set in the 40k universe, which is about as grim and unpleasant a setting as you can imagine, but it’s handled well, maintaining a sense of 40k’s overall tone and aesthetic whilst focusing on elements which will appeal to younger readers.

It’s brilliantly pacy and full of excitement as events quickly move from location to location, and while it works well as a standalone tale, it’s clearly setting the scene and kicking off a wider story (to say more risks spoilers). As an introduction to 40k it’s cleverly constructed and well thought out, as well as being tremendous fun – and yes, 40k CAN be fun.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/02/...

[nooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story. Definitely written for about middle school kids, so my son liked it alot too and is eagerly anticipating the next volume. Nice to have a girl main character in a book that mostly boys will read. They need to see that.

[Alex Sarll]

By way of outreach and getting the next generation interested (aka 'hooked on plastic crack'), Games Workshop are expanding their fiction offering to include a range targeted at kids aged up to 10. Not a bad plan at all - that was about the age I first started reading White Dwarf, first started falling for the ludicrous gothic baroque of it all, this setting which had seen every other horrifying future and said 'That's not a knife. Well, OK, maybe it is a knife, but this, mate, is a daemon chainsword'. And my generation didn't even live in (as much of) a dystopian SF hellscape! Plus, books for kids have had a real renaissance lately – not that we didn't have some wonderful stuff, but Cat Valente's Fairyland books are for 10-year-olds too, aren't they? And that lushness, that understanding of tyranny and monstrosity, would be ideal for 40K. Even granted that this is not by her, but one of the usual work-for-hire suspects, it could be good. So when I saw this on Netgalley, I thought I might as well give it a go, despite a rather unfortunate cover whose clean lines felt far too Saturday morning cartoon, nowhere near the tattered splendour and lively horridness one sees in the art which renders the setting most intriguingly and evocatively.

First page: setting the scene for the newcomers. Excellent; after all, 40K has the best single-line summary of an invented world ever, excerpted from an almost equally awesome one-page version. Except, what's this?
'Life in the 41st millennium is hard...But it is also a place bristling with adventure and wonder, where battles are won and heroes are forged."
What happened to the Carrion Lord, the laughter of thirsting gods, the carnage and slaughter? What happened, in the name of all that's unholy, to "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war"?

Yeah, this is badged with some 40K names, but for the most part it just feels like any old kids' space adventure story. Our child protagonists are all familiar and somewhat flat figures: there's the plucky one with the archaeologist parent; the stroppy one who grew up in a military family and then ended up with a gang instead; the weird techy one; and, after a while, the animal sidekick to complete the set (and thank goodness, because the brief chapter from the Jokaero's point of view is the best thing here). They don't get on at first, being so different – but they have to work together when things get tough. Even before the aliens turn up, adults in high stakes jobs do dumb, amateurish stuff just so the kids can get scenes with the requisite jeopardy – including the first two chapters both ending with exactly the same cliffhanger. Yes, people die – cleanly – but there's no real sense of the chaos and horror of an alien invasion, the enormity of seeing a whole planet explode. There's a short and fairly pointless appearance by the Ultramarines, but despite the normal Movie Marines shenanigans (good luck taking down a vehicle with a chainsword on the tabletop) there's no real sense of the awe with which humans would regard the Adeptus Astartes, or of how strange Marines really are. It's just a big tough soldier guy turning up to help, same as the Necrons come across like a generic horde of invaders from a third-rate shooting game, rather than the eerie Egyptian-inflected undead robots they should be. I'm sure this is part of making the story 'identifiable', 'relatable', but even aged 10 I tended to dislike audience identification characters, to want escape more than familiarity, and if you can't find that in a far future science fiction story, where can you? In particular, the amount of scepticism which people seem to feel more or less safe expressing in public seems deeply untrue to the setting (think all the most totalitarian epochs of human history, combined, then turned up to 11). And this contributes to the notion of the Imperium as more or less the good guys, which is not just dull, and against the spirit of the world, but at worst actively pernicious (if you've not seen the alt-right geeks' fondness for God-Emperor Trump memes, I envy you). Granted, the last 40K thing I read was Dark Heresy: The Radical's Handbook, which really digs into the horrors and impossible compromises at the heart of the Imperium, and I'm not expecting Games Workshop to get the kiddiewinks in with that, or gruesome accounts of Slaaneshi cults (though I wasn't that much older when I read Slaves to Darkness, which may explain a lot). But while I know I'm not the target market for this book, I remember what it was like when I used to be, and I can still read other kids' books with enjoyment. On either metric, this fails. I'm reminded of a Melody Maker review of a New Order remix album, in which the writer said that they'd always assumed it was impossible to put your finger on what made New Order so special, but they were obviously wrong, because clearly every remixer on the CD had found and binned it. And as for New Order, so too here for another 1980s-born British institution. Whatever it is that makes 40K so different, so appealing, it's entirely absent from Attack of the Necron.

[Thomas Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attack of the Necron is a fun YA adventure set in th Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The story feels like a "grimdark" story; lots of people are wiped out when a planet is attacked by Necrons. The characters are entertaining and have to learn to overcome their differences to succeed in their quest.

Well worth it for children of hobbyists!

[Veronica Anrathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this was perfectly lovely for what it is. I read the first half of the book and listened to the second half in audio format. David Tennant's wonderful Scottish accent somehow made it even better. It is obviously a tale for children so it lacks the brutality of any adult piece of Black Library literature, as it should. On the other hand, it does not turn the grim darkness of far future into a shiny fairytale. Our heroes face the enemies, struggle on their way to salvation and experience loss, while staying courageous and cunning, potentially turning into very good role models for the young reader. The story is well built, characters are memorable and different, which means most readers will find someone to relate to. My personal favorite is Mekki! I am looking forward to reading the next installment of 40k Adventures and it's fantasy counterpart. This is how you do things right when you're trying to cater to a younger audience - you make a new good product for them, instead of watering down the one for adults.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Life in the 41st Millennium is hard. Ruled by the Emperor of Mankind from his Golden Throne on Terra, humans have spread across the galaxy, inhabiting millions of planets. They have achieved so much, from space travel to robotics, and yet billions live in fear. The universe seems a dangerous place, teeming with alien horrors and dark powers. But it is also a place bristling with adventure and wonder, where battles are won and heroes are forged.”

I’m a father of a 4.5 year old and I would love for her to take up some of my hobbies. With this in mind, I bought “Attack of the Necron” and read it in order to decide if this flavor of Warhammer 40k was appropriate for a very young child. I had to read it myself because the overwhelming majority of online reviews of the book were written by entitled man-babies, who don't have children and who hadn't actually read the book themselves before preemptively slamming Games Workshop for daring to expand the traditional audience of Warhammer 40k. More on this in a moment.

Attack of the Necron is the first in a series of young adventure stories centered on a group of child refugees traveling the galaxy after the destruction of their home planet. The book was a lightning fast read and I enjoyed it enough; I think had I read it as a child I would have really enjoyed it. Yes, the writing is pretty basic, but candidly I’ve read similar fare from other Black Library authors and those books were targeted at people with higher than a 6th grade education.

Ignore the bedwetters, this book very much IS Warhammer. You'll find characters from many major factions such as Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Necron, hive gangs, Adeptus Mechanicus, and more. There's on-screen death, planets blowing up, and the very real notion that the Warp will shatter your sanity. I'd describe the genre as minim-dark...grimdark without the torture porn and in-your-face futility of life.

The Good: The child refugee persona was a fresh perspective on the 40k universe, as was the archeotech hunter plot elements. The story accomplishes precisely what Games Workshop set out to do and I think some day my daughter will find it to be a thrilling adventure.

The Bad: Every chapter ends with cliffhanger and the next opens with a last second rescue. I haven't read much young adult literature, but I imagine this is a common writing style. Also, I didn't love the Jokaero (genius orangutan) character. I can deal with a mountain of hand waving when it comes to engineering in science fiction, but the Jokaero bothered me in same way the Moties from "Mote in Gods Eye" bothered me. You don't just take a pile of random scraps from your blackhole backpack and speed build a spaceship with your bare hands.

The Meh: I had mixed feelings on the character Zelia. She’s meant to be the protagonist, but she doesn’t actually do anything. She’s not a pacifist per se, but she won’t touch weapons or allow those around her to do so. This is the least Warhammer part of the book. I actually think a true pacifist character would be extremely believable and interesting to unpack in Warhammer 40k. But Zelia is the kind of fictional pacifist like Doctor Who who is more than fine with antagonists dying horribly, so long as that death comes as a result of some weird Mouse Trap series of events they set off and not a gun. Missed opportunity here.

Age recommendations on books are so generalized that they’re almost useless. Every child has their own reading maturity. My daughter would be less affected by the destruction of the protagonist’s home world than she would be when the protagonist gets separated from her mother. Former is abstract to her, latter is concrete.

If you're a fan of Warhammer and a parent, this book is for you. Is it for your kid? I'd say that all kids are different, and if you’d let your child watch Star Wars Episode IV, then they could handle this book just as easily.

[NephriteON · Rating 4 out of 5]

The following review was originally published in the online newspaper The Orkney News in March 2020. Link here. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/03/10...

Warhammer Adventures: Warped Galaxies Book 1 – Attack Of The Necron

Hello once again to my readers! I have a guest for this particular review. Namely my inquisitorial friend who appears occasionally. We have teamed up to write a review for the Warhammer Adventures series of children’s adventures novels. But before we discuss the plot we should discuss the history of the concept.

Announced back in 2018, the announcement of children’s books set in the universe that created the term grimdark lead to a almost universal statement of "WHAT!?" You can’t really blame us, given all the horrible stuff that happens in the 41st and 42nd millennium. The best way to describe it is we had a lot of funny joke images made – I particularly like the image of Erebus diving the children characters round in the magic school bus. Now I should point out Warhammer Adventures is the name of the branch of Warhammer books aimed at younger people and not just Warhammer 40k as the Warhammer Age of Sigmar setting is also receiving books in the line (and that setting is probably a little more child friendly, not overly but there are more clear good guys in that one.)

Thinking rationally though all hobbies do need to have a means for new people to come into it so the idea of a book aimed at a younger audience to help them get into the lore is in theory a good idea. Plus at no point is it removing the lore for everyone else to enjoy. It’s not replacing anything. In fact since the announcement of Warhammer Adventures, the Warhammer Horror and Warhammer Crime sub genres have also been announced so we are both all for having sub genres in Warhammer fiction for different groups.

The plot is as follows: Zelia Lor – daughter of a famous archeologist who excavates devices and historical finds from the infamous Dark Age Of Technology – has her life altered forever when the unthinkable happens. A Necron fleet has come for her homeworld. A Necron fleet in simple terms is an incredibly ancient army of robot skeletons that have an Egyptian theme. As she escapes with her mother and the Martian boy Mekki who acts as assistant on excavations, they find themselves forced to team up with the fledgling gang member Talen in order to escape into the warp. And yet as they rely on each other for survival they will discover a terrible secret about the attack of the Necrons.

The story is very entertainingly written for a children’s adventure story. Each of the children are given distinctly different personalities. Zelia clearly seems to think she should be the leader of the group as well as generally being the voice of reason although this group doesn’t seem to actually have a leader just a character who somewhat feels like she should be. She also appears to have a distinct hatred of guns.

Mekki the Martian child is definitely the group techie as well as having a semi-logical mind although not being too far above it because he is definitely a child so he still acts like one just one who is very blunt at times. He may possibly be fascinated by and horrified by Necrons in equal measure?

Talen the would be Hive gang child likes to act tough when he can, but is clearly a lot more scared than he lets on. He can be very easy to rile which can cause issues. It seems there’s more to him - and the others as well – than you initially think which will probably be slowly revealed over the course of the series.

I did however expect the story to be considerably toned down in content. I think no one expected the forces of Chaos to appear, a person mutating into a Chaos spawn is probably above the range of young readers. (Seriously be thankful the child characters will probably never encounter the Emperor’s Children or ANYTHING involving Tzeentch!) However the opening of the story felt very true to the dark nature of the 41st and 42nd millennium as they show just how dangerous the Necrons are, and the full consequences of what they do as the Ultramarines are defeated by them. On the other hand if it was the great Salamanders chapter they would have been stopped (VULKAN LIVES!)

The second half of the book however is much more in line with a standard children’s adventure story as our leads are stuck alone on an alien world and have to use their ingenuity to overcome a seemingly unstoppable hunter. For the purposes of the review as well as listening to the audio I got a physical copy so I can fairly judge it for being read by it’s intended audience. The type in the book is of a decent size and distance apart as to not overwhelm the young readers it is intended for. As well as this it has the illustrations of the characters and events done by Cole Marchetti and Magnus Noren. Now it may seem odd to talk about a book in this sense but since this is aimed at a young audience they are helpful to new readers.

The writer of this particular Warhammer series is someone by the name of Cavan Scott who I am personally something of a fan of. My previous experience with Cavan comes in two flavours: First in the oft mentioned Big Finish Doctor Who audio series as Cavan was part of a two man writing team alongside Mark Wright who created one of the more recurring and legitimately intimidating original audio villains in the form of The Forge(For King and Country!) who may well be discussed on their own merit someday. More recently Cavan is a frequent writer for Star Wars material with particular mention to the highly regarded Tales From Vader’s Castle comic book series for Marvel and the original audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost which I was a great fan of and is nominated for an Audie Award currently. An Audie Award is highly respectable essentially being the audiobook BAFTAS or Oscars.

Narration duties are performed by David Tennant in this release. Despite some initial surprise on my part I have to admit to really enjoying his narration on the whole. His voices for the main child characters suit them really well and portray their personalities well. You definitely find their individual characteristics coming through well as Tennant acquits himself in the roles. Personally I think my favourite voice he does is for Mekki the Martian – partially because of his occasional snark. However there is one small thing that must be addressed. Isn’t that right?



The illustrations however do raise a issue with the audio adaption. Certain characters like the other gangers and Erasmus sound notably older with Tennant’s presentation, this is most likely to differentiate them from the younger leads, but the problem with this in the gangers is that judging by the illustrations they are only slightly older than Talen and Erasmus despite in the illustrations looking at some point in his late twenties sounds like a man somewhere in his fifties or sixties. 
A wonderful surprise I found was at the end of the book as it contained various biographies and illustrations on the characters as well as information features in the book like Hive cities and even Necron weaponry. This is absolutely great for new readers into Warhammer lore. My only complaint is they describe the Ultramarines as the bravest Space Marine chapter a fact I think every other chapter of space marines would dispute and as mentioned we all know it is the Salamanders (VULKAN LIVES!)

In conclusion Attack Of The Necron is a very enjoyable and entertaining Warhammer adventure and in our opinion would make a very worthwhile entry point to the world of Warhammer in all its various forms for younger readers. Especially those who may be too young for often cited starting points like the Gaunt’s Ghost, Horus Heresy and Eisenhorn series. Personally I would be all for seeing Cavan perhaps do a short story or two in the main 40K setting alongside the Adventures stories. And I look forward to my next sojourn in the realms of the Imperium and those various Xenos and Chaos forces. Hopefully it won’t be so long for my next visit.

Sayonara!

Nephrite and Sgathiach

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic introductory book for children who have an interest in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Instead of dealing with Space Marines, as many of the Black Library titles do, our main protagonists are 3 teenagers who find themselves trying to escape a Necrons attack on one of the Imperial Hive Worlds.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! As a teacher and avid reader of sci fi, YA, and Warhammer 40k and fantasy, I was excited for this book, and it fulfilled more than I could have asked for! All the characters were beautifully developed beyond the stock characters they could have been (pacifist leader, gang - kid lancer, tiny tech-priest) and they all were wonderful folks for each other - and the fact that the main character, the team glue of the group, was a strong girl of color was refreshing, especially in a franchise (Warhammer) that is often overly dominated by and targeted at males. As someone who has always wondered about the lives of the everyday characters the Black Library usually passes by, with their stars-high focus on godlike space marines or custodes, mysterious inquisitors, gritty guardsmen (though I do love these characters too), it's nice to see a "from the ground" perspective of the Warhammer 40k universe. (shout out also to Nick Kyme, who is a for-adults writer but does provide that humanizing perspective as well, same as I appreciated in this book). I can't wait for the next adventure of this engaging band of heroes, and know that many kids, probably some in my school, will love this book!

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was created to make children into Black Library world. I can't say it's as much woke as I inniatily thought. In this story we follow 3 kids and one talking monkey as they are leaving a world after being attack my Necrons. It's really fast paced. There are some glimpses on how somethings work like Warp and other travel information. Nothing really regarding Chaos, The Emperor and so on... There are some cliches you expect from a children book. BUT to me perfectly honest I believe it's a solid book for children not for adults. It's not that developed.

Black Library & Games Workshop are Woke BUT they also know they can't change overnight or most of their writers will skip them. The books are interesting because they usually don't dwell on comparisons between nowadays politics. I really hope they stop this BUT it seems they will not.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining introduction into the 40K universe targeted to young readers. Necrons attack an Imperium world forcing young characters to band together. They come in possession of a valuable artifact and quest to find a mentor figure similar to the Age of Sigmar young reader novel. I look forward to more of their adventures as well as character development.

[Stephen Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warhammer Adventures: Stories from the Far Future
By Cavan Scott

What?! A Warhammer series for kids?!

If you’re familiar with Warhammer you may be just as surprised as I am because of the fictional series’ “grim dark” setting in their hundreds of novels. If you aren’t familiar, be prepared, Amazon and Henry Cavil have teamed up to bring Warhammer 40,000 to the big screen, and it’s not long before the franchise becomes mainstream.

Full disclosure- I am a big Warhammer nerd. I was ecstatic to read these, and I have to say, the quality is just as high as the other novels in their catalogue.

This series follows a group of kids as they are thrown into a race for their lives, trying to get a mysterious alien device into the right hands. I was happy to see that this is a 6 part series, rather than 6 individual stories. The archetype themes are all there: a loner that learns to appreciate those around him, a tech genius that becomes appreciated, and kid holding onto hope against all odds while searching for her mother.

As far as the Warhammer lore goes, I was surprised how much they were able to fit in. And they don’t hold back. It’s all there as a fantastic introduction to this universe. Which is where Christian families may start to take issue. It is the grim dark far future, in 40,000th millennium, and things are not good. There is a worshipped emperor referred to as the “God-Emperor”, there are labotamized slaves, mass planetary executions, bloodthirsty aliens, psychic powers, and war. Lots of war. And these books do not shy away from it, it’s all there, even if toned down a bit. In general there is some violence, some scares, and use of psychic powers.

Each book also includes illustrations, a glossary, and the audiobooks are narrated by David Tenet of Dr. Who fame.

Still interested? I’ll bring up the themes and ⚠️ Parental Warning ⚠️ content of each book individually below.

1. Attack of the Necron-
-A thug “cursed”
-A young protagonist “Swore” beneath his breath.
-Explains that the Mechanicus worship a spirit they believe lives in all machines: “Communicate with the machine spirits that dwell inside vehicles and cogitators”
-Someone is “a pain in the nether regions”—To speak against the emperor is “heresy”, shows faith in emperor and explains that the “emperor protects”,“Prayers” answered and guided by the emperor.
-Surprisingly lots of Warhammer lore
-some violence as planets are destroyed and lives lost in alien attacks.
-Meditating at an alter.

2. Claws of the Genestealer
-Galactic Compendium in back talks about psykers, while giving great info on Wahammer lore and world building.

3. Secrets of the Tau
-Addresses mankind’s hatred for xenos races. And hypocrisy of another race’s “greater good” philosophy.
-Adult character says “get the damn thing back myself”
-Heard “Drunken” singing in a marketplace
-Good teamwork theme.

4. War of the Orks
-explores unfolding story of the characters’ histories
-More good pointing out irony of war
-Ork says, “They don’t give a fig for” nature.
-Ork slang like, “Zogging amazing”
-a little Violent as the Orks try and sometimes succeed in killing each other.

5. Plague of the Nurglings
-Psyker has ability to track people by touching an object that someone has touched.
-Violent
-learn about the demons that live in the warp as they come into reality and attack.

6. Tomb of the Necron
-kids have to deal with a witchy old Psyker that can take youth of another and control spiders,
-Kids actually put into dangerous situations.

[Johann · Rating 4 out of 5]

[...] Para todos aquellos que se veían la llegada del Anticristo con este libro de menos de 100 páginas, les tengo que decir que tanta pataleta no ha merecido la pena. Attack of the Necron al final ha resultado ser un trabajo competente, un producto que satisface el propósito para el que fue concebido. En él, da comienzo la aventura de tres chavales, Zelia, la hija de una arqueóloga, Mikka, un chaval del Mechanicus y Talen, un pandillero que ha huido de casa para escapar del reclutamiento; el trío tiene la mala suerte de estar en un planeta que otrora fue una tumba necrona y les toca vivir el aciago momento en el que a estos les suena el despertador, con todo lo que ello implica. Inmediatamente se ven envueltos en una desesperada huida en la que fuerzas mucho mayores que ellos combaten entre sí. La trama ese elemental, los personajes son sencillos pero están bien definidos y en lo que respecta al tratamiento del trasfondo y al carácter maligno de este siniestro futuro, seguramente a más de uno le agradará leer que Cavan Scott no se ha tocado el corazón a la hora de hacer a sus protagonistas testigos del horrible e injusto destino que les depara a muchos de los que viven en este universo, sin la necesidad de recrearse en descripciones grotescas. Así que ¿sabéis que? Está muy bien. Es un libro cuco destinado a padres y madres para compartir un hobby con los nanos y de paso, igual hasta aprender un poco de inglés. No se llevará ningún premio de literatura, y mis quejas serían que sus personajes protagonistas, aunque bien caracterizados, son pasivos en buena parte de la obra (aunque claro, es la primera de una trilogía) y que todos los eventos ocurren demasiado deprisa para causar un efecto de choque que mantenga la atención de los críos. La escritura es cursi, no por las descripciones ni los diálogos, sino por el ritmo y la necesidad de ser efectista del autor, pero esto es algo que podría aplicar a cosas que ha escrito Dan Abnett. [...]

Para el resto de la reseña, sigue el link

https://laceldadeterra.blogspot.com/2...

[Pixie 🍜 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very middle grade book. I would maybe argue that it’s more on the lower middle grade area though.

Cavan Scott as usual writes children in space well, though this book was hard to not be reminded of the High Republic middle grade books. Maybe just because there aren’t many middle grade books about sci-fi properties.
As someone who knows very little about Warhammer (not by choice, when I went to the store I would get stared at so I gave up) but I know enough from my first boyfriend who played and my close friend who competes internationally.
I figured that this series would be fine to pick up since I assume it may have some introductory elements to the world. Reddit isn’t any help in which books to start with haha.

The audiobook is read by David Tennant, and he does a great job just like when he read the HTTYD series.

The story is more simplistic than I would expect, with little room for character development for a semi large cast of main characters, but I can see they’ve done quite a few books so I guess this is just the set up. I think making this about them vs one necron for the most part was a great choice. It wouldn’t be at all realistic for them to go up against a tonne of them and somehow survive.

I think it was a missed opportunity to give us a bit more of Talin’s grief at his family dying when the planet was destroyed, but I hope this may come in subsequent books.
It would make sense to be a think about this later thing.

I enjoyed the different dynamics. Also nice to see warhammer using a main female character who is poc, I hope this brings more girls into warhammer or at least more boys reading warhammer to stop being so sexist.

I will likely to continue these books at some point, they’re fun enough, though I wish the library had any warhammer books, I don’t want to give my money to audible.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just recently started getting into Warhammer and after assembling my first army (Chaos Daemons because I don't know yet if I'll enjoy 40k or Age of Sigmar more) and I thought it would be funny if this were the first Black Library book I read.

It's funny because it should have been a terrible idea for this series to have been written. Other sci-fi universes like Marvel or Star Wars have content spanning a wide range of age demographics because the nature of those settings allows for the stories to be as lighthearted or as dark as their writers wish. Warhammer on the other hand is DEFINED by the darkness through its brutal, unrelenting violence. The setting exists to justify the endless war and countless casualties expected in a military sci-fi combat game. It's also where the phrases "grimdark future" and "blood for the blood god" come from. It's hilarious to think that someone thought it was a good idea to use this setting for an ages 9-12 series and it's even funnier that it actually turned out decent.

Attack of the Necron doesn't shy away from the violence and terror expected from the Warhammer universe, but it manages to remain kid-friendly by functioning as a survival story rather than a war story. Many elements of the 40k universe are here, but they're seen through the eyes of a group of kids who don't fully understand them. It's a surprisingly interesting approach that could have gone so much worse.

[James Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zelia Lor is the daughter of an archaeologist travelling from world to world with her mother looking for the universe' buried past (a rare position of trust in the superstitious Imperium). When the Necrons (a race ancient when humanity's ancestors were crawling out of the oceans) rise from their slumber and attack Zelia gets separated from her mother and along with the martian boy Mekki and the juve-ganger Talen along with Fleapit (a member of the ape-like species Jokaero known for a near supernatural affinity with technology and one of the few aliens species tolerated by the Imperium) must fight for their survival.

I bought this mostly out of interest. Can you 'kidify' the grim dark 40K universe? Can you make it clear how horrible and oppressive it all is without being to obvious? Kids can deal with a degree of violence and horror and love a bit of peril. But continuous low level dread is, fortunately, something children know less well. And i'd say it's pretty effective. It cuts a few corners and simplifies some things but it definitely feels like a 40K story. And more than that it's a book that stands on it's own merits too, the kids are great, heroic while still acting like children and the plot is dense enough that it's not talking down to it's audience.

I'd highly recommend it, particularly to 40K fans who want to share it with their children.

[Rafael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, I liked it a lot. Even more so, than the fantasy version of these novels. For what it is and even though it might not really fit into a grimdark setting, the story itself was just nice to listen to and Tennant doing a wonderful job at it.

SPOILERS

It starts on a hive world with a group of archaelogists and some hive gang. Soon thereafter that world is attacked by Necron, destroyed and the group of kids plus one old guy get away. Turns out, the old guy Erasmus, has a necron crown artifact the xenos are actually after, which might be the reason they attacked. Not sure why they would destroy the world prior to capturing the artifact, but fine.

So, the archeologist daughter, a cogboy and his servitor sprite, a hive ganger plus the old guy get joined by an ape, which are supposedly highly technological xenos. (Seems one of the weirder setting specific things.) That is the group and they are on the run and have to fight against one hunter necron. Erasmus sacrifices himself to get rid of the hunter and now they scramble around how to get of that planet on which they crash landed.

Short, fun story, exceptionally delivered via audiobook. Certainly want to continue with that series.

[J N · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a kids book and I read it as a prospective (expecting) parent, not quite as its target audience. I've rated it on how I enjoyed it, which was not a great deal. A little unfair probably. It was mercifully short. By adult standards a short story, but with a child friendly font stretching it out to fill a book.

I would let my kids read this but It's fairly banal stuff. I'd rather they read something a bit more interesting. The story is very simple and it felt a bit dialled in. Personally I think if you treat children like they're incapable of sophistication then you end up with unsophisticated human beings. There's nothing challenging here. The characters each have a defining characteristic bringing them barely in to the second dimension, and with absolutely no attempt to add a third. The story is saturday morning cartoon subject matter without anything meaningful or interesting to say.

It doesn't quite end on a cliffhanger, but it's a chapter in a larger story, not a story in itself. Buy the next book to find out what happens next! Or in my case, not.

[Zachmcgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not listened to the Audio Version, but I did read an advance copy sent to my library.

The book is an excellent introduction to the world of Warhammer 40k, from the great battles between the transhuman Space Marines and the world-killing Necrons, to the struggles of subterranean youth gangs in the sprawling slums of "hive worlds" (think Kowloon Walled City, but less roomy and luxurious). It's a zippy action story with clever protagonists facing overwhelming odds.

However, the characterization of Talen, a teenage runaway from a military family, just does not work at all. He's an awfully sheltered and whiny kid for someone who grew up with an Imperial Guard officer for a father, and who managed to survive a brutal underworld to come up in a dangerous gang. He's just such a blank slate, and it's unfortunate because he has the greatest potential to afford readers a glimpse of the 40k universe at ground level, so to speak.

[Dragoonfliy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll fully admit I'm not the target audience for this, as I'm pushing 30, but sometimes after a painful slog of a book you just want to read something written for people below your age group so your brain will stop hurting. And this was a soothing salve for my wounded brain.

This does an excellent job of translating the grimdark of 40k into children's book terms, crafting some nice characters out of some archetypes with a lot of potential for growth, and throwing some really nice long-game plot hooks out there. And there are pictures! Really nice pictures! Gonna keep up with this series for sure.

Ultimately I feel like I should just post the "I will protect it" meme because that's how I feel about these kids.

[Victor Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this for my boys to listen to as we went on a roadtrip. It sits firmly in teh 8-14 Young Adult Fiction range, although it is faithful to the 'GrimDark' of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, there's clearly some effort made to keep the bloody aspects at a little more of an arm's length while still maintaining that idea of an uncaring universe with implacable enemies. There's one of those weird camero's by the Ultramarines that seems to pop up in new Black Library media series, but otherwise the book was pretty good. David Tennant was impressive as a narrator, which I hadn't expected given his famously thicker accent. It was worth a listen, although I'll probably just bring it up for the boys rather than myself.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable book.

It's full of action and it works great as an introduction to Warhammer 40k.

It's definitely meant for a young audience, I'd say probably middle grade, it reads a lot like an adventure book but with lots of action in it.

However, if you're an adult and want to learn a bit about this universe, this is a quick and easy read that can really help you.

The only thing that I didn't like much is that it doesn't have a clear ending, you have to read the next books to continue the story. It feels a bit like reading a comic book in that way.

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook, read by David Tennant.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warhammer Adventures is Middle Grade so clearly I'm not the target audience. I was just curious to see how Scott was able to adapt the infamously grimdark setting for children. His short story "Flayed" is actually one of the most depressing 40k works I've ever read and it's also about Necrons. Attack of the Necron does have an impressively high body count for a kids' book but if you want dark sci-fi written for ages 8-12, as a Millennial I have to recommend Animorphs.

[Flyss Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand I'm not the target audience for this book, but I rather enjoyed it. It was a fun story with very likeable characters and a whole lot of action. If you have a kid who likes Sci-fi I reckon this would make a good introduction to the warhammer universe. However I don't think it's really a YA story more mid grade.

[James Fishwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book introducing kids to the 40k universe. Sure, it's not as bleak as normal 40k, there are a fair number of Exciting Hijinks. But they don't shy away from the death-toll and serious threats of 40k either (billions of people die, including 2 named characters who we see die up close). Female lead, which is nice.

For me it's a low star rating, but i think it'd be enjoyed by kids.