Iron Warrior

Warhammer 40,000

by Graham McNeill

Of all the enemies Warmaster Honsou has made in his artificially prolonged lifetime, one stands above all others – Uriel Ventris. Honsou’s hatred for the Ultramarine captain burns so brightly that he will stop at nothing to extract his revenge, even attempting the nigh on impossible task of capturing the most heavily defended of the Ultramarines star forts, one that holds a secret at its very core.

Iron Warrior was originally published as the first of Black Library’s range of exclusive A5 hardback novellas.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Novella

94 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in surveying to work for Games Workshop as a games designer. He has a strong following with his novels Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar, Dead Sky, Black Sun and Storm of Iron.

Reviews

[La Criatura]

When this book started out introducing Honsou's gang and made sure to talk in detail about the slender androgynous S&M-loving Slaaneshi cultist twink wearing a skintight bodysuit in the first five pages I cheered out loud in real life.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible, and certainly an easy read, but I kept getting it mixed up with Pharos, an eminently better book, because there wasn't that much to hold my attention over here.

Honsou & the gang attempt to take over the Indomitable, an Ultramarines ship. Some of the bits of it had potential to be awesome, and again, it wasn't TERRIBLE, but it just felt fairly paint by numbers.

[Lee Vernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 40k novella as we follow the continued exploits of the Iron Warrior Honsou, in this saga he and his merry band of monsters and rogues take on a Ultramarines Starport. More sieges, more IW horror, maybe some character development but ultimately it's 100 pages of bolter porn. Not my favourite, but a good read and palette cleanser between books.

[Luke Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good enough piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.

[Moises · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only limited edition book that I have ever bought from the black library. The story is fantastic and can be found in the iron warriors: the omnibus book which is still available through the BL and Amazon. However, the limited edition has eight pages of full colored illustrations of both the characters as well as the iron warrior's vessels. In addition, there are black and white illustrations throughout the book. The hard cover has the yellow and black of the iron warriors and you also get a cool dust jacket as well as an attached yellow book marker. The BL just does not make limited edition books like this anymore. I wish they would make less limited edition books and focus more on both story and quality illustrations. More illustrations would also be a plus. One fold out illustration isn't enough to pay the high price in my opinion.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent novella! Graham McNeill is a great writer. This book is nearly non-stop action and has some great Warhammer 40K history.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic book from the master of his genre. McNeill writes both the Ultramarines and the Iron Warriors superbly. And great filler in combining the two series.