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Warhammer 40,000
Shadowbreaker
Talon Squad return to action, hutning for a missing inquisitor on a world that has been claimed by the T'au Empire – but has their quarry been taken, or defected to the Greater Good?
The Deathwatch are the elite of the elite – small teams of Space Marines handpicked for special missions that require the utmost courage and cunning. Now recovered from the injuries sustained on his previous mission, Codicier Karras must lead Talon Squad in the hunt for a missing inquisitor. Their only clue is the name of an Imperial planet that has been taken over by the T’au. Is the missing inquisitor alive, or dead? Worse still, has she gone rogue, jeopardizing one of the Inquisition’s most secret projects? Karras must lead his team against a whole planet of hostile T’au and survive the deadly internal politics of the Inquisition to succeed in his mission, codenamed Shadowbreaker.
Read by Andrew Wincott
The Deathwatch are the elite of the elite – small teams of Space Marines handpicked for special missions that require the utmost courage and cunning. Now recovered from the injuries sustained on his previous mission, Codicier Karras must lead Talon Squad in the hunt for a missing inquisitor. Their only clue is the name of an Imperial planet that has been taken over by the T’au. Is the missing inquisitor alive, or dead? Worse still, has she gone rogue, jeopardizing one of the Inquisition’s most secret projects? Karras must lead his team against a whole planet of hostile T’au and survive the deadly internal politics of the Inquisition to succeed in his mission, codenamed Shadowbreaker.
Read by Andrew Wincott
Audiobook
First published May 4, 2019
77 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Steve Parker
38 books74 followersOriginally hailing from the rainswept land of the Picts, Steve Parker now sleeps, eats, trains and writes in Tokyo, Japan.
His novels have been published in four languages and include Rebel Winter, Gunheads, Rynn's World, and Deathwatch, with a fifth novel to follow very soon.
Short works (most now available via Amazon Kindle) include:
Stray Dog Swordsman on Redemption Road
Starfish
The Falls of Marakross
Mercy Run
The Citadel
Headhunted
Exhumed
Survivor
Culling the Horde
Pedro Kantor: The Vengeful Fist
His novels have been published in four languages and include Rebel Winter, Gunheads, Rynn's World, and Deathwatch, with a fifth novel to follow very soon.
Short works (most now available via Amazon Kindle) include:
Stray Dog Swordsman on Redemption Road
Starfish
The Falls of Marakross
Mercy Run
The Citadel
Headhunted
Exhumed
Survivor
Culling the Horde
Pedro Kantor: The Vengeful Fist
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
May 10, 2019
Now here's one that I never expected to see, but I am very glad we got it. Steve Parker is one of those authors who made quite a splash in Black Library only to disappear after a short time. Despite producing several excellent novels and a few great short stories, he disappeared from the grim darkness of the far future, leaving quite the cliffhanger behind. Now, he's back to continue that saga.
The Synopsis
Set some time after the events of the original Deathwatch novel, Talon Squad has been recalled by Sigma once more to carry out their duty. However, unlike their trial by fire, this isn't simply a combat insertion against a feral opponent. An Inquisitor has disappeared on a world recently conquered by the T'au Empire and has promptly refused all efforts to contact her. No one fully knows if she has been abducted or has willingly defected to the xenos race, but her secrets cannot be allowed to fall into their hands. Operating alongside a group of anti-T'au specialists and insurgents, Talon Squad must breach a heavily fortified city and reclaim the Inquisitor at all costs. Yet the Inquisition's manipulations extend far further than any might reckon, as both Librarian Karras and those he commands will suffer in their shadow games.
The Good
For starters, Parker most certainly did not rest on his laurels with this one. Both the first Deathwatch novel and the two short-stories surrounding it were simple, direct and straightforward operations. In each case, the group was dropped into a location already overrun by the enemy, with hostile combatants around every corner and told to steal or kill someone. These were extremely well-written outings which embraced the Dredd mentality of making the everyday efforts of someone exceptional exciting over a defining moment in their lives. Parker could have happily stuck with this and it would have still been celebrated as a great story, but by taking a notable risk with this one he ended up with something far stronger.
The very nature of the Talon Squad's mission this time is the antithesis of the hard and fast strikes of previous tales. They are dropped onto the planet well ahead of time, and a great deal of the story goes into the preparation of their strike and just getting onto the world itself. This takes up a similar amount of space as the previous novel's outline of how the Deathwatch operates and trains their individuals, and it certainly benefits the book. It helps to show how the Astartes of the Ordo Xenos' chamber militant differ from their typical counterparts in operations, methodology and the expectations placed upon them by the Inquisition. It's still the general special forces take on the space marines, but it's a very different kind of one which offers both world building and an excellent new kind of tale.
The secondary characters are also notably stronger here, as is Karras' journey in the wake of the previous book's revelations. Both the insurgents and supporting humans have far stronger personalities than anything offered in Parker's other tales, save perhaps for Rynn's World. Archangel, in particular, is a fascinating take on an Imperial character type due to how she operates and contrasts with the likes of Sigma. Not to mention that she's an excellent contrast to the usual human characters we see working with Astartes and opposing xenos incursions. Equally, the insurgents and those with them are a great take on the usual tribal cultures seen in these books, but with a good mix of self-awareness and decently progressive takes on a few backward ideas. That's true of most of this book, and sadly delving into the two best examples would lead to massive spoilers.
The novel overall could be considered a far more intrusive and questioning take on the usual Imperial-T'au dynamic we see in these works. Usually novels will either adamantly side with one and demonize the other, or twist key details to make sure that you are more clearly on one side. That and they tend to favour one-sided steamrolls of fights to make their favourite group look great. This manages to ditch the majority of that through a few very welcome storytelling devices. The first and foremost among these is that, when we see the T'au Empire and its member species defined, it is through the eyes of extremists on both sides. While you certainly see that they might have points, even offering up few surprisingly nuanced takes on the T'au Empire's more ambitious efforts, it's always coloured by their opinions.
One resistance fighter complains of the T'au overwhelming and corrupting human culture, and that their terraforming efforts are destroying their way of life. There is a degree of truth in this, but we later see direct contradictions to this fact. Notably with references to T'au culture actively trying to avoid giving the Imperials reasons to support resistance efforts by keeping much of their culture intact and even allowing for a less xenophobic Imperial creed to still be preached. Yes, someone finally remembered that was something the T'au did.
On the opposite side, the T'au Commander Coldstar is borderline xenophobic, holds humans in contempt and even performs some very questionable experiments on dissenting voices among his own people. All seemingly with the approval of elements within the Ethereal Caste. However, he's rarely framed as anything besides an extremist who feels that his placement is unworthy of his role, and he mentally justifies these acts in the face of a greater threat. He's an outright villain and someone who believes that the end justifies the means, but it's without the same cartoonish "by the way, I'm actually a villain!" storytelling which has previously plagued the T'au. If we need more stories with them as the antagonists, this will likely become a measuring stick for how to tell it from here on.
So, what of the writing style and combat? To answer the latter first, the combat is as typically blunt and direct as usual. It avoids many of the more descriptive or dramatic choices of outlining scenes than other authors like Aaron Dembski-Bowden or Josh Reynolds typically use, but Parker makes it work. It fits in with his tone of storytelling, stepping away from some of the more mystical or vague qualities of the galaxy to describe something which is bizarrely more down to earth. The fights are extremely brief moments of violence or brawls which rapidly end in favour of one side or another, but this perfectly fits the spec ops style of story. It also helps to separate the story from those which more frequently utilise Chaos as a narrative element, and make its few otherworldly moments far more alien within the tale.
Finally, as an extension of this, describing the combat itself is only part of how the story works. A lot more time is put into the preparation and outline of operations, and an emphasis on how such a small force might be able to maintain its advantage over a superior one. While the natural abilities of the Adeptus Astartes are never downplayed, they aren't quite the unstoppable juggernauts of other works, and they do have to more actively work to overcome their foes. It's one of the better examples of how to balance their superiority with foreign threats in Black Library along with the likes of the Charcarodon novels and Brothers of the Snake.
The Bad
You likely noted that for all the talk of positive qualities in the above section, little time was spent on the main characters. Sadly, there's a good reason for that. Karras gets most of the development here, as outside of one or two moments to better flesh out Chyron and display more of Zeed's flaws, there's little to say of the others. They are certainly described extremely well and have memorable characterisation, but they are stuck firmly in the background most of the time. As a result, their role and presence is very situational to the story, and they gain little development from the story's progression.
Karras himself does well, but his part in this tale is hindered by the story's greatest weakness: It's terrible at re-introducing readers to the series. There's no real moment where it properly expresses something along the lines of "Here is Karras, he's a Librarian of the Death Spectres, and here's his story so far..." in an easy and understandable manner. The one we get is very well told, but unless you have recently read the book directly preceding this one, you will struggle to get to grips with it. This on its own would be a mark against the story, but it's only further exacerbated by Parker's choice to emulate his previous novel.
One of Deathwatch's best qualities was how it took its time to build up the world and characters, showing the development and preparation for their strike. The actual operation only came into play at the very end, and everything up to that point consisted of various secondary elements to help flesh things out. This was repeated again here, but the problem is that there are few to no space marines showing up for a good portion of the story. In fact, there's little to even properly indicate that this is a Deathwatch story at all outside of a few allusions to the Inquisition being involved, and that simply doesn't work here. It holds off on the book's main attraction, and even once it is introduced it isn't in some moment of action or glory as a pay-off for the wait.
The book also opts to suddenly follow up on previous story elements which were alluded to in the finale of the past book but with little in the way of recapping them or fully introducing them. One or two were certainly notable enough to remember, but others take a surprising left turn or have an abrupt addition tacked onto them. More irritatingly, a fair few others are simply treated as ongoing narrative plots rather than something hinted at which is now being built upon. That kind of flaw is jarring and can make even a reader familiar with the books feel as if they have missed something at first.
Honestly, these flaws in of themselves hardly overshadow the strengths of the novel, but the very fact that they dominate the opening chapters only exaggerates many of their issues. Because of this, it becomes a situation where the book is almost encouraging you to put it down or skip over them to reach the actual start. It's a real shame, as a few basic additions could have helped to offset all of this and bump its final score up by a full point.
The Verdict
Ultimately, your enjoyment of Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker is heavily dependant upon how familiar you are with this series. It's an excellent book, and it does more or less everything that a great sequel should in terms of story, character dynamics, and narrative. The new direction, more ambitious plot and the use of its enemies mark it as a modern classic. The very fact that this is the first novel in a long time from an Imperial perspective which did not fall back on Chaos as the hidden villain is an extremely welcome quality, and the use of the T'au is some of the best seen in years. Yet, the fact that it expects readers to be already familiar with these characters and provides no real recap moment to cover prior events means that it can be difficult to get to grips with this one.
Overall, this is highly recommended, but it is strongly suggested that you read some of this author's other Deathwatch stories first. The original novel, or at the very least the short story Headhunted, will cover everything that you need and quickly outline the basics this book skips at first. Even with that said though, I would mark this one down as an essential purchase for this month.
The Synopsis
Set some time after the events of the original Deathwatch novel, Talon Squad has been recalled by Sigma once more to carry out their duty. However, unlike their trial by fire, this isn't simply a combat insertion against a feral opponent. An Inquisitor has disappeared on a world recently conquered by the T'au Empire and has promptly refused all efforts to contact her. No one fully knows if she has been abducted or has willingly defected to the xenos race, but her secrets cannot be allowed to fall into their hands. Operating alongside a group of anti-T'au specialists and insurgents, Talon Squad must breach a heavily fortified city and reclaim the Inquisitor at all costs. Yet the Inquisition's manipulations extend far further than any might reckon, as both Librarian Karras and those he commands will suffer in their shadow games.
The Good
For starters, Parker most certainly did not rest on his laurels with this one. Both the first Deathwatch novel and the two short-stories surrounding it were simple, direct and straightforward operations. In each case, the group was dropped into a location already overrun by the enemy, with hostile combatants around every corner and told to steal or kill someone. These were extremely well-written outings which embraced the Dredd mentality of making the everyday efforts of someone exceptional exciting over a defining moment in their lives. Parker could have happily stuck with this and it would have still been celebrated as a great story, but by taking a notable risk with this one he ended up with something far stronger.
The very nature of the Talon Squad's mission this time is the antithesis of the hard and fast strikes of previous tales. They are dropped onto the planet well ahead of time, and a great deal of the story goes into the preparation of their strike and just getting onto the world itself. This takes up a similar amount of space as the previous novel's outline of how the Deathwatch operates and trains their individuals, and it certainly benefits the book. It helps to show how the Astartes of the Ordo Xenos' chamber militant differ from their typical counterparts in operations, methodology and the expectations placed upon them by the Inquisition. It's still the general special forces take on the space marines, but it's a very different kind of one which offers both world building and an excellent new kind of tale.
The secondary characters are also notably stronger here, as is Karras' journey in the wake of the previous book's revelations. Both the insurgents and supporting humans have far stronger personalities than anything offered in Parker's other tales, save perhaps for Rynn's World. Archangel, in particular, is a fascinating take on an Imperial character type due to how she operates and contrasts with the likes of Sigma. Not to mention that she's an excellent contrast to the usual human characters we see working with Astartes and opposing xenos incursions. Equally, the insurgents and those with them are a great take on the usual tribal cultures seen in these books, but with a good mix of self-awareness and decently progressive takes on a few backward ideas. That's true of most of this book, and sadly delving into the two best examples would lead to massive spoilers.
The novel overall could be considered a far more intrusive and questioning take on the usual Imperial-T'au dynamic we see in these works. Usually novels will either adamantly side with one and demonize the other, or twist key details to make sure that you are more clearly on one side. That and they tend to favour one-sided steamrolls of fights to make their favourite group look great. This manages to ditch the majority of that through a few very welcome storytelling devices. The first and foremost among these is that, when we see the T'au Empire and its member species defined, it is through the eyes of extremists on both sides. While you certainly see that they might have points, even offering up few surprisingly nuanced takes on the T'au Empire's more ambitious efforts, it's always coloured by their opinions.
One resistance fighter complains of the T'au overwhelming and corrupting human culture, and that their terraforming efforts are destroying their way of life. There is a degree of truth in this, but we later see direct contradictions to this fact. Notably with references to T'au culture actively trying to avoid giving the Imperials reasons to support resistance efforts by keeping much of their culture intact and even allowing for a less xenophobic Imperial creed to still be preached. Yes, someone finally remembered that was something the T'au did.
On the opposite side, the T'au Commander Coldstar is borderline xenophobic, holds humans in contempt and even performs some very questionable experiments on dissenting voices among his own people. All seemingly with the approval of elements within the Ethereal Caste. However, he's rarely framed as anything besides an extremist who feels that his placement is unworthy of his role, and he mentally justifies these acts in the face of a greater threat. He's an outright villain and someone who believes that the end justifies the means, but it's without the same cartoonish "by the way, I'm actually a villain!" storytelling which has previously plagued the T'au. If we need more stories with them as the antagonists, this will likely become a measuring stick for how to tell it from here on.
So, what of the writing style and combat? To answer the latter first, the combat is as typically blunt and direct as usual. It avoids many of the more descriptive or dramatic choices of outlining scenes than other authors like Aaron Dembski-Bowden or Josh Reynolds typically use, but Parker makes it work. It fits in with his tone of storytelling, stepping away from some of the more mystical or vague qualities of the galaxy to describe something which is bizarrely more down to earth. The fights are extremely brief moments of violence or brawls which rapidly end in favour of one side or another, but this perfectly fits the spec ops style of story. It also helps to separate the story from those which more frequently utilise Chaos as a narrative element, and make its few otherworldly moments far more alien within the tale.
Finally, as an extension of this, describing the combat itself is only part of how the story works. A lot more time is put into the preparation and outline of operations, and an emphasis on how such a small force might be able to maintain its advantage over a superior one. While the natural abilities of the Adeptus Astartes are never downplayed, they aren't quite the unstoppable juggernauts of other works, and they do have to more actively work to overcome their foes. It's one of the better examples of how to balance their superiority with foreign threats in Black Library along with the likes of the Charcarodon novels and Brothers of the Snake.
The Bad
You likely noted that for all the talk of positive qualities in the above section, little time was spent on the main characters. Sadly, there's a good reason for that. Karras gets most of the development here, as outside of one or two moments to better flesh out Chyron and display more of Zeed's flaws, there's little to say of the others. They are certainly described extremely well and have memorable characterisation, but they are stuck firmly in the background most of the time. As a result, their role and presence is very situational to the story, and they gain little development from the story's progression.
Karras himself does well, but his part in this tale is hindered by the story's greatest weakness: It's terrible at re-introducing readers to the series. There's no real moment where it properly expresses something along the lines of "Here is Karras, he's a Librarian of the Death Spectres, and here's his story so far..." in an easy and understandable manner. The one we get is very well told, but unless you have recently read the book directly preceding this one, you will struggle to get to grips with it. This on its own would be a mark against the story, but it's only further exacerbated by Parker's choice to emulate his previous novel.
One of Deathwatch's best qualities was how it took its time to build up the world and characters, showing the development and preparation for their strike. The actual operation only came into play at the very end, and everything up to that point consisted of various secondary elements to help flesh things out. This was repeated again here, but the problem is that there are few to no space marines showing up for a good portion of the story. In fact, there's little to even properly indicate that this is a Deathwatch story at all outside of a few allusions to the Inquisition being involved, and that simply doesn't work here. It holds off on the book's main attraction, and even once it is introduced it isn't in some moment of action or glory as a pay-off for the wait.
The book also opts to suddenly follow up on previous story elements which were alluded to in the finale of the past book but with little in the way of recapping them or fully introducing them. One or two were certainly notable enough to remember, but others take a surprising left turn or have an abrupt addition tacked onto them. More irritatingly, a fair few others are simply treated as ongoing narrative plots rather than something hinted at which is now being built upon. That kind of flaw is jarring and can make even a reader familiar with the books feel as if they have missed something at first.
Honestly, these flaws in of themselves hardly overshadow the strengths of the novel, but the very fact that they dominate the opening chapters only exaggerates many of their issues. Because of this, it becomes a situation where the book is almost encouraging you to put it down or skip over them to reach the actual start. It's a real shame, as a few basic additions could have helped to offset all of this and bump its final score up by a full point.
The Verdict
Ultimately, your enjoyment of Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker is heavily dependant upon how familiar you are with this series. It's an excellent book, and it does more or less everything that a great sequel should in terms of story, character dynamics, and narrative. The new direction, more ambitious plot and the use of its enemies mark it as a modern classic. The very fact that this is the first novel in a long time from an Imperial perspective which did not fall back on Chaos as the hidden villain is an extremely welcome quality, and the use of the T'au is some of the best seen in years. Yet, the fact that it expects readers to be already familiar with these characters and provides no real recap moment to cover prior events means that it can be difficult to get to grips with this one.
Overall, this is highly recommended, but it is strongly suggested that you read some of this author's other Deathwatch stories first. The original novel, or at the very least the short story Headhunted, will cover everything that you need and quickly outline the basics this book skips at first. Even with that said though, I would mark this one down as an essential purchase for this month.
July 6, 2019
One of the worst 40k books I have read. The author doesn’t have the most basic understanding of Tau background lore and makes countless mistakes. A few slipups are ok but its constant thought out the book. For example a Fireblade is a Tau commander in charge of the entire army, not a squad Sargent, Crisis suits do not have rail weaponry and even the correct bits are badly written. A Hammerhead between charging up and firing will have the weapon mysteriously change. Skyshark is a Skyray among the to many to list errors. Tau regularly seem to disobey an Ethereal when they have absolute control and cannot be disobeyed.
Not just the errors, but inconsistently. Characters and tanks should not change weapons mid firing. Why did the Riptide run out of missiles in 1 volley? Why do so many Tau missiles miss when they are smart missiles effectively drones packed with explosives. If you jump behind a wall the missiles don’t hit the wall. They fly around the wall and keep following you including into building and down/around corridors. Yet 99% of them miss in this book.
The entire ending was impossible. I won’t post spoilers but Tau grow children in pods with genetic screening and then the children grow up in a group cache not with mothers and fathers. Kind of makes the ending not work.
Not just the errors, but inconsistently. Characters and tanks should not change weapons mid firing. Why did the Riptide run out of missiles in 1 volley? Why do so many Tau missiles miss when they are smart missiles effectively drones packed with explosives. If you jump behind a wall the missiles don’t hit the wall. They fly around the wall and keep following you including into building and down/around corridors. Yet 99% of them miss in this book.
The entire ending was impossible. I won’t post spoilers but Tau grow children in pods with genetic screening and then the children grow up in a group cache not with mothers and fathers. Kind of makes the ending not work.
August 27, 2023
Solid 3.5 stars. Good fun, exactly what I needed, but not as good as the first one.
May 12, 2019
Long-awaited sequel to Deathwatch by Steve Parker. While I had some misgivings about original novel, I should admit that I was very excited when announcement of Shadowbreaker was made. The main plotline was interesting enough so I was glad that it wouldn’t remain in stasis forever.
Was my expectation met? Kind of… I should say, it would be better to read it without expectations, just like entertaining novel about adventures. You could enjoy it more this way.
I had a specific impression of the previous novel. The first half was very interesting and exciting to read, with genestealer cult intrigue, introduction to Deathwatch, training process and establishing relationship dynamic between the members of the killteam. Then went the operation itself and everything became kind of dull… And I get similar feeling from Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker. I was very excited at the beginning, when the main intrigue was set-up, part of the main character past was revealed and we were reintroduced to killteam Talon. While I encountered opinions that space marines were portrayed too immature in the Deathwatch, I personally liked their bickering and other interactions, so I was glad that I could enjoy them again. But then we have half of a book of almost nonstop “bolter-porn” and that’s not my kind of reading.
But still, there were enough of moments I was able to appreciate. For example, how the conflict between the T’au and rebels was portrayed. Someone could find these cultural allusions… controversial, but I actually like them, it was interesting angle.
Next, with this book Steve Parker have to overcome very difficult problem: Deathwatch lore has changed since the original novel. He has to deal with the issue of shift in Deathwatch and inquisition relationships, new timeline in which Deathwatch was founded during the events of Beast Arise series and so on. This book doesn’t resolve contradictions but successfully dance around them, creating possibility of self-consistent picture with little details then and there.
Another moment that I found interesting was contrast between “strong woman character” and “wise woman character” that was introduced here. I rather enjoyed these plotlines, the single downfall was the moment when the possibility of love interest for Copley appears. Not the fact itself but how out-of-nowhere it felt. While I kind of understand the intentions behind this and how it could benefit to characterization of Copley in the end it comes around as forced and… inelegant? There should be set-up for this kind of things.
From the main intrigue, I got mixed feelings. Fateful connection between Karras, Rauth and Omicron was great, but execution of final reveal about Omicron was a disappointment. Not the reveal itself but how it was written. I wonder if it would be better to leave it as implications alone.
And then we have a topic that is the focus of my personal concern. And it is a portrayal of the T’au. In the BL literature t’au are almost non-existent so every book where they appear creates a spark of hope inside of me. But we all know that hope is the first step… Yeah. I should admit it was better executed than Phil Kelly “Farsight” series. Mostly due to the fact that topic of “t’au dissidents” wasn’t explored and was left ambiguous (it even possible to write it off as certain characters madness). Still, Steve Parker was able to create “controversial” portrayal of T’au, without making them needlessly evil, evil for the sake of evil. Part about Aun was convincing enough. And t’au blood is blue again! Guys on Advanced Tau Tactica should make a celebration or something. But then goes a sad part and it is mistakes. XV8 with railguns could be written off as unusual modifications. Calling an anti-air gunship “sky shark” instead of “sky ray” is a simple mistake and could be easily corrected by the editor (why it wasn’t is another question). But author misunderstood the rank and role of the Cadre Fireblade. Seriously, they are not just lieutenants, and Fire Warrior couldn’t became Shas’O after becoming the Fireblade. These minor things don’t matter much on their own but as a whole they are an indicator. An indicator that shows that no one actually cares about t’au. Not writers, nor editors. To wait for something elaborated and nuanced like Broken Sword or Greater Evil is pointless.
Was my expectation met? Kind of… I should say, it would be better to read it without expectations, just like entertaining novel about adventures. You could enjoy it more this way.
I had a specific impression of the previous novel. The first half was very interesting and exciting to read, with genestealer cult intrigue, introduction to Deathwatch, training process and establishing relationship dynamic between the members of the killteam. Then went the operation itself and everything became kind of dull… And I get similar feeling from Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker. I was very excited at the beginning, when the main intrigue was set-up, part of the main character past was revealed and we were reintroduced to killteam Talon. While I encountered opinions that space marines were portrayed too immature in the Deathwatch, I personally liked their bickering and other interactions, so I was glad that I could enjoy them again. But then we have half of a book of almost nonstop “bolter-porn” and that’s not my kind of reading.
But still, there were enough of moments I was able to appreciate. For example, how the conflict between the T’au and rebels was portrayed. Someone could find these cultural allusions… controversial, but I actually like them, it was interesting angle.
Next, with this book Steve Parker have to overcome very difficult problem: Deathwatch lore has changed since the original novel. He has to deal with the issue of shift in Deathwatch and inquisition relationships, new timeline in which Deathwatch was founded during the events of Beast Arise series and so on. This book doesn’t resolve contradictions but successfully dance around them, creating possibility of self-consistent picture with little details then and there.
Another moment that I found interesting was contrast between “strong woman character” and “wise woman character” that was introduced here. I rather enjoyed these plotlines, the single downfall was the moment when the possibility of love interest for Copley appears. Not the fact itself but how out-of-nowhere it felt. While I kind of understand the intentions behind this and how it could benefit to characterization of Copley in the end it comes around as forced and… inelegant? There should be set-up for this kind of things.
From the main intrigue, I got mixed feelings. Fateful connection between Karras, Rauth and Omicron was great, but execution of final reveal about Omicron was a disappointment. Not the reveal itself but how it was written. I wonder if it would be better to leave it as implications alone.
And then we have a topic that is the focus of my personal concern. And it is a portrayal of the T’au. In the BL literature t’au are almost non-existent so every book where they appear creates a spark of hope inside of me. But we all know that hope is the first step… Yeah. I should admit it was better executed than Phil Kelly “Farsight” series. Mostly due to the fact that topic of “t’au dissidents” wasn’t explored and was left ambiguous (it even possible to write it off as certain characters madness). Still, Steve Parker was able to create “controversial” portrayal of T’au, without making them needlessly evil, evil for the sake of evil. Part about Aun was convincing enough. And t’au blood is blue again! Guys on Advanced Tau Tactica should make a celebration or something. But then goes a sad part and it is mistakes. XV8 with railguns could be written off as unusual modifications. Calling an anti-air gunship “sky shark” instead of “sky ray” is a simple mistake and could be easily corrected by the editor (why it wasn’t is another question). But author misunderstood the rank and role of the Cadre Fireblade. Seriously, they are not just lieutenants, and Fire Warrior couldn’t became Shas’O after becoming the Fireblade. These minor things don’t matter much on their own but as a whole they are an indicator. An indicator that shows that no one actually cares about t’au. Not writers, nor editors. To wait for something elaborated and nuanced like Broken Sword or Greater Evil is pointless.
September 6, 2022
It's a strange book. On one hand the idea of the story is fine but on the other hand it does not feel 40k at all. Space Marines don't act like Space Marines, Tau does not act like Tau, there is a huge amount of wrong lore. If the author would get rid of sci-fi elements, replace Space Marines with American commandos, Tau with Soviets and instead desert planet action would happen in Afghanistan during Soviet–Afghan War, not much would have changed. Because overall it feels like an 80s action movie.
In fact I think it would be a much better book. Because in the end it's an ok story with rather bad execution but it's a really bad 40k novel. Which again is strange because previous Steve Parker novels in 40k like Rynn's World were very good. Also another bad thing about this book is that the author assumes everyone read the previous novel, he doesn't introduce characters properly or describe them in any way so you have to take a guess who is who. There are very many references to previous deathwatch novel and in the end it felt like part 2 of the trilogy.
There are way better 40k books if you want to read about deathwatch or tau.
In fact I think it would be a much better book. Because in the end it's an ok story with rather bad execution but it's a really bad 40k novel. Which again is strange because previous Steve Parker novels in 40k like Rynn's World were very good. Also another bad thing about this book is that the author assumes everyone read the previous novel, he doesn't introduce characters properly or describe them in any way so you have to take a guess who is who. There are very many references to previous deathwatch novel and in the end it felt like part 2 of the trilogy.
There are way better 40k books if you want to read about deathwatch or tau.
May 29, 2019
This sequel was pretty good. There were only two big things I had an issue with: the predictability of most 'big' scenes and the fact that the author (as well as whoever did the editing) kept getting 40k equipment names or functions wrong. Mixing up a termagant (shooty/spitty small tyranid) and a hormagaunt (stabby/slashy small tyranid, like a zergling), a sky ray and a sky shark (one's an anti air tank, the other is an aircraft), tau having man portable missile launchers and plasma guns (they don't), space marine storm shields being the little besagew some marines wear to display their heraldry, when in fact they're really big shields they need to carry in their hands, and the gear he was describing was actually the crux terminatus low-power force field all terminators have...
If you can get over issues like these, the book's apretty good read, especiallythe first chapters. I especially loved thecouple of chapters written from the point of view of what is essentially a pro-imperial terrorist on an alien ruled former human world.
If you can get over issues like these, the book's apretty good read, especiallythe first chapters. I especially loved thecouple of chapters written from the point of view of what is essentially a pro-imperial terrorist on an alien ruled former human world.
August 10, 2020
I am a bit underwhelmed with this one where the first book was nothing but outstanding. Full review to come later on.
March 13, 2020
This was an exceptionally boring book. Very poorly written, even by Warhammer 40k standards, which are usually low.
All villain-esque characters were moustache twirling pastiches, and the protagonists were Mary-Sues.
The dialogue was impressive in how basic it was.
Probably one of the worst Warhammer 40k books I have slogged through.
It's not helped by the author not knowing anything about the Tau, and describing physical traits incorrectly, such as wrong number of fingers and colour of blood...
All villain-esque characters were moustache twirling pastiches, and the protagonists were Mary-Sues.
The dialogue was impressive in how basic it was.
Probably one of the worst Warhammer 40k books I have slogged through.
It's not helped by the author not knowing anything about the Tau, and describing physical traits incorrectly, such as wrong number of fingers and colour of blood...
January 27, 2020
Rating of 4.5.
Prepare to dive into the extended universe of Warhammer 40,000 (Warhammer 40K or 40K), as science fiction author Steve Parker presents Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker, an action-packed and exceedingly exciting sequel to his 2013 novel, Deathwatch, which pits the deadly Deathwatch Space Marines against an entire planet full of T’au.
Thousands of years in the future, the galaxy is constantly at war. Humankind has survived as the massive Imperium of Man, under the divine protection of their long-dead Emperor. However, this beacon of humanity is under constant threat from all sides. Destructive alien races, demons from the warp and the traitor forces of Chaos continuously assault its borders, whilst heretics, mutants and witches attempt to destroy it from within. Over the millennia, the Imperium has created many different forces to protect their worlds from these threats; however, none is more feared or revered than the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines. Space Marines are legendary warriors genetically modified to become significantly stronger, larger and faster than a normal man. Swathed in power armour and armed with the deadliest of weapons, the Space Marines are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, bringing the Emperor’s wrath down on all who oppose them.
But even amongst these deadliest of soldiers, there is one organisation of Space Marines who are respected above all others for their fighting ability and skill, Deathwatch. Deathwatch is an elite group made up of best Space Marines veterans from across the Chapters, trained to become the ultimate tools in one of the Imperium’s holiest missions, the extermination of the xenos, the alien. Utilising the most advanced technology in the Imperium and receiving specialist instruction in the strengths and weaknesses of their foes, Deathwatch work in small kill-teams under the Ordo Xenos of the Imperial Inquisition in order to hunt down and destroy the most dangerous xenos threats in the galaxy.
Lyandro Karras, Codicier of the Death Spectres, is a powerful Space Marine Librarian serving in the Deathwatch as the leader of the kill-team, Talon Squad. Barely recovered from the disastrous events of their last mission, Karros and Talon Squad once again find themselves under the command of the mysterious Inquisitor Sigma. Their new mission takes them to a former Imperial world that has been conquered by the alien T’au, who have indoctrinated the majority of the human population into their society and philosophy. An Imperial Inquisitor, Epsilon, has gone missing in T’au space, and Sigma believes that she is being kept prisoner on the planet. Desperate to free her before the T’au extract vital secrets about the Imperium from her, Talon Squad and a force of Ordo Xenos Storm Troopers are deployed to find her. Working with the local human resistance, Talon Squad identify the prison she is located in and must work to release her before the massive T’au garrison knows they are on planet. But what happens when Epsilon refuses to accompany Talon Squad back to the Imperium?
To see the full review, check out the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/01/27/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Prepare to dive into the extended universe of Warhammer 40,000 (Warhammer 40K or 40K), as science fiction author Steve Parker presents Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker, an action-packed and exceedingly exciting sequel to his 2013 novel, Deathwatch, which pits the deadly Deathwatch Space Marines against an entire planet full of T’au.
Thousands of years in the future, the galaxy is constantly at war. Humankind has survived as the massive Imperium of Man, under the divine protection of their long-dead Emperor. However, this beacon of humanity is under constant threat from all sides. Destructive alien races, demons from the warp and the traitor forces of Chaos continuously assault its borders, whilst heretics, mutants and witches attempt to destroy it from within. Over the millennia, the Imperium has created many different forces to protect their worlds from these threats; however, none is more feared or revered than the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines. Space Marines are legendary warriors genetically modified to become significantly stronger, larger and faster than a normal man. Swathed in power armour and armed with the deadliest of weapons, the Space Marines are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, bringing the Emperor’s wrath down on all who oppose them.
But even amongst these deadliest of soldiers, there is one organisation of Space Marines who are respected above all others for their fighting ability and skill, Deathwatch. Deathwatch is an elite group made up of best Space Marines veterans from across the Chapters, trained to become the ultimate tools in one of the Imperium’s holiest missions, the extermination of the xenos, the alien. Utilising the most advanced technology in the Imperium and receiving specialist instruction in the strengths and weaknesses of their foes, Deathwatch work in small kill-teams under the Ordo Xenos of the Imperial Inquisition in order to hunt down and destroy the most dangerous xenos threats in the galaxy.
Lyandro Karras, Codicier of the Death Spectres, is a powerful Space Marine Librarian serving in the Deathwatch as the leader of the kill-team, Talon Squad. Barely recovered from the disastrous events of their last mission, Karros and Talon Squad once again find themselves under the command of the mysterious Inquisitor Sigma. Their new mission takes them to a former Imperial world that has been conquered by the alien T’au, who have indoctrinated the majority of the human population into their society and philosophy. An Imperial Inquisitor, Epsilon, has gone missing in T’au space, and Sigma believes that she is being kept prisoner on the planet. Desperate to free her before the T’au extract vital secrets about the Imperium from her, Talon Squad and a force of Ordo Xenos Storm Troopers are deployed to find her. Working with the local human resistance, Talon Squad identify the prison she is located in and must work to release her before the massive T’au garrison knows they are on planet. But what happens when Epsilon refuses to accompany Talon Squad back to the Imperium?
To see the full review, check out the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/01/27/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
June 4, 2025
Another installment in the Blackseed Saga. Taking place after the events on Chiaro, Talon squad is sent to the world of Tychonis on another extraction mission against almost insurmountable odds.
In a dimly lit cellar, an inquisition agent interrogates another inquisition agent about the whereabouts of his mistress, code name Epsilon. The interrogation is interrupted by the Deathwatch but is nevertheless successful – through a psychic mind dive a single clue is brought to the surface: Tychonis.
Talon squad is sent to Tychonis to exfiltrate Epsilon, a high value inquisitor part of Project Blackseed’s inner circle. With the help of Ordo Xenos agents and the local population of imperial zealots (really reminded me of the Fremen of Dune), Talon squad infiltrates the facility where Epsilon is being held only to discover that she is there willingly and has been working with the Tau commander Coldwave. United in their goal to find an answer to the Tyranid threat, they work together and experiment on Tau-Tyranid hybrids.
Unfortunately, the exfiltration of Epsilon is unsuccessful – she makes it out with the help of Coldwave and his forces and the facility is nuked.
Many make it out of the facility just in time to get out of the blastzone but Karras and Rauth are caught in it – forcing Karras to dangerously draw too much power from the warp allowing a demon to posses his body. However, this is no ordinary demon. It is the demon to which Rauth’s soul has been promised: Hepaxammon. It is then revealed that Rauth’s soul has been hidden away on a clone on Earth to cheat the bargain he had made with the demon. Through Karras, Hepaxammon has finally found Rauth. With the help of Rauth and the eldar farseer Aranye, Karras’ soul is saved – but with a cost: Karras is now indebted to Aranye.
Another attempt to exfiltrate Epsilon is launched and despite the near impossible odds Epsilon is recovered by Karras. However, the eldar swoop in and take her for themselves. Unexpectedly, coldwave assassinates Epsilon and Karras plunged into the Black River to save her soul and succeeds. Faced with the reality that the Eldar are leaving with Epsilon no matter what, Karras – remembering his debt – acquiesces to Aranyes offer to extract Epsilon’s soul from himself and goes with them.
Despite the ultimate success of the mission, it is revealed that a single pure strain genestealer survived. 7 years later the entire sector is picked clean by the Tyranids.
In a dimly lit cellar, an inquisition agent interrogates another inquisition agent about the whereabouts of his mistress, code name Epsilon. The interrogation is interrupted by the Deathwatch but is nevertheless successful – through a psychic mind dive a single clue is brought to the surface: Tychonis.
Talon squad is sent to Tychonis to exfiltrate Epsilon, a high value inquisitor part of Project Blackseed’s inner circle. With the help of Ordo Xenos agents and the local population of imperial zealots (really reminded me of the Fremen of Dune), Talon squad infiltrates the facility where Epsilon is being held only to discover that she is there willingly and has been working with the Tau commander Coldwave. United in their goal to find an answer to the Tyranid threat, they work together and experiment on Tau-Tyranid hybrids.
Unfortunately, the exfiltration of Epsilon is unsuccessful – she makes it out with the help of Coldwave and his forces and the facility is nuked.
Many make it out of the facility just in time to get out of the blastzone but Karras and Rauth are caught in it – forcing Karras to dangerously draw too much power from the warp allowing a demon to posses his body. However, this is no ordinary demon. It is the demon to which Rauth’s soul has been promised: Hepaxammon. It is then revealed that Rauth’s soul has been hidden away on a clone on Earth to cheat the bargain he had made with the demon. Through Karras, Hepaxammon has finally found Rauth. With the help of Rauth and the eldar farseer Aranye, Karras’ soul is saved – but with a cost: Karras is now indebted to Aranye.
Another attempt to exfiltrate Epsilon is launched and despite the near impossible odds Epsilon is recovered by Karras. However, the eldar swoop in and take her for themselves. Unexpectedly, coldwave assassinates Epsilon and Karras plunged into the Black River to save her soul and succeeds. Faced with the reality that the Eldar are leaving with Epsilon no matter what, Karras – remembering his debt – acquiesces to Aranyes offer to extract Epsilon’s soul from himself and goes with them.
Despite the ultimate success of the mission, it is revealed that a single pure strain genestealer survived. 7 years later the entire sector is picked clean by the Tyranids.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2025
I DID read this right after the first Deathwatch novel with Kill Team Talon, so I wasn't quite as grumpy as previous reviewers about having to remember things.
Other reviewers are correct in that there's some...inconsistencies. I'm no expert on T'au anything so I'll leave those comments to the others save to say the comment raging about T'au creches is not the dealbreaker for the ending the reviewer thinks?
My issues with this book: at one point we're told all Death Spectres are bald, and another we're told that someone has hair 'as white as' Karras's own? Also when did Rauth become a flaming ginger?
I am totally here for grumpy Chyron and Rauth and Karras's complicated relationship. And the Inquisitor reveal at the end? Chef's kiss Warhammer grimdark and crazy.
But another reviewer said it felt like an 80s action flick with a sci fi skin on it and..they're not wrong? I guess I don't hate it as much a) growing up with 80s action flicks and b) a kill team is basically a long lived military concept anyway.
What DID bother me from that genre was the weird way Parker kept trying to get the reader to ship Karras and Copley? Like the whole taking off his helmet to grin up at her while deferentially returning command to her? And ? Just...it's super Maverick Top Gun Rambo stuff, but it just felt...off. For Karras I mean.
Another inconsistency is
There's a lot of 'this needs an editor' stuff in this book that I overlooked because I just love Talon from the first novel so much. The ending (not the epilogue but Karras's ending) felt really...odd to me.
I know the third book was cancelled which this was absolutely setting up for, but honestly I'm not sure how he would have pulled it all together. I'd love to have known his plans, and if we'd ever find out the Mysterious Destiny of Lyandro Karras, but honestly, I'm glad the story seems to 'end' here, because all muh bois in Talon are alive and feisty and that's a good thing.
Other reviewers are correct in that there's some...inconsistencies. I'm no expert on T'au anything so I'll leave those comments to the others save to say the comment raging about T'au creches is not the dealbreaker for the ending the reviewer thinks?
My issues with this book: at one point we're told all Death Spectres are bald, and another we're told that someone has hair 'as white as' Karras's own? Also when did Rauth become a flaming ginger?
I am totally here for grumpy Chyron and Rauth and Karras's complicated relationship. And the Inquisitor reveal at the end? Chef's kiss Warhammer grimdark and crazy.
But another reviewer said it felt like an 80s action flick with a sci fi skin on it and..they're not wrong? I guess I don't hate it as much a) growing up with 80s action flicks and b) a kill team is basically a long lived military concept anyway.
What DID bother me from that genre was the weird way Parker kept trying to get the reader to ship Karras and Copley? Like the whole taking off his helmet to grin up at her while deferentially returning command to her? And ? Just...it's super Maverick Top Gun Rambo stuff, but it just felt...off. For Karras I mean.
Another inconsistency is
There's a lot of 'this needs an editor' stuff in this book that I overlooked because I just love Talon from the first novel so much. The ending (not the epilogue but Karras's ending) felt really...odd to me.
I know the third book was cancelled which this was absolutely setting up for, but honestly I'm not sure how he would have pulled it all together. I'd love to have known his plans, and if we'd ever find out the Mysterious Destiny of Lyandro Karras, but honestly, I'm glad the story seems to 'end' here, because all muh bois in Talon are alive and feisty and that's a good thing.
September 12, 2025
Only after I finished it, did I realize this is book 2. I was looking forward to reading something Deathwatch, and it didnt dissappoint. But it didnt impress either. This book was a very great ok. It didnt have high highs or low lows, it was just a good simple straight story.
I like how the book started and I like how slow the start and the setting of the story was. It paints a very good picture of the factions, the planet and the conflict. Kill Team Talon is super cool and they really felt like a team. A very, very capable team. You can clearly see why Deathwatch are the most elite. I didnt realize how much I miss the covert operations in 40K. Karras was my favorite character. He is very solid and really surprised me as I dont usually vibe with psykers. I really enjoy how his powers and their costs were portrayed. The rest of Talon were all very unique and enjoyable and the human characters were good too.
In terms of story, there wasnt anything mindblowing. Yes, there were some twists with the Eldar, the Blackseed project, the Inquisition being the Inquisition, but from the start I told myself that I will just enjoy the book for what it is, since it was also longer than the average 40k book, and not dissect it and treat it like a mainline 40k story. Despite its issues, I really enjoyed it as a standalone story. Yes, there are pacing issues, it feels very weird at times with its speed. Yes, the Tau are very inconsistent, sometimes inaccurate to lore and extremely underpowered, but I think that is hilarious. Mainly because Tau are already such a joke and a lot of people, including myself, really hate them and the average Tau player, which, reading through reviews, you can spot very easily. Yes, Blackseed seems like a very stupid and bad idea, because it is, and that is the point. Desperation can lead to a lot of wild ideas.
Overall, an enjoyable story to scratch that 40k itch, if you crave covert or open combat, space marines, humans, psykers, warp stuff, xenos, it has it all.
I like how the book started and I like how slow the start and the setting of the story was. It paints a very good picture of the factions, the planet and the conflict. Kill Team Talon is super cool and they really felt like a team. A very, very capable team. You can clearly see why Deathwatch are the most elite. I didnt realize how much I miss the covert operations in 40K. Karras was my favorite character. He is very solid and really surprised me as I dont usually vibe with psykers. I really enjoy how his powers and their costs were portrayed. The rest of Talon were all very unique and enjoyable and the human characters were good too.
In terms of story, there wasnt anything mindblowing. Yes, there were some twists with the Eldar, the Blackseed project, the Inquisition being the Inquisition, but from the start I told myself that I will just enjoy the book for what it is, since it was also longer than the average 40k book, and not dissect it and treat it like a mainline 40k story. Despite its issues, I really enjoyed it as a standalone story. Yes, there are pacing issues, it feels very weird at times with its speed. Yes, the Tau are very inconsistent, sometimes inaccurate to lore and extremely underpowered, but I think that is hilarious. Mainly because Tau are already such a joke and a lot of people, including myself, really hate them and the average Tau player, which, reading through reviews, you can spot very easily. Yes, Blackseed seems like a very stupid and bad idea, because it is, and that is the point. Desperation can lead to a lot of wild ideas.
Overall, an enjoyable story to scratch that 40k itch, if you crave covert or open combat, space marines, humans, psykers, warp stuff, xenos, it has it all.
January 28, 2020
A solid Warhammer 40k novel that delves into more of the Deathwatch Space Marines. Having not read anything about them before, it was interesting to see the interpersonal conflicts that arise from having vastly different Chapters (with their own tactics, beliefs, creeds, etc) be pushed into working as squads with one another. The use of Deathwatch as strike teams by the shadowy Inquisition raises ethical questions which various ethically-motivated characters struggle with and in turn provides a nice form of conflict in the story.
You also get to explore various other sub-conflicts including friction within the T'au forces, the concept of patriarchal passing over of women for promotion and unrequited romance that can affect the workplace. Overall it was way more than I expected from a WH40k book, but very enjoyable.
And if you're in it for the action then definitely read, we get a mix of T'au vs Human, T'Au vs Space Marine, armour + air conflict, and Angry Dreadnought vs Everything fighting.
You also get to explore various other sub-conflicts including friction within the T'au forces, the concept of patriarchal passing over of women for promotion and unrequited romance that can affect the workplace. Overall it was way more than I expected from a WH40k book, but very enjoyable.
And if you're in it for the action then definitely read, we get a mix of T'au vs Human, T'Au vs Space Marine, armour + air conflict, and Angry Dreadnought vs Everything fighting.
September 7, 2024
Decent follow up from Deathwatch, though it’s much the same as the first novel. Predictable storytelling and plot lines. Doing just enough to keep you entertained without getting bored.
I mainly kept reading because of the characters. There were some nice twists and turns I’ll admit with the Inquisitor and her team, that was a fun twist even if it doesn’t make the most sense.
Shoutout Strigo, seeing Carcarodons in a 40k book is fantastic and a nice touch.
I’m a bit bummed that the overarching plot lines to the two novels are very easy to spot, wish the author made those more difficult to decipher or at least not as obvious as throwing it in the last line of the book. I’ll admit I’m excited for the 3rd novel mainly to see what happens now and also because Kill-Team Talon is fun to read (even Solarion).
I mainly kept reading because of the characters. There were some nice twists and turns I’ll admit with the Inquisitor and her team, that was a fun twist even if it doesn’t make the most sense.
Shoutout Strigo, seeing Carcarodons in a 40k book is fantastic and a nice touch.
I’m a bit bummed that the overarching plot lines to the two novels are very easy to spot, wish the author made those more difficult to decipher or at least not as obvious as throwing it in the last line of the book. I’ll admit I’m excited for the 3rd novel mainly to see what happens now and also because Kill-Team Talon is fun to read (even Solarion).
June 6, 2020
If Steve Parker could just get out of his own way and cut the fat off his narratives: too much of this novel is portentously overstuffed with prophecy, conspiracy, endless description, and wearisome exposition. Like he wants these novels to mean more than they do; and the the reader suffers for this. Too much set-up, too many tangents, too much externalizing, not enough action and only one character who appears to truly matter. There was roughly 100 pages of gripping operational action but the rest was even worse than the previous. The series is set up to continue but I won’t be.
As an aside, as a Tau fan, I couldn’t bear seeing them treated so haplessly. It was ridiculous and not in line with their usual depictions. Many errors too, where was his editor?
As an aside, as a Tau fan, I couldn’t bear seeing them treated so haplessly. It was ridiculous and not in line with their usual depictions. Many errors too, where was his editor?
December 7, 2024
Insane!
Great fun. If you want a book packed full of great action set pieces this is the book for you.
I don’t know if, objectively, it’s better than the first one, but I enjoyed it more. The relationship between Karras and Rauth is incredibly interesting, always want more of the two of them and their tangled fates.
Action set pieces were fantastic especially when Talon squad was going full stealth. It felt like scenes from the Sherlock Holmes movies- Karras explaining what the squad will do and them executing it perfectly.
Also, these books make me hate the Inquisitors, but at the same time it makes me want to read more about them!
Great fun. If you want a book packed full of great action set pieces this is the book for you.
I don’t know if, objectively, it’s better than the first one, but I enjoyed it more. The relationship between Karras and Rauth is incredibly interesting, always want more of the two of them and their tangled fates.
Action set pieces were fantastic especially when Talon squad was going full stealth. It felt like scenes from the Sherlock Holmes movies- Karras explaining what the squad will do and them executing it perfectly.
Also, these books make me hate the Inquisitors, but at the same time it makes me want to read more about them!
July 3, 2019
An unexpectedly awesome small scale action of a Deathwatch Kill Team trying to retrieve an Inquisitorial asset. There is the behind the scenes big bad, inter squad drama, managing the natives, Xenos and the last third of the book is pure room to room action. It’s really pretty good and reminded me of the classic movie The Wild Geese. The characters are, of course, interesting, without being ponderous navel gazers. C’mon the adventures of Talon Squad, plot armor and all, have to roll out more frequently off the printing press. And, yes, I now want to buy and play Deathwatch!
December 15, 2020
This wasn't what I expected and involved more of spy type of setup for a novel about the famous Space Marines. I understand what Deathwatch is and what they do but I wasn't expecting this type of novel. While I enjoyed it I found it lacking in many areas which I would expect with a good or great Warhammer 40,000 novel with space marines. I also did not like the Inquisition in the novel or the lack of resolution for a major plot point. I get that it is probably resolved in the next one in the series but for such a major plot driver this should have been resolved in this book I feel.
October 29, 2019
Also pretty good, much like the prior entry. Both of the books are honestly more like 3.5 star books to me than 4 star books (I prefer to round up in reviews), but I'll likely grab the sequel if/when it comes out. As some other reviewers have noted the author flubs a couple terminology points re: 40K lore, but tbh 40K lore is almost ludicrously dense and voluminous so I don't hold that against an author when they just mislabel a couple things.
September 28, 2019
I am newcomer to the work of Warhammer 40K but having recently been sucked in by the Galaxy’s Edge series and on the advice of the fellow fans of that series these books come highly recommend, i totally agree with them, this book is brilliant, it’s grimdark meets military sci-fi in the best way possible, I have a lot of catching up to do with these books, wish me luck 😉
March 22, 2020
Solid second book following Librarian Karras and Talon, a Deathwatch kill team. More depth in character development as well as a good action packed story line, with a dark conspiracy tale as well. I am really looking forward to the next installment, Parker has a cool epic story building. Check it out.
May 3, 2020
This novel is what happens when you try to stretch 50 pages worth of story to 600 pages. Inaccurate lore, Astartes acting even more like teenagers than the usual, bland and predictable characters make it one of the worst 40k novels I have ever read. Would not be so bad on its own, but ADB has spoiled us all.
June 21, 2022
There happens quite a lot inside of this book and most of is really epic. Since I am still kind of new to the whole Warhammer universe and haven't read many books about it yet, I am just amazed.
I must admit, the book has a really slow start and sometimes feels a bit religious about the inhabitants of the planet, but this is followed by action after action after action.
I must admit, the book has a really slow start and sometimes feels a bit religious about the inhabitants of the planet, but this is followed by action after action after action.
March 6, 2024
This was one of the most unique Warhammer books I've read till now. Its a long book but a lot of things keep happening and there are no boring parts at all in the story. A solid set of characters, very interesting situations, plenty of violence and battle scenes and insane heroics in the story. Can't wait to get more of Deathwatch.
June 20, 2020
This was one of the best books I’ve read so far this year!
A very welcome return of Talon Squad, and a really cool human special forces detachment.
This novel does a great job of showing us some of the shadow wars fought by the Ordo Xenos, loved it!
A very welcome return of Talon Squad, and a really cool human special forces detachment.
This novel does a great job of showing us some of the shadow wars fought by the Ordo Xenos, loved it!
October 2, 2023
Quick impressions: The basic premise of the novel sounds great. However, the novel's pacing is fairly slow. The pace does not really pick up until about halfway into the story. Once the pace picks up, there is plenty of action for the fans.
(Full review on my blog soon.)
(Full review on my blog soon.)
January 15, 2025
Absolutely awesome sequel to Deathwatch
Such a great read, again we fol
low the exploits of scholar, ghost, Omni, prophet, watcher and the dreadnought brother. This time lead by major Copley and her elysian drop troops. Brilliant read, highly recommended.
Such a great read, again we fol
low the exploits of scholar, ghost, Omni, prophet, watcher and the dreadnought brother. This time lead by major Copley and her elysian drop troops. Brilliant read, highly recommended.
July 5, 2019
Excellent Death Watch story, highlights the vastly different attitudes towards duty amongst the assigned Astartes.
July 14, 2020
A Cracking Read
Without a doubt one of the best WH40K novels I've read. Great characters and a great story further develop The Death Watch plotline.
Without a doubt one of the best WH40K novels I've read. Great characters and a great story further develop The Death Watch plotline.
February 8, 2021
I enjoyed it very much. Very descriptive and detailed. I am enjoying the characters and looking forward to reading more about them. I was engaged throughout!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews