Dark Adeptus

Grey Knights #2

by Ben Counter

More action with the Grey Knights in the second book of this popular ongoing series. When a planet mysteriously reappears, having vanished a hundred years earlier, the Imperial authorities suspect it may have been corrupted by Chaos. A crack team of Grey Knights Space Marines is sent down to investigate, and discover a nightmare world where technology runs riot, and titanic war machines have been possessed by daemons.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Fiction, Fantasy, War, Pulp, Dark

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 31, 2006

About the author

Ben Counter, as well as making several contributions to Inferno magazine, has written the Soul Drinkers and Grey Knights series and two Horus Heresy novels for the Black Library. He is an ancient history graduate and avid miniature painter with a bronze demon under his belt.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini]

By the Fell Gods and the destiny of warp, by the death of the False Emperor and the dying of the stars, we bring to you, Warmaster Abaddon, Beloved of Chaos, Despised of Man, this tribute. For now these last days are the final fires burning, the black flames that consume a galaxy, the storms of the warp that drown out life, the End Times and the dawn of a galaxy of Chaos. We swear fealty to the Gods of Chaos and their herald, Abaddon the Despoiler, with this tribute that it might strike fear into the followers of the Corpse-Emperor and that through it they may see the true face of death...

Encrypted signal from Chaeroneia

When lost Forge World Chaeroneia reemerges from the Warp after a century, a force of Grey Knights lead by Justicar Alaric is sent down to investigate, determine the presence of any daemonic influence and terminate it with extreme prejudice, but time flows differently into the Immaterium and an ancient enemy from the past had a thousand years to play out its plans...



'Tall back', hissed Alaric. 'Everyone back!'
The leader screamed a stream of machine-code, high and piercing.
Heavy bolter fire streaked up from the gun-servitor and the menials
baved like animals at the sudden din. Alaric could hear sound from all
around as the spire's inhabitants were alerted to the intruders in their midst - scrabbling, crawling, slithering, bestial howling and more bursts of machine-code.

Maybe not as good as first book of the series, but author Ben Counter is very good on writing action-packed cinematic sci-fi pulp tales filled with thrills, destruction, sacrifice and mayhem, and this was a real page-turning one with a landing force comprised of Justicar Alaric and his 5 Grey Knights, Ordo Malleus Interrogator Hawkespur, Techpriest Thalassa, Archmagos Saphentis, and a 20-strong tech-guard unit, facing Dark Mechanicus Hereteks, their daemonic possessed bio-mechanical abominations and much more, with Astartes relying only on their faith, weapons and... a ghost in the shell.

'The standing declarations of the Omnissiah are clear,' said Scraecos.
'As given to me personally by the Castigator, there is one course of
action compatible with the holiness of the planet's ground and the principles of the Adeptus.'
'State this course.'
'Kill them all.'

I'm liking more and more Alaric's character, fated to never attaining his deserved rank of brother-captain because of is cleverness, curiosity, imagination and sharp mind, qualities usually buried under the brain condition coming with the training of a Space Marine, but surfacing again when confronted with the foulest of enemies and making him triumph where any other Grey Knight would have died screaming prayers to the God-Emperor.



The battle was a good one. It was up close and brutal, where the superior strength of the Hellforger counted for more than the discipline of the Imperial Navy. Even someone as rigidly disciplined as a Chosen of the Black Legion, such as Urkrathos himself, had to let the bloodlust take
over from time to time. Sometimes battle wasn't just the work of the Dark Gods - it was an end in itself, beautiful and brutal.

I liked a lot the Black Legion sub-plot too, with its thrilling void battles and the 13th Black Crusade burning the galaxy with Alaric and his battle-brothers longing to join other Grey Knights against enemies vomited from the Eye of Terror but struck on an investigation mission with Mechanicus allies apparently admiring too much the works of their dark counterparts.



In a way the Grey Knights were no different to Tharkk's tech-guard - they had been made into different people too, far different from how they would have turned out if they had lived the normal lives they would have chosen.
But that was the sacrifice they all made. To serve the Emperor of Humankind, they had to give up their humanity.

Main villain's identity was a real surprise, but Urkrathos of the Black Legion, Chosen of Abaddon the Despoiler, was so far more interesting and the Horus Heresy retelling from his point of view so good that I just had to go on W40K Lexicanum website and read the rest of his past and future deeds.



Onwards to book three.

[Terminus]

2,5

[Elf M.]

The second Grey Knights novel, Dark Adeptus, which I managed to find at Half-Price, lucky me, and read in about three days. Pretty good considering it's 400 pages long.

Brother Alaric is joined by Inquisitor Nyxos to the Borosis star system, which has mysteriously gone silent. There, they discover a whole planet that has mysteriously emerged from the Chaos and seems to be overwhelmed by biomechanical life-forms of hideous and corrupt intent. Their mission is to get down to the surface, find the source of the corruption, and kill it.

Counter does as good a job here as he did with the previous book. He makes a strong case that Alaric is clever and creative, not features normally found in a Grey Knight, and is as skilled at using his mind as he is at his magic or his halberd. The ending is particularly satisfying as Alaric, confronted with a situation he cannot win, figures out how to change the rules in mid-game to his favor. He's a more sympathetic person in this book, worrying much more about civilians he's worked with, and perhaps we could argue needs.

On the one hand, it's not as satisfying as the first book. The villain at its core doesn't seem as all-consuming. The conspiracy isn't as big, the threat not as convincing. Counter doesn't do as good a job convincing us the threat posed by Ukrathos is real, mostly because Ukrathos is away from center-stage most of the time, doesn't corrupt those around himself effectively, and only makes boastful claims rather than showing us the effects he might have. It weakens the real threat of the plot.

There's a description in chapter six that made me grin:

The city's towers soared out of the chasms below, masses of flesh like tentacles wrapped around them as if holding them upright. The towers were in the half-Gothic, half-industrial style of the Adeptus Mechanicus but all similarity to an Imperial city ended there. The black steel spires were fused with the city's biological mass, so that some were like massive teeth sticking out from rancid gums or huge steel leg bones, skinned and wrapped in greyish muscle. Bulbous growths fused obscenely with sheer-sided skyscrapers.

My first thought upon reading this was, "Yeah, I saw Bubblegum Crisis, too." A lot of Counter's writing is like that: he does a very good job with his cinematic descriptions, as if you can see into his head and watch him replaying the best grotesqueries of anime or cinema he's ever absorbed. That's okay, I do it too.

All in all, a fine middle book. I'll see how the third book pans out next week.

[Josh]

Out of the pool of 40K writers Ben Counter has quickly become one of my favorites. This book has solidified that opinion and in a big way; having never read a Grey Knight book before I only had bits of internet lore to go off of, and he did not disappoint in any way. From beginning to end he packs in the action and really highlights the different personalities of everyone involved. I personally loved the interaction between the Justicar and the Archmagos while on the chaos-tainted planet they are ordered to explore. My only regret is that I haven't read the rest in the series! Great book all around.

[Tim]

Dark Adeptus, the second part in the Grey Knights omnibus was more of the same: The Grey Knights Space Marines go against all odds to cleanse the taint of a planet that recently resurfaced from the warp.

I really liked how the corrupt planet is portrayed, but I grew a bit weary of the structure of the story, where friend after friend falls away, has to be left behind, or just disappears. Then a Big Battle (tm) takes place, and after the big bad enemy has been removed, suddenly everything falls into place again and all is saved: chaos fleets pull back, armies fall in disarray, and some key characters miraculously seems to have survived.

However, Ben Counter has a way of telling a story that keeps you chained to the book, even though you already know more or less what is going to happen. The entertainement value of the story is very high and you won't be bored at all.

[Meitnerio]

Si bien no recomendaría estos libros a cualquier desconocedor de la franquicia, la saga de los Caballeros Grises se convierte en un rara avis dentro de la colección. Todo el asiduo lector de estos libros debería acercarse a esta saga para encontrar un puñado de historias diferentes que constituyen una experiencia refrescante y divertida sin por ello salirse de la atmósfera y la imaginería de WH40k. A mi parecer, pocas sagas más disfrutables para el veterano seguidor del Universo del cuadragésimo primer milenio. Curiosamente, tiende a estar poco considerada por la opinión general, justamente debido a lo poco canónica que es.

La reseña completa aquí ;)
http://meitnerio.blogspot.co.uk/2016/...

[Alexander Whillas]

Again, a suspenseful (but not too much as we know the main character wins in the end), sci-fi, franchise tale. Not a lot of originality going on here. I'm always hoping for more insight into the universe and its mechanics as opposed to the hum drum of battle scenes (but actually there wasn't too much of that). I feel its lacking in substance, which to be fair i expected, and it seems to stem from the lack of character in any quarter. The chaos marine had some potential but only got a minor cameo in the end. Overall, something to kill time but defiantly not worth a second visit... having said that I'll probably read the last of the trilogy :)

[Brian Turner]

A long vanished planet materialises out of the warp as over at the Eye of Terror, the 13th Crusade is well under way.
The Inquisition and a small team of Grey Knights go to investigate, but the Adeptus Mechanicus also want to get involved.

The small group manages to get even smaller as various members are killed off quite brutally.
The author does a good job of playing up the teams different reasons for being there, making it hard to know who can be trusted, or who is working towards an ulterior goal.

[Plaguedoctor]

Dark Adeptus is a good and quick read. However, the characters and plot seemed a little cliched at some points. It has a good amount of action and fluidity, it keeps you interested and wanting to continue reading.

[David Hellstrom]

Second in the Grey Knights series. Follow Justicar Alaric and his squad investigate a planet which may or may not be corrupted by Chaos.

[Rich]

Great sci-fi pulp so far...

[Marc]

A great look at traitor mechanicus; much fodder for a great 40k army to model, too!

[Craig Tyler]

Grey Knights, Dark Mechanicus, Imperial Guard and Titans! With a good portion of space battles between Chaos and Imperial ships.

[Thomas]

Book 2 following Alaric in the never ending battle against Chaos. Good sci-fi action, Ben Counter does a great job of writing the foulness of Chaos. I look forward to book3, check it out.

[Jairaj Mehta]

A unique look into the workings and ideology of the mechanicus.

[Станислав]

Титан , который стреляет демонами! Даже для Вархаммера кажется что это придумал 8летний. Мне кажется лучше написаны линии не связанные с Серыми Рыцарями. Неплохо, но очень бесвкусно, кажется, кроме Аларика, который тоже очень "серый" (тупой каламбур 1), все остальные просто болванчики. Ну может Дворе затягивает "Я - Молот...".
Кажется такая крутая серия получила такого бездарного автора.

[Kym Jackson]

More of the same. Not bad, but anticlimactic as the time runs out to have a satisfactory ending it becomes rushed and clipped.
A lot of potentially interesting themes weren’t explored in favour of formulaic action scenes.
Overall: readable…if you’re really into this stuff.

[Morgan Alexander]

Fantastic story following the Grey Knights and Alaric, very intense and delves deep into a grimdark atmosphere.

[Jacqualine]

Enjoyed this book, and particularly appreciated the coverage of Adeptus Mechanicus lore

[Little Butts]

Technodemons... Pretty decent.

[Ulzeta]

Quite boring.

[Colin]

A fun delve into mechanicus related madness

[Kyle Barron]

3.5 stars

[Lanfear]

La primera parte es una locura de bueno, pero la cosa es que no me gustan las máquinas, ni las forjas, ni la ciencia ficción, ni los tecnosacerdotes, creo que es de lo peor de el mundo de Warhammer, de lo que menos me gusta. Se me ha hecho aburrido a más no poder, apenas he entendido las chorradas de lo de las máquinas poseídas y lo demás. Es que el primero es muy bueno. Demasiado bueno.

[Ramón Nogueras Pérez]

Tengo una regla que dice que, en el 99% de las ocasiones, un libro basado en novelizar otra cosa (juegos de mesa, de rol, videojuegos, películas), es un zurullo insufrible. Este libro añade evidencia a esa regla.

El Adeptus Oscuro comete todos y cada uno de los errores que estos libros basados en otras cosas cometen:

- es un libro claramente escrito para aquellos que ya conocen el universo (en este caso, el de Warhammer 40.000). Si no conoces el universo, no te enteras de nada. Ya he dicho muchas veces que odio a los autores de fantasía que pasan miles de páginas contando los más nimios detalles de la historia de sus creaciones cuando no vienen a cuento, pero al menos un puto glosario estaría bien.

- los personajes son inexistentes porque se basan en estereotipos. Y para más inri, en este universo TODO EL MUNDO es un fanático religioso. TODOS. Imaginad un universo en el que sólo hubiera fundamentalistas cristianos, fundamentalistas musulmanes, fundamentalistas sikh, y así. No es raro que el universo de Warhammer esté siempre en guerra. Claro, es normal si tu juego es vender figuras para wargames. Pero seguir los diálogos es a menudo difícil si hablan dos del mismo bando.

- lo peor son las (muchas) batallas: suenan como esos informes de batalla de la revista White Dwarf que consisten en tratar de poner en formato narrativo una partida del juego, con lo que acabas con una descripción tirada a tirada de la acción. Es interesante si juegas, claro, si no, es soporífero. Todas las batallas son así. TODAS. Las peores, las espaciales, donde casi oyes al autor y sus amigos tirar los dados.

- a veces, cuando describe las armas y las armaduras y las máquinas de guerra, tengo la sensación de que oigo al autor masturbarse. Eso no es bueno.

La trama: un planeta aparece de repente en el espacio, tras haber desaparecido hace un siglo. Un grupo de inquisidores en armaduras megachungas bajan ahí y se encuentran que una religión de cyborgs se ha pervertido aún más en una escisión que intenta ser más cyborg que los cyborgs, pero al final era mentira todo porque ERA SATÁN Y SU OBRA DESDE EL PRINCIPIO. Se dispara y lucha mucho, y se llama al Emperador todo el rato, pero no responde porque lleva 10.000 años muerto y en conserva en un trono. EN LA SOMBRÍA OSCURIDAD DEL 41º MILENIO, SÓLO HAY GUERRA. Y PINCHOS. Y CHUNGUEZ. Y CRÁNEOS.

¿Por qué he leído esta novela? Honradamente, no sé decirlo. Es como esas veces que el cuerpo te pide ver una peli absolutamente descerebrada o algo así. No lo entiendo. No volverá a pasar.

De verdad, qué zurullo.

[Christian]

A very solid second entry in Ben Counter's Grey Knights trilogy. The characters are familiar, the action and plot are entertaining, the villain (ever wonder about the FIRST Titan?) has its dramatic monologue explaining its nefarious plans and the good guys win in the end. Ben Counter is getting out of my 'bad books'. The first Counter books I read were for the Horus Heresy and the Soul Drinkers series. These writings seemed rushed and their focus did not seem to be on the main characters. The Grey Knights books, so far, feel like big budget action adventure movies on an epic scale. The best line in the book is a quote from Grand Master Mandulis, 'Though I walk through the valley of the daemon, I shall fear nothing. For I am what the daemon fears.' BAD. ASS.

[William]

Justicar Alaric and the Grey Knights travel to Chaeroneia, a planet that vanished into the warp a hundred years ago, where they face an extreme moral threat.

The Castigator seeks to rule all of Chaos.

Magos Antigonus proves his worth to the Omnissiah.

Inquisitor Nyxos considers no sacrifice too great.

Urkrathos of the Black Legion tries to obtain the tribute for Abbadon.

[Steve]

Warhammer 40K,Grey Knights

[Ben]

Repetitive if read after the first one and kind of weak of plot. I'll be honest though, I did not make it all the way through, maybe it gets better further in.

[Scooter]

Not to shabby at all.