Shield of the Emperor

Imperial Guard

by Steve Parker (Contributor), Mitchel Scanlon (Contributor), Steve Lyons (Contributor)

An Astra Militarum omnibus

The Astra Militarum are the Emperor’s shield, defending the worlds of mankind from all their many foes. In this omnibus, witness the brave men and women of the Imperial Guard give their all for the Imperium of Man.

READ IT BECAUSE
Discover the dedication and loyalty of three Imperial Guard regiments in a trio of stories that will immerse you in the endless war to keep the Imperium safe.

DESCRIPTION
The Astra Militarum is the largest body of fighting men and women in the galaxy. Drawn from the myriad planets of the Imperium, it is the solemn duty of these grim soldiers to fight the wars of the Immortal Emperor against the many enemies that threaten the very existence of humanity. With incredible manpower, and supported by massive battle tanks and hordes of priests, clerks and engineers, it is an indomitable war machine, the Shield of the Emperor.

This omnibus contains three novels and three short stories, each telling of some of the many battles fought by the Astra Militarum in defence of humanity.

CONTENTS
Fifteen Hours by Mitchel Scanlon
Death World by Steve Lyons
Rebel Winter by Steve Parker
Knee Deep by Mitchel Scanlon
Better the Devil by Steve Lyons
The Citadel by Steve Parker

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction

816 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2019

About the author

Originally 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

Reviews

[Robert Purdon]

This was not necessarily my first foray into the grimdark world of Warhammer 40k. When I was younger, I partook in the tabletop (For the Greater Good!) And throughout my young adulthood, I played a few of the games.
Now that I'm older, I felt it was right to start diving into the hundreds of books that fill the Black Library. This is my first WH40k book.

A collection of novels and novellas from the PoV of the Astra Millitarum (Imperial Guard). Thankfully, giving this universe about a 15-20 year head start, most of the individual novels have been collected into these omnibus editions.
I picked this up because I wanted to read Fifteen Hours. There are three novels and in-between there are novellas that coincide with characters introduced in the previously read story.

I found Fifteen Hours was, perhaps, my most enjoyable read. I read the novella quickly and wished there were more stories involving the Vardens we've learned about.
The other novels (Death World, and Rebel Winter) were okay. I felt Rebel Winter was fairly weak in all aspects. I did like Death World (parts of it reminded me of The Ruins by Scott Smith), but the latter half felt rushed and was lackluster.
The novellas are okay. I'm not upset I read them, but it would be one of the last reads in the WH40k universe of books (at this point, almost 700 novels) I'd choose to read.

[Ulzeta]

A fun read.