Space Wolf: The Second Omnibus

Space Wolf #4-6

by William King, Lee Lightner

The Space Wolf Omnibus combines superb science-fiction drama with military battles on an epic scale, featuring the legendary hero Ragnar Blackmane.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Military Fiction, Action

768 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Derek Weese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much to say that hasn't already been said before, but I'll say just a few words to show my appreciation.

I really, really loved these books, all of them. I'd give four and a half stars but Goodreads won't allow that.
WOLFBLADE by William King was the only book that I can remotely say was my least favorite though I truly loved it. King's sense of humor shone in this one and was readily more apparent than the two books written by (I'm assuming) Mike Lee and someone named Lightner... Torin and Gabriella were interesting characters but Haegr became a favorite of mine. I fell in love (in a manly way, of course) with the big brute and he made an already good story excellent. Not sure why William King stopped writing this series, but it was passed onto to excellent hands.
SONS OF FENRIS by Lee Lightner was not at all a disappointment. I enjoyed delving into the rivalry between the I Legion and the VI, I admit, however, that I was literally shocked when the two started killing each other. An actually shooting war between Astartes chapters is, I suppose, a sad reality of the Imperium but still I found it very stunning. The reveal later on that it was all part of a larger Chaos ploy, allowed it to make more sense. A good book, very enjoyable.
WOLFS HONOUR was my favorite of the trilogy. Non stop action on an epic scale to send off the series. SPOILER: My favorite part of the novel was the fireside scenes between the Wolfblade and the Blood Claws and the 13th Great Company survivors. To hear the reminisces of Leman Russ from those who witnessed him were fantastic and automatically made me pine for more Russ in the Horus Heresy series. I liked how the curse of the Wulfen was dealt with and how even a Wulfen could become a hero of Fenris. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't shed a manly tear of sorrow after the death of Haegr. Sure he was fat and a bit, well, not the brightest bulb in the lot. But I couldn't think of anyone better to have my back in a fight, his death literally saddened me and I stared at the page for several minutes, and re-read his death several times. After I closed the book, set it on my 'Warhammer 40K Bookcase' (which is now quite full) I drank a toast to his memory.
All in all a hell of a good series with an excellent ending. I only wished we could see more of Ragnar Blackmane, Torin and though it's an impossibility, of course more Haegr. Read these, you'll love them and be a devoted son of Fenris forevermore.

[scafandr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Честно говоря, я уже плоховато помню первые 3 романа цикла про Рагнара. Помню, что там все было просто, но при этом довольно драйвово. Как мне сказали друзья "в духе боевиков 80-х". А плохо это или хорошо - решать читателю индивидуально. Мне было забавно читать.
А вот продолжение (последние 2 романа, завершающих цикл) было поручено писать уже совершенно другому автору - Ли Лайтнеру. Четвертый (он же в этой книге первый) писал еще сам Уильям Кинг.
Первые три романа мне запомнились тем, что там было много стычек с представителями разных рас. Такое ощущение, что Кинг хотел Рагнара познакомить со всем бомондом вархаммерского сообщества. 3 романа, представленные в этой книге, не такие безбашенные.
В "Волчьем клинке" Кинг решил поиграть с детективом. После "небольшого" косяка с копьем Лемана Русса Рагнара отсылают на Терру в качестве охранника Дома Навигаторов. Роман интересен тем, что он рассказывает о иерархии среди Навигаторов. Какие есть Дома, как они между собой взаимодействуют и в целом как там на Терре живется. Роман был бы прекрасен, если бы не неожиданная слитая концовка. Я ожидал совсем не того, чтобы за парочку страниц вдруг резко все закончилось. Я все ждал, что "крыса" окажется другой, ведь на протяжении всего романа автор намекал, что вот этот товарищ - редиска. Он редиской и остался. Интриги ноль.
Ли Лайтнер, судя по чужим отзывам, нашел отлкик в сердцах вахофилов. К сожалению, я не могу сказать, что смена автора положительно сказалась на цикле. Самое первое, что бросается в глаза - Лайтнер совсем не умеет в юмор. У Кинга 2 героя часто между собой грызлись, подтрунивая друг над другом. И главное, что это было действительно смешно. Порой я читал и ловил себя на мысли, что Кинг смог бы сделать хорошее шоу в стендапе. На фоне него Лайтнер кажется школьником с детским юмором. Совсем не смешно, не уловил от тонкую язву, которой пользовался Кинг.
Кинг больше напирал на раскрытие характера, на мысли героев. У Лайтнера больше упор на боевку с подробным описанием, кто кого куда и чем. Но все на самом деле не так плохо. как кажется. Есть что почерпнуть и в романах Лайтнера.
Например, в "Сынах Фенриса" мы почитаем про обоюдную ненависть Темных Ангелов и Космических Волков. В это романе они вынуждены работать вместе, чтобы выжить.
А вот финальный роман... Ну что тут сказать, разве кто-то сомневался, что драгоценный артефакт навсегда затеряется в Оке Ужаса? Все получилось весьма предсказуемо. Космические Волки настолько храбрые, что ранить их сложно, а убить так вовсе невозможно. Все эти победы на тоненького меня давно уже не возбуждают. Дайте уже Хаосу когда-нибудь порадоваться победе=)

[Kim Hoag · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of three books out of the 400 + written in the Warhammer series. King has penned only four of those (the second author, Lee Lightner, is actually two fans of the series). I avoid books based upon games usually finding them poorly written. I read this one because a friend gave it to me and I couldn't put it off any longer. In these Covid-times, it was the perfect book to whisk me away from e-teaching duties. I shouldn't have like it: unashamedly derivative of Viking mythic culture and Klingon, as well as abundantly using anachronistic words of Norse, Greek and Latin mythic origins (These books take place tens of thousands of years in the future), the prose is luridly violent and melodramatic, it is necessary to suspend belief consistently, there is a question of whether this is sci. fi. or fantasy as there is magic everywhere (machines have machine spirits controlled by Iron Priests), and it is often overwritten. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were stereotypes but they were good ones and well depicted (as were the characters in the original Star Wars films). If you are going to derive characters and actions from anything, let it be from that which seems to stir the collective unconscious, and these three books do. The action was non-stop and the characters were riddled with angst (that's the Klingon Worf thing). As for the luridness and overwriting, it made the 760 pages move quicker as I was able skim large sections, something I seldom do. Will I read others? Unlikely. As enjoyable as it was to stomp in the mud a bit, too many other books call.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting switch of authors for the last two books. They really helped smooth a lot of the quirks out.

[Bahman Naraghi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than the first omnibus. More cohesive story arc across the trilogy, action-packed, and lots of lore about the WH40K universe that I didn't know.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful ending to the incredible tales of young Ragnar Blackmane!

[Ulzeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite fun.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Left me wanting more of Ragnar and the Space Wolves.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wolfblade:Ragnar is sent to Holy Terra to provide an honour guard to the navigator house of Belisarius. There Ragnar has to protect the new ruling member of house Belisarius.But life on Terra is different from what he had expected. Ragnar Protects Gabriella through the assasination attemps and tries to find the man trying to get rid of her. But will he be able able to see through all subtleties of terran politics?

The idea of Ragnar going to earth is really well developped, the setting is really well described. Ragnar, the main character is finely detailed and really well personnified. I like the idea of being sent to terra after having made the mistake of loosing the spear of Russ(Holy space wolf relic). This book I recommend to people who have read the first omnibus or people who know a bit about 40K and like science fiction.

Sons of Fenris:Chaos attacks are reported on Hyades, a jungle world. Ragnar and his space wolf squad defend the Belisarius base when a dark angel kill team is sent to kill a dark angel Traitor. But then chaos marines are summoned by the Dark angel traitor. Will the Dark angels and space wolves unite to fight a common threat

The setting of the jungle is ammazing. The environment is well described
What I prefer in this book is that the Space wolve dont like the Dark angels and visa verca and that causes them to not cooperate but fight against each other instead of fighting one single common threat.

[JMAW · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my introduction to the world of Warhammer 40,000 and I loved it! It took me awhile to get into to be honest but once I got some adequate downtime in the schedule, I decided to build some momentum in reading this and have finished this Omnibus, a Space Marines Battles novel, and starting on the Blood Angels First Omnibus in the last two weeks.

I have seen much critique over the transition from William King to the duo that is Lee Lightner. I thoroughly enjoyed each take and found different reasons to enjoy the books. They also really flowed well together and built to a great climax, with honorable deaths, tragedy, and redemption woven in. I plan to read the first Omnibus at some point and hope to find more about the saga that is the life of Ragnar Blackmane, which is possible considering there is some foreshadowing and doors left open for future stories.

Give this book an opportunity but be forewarned, the Warhammer bug could bite you and you could find yourself devouring novels and reading about the history of the different chapters as much as you can in your free time...

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic culmination to an incredible series. I had a hard time believing that anything could follow up on the first three books and oh my was I proven wrong. Some may criticise the language in this series as simplistic but that is so forgiven by the narrative and character development. I can go on for hours about how good this series is but I'll just knit pick the flaws. The occasional irritating repetition, the rare editing oversight and the fact that we have no more of this epic series to continue with. Overall the epic narrative, the wonderful character development and excellent scene setting and battle description overrides any errors in this series making it a must read not just for any fans of 40k but also for action, sci-fi and open minded readers.

let's all hope that someday soon we will see a continuation in the saga of Ragnar Blackmane

[M.R. Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic sequel to the first omnibus that i thoroughly enjoyed. I liked the way the story took a 'dishonoured' turn of events and the introductions of the new characters were brilliant.
The change in authors for the third part went virtually unnoticed except for the over use ofthe label 'the young wolf' and it was this alone that stopped me giving it five stars as it began to irritate me and effect my reading enjoyment. Other than that it was a fantastic story and i hope they make a third set

[Adam Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good continuation of the First Omnibus. The writing is very different when it switches from King to Lightner, but they (Lee Lightner is 2 people) do a very superb job in wrapping up the story between Ragnar and Madox, tying all the loose ends up. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a 40k fan, and specifically to any Space Wolf fans. Ragnar Blackmane will rise to be the next Great Wolf. Just Saying.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completes the storyline that is started with the first omnibus but doesn't go into further detail. some parts do drag with typical 40k fight descriptions but the motivations of the characters are well done.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome sequels to the original trilogy.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a Hugo winner by any means, but really entertaining.

[Jayson Bucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First two books in are awesome, but you can really tell where William King left the series and the new writer took over.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down, which drove my family nuts :)