Title: First and Only
Series: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt's Ghosts #1
Author: Dan Abnett
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 416
Format: Digital Edition
Series: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt's Ghosts #1
Author: Dan Abnett
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 416
Format: Digital Edition
Synopsis:
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Ibram Gaunt lost
his father at a young age and the data surrounding that loss was
classified. This drove young Gaunt to become a Commisar, a military
and political appointment where he is able to root out the evil of
chaos in the emperor's name.
During his first
battle right before becoming Commisar, he is confronted by a
prophetess who foretells several things. While everyone else thinks
she is just raving, Gaunt keeps all she says in memory and uses it to
steer his life.
Once a Commisar, he
finds out that his uncle, a highly decorated officer, committed a
grave act of cowardice that doomed Gaunt's father to death. Gaunt
duels and executes his uncle, thus leading to a schism between
Gaunt's new military order, the Ghosts and the order headed by his
uncle.
During one battle
against Chaos, Gaunt increases his fame. A second battle does the
same and marks him as a target. The third battle is for a world
overrun by Chaos that holds a secret that only the Leader of the
Expedition knows about, and Gaunt. The Leader wants the power of the
artifact for himself so as to become Warleader of the entire Host
while Gaunt knows it is truly chaos tainted and something that lead
to the downfall of Humanity many millennia ago.
Gaunt wins and with
the surviving Ghosts (known because they are trackers and spies)
truly begins his career.
My
Thoughts:
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This is formulaic franchise fiction. So I expect certain things and
this didn't disappoint. Another thing is that I'm reading about an
already established universe and so my questions might have been
answered 14 thousand books ago or simply dismissed. Franchise Fiction
never stands up well to scrutiny; it's simply not meant to.
So my questions. If Chaos is so bad that it can infect people,
planets, etc out of no where, why the heck doesn't the Imperial Fleet
destroy every planet that has Chaos taint? Sure, that seems extreme
but if Chaos is worse than the black plague and way more virulent,
why is it treated so casually? Why aren't Imperial scientists working
on ways to “vaccinate” against Chaos? Why all the money on the
military and NO money on research? If the Emperor is, in essence,
just an undead Lich King, how is he any different from the forces of
Chaos he claims to be striving against? These all popped into my head
and were never addressed. So I just tossed them aside so I could
enjoy the book.
This is a fun “soldiers kill stuff and fight battles” kind of
book. The infighting between Imperials pissed me off, but it was
supposed to. Abnett shows just how corrupt Humanity is, even in the
face of raw Chaos. Considering this is Ground Pounder action, I am
planning on reading all 14 or 15 of these. Wouldn't surprise me if
Gaunt dies right at the end though, that's how Warhammer seems to
roll.
★★★☆½
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