The Icarus Plot (The Icarus Saga #2) 3.5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Icarus Plot
Series: The Icarus Saga #2
Author: Timothy Zahn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 287
Words: 114K
Publish: 2023

So twisty, so fun. By this time in my association with Zahn, I’ve realized my brain just can’t keep up with the twists and turns and so I don’t try. I just sit back and hang on while Zahn rockets me forward on the ride. It was a good ride too.

I’d like to talk more about the book, but really, I just had fun. It is part of a series and the series is going well. I’m good with that.

★★★✬☆

From the Internet

For years Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene worked as crocketts, combing through the atmospheres of uninhabited worlds for places that might be colonized or hold valuable resources. Now, they quietly work for the Icarus Group, a top-secret government organization hunting for portals created by a long-vanished alien race, portals that can teleport a person hundreds or thousands of light-years in the blink of an eye.

Roarke and Selene are searching one such possibility when they find that someone appears to be stalking them. They evade their pursuers and return to find that a man named Easton Dent has been searching the Spiral’s databases for the names Gregory Roarke and Icarus.

Roarke reluctantly agrees to meet with him. But that first contact is cut short, and hours later Roarke is arrested and accused of Dent’s murder.

More importantly to Roarke’s Icarus Group overseers, that brief meeting also confirms that Dent was in recent contact with a portal.

But the alien Patth are also searching for such portals, and they are also on the trail. It’s now a race . . . and the Patth have resources and ruthlessness far beyond anything Roarke and Selene can match.

In a universe where transportation is subsumed by the Paath monopoly, Gregory Roarke and his partner Selena have been hired by the Icarus program to find interstellar gates that allow instantaneous transportation between any two points in the galaxy. But when a conman and thief named Easton Dent continuously searches for “Gregory Roarke” and “Icarus,” everyone wants to hunt Dent down. The con man will only make contact with Roarke.

But when a body drops near the contact point, with Roarke’s wallet near the corpse, the problems expand exponentially. The Paath are after the portal. Roarke’s old mob boss employer is after Roarke and Dent. Icarus has secrets of its own, and playing its own long game. On top of everything else is Easton Dent’s brother, Weston—an omnipresent threat that always watches Easton’s back. Worst of all: The badgemen are after Roarke for the murder of Easton Dent.

Those Without Mercy (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 2.5Stars

 

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Title: Those Without Mercy
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Callum Davis
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 20
Words: 6K
Publish: 2025

In the Empire of Man, the “army” is made up of different kinds of units. Some of those units are the tyrants, the dominators of mankind, ie, the eunuchs, the Space Marines. Monstrous beings almost as evil as the evil they are fighting. Then you have the Mechanized divisions, which meld man and machine until it’s hard to tell which is which. Then you have the regular old humans who are the fodder. But even within the human only part of things, the divisions are as great as the variety of planets from which they come. One faction (which I guess you can play in the miniatures game) are the Chem Dogs. They are prisoners condemned to die but instead of being executed, are given over to a force that take on suicide missions. They are given drugs which make them go out of their gourds and they will do almost whatever they are told while on said drugs.

All of that is pretty much introduced in this short story. I’ve never heard of the Chem Dog faction before and to be honest, I’ll be ok if I never read another story about them. Part of that is because this short story was very obviously just an introduction and a chapter to a full novel. You have the setup happen for a suicide mission and that is where this story ends. I dinged off half a star because of Black Library being such a jerk for doing this.

However, I am including a full sized cover for this. Man, is it cool and macabre looking!

★★✬☆☆

From the Publisher:

A commissar investigates the death of a colleague at the hands of the Savlar Chem-Dogs, and finds more than he bargained for.

READ IT BECAUSE
The Savlar Chem-Dogs are a fascinating example of a penal legion. This story explores their unsavoury reputation, but also what makes them such effective soldiers.

THE STORY
The Savlar Chem-Dogs penal legion are embroiled in a brutal conflict against the orks. When the ruthless Commissar Hasp witnesses a squad murdering a fellow commissar, he is determined to bring them to justice – but is there more to the situation than meets the eye?

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

Resounding (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

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Title: Resounding
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Russell Zimmerman
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 41
Words: 12K
Publish: 2025

This story was a bit longer than some of the others and sadly, it really felt like a model advertisement. From the “motorcycle” thingies to the “mechs” of the Imperium forces all the way down to the death guards (Space marines infected by Nurgle, one of the chaos gods), it felt like I was reading the descriptions from a toy catalog for Warhammer 40K.

The story is basic. Some commander is told to do something that gets her and most of her people killed and one survives and gets promoted and then because everyone else died, that promoted officer is now put with a completely new unit, thus perpetuating the cycle of aloneness and solitude that all leaders of the Astra Militarum must bear. In one sentence then: A bunch of people die and nothing changes.

Stories like this are why I am thinking of reading the novels again in 2027. I need a bit more depth and characterization. Which is ironic given how franchise’y fiction’y the books are, ie, shallow.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

Colonel Zava Heerde of the 13th Laessian Astra Militarum regiment battles the Death Guard on the world of Morville Quartus.

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

The Icarus Plot (The Icarus Saga #1) 3.5Stars

 

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Title: The Icarus Plot
Series: The Icarus Saga #1
Author: Timothy Zahn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 318
Words: 120K
Publish: 2022

This is a “new” series by Timothy Zahn that follows up on his standalone book The Icarus Hunt. This series is “Icarus” adjacent, in that we follow a new set of characters who were not actually part of the Icarus Hunt. But Project Icarus is front and center, so it definitely deserves the Icarus name.

I’d last read The Icarus Hunt back in 2016 and had zero problem slotting right back into the universe. Zahn does an absolutely bang up job of introducing a new set of characters while giving us just enough enough from the Icarus Hunt so new readers can completely understand what is going on. Part of that is because this series is published by Baen while The Icarus Hunt was published by Bantam and I suspect Baen didn’t want readers to go exploring outside their garden. That makes zero sense to me, but hey, publishers, amiright? Anyway, any new reader can dive right into this science fiction series without worrying about backstory. However, if they should choose to go back and read The Icarus Hunt afterwards, they’ll just have a richer, fuller experience.

Now, my last read of Zahn was his Quadrail series, a space detective series. It became obvious through those 5 books that Zahn had one voice for his writing. Sadly, that is the case here. I kept getting flashbacks to Quadrail while reading this book. Gregory Roarke and Selene, the main characters here, sound and act almost exactly the same as Frank Compton and Bayta (notice the lack of last name for the women? It’s not derogatory on Zahn’s part, it’s just his formula) from Quadrail. The situations are different, but multiple alien encounters happen (just like in Quadrail) and Roarke reacts the same as Frank Compton. Selene/Bayta is a side character and stays that way. It was like seeing an actor from a movie I really like acting in another movie. Imagine if Agent Smith from the Matrix was acting all “Smith’y” as Elrond in the Lord of the Rings movies? Or if Agent Smith was acting like Elrond while being in the Matrix? It didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book, but it did leave me concerned that maybe this Icarus series was going to end up feeling like Quadrail 2.0.

Zahn writes really good move/counter-move/TWIST/count-twist/move kind of stories and that is the case here. Just when I thought maybe I had a handle on things, everything shifted and I had to put what I had before into this new perspective that had just opened up to me. As long as you don’t mind knowing that you don’t know what is actually going on, you’ll love this book.

Overall, I like the ideas presented here, I like how this continues the Icarus storyline but with new people while incorporating the original cast and I like the inclusion of more aliens and wider socio-political stage. My concerns I’ve already voiced, so now we’ll see if they happen or not.

Bon Voyage...

★★★✬☆

From the Internet

The Icarus Plot, the first book in Timothy Zahn's Icarus Saga, follows former bounty hunter Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner, Selene. Working as peaceful trailblazers, their quiet life ends when they are hired by mysterious operatives to track down a woman named Tera and a secret project known as Icarus.

• The Setup: Roarke is drawn to the job not just for the unlimited budget, but for the chance for long-delayed payback against an old adversary.

• The Hunt: As Roarke and Selene search for Tera, they realize they aren't the only ones in the game. Multiple groups of bounty hunters and one of the most ruthless drug lords in the galaxy are all vying for the target.

• The Twists: Every employer and player in the plot has their own hidden agenda. Roarke must constantly determine who to trust and survive countless long cons while uncovering the true nature of the Icarus project

Six years ago, the freighter Icarus disappeared with all hands aboard. Five years ago, bounty hunter Gregory Rourke and his partner Selene were hunting the Icarus’ captain Jordan McKell when they were both ambushed. Now Rourke and Selene are trailblazers, surveying unknown worlds. Now they’re hired by a mysterious pair who want them to return to bounty hunting. The target? Another member of the Icarus. For Rourke, it looks like payback time.

But Rourke is about to find himself hip deep in a plot with more players than he can possibly realize. His employers are untrustworthy. Other bounty hunters are in on the chase. One of the worst drug lords in the spiral arm of the galaxy has added his own bounty. The woman Rourke is hunting is playing a game of her own, and she has her own allies.

Finest Hour (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

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Title: Finest Hour
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Sam Ryan
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 42
Words: 13K
Publish: 2025

A lot happens in these 40 pages. It all centers around the “Colors” of a regiment, a flag of honor. One of the Sergeants starts with it in the beginning of the story and every time someone has it, they die and someone else picks it up to continue the charge against the Chaos Cultists who have infiltrated an ice world. One new conscript runs away and leaves his comrades and leaders to die. In the end, he picks up the Flag and takes it back to the regiment while they are retreating. He is given a hero’s welcome and thus a coward is turned into a hero.

I think the flag went through about five different people? It’s even used as a weapon to kill a Chaos cultist at one point. Then coward boy uses it as a tourniquet on a Kreig soldier and carries him to the retreat point and everyone thinks he did it on purpose (saving the flag that is). The kreig soldier dies so nobody knows the boy was a coward who let everyone around him die.

That juxtaposition of cowardice and perceived bravery is a big part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It’s not just the humans either, as I’ve seen that literary tendency in the Tau and the Necrons. Little doses of it are tolerable but it gets rather depressing in novels or in a series.

★★★☆☆

From the Internet

The narrative follows newly conscripted Cadian infantryman Mathias Thorne during a brutal betrayal by heretic forces. As the Astra Militarum takes heavy casualties, a combined force of Cadian, Elysian, Krieg, and Vostroyan troopers mount a desperate counteroffensive.

The story focuses on a symbolic regimental banner passed from one dying soldier to the next in the chaos of battle. When the flag lands in Thorne's hands, he must summon the courage to carry it back to Imperial territory

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

The Joy Makers (Standalone) 2Stars

 

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Title: The Joy Makers
Series: Standalone
Author: James Gunn
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 223
Words: 67K
Publish: 1961

Back in 2024 (waaaaaaay back then, a whole two years, whoooohoooooo), I did a series of posts asking for book recommendations. In one such post (Book Recommendations III), Marzaat recommended this book to me. The names “James Gunn” caught my interest because that’s the director for several Super Hero movies that I’ve enjoyed. Obviously this was a different Jame Gunn and one that I hoped was superior to that pathetic excuse of a human that trafficked in total mediocrity ;-)

If you’ve paid attention, you’ll have already seen my rating and deduced that it was not a smashing success for me.

Ever since I finished I’ve been wondering how to write what I really think without casting any aspersions on Marzaat for suggesting the book to me :-) It has been a real struggle, because despite my sometimes brash and gruff words, I care deeply what the people who know me think of me. If Marzaat was just some rando on Devilreads, I’d roast him without a thought. Which is why I don’t review books for people I know.

This was a philosophically oriented SF story. About hedonism. That’s the first strike. It is the rise and fall and then steadying out of Hedonism as a thoughtful philosophy to live your life by.

That is so ridiculous that I won’t even go down the rampaging path. Saying that Hedonism is a viable lifestyle for the human race is like saying that Moloch worship is a viable way for Humanity to live.

So I’m chalking this one up to Experience and moving on. I’m definitely not going to read any more by Gunn and I’ll leave him to those who enjoy his brand of ivorytower-SF.

★★☆☆☆

From TheRuinedChapel.com

The first section deals with a company called Hedonics, Inc., a business which promises to make people happy, or give them their money back. A hardboiled businessman thinks he sees through this obvious scam. But after awhile, he starts to find that maybe it isn’t just a scam after all.

In part two, Hedonics has basically taken over the world, to the point where there are professional “hedonists,” who are essentially doctors assigned to make sure that their charges are in a state of happiness. This section follows one such hedonist, whose name we learn very late in the section, is Morgan. Morgan gradually uncovers… let’s say… issues within the structure of the government-sponsored philosophy of absolute happiness.

The third section deals with a Venus-born man returning to Earth to warn of what appears to be an impending alien attack. What he finds on returning to Earth is that it has been nearly entirely taken over by machines, whose prime directive is ensuring that humans are happy at all times. And being machines, they followed this logic to its inevitable conclusion.

The Call of Honor (Empire Rising #18) 3Stars

 

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Title: The Call of Honor
Series: Empire Rising #18
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 431
Words: 162K
Publish: 2023

Some people die, some surprises are pulled by both humans and karacknids, lots of missiles are fired, lots of missiles blow up, lots of ships blow up. Jonathan Somerville is a clone of his father, at least in terms of character make up. James is now just an old guy, that’s about the limit of his characterization now.

And that’s about the limit of these books. Take from it what you will.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher
The Karacknid Civil War has ended. Tanaka-lan is the uncontested Imperator of the Karacknid Empire. One task now dominates his desires: the complete conquest of Humanity.

On Earth, James and Christine are all too aware of what the end of the civil war means. For over two decades they have been preparing their civilization for the showdown they always knew was coming. Not content to sit back and let Tanaka-lan bring the war to them, James and his Admirals hatch a plan to go on the offensive first. By striking at the Karacknids’ distant colonies, they hope to goad Tanaka-lan into defending his worlds instead of attacking Humanity’s. Yet Tanaka-lan’s desires are not easily set aside.

Unbeknown to his father, Jonathan Somerville also finds himself thrust into the midst of the developing war. Forced by his sense of honor to lead his own foray into Karacknid space, he may very well ignite the Second Karacknid War before either James or Tanaka-lan desire.

• All of My “Empire Rising” Reviews

The Redoubt (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission\

Title: The Redoubt
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: John Sollitto
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 18
Words: 6K
Publish: 2025

This short story was about some of the Astra Militarum on some contested world fighting the Tau and their human allies with no reinforcements coming.

It is short, brutal and you know at the end, ultimately futile, since there are no reinforcements on their way. We follow Captain Mazzon as he attempts to hold out at a Redoubt (hence the name of the story) against the Tau war machine. He knows it is futile, that it would be better to fade away and carry out a guerrilla warfare style fight, but he has his orders. So they fight.

A lot of the short stories/novellas in this Death and Duty anthology have been published before and hence have their own covers and everything. This story was written just for this anthology and so there is no entry at Devilreads nor is there an official cover for it. That set me down the path of making my own cover for it. I used the logo of the Astra Militarum and then used the Bleeding Cowboy font to write in the title and the author. It looked rather plain, and gave zero info that it was in the Warhammer 40K universe, so I added that little subtitle There was still a lot of black space at the bottom and I realized that in 10 years, I might not remember this was in the “Death and Duty” anthology, so I added that to the cover as well. Then I decided I’d done enough and that was that. Now, the bleeding cowboy font isn’t the easiest to read and it really doesn’t fit into the WH40K universe but I think it looks cool. I did consider trying some sort of blocky, chunky font to give it the same aspect I imagine the people in the Astra Militarum all have, but that wouldn’t have looked as cool, so I didn’t. I know there are a couple of more original short stories in the Death and Duty anthology, so maybe with those I’ll try some other font.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

There is nothing from the publisher because Black Libary is a scumbag filled company with lazy, no-good, greedy money grubbers who have sold their souls to chaos and eat babies for breakfast.

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

The Strength of Symbols (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Strength of Symbols
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Carrie Harris
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 36
Words: 8K
Publish: 2023

A nice little story about recovering a Regimental Flag so as to boost morale of an entire army. A medic and some troopers are sent on a mission to recover the flag in ork infested territory and they all have a bonding moment. They get the flag, and return just in time to inspire the other troops to win a battle. It was actually pretty hokey.

It also made me wonder why the Army sent a highly trained medic along on a secret mission. Wouldn’t she have been better utilized staying at the main hospital hacking off poor soldiers’s limbs so they can be augmented and returned to the meat grinder of the war.

That is about how the whole WH40K universe works though. If it would make sense or be logical or commonsense, well, THAT kind of thing is very unwelcome in the Empire of Mankind. So just stop thinking, would you? Because if you don’t, the Emperor’s rotting corpse will send the ghost of Horus to haunt you and Horus will bring along his Chaos buddies, who WILL eat your soul, literally.

Ahhh, good times ;-)

★★✬☆☆

From the Publisher:

A medic from a different regiment hatches a plan to retrieve an important relic and earn her place among her new comrades.

READ IT BECAUSE

The Cadians are a proud regiment. Learn what an outsider must do to show them what Valhallans are made of and earn their trust.

THE STORY

Cadian medic Cathris Korr, a Valhallan transplant, is part of a squad sent on a special mission to retrieve a regimental banner stolen by the opposing ork army. When their Chimera is destroyed, Cathris must overcome her fear of the orks and put her skills as a healer to good use in order to bring the banner where it is needed most, and earn her place amongst the Cadians.

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

The Sum of Its Parts (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

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Title: The Sum of Its Parts
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Rhuairidh James
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 33
Words: 8K
Publish: 2023

These little snippets of stories from the Warhammer 40K universe are working out for me perfectly. Just enough to keep my appetite whetted without actually filling me up. The perfect appetizer.

That’s what these are and I’m ok with that. Doesn’t make for great reviews but hey, not everything can make that cut, you know?

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

Follow the history of one of the Guard’s finest weapons.

THE STORY
Through a series of vignettes, we learn the history of the Leman Russ tank Sebastian's Lance over hundreds of years of Imperial warfare.

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

Way-farer (Kensho #1) 2.5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Way-farer
Series: Kensho #1
Author: Dennis Schmidt
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 170
Words: 67K
Publish: 1978

This is one of those books I read as a teen, then a 20something, then a 30something now as a 40something. I loved this book, I loved it a lot. This time, not so much. This is a much younger man’s book and it is time for me to acknowledge that fact.

I desperately wanted to give this 5stars, like all my previous times but I’m honest enough with myself to know I can’t. This is a vanity project by the author about Zen Buddhism wrapped inside a science fiction story that is actually a swords and sorcery story.

Ahhhh, another youthful book that I’ve finally outgrown. That’s not a good or bad thing, it just is. While that makes a part of me sad, another part acknowledges that is just how it is, like aching joints and reduced energy levels. Well, if I managed to push off growing up for 48 years, I’d say that was a good run.

Ok cranky old man stage, here I come!!!

★★✬☆☆

From the Publisher

According to every reading it was a paradise planet—a warm and fecund world far more desirable than the teeming, polluted warrens of the planet-city that Earth had become. Yet when the last of the one-way transports had landed its cargo of Pilgrims, the men of Earth were to learn of a danger that no machine could detect, and against which no machine could defend them—the Mushin, mental entities that stimulate and amplify the dark streak of violence that lies near the core of every human being.Seven generations would pass before a descendant of the scattered remnant of the original colonists would be ready to face the power of the Mushin. But first he would have to learn to wield the weapon that is no weapon—and that only where there is no Will, is there a Way…His name is Jerome. This is his story. He is the WAY-FARER.

• Way-farer (2003 Review)

• Way-farer (2006 Review)

• Way-farer (2016 Review)

Debt of Deceit (Empire Rising #17) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Debt of Deceit
Series: Empire Rising #17
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 478
Words: 183K
Publish: 2023

The Void War – 440 pages August 2015

A King’s Ship – 490 pages August 2016

Return to Haven – 495 pages December 2016

The Price of Liberty – 566 pages May 2017

Firestorm – 456 pages April 2018

Siege of Earth – 720 pages June 2019

Mutineer – 530 pages November 2019

Empire’s Doom – 544 pages April 2020

Empire’s Birth – 487 pages August 2020

Imperial Command – 487 pages December 2020

Counterstrike – 525 pages April 2021

Last Stand – 522 pages September 2021

Empire’s Gambit – 746 January 2022

Burden of Command – 557 pages May 2022

Into the Breach – 579 pages September 2022

Shadow Strike – 693 pages February 2023

Debt of Deceit – 718 pages June 2023

Call of Honor – 626 pages October 2023

Battle of the Wilds – 726 pages March 2024

Empire’s End – 609 August 2024

Inheritance of War – 560 pages January 2025

Empire Divided – 696 pages May 2025

*new series

The Voyage Home – 572 pages November 2017

Voyage into Darkness – 531 pages November 2018

That is 24 books in 10 years. That is just under 14,000 pages in 10 years. To put that in perspective, Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen was 10 books long, was approximately 11,000 pages long and took 12 years to complete. The complexity and pure pigheadedness shown by the obvious obfuscation of characters and events in Malazan could only have been done by a human. I am still not convinced that DJ Holmes wrote this Empire Rising series on his own, without the help of AI to do all the heavy pushing.

Whether AI was utilized to write this series or not doesn’t affect my decision to finish it. However, it does influence whether I will continue to read anything else by Holmes (that’ll be a big ol’ “NO” in case you were wondering).

This is not bad writing, but neither has it changed in the 10 years that “DJ Holmes” has been writing it. The characters are exactly the same, just with different damaged parts and being “older”, mainly shown by phsyical things. There is no character growth, which means Holmes hasn’t improved as an author either. This will be the first book I’m giving the tag “AI Written”. I am concerned it will not be the last :-(

★★★☆☆

• All of My “Empire Rising” Reviews

Hell Fist (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Hell Fist
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Justin Woolley
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 26
Words: 8K
Publish: 2023

This was a story about some orks discussing the legendary Hell Fist, a jungle warrior able to appear out of thin air and disappear at will in a swirl of smoke. One of the orks is a Kommando, trying to train the other ork to also be a Kommando. The senior ork tells the younger one about a battle where he ran into Hell Fist and survived. The younger ork disbelieves everything he says and tells him he is a coward and that he (the younger ork) would totally krump Hell Fist. So of course Hell Fist shoots the senior ork dead and then punches the younger ork dead with his mechanical arm.

This was kind of funny, because the orks are so argumentative but at the same time, they are more deadly than most of the other foes that Humanity faces simply because they produce from spores, so the only way to truly cleanse a world of them is to burn it to bedrock. Scorched earth tactics are not a viable long term solution. I’ve often wondered how the orks deal with the Chaos gods and how a clan of Chaos Orks would act. Not wondered very hard, mind you, but just a little.

Anyway, this was a fun little read and with the humor, it wasn’t grim at all. Unless you count both the orks dying at the end “grim”, which I totally don’t.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

Two orks discuss the legendary Hell Fist, a mythic Catachan Devil who appears as if by magic and fights as if possessed… To them, he represents the best fight they'll ever have, but will he give them the fight they actually want?

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Blood Sands (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Blood Sands
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: Victoria Hayward
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 28
Words: 8K
Publish: 2023

Some Imperial mech drivers are supposed to be fighting a Chaos Gene Cult (chaos infects the humans and turns them into mutants) and putting an electronic marker on some supply dump so the rest of the Imperials can blow it to kingdom come. Only they are ambushed at every turn and it becomes obvious their top secret mission has been leaked to the mutants. Only two people could have done that, the Commander of the base or the Commissar. The final two mech drivers survive and blow the dump and return to confront the traitor. Turns out it was the Commander and that a bunch of other Imperials might be infected too. The story ends with the two survivors joining the Commissar on a hunt to cleanse the compound.

Like I noted in Less than Human, these stories are simply meant to keep my toes in the WH40K universe. This story, while short, did that admirably. You had violence and mayhem, you had the threat of gene cultists and then you had the ever present fear of Chaos infecting the Imperials. Just little bits of seasoning to give my literary taste buds something to remember everything. Obviously with so little page time characterization is almost nil, but in all fairness, even most WH40K novels have almost no characterization either, so it wasn’t exactly a great loss.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

An Astra Militarum Short Story

The Astra Militarum stands as a redoubtable bulwark in the face of endless attacks on the Imperium from xenos empires and warp-born horrors alike. From Cadia to Catachan, Krieg, Mordian, and Armageddon, the Emperor's will wields the Imperial Guard in the defence of Humanity.

READ IT BECAUSE
The Astra Militarum has been infiltrated by an insidious foe – but how far has the corruption spread?

THE STORY
A squad of Sentinels crosses a desert on a covert mission against the Genestealer Cults. But is there a traitor in their midst?

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Less Than Human (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Less Than Human

Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum

Author: Steve Lyons

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: SF

Pages: 34

Words: 8K

Publish: 2023

Black Library (the company that publishes the Warhammer 40K stuff) calls this a short story and I can understand. However, since this is MY blog and I determine the fate of every word, and I have written a post recently on this very subject (PSA: Novel vs Novella vs Short Story), this gets the Novella tag because it is over 25 pages long.

The reason I read this short story is that last year I burned out on WH40K stuff. It is the original Grimdark and that kind of thing gets to me after a time of exposure. Couple that with it being winter and my tendency towards SAD (seasonal affective disorder), I thought it would be a wise decision on my part to not subject myself to 100’s of pages of hopelessness, despair and overweening arrogance. At the same time, I didn’t want to completely get out of the WH40K pool altogether for fear that I might never get back in. When I am feeling good, I can handle anything Black Library throws at me and I can even enjoy it. So how to stay in the pool without drowning? That was the question I was asking myself. Graeme, of Lord Samper’s Library, had recently reviewed an anthology of short stories about the Astra Militarum, which in regular speak means the regular army guys who aren’t super powered gene supermen. There were 12 short stories in it and that is when the idea struck me like a genius bolt from the skies. Read one short story a month for 2026 to keep my interest awake but without overwhelming me. It also gives me time to recover and dive back into full novels in 2027. That is how this little project came about. I suspect that after this post, where I over-explain everything, that these will be mini-posts running around 200 words where I basically say if I liked the story or not :-D

This story is about the Death Korps of Krieg and the Mordians (some troops from the planet Mordia I guess?) fighting against the Tau. The Mordian commander wants to get the war over with very quickly and figures a frontal assault will do the job. She also thinks that the Death Korps should bear the brunt of the assault so that she can save her troops for other battles. The commander of the Death Korps doesn’t agree but since he is outranked, has to go along, for a bit. He pulls some shenanigans that forces the Mordians to come to the fore and the Tau get the crap beaten out of them, with “acceptable” losses split amongst the Death Korps and the Mordian. Everybody goes home unhappy. Which is what the WH40K universe is all about, hahahahaha.

While I’m only giving this 3stars, it did exactly what I was hoping it would. It kept me entertained, kept me in the WH40K universe and most importantly, didn’t depress me as I wasn’t exposed long enough to the universe to be affected. I really can’t ask for more than that given what I was hoping for.

Each novella/short story has its own individual cover, which I am including in the post itself; but for the featured image, I am using the Death and Duty cover that is used on the anthology. That has some character, some oomph, some guns&goryglory going on that the individual covers totally lack.

★★★☆☆

From the Black Library:

An Astra Militarum Short Story

The Astra Militarum stands as a redoubtable bulwark in the face of endless attacks on the Imperium from xenos empires and warp-born horrors alike. From Cadia to Catachan, Krieg, Mordian, and Armageddon, the Emperor's will wields the Imperial Guard in the defense of Humanity.

READ IT BECAUSE

Disrespect the warriors of Krieg at your peril…

THE STORY

A Mordian colonel pulls rank over a regiment of Death Korps of Krieg in an attempt to quickly end a war against the T'au Empire.

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Shadow Strike (Empire Rising #16) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Shadow Strike
Series: Empire Rising #16
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 450
Words: 177K
Publish: 2023

The last time I read an Empire Rising novel was back in July 2025 (Into the Breach). I enjoyed it but knew I needed a break. So I gave myself 6 months and here we are. I admit I went into this with some trepidation. The series is now complete with the release of Book 22 in the middle of 2025 and I have to decide if I’m going to stick things out to the end or not.

On the positive side:
I enjoy these stories and consistently give them 3 or 3.5 stars.

There is plenty of little and big space battles.

Alien cultures out the wazoo!

There is always another threat on the horizon so the universe is never in danger of getting stale.

On the negative side:

Characterization is pretty basic. We have moved on to the children of the guy who started the series and they are exactly like him in tone and manner.

Space battles, nothing but space battles! Earlier books used to have some good ground pounder action but that has almost ceased to exist.

The time commitment. Each book is 300 to 500’ish pages long. After this book, I’ve still got 5 more to go.

So I enjoyed this book BUT the whole time I was reading this I was wondering about all of those positives and negatives and if I wanted to finish things up. By the end of the book I decided that I will finish this series. I don’t know if I’ll read all 5 or space things out however. I also began to wonder if the author uses AI to help him churn these out. The first book, The Void War, was published in 2016 and the twenty-second book was published in 2025. You’re talking 2 books a year for 10 years. It is possible but I find it highly unlikely. I will probably speculate more, with numbers(!!!), in future reviews.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher
Six months ago the Eaglaton Protectorate launched an unprovoked attack against Humanity and her allies. Only a daring strike led by Georgia Somerville managed to reopen the Gift wormhole and allow Imperial reinforcements into the conflict zone. Now, Admiral Becket has the full might of the Imperial Navy flowing to her banner. Yet time is of the essence, for there are signs the Karacknid Civil War is coming to an end and Humanity’s old enemy may soon seek its revenge.

Becket, aided by Jonathan and Georgia Somerville, must strike hard and fast against the Protectorate. For if they cannot end the unwanted war quickly, it may drain the Empire and her allies of all the strength they have spent two decades building.

However, lurking in the shadows, another foe watches, determined to do whatever it takes to see the two enemies fight it out to the death.

One way or another, something must break, for if the war cannot be ended quickly, Humanity will find it impossible to defend itself on three fronts.

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