gridlore: A pile of a dozen hardback books (Books)
https://www.blacklibrary.com/series/gaunts-ghosts/ebook-the-victory-part-two-eng-2022.html

Five Stars

I think this series has reached its natural end or a transformation point.

Picking up from the events in the first Victory Omnibus, the Ghosts, their Imperial Navy crew, and the Regiment's followers find themselves suddenly back in realspace, with shattered memories, fogged minds, and being boarded. After a fierce fight, they learn the truth. The loss of one of their war engines has cast them out of the warp, and ten years have passed.

They reach the vital forge world of Urdesh, where an essential campaign will determine the fate of the war. To his shock, Gaunt is named a Lord Commander and ushered into the highest circles of the crusade's command, and a deadly new world of political infighting.

The two novels cover the final acts of the Urdesh campaign and are filled with Abnett's great characters, brilliant imagery, and vile enemies. The last book resolves many hanging plotlines, and as I said at the top, it is a perfect chance for the series to take a new direction. Gaunt is now the second in command of the crusade, the voice of the Warlord. The 1st Tanith is now his personal guard. I'd love to see the series lean into this, showing the big picture and infighting in the highest circles, as Gaunt did leapfrog over several people to be named to his new post. It would be fascinating to see the Ghosts evolve after over twenty years of combat and so many losses to find their new identity.

A tremendous new omnibus in the Black Library's longest-running series following a single unit.
gridlore: Old manual typewriter with a blank sheet of paper inserted. (Writing)
Up above an arctic storm was lashing the towers of Dwumfords Hive. Sleet and freezing rain was attacking the soaring edifices and bridges of the upper city; coating the homes of the rich and powerful in ice that would only melt when the distant summer came. Down where I was guiding my bicycle through yet another souk, the storm manifested as an endless series of drips and rivulets of dirty water sluicing down from above. I had been told that once the storm passed, I should make my way to an upper level to view the dawn lighting up the ice-encrusted spires. Beautiful and inspiring, I was told.

Sod that. With any luck, I'd be off this world and long gone before the rain stopped.

So there I was, my dinner of fish stew in the basket and a dying glo-globe lighting my way as I maneuvered around the edges of the end-of-shift mob in the souk. All around me people were haggling over prices, shoving, arguing, and then coming to an agreement and shaking hands like old friends. Dozens of bikes like mine competed with pedicabs and even a few draft carts for space to move. It was a typical evening in the not-quite Underhive. I was surrounded by thousands of people.

And I was being watched.

I've lasted this long by developing a sense for this. Someone was following me. Looking around, making sure it looked to any observer that I was just trying to find a faster lane of travel, I spotted three likely candidates. Not moving, not haggling, conspicuously inconspicuous. Three was too many. I picked an exit from the souk and pedaled hard, sending up a spray of oily water in my wake. My three watchers reacted instantly, going from "trail" to "pursue" so seamlessly it was almost a thing of beauty. If only I wasn't the one being pursued.

Three random turns, and I dumped the bike and scampered into a narrow alleyway. I stopped several feet in and ate my stew. Somehow, I figured that eating now was going to be a good thing. As a slurped down the overly spicy meal, I tried to think who these guys could be. Arbites? Not likely, since I doubt the Merchant House families I had just scammed would want news of their gullibility to enter the official records. House assassins? Possibly, but why hesitate? They could have gunned me down in the souk easily, and to hell with the innocent bystanders. The local authorities would just pass it off as gang violence. It was possible they wanted me alive, to retrieve what I had liberated, but that made the whole operation clumsy. They'd know that my only options for leaving were the port or the maglev, easier to stake them out if they wanted me at their leisure.

The bike was stolen within minutes, of course. Fitting, since I had stolen it myself. At some point, I imagine every bicycle in Dwumfords must have been purchased legitimately. But in the centuries since then, they've passed from owner to owner by the simple act of taking one when the previous rider was inattentive...

...I froze as one of the three I had spotted moved down the narrow street. I could see now that it was a woman, and she moved like a trained fighter. I tried very hard not to look at her, but to instead focus on the wall and let her remain in my peripheral vision. Like I said, people know when they're being watched. My hunter stopped in the middle of the broken pavement, stared directly at me for several seconds (or so it felt) then touched a jeweled stud on the collar of her long rain coat.

"Wind meets Rocks. Fond Hearts. Reunion."

Without moving a muscle, I relaxed. So that's who was chasing me. The bastard!
gridlore: A pile of a dozen hardback books (Books)
The Victory (Gaunt's Ghosts, #12-13)The Victory by Dan Abnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I will admit that when at the end of the last omnibus, having Colonel-Commissar Gaunt rescued kind of disappointed me. I thought the series had reached an appropriate ending, with the 1st Tanith entering a new phase of existence, beyond the legacy of being Gaunt's Ghosts.

I was wrong.

We pick up two years after the events in Only in Death, the Tanith 1st has finally been sent for rest and refit, But two years of inactivity are wearing on them. The planet Balhaut was the site of the Famous Victory some fifteen years prior, and Gaunt gained fame as the Commissar of Hyrkan 8th, rallying them to a crushing victory in the final battle. in the city of Balopolis. Gaunt is ready to be redeployed, ready to get back in the war. . . then a very special prisoner arrives, and he will on;y speak to Gaunt. A prisoner that the Archenemy will do anything to silence.

What follows is a game of one mouse and many cats, with suspicions on all sides. There is unexpected heroism, a stunning betrayal, and a satisfying conclusion. A very different entry in the series, and a very good novel. That's my view of Blood Pact, the first novel.

The second novel is Salavation's Reach and is a more traditional Ghosts story, but with a twist or five. The regiment is packed on a frigate centuries past the day when she should have been scrapped and sent on a raid that could tip the balance in the stalled Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Along for the ride are three Space Marines, and hidden among the regiment and crew is an assassin.

Abnett normally avoids big themes in his books, or rather he hides them very well, but here the theme is family. We have a woman from the previous book who is now adjusting to life as an officer's lady. Reunions both welcome and unexpected, and how close family ties can both help and hinder a unit. One thing I really like was how he showed the regiment preparing for the raid. They had floorplans of the target, and these were laid out in empty hanger spaces so the troops could rehearse every expected step, train on room-clearing, and learn the other guy's job as well as their own. This is what real units do. It was a nice touch.

There are the usual roadblocks, some quite threatening, and we do get a massive space battle, but the raid goes off as planned, and the regiment escapes, except we've lost some long-standing characters. Such is war.

After this, there are several short stories that both deepen mysteries and imply greater threats while showing different aspects of shipboard life. All in all, this is a great addition to the canon, and I shall be ordering Volume 2 of The Victory as soon as I have some spare cash.



View all my reviews
gridlore: A pile of a dozen hardback books (Books)
Saviour Of The Imperium (Ciaphas Cain)Saviour Of The Imperium by Sandy Mitchell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Hail Commissar Cain, Saviour of the Imperium!

In this, the third omnibus collection of Sandy Mitchell's stories about the Flashman and Blackadder-inspired Ciaphas Cain, we are again treated to excerpts from his personal archive covering his extensive service as a Commissar, a political officer for the legions of the Imperial Guard. Cain is a legend, forever being in the heart of the fight, saving entire worlds from mankind's greatest enemies.

At least that's what most people see. In these first-person viewpoint tales, Cain sees himself as a self-serving coward and hypocrite. His first action on any world is to try for a post as far from danger as possible and to make sure there's a shuttle berth with his name on it for a hasty retreat.

Which is what makes the character so compelling. While Cain is always writing about his actions in a self-mocking tone with copious comments about his cowardice and lack of devotion to anyone but himself, the facts show that he is competent, brave when need be, and fastidious about his duties. He is one of the more interesting characters in the entire Black Library, to be honest.

As always, Cain is accompanied by his aide, Gunner Jurgen, who is technically still a member of the 12th Valhallan Field Artillery, although we learn in one of the book's novels that Jurgen has been with Cain for seventy years! Jurgen is the perfect aide. Devoted, single-minded, brave, and possessing the skills needed to assist the Commissar. He also smells worse than a pile of dead Orks, has breath that makes Tyranids gag, and an unending series of skin problems. Which are helpful when keeping people from bothering the Commissar. Most folks can't stand to be around Jurgen for a second longer than necessary.

Jurgen has another advantage: he's a Blank. Psychic and warp powers simply cease to function around him. Which has come in quite handy on several occasions. I was really happy to see two short stories told from Jurgen's point of view in this volume.

As always, these novels and the one novella are presented as unpublished excerpts from Cain's own massive personal archive, edited and presented by Imperial Inquisitor Amberley Vail, a sometime professional and occasional romantic partner of Cain's. She introduces each excerpt, provides copious footnotes to expand on points in the text, and, when necessary, inserts portions of other writings to fill in the gaps in Cain's self-centered writing.

As always, these stories preserve the grimdark feel of the WH40K universe while adding humor and complexes characters. I would not, however, recommend the Ciaphas Cain series as an entry-point into the WH40K books. Start with the Eisenhorn omnibus, or Gaunt's Ghosts: The Gathering. Both of these are better at introducing you to the universe and concepts that make up the setting. Wallow in the grimdark, then pick up Cain for a few laughs.






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gridlore: A pile of a dozen hardback books (Books)
Titanicus (Sabbat Worlds #3)Titanicus by Dan Abnett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another great entry in the Black Library. This story follows Legio Invictus, a Titan Legion that's deployed to Orestus, a vital forge world supporting the Sabbat Crusade (which is pretty much Abnetts Dark Tower at this point) to help defend the planet from a sudden incursion of Chaos Titans and skitarii. This helps to illustrate the dichotomy between Imperial and Mechanicus, as one seems to have all the power in the universe, and the other is essentially at the mercy of that power.

The storyline falters slightly by trying to branch together two separate plotlines, involving a stray squad of auxiliary PDF with the Titan Legion engagements. While I'm a fan of ground pounders, and Abnett can write that incredibly well, it was hard to hold the squad members in mind, and I kept losing track of who was doing what why, and who was augmented and who wasn't. The Titan battles are incredibly well written, and the technology at the disposal of the Mechanicus was both impressive and disheartening, in that its knowledge lost that can't be regained.



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gridlore: A pile of a dozen hardback books (Books)
Epic is hard. Think about every book or movie you've experienced that was described as epic. Many lose the characters in the vast setting, others fail to establish the wide scope of setting and action that makes a story truly epic. It's a fine balancing act.

But I just finished an omnibus trilogy that absolutely lives up the idea of being epic. Forges of Mars, by Graham McNeill. Yet another entry in the sprawling Warhammer: 40K universe, on the surface this is a series of novels about Adeptus Mechanicus, the mysterious tech-priests of Mars. Paying lip service to the God-Emperor, the adepts of the order worship the Machine God, the Omnissiah also known as the Deus Mechanicus.

Tech-priests show their devotion by replacing weak flesh with iron and circuitry. For many of the order, their brains are the last thing human about them, and even the brain is enhanced and altered. An adept will wear the hood robes with a variety of robotic tentacles, artificial limbs, and weapons system sticking out as needed.

But they are still human, and that drives the story.

Archmagos Lexall Kotov has fallen from favor. He has lost control over his forge worlds and been stripped of his power base. But he holds two aces in his mechanical hand. He controls the Speranza, one of the fabled Ark Mechanicus, a starship kilometers long capable of transporting legions. His second hole card is he believes he has found a trace of a Mechanicus expedition that vanished 4,000 years ago in an area of the galaxy's edge known as the Halo Scar. He means to find this lost fleet and the secret of why time is misbehaving inside the scar, and return to power in the order.

To accomplish this, the Archmagos gathers a small fleet to escort the Speranza and loads the giant ship with the best the Empire has to offer. A detachment of Space Marines from the Black Templars; A regiment of the Imperial Guard, the 71st Cadians, known as the Hellhounds; Mechanicus troops known as the Skitarii; and even a Legio of Imperial Titans; towering ancient war machines capable of leveling cities.

Along for the ride is the crew of the Rogue Trader Renard, led by Roboute Surcouf. They get to be there because it was Surcouf who found the clues that show the way to the lost fleet. Chasing the fleet with the intent of stopping it is an alien Eldar ship, where a Farseer has foreseen that this mission could undo everything and end the universe.

Epic enough for you? The books are filled with epic battles and sights, dying worlds and overwhelming odds. But where McNeill is a master is in making sure that all the characters, almost without exception, are people. You get to know them. From the bickering archmagi on the bridge of the Speranza who sound like professors arguing minor points to the bondsmen slaving in misery to keep the ship running. These books have about two dozen characters who play a major role, and each one is a unique figure that you come to know.

This closeness to the characters makes the epic scenes even better. When a group is fleeing a hopeless battle in a damaged grav sled, you care because you like these people. We feel what the characters feel because we've come to know them. Even if they aren't likable.

This is a solid entry in the Black Library. I give it five penguins out of five. But there is one note of caution. This is not a book for people unfamiliar with the WH40K universe. It makes any number of assumptions of knowledge on the reader. I'd recommend starting with the first Gaunt's Ghosts: The Founding. This is a better introduction to the universe and some of its concepts.

A final thought. The WH40K universe is steeped in superstition. People believe in "machine spirits" and offer prayers and holy oils to get machines to work. Sounds silly, but these novels have many characters who link directly to various machines, and they can feel the machine spirits, and even judge their "mood."

Since this isn't a belief but direct experience, I have a theory. Functional artificial intelligence is anathema to the Empire of Man, but most of these systems are centuries old and controlled by expert systems that we can even imagine. It's entirely plausible that over the ages, these expert systems could achieve a rough form of sentience. A Leman Russ tank would be aggressive after 300 years of responding to orders to attack and destroy. Even newer materials would get code packages that contained the thousands of years of "experience" entered into the machine that compiles code for new machines.

So it's not entirely superstition. Any big, complex machine probably has feelings and a sense of purpose if not a sense of self. Smaller things like lasguns and communicators probably lack machine spirits, but when the habit is there, you pray for your rifle to function.

Hail the Omnissiah
Knowlege is Power
gridlore: One of the penguins from "Madagascar," captioned "It's all some kind of whacked-out conspiracy." (Penguin - Conspiracy)
So far, I've spent all of 2018 battling a terrible cold. I'm really disappointed in you, New Year! I expected more. Less snot, more wonder, if you know what I mean. I would like to point out that I spelled disappointed correctly, which never happens. In fact, I've typed about fifty words so far and Grammarly hasn't dinged me once.

At least until I misspelled "Grammarly." Oh, savor the irony.

But yeah, I'm sick. Stuffed head, coughing, sneezing, and feel a bit like Constantinople in 1453: run down and bits of me are crumbling into ruin. How's that for a tortured metaphor? The United Nations should investigate my writing. At least I'd get to visit The Hauge when I'm charged with crimes against the written word.

"It wasn't me, your Honor, it was my spellcheck! It was LibreOffice that done me in!" I'd scream as they locked me away. Followed by a cunning escape that would involve a fake Hope Diamond, a Sopwith Camel, and an actual camel painted in RAF colors. It would be just as fun and just as plausible as some of the plans you see in heist films. Which I'm addicted to, by the way, and I will always love the end of the original 1969 version of The Italian Job. A literal cliffhanger.

As you might be able to tell, I'm a little random today. This is due to my brain floating in a sea of snot, resulting in bad connections all around. My aphasia was on fine display this morning, and I should be happy because it throttled what was going to be a terrible joke.

So in that spirit of randomness, here's a theory I've come up with: Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Riff-Raff, and Magenta from the Rocky Horror Picture Show are Eldar. If you're not familiar with that term, the Eldar are the Space Elves of the Warhammer: 40,000 setting. A race that used to rule the galaxy until they were corrupted by chaos and fell. Eldar are known for being hedonistic and cruel. Which describes the goings-on at the Frankenstein place pretty well.

Here's how it falls out: the man who will become the God-Emperor of Man is alive today. He's been alive for about 10,000 years at this point, he's pretty special. He is also perhaps the most powerful psyker in history. It would only make sense that the Eldar, not too shabby when it comes to psychic powers themselves, would detect this rogue talent and send a team to investigate.

The problem comes when the mission commander gives himself over to absolute pleasure; abandoning the mission in favor of swimming the warm waters of sins of the flesh. By the time Riff-Raff manages to warn the Eldar of the mission being compromised, Frank has gone over the edge. It really was a mercy killing.

By the way, if Riff's laser was capable of emitting a beam of pure antimatter, then hitting Columbia with it would have resulted in an explosion of about 2.54 gigatons. Which would about the energy of ten Hurrican Katrinas in one spot.

Luckily, this ending would have saved us from both arguments over Super Heroes and the sequel.

A variant on this theory is that the Eldar find a way to send a team back through time to kill the God-Emperor. This makes The Time Warp a very different song. Either way, I like the idea that the same race that produced the Striking Scorpions also produced the Sweet Tranvestite.

Now I wish I had everything required to paint an Eldar unit as a Rocky Horror unit. Can you roll to disbelieve in WH40K?

This was brought on by the book I'm currently reading, the Forges of Mars omnibus, by Graham McNeill. The Adeptus Mechanicus is a favorite of mine. They don't worship the God-Emperor, instead, they show reverence to the Machine God, the Omnissiah. Eagerly replace flesh with machines, the Priests of Mars are barely human, but still subject to the same petty urges that make us meat beings so much fun. Of course, this is all wrapped in the Grimdark Future of WH40K. But it is a great set of novels covering a massive expedition to the galaxy's edge and a region of space where time seems to be messed up.

I mean, this book as everything! Imperial Titans, the Guard, dour Space Marines, Rogue Traders, scrappy underdogs, sly Eldar (and not so sly Eldar who just want to kill everything) and an expedition lost for 4,000 years that seems to still be functioning. About halfway through, and I'm loving the characters he creates. Just goes to show that good characters make the science-fiction elements better.
gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Gaming - EatRads)
And sadly, it doesn't involve robotic killing machine from the future.

I am just having no luck with technology. Today alone..
  • The Facebook ap on my phone kept freezing as I was trying to post. Had to do a power cycle to get it back.

  • My Xbox 360 froze while loading a skills drill in Madden 15. Powered that off.

  • Just now when I tried to start Windows 10, I got a "Start Menu and Cortina (Clippy's evil daughter) cannot be found" error message.

  • Google Docs has been down most of the day. That's where I write. I mean, it's not like I don't owe a couple of articles and just started my NaNoWriMo project. Yes, I start early. I'm brain damaged!

  • The toilet is whistling. It's some weird valve problem. I need to clean in there so we can get the landlord in to fix it.

  • Not to mention that yesterday we found that one of the battery connectors on Kirsten's car had decided on a new career as a pile of rust.

Thank Halford I'm not on the O2 compressor. Or a pacemaker.

I think I need a Tech-Priest from the Adeptus Mechanicus to visit. Obviously, I have failed to properly appease the machine spirits in my cognitators and plumbing. Omnissiah, forgive me!
gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Me - Glare of Sarcasm)
Saturday and Sunday were utterly insane days at work. Too much to explain here, but suffice to say that I will never cheer for a Stanford sports team again. Then I wake up Monday feeling utterly miserable, and that grows into the dreaded flu-like symptoms. Which caused me to miss both Monday and Tuesday. It was one of those things where you are so sore and drained of energy that just the idea of eating, let alone actually preparing food, makes you sick on its own.

Feeling a bit better today. Took a Vicodin for the remaining muscle soreness early this morning. Feeling good enough to break out my new mop (as yet unnamed) and finally do the kitchen floor. New mop, very hot water, and Pine-Sol really killed the accumulated grime. I may make a second pass later. I am such a Domestic God! I need a new floor mat for in front of the sink.

Anybody want to buy me a one-time visit from a maid service for the Generic Winter Holiday?

I've decided to try playing Madden11 without coach mode being on. Spending a lot of time in practice. Learning the kicking controls was probably the hardest part. I mad some... interesting kicks and punts before figuring things out. The game looks amazing on our new TV. Hell, everything looks amazing on the new TV.

Reading yet another Black Library omnibus. Enforcer is Matt Farrer's collection of tales concerning Shira Calpurnia, one of the Empire's elite Adeptus Arbites, the enforces and judges of Imperial Law. I've finished two of the three books. On the plus side, Farrer has a great grasp of how big and alien the Imperium really is. He also explores areas not normally seen in these books; the Ecclesiarchy, the inner workings of a Rogue Trader flotilla, and the network of powerful telepaths who pass messages through the warp. He writes fascinating characters and places. Where he fails is in good story-telling. The first novel in the collection concerns a huge religious festival and the attempts to disrupt it. Each chapter starts with a description of the day's required rituals and observances. But the actual story reads like a SSI Gold Box adventure. Go to a place, beat the monster, get handed information. The second book should have been brilliant.. a contested succession in rogue trader flotilla sold old that their charter was signed by the God-Emperor Himself nearly ten thousand years ago! The maneuvering of factions and claimants should have been a game of shadow and daggers. Instead, the entire thing falls apart. They just aren't good police stories.

The Giants remain alive. We just need to win two straight on the road to make the NLCS. GO GIANTS!!!
gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Me - Google)

  • In the last five days I drove four different routes, trained two people, and got overtime every single day. On Wednesday I hit 12 hours without a break.

  • But in better news, the Giants now sit atop the National League West for the first time since May 6th. Things are still close, but Giants Nation believes!

  • We also won our season series against the Dodgers.

  • For the non-baseball folks among you; rivals tend to pay attention to how the regular season meetings between teams stack up.

  • This year, the Giants played the Dodgers 18 times this year, winning ten of those games.

  • First time we've won the season series in five years.

  • In a continuing attempt to add culture to our lives, we're taking another stab at attending one of San Francisco Opera's live simulcasts at AT&T Park.

  • We already have our free passes for Aida next Friday evening.

  • Anyone want to join us? Opera & garlic fries; how can you turn that offer down?

  • We were planning on hitting the Santa Clara Art & Wine Festival this weekend, but a money crunch and potentially poor weather may force a change of plans.

  • Reading still more WH40K fiction. This time I'm getting deeper into The Grey Knights Omnibus.

  • Normally, books about fanatics don't interest me, the characters are too one-sided. Here, the author keeps the characters interesting by making sure that they are challenged and forced out of their comfort zone. Not as good as the stuff by Dan Abnett, but very readable.

  • I find myself wondering what Traveller's Third Imperium would have been like if it had been so strongly supported by good fiction that helped to deepen and define the setting.

  • [livejournal.com profile] kshandra picked up Gordon Biersch's Autumn variety pack, which included Hefeweizen. Never been partial to wheat beers. It just tastes heavy. Still better than most beers.

gridlore: Old manual typewriter with a blank sheet of paper inserted. (Writing)
Up above an arctic storm was lashing the towers of Dwumfords Hive. Sleet and freezing rain was attacking the soaring edifices and bridges of the upper city; coating the homes of the rich and powerful in ice that would only melt when the distant summer came. Down where I was guiding my bicycle through yet another souk, the storm manifested as an endless series of drips and rivulets of dirty water sluicing down from above. I had been told that once the storm passed, I should make my way to an upper level to view the dawn lighting up the ice-encrusted spires. Beautiful and inspiring, I was told.
Read more... )

OK, who wants to see Part 2?

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gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Default)
Douglas Berry

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