Wednesday 11 August 2010

Sorry Guys

Sorry Guys, but there will be no more book reviews from me until possibly Janurary, maybe even June next year.

Why? I am taking my GSCE's and therefore will have to study. I'll try and get one more review in before I go back to school (last year, yay), but I'm going to leave it to you guys to decide what I should review.

Titanicus? The Founding? Blood Angels Omnibus? Legion? Mechanicum? Ultramarines Omnibus? Eisenhorn? Rynn's World? A book that I will pick up from town today?

Your choice.

~Bane of Kings

Saturday 7 August 2010

Flesh and Iron: Henry Zou *Minor Spoilers*

Flesh and Iron: Henry Zou

From the Planet of Solo-Baston, there come reports of an uprising. It seems indigenous forces are rebelling against Imperial rule, and a mysterious figure known as 'Dos Pares' is at the centre of the conflict. Into this chaos, the 31st Riverene Imperial Guard are dispatched to neutralise a vital battery of siege guns, and find themselves surrounded by hostile local forces. But what the regiment first dismiss as simple tribal warefare soon turns out to be something much more sinister and dangerous.

Henry Zou returns to Black Library with Flesh and Iron, the next installment in the Bastion Wars series after the Emperor's Mercy novel, which, aside from being my first 40k novel (apart from Chaos Child) , was also my first sci-fi novel. So naturally, I had to pick this up. I refrained from doing so when it first came out, but I decided to buy it so I could read the prelude to Emperor's Mercy.

Now, becuase my last review kind of strayed off topic to talk about zombies, I'm going to try and stick on topic this review. When I first started reading the book, Solo Baston seemed like the Vietnam of the 40K universe, (but no south and west, it's divided between cities and jungles) with jungle-fighting with not-catachan regiments, and a Colonel who's basically a glory hunter, (much to the displease of his men, mind you), and we also see some in-fighting.

Oh, and this book has some plagerised bits in it, after reading a review on Amazon. I couldn't find the plagerised bits in Flesh and Iron, but I enjoyed it otherwise.

It helps if you've read Emperor's Mercy first however, as Flesh and Iron kind of fleshes out the background and we see the re-appereance of quite possibly my favourite chaos legion, the Blood Gorgons, and Khorsabad Maw from the first book. Oops, I probably shouldn't have told you that. Ah well, better change this to "Minor Spoilers".

High Point: This was great to return to the Bastion Wars series, as I really enjoyed Emperor's Mercy, and it was also my first book about jungle fighting. Who knows, I may have to pick up some books about Veitnam now. This book is also typical 40k, showing the ruthlesness of the Imperials as much as the archenemy. There is no fully "good" side in this universe.

Low Point: That I found out this book had some plagerised content.

Rating: 7/10. It would have an 8 but for plagerising.

Should you buy this book: Depends on whether you're happy about Plagerisim or not. And if you liked Emperor's Mercy. Buy this book if you don't care about plagerisim and you really want to find out what happens in the Bastion Wars novels.

~Bane of Kings, over and out. Next time, I'll be reviewing my first Gaunt's Ghosts Novel, as well as my first Omnibus, entitled "The Founding," by Dan Abnett. Also, I have Eisenhorn and Titanicus waiting to be read, alongside Rynn's World by Steve Parker.

Also, I'll be offline in two weeks so I won't be able to post up reviews unless I can get my Itouch to do it. But expect more reviews four weeks from now unless I get The Founding Finished. I'm also pleased because I share the same name as one of the charachters, lol.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Cadian Blood: Aaron Dembski-Bowden *Minor Spoilers*

Cadian Blood: Aaron Dembski-Bowden
WHEN THE IMPERIAL shrine world of Kathur is blighted by Chaos, the brave Guardsman of Cadia are sent to reclaim it. The plague of Nurgle has set in deeply on the planet, forcing the Cadians into battle with an innumerable legion of the infected. In the midist of battle, Captain Parmenion Thade is thrust into an unlikely commanding role. Yet he cannot imagine what lies ahead on Kathur and just how important it will be to ensure victory there...
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Okay, so this was my first Imperial Guard novel, but it's also Aaron Dembski-Bowden's first ever novel for Black Library. After reading Helsreach and Soul Hunter, I simply had to pick it up. Another reason could be that the Waterstones I was in didn't have too much choice. Now, back to the novel. It starts off with introducing the history of the planet, before introducing the charachters. Also, may I just point out one thing: ZOMBIES! In the 40K universe! Okay, if you're counting that as two things, then okay, have two things, but anyway, before I get too far off topic, back to Cadian Blood.
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Instead of reclaiming the planet by blasting it out of space with exterminatus, the Cadian 88th Mechanichanized (yes, I know I can't spell that right) Infantry, (Thade's regiment) find themselves with orders to capture the planet without blowing it to bits. And worse, the planet's crawling with Nurgle infested Zombies. We're introduced to the charachters that are actually likeable, which is always a plus.
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This novel is action packed after the explanation of the planet's history, and that includes a huge space battle between the Terminus Est, the flagship of Typhus, which we saw in The Flight of the Eisenstien, and Galaxy in Flames, both novels in the Horus Heresy. Also, we get to see the Raven Guard pitted against the Death Guard in a grudge match between the two chapters/legions.
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All in all, this was a fantastic book, not bad for Dembski-Bowden's first novel.
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High Point: The apperance of Typhus, and lots of humour.
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Low Point: Too much action, if I do say so myself. Also, the authour had a habit of telling us that people would die before they actually did, which made it a bit annoying. However, it did make me read on to find out how they died. The book was also a bit predictable as well.
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Rating: 8/10
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Should you buy this: YES!
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~Bane of Kings, over and out. The next book(s) should be The Ultramarines Omnibus, but if I can get Legion, Mechanicum and Tales of Heresy, you'll have them to look forward to.

Monday 2 August 2010

Battle for the Aybss: Ben Counter

Ben Counter: Battle for the Aybss

NEWS OF HORUS'S treachery is in the open, and a time of testing has come. As Horus deploys his forces, loyalist Astartes learn that the Wordbearers are sending a fleet to Ultramar, home of the Ultramarines. Unless they can intercept and destroy it, the Ultramarines may suffer a blow from which they will never recover.

Battle for the Aybss continues the epic tale of the Horus Heresy, a galactic civil war that threatened to bring about the extinction of humanty.

Right, Battle for the Aybss. The eight novel in the Horus Heresy series, and the first featuring the Ultramarines, and follows brother captain and fleet commander Cestus of the seventh company, as he tries to bring down the Furious Aybss, a ship enhanced by the dark powers of the warp before it can reach Ultramar, and reduce the worlds of the Ultramarines to ashes. Side from Cestus and his Honour Guard, we also get a ragtag bunch of Space Marines from three other legions, Brynngar, a captain of the Space Wolves, Mhotep, a sergeant and the only Thousand Son on board, and Skraal of the World Eaters. Needless to say, when Thousand Sons and Space Wolves meet, this won't be pretty.

This book also contains some decent ship-to-ship warfare, which helped me as I am currently writing a book (non 40K), which contains a small space battle at the beginning. However, I felt that it was very action packed, with hardly and slow parts. Also, like Descent of Angels and it's sequel, I felt that it strayed from the original layout featuring Horus and his Legion, but we got them back in Nemesis, so I am content.

High Point: The Ultramarines getting killed, (always good to see some smurfs getting killed) and the honour duel between two of the loyal space marines.

Low Point: Too much action, and it didn't feel like a Horus Heresy novel, similar to the Dark Angels ones.

Rating: 6 / 10

Seeya next time, when I'll be reviewing my first Imperial Guard novel, not including Emperor's Mercy. I would've picked up Gaunt's Ghosts, but the Waterstones I was in didn't have them, so I brought Cadian Blood. That's what I'll be reviewing next time.