kc1983

Decent enough entry some big plot holes

Reviewed: 02-24-24

This was a decent enough book, the author does a really good job painting a picture for the audience so that Alcto feels far more lived in and real.

My biggest issue with the novel was that many of the protagonists were just simply unlikable and the bad guys entire plan on a heavily populated world was predicated on no one from the Imperium noticing a district wide riot and going “maybe we should check that out”.

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Excellent 40k Novel

Reviewed: 08-14-23

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Harrowmaster. It was a fun story with enjoyable characters. It had all the twists and turns I expected in an Alpha Legion novel. It's fun seeing renegade Space Marines have a bit of personality instead of being just generic Chaos Baddies.

Several people mentioned the narration. The first half of the book was a bit rough and it seemed to get better as the book progressed. I would agree the narrator probably isn't the best choice for a Space Marine novel. However, most of the problems I had with the narration weren't with the narrator himself, It feels like there were some weird cuts and obvious shifts in voice mid sentence, to point it was occasionally distracting. It all seemed like editing or post production issues. It happened way more often in the first half of the book and got better (or maybe I got wrapped up in the story and stopped noticing).

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Decent 40k novel, but the formula is wearing thin

Reviewed: 09-25-22

Grim Repast was a decent enough Warhammer Crime novel, but the formula is wearing a bit thin.

The novel features our protagonist Quillon Drask. There is nothing super interesting about Quillon, he is a morally gray enforcer in the unimaginably big city of Varangantua. He fights crime and wants to do the right thing while working under the most brutal regime imaginable. Our adventure is set in a polar district of Alecto. While we have a new district, we don't really learn anything new about the planet. The one defining feature of our setting seems to be that it's less populated than the previous parts of the city we've seen.

The story very much echos Bloodlines.... cop who was once great now past his prime and handed a case. He starts investigating, things start pointing towards important people. Quillon is of course told to stop investigating and of course he doesn't. The story and the twists are different from Bloodlines, but overall it still has very much a similar feeling. Nothing really sets this book apart.

We do get a mildly interesting twist at the end. But again, it's nothing we haven't seen in 40k before.

Ultimately I give this audio book 3.5 stars overall (rounded up to a 4 for the purposes of this review because I feel like a 3 is too harsh). I was entertained while listening to this book, there is just nothing there that sets it apart. If you are a fan of the previous Warhammer Crime novels, you'll like this just fine. If you've read the previous two Crime novels and are on the fence, this one won't push on over to being a fan.

Narration was good, but Richard Reed is always good, definitely 5 stars there.

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1 person found this helpful

Wow this was a fun book

Reviewed: 09-25-22

I really enjoyed The Wraithbone Phoenix. Being a fan of Warhammer Crime, I was slightly disappointed with the last book in the series, Grim Repast. Grim Repast was a competent, well written book, but it did not really break any new ground.

The Wraithbone Phoenix on the other hand was a refreshing new story. We have two abhuman protagonists and this time we get to see Warhammer Crime and Alecto from the perspective of the criminal side, which was really refreshing and invigorated the series. Both of the main protagonists are Imperial Guard veterans and we got a look into Aletco from characters who have seen the wider 40k galaxy. Previously I enjoyed Warhammer Crime for it's isolation from the larger concerns of the Imperium. But having the wider Imperium brought into Wraithbone Phoenix did enhance this particular book. I'm not sure I want more of that in future Crime novels, but it was great here.

At it's core, Wraithbone Phoenix is a heist novel with our antiheros out to steal a priceless Xeno artifact from a decommissioned Imperial frigate that has been brought to the world. Of course numerous other interests and factions get involved. The book ends up with a rather large cast of characters, most of which are fun additions to the book. I especially enjoyed the writing style of Alec Worley. Reading this book felt more like I was reading a urban fantasy novel with Sci-Fi elements. Given that the Ratlings have always been presented as more or less 40k hobbits, it all really worked and was fun to read.

I don't want to leave the narrator out as Harry Myers did an excellent job with narration, given many of the characters great depth. His voice is perfect for the tone and fantasy feeling of the novel.

It's not a perfect novel, there were a few times when the day was saved out of no where and the entire "heist" section seemed to drag on for just a bit too long. Shifting character perspectives made that a bit less of an issue and helped moved things along. But towards the end I was ready for things to start wrapping up.

Still all in all, one of my favorite 40k books this year.

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