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jmh123's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
kghdodge's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kavinay's review
2.0
Something happens with the navy, but it's terribly dull. The High Lord and Imperial Fist storylines are fine but given the back burner treatment.
trackofwords's review
4.0
Book three in Black Library’s The Beast Arises series, The Emperor Expects sees the reins handed over to Gav Thorpe for the first proper look at the Imperial Navy during this time of intense upheaval for the Imperium. The spotlight falls on Captain Rafal Kulik of the Colossus as he navigates the treacherous waters of naval politics, caught between two antagonistic fleet admirals as the Navy launches a desperate assault on an ork attack moon. Meanwhile the politicking continues amongst the High Lords back on Terra, while Second Captain Koorland – sole surviving Imperial Fist – calls a gathering of power that hasn’t been seen for a thousand years.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/the-emperor-expects-gav-thorpe-the-beast-arises-book-3/
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/the-emperor-expects-gav-thorpe-the-beast-arises-book-3/
foofaraw's review
4.0
So dumb and fun. Part of these Warhammer books that is a bug bummer is that these long series shift authors with each book and you get wild swings in quality. Gav writes a fun tale with space naval battles and very grimdark political intrigue. No idea what quality the next in the series will hold, but they are all about 200 pages, so it isn't a big loss either way and they make for a nice break between other books that are attempting to be a bit more the a fun tie in novel. Yes, I realise the irony in this given the next book I am going to read is a Star Wars book.
willpollard's review
4.0
The Emperor Expects is the third book in The Beast Arises series and maintains the level of quality set in the first two entries in the series. I will say up front though, that the page count is still an issue for me; at two hundred and twenty two pages, it's even shorter than the previous book.
The narrative moves between three different story threads. The Adeptus Mechanicus and the survivors of the events of book one, Vangorich and the continuing political machinations on Terra and Captain Kulik, commanding officer of the Imperial navy vessel Colossus.
There was no part of the book that felt like a chore to read but there were some chapters that I looked forward to more than others, with my favourites being any featuring Kulik and the Imperial navy arc of the story.
Again, the action and the intrigue is equally well written but I think what really helped me along with this book, is that I'm a fan of Gav Thorpe's style of writing. I feel he handles character development and action equally well and seeing that he's written a book is often a good enough reason for me to pick it up.
The narrative moves between three different story threads. The Adeptus Mechanicus and the survivors of the events of book one, Vangorich and the continuing political machinations on Terra and Captain Kulik, commanding officer of the Imperial navy vessel Colossus.
There was no part of the book that felt like a chore to read but there were some chapters that I looked forward to more than others, with my favourites being any featuring Kulik and the Imperial navy arc of the story.
Again, the action and the intrigue is equally well written but I think what really helped me along with this book, is that I'm a fan of Gav Thorpe's style of writing. I feel he handles character development and action equally well and seeing that he's written a book is often a good enough reason for me to pick it up.
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