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zare_i 's review for:
Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work
by Guy Haley
World of Sotha is utterly destroyed by Tyranid fleet. Newly assigned commander for the region, Decimus Felix, is tasked to oversee reassignment of Scythes of the Emperor chapter to this world. Scythes, led by their chapter-master Thracian, have arrived in system with a particular mission in mind and as a bonus (to Felix's delight) archmagos of the Imperium, Belisarius Cawl, also arrives in system to conduct his own investigation of ancient Pharos structure on Sotha (of Horus Heresy fame).
Three power players, Felix, Thracian and Belisarius will very soon open the multi-layered proverbial can of worms that just might be the high explosive bullet into the body of Imperium itself.
I wont go into much more details because it would be spoiler after spoiler.
What I can say is that author manages to wonderfully integrate three stories - one of control, one of uncontrolled seeking for knowledge (and decent amount of Indiana Jones' recklessness) and finally one of duty - and manages to add standard remote-abandoned-fort horror tropes with quite a few Indiana Jones/cyberpunk elements. Pharos, or better said the entire mountain it resides on, is also a character - background device triggering flashbacks in our heroes and producing quite a few golden nuggets of W40K lore. We are given some short views on beginnings of Astartes project in the Himalazian massif, end of Horus Heresy and power plays taking place in the background, return of Guilliman and introduction of Cawls role in Primaris genesis (Primus Alpha is excellent character) and also inner views of the artificial intelligences residing in mysterious Pharos mountain that was first visited by Emperor, then Guilliman and finally Mechanicum before Scythes of the Emperor established their fortress at the peak of the mountain.
Author manages to portray all protagonists (especially Space Marines) as a very likeable human characters, with fears (or whatever comes close to this for Space Marine) and doubts and sense of duty. Unlike usual heroes, like say from Aliens movies (because hey, you need to get close to slimy, alive matter no matter what - right?), here everyone is aware of the risks because they know what might come after them, so decision and actions are more impactful and with a goal to achieve. There is purpose behind everything, over or covert, latter developing over the course of the novel. Reader is left with tracking all of the story-lines and trying to piece things together as novel progresses.
Cawl, sort of a crazy genius "Dr Emmet" type is a backbone of the novel. Through flashbacks we are slowly fed reasons for this quest but he is constantly several steps ahead of both us and his entourage, always pushing the envelope in mission-impossible style. But even when doing all of what he is doing he is protective of his allies (although it definitely does not look like it to them personally). No wonder Guilliman is constantly upset with him.
Excellent adventure novel, written in a style that I definitely did not expect in W40K universe.
If you like stories of forbidden knowledge, mysterious planets and foes, and always those very much needed snapshots from the Terras past (with a juicy comment on Emperor himself) do yourself a favor and read this one.
Highly recommended to fans of W40K specifically and SF thriller/cyberpunk generally.
Three power players, Felix, Thracian and Belisarius will very soon open the multi-layered proverbial can of worms that just might be the high explosive bullet into the body of Imperium itself.
I wont go into much more details because it would be spoiler after spoiler.
What I can say is that author manages to wonderfully integrate three stories - one of control, one of uncontrolled seeking for knowledge (and decent amount of Indiana Jones' recklessness) and finally one of duty - and manages to add standard remote-abandoned-fort horror tropes with quite a few Indiana Jones/cyberpunk elements. Pharos, or better said the entire mountain it resides on, is also a character - background device triggering flashbacks in our heroes and producing quite a few golden nuggets of W40K lore. We are given some short views on beginnings of Astartes project in the Himalazian massif, end of Horus Heresy and power plays taking place in the background, return of Guilliman and introduction of Cawls role in Primaris genesis (Primus Alpha is excellent character) and also inner views of the artificial intelligences residing in mysterious Pharos mountain that was first visited by Emperor, then Guilliman and finally Mechanicum before Scythes of the Emperor established their fortress at the peak of the mountain.
Author manages to portray all protagonists (especially Space Marines) as a very likeable human characters, with fears (or whatever comes close to this for Space Marine) and doubts and sense of duty. Unlike usual heroes, like say from Aliens movies (because hey, you need to get close to slimy, alive matter no matter what - right?), here everyone is aware of the risks because they know what might come after them, so decision and actions are more impactful and with a goal to achieve. There is purpose behind everything, over or covert, latter developing over the course of the novel. Reader is left with tracking all of the story-lines and trying to piece things together as novel progresses.
Cawl, sort of a crazy genius "Dr Emmet" type is a backbone of the novel. Through flashbacks we are slowly fed reasons for this quest but he is constantly several steps ahead of both us and his entourage, always pushing the envelope in mission-impossible style. But even when doing all of what he is doing he is protective of his allies (although it definitely does not look like it to them personally). No wonder Guilliman is constantly upset with him.
Excellent adventure novel, written in a style that I definitely did not expect in W40K universe.
If you like stories of forbidden knowledge, mysterious planets and foes, and always those very much needed snapshots from the Terras past (with a juicy comment on Emperor himself) do yourself a favor and read this one.
Highly recommended to fans of W40K specifically and SF thriller/cyberpunk generally.