EPIC28

Playing EPIC in 28mm.

Monday 3 April 2017

Carcharodon Book Review

Image result for red tithe



I bought this (actually from Banbury GW) for a holiday read.  But then Mrs Zzzzzz stole 'Arthur' which was the next book I was going to read and so I picked up the trashy holiday read.

Were I a BL author and they said "We want a Space Marine book and its...." my heart would sink. How to make one dimensional post human super warriors interesting ?  Like Dai says, there's a lot of stuff out there which is little better than fanboi fan-lit.

Now, I know that the HH stuff is different.  But that's it, it's different - different times, different outlook, different ethos, different people.  This is 40K.

Robbie MacNiven has my admiration.  His portrayal of both the Night Lords and the Carcharodons is considered and true to the fluff.  But both sides are still recognisable space marines.  And the 'tithe' aspect, the main (only) plot driver is not only explicable, but more or less demanded by the fluff.

So nothing phenomenally way out happens.  The story unfolds in not unexpected way, but is nicely paced and references all of the right things to make you give that internal nod  -  the author knows his subject, so when he takes poetic licence to make (what is in a 40K game a simple mechanic) things happen, one allows it to happen in that way (ie captured psykers still taking an active part in events).

I spent £18 on this, because I wanted to have the hardback to whack the small people with when they try to tip my lounger into the pool.  The ebook is probably worth the money.  If Robbie MacNiven is allowed to write about anything other than Space Marines, I might be inclined to have a look at it.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting. Would someone bored with general 40k stuff, but still loves the badab war find it interesting?

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  2. Thanks, I appreciate the review!

    ReplyDelete