Audio Review 127 // The Trials of Azrael by C Z Dunn

Today's review contains two of my favourite characters! Up first is the Bloodthirsty Kharn. I loved his backstory in the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40k, but he became a favourite during the reading of the Horus Heresy. Then facing off against him is Azrael of the Dark Angels. The Dark Angels are among my top five Space Marine chapters. I love their more knightly appearance of them, with their dark secrets and real anti-heroes vibes. I have fond memories of the 2nd edition linked to them. But enough of that, let's get into the review.

Title: The Trials of Azrael 

Author: C Z Dunn

Performed by: Gareth Armstrong, Tim Bentinck, Claire Corbett, Chris Fairbank, Luke Thompson

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Blurb: As war rages in the Pandorax System, the Imperial battleship Revenge comes under attack by the dread forces of Chaos. As warriors of the Black Legion rampage through the venerable craft, Supreme Grand Master Azrael leads the First Company of the Dark Angels — the elite Deathwing — onto the vessel to eliminate the enemy. Separated from his men, Azrael finds himself trapped in the lower decks with only a tech-priest for company and one of the galaxy's most fearsome warriors hunting him: the infamous Khârn the Betrayer.

Review

Finally, an audio short with some meat. At 75 minutes long, we have a solid adventure and some growth within the story. It did not disappoint, with a magnitude of surprises throughout that kept me engaged the entire time. The action comes thick and fast, like most Black Library stories and this one even has a sprinkling of humour thrown in for good measure. On one side, we have a bloodthirsty killer and on the other, a noble knight. Both hope to outsmart their counterparts whilst thwarting their opponent's plans. I sat and blasted through this in one sitting, once I started I didn't want to stop.

Like nearly all the Black Library audio dramas, the performances are amazing and, for me, at least transported me to those characters. A well-written and thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Audio Review 121 // At Slaughter's End by Andy Smillie

Hey, guess what! Time for more Flesh Tearer action! I feel I need to paint up a Flesh Tearer model soon.

Title: At Slaughter's End: Space Marine Battles

Author: Andy Smillie

Narrator:  Gareth Armstrong, Steve Conlin, and Tim Molloy

Blurb: In the aftermath of the battle, Flesh Tearers Chapter Master Amit picks his way across the blasted landscape and is drawn into single combat with a survivor of the enemy force, a berserker dedicated to the Blood God. As they fight, Amit realizes that at the slaughter’s end, he and the servant of Khorne are not so dissimilar…

This audio provides an insight into the dark soul of the Flesh Tearers Chapter and the rage that lurks beneath the surface. It’s also worth a listen if you want to witness two incredibly angry Space Marines taking chunks out of each other in brutal close combat. It's World Eater against Flesh Tearer, and one thing's for sure — it will be bloody.

Running time: 18 minutes

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Review

A quick, brutal, but informative listen today. This short story by Smille packs a punch. It plays out a single act of a more significant battle coming to a close. Amit of the Flesh Tearers stalks the battlefield looking for survivors; during one of these patrols, he encounters a World Eater Champion, one of the few survivors of the conflict. As the brutal single combat progresses, Amit is forced to realize that there is very little difference been the Flesh Tearers and the World Eaters. Both are raged filled and allow their anger to control them. How easy would it be to slip into the lure of chaos?

For a quick short story, it hits hards and is an excellent look at the doubt found within the first Chapter, Master of the Flesh Tearers and how this ultimate doubt has shaped the chapter. The production value, as expected, is fantastic, along with the narration. The story is clever and well thought out. I am ready to have an entire Flesh Tearer novel now. Please let me know what I should read next.

Book Review 220 // Legion of the Damned by Rob Sanders

This took longer to get through than planned. Turns out I am easily distracted, haha. Let's dive into this Space Marine Battles book which I hope will be unique and give some insight into the Legion of the Damned.

Title: Legion of the Damned (Space Marine Battles 8)

Author: Rob Sanders

Blurb: Following the trajectory of a blood-red comet, the berserk World Eaters blaze a path of destruction across the galaxy in its wake. The small cemetery world of Certus Minor appeals to the Space Marines of the Excoriators Chapter for protection, but the force dispatched to deal with this grim threat is far too small, and their losses against the renegades are high. Just as all seems lost, salvation is borne out of legend itself as sinister spectral warriors descend upon this planet of the dead, and the enemies of the Imperium come face to face with those who have already travelled beyond the realm of the living...

Format: 416 pages, Paperback

You're not finding paperback: Kindle edition via Amazon

Review

Okay, this is a review of two parts. Part one is a great story. A violent, bloody, nasty tale about an Imperial Fist successor Chapter called the Excoriators. These are a second founding chapter that can trace their heritage all the way to veterans of the Horus Heresy. They have seemingly fallen on hard times running foul of the Alpha Legion. With a Champions honour in question, we follow our lead as he seeks redemption.

This was a great start, loads of action, loads of Easter Egg lore pieces and Corpus Captain Kersh was a character I could get behind. He is a broken hero and a nice change of pace compared to the usual heroes we read about. The setting is grim, set on a funeral world, about to be hit by the Cholercaust Crusade: a chaotic fleet that is all about Khorne, with the heart of the army featuring World Eaters. The understrength 5th Company led by Kersh is all that stands in their path. Seems like a waste of resources as they are basically fighting for the dead, but that Dorn bloodline is refusing to leave.

The battle for the cemetery world is dark, grim and remarkable. You honestly felt that every blow would be the final straw that breaks their lines. The burying of the living with the dead is so dark and perfect for the setting. This was one of the grimmest dark stories I have read from Black Library.

With me so happy reading this, why am I splitting my review in two? If the book was called Scourge or Excoriators, I would be giving this high praise. Unfortunately, someone decided to call it Legion of the Damned, who, apart from an unexplained camo, appear only in the final chapter. It feels like they messed this one up. Imagine reading The Scourge instead, and in the final apocryphal chapter of the book, when all hope is gone, our surviving Marines are rescued by the Legion of the Damned! How cool of a twist ending would that be? Instead, I spent the whole book waiting for them to show up to be let down ultimately.

So, where do I finally fall with this book? As a stand-alone Space Marine story, I enjoyed it, and I would recommend it. As a Legion of the Damned fan, I am left hollow and disappointed. It feels like click-bait or I guess title-bait? They lured me in with Legion of the Damned and then did the old switch on me. Bad form BL!

I hope this will aid you in deciding if you should read it or not. Let me know your thoughts on this title in the comments below.

Book Review 170 // Furnaces of Haeleon by Chris Dows

Hitting up another short story this week focused on Khârn the Betrayer. I hope it is as good as last week's Lost King. Here are the details:

Title: Furnaces of Haeleon (Part one of the Red Path Quick Reads series)

Author: Chris Dows

A brand new series begins, focusing on the infamous Khârn the Betrayer and his blood-soaked wars against the Imperium and his fellow Chaos Space Marines.

READ IT BECAUSE

Kill, maim, burn, kill, maim, burn, kill, maim, burn, Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the skull throne of Khorne! (Also, it's free, and it's about one of the 41st millennium's most ruthless and fascinating characters. What have you got to lose?)

THE STORY

Khârn the Betrayer wages bloody war across the Imperium, following the Red Path and leading his Warband of Khorne Berzerkers in greater and greater acts of battle and bloodshed against all-comers. Abaddon desires to yoke Khârn's strength and ferocity for his own ends. Still, the Champion of Khorne will not kneel quickly as his violent crusade brings him into conflict not only with the Imperium but also the Black Legion...

Review

I have been hooked to this character since seeing a 2nd Edition piece of artwork for Kharn in Codex Chaos. Unfortunately for Khârn, his backstory and lore suffered for years as he was viewed as a psycho killer, more dangerous to his own side than the enemy. Then books like the First Heretic and Betrayer came along; they made a character that was interesting, believable and slowly becoming broken by the Heresy. We had a chance to rewrite Kharns story to make him something more than a killer. Then I read this opening short for this series and realized the opportunity had been lost. Seems the author went back to the safe and sound psycho, who cares little for "allies" as long as the blood flows.

Everything reads a little safe, a little uninspiring and completely lacking purpose. It seems Kharn is trapped as a being who just fights and kills and never with a goal. The few characters we are introduced to are left flat and lifeless, maybe this changes later in the series, but I don't see why you would include characters that add nothing to the plot.

I feel disappointed and deflated. I don't see me wanting to read the rest of this series. To sum up, it is dull please avoid it.

Audio Review 42 // Howl of the Banshee by Gav Thorpe

Still working my way through some Warhammer 40k short stories. Once again, I fall into the Aeldari thirst trap with Howl of the Banshee by Gav Thorpe. Pre-warning at 38 minutes, this is a really quick Black Library tale. But let us dive into the commercial fluff.

The Howling Banshees of Biel-Tan wage war in the depths of a Chaos-tainted craftworld. Blood Runs. Anger Rises. Death Wakes. War Calls. And failure is unthinkable…You wouldn’t want to get in a fight with Exarch Clyona and her deadly Banshee sisters. Their masks have sense-warping powers that can liquefy unsuspecting foes. And the setting for their battle is like no other, the depths of a dead craftworld.

As mentioned, the story follows six Howling Banshees (an elite close combat aspect warrior group of the Aeldari), as they face off against a horde of Khorne Daemons. The battle also takes place on a long-dead Aeldari Craftworld that they have now infested. 

Solid enough idea, and plot. It just did not have enough time to do it true justice. Gav Thorpe did really well to make an interesting squad of Banshees, and the fallen Craftworld itself is very intriguing. But, the overall effect is not groundbreaking, as an Aeldari fan I enjoyed it, but if I was a space marine fan or even a Khorne Daemon fan, this would be a hard miss.

I really want to like this, I really do, but I don't think I can recommend this one. Hard Miss!

Amazon Link: Howl of the Banshee

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Comic Review 128 // Warhammer 40,000 Marneus Calgar Issue 5

Boom! The series is complete, we have now hit issue 5 of the series and the end of the story arc. Having headed back to where it all began, Marneus Calgar arrives on the moon where his best friend died and his companions turned to Chaos. Here he discovers that the forces of chaos are trying to unbury a fallen Wordbearers Spacecraft and repair the destroyed Khorne shrine located in the region.

Of course, Marneus can't let this happen. Hugely outnumbered Marneus heads to the tunnels to help narrow the numbers of attackers. The rest of the issue cleanly wraps up the story with a bow and we are left not wanting or needing more.

The series as a whole was an okay introduction to the 40k verse. It is designed to interest new people in the 40k game system and I can see it working for sure. It was fun to read Blood for the Blood God and Skulls for the Skull Throne. It seems silly but made me smile so was worth the price of admission. Another highlight was Marneus Calgar declaring that "Space Marines do not run, they withdraw", this gentle humour helps to breakdown the grimdark and keep the story light, compared to all the violence and blood happening on every other page.

It will be intriguing to see what the next topic for marvel will be, I would love to see Orks making an appearance. Let me know who you want to see in the comments below.

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Comic Review 126 // Warhammer 40,000 Marneus Calgar Issue 4

Feels like we have been away from the Calgar series for ages! The last review was back in December, well it would seem Marvel is over their break and the issues are coming in fast. Here we are the second to last issue of the newly launched Marvel/Games Workshop Collaboration.

THE MAKING OF A SPACE MARINE! Young MARNEUS CALGAR has passed his Space Marine Aspirant testing...but that means the real trial is only just beginning! As Marneus undergoes the rigorous training, excruciating organ implantation and strenuous physical augmentation, he will have to prove that, against all odds, he has what it takes! And in the 41st Millennium, the assault on CALGAR ESTATES reaches a deadly climax!

Titled - Making the Marine, the cover artwork shows Marneus becoming a fully fledge Space Marine. I have high hopes for this issue, so let us jump in.

Starting soon after the ending of issue three, we head to the Calgar Estate which is now in the full throws of open warfare. Marneus is leading the charge and crushing all foes before him, it is during this battle that we get a flashback. During this Marneus meets the other aspirants and begins his training, we follow the trails and see the number of aspirants wither away, soon only Marneus is left standing and heads off to join the Ultramarines. We then get to experience his time as a scout, this section I really enjoyed and truly wish they had spent more time on this period but sadly it was not meant to be.

The issue finishes with Marneus heading to the possible location of the chaos forces. His craft is shot down and when he appears from the downed craft he is surrounded by the forces of Chaos and some old friends seem to be apart of the party.

Only one issue left and I am not sure what can happen in that issue. The highlight of this issue was the scout section, whilst the lowlight was Marneus just single punching a Dreadnought off a building. That whole scene needed to be more epic. I am also left a bit meh by the final revel, it wasn't needed to be honest.

Come back next week for the final issue in the series.

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Comic Review 115 // Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar Issue 3

Well, well, looks like we have hit issue three of the five-part series titled Marneus Calgar. In my mind, we are now halfway through the series, the story has been set, the opening is finished, and a goal for the series needs to be set.

But first, let us get some bookkeeping out of the way, I would love a follow, plus a comment below, just to let me know I am not alone. If you haven't read either Issue one or Issue two reviews, you now have the links (your welcome).

Right with that crap done. Time to review issue three.

At the end of issue two, we discovered that the moon is in fact home to a chaos shrine devoted to Khorne the Chaos God of Skulls, blood, war and rock music. We also had a plot twist completely unexpected of Marneus being killed off, and his servant/friend - Tacitan, taking his name to honour the fallen friend. But now Tacitan is stuck in a cave to fight the followers of Khorne alone. Whilst, in the modern story arc, Marneus is preparing to fortify the Calgar estate and face off against the forces of the Despoiler.

Issue three, where to begin. I personally enjoyed it. It's still full of gore and violence, there is still a back and forth in the timelines, and there is still an annoying tech-priest sidekick (why is he in the story?). Starting with the modern story arc; Marneus leads his demi company into battle against the largest chaos cultist faction on the planet. This was a great few pages, getting to see a 40k agriculture machine was impressive, then watching Marneus pulp cultists is terrific and finally, Marneus reaches the control room his call for aid was priceless (how can you control anything with giant fists?). We then discover Marneus had purposefully announced the fact that the Calgar estate was unguarded, to tempt all the forces of Chaos to that one point so he could utterly crush it! This arc then finishes with the forces of the Ultramarines arrayed for war (just needed epic music in the background - drop a suggestion below, I'm thinking Bad Boys).

Now the important arc, the origin story set in the past. We pick up from the soul-destroying death of the original Marneus Calgar (RIP). Now alone, the young Tacitan has to start making some hard choices and seeing how much of the training stuck. After managing to lure the blood god's cultists out of the cave and killing a couple, Tacitan heads back in and sends off an emergency broadcast for help. Knowing nowhere is safe, Tacitan grabs some explosives and heads to the blood shrine. Now, of course, the cultist's leader expected this and attacks Tacitan. As all seems lost, a Space Marine Sergeant with a glowing power sword enters the fray and rescues Tacitan. Throughout the combat, bodies explode, blood follows and the shrine activates, opening a warp rift and ending that section for this issue.

With both timelines now complete, the issue is finished. Pros for me include fun art, gore, the wider experience of the 40k verse. Whilst cons continue to be a safe story, a bit dull and a stupid tech-priest.

I would love to read your thoughts. Have you tried this comic series? Do you enjoy Ultramarines? Who else deserves a comic series? For my own preference, I would love to see a Yriel series, with him as a Corsair lord. Let me know in the comments. If you wish to support the blog hit subscribe or use one of the following links:

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Comic Review 111 // Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar Issue 2

It's been two weeks since issue 1 of Marneus Calgar (Check this link) and I am actually excited to see what issue two gives us. Straight away the cover is so much more exciting than the original one, showcasing Marneus front and centre carving his way through some filthy traitors. It even has a cherub!

Genres: Sci-Fi

Publisher: Marvel

Writer: Kieron Gillen

Artist: Jacen Burrows

Publication date: November 2020 (Not sure of the official date).

Unsurprisingly issue one set up the story nicely for us. We are in the Ultmar system on a world called Nova Thulium. The actual birthplace of Marneus, now under siege by Black Legions following the opening of the warp storms. Whilst set in the present timeline we are also treated to some pre-space marine flashbacks as Marneus relives his childhood memories. The last issue finished with Marneus's troops slaughtering their foes on the planet, whilst in flashbacks younger Marneus was starting his training to be able to become a marine and with his friends was left facing off against an Ambull!

Okay, first issue NO Ambull! WTF Marvel, you just breeze past such a cool thing, shame on you. On a more positive note, we do get to visit the Calgar Estates as Marneus travels home to fortify the estate to aid in the battle against the Black Legion. It is like an over top roman castle, fall of statues of the Chapter Master and other family members who have gone on to become space marines. The main focus of this issue is the flashbacks and I warn you now MASSIVE SPOILER!

Still, reading? Spoiler incoming...

The training is brutal and we start to witness the once-friendly group split in two. Severan and Kato, gain strength and aggression not matched by Marneus and Tacitan, and Crixus continues to push Marneus and Tacitan hard. One night Marneus and Tacitan discover the boys gone and realize they have travelled into the forbidden caves. Following their tracks, the young boys discover a terrible secret. Crixus is, in fact, a follower of the Blood God and discovered a shrine in the caves, where he sends young recruits to spill blood. Soon the battle is joined and the two lads give a good account of themselves against the other boys, that is until Crixus stabs Marnues through the back and into his heart. Tacitan fearing for his friend grabs Marneus and the pair plunge into a chasm. Fall into an underground lake Tactin watches Marneus die!

Yep, Marneus is dead. Tacitan decides to honour his friend by taking on his name and seeking vengeance. Here ends the flashback. The story ends in the current timeline with the now Marneus staring at the statue of his dead friend.

What a great plot twist! I wasn't expecting to discover. Personally, I loved it, but there are definitely going to be some fanboy rages on the internet so watch out!

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