SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: Dark Vengeance - CZ Dunn

Release Date: 25/10/12

SYNOPSIS:

In the grim darkness of the far future, mankind fights a desperate battle for survival amongst the stars. Foremost among its protectors are the Space Marines, genetically engineered superhumans, trained to be the ultimate warriors.

The Dark Angels are among the foremost Space Marines, the First Legion of old. Devastated millennia ago by a dreadful schism, the Dark Angels are constantly on the hunt for the mysterious Fallen, former brothers who have turned from the light of the immortal God-Emperor and embraced the dread powers of Chaos.

Newly ordained Company Master Balthasar of the Dark Angels leads his forces to the world of Bane’s Landing, the resting place of the ancient and powerful Hellfire Stone, in pursuit of the Chaos Space Marines of the Crimson Slaughter. Kranon the Relentless, the evil lord of the Crimson Slaughter, seeks to use the stone to summon forth his daemonic masters and usher in an age of darkness. As the Dark Angels race to stop him, the scene is set for a mighty conflict between the loyal Balthasar and the traitor Kranon.


REVIEW:

Whilst I love novella’s there are times when I feel that an author has bitten off a little more than they can chew and to be honest that’s the case with this one by CZ Dunn which for me is told from too many points of view and felt more a case of selling GW’s new range of figures rather than concentrating on giving the reader a solid example of why the worlds involved are so wonderful to spend time in.

Don’t get me wrong, the writing does move at quite a clip and when added to a huge amount of action backed with some interesting characters should have had all the elements to make this something solid but when you remember that it is a novella then you do wonder if it’s more action and less about a solid storyline other than giving it enough of a foothold to link the sequences together.

All in it is an OK book but I prefer a little more substance and a few more twists than were presented within rather than an overly linear tale told from too many perspectives.