Customer Reviews

Blood Ravens: The Dawn of War Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me begin this review by saying that I'm not an expert on Warhammer 40k's intricate background mythos. I am however a fan of the Dawn of War computer games by Relic and someone who enjoys a good book (both literature and a pop, pulpy fiction read).

For those who haven't played the games or know much about the Blood Ravens, the Blood Ravens are Space Marines - genetically enhanced super-soldiers who are warrior monks devoted to the defense of humanity in the distant future (the year 40,000). One of the leaders of the Blood Ravens, Captain Gabriel Angelos, is the central figure around which the stories revolve. Without giving away anything about the plot, the Blood Ravens find themselves locked in confrontation with various alien races who populate the Warhammer 40k universe - Orks (imagine the orcs from LOTR... with guns), Eldar (space elves), Necrons (undead machines), and Chaos Traitor Space Marines (human beings who have become corrupted by evil).

I happened to pick up "Blood Ravens" while browsing a local bookstore, and was instantly hooked after reading just a few chapters. While the first book loosely follows the plot of the first Dawn of War game, the other two stories are completely new. The Omnibus is actually a collection of 3 different novels - Dawn of War, DoW: Ascension, and DoW: Tempest. The stories of the 3 novels are interlinked, and the same cast of characters make multiple appearances in each.

CS Goto does a good job of weaving together a cast of interesting characters caught up in galaxy-spanning plots. The details of the Warhammer 40k universe get described as relevant to the story, and Goto uses them properly to breathe life into the universe that the characters inhabit. The plot of each of the stories is nicely paced, but my only complaint about them is that Goto leaves a few unresolved threads - perhaps the series will continue more into the future?

In any case, if you're a fan of the games (or you've ever been interested in the Warhammer 40k universe but wasn't sure where to start), this book might be a good starting point.

To be honest, I may have written a five star review for this had I read this before my first Gaunt's Ghosts novel by Dan Abnett. This could have been one of my favorite books, but after finishing such a perfect example of Warhammer writing, this just felt weak and poorly described. I urge you to read this BEFORE ANY OF DAN ABNETT'S BOOKS, otherwise you'll toss it aside and pick up yet another Abnett work... like I did.

I've read about a dozen of the other Warhammer 40k books from the black library and as far as they go this is not the best. The story does loosely follow the game and as far as that goes it does a pretty good job. The game story probably wasn't the greatest tale to be made into a book however and as you can see from the front cover trying to fit so many races into a book gets a little awkward at times and makes the story a little more difficult to follow. A lot of the characters aren't really likable either which poses a problem when you hit climaxes in the book and you don't really feel like cheering for the good guys.

His writing technique does improve in the second book and the interwoven plot becomes more enjoyable.

On the whole its not a terrific book but its nice and big and for the price its definitely worth picking up.

I read this after playing the game. I bought the game on the pemise that it was an RTS. I had no insight on the imesnse depth of story in the Warhammer 40K world. After playing the game and loving the Spce Marine's ability to crush openets with such small forces I picked up this book. Although it was still a hard concept to swallow. SO afer reading it I did resherch online about Space Marines. I would encourage anyone to do the reascerch first. There are some conceptes that will make it easyer to read. Like knowing who The Emporer is helps for one. And you can even find out how Space Marines were created. Goto did a good job here. But please don't read the Roberson Dawn of war II book. If you like the Blood Ravens you should read it, but Roberson falls VERY short of the work Goto does here. I was very pleased with the implantation process that is described in the book. Be sure to look that up online as well. It will give you a depper understanding of the organs that make a Space Marine tick.

The Dawn of War Omnibus by C.S. Goto covers the three titles that follow the Blood Ravens chapter of Space Marine's of mankind's Imperium: Dawn of War, Dawn of War: Ascension and Dawn of War: Tempest. A tie in to the video game of the same name the story follows the exploits of Captain Gabriel Angelos as he and his company encounter many of the threats common to mankind in the Warhammer 40K universe. I didn't play the game so I can't tell you how exactly it ties in to the game's storyline, I just know that it doe follow it.

The first book Dawn of War takes place on the planet of Tartarus when the Blood Ravens respond to a request for help due to an invasion by Orks. Goto wastes no time in introducing the characters and getting the action started. While it seems a straightforward mission the discovery of artifacts and the arrival of an inquisitor begin to show that Tartarus is not a mundane world and that there are other forces at work. Angelos and his colleagues must solve the mysterious that present themselves, which there seem to be a steady stream of. The arrival of other enemies only muddles things more and soon the battle becomes a race against time. This story is followed by a short story "The Trials of Isador" that goes more in depth into one of the main characters of the first novel.

Dawn of War: Ascension takes place on the world of Rahe's Paradise. Once again following Captain Angelos he lands on the world to find new recruits for his chapter. While there an artifact is discovered beneath the Blood Raven's fortress that throws the history of the fortress, a long time Blood Raven's base into doubt, as is the history of the planet. When the Eldar arrive things only get more complicated. The suspense builds as Goto is able to keep you in the dark but give you enough to keep you intrigued where things will lead. Not as action packed as the first novel it a good change of pace as you keep wondering what the secret of the planet is.

Dawn of War: Tempest is probably the weakest of the three books. Responding to the threat of the Necron the Blood Ravens arrive only to discover there is another enemy at hand. It jumps around far more than the other books and supporting characters take a far more prominent role in the novel so it's hard to give a good summation without giving away too much on where the story leads. There is a lot of build up and it takes the story far longer to get going than the previous two. The ending was disappointing, after reading so much build up things came to a head all too quickly and left far too many questions unanswered. I found myself saying "that's it?" far too many times on the resolution of issues.

All in all the series was okay. Nothing spectacular but I'd say the only weak book of the series was the last one. You don't get into the characters all that much and frankly there isn't a whole lot about the Blood Ravens that is very interesting compared to other chapters. I won't say you shouldn't pick this up, but I would go for other omnibuses like the Grey Knights, Ultramarines or Soul Drinkers ahead of this. They are more in depth and not bound to following a previous created storyline.

i could go on and on. but to sum it up the Blood Ravens are my fav space marines. i have read other ones and there all good but the Blood Ravens are the best

OK, this is my third foray into the Warhammer Universes. My first was into the Warhammer Fantasy World (Mathias Thulmann Omnibus) and the second was an anthology of short stories from 40K(Into the maelstrom.) Prior to this, I had no Warhammer experience whatsoever, not the tabletop game, not the books, not the computer games, but I will admit to going into hobby stores and mocking the "little lead men" when I would see them.
I enjoyed this omnibus quite a bit. Having no real knowledge of the 40K, beyond the bits and pieces i gleaned from the anthology, it was, at first a little hard to understand it all. I found [...] a GREAT source for looking things up.
OK, to the actual review. I gave it three stars becasue as good as it was, it took me almost two months to read it. I liked it a lot, but, I didn't find it an incredibly engaging read. It wasn't easy to "lose myself in it." It could be the lack of knowledge of the subject matter or maybe the length of it, or maybe it was too heavy ;)
At any rate, once i did start to get the language and the feeling of the 40K universe, it was better. I do agree with a previous reviewer that there may have been a few too many races smooshed into this story. I understand that it was following the game, but sometimes, it was a little hard to follow for a neophyte, especially the with the Eldar. Don't get me wrong, the Eldar are great, but sometimes they were a little hard to keep up with.
I DO recall thinking to myself, damn, there are a lot of different character types and locations crammed into this omnibus. I mean we have the Imperium, the Chaos Space Marines, the Eldar, the Necron, the Harlequin, the Black Library, the Orks, who I balked at in the beginning, but came to love them for their...over zealousness and comic relief.
I think this Omnibus gave great insights into Space Marines as a whole. It spoke of their habits and how they think and how a "heratic" at one level can become a champion to two races. I also liked the implantation sub-plot. After reading the process on the aforementioned website, I was perplexed at the speed at which it was taking place. The pacing was, at times slow. The violence was high, as it should be. The sermons were good and not that noticeable.
Honestly though, I could have lived with a little less Eldar and a lot more Necron and Ork. I could also have lived with less of the space battles. The short story telling of the actions of Isadore added a lot to the story, so I give Goto points for that.
It was a good read that didn't engage me or cause me to lose hours of sleep. So, I suppose that, in deference to my second favorite 40K race, I give this book 3 WAAARGH!!!!'s out of five.

The book follows the "Dawn of War" PC game storyline. The cut scenes from the game are expanded with good detail, and you get to 'relive' the game in a fun reading experience. The additional material provided between Books 1 and 2 fit in well, and really add depth to the Chapter and its fallen Librarian.

i often wondered how the bloodravens started out, and this book answers those questions. pretty good timekiller, but still not as good as dan abnett. buy it.