Chapter War : Soul Drinkers, Bk. 4 (Warhammer 40,000) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ben Counter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2007

Having stabilised their gene-seed, and brought a halt to their mutation, the Soul Drinkers start rebuilding their Chapter with new recruits. But the recruits have their own ideas ? rather than protect the Imperium, they wish to wage war against it. With the Imperial forces and the Inquisition closing in on the renegade Chapter, can Sarpedon rally his troops to face the true enemy?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ben Counter is fast becoming one of Black Library?s most popular authors. An Ancient History graduate and avid miniature painter, he lives near Portsmouth, England.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844164586
• ISBN-13: 978-1844164585
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #759,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!, May 11, 2007

By 

B. C. Carroll (Kansas City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chapter War : Soul Drinkers, Bk. 4 (Warhammer 40,000) (Mass Market Paperback)

Well I hate to admit this but what happened?? The first 3 books I read were compiled into the Omnibus which was a great bargin at under $9 then I went ahead and got this for $8.49 to see where Sarpedon and Eumnes were headed with the Soul Drinkers chapter. Im not going to say it was a big mistake but I will say it isnt worth spening full price on! Now before you go and start bashing me please take a look at my other reviews and you will see that I am a big Black Library fan but I was very disappointed in the amount of fluff was in this book and still selling for full price. I have learned a vaulable lesson from this and want to ensure that i pass it along so someone else doesn't make the same error as I did.

The book Chapter War by Ben Counter is the 4th book in the Soul Drinkers saga. It takes place shortly after the ending of the 3rd book and continues the story line where Emunes a scout who has risen to Adeptus status battles Sarpedon for control of the Soul Drinkers. But before you even get that far you have to understand that there are 5 other stories that are also taking place during the "Chapter War" which doesnt even really surface until the mid-point of the book!

First, you have the Vanqualis part of the story. Vanqualis is a remote planet that was conquered from the orks centuries before and has also parted from the traditional thinking of the Imperium of Man. So you get the character build up of the Vanqualis nobeliety and also a sprinkling of some of the lower serfs to keep track of. Second, the orks attack the planet for control that they had lost centuries ago. So now you have to the character build up of the Warboss and why he is attacking in the first place and what his goals are and why. Third, you have the Howling Griffons part of the story. The Griffs are an Ultramarines 2nd founding Chapter who recieve the call for aid on Vanqualis, which changes in midwarp flight to destroying the "Black Chalice". Fourth, is the reemergance of an Inquistor who has been hunting the Soul Drinkers since book 2. And laslty, the entire war that develops between the Soul Drinkers as they are assisting the Vanqualis army during the ork invasion. But thats not it folks! You also have the under-story about the Soul Drinkers Chaplain who finds a centuries old library of "original" Soul Drinkers history and that is what sets up the next book.

The story line is fast paced and entertaining. It does have way too many angles and side stories to keep track of and I think detracted from the real story of the Chapter War. The actual Chapter War only takes about 3 full chapters to rectify and the amount of time it took to kill off one of my favorite characters is sadly not reciprocated at the end of the "War" when the antagonist is laid flat. The ork and Griffon details added extra pages to the book but really didnt bring anything to help this book.

What would have been more entertaining would have been the setup of the Sould Drinkers on the planet of Vanqualis where they could have setup a more traditional chapter with the Vanqualis already seperated from the tradtional thinking of the Imperial of Man.

If you are really needing a 40K fix than go out and grab this from a discount bookstore, I wouldnt pay full price. In fact if the next 2 books are along the same style I would suggest ultimately waiting for the next Omnibus! Hope this helps and also sad to only give it a 3; in fact it would have only gotten a 2.5!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Fair Continuation of the Storyline, which is starting to seem stale, October 7, 2007

By 

Robert A. Booth Jr. "Commissar Bodjo"" (Masschusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chapter War : Soul Drinkers, Bk. 4 (Warhammer 40,000) (Mass Market Paperback)

Well, it was fun while it lasted. In the SOUL DRINKERS OMNIBUS, which collected the first three books in this series, I was thoroughly entertained by Ben Counter's three novels about the rogue Space Marine Chapter that throws off the yoke of the Imperium in order to do what they feel is the Emperor's will. The first book thanks to the fresh idea of an Emperor-loyal but outcast Chapter, and Sarpedon and his marines were well fleshed out. There are no doubt some people that believe that Space Marines should be wooden heroes. I believe there's a happy medium between the characters being human and wooden. Thus, the adventures chronicled in the second book continued to be interesting. The Bleeding Chalice, the third volume, had its quirks, but was nonetheless an entertaining brawl with some excellent scenes.

Now we have Chapter War, the fourth book of the series, and if you're like me you'll probably buy this book anyway despite the mediocre reviews. You'll want to know how Sarpedon and Eumenes and Luko and Graevus press on in the harsh WH40k universe out to get them. I won't discourage that.

Just know that this book isn't really much more but "pressing forward." The storyline is sketchy at best, as it's really hard to figure out the motivation of the Soul Drinkers for heading to the planet of Vanqualis. The theme of being honor-bound to defend the emperor's ideals yet not now to the Imperium was fresh once, and now it seems blind and dogmatic. Furthermore, the title is deceptive as the actual "Chapter War" is not the main conflict for much the time. Couple this all with the fact that Counter introduces some interesting human characters and then proceeds to pointlessly kill them off, and you're left wondering why spent so much time away from the Soul Drinkers themselves. As mentioned in another review, I could care less about reading about Orks.

And one last thing. One of my favorite characters in this series dies, and it does absolutely no justice to the depth and resourcefulness of his character up until then. I just don't get it: it's almost as if Counter got tired of having him around.

This book is fine, really, but absolutely nothing special. It's very hard to see this series continuing, unless we can move on to another theme very soon.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good if you like the series; stale and confused otherwise., August 15, 2007

By 

J. Gigliotti (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chapter War : Soul Drinkers, Bk. 4 (Warhammer 40,000) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book typifies a trend in the Black Library fiction ... cram as many plot elements into the story as you can, tune up the gunfire, and let the reader slog through it to get to the good stuff. The result, as the other two reviewers point out, is a confused story arc that has a good 75 pages of distractions in it -- this is a book about Space Marines and loyalty ... so why throw page after page of ork psychology at me? Just write a book on the orcs instead ...

The really strong book in this series was the second one, where the Inquistor's pursuit made sense. But in many ways Counter is himself a victim of his own plot: Why do the Soul Drinkers keep hopping from needless battle to needless battle?

To sell more books, of course.