Customer Reviews

Desert Raiders (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Imperial Guard)

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

 

 

As an Imperial Guard Player and fan I highly reconmend this book. You really get a sence of the hopelessness that it is to be an Imperial Guardsman. It was well written and to the point is show that the guard does best and thats die for the emporer. There is one warning after reading this book you may have the urge to get your imperial guard army into combat with some Tyranids!

An Imperial listening station's psykers laps into death seizures when someone from the planet Khadar sends a mortis-cry. However, intelligence says there is no expedition, no life, no anything on the uninhabited desert planet. Yet there is no mistaking the enigmatic call for help. The 892nd Regiment is sent to investigate.

The 892nd is a new regiment. It is compiled from the Turenag and Banna Alliances. This creates a huge rift between soldiers due to the fact that the two alliances have been enemies for too many centuries to bother counting. Colonel Nisri Dakar (Turenag) and Lieutenant Colonel Turk Iban Salid (Banna) have a hard time keeping their men from killing each other. The two leaders can barely tolerate each other, much less control their people. However, Commissars Rezail and Tyrell keep them all under control or simply execute the ones causing problems.

Trouble multiplies when (later christened) Cavern Balilica is located. Cavern Balilica holds layers of rich, verdant jungle. It is filled with an eco-system unlike any other seen before; and both alliances want permission to colonize Khadar. Most, but not all, hatreds are put aside when a new threat arrives in the form of a Tyranid Horde.

*** Never before have I seen such segregation among W40K soldiers and I hope I never will again. Who needs Chaos when regimental troops will simply assassinate each other? Almost half the book is bickering, accusing, slowly killing each other off. Once the tyranids enter the story, the two alliances begin to work together; however, the hatred still simmers. The story gets much more interesting as the different forms and weaponry within the Tyranids are revealed. Readers will also get the treat of seeing a tyranid psyker, a hive brain. That, alone, would make this book worthwhile. My opinion is that if you can through all the in-fighting and reach the tyranids, this becomes a great story by the end. ***

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This is the last in a loosely grouped set of books detailing life in the Imperial Guard, and focuses on the Desert Raiders(get it?) of Tallarn, who're famed for riding horses around a futuristic battlefield. Remember the horse part, because this is probably the only reference you'll ever hear about it aside from the cover art.

The plot of the book is incredibly two-dimensional. Guard lands looking for the cause of a distress signal, and are subsequently attacked by Tyranids. The book started off promising, with two warring factions being forced to make nice in the middle of a desert wasteland with dwindling supplies. I was under the hope that this would include a lot more subterfuge and political wrangling, but sadly no.

That being said, the authors action sequences are well written, at a decent pace, and are intelligently thought out, almost to a degree unusual for the Guard. This definitely isn't as good a read as 15 Hours, but if you're looking for a simple pulp novel that you can blast through in a day or two, its not bad either. Heres hoping he's given more plot to play with in the future.

First, let me establish my credentials. I probably own half of the novels published by Black Library, so I am steeped in the Warhammer world, I maintain a standing army of Space Wolves, and I love science fiction, primarily the pulp fiction of the fifties and sixties. With that in mind, let's turn to Lucien Soulban and the Black Library. Most Warhammer fiction is turgid and overwritten and of interest only to a gamer. However, there is some real talent at Black Library-Dan Abnett and Nathan Long, being two notable examples. Desert Raiders belongs to a new series of novels about the Imperial Guards and as such it is a solid addition to the 40K mythology. But more importantly, Lucien Soulban, from a technical standpoint, is a damn entertaining writer. I found only two problems with the book: the trite device that ties the beginning with the end should have been scrapped at editing and the conflict between the two tribes went on way too long. However, once the bugs arrive, the pace is relentless and the action non-stop. All in all, I thought it a solid piece of military science fiction and a worthy Black Library title.

This is one in a series of "unrelated" books about the Imperial Guard in 40K. Well done and a good edition to the other three that are already out there. A keeper.

What can I say in praise................ the characters were realistic. The plot moved so that I had read fifty pages and then discovered this in surprise. I liked the middle eastern theme to the Imperial Guard it gave you a look at how varied the Guard really is. With great action scenes and some rather funny ones to this book makes me want to shout "For the Emperor!".

I like a good tyranid battle, but this book was repetitive crap with the worst, stupidest ending of any 40K book, edging out Fifteen Hours by a slight margin. The guy writes ok, but the plot was so weak I flipped 1/2 the book and didn't lose track of anything. Talk about Greek tragedy crap.....

Vile. A set back in GW literature. If you're not already well acquainted with the 40k universe much of the book will be impenetrable, for example vehicles are named but rarely described. The plot was horribly transparent (If you can not figure out the "amazing" plot twist within the first 5 pages, you need to get out more... a lot more). Character development is not only lacking, the story absolutely depends on and glories in the inability and unwillingness to for the characters to change. While the 40k universe is all about archetypes and sweeping generalizations the indulgence in the worst stereotypes of Muslim culture was lazy and a bit sad.

On the Plus side it does read very fast. The action sequences are fair.

I love the GW is getting around to fleshing out many of the nooks and crannies of the 40k universe, but I wish that a bit more care would have been taken with the Tallarns.