Customer Reviews

Emperor's Mercy (Warhammer 40,000 Novels)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I don't know where I found the endurance, but I managed to read this book cover to cover. It didn't deserve the attention.

Is this the worst book I've ever read? No, but it isn't worth it unless you are already emotionally invested in all things Warhammer (which I'm not).

1. The book has very little plot. Obadiah Roth has to track down some superweapon from the distant past. He's racing the forces of Chaos who want to turn it on the empire. Classic treasure-hunt scenario, and this book doesn't add anything to the genre. There's a pitiful attempt at intrigue, but none of the actions of the characters involved ring true. Even this very thin plot is full of huge holes.

2. The book is poorly written. It's full of typos (did anyone proofread it?). Mr. Zou needs to work on his style. He can't seem to find his narrative voice. Sometimes the narrator is limited third person, sometimes he's omniscient third person, sometimes the narrator is pretending to be some later chronicler, and (very jarringly) he'll sometimes quote from a character's personal papers.

3. The book's context is a massive war, and Mr. Zou spills a great deal of ink spilling a great deal of blood. Unfortunately, his descriptions of battle are groaners. He's obviously a military history buff; he throws everything he's ever read into this book. From Soldiers being gassed in trench warfare to a description of the cargo cult (totally random, by the way). And here's where the book utterly fails. He's read about all these great battles and military oddities, but he doesn't really understand them. Trench warfare, for example. Zou places his troops in trenches and throws in all the horrible details of historical trench warfare, but he doesn't understand the tactics and strategy. Trench warfare doesn't exist when either side has tanks. Both sides in Zou's imaginary battle have tanks, but they still engage in trenches. Incredible.

The book isn't all bad. I think there were two brief scenes that gave me some pleasure. But really, it wasn't worth it, and I'm still wondering why I read the whole thing.

----> For those already familiar with Warhammer 40,000 books:

This is an extremely well-written W40K book. The action moves quickly and the characters are engaging. I don't think you can find a better author than Henry Zou in this genre.

----> For those who like science fiction but haven't tried Warhammer 40K:

This is hard-core military sci-fi. You will enjoy this book if you like detailed military tactics and strategies and if you like to geek out on weapons systems and other war technologies. Zou is an excellent writer and incorporates compelling characters, but the heart of the book relates to the details of war.

This book isn't terrible for a hard sci-fi sprawl, but it isn't spectacular either. I love military books with detail but there's a tad too much, even for me, and I'm a huge Harry Harrison fan. It was a fun way to pass a few hours, but I'd definitely not suggest it over other 40k books - most notably anything by Dan Abnett who is simply amazing. His Eisenhorn series is a far better Inquisition set of novels.

Like most other reviewers, I agree that this is for those Warhammer fans who are out to read every Warhammer book. Having read every Gaunt's Ghost and Ciaphas Cain book, and even most of the Horus Heresy, I thought I could tackle this head-on. The hyperbole was riveting - his earthy descriptions are refreshing and even impressive on a literary level.
But that's it. There is no character development. I didn't sympathize with any of them, and felt remarkably detached when I should have been fully engaged in the treachery and deceitfulness described. I felt nothing, and it was an unwelcome chore to finish the book. I don't think Mr. Zou is a bad author. I believe that another author more adept at creating character depth (Dan Abnett???) should co-write a book with him, and then I'll read it.

I likely would have rated this four stars, but "Emperor's Mercy" doesn't fit firmly into the Warhammer 40K world. Sure, the background is all there, the names of the various forces and groups are right, and the technology is correct, but the role of the Inquisitor is one of absolute authority (in the name of the Emperor, of course) and that did not come across in this book.

That being said, I do enjoy military SciFi and really enjoyed Henry Zou's style and attention to detail. The battle scenes were on-par with John Scalzi (Old Man's War), who I also enjoy, and the plot is kept moving at a hectic but enjoyable pace. No plot spoilers from me; the story centers on Inquisitor Obodiah Roth and the group of fighters he puts together to infiltrate the embattled planets of the Medina Corridor to search for ancient artifacts that could turn the tide of the war. While his own forces don't put much faith in the existence of the artifacts, it seems that the forces of Chaos do so the resistance is fierce. Throw in a little treachery and a good plot twist, and this is a solid SciFi war novel.

If you are looking for a solid Warhammer 40,000 novel that fits perfectly into the defined rules, you will want to skip this one. If you want a very good military Sci-Fi with an interesting back story, this might be a good fit. I enjoyed it.

CFH

I'm opening by letting readers know that I'm a little familiar Warhammer 40000 universe and Games Workshop. While I haven't been a fan of either, I've been fascinated with the Black Library Publications presentation of the Warhammer 40000'verse and decided to take up the offer the Amazon Vine Program provided to review Emperor's Mercy.

Emperor's Mercy is a book based on the Warhammer 40000 game system and deals with the war between the forces of Chaos and those of the Emperor. However rather than reading about the Imperial Space Marines coming to the rescue of citizens, this one deals with the forces of Chaos going after artifacts and an Emperor's Inquisitor attempting to prevent Chaos from attaining the artifacts.

Ahhh, I entered into this book looking for a good science fiction book; wish it could have been true. While I'm not a fan of Warhammer 40000's configuration (a very dark look at the `world', both the technology and civilization) I was really hoping a fan would breath some live into things with a nice plot a good story; instead we get a weak plot with action that's almost off the gaming table (a nice plus for those who play Warhammer 40000 is you can get some decent scenarios to play from the book). Mr. Zou's writing style was weak for me. He bounces from action point to action point without showing us much in the way of human happenings or interactions. The interactions that are here are weak and mechanical providing little drive for the book. Instead of dealing with people, Mr. Zou focuses on describing weapon systems and equipment that are probably very common for the Warhammer 40000 fan but with insufficient information for someone who's not a fan.

I can honestly say I was never really sucked into this one. If Mr. Zou would have provided more of a plot or human interactions, I see a possibility for here. However since this was lacking I'll rate this one 2 stars (my first cut was 1.5 but I'm rounding up) due to the strengths of action scenes and the lack of human factors. Warhammer fans may rate this one higher (there are some good scenarios for gamers here), I suspect they're into it for it's application to the game rather than the quality of the story.

You're required to know a little (ok a lot) about Warhammer 40000 before reading this book. It's a typical sci-fi/adventure novel with good guys and bad guys and a lot of simplistic linear progression. However, if this is your cup of joe, then Zou's book is right up your alley.

Plot: So this is pretty much human vs. human violence. The good guys (space marines and imperium) vs. the bad guys (hordes of Chaos armies) are the central plot here. There are lots of big battles. What? How can that be? Well, let's just say there's fairly little character development of it's main characters...

(Speaking of which) Characters: So there's this Imperium Inquisitor Obadiah Roth who is going out to seek out the "Old Kings of Medina" (relics of great power) along this part of the WH40K universe called (you guessed it) the Medina Corridor. Is there a guy named Sil-uh... who is he again? Who are all those one-dimensional characters who fight with Roth? Uhm, your guess is as good as mine, and I read the book.

Overall: The book is (if you couldn't tell by now) fairly well told through the following formula: good guys find bad guys, fight, don't find what they're looking for, and leave. This story arc is played out two or three times, and then the book's over. Add in your sprinkling of bad spelling, bad grammar, and linear style, and it's ho-hum. I have to say that after reading a Warhammer book (Grey Seer) prior to this one (the two don't relate at all), I prefer the writing style of Grey Seer MUCH better than Emperor's Mercy. If you like WH40K, and you are diehard about following this particular storyline, this book's for you. If you want good plot and storyline, look elsewhere.

This novel seems a little bit short on the character development side but seems to excel at the depiction and portrayal of military actions.

The story revolves around Obadiah Roth, an Inquisitor in the realm of the Warhammer stories, who must find the Old Kings (which is an artifact) but must deal with Chaos warriors named the Ironclads who also have an interest in it.

So, if you are in search of deep character stories you may not find it here. However if you just like military action and swathes of it, this might be a read for you.

I used to read a lot of SF when I was younger and most of it was what my wife called "gleaming spaceships" kind of pulp, You know the kind, action, explosions, fast paced, flat characters and when you were done it was fun but your really did not walk away with deep thoughts. When I got about 30 pages into this book and there had already been a few battles and I did not care who the characters were -- I knew I had a book like the old days. Reviewers will look for deeper meaning here, the message behind the SF, and other characteristics which frankly I did not expect and should not expect from a book written more for entertainment than education or enlightenment.

So with that in mind, Emperor's Mercy is a rip roaring book whose plot is taken more from a saturday morning cartoon show than anything else. The vision of the future in the Warhammer 40,000 series is mixed -- 6,000 year old star cruisers coupled with ground troops driving around in stripped down Toyota-style pickup trucks. The protagonist is named Roth who is an inquisitor that doesn't really ask questions he just goes from battle scene to battle scene saving the day for the moment only to lurch to the next crisis. This is not fine literature, nor is it even strong science fiction. But it is entertainment and it took me back to the books you could read in a day or two, get into the story and then get on with your life.

Thanks Henry Zou, the author, for showing that this pulp genre still exists and it can still entertain. So yes as a work of 'science fiction' it is a two star, maybe a one star as there is no moral, little in the way of characters, and even less in a way of describing the future. But it gets back all those stars and then some when you consider its a quick an entertaining read that brings back the days of action packed, no sex, and just fun paperbacks. So with that attitude and recognizing all of its structure and story shortcomings I am giving the book a four star. I may not buy another book in the warhammer series, but it was fun to read this one.

I came into reading this book completely unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, other than knowing that it was the setting for a game involving highly detailed miniatures. I must say I am impressed.

The plot is entirely typical for the genre. A troubleshooter is sent in from the Empire to counter an invasion by the Chaos. (I never did get a real idea as to who exactly they were, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.) He encounters opposition from within the ranks, valiantly fights the enemy, obtains a solid victory, but at a terrible price. You've read it before, and you'll read it again. What distinguishes this book is the skill used in presenting it.

Even with just the little slice of the universe presented here, I was completely drawn in. This novel features believable characters, a rich setting, and a plot suitable to this kind of book. (It isn't War and Peace, but isn't completely predicable junk either.) Unlike some other books based on in an RPG universe, this one did not require any knowledge of the universe to understand what was going on. For instance, if a specific weapon was mentioned, it was quickly described so somebody unfamiliar with the source material could get a picture of what was going on. This is sharp contrast to some MechWarrior books I have read, where all of the mech classes that were tossed out meant absolutely nothing to me, even though the capabilities of each were important to the story.

P.S. I was unable to determine what relation the title had with the book. They must have a computer program that comes up with them completely at random...