Customer Reviews

Gaunt's Ghosts: The Saint (Gaunt's Ghosts Novels)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What an exciting and fast paced adventure story! This was a series of books that were not easy to find until this collection.

Dan Abnett creates characters that has substance, flaws and strengths in the face of great conflict. This series surrounds a character by the name of Colonel Commisar Gaunt and his men in their struggles not only to retain their humanity but to fight an almost insurmountable enemy.

Maybe think of the TV show "Band of Brothers" in a furturistic Sci-Fi setting.

I didn't play the Warhammer 40K board games until after I read these stories. I enjoyed them so much I started to build models after the characters in these stories. This just added another layer of enjoyment for me that I could share with friends.

The thousand-plus page Saint story arc, though less focused on the minutae of Ibram Gaunt, is still a very solid set of books. The only one that detracts from the experience at all is Straight Silver - it seems as if Dan Abnett was reading a history book on WW1, then abruptly stopped when he realized that the WH40K universe can offer some more interesting locales.

The shifting of the spotlight from Gaunt to the supporting cast, such as Cuu and Soric, seems pretty welcome as well. Focusing more on them allows for more interesting things to happen, especially in Sabbat Martyr.

Following The Founding, this second omnibus of the Gaunt's Ghost's series tops the first in the amount of action and storytelling. With a fourth book that pushes the omnibus from a normal 700 pages to a whopping 1000 pages, The Saint is a big book.

HONOUR GUARD
-----------
Honour Guard begins at the end of a city fight. Gaunt has been disgraced and is sent on his final mission: a trip to recover the remains of a saint. What began as a simple recovery mission becomes an epic road trip, culminating with a mountain battle against thousand of enemies. Faith and prowess decide the outcome.

THE GUNS OF TANITH
------------
A planet calls out for help, and the Ghost's answer. An industrial city on a planet with toxic clouds has been taken by the enemy. The only way into the city is a dangerous air drop in the dead of night. The Ghosts must face not only the enemy, but the air itself. Even worse is the fact that the enemy has spread into the very fabric of the city, appearing out of nowhere to battle the ambushed troops.

STRAIGHT SILVER
-------------
A battle that has reached a stalemate is the Ghost's next destination. The forces of good and evil have locked horns on a world where trench warfare rules. The Ghost's must adapt to these new conditions, or face death at the face of the overwhelming amount of enemy artillery. The only chance of victory lies with the Ghost's as they must make a suicidal behind enemy lines mission.

SABBAT MARTYR
-------------

The final fight in the Ghost's assigned star system, a holy world is besieged by enemy troops. The world cannot fall due to one fact: a saint has risen to lead the troops on the planet to victory. But even as the Ghost's are sent to protect the world, the agents of evil have sent a group of elite assassins known only as "The Nine" to remove the one thing holding the defense together: Gaunt himself. Only the Ghost's faith in their leader and the saint will lead them to victory as they facing unwinnable battles and unbeatable enemies.

The first Omnibus really sets the stage for the second. While the first seems more about an introduction of characters, the second really has an overall flowing story arch that moves from one book to the next. Each story is certainly self contained but leads into the next.

Now that we know the Ghost's and their stealth ability's it's time to not only grow the characters, but also make better use of their unique abilities. Their missions become more specialized much to Gaunt's pleasure and dismay.

While Gaunt is not necessarily the focal point of this series of books he's still very much a presence and gets his share in too. However in most books if the main character is not in the spot light it's often a disappointment. In the case of this series the Ghosts are so well loved by this point that it really isn't an issue and wasn't even something I noticed myself until someone pointed it out to me.

One of the nice things about these books are the woman. Woman are often not in the forefront of many Warhammer 40k novels. Which is often a disappointment to me (being female myself). The problem with novels like this is females are overly masculine in their personalities. Certainly this is true in the cases of some of the ex gang members. However there are a few very strong female characters, Ana Curth is possibly my personal favorite.

Needless to say it's a good book I like it better then the first Omnibus although to give you far warning the ending left me sobbing. :)

All I can say is Gaunt and the troops totally kick ass all the time non stop rip ur heart out and eat it bad asses whew.

I've read many different SF books and this omnibus is one of my favorites. A friend talked me into the Dan Abnett series and this book does not disappoint. I recommend this to be in anyones library.

I really enjoyed "The Founding" omnibus which I picked up after reading the "Eisenhorn" omnibus, but much like the last part of Eisenhorn, "The Saint" seems to get bogged down by the overarching storyline. "Sabbat Martyr" in particular seems to be rather disjointed and the excellent dialogue and characterization that is such a large part of Abnett's writing seems to suffer in the final book. Perhaps the bouncing from view point to view point is too much for so many characters have become central to the story.

In "The Founding" it is Gaunt and just a few central characters that we get to know which drives the story and makes for such an enjoyable read. By the end of "The Saint" there are so many threads that have been wound out over the last 1000 pages it starts to take it's toll on the plot. And in some cases (Gol's kids and Cuu's justice) it was stretched so far I became numb to caring about how things would resolve.

Don't get me wrong, Abnett is an excellent writer, and I will definitely be picking up "The Lost", I just hope I don't feel dragged by the ear over the last two books of the latest omnibus. (I imagine if I had actually dropped $7.99 on each of these books I would be even less impressed.)

This book is the second omnibus in the series. It is just as awsome as the founding, which is the first. I reccomend reading the fist omnibus first, as they tie in.

I've read half of the Horus Heresey, Einsenhorn, and about 6 other 40k books from the Black Library.

In the past I've found books written for small sets of fans like the 40k universe to be pretty bad. The Black Library has turned that image around completely. They have an incredible set of authors, Dan Abnett being one of the better ones I've had the delight of reading so far.

This may be my favorite of all the Black Library books so far.

Why:
1) Storyline:
Accurate, believable, and nail biting!
2) Great action scenes:
Dan includes just enough action in a major battle. You feel the grenades landing near you, you visualize las rifle hits on the corrupt and blood splatters on the wall around you. But not so much that the plot is bogged down. Not an easy thing to do.
3) Subtle genius...
Dan keeps just the right number of guys alive so I remember enough characters to feel part of the group, but isnt afraid to kill off these same characters so things are believable.

I just bought the next 2 books in the series. Thanks Dan!

Dan Abnett is able to strike the rare balance of remaining true to the essence of his source-material (the Warhammer 40k gaming universe, in this case), while still bringing truly original storytelling to his work.

The Gaunt's Ghost series has consistently delivered memorable stories featuring interesting characters. The 40k universe is expertly portrayed as the backdrop for engaging narratives exploring the horrors, triumphs and glory of war in the far-future.