Customer Reviews

The Gildar Rift (Space Marine Battles)

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

 

 

The Gildar Rift was a well thought out book. There were some areas that were slow to develop, especially at the start when the back story was being laid out for the Silver Skulls story arc. Sarah Cawkwell seemed to be concerned with fleshing out the silver skulls as a chapter while also trying to make a good reading experience at the same time. Several instances did pull me out of the story, however. Firstly, a point at which a space marine captain tells a tacical squad to hold position in the middle of heavily occupied enemy territory while claiming they would be reinforced soon, yet never are. This is never explained or mentioned again. Secondly, when a space marine captain with dual lightning claws cannot hit a chaos space marine in terminator armor. I can get if he cant kill him, but he couldnt even hit the guy. It was hinted that the chaos space marine might have some deamon protecting him but this is barely explained at all, just hinted at. This book might have benefited from another round of editing to clear up these story issues. Cawkwell can definately writing a compelling action sequence, and build up a climax, but the continuity and sheer beleivability of some parts of her work need to be fixed.

At first I was a little disappointed with the book but I figured I'd give it a hundred pages or so before aborting. Surprisingly, by that point, I started getting hooked and found the story to be quite entertaining. What it lacks in prose, it makes up in good old-fashioned fun. I think it deserves 3.5 stars but I gave it 4 because I think folks are being a little too tough on some of lesser known BL authors. I would recommend it. As long as your not expecting a Dan, Graham or Aaron style novel, you should have a good time. Share the love.

The actual story arc for the Silver Skulls focused on a masterpiece of merging man and machine.

The Red Corsairs on the other hand are focused on raiding. So inadvertently they threatened a secret and complex project.

Except the actual project was only threatened in the early stages when the space battles occurred. Aside from that, the super secret Resurgence project became a secondary story arc.

The primary story arc was definitely the Silver Skulls fighting against the Red Corsairs. That part of the story was well written and Sarah Cawkwell did fantastic in that regard. The Silver Skulls were fanatically stubborn and their hatred fueled them to eliminate the Red Corsairs.

The Red Corsairs themselves were fantastic. The Tyrant made a sick and insane appearance whose madness was an integral part of success. The Tyrant's Corpsemaster (main Apothecary) was a perverted and insane medic whose madness is only rivaled by the Tyrant.

(And to make sure people read it to the end) The best part of the book were the little jokes about what I like calling 'mainstream' 40K stuff. Early on in the game you will enjoy a little joke about a dominating drink of choice in the Imperium. Loved that.

Well done Sarah Cawkwell,

I am looking forward to future stories.

I've read all of the Horus Heresy novels, and all of Dan Abnett's Gaunts Ghosts books and all of the Space Marine Battles novel's and a multitude of other Warhammer 40000 books, so I know the authors writing styles I like and those that I don't. When I read a new author's work I'm very pessimistic. But to my surprise this book entertained me, and that's all I ask. On the negative side the story could have used a little editing, but that's a very small point.

I am somewhat surprised by the good reviews this chapter has been getting. But I hope to balance this by just sharing what I felt after spending money on this. Ahem ahem, after reading this book, honestly I was quite disappointed. Warhammer books are known for its ferocity, the dark foreboding malicious intent and the intensity of it's battles.

Sadly, I could find neither in this entire novel. I get that the author is new, and to be fair the writer is also a chick. But it would probably have helped if she actually read some of the great work that has been penned prior to writing her half-hearted attempt at fleshing out a brutal landscape. I felt like I was reading a novella, and that the space marines were more involved in a self-inflicted emotional score as opposed to making eternal war with his brethren

The battles were flat, and the tone and language was really mildly amusing. I personally relish warhammer because it's dark, violent, and the battles are epic to say the least. All in all I don't think she is a bad writer, it's just that her setting and tone of writing is inconsistent with the realm of warhammer. I personally hope she takes heed and gets the plot right in the future ^_^