Customer Reviews

Grey Knights: The Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title basically says it all. I bought all three books separately, and honestly buying all three separately was worth it. Getting all three books in one collection for half the price is easily worth it (sorry for the sales pitch like tone).

The Grey Knights Omnibus collects the three Grey Knights novels Grey Knights, Dark Adeptus and Hammer of Daemons. The stories follow Justicar Alaric, a member of the special Grey Knights space marine chapter set in the futuristic and gothic Warhammer 40K series. A special branch of the space marines, the Grey Knights have psychic powers, more advanced armor and weapons and are some of the most powerful warriors available to humans in the grim futuristic setting. They specialize in hunting demons who threaten mankind, often the last line of defense against these powerful beings.

Grey Knights introduces the reader to Alaric and the Grey Knights chapter, delving some into their past and what their chapter is about. Alaric is sent on a mission to investigate the return of a demon that had plagued man a thousand years before. Alaric and his contingent are forced into a race against time to find the demon and battle its fodder, both other demons and humans alike, and keep him from returning from the warp to the real world. This is the strongest of the three books, filled with action and intrigue and never a dull moment.

Dark Adeptus revolves around Alaric being sent to a world that mysteriously reappears after centuries from the warp. Landing on the planet Alaric finds it to be infested with the forces of Chaos; the sworn enemy of mankind. This book has a totally different feel to it, with a more exotic environment and the sense that anything can happen at any time, and everyone must be watched. It is not as intriguing or battle heavy as the first novel, but still puts up a good showing.

The final book is Hammer of Daemons. In this Alaric and his men lose a battle and are captured, taken to the Chaos world in the Eye of Terror. Once there he is forced into gladiatorial combat and must devise a way to escape the hellish world. This novel is nothing like Dark Adeptus, so even though the setting on a Chaos planet is a main plot device that is one of the few things they have in common. Much like Grey Knights this novel is filled with action, the most of the three, and has some twists that you won't expect. I should also note there are not many Warhammer 40K novels that follow a path like this one.

Counter's writing is clear and concise, and he wastes no time in getting to his point. He manages to paint a vivid picture of the settings quickly and rarely do any point in these novels does the story drag. If he brings up something you don't know about don't worry; he'll get you all you need to know and you won't feel lost at all.

All in all the Grey Knights series was very good. Of the Warhammer 40K novels I have read Grey Knights is my favorite, and Hammer of Daemons is also near the top. Having all three books collected in one and at a lower price is well worth the buy. You won't regret picking this up, Warhammer 40K fan or not.

One thing I appreciate about the Black Library is their omnibus editions. It really helps keep books more affordable... if you can wait for them to come out. This being said, once I saw the Grey Knight books were out, I quickly moved to purchase the omnibus.

Positives:
For those experienced in the Wh40k world, Grey Knights gives a glimpse into a world rarely covered, even within much of Games Workshop's canon - the inner planets of humanity's realms: Terra, Saturn, Mars. Grey Knights shows some of what occurs within the solar system.

The book is fairly well written, contains a decent amount of surprises, twists, and turns, and pits the Space Marines against foes usually only brushed against in other books.

Negatives:
While Ben Counter does a good job, there were many things that simply were not memorable enough to make the series truly noteworthy. Eisenhorn (A Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus) has etched itself into my memory, Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium worms his way in through absurdity, and Gaunt's Ghosts: The Founding (Gaunts Ghost) & Gaunt's Ghosts: The Saint keeps you wanting more.

Conclusion:
That being said, while I would not have bought the books individually, together they are a bargain and well worth the purchase.

Ok, this is a warning about the books: the scenarios are insanely outrageous and insanely convoluted. That said: what did you expect from books containing Grey Knights.
That is what I told my friend when he asked me about the Omnibus.

In all sincerity the series is a great read for all the fans of 40K. The scenarios in each book are what nightmares are made from.
Grey Knights is about the hunt for a traitor Astartes who is in league with a very powerful daemon. To stop the resurrection of the daemon the Grey Knights must hunt down an enemy that has been guided by the very same daemon for countless decades. Nothing is left to chance, for the resurrection requires a specific set of events and conditions. Which isn't much of a problem for an immortal daemon who has nothing better to do than create those conditions for his own rebirth into the material world.
Especially interesting and tragic was the psyker whose ordeal is in same ways worse and yet a blazing flame of human dedication and sacrifice in the 40K darkness.

Dark Adeptus was by far the most interesting. Simply put, a forgeworld returns from warp isolation after (I believe it was) one thousand years. Obviously having been this long removed from the material realm makes the Imperium at large suspicious. And rightfully so. what the Grey Knights discover is nothing short of Horus Heresy Mechanicum horror. The enemies they face are both physical and not. That is as far as I am willing to explain, since the final surprise is worth the series.

Hammer of Daemons quite literally is the title I gave this review 'Welcome to hell'. For our hero finds himself having been caught and sent into the Eye of Terror as a play thing to Khorne and his insatiable lust for slaughter. The hardship of this realm pushes him into a test of endurance both physical and spiritual. For in his darkest thoughts he fears somehow turning to chaos and being the first Grey Knight to have ever turned from the Emperor's light. The wars he must endure and the sanity he must retain are a harrowing ordeal.
Read it if you dare. ;-)

I admit it, I love the fluff of the Gray Knights. So I had very high hopes for this collection. Thankfully, it delivers.

The first book, Gray Knights, blew me away. The action is non-stop and the twist that allows Alaric to stop the daemon made my jaw literally drop. But it is woven so subtly into the book that you don't realize how important it is until it smacks you in the face. Every once in a while, I go back and reread the reveal, just to relive the feeling of awe.

I did not like Dark Adeptus as well. It was good, but not as good as Gray Knights. Perhaps it was just me, but there seemed to be a lot more characters to have to keep track of (which I sometimes have a problem with, unless they are introduced slowly over time). The plot is more psychological thriller than action novel. This is not a bad thing, but it was not what I expected after reading Gray Knights. It also seemed more straight-forward, and the "great reveal" was obvious about halfway through.

Hammer of Daemons made up for the disappointment of Dark Adeptus, though it is not as good as Gray Knights. The book is more disjointed, almost a collection of vignettes more than a book. There was also a lack of suspense, because the reader already knows Alaric and the slaves escape. (Though the exact outcome of that was a surprise.)

I've read this and other Ben Counter books. Though it is marignally better that his other books, it is still a mediocre books.

Greyknights has action, strong characters and takes place in the amazing and incredible wh40k universe.

However, Counter's writing is basic. At best. It is not enough to write about super warriors battling supernatural monsters. You need to have an interesting plot, you need to have the characters evolve, you need to surprise the reader. Counter just doesn't deliver on this account.

If you're interesed in reading about warriors and battles in wh40k universe, buy this omnibus. If you're interested in twsting, surprising plot and characters who are multidimensional, think again about buying this book.

First off I am a big Dan Abnett fan and that is what got me into warhammer. Eisenhorn and Ravenor were killer. I moved on to the horus heresy and Gaunt after that. With Counters Grey Knights linkage to the space marines and the INquisition I had to give it a try.
I really enjoyed the first two books. I was glad to see that though Alaric always wins, there are consequences, be it death to his battle brothers or mental & physical harm to himself.
The third book was the weakest of the 3 but made sense given what it all was leading up to. The villians were more mortal like and less overwhelmingly frightening in book three for some reason. It was a bit dumb in book three that he attempted a riot and was given a kind of leniency (yes a risk of damnation at the hands of a demon is not exactly leniency but it seemed tame). I was unconvinced that the demons in this final book cared as much about breaking him as he seemed convinced that he thought it was importante to them. The tone of book three therefore seemed lacking.
Still I look forward to potentially seeing our boy working directly as an inquisitor in the future...

I particularly enjoyed this Omnibus, and liked the concept of obtaining a grouping of novels together, so that I might seamlessly advance forward in the set of novels.

This author, Ben Counter, gets it: te concept that knowledge itself is intrinsically inert. However, when one begins to be swayed by ego and vainglory, one begins to use it either for good, or evil. Even "good" uses of knowledge can, when used carelessly, be subverted into evil. When one views knowledge in fear, and attempts to deny it by closing it away from all who need to study it, such as when attempting to know one's enemy by his or her thoughts, and then destroying those who do use knowledge to defeat evil-they become just as evil as the purported enemy. The Alexandrian Libraries, and their destructions, are but one example of this. So is the destruction of Ligeia, recruited to study ALL info, in order to perceive the intentions of their enemies-she is destroyed by her own handlers-she is used and tossed aside like a paper towel.

Even good ideas/knowledge can be subverted to evil purposes, such as an idea for making a perfect construct for a "good" war. Of course, it backfires, and a world is subverted into a biomechanical cannibalistic monstosity.

Know your enemy-or lose. Just watch out that you do not become like them.

Fast-paced actioner, highly recommend it.

I have recently spent an extended, two week stay in hospital, and a friend recommended these books to me. he knew I had been working on starting a new Grey Knight army back up again and these books, though not high literature kept me going and gave me some much needed inside in to the chapter and back story. If you need a good distraction, or just some inspiration for a new army start here!

I've read Space Marines novels and a couple of Inquisition novels. When I spotted this one is rather interesting because it seemed to merge both. The novel doesn't disappoint. The only quibble I have with it is the author's writing style is a little rough. You'll find places in the novel where he restates things that have already been stated or takes too many words to explain something simple. In my opinion I can be forgiven due to the quality of the stories.

Grey Knights

This is the first book in the series. As it seems that most of the Omnibus books that I've read, the first book of my favorite. The closest thing I can compare it to the one I've read is Eisenhorn; it's similar in that it's something of a detective story. Alric the hero of the story and leader of the main squat agree nights that we see in this book has to team up with an inquisitor to try to track down a demon that was vanquished 1000 years before but is striving even now to return. There's quite a bit of action and a couple twists that I didn't see coming.

Dark Mechanicus

When I looked at some of the reviews of this book I was very skeptical. It talked about the gray knights being trapped on a planet that had emerged from the warp after many years. The only thing, it's a forge world for Titans. I'm not sure quite what I was picturing, maybe a squad being held in prisons and having to escape or something. I don't spoil any of the twists, but let's just say that isn't quite what this book is. I will say that not only do you get some nice battles on the surface of the planet, but there's some pretty decent space battles thrown in to boot. Instead of being a book where you spent half the time waiting to get into the action, the action starts very early on and just gets more and more intense. I really like the look into the cult of Mars.

The Hammer of Daemons

The final book is more what I thought the second book would be. Basically our hero suffers defeat and is captured and taken to a slave planet of chaos. Remove for most of his support, he has to find unusual allies and try to find a way to disrupt the enemy while being in a severely weakened state in defending his own life in gladiatorial games. I know I said that I was skeptical when I thought the second book to be like this, but ended up actually liking it was a real page turner. Again we do have some of the same problems with the author restating things to many times, but it's forgivable.

To sum up, if I do give individual scores would probably give the first two a five and the last one a four. I enjoyed the novel far more than I expected I would. I'm guessing the author is never going to do a fourth book, but if he did that at least look into buying it.

Whether you are an avid Warhammer 40k fan or not, these books (let alone the omnibus in it's entirety!) will leave you satiated. The action is flawless. The characters are complex. The story is extremely developed. It is worth it's wait in literary gold.