Hellforged (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Soul Drinkers) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ben Counter (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844166902
• ISBN-13: 978-1844166909
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #634,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, April 7, 2009

By 

Steel Paladin (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellforged (Warhammer) (Paperback)

One of the first Black Library books I ever read was Crimson Tears, so I naturally have an affinity for the Soul Drinkers. Since then, I have read and re-read all of the novels in the series thus far. I was quite eager to see this next installment; Hellforged. First off, I'll say that as an overall story, it was quite an entertaining read. Perhaps it was not as good as some of Dan Abnetts better work, but as a WH40K novel, it was right on par with the quality you look for in a BL novel. Even if you have never read any of the previous books, this one is a stand alone, providing an energetic and interesting story, as well as a few twists. (Though if you have never read a Soul Drinker Novel you might want to Wiki them so you have a better understanding of what the bigger picture is) However, if like me you have read the long running series, you might be a little disappointed in the lack of answers to questions raised by previous novels, and yes, there is kind of a cliff hanger at the end, but then again, the story might just end there, leaving the reader to contemplate how the whole saga ends. But the overall quality of the novel depends on what the reader expects from it; it you wanted an entertaining story with Space Marines tearing around in their usual fashion decimating the enemy with bolter and chainsword, then this novel does not disappoint. If you wanted in depth answers to the deeper questions raised in the previous novels, you might just want to find a summary to get you up to speed. In the end, based on the quality of the novel itself, I give it a 4 out of five.

3.0 out of 5 stars Escapist military SF from a master but not his best at all, January 20, 2011

By 

Symmetry Breaker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellforged (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Soul Drinkers) (Mass Market Paperback)

In brief, novels in the "Warhammer 40,000" line are set about 40,000 years in the future, when the galaxy is a very nasty place indeed. Humanity is the nominal dominant galactic species, but there are threats galore and to survive the human empire has become the sort of fascist dystopia that would give Reynhard Heydrich nightmares. The "Space Marines" are the elite elite bio-engineered super-human shock troops, and one group of these superhuman warriors - the Soul Drinkers - has rebelled against the oppression of the empire and gone rogue. This book is an ongoing series, and the first couple of titles in the series were very good indeed, at least for escapist military SF. But as many other reviewers have attested, this book has not quite kept up to standard. In particular there are too many egregious unresolved issues and blind plot alleys, and too many sympathetic characters get killed off for little reason and they do not get replaced.

Nonetheless, while not as good as we usually expect from this author, it's not a total wash. The parts dealing with the "mechanicum" - the empire's cult of science and engineering - are quite good, and there are plenty of bits and pieces to enjoy here and there throughout the book.

In summary: did not beat the point spread, but still a more entertaining read than most of what is out there, including most of what is in this genre. Let's hope the sequel gives the fans something other than the protagonist being pointlessly tortured to death by fanatics over 300 pages...

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unusually disappointing, May 3, 2009

By 

Damocles (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hellforged (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Soul Drinkers) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ben Counter is one of my favorite Black Library authors. His Grey Knights series, his work in the Horus Heresy series and the first few Soul Drinkers novels were very readable.

However, the quality of the Soul Drinker series has severely nose dived in the last couple books. Chapter War was an exercise in futility, and all felt very meaningless. Did it serve any purpose to suddenly kill off the resourceful Eumenes and have all the new Soul Drinkers scouts desert? It was almost as if he discarded everything that he was building towards in the first three books.

I gave the series another chance with Hellforged, and it was perhaps, even worse.

There were some bright moments. I liked how he dealt with the Mechanicus, who were by far the most interesting characters. Sadly, he continued the tradition of introducing a mildly interesting human character, and then killing him/her off in an unsatisfying way. Though, I will say that the human characters in this book received especially wretched treatment.

Perhaps the most damning flaw of the book, was that the whole time as I read it, I was wondering if Games Workshop had seen a slump in Necron army sales, and so needed them to get some exposure. There was a rather unfortunate litany of encounters with Necron units, that read as if he were going down the army list, even referring to them specifically. I.E, here are the Immortals, here are the Flayed Ones, watch out for Wraiths, etc.

The Adeptus Mechanicus suffered from several terrible incidents of deus ex machina. The ending, as some have mentioned, was particularly atrocious in this regard.

I felt Ben Counter had a really good theme, that he developed pretty well for the first three books of the series. I just don't understand what happened to make him pretty much have the series commit suicide.

Perhaps he had a lack of inspiration going forward. Or maybe, he had to remove the Soul Drinkers so as to not upset the 40k playing field by having them actually succeed. But I personally felt that the most alluring point of the story, was them clawing back from oblivion and rebuilding as an independent chapter. Not being constantly thrown back into the hole. It makes all the previous struggles seem worthless.

There are a few more minor issues.

One is that the editing of the book was generally shoddy. There were a couple times that he got his own squad names turned around. Such as claiming a squad escorted a character in the beginning of the chapter, and ending with a different squad escorting them.

Secondly, Chaplain Iktinos, who was one of the more interesting and well written characters in the first few books, is nearly unrecognizable. Where once he was charismatic, now he has become rather wooden with awkward dialogue, showing no trace of his former self.

Sarpedon has also become a serious chore to read. There are quite a few instances throughout this book, where he exchanges dialogue that is so lame and stilted, that it makes one actually put it down and wince.

Black Library is not exactly renowned for the conversational skills of their protagonists, but I always felt Counter made a strong effort.

That said. It's not a /bad/ book by Black Library standards. The action scenes were superb, even if I found myself skimming or skipping them. I had gotten so exasperated in where he was taking the story, that I didn't have the patience to read in aching detail, the destruction of another necron. Who are probably the most boring antagonists in the 40k universe.

In conclusion, Hellforged will mostly disappoint those who really enjoyed the first two novels in the series, as he has completely changed the thematic scope of the series.