Customer Reviews

Hunt for Voldorius (Space Marine Battles)

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Hunt for Voldorius - Andy Hoare



The Space Marine Battles novels of the Black Library are an important an necessary series within the canon of the Warhammer 40k universe. Thusfar, both Steve Parker's Rynn's World and Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Helsreach have served important roles within the grimdark future of 40k; they have fleshed out with great breadth and clarity two of the epic battles that shaped two nominal Astartes chapters as well as the heroic marines that serve them. With that in mind, Andy Hoare's Hunt for Voldorius is the first in the series that falls a bit short.

Battle for Voldorius centers around the White Scars chapter and the hunts in which they embark to slay the worst enemies of the chapter. In this instance, the hunt is for the demon prince Voldorius, an enemy responsible for the death of billions across the Imperium. Led by Kor'sarro Khan, Master of the Hunt and character introduced in the most recent Space Marines codex, the White Scars 3rd company embarks on a quest to slay the aforementioned foe.

While Hoare's prose is strong and his action sequences sufficiently exciting, the narrative falls short. While i really like the idea of the hunts--it fits quite well with the Mongol-inspired heritage of the White Scars-- this particular story feels remarkably less-than-epic and the quest to find Voldorius more of a foregone conclusion than a hunt. Voldorius is found quickly, effectively eliminating any excitement that should have been found in a proper hunt.

While the narrative came up short, Hoare does a really nice job fleshing out his heroes. Kor'sarro Khan is an interesting character and really fits the heroic ideal of a Space Marine captain. Hoare provides a nice contrast between Khan and Kayvaan Shrike, the Raven Guard captain that also appears in the story. Where Khan is brash, Shrike is reserved. Where Shrike is humble, Khan is a bit arrogant. The characters, as well as their respective chapters' combat doctrines, are good foils for one another, and provide a strong point of conflict within the story, but aren't explored nearly enough.

The use of both the White Scars and the Raven Guard as is one of the major issues I had with Hunt for Voldorius. While I was initially excited to read a story involving Shrike and Khan, putting them together in one book left me wanting. While the character of each captain is established well, their personal histories and individual stories are woefully underdeveloped. A previous chapter conflict is hinted at, but is never explained. As a result, the mistrust between the two chapters isn't entirely believable beyond the reader being told that the two have trust issues. It's frustrating because the hints are really intriguing and you want to know more, only those questions are never answered. I think both characters would have been better served with their own books rather than a combined story.

Through all its faults, Hunt for Voldorius isn't a 'bad' novel. Hoare is a good writer (see my reviews of his Rogue Star and Star of Damocles) and his competent prose helps to save an underwhelming narrative. I really appreciate the Black Library's exploration of characters from the 40k codices, but wish in this instance that Kor'sarro Khan and Kayvaan Shrike were allowed the room to develop that both Grimaldus and Pedro Kantor were In their respective books. Hunt for Voldorius is a worthwhile read, but not a must-read. Hoare spins an acceptable addition to the Space Marine Battles series, but, much like an episode of Lost, it is one that ultimately leaves you with more questions than answers.

5.5/10

If you read Warhammer 40k books you come to expect a few things.

Authors have their favorite words and phrases, and you can expect to read bolter shells, bones, and blood described by those authors in the same way across several different books.

I've never read anything by this author, but I now know exactly how he will describe certain things in future books. How? Well, the author uses the same phrases to describe the same thing or feeling in three different chapters. For a few different things/feelings. You'll hit the last half of this book and think "I've read this sentence before." You're right, you just did about an hour ago.

This speaks to a certain laziness you'll encounter in this book. Characters aren't fleshed out. Only two White Scars characters have any significant back story given to them. In a White Scars novel. With 300 pages. The rest are nameless background that may or may not die. The author doesn't give any sense of how effective the enemy forces are. We simply know that some guys shoot at other guys and an indeterminate number of White Scars are injured... maybe. A White Scars Stormseer and Chaplin show up every once in a while. They say one line then disappear into the back of a rhino. Yeah, wouldn't want those fun characters to be described in any significant way. At least the hordes of White Scars will get to participate in this book by offering the same blessed chant. Just one though. About 20 times. Contrast that with the writers in the Horus Heresey who come up with many very clever blessings that give you a sense of the reverence their chapters feel towards the Emperor.

Don't worry about reading any spoilers in reviews. You know exactly what will happen in this book. At the beginning of a chapter you'll know what the objective is and at the end of the chapter you will discover that they got to that objective the same way you expected. Nothing surprising here. Both Helsreach and Rynn's World are superior books in every way.

I plan to give the author another chance. I read a faint hint of where this novel could have gone to be something more. Ultimately, this book is an easy read that you won't remember after the next space marines battle novel.

Hunt for Voldorius by Andy Hoare follows Space Marine Captain Kor'sarro Khan in his quest to hunt down and slay daemon prince Voldorius. Voldorius is a Traitor, mass murderer, and monster. The tale begins with Kor'sarro already on Voldorius's tail, and evolves from there. But you can get all that from the first 10 pages.

So, how is it?

Hunt is not a bad book. I finished it, and I have a hard time reading all the way through awful. Hunt is not awful. But it's not great. As far as the writing goes there is too much passive voice, double punch adjectives, repeating, and telling instead of showing. One more solid edit of Hunt would have gone a long way to correcting this stuff. For all that though it was readable. Some of the more annoying parts weren't annoying enough to get in front of the narrative arc.

So, plot-wise, how was it? Straight forward, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Hunt doesn't have any major plot twists. You get what's on the box. It works. It's an enjoyable read if you like to read about epic knights, I mean Space Marines, hunting down dragons, I mean daemon princes. So, if you like Warhammer 40,000 fiction, then you'll probably like Hunt. I did.

Now, all that said it could have been a lot better. The main protagonist is one-dimensional and basically a Mary Sue. The most interesting character is built into an overly elaborate MacGuffin before she's allowed to be cool. The antagonist is a cackling Bond villain with delusions of grandeur. There are one or two danged confusing scenes that should have been rewritten. And the author takes the easy way out of some scenes that are simply ripe for juicy conflict. Never take the easy way out!

I'm not going to go into detail on those, since I don't want to spoil anything. Still, overall it was a decent book, and far from the worst I've ever read. But, if you're not already a Warhammer 40k fan, then I would shy away. If you're a 40k fan, well, enjoy!

You can find other reviews and opinion (most of them bad) on my blog at [...]

Andy Hoare's HUNT FOR VOLDORIOUS has all the "minimum requirements" for a book in the Space Marine Battles series. There's a Space Marine chapter (White Scars, in this case), an enemy (Alpha Legion and traitor militia), and plenty of over the top violence (I lost track of the number of times someone was cut in half). Unfortunately, it's a little short on story, and as a result doesn't really hold up well with either RYNN's WORLD or HELLSREACH (the first two books in the series).

The 3rd company of the White Scars have vowed to bring down the daemon Voldorius, who is bent on releasing the Bloodtide once more. They track him to the desolate planet of Quintus V, where they join forces with the 3rd company of the Blood Ravens, who are there on a related but separate mission. There is mutual distrust between the two chapters, but out of necessity they work together to achieve both their aims. Along the way there are many bloody battles, with all the chainsword flesh rendering and bolt gun carnage most 40K fans have come to enjoy.

But in my opinion the story is long on daemons and warp, and shorter on Space Marine tactics, cooperation, and domination. The introduction of a second chapter (Blood Ravens) as tentative allies detracts rather than adds to the story line, and in the end the whole book just sort of felt average and unremarkable.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "disappointing," but it's pretty average. True Space Marine fans will find something to enjoy in here, but if you just dabble in this world, there are other titles more worth your time.

If this review is not helpful to you, please leave a comment as to why so I may improve my reviews.

As a huge White Scars fan I was excited to read this. However with the introduction of the Scar's "battle speak" I started to have my doubts about this book. Aside from the annoying "The crow eats half the worm and drops the remains on the dune", it quickly became evident that this was a run of the mill Space Marine book. What irritated me the most was the Raven Gaurd. They pretty much stole the show.
Bummer.

A crusade the White Scars initiated so long ago, to hunt down a traitor that has been avoiding them since the Horus Heresy. Yet is there a darker chase and a dark irony at play? Is the hunt itself more damaging in the end to the chapter and the universe itself? Could eliminating one evil unleash a worse?

I read the book and know all those answers. Would you like to find out? Then enjoy the hunt.