Customer Reviews

Necropolis (Gaunt's Ghosts)

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It is in Dan Abnett's third installment of his well-done Gaunt's Ghosts Saga that he finally hits his stride. In Necropolis, Colonel-Commissar Ibrahim Gaunt and his Tanith First and Only Regiment are thrown into the meat-grinder type of warfare seen when fought within a city. The hive city in question is Vervunhive and Gaunt and his men must help protect and save the city from a rival hive-city that has fallen under the sway of Chaos. This massive civil war takes a large toll on the men of Tanith. The political backstabbing seen in Ghostmaker is continued in Necropolis, some of the jealousy and scheming of rival Imperial Guard commanders having a detrimental and deadly effect on the outcome of certain battles for Vervunhive.

One reviewer has compared Necropolis as a fictional and scifi account of the Battle of Stalingrad. I must agree with this comparison, but I must also point out that it also share some similarities with the siege of Moscow during World War Two. In fact, any battle fought in the Eastern Front could substitute for what occurs within the pages of Necropolis.

Abnett's writing style has improved with this installment and part of this may be that he has become comfortable with the characters and their motivations. Abnett's becoming one of the premiere writers thats come out of the Black Library branch of Games Workshop. Here's to hoping he continues writing more books about Gaunt and his Ghosts.

The third of Abnett's <i>Gaunt's Ghosts</i> series, Necropolis is set in a hive-world. Unlike the first, second, and fourth books, plot here takes second place to battle: Necropolis reads more like "a history of the Vervunhive siege with focus on Commissar Gaunt and his men", than "a story about Gaunt and his men during the Vervunhive siege."

This isn't inherently bad. Abnett knows how to write combat, and his large-scale ("under Colonel X, the second regiment moved west to reinforce the gates") descriptions are as good as those of any military historian. The action scenes are good, and there's enough of them. And yes, there's at least a token semblance of plot.

One reason I like the Ghosts series is the number of recurring characters. Perhaps fifteen or twenty 'named' characters who show up again and again; I like the familiarity, and the occasional character developments (some characters don't change - Larkin and Corbec are basically the same at the end of this book as they were at the start of the first - but others get promoted, learn things, or whatever.)

Overall, excellent multithreaded military sci-fi. The quality of the action and Abnett's excellent writing more than makes up for the plot deficiencies.

Necropolus is the third Gaunt's Ghosts novel, set in the nightmare science fantacy universe of Warhammer 40K. The series chronicals the exploits of Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his regiment of Imperial Guard soldiers known as the Ghosts. It might be helpful to read the books in order, but it is not really necessary. In fact, since this is the best book in the series by far, reading it first might set you up for a let down.

The first two books in the series are good, but they center mostly around one combat story after another. Necropolus goes far beyond that. It gives a very imaginative and in depth description of Vervunhive, "a mighty hive-city besieged by an unrelenting foe". The book is rich with characters and situations which yield a complete picture of the hive-city from it's feuding noble houses to it's sturdy workers, to it's seedy underground. The enemy is also imaginative and well developed.

The seige of the hive-city is descibed in the style of a well written history book, complete with a map of the hive. This is a refreshing change from the other books in this series which tend toward the heroic "against all odds" vignettes. Only until towards the end of the book do we get the obligatory death defying exploits. The ending becomes predictable, but is still enjoyable.

I enjoyed this book, it is a good shoot'em up with alot of background and action. I think any reader would agree, and I think 40K fanatics will find this the best of the latest generation of Games Workshop novels.

This book tells the collective story of how humanity can rise up from the deepest depths of despair to grab victory from the closing jaws of defeat, rallying the besieged to acts of heroism, self-sacrifice, and glory.
Reading this book reminded me of WWII accounts of cities holding fast against invading armies. The individual tales of courage and devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds, were uplifting and awe-inspiring. It strengthened the respect and gratitude felt towards those realworld veterans of our countries past wars. For those of you familiar with WH40K, you will thoroughly enjoy the battle sequences and the "fluff" included regarding the overall Crusade and the seemingly small part played by the Tanith First-and-Only. The descriptions of the Hive city and its vastness are wondrous, making me wish some ambitious director (Peter *cough* Jackson *cough*) would take this series to their hearts and bring it to the big screen. I would thoroughly enjoy watching this on film. It would be like taking HBO's "Band of Brothers", George Lucas's "Star Wars", and Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" and melding them into a 7-8 part mini-series or a series of movies 2 1/2 to 3 hours long! The way Dan Abnett brings us into the individual experiences of front line soldiers, helps bring to us both the horrible carnage and waste of war, as well as the tremendous courage, fortitude, and devotion of duty and faith that are the heart and soul of every trooper of the Imperial Guard (and PDF of Verghast)! The beginning of the book is wonderfully written, first bringing us into the local politics and what appears like a simple conflict between two rival Hive cities, then accelerating the story along as war breaks out and the stalwart, but horribly outclassed defenders are forced to call for aid from off planet. This whole segment of the book is more like a prologue, as the actual story begins with the arrival of the Imperial Forces. To give us perspective, it is immediately made apparent that the Tanith First-and-Only are perceived as a mere specialist regiment of stealth troops, given low status among the other higher profile regiments of the task force assigned to Verghast. As you might expect, their significance changes dramatically, paralleling the prominence of their commander. Now, if I could just find a way for them to work better on the game table! (But that's for another forum) Whether you enjoy war stories, Sci-Fi, WH40K, or simply a well-written story with well-developed characters and an engaging plot - you WILL enjoy this book.

While I enjoy the space marine novels better, the Gaunt's ghosts series has not disappointed me yet. Necropolis had alot going for it; large scale warfare, squad combat, personalizing the characters to the point you either like or dislike them, and it follows a good storyline.

Out of all the gaunts novels, this was without a question, the best to come.

Abnett really hit his stride with this book. A massive industrial hive city under attack by the forces of Chaos and only one man and his Ghosts can save them. Abnett really hits his stride with this novel. If you want non stop action, political intrigue and a body count that rivals all the world wars then this is the book for you. Follow the Ghosts and Gaunt himself as they battle the forces of Chaos and those of the hive city.

The first book introduced the Ghost's, the second book fleshed out the troops, now the third book throws them into a fight that once it gets going rarely lets up.
A hive city falls under siege and Gaunt's Ghost's are sent to help defend it. The first 40 pages or so are spent giving you the lay of the land with the hive city and its citizens, then it's pretty much bloody knuckles and broken teeth from there on out. Awesome combat and some interesting plot threads create a well paced story that engages all the way to the end.
Great stuff for fans of Warhammer 40k's Imperial Guard!

In NECROPOLIS, the Gaunt's Ghosts series really takes off. While FIRST AND ONLY and GHOSTMAKER were both very good books, both were hampered by the need to provide background information. In the third installment, the characters become fleshed out and we are introduced to the vicious scene of a Hive War when the Verghast hive city Vervunhive is attacked by a massive Chaos host, led by the daemonthing Heritor Asphodel. Forced to work with less than trustworthy allies, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his Tanith First-and-Only are placed in a nearly impossible defense position along with the rest of the Imperial forces in the city. Whether they can hold out comes down to executing plans perfectly, finding allies amongst treachery, and the trademark Ghostie bravery.

This is still one of my favorites of the whole series, and Abnett has produced some outright great books since. If you read ANY 40k series, read the Ghosts. If the setting was World War II instead of Warhammer, Mr. Abnett would be a deserved bestseller in the United States. He is the best author in the Black Library's employ, and one of the best science fiction writers out there. His character of Ibram Gaunt is one of the best hero characters you'll ever find in a war book, so I really can't recommend NECROPOLIS and the rest of the series highly enough.

In Necropolis, the third novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series, the Tanith First and Only are among a task force diverted to the planet Verghast, where a vast hive city is threatened by the forces of Chaos. Vervunhive is no mere arcology but virtually an entire city state enclosed in a single stupendous building, now under siege by hordes of foes. Dan Abnett depicts the horrors of future war with grim relish, and I found myself compulsively turning the pages, late at night, wanting to find out who survives and who doesn't. Another nightmarishly readable novel in an excellent series.