Necropolis (Warhammer 40,000: Gaunt's Ghosts) [Import] [Paperback]

Dan Abnett (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Black Library; Mass Market Ed edition (April 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844163040
• ISBN-13: 978-1844163045
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,501,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Abnett is a novelsit and award-winnig comic book writer. He has written twenty-five novels for the Black Library, including the acclaimed Gaunt's Ghosts series and the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and with Mike Lee, the Darkblade cycle. His Black Library novel Horus Rising and his Torchwood novel Border Princes (for the BBC) were both bestsellers. He lives and works in Maidstone, Kent.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Abnett's Gaunt's Ghost saga hits its stride, August 3, 2004

By 

A. Sandoc "sussarakhen" (San Pablo, California United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Necropolis (Gaunt's Ghosts) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best military sci-fi I've read, but not bad., August 7, 2001

By 

Leo (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Necropolis (Gaunt's Ghosts) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best ghost novel so far, January 28, 2001

By 

Mark Mitchell (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Necropolis (Gaunt's Ghosts) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.