Customer Reviews

Relentless (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Only War)

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First Officer Tomas Ward, of the space frigate "Relentless", has never seen real battle. The captain died months ago and Commander Ward took his own sweet time reporting the fact. Since then, Ward and his officers have patrolled the sector, but instead of boarding vessels for inspections of illegal items they simply take what they want out of the cargo hold, whether or not the ship boarded really had anything hidden or not. It all comes to a halt when the new captain arrives.

Captain Becket and his aide, Officer Samuel Warrant, are two survivors of a previous ship. The two have no idea about any of the corrupt schemes surrounding Ward and his men until it is too late. Unwilling to lose his "collection", Ward has decided that Becket has to die. It is planned during the stop on the planet Pontus. The scheme works out exactly as Ward planned, except that Becket's body is not found. The only mistake made was in assuming Becket is dead.

Becket has not only survived, but has also figured Ward for the weasel he is. Before Becket could settle on a plan of action, he finds himself conscripted instead. With all his injuries, no one looks close enough to realize who Becket really is. He, and hundreds more like himself, are forced to toil in the ship's lowest and most dangerous underbelly. And so begins Becket's ruthless campaign to fight his way back up through the ranks to seize back control of the ship and claim his revenge.

**** If you are expecting to read of space marines, heroic space battles, and loyalty to the Emperor, then this book is not for you. This story is all about traitors, greed, and mutiny. The character of Ward is well done, in a sleazy way. Readers will hate Ward immediately. The readers will feel the total opposite about Becket. However, I cannot help but feel that Becket, with all his battle experiences, should have seen through Ward and his closest officers much earlier on and done something about them. I would not wish to serve under one so blind about the officers closest to him. Still, ignoring that, the story is very entertaining and the author did a pretty good job on showing the less glamorous aspects of being on a ship. All-in-all, though the ending felt rushed I believe most will thoroughly enjoy this tale set in the W40K universe. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Review.

A very nice novel and gives an interesting look at life aboard ships in the WH40K universe. Only be prepared- its about life within the ship. While it does have its share of fleet action scenes, the focus is about what goes on within the ship. In this sense it is unlike the recent novels in the "Rogue Trader" series.

If you bear this in mind than it is a very engaging novel and actually complements other novels like "Execution Hour" or "Shadow Point" which concentrates more on fleet action.

In the Imperial Battlefleet, life is hard. But orders are obeyed from commanding officers without question. To disobey is to incur severe and immediate punishment. But what to do with an entire crew exhibiting diobediance? This is the fate experienced by Captain Becket. Tasked to assume command of the Relentless, whose captain the reader knows was murdered by the avaricious First Officer Ward, Becket attempts to return the crew to their honorable heritage by instilling discipline that has been lacking for the years since Ward took the captain's chair. Ward and most of the other officers are not pleased with the return of the old ways, as it cuts into their larceny and piracy against innocent vessels.

Becket is deposed, believed to be dead, by Ward who quickly returns the crew to their criminal ways. Becket, unbeknownst to anyone on board, survived but was severely wounded. A press gang returns him anonymously to the Relentless as one of the thousands of slaves who tend the lower decks. Becket, though, will have his revenge or die trying.

Relentless gives a good portrayal of life on a Battlefleet ship. From the cushy and decadent ways of the officers who have strayed, to the horrid conditions facing the slaves on the lower decks, the picture is not a pretty one. Nor is it pretty on the Dark Eldar ship plotting to end the storied career of the Relentless.

This is a decent read, but it's got some things going against it. First, it's a short book. Considering the price being uniform for paperbacks these days, you get more from a Dan Abnett or Graham McNeil book for the same price point. Second, after the story is resolved, the characters who survive seem almost to have learned little or nothing from the experiences. While the end of the story suggests a potential sequel, the ending is very abrupt, both for the Imperials and for the Dark Eldar. The losses and depredations experienced during the battles on board the Relentless should have educated the survivors about how to amend their ways to alleviate what they've seen and experienced. That this does not happen seems to make the protagonist less than worthy. Given that, why read the book at all? While he does find a new dedication, Becket ignores much of what led him to the end he finds. I consider this a flaw in the work.

All told, though, the writing is well-done, if peppered with typos and grammar errors like most 40k books. It's not a bad read, but neither does it compare to some of the Horus Heresy series or others in the 40k setting.

Easy read...charaters are developed a bit more than I expected and the story line is fun. The only fault is that there are a couple of huge plot holes that are filled way, way to conveniently to keep the story as gritty as it's trying to be.

I'd read it again.

Don't expect the typical Warhammer 40K military action. This is a simple tale of vengeance. One man, deposed by another, must work his way up from slavery to reclaim his position as Captain.

If you like this novel, I recommend you try and find Anarchaos by Curt Clark. Curt Clark is a pseudonym of crime author Donald Westlake. Anarchaos takes place in the future and features an even grimmer tale of vengeance.

This book describes life on an Imperial starship and how it is manned, both with volunteers and gang pressed recruits in the Warhammer 40k universe. The book revolves around leadership, the ship Captain attempting to instill discipline and prepare the warship for combat. Then there is the villain, not the Dark Eldar pirates, but the first officer who is negligent on his duties and more concerned about accumulating treasure than performing his mission.

Discipline and loyalty of the crew is challenged and when reality sets in with the death of the Captain's best friend, the action finally begins, half-way through the book. It is a relatively easy and quick read that can be finished in a couple of hours.

The climatic battle results in the two main factions vying for control of the ship with the Captain trying to regain control as a smaller 3rd faction and the Dark Eldar trying to capture as many of the crew and possibly the ship as the 4th faction.

The First Officer's selfishness comes to full effect in deciding not to arm the crew to fight the Dark Eldar pirates raiding the Relentless. Instead, he is more concerned about killing off his rival faction who attempting to arrest him for murdering the previous Captain. And worse off, if his faction is about to lose, he also plans to destroy the ship and the crew, just to save himself.

Overall, a solid story with an ending set for a sequel.