Customer Reviews

Sons of Dorn (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Imperial Fists)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The author tried, really tried to introduce the reader to the Imperial Fist chapter in this book. In the course of doing so, he ignores all previous works involving space marine recruitment, and spends an inordinate amount of time describing how the diversity of cultural backgrounds and individual fighting styles make the chapter so strong.

A continuous element in the plot concerns the animosity between three recruits who were taken by the Imperial Fists from the same battlefield(Brutal, Bloody ripoff from Space Wolves Omnibus). Forget that space marine indoctrination does its best to wipe most of the recruit's pre-marine memories away, nope, thats not convienient for this story. Nor do any of them consider talking to a chaplain, or simply realize their place in the chapter and drop the animosity. Its there to the very END.

The recruits are trained in sword fighting by veteran sargeants, as this is the favored weapon of the chapter, but somehow they all keep their former sword fighting styles such as samurai, french fencing, and whatever barbarians do with a 2 handed iron blade. Hell, when the recruits are made full battle brothers, they are given their katanas and falchions with power field generators installed so they can go "en-garde" a warboss and ninja duel a necron lord. The lore of this book is essentially a MOCKERY of Space Marines, and Warhammer 40k in general.

There are some good elements and themes explored, such as the experience of the recruits who make the short list, and their interactions with each other. But, the bad stuff is much more pervasive. A big part of the Imperial Fists chapter cult is the use of the pain glove, which is a transparent bodyglove which the marine must climb into naked infront of all his peers to endure minutes of pain as a form of meditation. This is described in detail! The concept makes sense. The Doom Eagles use a mechanical apparatus that a marine must push against or be crushed, but did we have to go on about stripping infront of a chaplain infront of all the other recruits? This forces me to beleive the Fists are a pack of kink-fetished boy lovers. Thats not a good thing for the audience to be thinking about a first founding space marine chapter!

The story overall was simplistic and not very beleivable compared to the other Black Library publications I have read, but hey! its the author's first book(I hope) and he can build on it and get better. However, the editors at black library dont need to sleep through reviewing the next one, cause this sucks. I already have told fellow Black Library fans not to read this one, and I wouldnt have bought it given the chance again.

Warhammer 40,000 novels may not be masterful examples of the written word, but there are always a few satisfying elements that are going to come part and parcel with any story set in that universe. All those elements are clearly present in "Sons of Dorn." Tales of honor and the corruption of chaos, camaraderie between Space Marines, and of course, page after page of explosions, severed limbs, and flying bullets.

Anyone new to the universe of Warhammer 40,000 won't get lost, as everything is explained while the story moves along. That's a bit of a double edged sword though, because people who have already read many other novels in the line and regularly play the miniature combat game may find the descriptions overly tedious.

The story deals with three new scouts recruited into the Imperial Fists chapter, who all come from different warring factions in the middle of a battle. The back story of each character and their reasons for fighting against each other before being forced to work together makes for good reading, although no one should expect to develop much of a connection with any of them. From their initiation and subsequent training, the three would-be Space Marines are then tasked with defending an isolated world from an incursion by the forces of chaos.

Whether it was a page count limit or a conscious decision by the author, for some reason none of the various storylines have any sort of strong resolution. The lack of a definite wrap up to the various story threads gives the book a "snapshot" feel, as though it's just a single clip in a vaster overall movie taking place in the Imperium of Man.

"Sons of Dorn" isn't the best Warhammer 40,000 has to offer, but it does have all the elements that make up a decent sci-fi story and enough action to keep things exciting.

This is a story that follows three young men who are selected to become scouts in the Imperial Fists chapter of the Space Marines. The story begins following each one individually on their homeworld. The novel spends a bit too much time focusing on this part of the characters lives. There are several overlapping sections where the book just feels repetitive, telling and retelling the same events from the different perspectives of each of the main characters. Once the three are selected to become Scouts, the book becomes a bit more interesting if you are a fan of Space Marines. It goes into some fairly good detail about the process of becoming a Space Marine Scout; the genetic altering, the ritualized teachings and psychic screenings. Again, there are parts that feel quite slow, as it takes quite a while before the recruits are allowed to take part in any battles. Once the Scouts are finally pitted against their enemy, a large army of Slaanesh cultist Imperial Guardsmen, the book begins to pick up somewhat. Still there are many times when the book seems to be repeatedly covering the same information again and again which gets quite tedious.

I would recommend this book to a Warhammer 40,000 fan who is interested in the Imperial Fists, but moreso for those interested in Scouts. In the long run the book feels more like it could really be about any Scout in any Space Marine Chapter, going into very little detail about the rich potential stories of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Special Imperial Fists Character Captain Lysander does make a brief appearance in the book, but really isn't much of a factor.

All in all the book is an average read which could have been drastically improved by simply being shorter. It seems like there is a great deal of repetition which makes the book read quite slowly at time and gets quite frustrating. So, in short, only read this book if you are really a big fan of Space Marine Scouts.

Ok, so this book has or had a lot of potential. You start to get to see inside the Asartes training process. You start to see the indoctrinations of potential candidates. The problem is the book is boring and hard the follow. The author has this annoying habit, of the describing a scene 3 different ways, from the viewpoint of the 3 main characters. This gets old, very very fast. In most cases, the additional viewpoints are 95 percent the same. So its like reading the same paragraph over again 3 times. I'm sure in Author's head this seemed like a way cool idea, but in practice, at least for writing, its cluedgy and bores the reader.
I would avoid this book.

Sons of Dorn may has well have been titled Imperial Fists, in homage to Space Wolf, the book that it is basically a portmanteau of. The first half of the book is the identical story of several characters who wish each other dead going through the initiation and initial Space Marine training. In place of the Cup of Wulfen and the icy peaks of the Fang, you have the pain glove and the Phalanx. What makes this rather tragic is how the book could've been rather good, especially given how teetering to the edge several of the characters become.

Through together a few macros on superhuman strength and stamina, a few on how power armor could've stopped X, but scout armor could not, and a few on fighting through pain, and you have about an additional 15% of the text of the book. In addition, SM's are supposed to be superhuman, and this portrayal paints them as the pinnacle of human, but only just. I prefer the comparison of a punch from me could snap your spine to I'm only slightly better than you. The enemies taken on in this volume, despite being amped up, should've still been felled like sheep at the slaughter, as that's what SM's do.

Overall, a mediocre plot foiled by making it something that you've clearly seen before, and while this seemed to be one of the few moments where the Imps can claim a clear and decisive victory, priceless jewels for their rarity, it sure did not have the feel of a win. The tension and animosity that seemed like it would be a driving force of the story sputters and dies, with no apparent cause or reason for its departure. Read Space Wolf instead, better plot with better character closure.

I picked up this book thinking that I had read this author before, unfortunately I realized soon enough that I had been thinking of Anthony Reynolds (who is actually quite good) and that this author was too be avoided in the future.

The story started off decently enough, but soon was bogged down in the unbelievable rivalry between the three main characters. The circumstances of their anger at each other were forced and then the rest of the novel the reader is left to deal with the random outbursts of anger whenever the author decided you needed to be absolutely sure they hated one another.

I am not sure why the other review says you get to see the training of space marines. You really don't, aside from a brief window into the pain fetish of the Imperial Fists. The initiates go from being winnowed through tasks the reader does not see to 4-5 years in the future when they are scouts. There is one training scene as scouts, then they are in the battle.

In the end, there are plenty of better 40k books out there, avoid this one.

I enjoyed Ian Watson's Space Marine so I can dig this author's enthusiasm for pursuing a similar vein in Sons of Dorn. But it felt to me like a rehash (and a poor one at that). This novel is just 40K by the numbers: mention important Imperial Fists personalities like Vladimir Pugh, Darnath Lysander, and Rhetoricus (worst_name_ever) without fleshing out any character details (TICK); repeat ad nauseum that "no mortal man could take that kind of damage but (our protagonist) could because HE'S A SPACE MARINE!" (TICK); don't forget the nerve glove - no decent Imperial Fists novel can do without it (TICK). Honestly, Black Library authors/ editors have got to stop treating the 40K literary audience like bozos. I don't want to know about the Laraman's gland again - you've already explained it, along with every other Black Library author in current rotation. Yes, I do realise that scout armour is not the same as Astartes armour, so stop wasting my time with yet another comparison and get on with the story! This book is typical of the Black Library's recent approach towards their novels - assume the audience knows nothing about the WH40K universe and fill 'em in. It's distracting and it's a shame because the lore, not the story, often becomes the focus of the novel: disjointed and boring for the umpteenth time. If you doubt my words read some earlier 40K novels for a comparison. In fact, give Watson's Space Marine a go. Far, far superior to this watered-down rendition. Look also for books by earlier Black Library authors like Gordon Rennie, Brian Craig and Barrington J Bayley. Their stories are interesting, have direction and purpose and characters, good and evil, you'll want to return to time and again. If you enjoy a decent read, give Sons of Dorn a miss.

In the Warhammer 40k universe Space Marines are superhuman warriors fanatically loyal to the Emperor. This makes them great for wargames but hard to write in novels since there's little to tell them apart. Sons of Dorn tries to breath some life into marines by following three initiates as they are grabbed off their primitive world and molded into Space Marines. The result is a strong start but then a very predictable story.

It starts strong introducing 3 mortal enemies from 3 different cultures. The Imperial Fist Space Marine chapter descends upon their world and literally pulls them off the battlefield as potential recruits. In the trials that follow the recruits are whittled down from thousands to just a few dozen. The marines are cruel and unfeeling, unworthy recruits are disposable.

But once our 3 heroes become marine scouts (the lowest rank) things become dull and predictable. There's a desperate battle against hopeless odds where despite foolish tactics the marines prevail. The potentially interesting subplot of their continuing hatred towards one another is referred to but never amounts to anything.

As for the climactic battle, Chris Roberson simply fails to create a compelling scene. After spending most of the book praising the Imperial Fists for their skill at siege warfare he has them make several foolish choices. They send away most of their force and all of their air support. They defend a vital gate with only 3 men armed with short ranged flamers rather than heavy bolters. They miss obvious hints that some of their charges cannot be trusted.

So this book is readable but what should be the climax is very disappointing.

This is a below average Warhammer 40K story from a new author. The plot is thin and seems forced. The conflict triangle between the three main characters gets old. There are some good fight scenes at the end of the book when the scouts hold out against a hoard of enemy. But it seems far fetched, even for a 40K novel, that a handful of scouts and two space marines could hold off a battalion of chaos marines, infantry and daemons.

There is little development or insight into the Imperial Fists space marine chapter founded by Dorn. I wish that there was more character development so that I could get to know any of the three main characters. I wanted more background information about the Imperial Fists. The writing is not up to par with Abnett, McNeil, or Counter novels.

I was ready for this book. AFter reading the action packed snippet 'tie-in' story in 'Heroes of the Space Marines'...which was so awesome. But after first few chapters it was clear that the book was not going anywhere. Repeat scenes and reworded text. It felt like I was skimming the surface and never really went into details of who the 'Imperial Fists' really are...their attitude and behavior. Reading this book felt like blowing smoke! Give me an Epic battle scene...of few holding out against Many. make it fast and deadly. Make it bloody. Bring out the character of who the Imperial fists really are.