Customer Reviews

Warhammer 40,000: Red Fury (Blood Angels, Bk. 3)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This novel picks up where the previous two Blood Angels novels--Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguine--left off. However, it deviates from Swallow's previous attempts to straddle the line between character development of newly created and envisioned persons with established canonical heroes and famous environs and begins to trek into the mires of far-reaching "imagination" that comes perilously close to mirroring a fan-fic plot.

This book sees a rather randomly selected villain pull off an amazing surprise attack on the homeworld of one of the most legendary and powerful of Space Marine Chapters with really little explanation as to preparation or motive for the attack. Bland and uninteresting mutants begin to violate the most sacred, holy, and dubiously under-protected places on the Blood Angel homeworld. Add into this a weak plot device to include "super cool, awesomah" characters from even more SM Chapters and my eyes begin to roll.

I'd advise GW to ignore this fiction for all intents and purposes when it comes to Blood Angel lore in the future and to respectfully remove Swallow's hands from his keyboard for future BA novels. And for any readers that thoroughly enjoy the rich and well constructed Warhammer 40,000 background that includes dark and gritty realism I'd point you elsewhere for your fix. This book doesn't have what you're looking for.

I loved the first two books in this series by James Swallow but after finishing Red Fury I have some issues. Being a regular reader of Warhammer 40k fiction I believe Swallow went a little too far with his liberal use of legendary characters and the defiling of a Blood Angel artifact for what seems like purely shock value. It seems the Horus Heresy series has taken away the taboo of writing about chapter masters, and primarchs. The authors are now trying to one up these tales and I although the story is well written and continues the series well these hang ups left me annoyed at the end of the book. I will most likey continue to read his books but would like to see Swallow (and other 40k fiction writers) return to good story creation without feeling they need to add in the historical paragons....its a 4ok "universe" there are unlimited possibilities!!!

Red Fury picks up after the Blood Angels Akrio insurrection. After gathering the succesor Chapters of the Blood Angels to Baal, Dante leads a discussion of the potential survival of their Chapter. At the same time, the Apothecaria is working on a radical new procedure to replenish the ranks of the Blood Angels in one swift stroke: the lost art of replicae.

This book is beautiful, with fantastic flavor for all of the arriving Chapters, as well as the structures on the Blood Angels homeworld. the description of the coffin of Sanguinus, the chapel of the Red Grail. Character interactions are rife with strain, without being either over the top or seeming like petty whining. The storyline starts slowly, in runs at a breakneck pace from about 2/3 of the way through the book.

Probably my biggest criticism of Red Fury, and indeed the majority of recent 40k fiction, is the overarching drift. The Imperium fails, and fails, and fails some more. The concept of victory is now turning a slaughter into a mere disaster. Chaos wins and wins and wins, and while the Guard or the Marines gets a lieutenant here, and a commander there, there has not been a definitive Imperial victory since Sabbat Martyr, and not one before then to my memory. Everything crumbles, and only the bad guys seem to grow stronger at every conflict. GW better have another worldwide campaign soon so the good guys have a chance to turn the tide, because its going to be hard to reconcile a 2-4,532 record into a "narrow defeat" of the Imps.

Any Blood angel fan will absolutely love this book. I play the Flesh Tearers alot, and it was good to seem them get some attention in a very well written novel. Not as long as I would have liked, but develops Rafens character a little more and sets the stage for the next book (possibly) nicely.

Excellent launchpad for the next Blood Angels series. Lots of tension between the various "sons" of Sanguinius, especially the Flesh Tearers and Blood Angels. The last 2 chapters or so are just one battle, and it is arguably one of the most insane I've ever read. Highly recommend.

This book is M. Swallow's fifth Black Library novel set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K universe, and continues the story begun in Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguinius. Again we follow Sergeant Rafen and his squad, Brothers Ajir, Corvus, Puluo, and Turcio, though the high-level plot touches on all the heroes of the Blood Angels - Dante, Mephiston, and Corbulo - as well as the Chapter Masters of many of the Blood Angels' successor chapters. The story uses its political plot, a conclave of the successor chapters called by Dante, as a means of linking its action scenes. The emphasis is pretty much all on the action and conflict, with little in the way of character development or subtlety.

If you have not read any of the previous books of this series, or possess a solid knowledge of Blood Angels "fluff," you'll have difficulty figuring out the characters, as there's very little exposition and what's there relies heavily on prior knowledge. However, as all the characters fit neatly into their stereotyped slots, this is only a problem if you're new to the 40K universe or want character development in your storylines. Many of the sub-plots are fragmentary unless you've read the other books - or plan to read the ones clearly planned for the future.

The villains - and their sometimes unwitting pawns - act with two-dimensional behavior, though not always in character. They act according to their base instincts or disobey orders as necessary to drive the plot forward. Some readers will find the instances where Space Marines act like characters from a soap opera particularly grating. Likewise, the villains frequently bypass security and safeguards with no reasonable explanation.

The top-level plot is fairly creative in concept, even if it disregards much of the established canon concerning Space Marine gene seed, and allows M. Swallow to include a wealth of information about the Blood Angels and their cousin chapters. This comes very close to making the book worthwhile all by itself to fluff fanatics. It includes a large number of Blood Angel Successor chapters, such as the Blood Drinkers, Angels Encarmine, Angels Sanguine, Angels Vermillion, Flesh Tearers, and many more. If you can forgive the departure from the established background and some forced plot vehicles, it's entertaining and ingenious.

The action writing is actually pretty good. It conveys a good sense of the immediacy and chaos of combat, even if some of its situations strain the limits of believability. Could a Sergeant succeed where a Chapter Master and several other heroes failed? The bolter fire of many Marines fails when a single shot from one of the main characters brings down the foe.

If you want plenty of action and lots of Blood Angels successor Chapters without worrying about things like character development or plot, then this is the book for you. However, if your suspension of disbelief requires sensible plot devices and logical character motivations, then you might want to pass. In short: if you enjoyed the first two books of the series, you'll like this one too, but if you're more discerning, then leave it alone.

Third of the Blood Angels novels. Mr. Swallow writes action very well and I recomend this to any 40k fan especially Space Marine lovers.

This is one very interesting book. It is also very different from standard 'kill things and break stuff' Space Marine book. The story is intense and gives a rare insight into the Blood Angels environment, relationships with their kin, and, most importantly, the politics that plague them through the entire book. And the story line is begging for a few more books to work out the problems they still face. Very well written, great story, Blood Angels. What more could you ask for?

Inquisitor Ramius Stele had engineered a hideous plan with a warp daemon. Brother had turned against brother, putting the Blood Angels on the brink of a civil war within their Chapter. Many brothers are now dead. Unless a solution can be found, the IX Legion Astartes may be forced to recluse themselves. They have new inductions of aspirants, but they will not be enough. This is talk of cloning, but the possibility of mutation is daunting. A gathering of the entire successor Chapters is called for. The conclave will decide whether or not the Blood Angels survives to see the next millennium.

Brother-Sergeant Rafen is given the difficult task of convincing Seth, the Chapter Master currently on the planet of Eritaen, to answer the conclave summons even though it would interfere with his sacred duties. Seth's Flesh Tearers will do their utmost to goad Rafen into challenge, but Rafen has been ordered not to engage them no matter how much they might deserve being beaten to a pulp. The biggest problem is that Astartes always seek for a tactical advantage in all situations. Should Seth's Chapter find out how weak the Blood Angels have recently become, would they use the knowledge to their own advantage somehow? If so, what would the repercussions be? If not, can everyone put aside their rivalries and work together to rebuild their force before their enemies show up?

***** The Astartes is too proud for its own good sometimes, and it makes for some volatile scenarios. I especially enjoyed watching Rafen and Noxx go head-to-head more than once. The author, James Swallow, has done an incredible job with all the character developments and individual characteristics. If you have not read the Blood Angels Omnibus, I urge you to do so. Knowing the background makes everything in this book so much clearer. If you do not read the omnibus, you will not find yourself floundering too badly. The author gives new readers a pretty good picture. I look forward to the next installment! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.