Customer Reviews

Wolfblade (Warhammer 40,000 Novels)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had never read a Warhammer 40,000 novel until I decided to try William King's Space Wolf, the first book in this series.
If you're not familiar with the Warhammer 40,000 universe, it sums up like this: In the distant future, the daemonic enemies of all mankind are only kept from destroying the human empire by the omnipotent will of the the crippled God-Emperor and his bravest heroes: the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard and the Inquisition. In this future there is only war, and mankind mainitains the upper hand through constant vigilance and courage.
KING's Space Wolf series follows the journey of Ragnar Blackmane(Thunderfist) as he grows from a primitive barbarian warrior unaware of any thing beyonds the needs of his island clan to his indoctrination and adventures as a Space Marine of the Space Wolves Chapter. These books serves as a great introduction to the Warhammer 40k universe.
Wolfblade follows and the all but banished Ragnar as he is sent to Terra(Earth) to protect the Navigator house Belisarius that is allied to the Space Wolves chapter. Filled with self-doubt over using and losing the sacred artifact known as the Spear of Russ, Ragnar thinks he's been sent here as punishment. What he didn't expect was a world of intrigue and covert warfare deadlier than anything he'd experienced on the the far away battlefields with his Space Marine chapter. Outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered, Ragnar and the small band of brother Space Wolves that act as the Belisarius personal bodyguard are all that stand between his navigator allies and an insidious plot that could destroy the balance of power between the navigator houses and thereby cripple the Empire's ability to travel through the Warp.
Once again King weaves all of the well-known cliches and plot twists into a majestic tapestry that somehow sweeps the reader along in spite of himself.

I really think i might actually poo myself. King has outdone himself (and thats saying something if you've read any of his previous space wolves novels), this book is excellently paced, had a great ending, and was exactly what i wanted from the author: a brilliant sci-fi story. This book has such intricate plot details and twists, i couldn't put it down. I was truly disappointed when it was over, i wanted MORE!!!!

The setting is that Ragnar lost the Spear of Russ, an important relic in Space Wolves history, and as a punishment, he is sent to Terra to fulfill a pre-imperium pact with the navigator house Belisarius, becoming a Wolfblade (who protect and serve the navigators of Belisarius). The secondary characters are other Space Wolves and a few navigators, all of whom are richly illustrated through the descriptions and dialogue, from regular, racious banter to battle narrative. I really must comment on the way he illustrated the setting of the Belisarius palace, it brought the place to life

In conclusion: GET THIS BOOK. You wont be able to put it down. Really, if you're looking for a great story and can't get enough of Space Marines, as the way I am, definately buy this book.

William King has done a superb job with the Ragnar series. The characters in the books are well thought out and each show their own personality. King really works hard to bring sense to the Space Wolves and the Adeptus Astartes. Other authors would just show space marines as mindless killing machines, but some authors like King really show the inner working of the Marines and that like all of us even though they have been indoctrinated into the life of a warrior they each have a complex inner dialogue and feeling.

This book branches out from those in the omnibus as it leads Ragnar away from his bretheren in the first 3 books, and picks up his life after losing the Spear of Russ. The book takes place on Terra and the treacherous things that take place in the center of the Imperium. It is filled with new Space Wolf characters who have a decidedly different attitude than those populating the first set, but the reader will not be dissapointed.

Wolfblade was a reippingly good novel, the best in the series, I think(haven't read the last two). Very tight beginning, I enjoyed the adult situation, having to redeem your honor by taking a powder-but landing in the midst of a decadent Im-
perial capital world.

Think like a Roman Tribune having to take a powder-at Rome, in the court. The descriptions of the decadence and rampant decay were excellent, in fact, I think the series as a whole could redeem itself if it went to more intellectually stimulating situations like this.

The de riguer battle scene just wasn't engaging, it seemed as though it were a pastich/afterthought. Ho-hum, boring.

In fact, that's the problem with Warhammer 40,000-you read one of two novels, and after a time, they blur together as formulaic, ultimately boring as any average fantasy. I think it's high time that they ditched the tweener audience, and went for us adults. Otherwise, it's going to run out of steam fairly quickly.

Wolfblade certainly had great promise, but ultimately became just another ok novel to pass the time.

Sort of a keeper.

I read all the reviews here before buying this book and I could not wait to get it, I did and BAM, It's even better then the reviews so far, I would go as far as saying it might be the best Black library novel ever (at least in the top 3), it's incredible, I could not put the book down, I read it in 2 days, and it's just sublime, it mix action, with good story telling (rare these days) with some comedy, just wonderful.

Wolfblade is the fourth in the Space Wolf series and the last one written by William King. Ragnar deals with the consequences of his actions from Grey Hunter, the previous book.

I enjoyed the story over all and felt it was one of the better books in the series. No real big plot twists or surprises, but a good action story. The interplay between characters is really the best part of the book. Haegr being my favorite new character. Although I miss Sven. King writing finally feels like he is comfortable in the 40k universe, something that didn't come across in earlier books. Hopefully he will come back to the series at some future point.

This is probably my favorite book of the series. I was able to read the entire book in one day.

this is by far the best book i have read from this author. and thats saying alot as he is one of my favorites. there are enough twists and hidden meanings behind every word to keep ypu guessing even past the end of the book! i highly recomend this one to any one who has read the series, although i advise reading the entire series from the beginning first. 5 stars!

This is a GREAT book, I would reccomend to anybbody that likes sci-fi.. Though you have to have read Space Wolf by William King to really understand it. ma brudda from anudda mudda sed its grate!!!!!!!!!!

This is a book I found easy to put down,though at times the action is riveting. If u never read another space wolf book, you will find this book shortcoming in many aspects. The plot is limited in both temporal and spatial scales. Characters are extremely shallow and undeveloped, with suspension of belief in the storyline as a result. Environments also suffer, though the limited scope of the storyline would encourage painting of detailed pictures...
Positive signs? a glimpse on how earth-like planets could end up if building pressure is carried on to extremes. But even this very good opportunity is really wasted by totally unrealistic concepts, as buildings still standing after what is hinted like hundreds of meters of other buildings placed on top of them! lol...
Positive points are glimpses of an imperial assasin, navigator life, including a secret that is hinted at 200 pages before it is revealed, some battle scenes...
Only recommended if u must read all 40k novels! Pulp scifi at its most hastily thrown together type...