Bringers of Death

I read this book years ago, and just found it in a box. I only remember one thing about this book, and flipping through it, I'm not surprised. There are four other stories, which I don't remember being BAD (you want bad, read the story about virtual Chaos in "Let the Galaxy Burn," or Graham McNeill's contributions to the Horus Heresy series), but only one of the five stories in this book is GREAT. That's "Xenocide." It is an Ork story, but without any of the goofy orkiness. It is from the perspective of long-abandoned Imperial citizens utterly unprepared for such an attack...they have no Imperial Guard, no Sisters of Battle, no Space Marines, no Titans, none of the things that are the crutch (and the whole point) of most other Warhammer 40,000 fiction. And it isn't just an unusual premise (not just unusual for WH40K, unusual in general), it's actually GOOD. There's so much imagination behind the details of how a society might diverge from the known backstory. I'm not surprised this book goes for so much. About the only other WH40K story this good is "Deff Skwadron."

Overall, this was a good selection of stories. As a relative newcomer to the Warhammer 40k world, it's a lot of fun to read background information on various armies and races. Here's a run-down of each story: Mike Lee's "Even Unto Death" presents a story about the Space Wolves fighting incalculable odds against the Orks. Decently written story that it is, Lee spares us any really challenging ideas and just gives us a standard shoot-em-up story, which might be the most appropriate way to start such a collection of stories. "Red Reward", by Mitchel Scanlon, is a story that continues where "15 Hours" left off- or before it even got started- I'm not sure. Either way, "15 Hours" is my favorite WH40K book, and I was glad to take another look at the doomed planet of Broucheroc. The endless war, the violence and the grit really come through in a story that, by itself, might come off as creatively weak. The atmosphere is the most important part of the story. C.S. Goto's "Menshad Korum" was the most difficult part of the collection for me. Not at all familiar with the Eldar, I found the story far too esoteric for me to easily get through. Not to say that Goto is a bad writer- far from it. I don't think any author knows as much about this universe as C.S.- I just don't know enough to enjoy it myself. "Xenocide" is the longest piece in the collection, and by far the jewel in its crown. Simon Jowett makes the creative move to tell a story about ordinary people fighting an extraordinary threat- the Orks. By the end, we learn that the salvation that some look for can condemn us just as easily. A challenging and ultimately sad story. Sandy Mitchell ends this collection with an adventure-filled story of Ciaphas Cain, who is offered to us as an unlikely cowardly protagonist just trying to get by, who ends up neck deep in 'Nids. "Sector 13" is a quick, fun way to end this collection.

As with most anthologies, these five collected tales set in the grim universe of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K offer a mixed batch in terms of quality. On a purely binary scale, I give three of the five a "thumbs up." The first story, Even Unto Death by Mike Lee, deals with Space Wolf Scouts on an Ork occupied world. The scouts are comic-book heroes, surpassing regular battle brothers in their exploits, and none of the challenges presented in the tale seem to make them break much of a super-human sweat. The plot is plagued by too-convenient devices to advance the tale, and the Orks are written as boring, brainless antagonists. The second, Red Reward by Mitchel Scanlon, involves the Imperial Guard and Commissariat. M. Scanlon has an excellent grasp of the 40K-feel, and his characters, while slightly hackneyed, are at least entertainingly so. He finishes the non-linear plot with a good twist. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future. C.S. Goto seems to champion the Xeno-tale for the Black Library and his offering here, Menshad Korum, is no different, using Eldar as its main characters. Unfortunately, though he provides a very interesting concept for his tale, its execution leaves something to be desired. He works a little too hard to integrate named characters from the wargame into the tale, and his action sequences push beyond "suspension of disbelief." The longest tale, Xenocide by Simon Jowett, is a well crafted yarn dealing with an Orkish invasion of an early-gunpowder era world (one quite similar in devolved technology to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, but otherwise unconnected). The characters are engaging and cunningly combine many disparate elements of the 40K background. Both the primary and secondary climaxes are unexpected and enjoyable. It's a suitable centerpiece for the anthology. The last offering is another installment of Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain series, Sector 13. The short story is actually better than some of his longer works, presenting Commissar Cain at his worst, which is at his best and most humorous for the reader. It's a fitting, almost light-hearted, ending for an otherwise dark collection of tales. Overall, the quality of the good work within these pages makes the collection worth reading, but there's a fly or two to work through in the ointment.

This compilation of short stories adds and expands on other novels in the warhammer 40k genre. It has a an epsiode about a Space Wolves squad, If you've read "15 hours" it has some added story from Boucheroc, also a little something with the eldar. So if you want a little bit of everything, then I recommend you get 'Bringers of Death'