Nemesis: War Within the Shadows

I havent read anything from the author that has not been fantastic. (even if he does seem to be an arrogant prick from his website) If you dont already have Erebus selected for the most treacherous bastard in all science fiction,this will definately push you in that direction. 40k needs more writing like this. The space marines are too far removed from humanity to be continually interesting.

Two years had passed since the betrayal at Isstvan, the event that opened the way to Horus's insurrection against the Imperium and his father, the Emperor of Mankind. During that time Horus's forces had steadily crossed the galaxy and gathered momentum. His number of followers grew ever larger with every system that Horus passed. These systems either swore fealty to Horus or they burned. Within the confines of the Emperor's Palace is a chamber in which the Officio Assassinorum convenes. Under the Assassinorum's orders, for the first time ever, all of the Clades will work together. An Execution Force made up of six assassins, one from each prime clade, is formed. Kell, of Clade Vindicare, is to locate and assemble those selected by the Officio Assassinorum. Iota, of Clade Culexus, is a psyker girl with a rare null-aura. From the Clade Eversor comes a rage-killer known as The Garantine. Soalm of Clade Venenum is the mistress of poisons. Koyne of Clade Callidus is a shade. Tariel of Clade Vans is an infocyte. Once assembled, the Execution Force chooses the planet Dagonet on which to lay their trap. They will lure the Archtraitor Horus to Dagonet and either assassinate the war-god or die in the attempt. But what they cannot know is that Horus and his dark allies have already embarked on a sinister plan of their own. ***** FOUR AND A HALF STARS!Author James Swallow captured my interest quickly and then slowly began weaving a plot, and subplot, that steadily built until its climatic ending. At least once, a minor character is introduced and has a detailed background told only to be killed off within a few pages. However, this will not bother most readers. You do not have to read the previous books to fully enjoy this story either. It stands alone, yet still manages to add a bit more flavor to the Horus Heresy series. Excellent! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This is one of the better offerings of late from the Horus Heresy series which began great four years ago, but had stalled over the past year-plus, with releases of what I felt to be some pretty mediocre books and plot lines. James Swallow does a nice job of developing the details and backstories on the individual assassins in the execution force-- you know it's not going to end well for them, but the road from start to finish is compelling to say the least. 'Spear' is another outstanding story angle and the way the author develops his character as the book moves on is fresh and intriguing. I also liked a return to a focus on the Sons of Horus chapter and some of the characters that we got to know in the first three books but had not been exposed to much in the years since. I thought Swallow's Flight of the Eisenstein, the fourth book in the Heresy series was solid, but this is a cut above. This isn't the best book in the series, but it's helped to spark my interest again. I hope that Dan Abnett's Prospero Burns will provide us with a return to the kind of writing that got me hooked in the first place.

Nemesis is the latest release in the Horus Heresy series of books which examines one of the most important events in the Warhammer 40k universe. Although you do not need to have read the other twelve books, it definitely helps to have read some of them to know what is going on. Nemesis has so many awesome characters in it I don't know where to start. If you want to know more about the Custodes, the Sigilite, or even Rogal Dorn, you will not be disappointed in this book. Obviously the main attractions in the book are the Assassins. There are five different groups or "clades" of assassins who contribute to the group formed for the mission in the novel, and they are all superhuman and lethal in their own way. I have not read Mr. Swallow's Blood Angel series, I had heard bad things, but after reading Nemesis I may have to check out the omnibus. It would have been easy to show the assassins as being mindless killers, and for certain they are single minded (mostly), but they all act so different. Even the ones who have been changed to a point where human feelings aren't part of their minds act in distinctive and very believable ways. As far as the rating is concerned, giving this book five stars might seem excessive. However, when I rate novels like this I am not comparing this to anything other than other fun and action packed science fiction or fantasy. This novel is not meant to be deep, but it has a great sense of history and is well executed, and for that I think it deserves five stars.