Salvation's Reach
(Warhammer 40,000 / Gaunt's Ghosts 13)
by Dan Abnett
military science fiction
copyright 2011
read in April 2016
rated 7/10: well worth reading
I read a Warhammer 40,000 book last week. Enjoyed it enough to read another. Enjoyed this one, too! In a completely different fashion...
This book is number thirteen of a series. Number 13! I've missed a lot :-) Not to worry.
There are characters by the score, characters whose names I forget, whose roles and motivtions I can't remember. No worries -- there's enough explanation to follow... most of... what's happening.
And there is a lot happening!
Most of the book is taken up by getting to the scene of the main fighting... I almost typed, "main action" but that would be wrong. There is plenty of action, from page one on. It's only the serious slaughter that is delayed till well past half way. The action ranges from tough guys grunting through to family drama. The full range.
I was often confused. I was never bored.
My previous Warhammer book -- I am Slaughter -- was a series of battles tied together by a flimsy but satisfying plot. Salvation is a soap opera leading to a mass battle. Slaughter was a better place to start reading Warhammer books. Having liked the simplicity of Slaughter, I am ready to enjoy Salvation -- despite its complexity.
I can also appreciate the comment on the cover: "Dan Abnett is probably the best writer of dark military SF in the world." Salvation is military, with ranks, discipline, loyalty and -- most importantly -- a well planned military objective.
It is definitely SF. Steam punk SF? Cranks and levers and pulleys and swords and hammers and spears and ... force fields and space ships and warp travel and laser rifles.
And this book is definitely dark.
The people are tough. Dedicated. Loyal. Tough and fit and healthy. Yet the environment is dark. Pollution. Smoke and flame and machines that misfire and kill and maim. Evil enemies. Warp travel is hellishly destructive. A soldier's life will be brutal and short.
It is a very dark universe. Yet that's just the way it is. I would not want to live there. The book accepts the dark universe as a given. I accept the dark universe and enjoy the book.
I think, though, that it's a bit like the Twilight books... I want to read more of them. But I need a break, I need to read other books first.
I enjoyed this book. I need a break before I am ready to enjoy another.
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