# Space Marine Battles Series...thoughts?



## Freakytah (Nov 20, 2009)

To those of you who have read the books from the Space Marine Battles books, are they any good?? I've picked them up at the book store from time to time, and the interesting cover art and included maps etc. finally got me to buy one at random (The Hunt for Voldorius). 

I honestly didn't make it through more than the first few chapters before the writing quality made me put it down. It seemed like a high school kid with a major thing for space marines was writing it and I lost interest pretty quickly. It had a young adult novel quality to it, so I was wondering if maybe these novels are targeting them? 

I've read a decent amount of Black Library by now over the last 4 or so years (HH, Gaunt's, Eisenhorn, and plenty more), but there's still plenty out there to choose from that I haven't started yet (Word Bearers, Blood Angels to name a few).

Long story short, as I look for more titles to read are there any good novels in the Battles series, or should I just stay away? Maybe I just picked the worst one when I was giving them a shot?


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Many people regard _Helsreach_ as pretty good in the series. _Battle for the Fang_ is also one of the better novels.

I'm currently reading _The Fall of Damnos_ myself; its still a bit of a chug for me to get through but worlds better than _The Hunt for Voldarious_. Gods give me strength, change the paint job on those chaos marines and it would never matter.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

_Helsreach_ and _Battle for the Fang_ are without doubt the best in the series, and I'd put _The Fall of Damnos_ and_ Legion of the Damned_ as decent reads second only to the first 2. The rest are ok but rarely any better than that.


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## OIIIIIIO (Dec 16, 2009)

I agree ... Helsreach was the first fluff I had the chance to read about the Templars. I thought it was quite good. Rynnes World was OK, but the one chick seemed like she was all hot and bothered for Pedro. Kinda had me thinking "What the fuck is this about, killing Orks or an unrequited love story?" pushed through it and it finished pretty well though.


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## Freakytah (Nov 20, 2009)

Cool, I'll have to look into _Helsreach_ then. I've never read any fluff on the Templars either, and it seems to get pretty good reviews across the board. Everything by ADB that I've read so far has been pretty good. I just started in on Blood Reaver tonight and I'm 5 or so chapters in. Good stuff!


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## OIIIIIIO (Dec 16, 2009)

Hell just looked at the book and saw that Dembski DID write Helsreach. I forgot that, just remembered it was a good read. Damn good writer that one.


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## gridge (Feb 11, 2012)

Helreach is one of my all time favorite novels. Then again ADB generally rates pretty highly on my favorites list. Some of the "Battles" series I found a little tough to get through (Fall of Damnos and Purging of Kadillus for example) but overall there aren't any I would say are so bad that they should be avoided...although I haven't read Hunt for Voldorius yet and Legion of the Damned has yet to be released here.


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

Yeah, _Helsreach_ by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is pretty awesome. Other than that, in my opinion, they all seem to step up in quality after _The Purging of Kadillius_ by Gav Thorpe - so that would account for _Fall of Damnos_ by Nick Kyme, Chris Wraight's _Battle of the Fang_, _The Gildar Rift_ by Sarah Cawkwell, and more recently, _Legion of the Damned_ by Rob Sanders. 

I believe that's everything released since TPK, correct me if I'm wrong. The previous books are, although mostly fun, just not as good quality as the aforementioned, _Helsreach_ being the exception.


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## Designation P-90 (Feb 24, 2012)

Battle of the Fang was a great read. I cant say about the others.


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## docgeo (Jan 8, 2010)

overall I enjoy them butr here is my take on them:

1. Rynn's World--okay book overall on a very important if not the most important event to the crimson Fists. 

2. Helsreach--One of my fovorite titles in this series. Just an excellent crafted story.

3. Hunt for Voldorius, The--I finished it but really dont have much comments on it. I really dont remember it very good. Nothing resonated and stuck with me.

4.Purging of Kadillus, The --I really enjoyed the parts with the scout squad and Sgt Nammen(sp) That alone made reading it worth it IMO

5. Fall of Damnos--I love the Ultramarines...they are my army but I didnt care for this book. Maybe I didnt like the way they portrayed Sicarius as a vain glorious ass...not sure.

6. Battle of the Fang-- Really enjoyed this book!! It was a great followup to the Thousand SOns IMO. I loved seeing the Thousand Son's and the way they have tragically fallen. I also for once kinda liked the Space Wolves. The dreadnaughts were great!

7. Gildar Rift, The--I liked this but it really falls into the upper middle of the books. I really am looking forward to how Sarah Cawkwell follows this up and writes more about the SIlver Skulls.

8. Legion of the Damned--It is a toss up for third in my opinion between this book and the Gildar Rift for third behind Helsreach and the Battle of the Fang. I really feel that it is false advertising because the majority of the book isn't about the Legion of the Damn.

9. Architect of Fate--I read this as seperate down loads from ebook in Black Library. I enjoyed it and would place it behind Legion of the Damn andthe Gildar rift. 

Hope this helps,
Doc


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## piemelke (Oct 13, 2010)

I found helsreach one of the better also fall of damnos and battle of the fang, in terms of ADB his writing I found helsreach one of his lesser books besides the first heretic
the main annoying point is that you know the plot before you read it, not just in who is going to win but actually the plot. Especially in battle of the fang I found this annoying. Fall of Damnos on the other hand ended rather strange, sort of like a point of hope for the UM, but we know the necrons take Damnos in the long run. Furthermore the necrons are really really near invincible I also found that frustrating, I mean I like a dark and grim universe but with the necrons added it is just pitch black.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

_Helsreach _and _Battle for the Fang_ are excellent, _Legion of the Damned _is good, the rest are shockingly poor. Two of only three BL that I could never finish were _The Purging of Kadillus _and _The Gildar Rift_. Also, I only finished _The Hunt for Voldorius_ because I had nothing else to read on a long flight.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> _Helsreach _and _Battle for the Fang_ are excellent, _Legion of the Damned _is good, the rest are shockingly poor. Two of only three BL that I could never finish were _The Purging of Kadillus _and _The Gildar Rift_. Also, I only finished _The Hunt for Voldorius_ because I had nothing else to read on a long flight.


I enjoyed The Gildar Rift. It's a good thing there's more Silver Skull action in the near future, eh?


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## CursedUNTILLDEATH (Apr 25, 2010)

Battle of the Fang is probably the best in personal opinion. I like ABD but Helsreach was just meh for me, I feel like the orks could have been fleshed out a lot more. The only other book I own is The Gildar Rift, and it was average, it had its moments, but as a whole was meh. 

As a whole find the SM battle books to be underwhelming, after I read The Fall of Damos I gave up on them.


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## docgeo (Jan 8, 2010)

Diatribe1974 said:


> I enjoyed The Gildar Rift. It's a good thing there's more Silver Skull action in the near future, eh?


I agree and I am looking forward to more but also think that she has room for growth in her writing.


Doc


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Diatribe1974 said:


> I enjoyed The Gildar Rift. It's a good thing there's more Silver Skull action in the near future, eh?


I'll be honest, they bored the shit out of me. The only good characters were Red Corsairs, but they weren't good enough to keep me reading till the end.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> I'll be honest, they bored the shit out of me. The only good characters were Red Corsairs, but they weren't good enough to keep me reading till the end.


So, if Sarah Cawkwell wrote a Red Corsairs novel centering around the exploits of Huron Blackheart & The Corpsemaster, you'd be in 7th Heaven, eh?

BTW, I'm reading Rynn's World, ATM. Am only about 140 pages into it so far, but I've enjoyed what I've read. Not sure where the dislike for the book comes from to be honest.


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Diatribe1974 said:


> BTW, I'm reading Rynn's World, ATM. Am only about 140 pages into it so far, but I've enjoyed what I've read. Not sure where the dislike for the book comes from to be honest.


I can't speak for others, but for me the relative dissatisfcation of the book came from an over-use of certain scenes/descriptions and how the book reveals a nature of the Crimson Fists I would prefer had not been there. That nature, or rather decision, can be described in two words: Ceres Protocol.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Diatribe1974 said:


> So, if Sarah Cawkwell wrote a Red Corsairs novel centering around the exploits of Huron Blackheart & The Corpsemaster, you'd be in 7th Heaven, eh?


Very possibly. There isn't enough CSM loving going on at BL, and those two would certainly make good central characters in a novel. 

The problem with the Silver Skulls was I felt like I'd seen them before. The captain who goes against his chapter's core ethos just reminded me too much of Uriel Ventris. I started yawning the first time he decided not to consult his prognosticator, or go against his advice.


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## docgeo (Jan 8, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Very possibly. There isn't enough CSM loving going on at BL, and those two would certainly make good central characters in a novel.
> 
> The problem with the Silver Skulls was I felt like I'd seen them before. The captain who goes against his chapter's core ethos just reminded me too much of Uriel Ventris. I started yawning the first time he decided not to consult his prognosticator, or go against his advice.


That is a good parallel that I hand't thought of and I could see where you might have a problem with that. I enjoyed reading about the way another chapter operates and the fight with the Red Corsairs.


Doc


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

What I want right now from the next round of SMB books:

Mortifactors

(More) Silver Skulls

(More) Space Wolves

(Any) Books that center around (Renegade) Loyalist Chapters that aren't Soul Drinkers

(More) Soul Drinkers

(More) Space Marines featuring Orks!


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## Captain_Daerys_Arrun (Jan 9, 2012)

I've found them rather hit or miss, like everyone else here. The only one I had real problems finishing was The Purging of Kadillus.


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## CPT Killjoy (Feb 15, 2012)

I got into the 40k hobby because of "Storm of Iron", and have been a huge Black Library fan ever since. From then on I have read basically every 40k book I could get my hands on (I haven’t read all of their books obviously, but I have quite a collection). After reading the Space Marine Battle novels (short of “The Purging of Kadillus”, because I heard it was terrible, and “Battle for the Fang”, because I just haven't had the opportunity yet) I have to say that I have been very disappointed. None, thus far, have lived up to the quality of writing I have seen in most other Black Library books. I'm sure there can be a few good points found in all of the Space Marine Battle novels, but overall, I really think they are terrifically boring. Which, considering the fact that they are supposed to be written about some of the greatest battles in Space Marine history, is really quite sad. Since I don’t recommend reading any of them (barring “Battle of the Fang”) unless you are willing to push through large chunks of dull filler, I would like to offer a few alternatives. 
“Fifteen Hours” by Mitchel Scanlon
This is an awesome book. It’s fairly short (only 254pages), but it’s a great read. It’s about a crashed Imperial Guard Ship, which lands, of all places, in the middle of a different Imperial Guard Campaign (actually, right in the middle of a battle)
“Brothers of the Snake” Dan Abnett
This is my second favorite book in the Black Library behind “Storm of Iron”. It is written about the Iron Snakes Chapter of Space Marines, and is broken up into several fragments following the main character’s life in the chapter. The first section is a little slow, but after that, it progresses into a great story, and there is nothing else like it in the Black Library.
The Eisenhorn Series, to include the Ravenor Omnibus is also killer. If you need something to read for the next few months/year, read through these. You will not be sorry you did.
As for the Battle Novels, I don’t think I’ll be purchasing any more of them until I hear some stellar reviews.


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## Freakytah (Nov 20, 2009)

I did pick up Helsreach that I'll read one of these days to give the series another chance. I think I'll also have to read Battle of the Fang to follow up with the two heresy novels.

Thanks for the suggestions too. I do like Fifteen Hours, which is obviously heavily influenced by _All Quiet on the Western Front_ (which is an excellent piece of literature). I've read Eisenhorn already, and the first of the Ravenor novels in the omnibus. I haven't ever read Brothers of the Snake though, maybe I'll have to give that one a shot.


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## HorusReborn (Nov 19, 2008)

I've read a few of them and am currently reading Rynn's World. I have been reading this book for about four weeks now, which is HIGHLY unusual for me. It has some great descriptive writing in it, but then starts to trail off as it gets awesome! It's a warm or cold book with some hot parts. Kinda like trying to find the right temperature of water for your shower. I've found that most of the books are just like that. Though none have made me want to push through to finish...


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

HorusReborn said:


> I've read a few of them and am currently reading Rynn's World. I have been reading this book for about four weeks now, which is HIGHLY unusual for me. It has some great descriptive writing in it, but then starts to trail off as it gets awesome! It's a warm or cold book with some hot parts. Kinda like trying to find the right temperature of water for your shower. I've found that most of the books are just like that. Though none have made me want to push through to finish...


About the middle of the book it really starts to heat up. Once I got to around 210-ish or so, I plowed through the last 330 pages in like 3 days (remember, I'm a slow reader in that I generally read about 60 pages a day on the average).


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## jasonpittman (May 17, 2010)

I've only read two but I thought 'The Purging of Kadillus' was pretty good and 'The Battle of the Fang' was superb. I cant understand the hate for 'The Purging of Kadillus'.


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## gridge (Feb 11, 2012)

jasonpittman said:


> I've only read two but I thought 'The Purging of Kadillus' was pretty good and 'The Battle of the Fang' was superb. I cant understand the hate for 'The Purging of Kadillus'.


I can't say that I hated the book, but it pretty much the usual Thorpe work in my opinion....The characters are a bit dull and two-dimensional, the writing is subpar, the story is cluttered with pointless, uninteresting minutia and there are several points where the logic is questionable. That's just my two cents on the topic, to each there own....I know that there are many who don't consider Helsreach the gold standard for the SMB series as I do.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

After Helsreach, I would quite like to see more of Armageddon. The Space Wolves in The First War, Dante and the Blood Angels in the Second, including the mass drop pod and deep strike assault into the Ork horde, Tychos last stand at Tempestora during the Third.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Imperial vs. Orks has begun to bore me out and I wont buy anymore books containing any of them and after reading the comments here, I think I will pause with the SMB as well. Only Battle of The Fang really entangled me enough as with Spae Wolves and CSM and Helsreach for ADB and his amazing characters.


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## Yllib Enaz (Jul 15, 2010)

gridge said:


> I can't say that I hated the book, but it pretty much the usual Thorpe work in my opinion....The characters are a bit dull and two-dimensional, the writing is subpar, the story is cluttered with pointless, uninteresting minutia and there are several points where the logic is questionable. That's just my two cents on the topic, to each there own....I know that there are many who don't consider Helsreach the gold standard for the SMB series as I do.


Kallidus gave me the feeling that after about 40 pages even the author was bored of the story and was just grinding out the established events


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## Skylifter (Aug 9, 2010)

Of all the SMB novels I read, I liked Helsreach the most - so much I actually read it twice. Rynn's World was quite good, too, but a bit too focused on fighting scenes in the end. 

I did like Kadillus, Damnos and Battle of the Fang, but wouldn't read them again, but I had a similar problem with the Hunt for Voldurius as the OP, as I just had to set it aside for a long time after working myself through the first 40-something pages of repetitive fierce pride in his fiercely proud warriors (fiercely proud. Really.). I did pick it up again though, and found that the story does get a bit better later on. Still not really a good read though.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Voldorius has a better portrayal of the Raven Guard than the White Scars, I found.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

gridge said:


> I can't say that I hated the book, but it pretty much the usual Thorpe work in my opinion....The characters are a bit dull and two-dimensional, the writing is subpar, the story is cluttered with pointless, uninteresting minutia and there are several points where the logic is questionable. That's just my two cents on the topic, to each there own....I know that there are many who don't consider Helsreach the gold standard for the SMB series as I do.


The only aspect of "The Purging of Kadillus" I wasn't too horribly fond of was the extreme military communications he'd established when the various Dark Angels spoke to each other.

Other than that, I enjoyed the book.


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## Freakytah (Nov 20, 2009)

I'm about a third into Helsreach now (just after the first wave) and it's definitely better than my first experience with the Battles series. I've liked pretty much everything I've read by ADB though, so I guess i shouldn't be too surprised!


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Freakytah said:


> I'm about a third into Helsreach now (just after the first wave) and it's definitely better than my first experience with the Battles series. I've liked pretty much everything I've read by ADB though, so I guess i shouldn't be too surprised!



I have all the released SMB novels but have yet to read 3 of them (Hunt for Voldorus, Fall of Damnos, & Legion of the Damned) and so far, "The Battle of the Fang" was my personal favorite (as is a constant battle for most folks here between it and ADB's "Helsreach").


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