# Blade of Damocles by Phil Kelly



## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

http://www.blacklibrary.com/new-titles/new-feat/blades-of-damocles-ebook.html








*

Blades of Damocles*

*A Space Marine Battles novel*
Setting out to exterminate the upstart Tau Empire before they become the threat, the Ultramarines under Captain Atheus discover that the xenos may be more of a menace than they originally believed…
*
READ IT BECAUSE*
It's a look at an early encounter between the Tau and the Imperium, shown from both sides. See how both races view each other, through the eyes of some of their greatest heroes as they clash over the fate of a world. Plus, it's a rare chance to see Farsight when he was still loyal to the Ethereals and fighting alongside Shadowsun.
*The MP3 audiobook of Blades of Damocles will be released on Saturday the 16th of April. Order it now and you'll be able to download it then.*




*THE STORY*
It is the 41st millennium, and an upstart alien empire has emerged on the Eastern Fringe. After a few skirmishes to retake human worlds from these blue-skinned invaders, the time has come to strike against the so-called Tau Empire. At the forefront of the Damocles Crusade stand the Ultramarines, commanded by Captain Atheus, the Chapter’s Lord Executioner. With his loyal sergeants Numitor and Sicarius by his side, Atheus vows to exterminate the aliens… But the cunning xenos commanders, Farsight and Shadowsun, have other plans.

Written by Phil Kelly






Color me suprised, its actually an original story and not a collection of previous Damocles Gulf tales as thought. This looks to be the beginning of the boisterous, self-absorbed Cato Sicarius as captain. So this Atheus surely bites it to the xenos commanders.


----------



## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Hmm.

Pros: Farsight, the best of all the Tau
Battlesuits in plentiful supply no doubt.
Ultramarines, who I actually do quite like.
Cato Sicarius before he was Captain Arrogance.

Cons: Phil Kelly, i've read exactly one of his stories before and it was piss poor. His Space Marines, the White Scars, were pathetic and crude. His Tau felt like angry humans, and he just couldn't get Tau tech right.

Will wait to see what others say about this before I make a purchase.


LotN


----------



## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Which story are you refering to? I dont remember what he have written previously.


----------



## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Brother Lucian said:


> Which story are you refering to? I dont remember what he have written previously.


He's written three stories so far: Blood Oath in the Damocles anthology, which I consider the worst 40k story that wasn't written by CS Goto. Iron Soul in the Angels of Death LE anthology, which along with Riven are my favourite Iron Hands stories. And Farsight in the anthology Legends of the Dark Millennium: Shas'O, which I haven't read yet.


LotN


----------



## Vitarus (Apr 9, 2012)

Lord of the Night said:


> ...which I consider the worst 40k story that wasn't written by CS Goto.


That is freakin' priceless!


----------



## Dark Apostle Marduk (Sep 30, 2015)

Taking LotN's opinion into account, I will probably end up reading this as reading about Space Marines fighting the Tau sounds extremely entertaining.

Unfortunately, I know nothing of the author, so I will await LotN's review.


----------



## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Vitarus said:


> That is freakin' priceless!


Why?



Dark Apostle Marduk said:


> Unfortunately, I know nothing of the author, so I will await LotN's review.


You'll be waiting a bit, as I will await somebody else's review before I consider buying it.


LotN


----------



## Dark Apostle Marduk (Sep 30, 2015)

Lord of the Night said:


> Why?
> 
> 
> You'll be waiting a bit, as I will await somebody else's review before I consider buying it.
> ...



I don't mind. I have a huge stack of books waiting to be read, so even if I got it now, it would be waiting for some time.


----------



## Tyriks (Dec 9, 2015)

I don't look forward to this. More Astartes genocide by the Tau? Everything in Damocles so far honestly makes me cringe.


----------



## Vitarus (Apr 9, 2012)

Lord of the Night said:


> Why?


Hilarious that Goto is so bad that he shouldn't be allowed on the list of what's bad. Nobody else can hope to be the worst if he's in the competition.


----------



## Brobaddon (Jul 14, 2012)

> ros: Farsight, the best of all the Tau
> Battlesuits in plentiful supply no doubt.
> Ultramarines, who I actually do quite like.


Ewww. 

In any case, after reading the attrocity that was Montka and Kauyon suplement I dare not pick this up.


----------



## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Vitarus said:


> Hilarious that Goto is so bad that he shouldn't be allowed on the list of what's bad. Nobody else can hope to be the worst if he's in the competition.


Hm, true. I'll give him one thing though, his Mantis Warriors short story in one of the "of the Space Marines" anthologies, can't remember which, was brilliant.


LotN


----------

