# "Blood of Asaheim" By Chris Wright



## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

(Minor spoilers below)
Blood of Asaheim 
By Chris Wraight
Main Characters:
Jarnhamar pack of Ragnar Blackmanes Great Company
Grey Hunters
Gunnlaugur AKA Skullhewer- Pack Leader
Valtyr- Blademaster, 2nd in command
Baldr- Heavy weapon (Heavy Bolter)
Olgeir AKA Heavy Hand
Jorundur AKA Old Dog-Thunderhawk Pilot
Ingvar
Hafloi-Blood Claw
Sisters Of Battle: Order of the Wounded Heart
Cannoness de Chatelaine
Sister Palatine Uwe Bajola
Against:
Death Guard Legion CSM (Heretics and plague marines)

The basic premise of this book is that Ingvar returns from serving 57 years with the DeathWatch to the pack that either he (Ingvar) or Gunnlaugur would inherit with the pack leaders death. Because Ingvar wasn't there, Gunnlaugur was promoted uncontested. There is so much pride from Gunnlaugur that he constantly has to prove/show that he is the pack leader to Ingvar. Even though, Ingvar just doesn't care and all he wants to do is serve the Pack. So you (the reader) have to put up with all the petty BS as the Pack is sent on a mission to Ras Shakeh for an up coming major offensive and they (Imperial authorties) want to use that planet as a staging point. Jarnhamar pack is supposed to link up with the Sisters Of Battle to stamp out the rebellion that is going on on the planet. 

Jarnhamar Pack assumes that this is going to be a easy mission, basically guard duty. However, as soon as they get in system they are spotted by an enemy ship. In typical Space Wolf fashion, they don't back down or look for a better attack pattern and just go in guns blazing. Although it was a good fight (and good reading), it costs them their ship and every one aboard except for the Space Marines.

Through out the book, Ingvar is constantly second guessing himself and the way of the Space Wolves after the lessons he learned serving with other chapters in the DeathWatch. His thoughts/advice is immediately brushed off by Gunnlaugur. Which in the end causes Ingvar to kind of go "rogue" as he just does pretty much what he wants. Worth noting that Ingvar's actions did work out for the better and saved the Pack multiple times (even if Gunnlaugur would NOT admit it).

All in all, the book is a good read. Especially if you are a Space Wolves fan. The childish "my penis is bigger" stuff gets old though. 

I would rate this book 6 out of 10. I gave it that low of a score because of the bickering. Others will (of course) rate it higher, but the bickering just rubbed a sore spot with me.


----------



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

Loki1416 said:


> All in all, the book is a good read. Especially if you are a Space Wolves fan.


It's actually a very poor read if you are a SW fan. Wraight proves time and again throughout the book that he didn't even bother read the SW codex by way of some basic research before he started to write the book.


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> It's actually a very poor read if you are a SW fan. Wraight proves time and again throughout the book that he didn't even bother read the SW codex by way of some basic research before he started to write the book.


You aren't the first person I've heard say that


----------



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

Moved to Black Library Fiction, this is a summary of half the book with spoilers rather than an actual review.


LotN


----------



## aerogems (May 16, 2013)

Khorne's Fist said:


> It's actually a very poor read if you are a SW fan. Wraight proves time and again throughout the book that he didn't even bother read the SW codex by way of some basic research before he started to write the book.


 For those of us who are a bit more interested in a good story than perfectly accurate lore, it wasn't bad. I had a little trouble keeping track of who was who since he kept alternating between first and last names for characters seemingly on a whim. For 50 pages Character X might be known as Smith, only to suddenly become John for 5-10 pages, reverting back to Smith a little later. Also, probably just me, but Nurgle just doesn't really do it for me. Having a small contingent of Plague Marines and plague cultists just didn't make for as compelling a story as it might have been if it had been Orks or some other kind of Chaos Marines. At least IMO. Still, I personally liked the social dynamic between the various members of the pack. Especially the little flashbacks to the one guy's time in the Deathwatch and how he came to appreciate the way other Chapters operate. But you also have the one guy coming back after several decades away and having to try and readjust. He's grown as a person, having experienced everything he did in the Deathwatch, while his Chapter battle brothers have basically stayed the same. There's also the issues of how there's the unsettled issue of who would have been in command if the one guy hadn't left to serve in the Deathwatch. So there's kind of the ongoing pissing contest to determine whose is bigger basically, which is very in line with pack animal behavior.


----------



## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

aerogems said:


> For those of us who are a bit more interested in a good story than perfectly accurate lore, it wasn't bad.


Yes, I'm more concerned with quality of writing/story than 100% conformity with codex lore


----------



## Anakwanar (Sep 26, 2011)

'Yes, I'm more concerned with quality of writing/story than 100% conformity with codex lore' - my point too. I dont care what he has done wrong with the Codex, iam not a player - but i like a superb novel when i read one.


----------



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

Anakwanar said:


> I dont care what he has done wrong with the Codex, iam not a player - but i like a superb novel when i read one.


Being a player or not has nothing to do with it. A codex provides more than just rules. It lays down the structure, traditions and history of that army as well. Wraight came along and pissed all over a lot of the stuff laid down in the codex by what appears to be sheer laziness. This was a serious disappointment compounded by the fact of just how good a job he did with _Battle for the Fang_.


----------



## Anakwanar (Sep 26, 2011)

To Khorne's Fist - I disagree. This novel is good - after Betrayer, the best novel in HH-W40K this year.


----------



## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

There's no way I would ever put this book in my "best list". Only two reasons I finished this book: It's Space Wolves and it's 40k. Besides that, I struggled after the first 20 pages to get interested.


----------



## aerogems (May 16, 2013)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Being a player or not has nothing to do with it. A codex provides more than just rules. It lays down the structure, traditions and history of that army as well. Wraight came along and pissed all over a lot of the stuff laid down in the codex by what appears to be sheer laziness. This was a serious disappointment compounded by the fact of just how good a job he did with _Battle for the Fang_.


 I'd say it's a fair point and it'd be good if authors tried to stick largely within the confines of the codex, but I think of it kind of like video games. There's a point where realism gets in the way of it being fun. I can't remember what game it was I was playing recently where it just seemed like they were trying too hard to make it be realistic and only succeeded in making the game a chore to play. So I'd prefer it if authors kept to the codex as much as possible, but if the codex is going to make it difficult or impossible to tell some aspect of the story then the codex be damned any time it gets in the way of telling a good story.


----------



## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Mind you I haven't read the story, but if Ingvar was the one calling the pack a squad then I don't think thats much of an issue. I mean he fought as part of a squad, not a pack, for nearly sixty years and picked up other traits from that time; terminology wouldn't be surprising.

Though with only this partial summary, can't really say much else.


----------



## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

@Darkreever
Honestly, I dont think my write up is a partial summery. From what I read in the book, it was easily simplified down to that little bit I wrote. But in the future, I will try to do better on book reviews. Was my first attempt. (Not trying to make excuses)


----------



## Kettu (Nov 20, 2007)

I do have to ask, the first two 'reviews' of the story I have found consisted mostly of 'story would have been better without Sisters, hate those self-righteous b******' and my subsequent question about this ignored.

I don't care for Marine stories personally but I do care about the Sisters of Battle and so my question is, how are they in the story? Is it worth reading for them?

Or is this another story where they get included because the author needed someone new to hate/kill/all of the above?


----------



## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

@Kettu
The sisters are good in the book, it's just that there isn't enough of them in it to warrant reading it just for them. Off the top of my head, I think there was two good fight scenes involving the Sisters, but more were implied.


----------



## piemelke (Oct 13, 2010)

just finished the book, really enjoyed it, I personally found it better than betrayer,


----------



## SSG.House (Jul 29, 2013)

good book...but the discription made it seem like there wouldve been more drama betwee the sisters and the wolves. Was sorta depressed there was not real animosity...it was just implied.


----------



## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

piemelke said:


> just finished the book, really enjoyed it, I personally found it better than betrayer,


Why? Just curious


----------



## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Thought it was a very flat book.


----------



## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

It was a very flat book and in no way was it better than Betrayer.


----------



## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Well that's your opinion Loki, clearly piemelke found it to indeed be better.


----------

