A war is being waged in an impossible world.
The Skogsgra and the Naravelle have launched their final offensive, and Private Jones and his companions are caught in the melee.
Tens of thousands will die before the battle is over.
They travel deep underground, to find and release the Iron Beast... the one creature that can end not one world war, but two.
But at what cost . . . ?

The Iron Beast is the high-octane conclusion to Remic’s phenomenal Song For No Man’s Land trilogy.

This is the final book in the A Song for No Man's Land trilogy. I reviewed the others, and finished this one while on vacation in the US.

The Story:

"A war is being waged in an impossible world.
The Skogsgra and the Naravelle have launched their final offensive, and Private Jones and his companions are caught in the melee.
Tens of thousands will die before the battle is over.
They travel deep underground, to find and release the Iron Beast... the one creature that can end not one world war, but two.
But at what cost . . . ?

The Iron Beast is the high-octane conclusion to Remic’s phenomenal Song For No Man’s Land trilogy."

Disclaimer

I received an ARC for this book, like I did with the previous installment, Return of Souls. I originally picked up A Song for No Man's Land myself, so this was a great chance to get through the trilogy months ahead of time!

The Review:

The Iron Beast delivers the final piece in the A Song for No Man's Land trilogy, and offers answers to a lot of questions I had over the course of the previous two novellas. As I said in my previous reviews, I wasn't quite sure about this series. With this book wrapping it up, I feel more confident recommending it as a whole.

This one picks right back up from where Return of Souls left off. Robert Jones and Orana are on the way to her village, where they meet her family, most notably her father Jorian, who takes a prominent role in the rest of the book.

The Tommy quickly finds himself shunned by the villagers and Jorian, and is confronted with his own war-torn appearance. But the village is running out of time, and Jones has to go find the Stoneway to unleash the Iron Beast to end all wars, while Jorian and co are fending off the Naravelle offensive from their trenches.

Jones' journey quickly gets weird, utilizing more fantasy elements and combining both wars into one horror. Hints and prophecies from the first and second book come into play and start to make sense (sort of), with a climax that was both impressive and emotional.

Once again, I really enjoyed the trench warfare and the exploration of Jones' psyche. There was a chapter I mentioned in my review for Return of Souls, which was horrifying and traumatising, and said plotline got a proper follow-up here. This one was similarly traumatising if for different reasons - and I loved it. Likewise, Jones' confrontation with Jorian, which ends up rather badly for the soldier, and his situation within this new village, result in compelling diary entries.

Jones' experiences within the Stoneway, too, were compelling to read about. They provided a big contrast to the action back with Jorian and co, but one that I found satisfying and necessary. It added to the fantastical feeling of the series while making the reader contemplate the great wars in different terms. And by the end, it all came together nicely to provide a message that gives a certain sense of hope.

But then there are also some things and details that didn't quite add up for me. While most of my questions were answered, some new aspects were introduced that might have needed a little more fleshing out. Of course, leaving some mysteries unresolved can be interesting and necessary for a story to have more impact - and this happened here as well - but I still felt that clearer answers might have been nice in places. This includes, for example, the Walriders' fascination with and desire for Jones' eyes, and seeing through them, but also the Skogsgrå, who has been pulling strings ever since the start of the first book.

After all is said and done, The Iron Beast ends on a bittersweet note. Whether Remic will return to the setting again or not is to be seen, but if he does, there should be plenty of hooks to link into. But even without more content, A Song for No Man's Land feels complete and satisfying. There is some real payoff in this final installment that should satisfy everyone who got invested into Robert Jones' life over the past two books.

I don't regret my time with the trilogy. The psychological aspects alone made it worth diving into, and Remic's depictions of WW1 had the ideal tone. The Iron Beasts returns a bit of that feel via the Naravelle offensive, and I appreciated that.
Overall, I wasn't entirely keen on Orana, or rather how easily Jones fell for her. However, it is still plausible that he would, due to his situation being as screwed up as it is. It also felt more real in this final volume, so I don't begrudge it.

It won't be for everyone, but I was satisfied and "happy" with the book. If you enjoy dark, psychological military fantasy, this might be your cup of tea.

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The Twin flees across the sky, bringing in its wake the Great Tide. The Earth trembles under the shadow of its brother. Times are changing.

The order of the world is in turmoil. An age of industry is beginning, an age of machines fuelled by magic. Sprawling cities rise, strange devices stalk the land. New money brings new power. The balance between the Hundred Kingdoms is upset. For the first time in generations the threat of war looms.

In these turbulent days, fortunes can be won. Magic runs strong in the Kressind family. Six siblings strive – one to triumph in a world of men, one to survive murderous intrigue, one to master forbidden sorcery, one to wash away his sins, one to contain the terrible energies of his soul.

And one will do the impossible, by marrying the might of magic and iron in the heart of a great ship, to cross an ocean that cannot be crossed.

This novel has been my bedside companion for about a year. I have been reading it on and off, mostly in waiting rooms at various doctors'. As a result, I read a chapter or three in bursts. Sadly I ended up subconciously associating health issues with the book and read it infrequently as a result. However, that is all on me alone, and the book itself actually saw me through some otherwise stressful and at times even scary hours.
I have been wanting to talk about it for almost as long as I own it, but always figured I should finish it first. Now I have, so here's a review!

The Story:

"The Twin flees across the sky, bringing in its wake the Great Tide. The Earth trembles under the shadow of its brother. Times are changing.

The order of the world is in turmoil. An age of industry is beginning, an age of machines fuelled by magic. Sprawling cities rise, strange devices stalk the land. New money brings new power. The balance between the Hundred Kingdoms is upset. For the first time in generations the threat of war looms.

In these turbulent days, fortunes can be won. Magic runs strong in the Kressind family. Six siblings strive – one to triumph in a world of men, one to survive murderous intrigue, one to master forbidden sorcery, one to wash away his sins, one to contain the terrible energies of his soul.

And one will do the impossible, by marrying the might of magic and iron in the heart of a great ship, to cross an ocean that cannot be crossed."

The Review:

The Iron Ship is a very slow burner. It takes its sweet time to introduce things and characters and flesh out the setting. But once the ship gets going, it is difficult not to be deeply invested in the fates of the Kressind siblings and their peers.

The industrial revolution-style of the setting, adorned with steampunky goodness, magic and a promising underlying mythology, is engrossing and fully fleshed-out. Yet for all the mythical elements, the book still maintains a healthy amount of realism and accountability and presents the reader with a world that is easy to visualize in its workings and even architectural style.
So yes, The Iron Ship takes its time to get the plot rolling, and jumps from character to character, especially early on. Some of these characters might become fully relevant to the plot again until the last third or even quarter of the book, but all of them contribute to realizing a tightly-knit civilization with all its prejudices, social problems and even glories. To me, seeing the city of Karsa unfold before my eyes was wondrous, with different aspects being filled in, and commented on, from chapter to chapter.

Sadly, this often comes at the cost of rapid event progression and quick payoffs. A lot of books, and by extension authors, are afraid to let the reader soak in the details and instead try to keep their attention with a shotgun approach and little subtlety. While that can be a very entertaining romp for sure, I love it when an author takes the risk to actually establish their setting and character before striking me with disaster or racking up a list of character deaths.
For many, this approach won't work, and they might feel lost and confused in Karsa City, the Morthrocksey Mills or the dozens of countries or kingdoms that make up the Hundred in McKinley's world of Ruthnia. There is a certain degree of info-bombing going on for sure. However, those who dare step into the book and forge on through the thick early sections will find a cast of compelling characters that move further and further into the spotlight, and whose lives become center of the stage.
It is a rewarding experience, and I would recommend sticking with the book if you end up struggling.

I have been reading the book on and off over the past year(!), though I will admit that the fault is completely my own, and I never thought badly of it. In fact, I adored the finely crafted story from the start, and often felt guilty for not reading it faster. I simply ended up associating it subconsciously with health-related appointments and waiting rooms, and it was tough breaking out of that. But even then, hours waiting passed quickly and relatively pleasantly thanks to this novel. It isn't easy for me to focus on reading for longer stretches when people around me are coughing or get up to see a doctor while I get more nervous by the hour, waiting to be called in myself. However, The Iron Ship managed to draw me in and forget checking the clock every two minutes, and instead focus on the Kressind siblings and their relationships.

The cast here is extensive. In fact, even towards the end of the book, it still kept growing and setting up future events. There is, for example, one character who I fully expect to be aboard the Iron Ship, to be revealed in the sequel, The City of Ice. I was surprised that the author had the patience to hold off on doing that towards the climax of the story, and indeed, I may be completely wrong in my prediction - but it would fit so neatly, I doubt it.

Either way, the big players of the story are the Kressind siblings:
Trassan, the inventor of the Iron Ship. Garten, a bureaucrat of the admirality. Guis, a playwright with something sinister haunting him. Aarin, a Guider seeing the spirits of the dead to peace. Rel, a young dracon-riding soldier sent to the Gates of the World as punishment for indecent behavior. And not to forget dear Katriona, whose station as a woman is keeping her from being the grand merchant and businesswoman she could be.
On top of these, there are an intellectual countess, shunned for her appearance and odd behavior; a businessman who many will find hard to gauge on the like-dislike scale, and various other, colorful and diverse characters who provide both conflict and support to the protagonists.

There is a lot going on here, especially once the ship nears completion. Social issues like emancipation, the loss of mystery in the world, a coming apocalypse, the departure of Gods by the hands of a powerful magician, a technological armsrace, racial discrimination against non-humans, workers' rights.... The Iron Ship manages to tackle all of these topics and more to greater or lesser extent and as a result manages to be authentic, despite all its weird ideas. When Katriona dares defy societal norms, her actions, and those of the people around her, seem plausible and relatable. When Aarin goes to meet his mentor for a final time, their relationship feels familiar and touching. When Guis struggles with his paranoia yet seeks to overcome it, the reader can feel the tension rising. It is a gripping web of narratives that might just have been spread out too far at times, but are still highly compelling in themselves and click together later on.

The Iron Ship is by no means perfect. It has a bunch of problems (including, at times, odd typos that shouldn't have slipped through the editing process), the early pacing and scattered narratives chief among them. I can see where it might lose people by meandering. But when all was said and done, I was taken aback and wanted more. The trade paperback is over 500 pages long, with a comparatively small font, and yet I yearned for more, for the book to continue. Thankfully, the aforementioned sequel is due this December (according to Amazon), and I preordered it months ago.
The last 100 or so pages were full of twists and turns that will have big repercussions for the series. I can't wait to find out what they will entail.

Hopefully McKinley gets to write a bunch more books to follow. If this is the degree of world building one can expect from him, oh boy, are we in for a treat!

Buy The Iron Ship on Amazon.com (Sponsored)


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In the thirty-sixth century humanity has conquered the galaxy and colonized countless star systems. The Galactic Empire, modeled along Prussian lines, and the democratic Free Planets Alliance are at war, and the fate of every human being in the universe hangs in the balance. This classic Japanese space opera, adapted into a legendary anime, is finally available in English for the first time.

After a coup d'etat erupts in the Free Planets Alliance, military strategist Yang Wen-li is ordered to use his tactical wizardry put down the rebellion, but the ringleader holding the capital is someone he had once trusted deeply. Meanwhile in the Empire, Reinhard will soon face a new trial as in the wake of the Emperor's death he stands amidst an intensifying power struggle among the aristocracy. The unbeatable magician and the unstoppable genius: the decisions these heroes make will send shockwaves across the galaxy.

I was so stoked to get started on this volume that I bought a copy of it while on vacation, for about $17, while I still had a preorder going back home, which I was paying 12€ for. I left the first copy back in the US with my girlfriend for her to read (as she is currently reading volume one and enjoying it... and my bag would have been too heavy) and picked up my package once I was back in Germany. Yes, I am digging this series that much!

The Story:

"In the thirty-sixth century humanity has conquered the galaxy and colonized countless star systems. The Galactic Empire, modeled along Prussian lines, and the democratic Free Planets Alliance are at war, and the fate of every human being in the universe hangs in the balance. This classic Japanese space opera, adapted into a legendary anime, is finally available in English for the first time.

After a coup d'etat erupts in the Free Planets Alliance, military strategist Yang Wen-li is ordered to use his tactical wizardry put down the rebellion, but the ringleader holding the capital is someone he had once trusted deeply. Meanwhile in the Empire, Reinhard will soon face a new trial as in the wake of the Emperor's death he stands amidst an intensifying power struggle among the aristocracy. The unbeatable magician and the unstoppable genius: the decisions these heroes make will send shockwaves across the galaxy."

The Review:

I really loved the first Legend of the Galactic Heroes book, as should have been apparent from the review a couple of months back. Ambition continues on from where Dawn left off. Admiral Yang Wen-li is in control of Iserlohn Fortress while Imperial Marshal Reinhard von Lohengramm is furthering his political and militaristic career by forcing the monarchy of the Galactic Empire into a corner.
Everything seems like a natural extension of the first novel, whether it be plot or characters, and as a result, my love for the series has only been growing over the course of volume two.

Unlike the previous installment, this one does not focus on big clashes between Free Planets Alliance and Galactic Empire. Instead, both are dealing with internal conflicts; while Reinhard is working on purging the aristocracy by branding them "Brigands and Usurpers", a coup d'etat keeps Yang and his allies busy around capital world Heinessen. This might mean that both plotlines are somewhat isolated, but also allows for both Yang and Reinhard to grow individually, within their own environments, without constantly banging heads in mighty space battles. On top of that, it gives more attention to the workings of their respective societies, and once again shows that, while on the surface very different, Alliance and Empire are becoming eerily similar.

The title, Ambition, is rather fitting in my opinion. It highlights the discrepancy between Reinhard and Yang, in that the former desires full control of the Empire and tearing down the aristocracy, while Yang shies away from praise and would prefer a quiet life in some backwater. It also points at various other characters throughout who wish for promotion or try to maintain their level of power to the detriment of all else.
A lot of the book spins around ambitions, power and self-deceptions on part of the players, which makes it a thematically consistent read.

While most of the origin stories and anecdotes of the protagonists were taken care of in Dawn already, there are still some small scenes here and there that flesh out various characters, including Siegfried Kircheis, Reinhard's right hand man and dearest friend. These scenes were touching and evocative, and contributed a lot to understanding of Reinhard and co. On Yang's side, more attention was given to Julian, who accompanies his patron throughout the novel, rather than being left at home on Heinessen. He is developing into a compelling character who propells Yang to new heights by his actions and attitudes. Those are just two examples of characters with renewed spotlighting, but there is a whole bunch of them in this book. If there's one thing Tanaka excells at, it is developing natural, likeable, competent characters who not only drive the plot forward but also offer insights and questions to the reader.

But Ambition is also about space battles, military action and conspiracies, all of which I felt were nicely executed and provided a good amount of challenge for the characters. While Reinhard seemed for the most part ahead of the aristocracy's game, passing the trouble on to his subordinates, Yang had to deal with a lot of problems head on. Like in Dawn, there were opportunities for most of his senior staff to prove their worth, whether it be Frederica Greenhill or Walter von Schönkopf. The author somehow manages to keep all these characters relevant to the overall story while building them up for future events that might move them closer to the center.

The battles themselves felt well executed, and even featured a big ground assault on a space fortress, which introduced an extremely violent but somehow still appealing character in Senior Admiral Ofresser. While rather bloody compared to the rest of the book, the chapter dealing with him and the battle was highly exciting and a great change of pace from massed fleet maneuvers and politics.
That doesn't mean that the space battles were dull, however. In fact, they were extensive, clever and at times even saddening. It was a great mix of different pieces of action with introspection and, at least on Yang's side, a bit of a negative look on warfare as a waste of lives.

That kind of political and societal commentary flows through the book, like it did in Dawn already. It may seem odd that a title such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes appears to have so much bad to say about war, politics and power, but then, I think that is kind of the point. Tanaka didn't seem to write a story about glorious leaders of war, but relatable characters caught up in the gears of history as they turn inevitably towards a cataclysm that will shake the galaxy to the core. While he praises tactical genius, he also makes the reader aware of the great weight of responsibility on the generals' soldiers, and the guilt an expedient solution might produce. There is a sense of tragedy in a lot of events sketched by the book, and I cannot help but appreciate it.

If there is anything to take away from the end of Ambition, it is that this series is just getting started. Big changes are occuring in both factions, and even within them. Strings are being pulled behind the scenes, and both Yang and Reinhard are left on shaky ground after sudden realizations hit them. Future novels, the third of which will be released in the coming winter (I already preordered it, too!), will be heavily influenced by the events of this second volume. It is a turning point with far reaching consequences - and I cannot wait to read what happens next.

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John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely client. He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable.

He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth.

As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker than the expected social evils. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential.

A Lovecraft-inspired Noir detective story? Count me in!

The Story:

"John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely client. He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable.

He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth.

As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker than the expected social evils. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential."

Disclaimer

I received an ARC of this novella from the publisher. Keep that in mind while reading the review.

The Review:

Hammers on Bone is a lovecraftian noir detective story set in present day London. It features a cocky detective, a somewhat creepy kid and eldritch horrors, so the premise alone was an exciting one to me. I am a massive admirer of H.P. Lovecraft's works, and will re-read various stories of his every so often, to the point of knowing many passages by heart. So of course I was going to read this novella.

First off, I very much enjoyed the first person narrative. Following John Persons, our detective and host to a cosmic horror. In fact, the otherworldly being is the dominant force in Person's body, with its original owner exerting minor influence. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't act, or at the very least speak, like its host might. The whole story is full of old-timey, noir-suitable terms and behaviors, and that made this novella highly appealing to me. The fact that other characters find it jarring due to the highly antiquated ways of Persons amused me, and turned the detective into a bit of an oddball character - odd, but competent.

The case itself starts with a kid attempting to hire the private investigator to kill his step-father.
What turns that from a ridiculous request into a proper job is that the boy seems aware of what's lurking below the surface of Person's outward appearance.

“Tell your mom to call child services. The bulls will have your old man dancing on air in no time.”
“I can’t.” He shakes his head, curt-like. “He did something to my mommy. And he’ll do something to the police, too. I know it. Please. You’re the only one who can help.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you’re a monster too.”

We are treated to the protagonists thoughts all the way through, and some of them give insights into his true nature, or the threats and powers involved. These I enjoyed greatly, as he is quite a snarky bastard. Various Lovecraft reverences appear, as do original threads of cosmic horror and concepts unique to Hammers on Bone.

In a lot of places I felt that Khaw pulled it off well. It doesn't feel truly Lovecraftian to me, which is mostly down to the setting (which would have been fine being set a couple of decades earlier in my opinion) and the inkling of a romantic involvement between the protagonist and a waitress. I wasn't quite sure about an older being getting attracted like that, and it stripped away a lot of the bleakness for me. It returned later, with a vengeance, but for a while I wasn't sure where the story was headed with it all.

Sometimes I also felt unsure just how much of a threat the monstrous entity arrayed against Persons really was. He seemed powerful and intelligent, whereas the antagonist lacked subtlety.
I was happy to find that the subtleties ended up coming from a different angle, and that the whole case was still challenging and straining enough to excite.

Thankfully, the way it tied up was both exciting and illuminating, though a few threads were left dangling. I hope some of them will be picked up again in potential future stories, though part of the fun with cosmic horror stories is not getting all the answers and resolutions.
I certainly wouldn't mind reading a sequel or loosely-related story to see what else Khaw has up her sleeve when it comes to cosmic horror detective stories, however.

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The time has come – if the Imperium is to survive the ork invasion, it must strike at the heart of the greenskin empire. Their home world has been identified, and Koorland, aided by a primarch, leads the assault…

The Imperium has been brought to the edge of extinction by an ork invasion of unprecedented scale and depth. Piecemeal strikes against the invaders prove ineffective - for every ork fleet destroyed, five more appear. The only solution is to find and kill the orks' warlord - the Great Beast. Surely if its leader is killed, the greenskins' empire will fall apart in agony of infighting and confusion. Lord Commander Koorland assembles a mighty army, but when they arrives on the orks home world, the forces of the Imperium discover they have disastrously underestimated the might and ingenuity of their enemy.

Back from vacation, so let's go back to Ullanor and pay the Great Beast a visit!

The Story:

"The time has come – if the Imperium is to survive the ork invasion, it must strike at the heart of the greenskin empire. Their home world has been identified, and Koorland, aided by a primarch, leads the assault…

The Imperium has been brought to the edge of extinction by an ork invasion of unprecedented scale and depth. Piecemeal strikes against the invaders prove ineffective - for every ork fleet destroyed, five more appear. The only solution is to find and kill the orks' warlord - the Great Beast. Surely if its leader is killed, the greenskins' empire will fall apart in agony of infighting and confusion. Lord Commander Koorland assembles a mighty army, but when they arrives on the orks home world, the forces of the Imperium discover they have disastrously underestimated the might and ingenuity of their enemy."

The Review

The Beast Must Die takes the fight back to the orks for good. It is full of action and, oddly enough, development for the orks and the Great Beast. The latter makes it one of the coolest ork focused books in Black Library's stable (at least as far as 40k is concerned), which is at least in part due to Gav Thorpe's attempts to feature old and forgotten pieces from the background.

Political intrigue is at an all-time low. I expected to be bummed out by that and end up lukewarm on the book, but while the High Lords aren't on the stage for almost the entire book, their appearances in the first chapter, and their confrontation with Primarch Vulkan therein, left me excited and satisfied regardless. It is down to Thorpe's excellent pacing and raising of the stakes throughout the rest that I never really felt like a change of pace via Terra-based politics was necessary.

The rest of the book, meaning chapters two to twenty-two, are set on and around Ullanor. I highly anticipated the Imperium's strike at the Beast's home world, especially for how much of a symbolic value that planet had during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy series. Seeing the orks build a new empire of their own springing from the place of their greatest defeat at the hands of Horus and the Emperor was such a promising idea, it would have been easy to deliver an underwhelming novel that didn't meet my expectations.

Thankfully, The Beast Must Die met them. Indeed, it is one of the top novels in the series so far, despite its heavy action focus.

Most of the chapters are prefaced with the introspections of Primarch Vulkan. I've seen people call them "emo", and indeed, they are depressing in many ways, but oh were they telling and fitting for a character like Vulkan. For all his legendary status, he is weary of life and seeing the Imperium's decay. He has a heavy cross to bear (see: Vulkan Lives and onwards in the HH series) and it makes perfect sense for him to take these mental turns over the course of one and a half millennia. Considering he was always presented as the most human of the Emperor's demi-god sons, I fully approve of how Thorpe depicted his inner turmoil.

Even on the active side, Vulkan's depiction is spot on. He is aloof where he should be, reminiscing about the glories of a lost age in places, and feels very disconnected from the rest of the Imperium. He rarely utilizes the authority inherent in his nature, but when he does, he moves the plot and characters forward in clever ways. In one chapter, he defends Chapter Master Koorland's authority as Lord Commander in a way that made me smile and cemented both Vulkan's subtle genius and Koorland's suitability in his role for me.

In other situations, Vulkan is a mighty warrior who goes head to head with mighty war machines - something we have seen in The Hunt for Vulkan already, but here he feels both less and more like a one-man-army. More, because he isn't fighting on his own anymore and leaves the Space Marines with him watch on in awe, and less so because he actually coordinates with them. Where The Hunt for Vulkan aimed to excite and awe the reader with how mighty Vulkan is, here it becomes clear that despite all that, he cannot fight this war alone.

The ork civilization meanwhile is sketched with great detail and should appeal to longtime fans who have seen old editions of 40k come and go. Many ideas and concepts long scrapped are alluded to, and the greenskins of Gorkagrod are far from the usual brutes. Unlike most Black Library novels, we see orks living in "peace", as a functioning society. It is a chilling prospect that bodes ill for the Imperium, but manages to elevate the ork threat of the series to even higher levels.

This is also the first time since the first book that we get a direct confrontation with the Great Beast. If you have been waiting for that, this is your book. Whatever you expected: Go bigger.
That final confrontation of the novel was excellently handled, and leaves the reader with a bit of a blown mind. Personally, I am not sure where the series can go from this. David Annandale's Watchers in Death has a big task ahead of it to continue on from that cataclysm.

The Beast Must Die is an excellent book. The series needed it, both in regards to plot, reveals, resolutions of subplots and moment to moment action. Seeing the Imperium act as a truly united force against the biggest threat since the Heresy was glorious, especially after all the backstabbing previously. Of course, there are still intrigues going on behind the scenes, but they are secondary here. The Beast Must Die, or all shall fall.

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