Deathwatch by Steve Parker

[ac4155]

Hi all,

 

I couldn't find a thread for this so though I'd start one.

 

Just finished reading Deathwatch after picking it up at BL Live a few months back. Only took about 3 days and I really enjoyed it.

 

Having read the short story in one of the '___ of the Space Marine' compilation books, as well as quite liking Steve Parkers work, I was looking forward to this book.

 

I'm interested to see where Steve Parker takes the story in the next books and how some of the questions set up get answered.

 

One of my only criticisms I have with the book is the lack of equal character development. Without giving anything away, I felt several characters were left too blank without much fleshing out which ultimately left me uncaring during there 'big' moments. Additionally, other characters were either underdeveloped or felt to be shoehorned into the book early on with little further development until they were brought into the main arc of Talon Squads story line.

 

The jump from 'training' to 'action' also felt a bit rushed. One moment the Space Marines are graduating into the ranks of the Deathwatch, then next they are thrust into battle with little further build up or true development of Talon Squads formation.

 

However, overall I enjoyed the book. It was nice getting a look into the Deathwatch and how it operates (who doesn't love the deathwatch?!). I also felt the portrait of the dreadnought, Chyron, was one of the best I've read and highlighted just why the Space Marines inside eventually 'lose it'.

 

All in all, I enjoyed the book and can't wait for the second. I hope this turns out to be a great series.

 

What are your thoughts on the book?

AC

[rx781a]

I really enjoyed deathwatch as well.

It was surprisingly good

the look behind deathwatch training and indoc was awesome

i look forward to more books in the series 

[Growler67]

I thought there was another thread....must've dropped when the RAID array failed.  Anyway, I too very much liked it and have been recommending it to many with an interest in the Deathwatch Corps.  I especially appreciated the insights to the training and indoctrination before one is allowed to wear their Black Armor, as well as the little bits about the Rothi and what they do to ones Power Armor to raise it to the standards of Deathwatch service.

 

Drew-welling voraciously for the next installments......

[Sothalor]

I enjoyed it as well, and my criticisms are pretty similar to the OP's.

 

The characters that do get developed are done so in interesting and compelling fashion. There are great undertones of horror with what's going on with the Genestealer cult.

 

I did think the pacing was uneven, particularly in the second act. There were just too many extraneous characters and arcs that go nowhere and take up space that could have been used to flesh Talon Squad out more.

 

I didn't think both Inquisition agents needed as much page time as they got. The ship captain and planetary governor arcs didn't need to be in the novel.

 

 

I also know people's opinions will differ from mine here, but all the Death Spectres stuff didn't do anything for me. It felt really reminiscent of what was going on in the Salamanders novels with their prophecy of impending doom and a librarian who plays a pivotal role. I did not like the Salamanders novels, so maybe that just colored my view here.

[spafe]

I liked the novel, although the governor bit seemed excessive, I disagree with the other inq parts, I really liked how they explained the ground work that is done before commiting marines. I also loved the idea behind both inq agents, so for me it was a plus.

 

I disliked the libby prohecy thing they kept refering to, it jsut seemed like a 'oo we also have a dark secret that we must be guarded about' for no real reason. I did like the trials to advance your level within the chapter though, that was a nice glimpse of how a a chapters culture may vary.

 

Overall I liked it a lot, and look forward to next in series (which they blatantly set up for!)

[Growler67]

The "prophecy" angle is not new to 40K.  There were elements hinted within the Ragnar Saga for the Space Wolves.....it came to pass in the 6th and final book.....in an epic and climactic manner.  The mysteries of that Warp have been eluded to forever with the Eldar as well.  Being able to catch glimpses of things that have past and are yet to be.  Keeping in mind that the future events are not set and that the fluid nature of time within the Warp can cast doubts on the visions one encounters.

 

The foundational elements of the Operator and Interrogator were nicely done overall, but yeah, it did drag in some spots and went into a little more detail than it needed to in others.  The Governor and The ships Captain could've been scaled back without affecting the story much.....minor sub-plots that were expanded a bit too much.  There could've been more background on the Team members put in instead.  Having more to chew on (as it were) about the characters you come to root for over the ones that are just filler.

[Mantras]

I thought this was an excellent book, really well done and offered a real interesting insight as to the irregular nature of the warfare the Death Watch carry out. I really liked how they sort of looked at the normal ways Space Marines fight and went "Actually....they can do that smarter"

 

On the characters, the nick names were a great idea, but I thought they went quite close to stereotyping on the skill sets. "Hes a prodigy of a marksman" "This one is insane in close combat" "This one is has pretty much every skill you could ask for" but these are necessary sometimes.

 

I really liked the name checking of Shrike and Coteaz, nicely done. One thing though - I swear I read a short story really similar to this, has the Author done another version of this?

[Growler67]

I thought this was an excellent book, really well done and offered a real interesting insight as to the irregular nature of the warfare the Death Watch carry out. I really liked how they sort of looked at the normal ways Space Marines fight and went "Actually....they can do that smarter"

 

On the characters, the nick names were a great idea, but I thought they went quite close to stereotyping on the skill sets. "Hes a prodigy of a marksman" "This one is insane in close combat" "This one is has pretty much every skill you could ask for" but these are necessary sometimes.

 

I really liked the name checking of Shrike and Coteaz, nicely done. One thing though - I swear I read a short story really similar to this, has the Author done another version of this?

 

As far as your comments on the characters, Chapter Traits.  Of course there will be some stereotyping of sorts going on, different Chapters specialize in differing ways of bringing combat to their enemies.  Nicknames are also common IRL.  It's an extension of rapport or camaraderie battle brothers just find a means to refer to each other.  It could be anything from deriving a nickname from an incident, a joke, a personality or character trait, a shortening or modification of a name or even something a superficial as a look, tattoo or hair color.  That this was explored in the book only translates to make it more relatible to real life occurrences.

[Dorian]

snip

 

 One thing though - I swear I read a short story really similar to this, has the Author done another version of this?

 

Steve Parker wrote 2 short stories about Talon Squad.

 

Exhumed in Victories of the Space Marines and

Headhunted in Heroes of the Space Marines

[Mantras]

 

snip

 

 One thing though - I swear I read a short story really similar to this, has the Author done another version of this?

 

Steve Parker wrote 2 short stories about Talon Squad.

 

Exhumed in Victories of the Space Marines and

Headhunted in Heroes of the Space Marines

I seem to remember reading one of these, about an Ork ship. Any idea which one that is in? 

[Leonaides]

headhunted...

[Jareddm]

Just got around to finishing it and I enjoyed it a great deal.

 

I will agree that I would've liked a little more characterization for the other three members of Talon Squad (Our Exorcist and Lamenter members, I felt got exactly as much as they deserved).

 

I felt there was one too many moments of Karras telling the others to leave him behind and them refusing to go before being ordered to go.

 

It was nice to see a reference to kill-ships, as well as the fact that a kill-team being under the command of an Inquisitor was the exception rather than the norm, both of which commonly seen in FFG's material.

 

I greatly enjoyed the Inquisitorial agent parts, both characters were nicely developed and their fates really felt meaningful to me.

 

My hope is that the other Watch Captains that got a little bit of face time will be developed more in sequals.

[Growler67]

@ Jareddm....did I tell you or what?

[DarkKnight4422]

Awesome book, really would love to see and read more adventures of Talon squad and the Deathwatch.

[Lucien Eilam]

I enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure the story arcs that "go nowhere" are in fact plot hooks for the sequels.

 

I did think the dialogue, and Karras in particular, was a bit long-winded for the middle of a special forces mission against a time limit. Things like "Move left, stop at ten metres and wait for orders, we’ll do a proper sweep before I decide whether or not this is an appropriate site for an RP". They're Deathwatch Space Marines, they surely don't need that level of verbosity to know what they're supposed to be doing and why.

 

Especially after the training sequence where they're trying to cut 8 seconds off an assault. Should have been easy. Just tell Karras to stop talking. Never mind his psychic powers, he needs an implant to restrict use of his third lung.