Jareddm Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I've seen little to no discussion about the various shorts, novellas, and audios (or at least not in one place) concerning this series and in my opinion, that's a shame. There's quite a lot going on and with perhaps one exception, I can say I've been pleasantly surprised with all of the stories and lore that have been presented. I have not read everything but so far it's been an extremely solid showing on all fronts and I thought I'd give a quick run-down on my thoughts concerning them. I also note that there will be spoilers. Engine of Mork(13 pages): Not technically part of the Sanctus Reach series but Evil Sun Rising is a direct sequel to it and builds off of it in several different ways. Guy Haley is shaping up to be a master of Ork speak. I know we all have fond memories of Deff Skawdron, but aside from that, I can't think of a single other source that managed it as well as this does. That alone makes this an incredible story as three Evil Sunz meks and their gretchin underlings try their damnedest to get their Stompa up and running. Just keep in mind it seems to be translated Ork speak rather than Orks speaking Gothic, which leads to some rather posh-sounding Deathskulls. Evil Sun Rising(59 pages): Following the same protagonists(?) from Engine of Mork, having successfully gotten their fusion-powered Stompa up and running, every Ork mek in the Waaagh! wants to know how it works and how to get one of their own. It takes them across the Sanctus system and aside from the campaign books themselves, covers the broadest amount of time of any of the stories in the Sanctus Reach series. Again, highly recommend for awesome ork dialogue and perfect balance of ork hilarity and sheer brutal carnage. Penumbral Spike(16 pages): I'll be honest and say I'm not a big fan of any of Ben Counter's previous work. His writing has a strong 'mythic' feel to it, which in most cases simply doesn't work for me. Penumbral Spike is the first for me that I generally really liked. The Orks have reached the homeworld of the Obsidian Glaives, the first line of defense for Sanctus. He introduces quite an original chapter of space marines, builds a legitimate history for them, and then ends them. The ending alone is delightful and leaves the story on a tragically high note. Recommended. Black Gulch(8 pages): This one I was less impressed with than Penumbral Spike. The last final battle between the Obsidian Glaives' chapter master and Grukk himself. For me it was a fairly typical fight that by the end feels like it just peters out. Death Mask(16 pages): I was very middle of the road about this one. An Eversor assassin is sent into Hive Vinter, one of the hives on Ghul Jensen after a large cult of 'Ork-wannabes' calling themselves Da Bruvvahood comes out from the slums and underhives to prepare the planet for the coming ork hordes. Some people were throwing around the term Diggas, but I have no idea what they are talking about The cuts back and forth between the various branches of Da Bruvvahood and the front lines is what saves this short, as Eversor assassins are not the most interesting of characters on their own. Fall of Hive Jensen(19 pages): Damn this was good. A legitimately competent planetary governor, memorable characters, and no loose ends. A great showing by Josh Reynolds and certainly up there with the other short of his I've read, Cadre. Aside from that, I'll edit this post when I've made my way through Maledictus and Hour of the Wolf, neither of which I've yet to read through. Edit: Added length of each story, subtracting off title, ads, legal jargon, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger9gamer Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 this review is quite good, and makes me wish I bought the spike in place of forgemaster X-X going to look these up sometime when I get the time for more books! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaon9 Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Cheers for the reviews, I was on the fence with whether to buy this collection. Curious to see how the final two are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Eremon Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Obsidian Glaives, huh? Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoebus Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Unfortunately, I skipped these. I find the Orks to be the least interesting facet of the setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.