Deathwatch the Novel by Ian St Martin

[Prot]

I know it's confusing as there are a few novels/short stories called "deathwatch" but I'm talking about this one:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/Protilious/Prots%20Deathwatch%2040K/BLPROCESSED-deathwatch-ebook.jpg

 

 

I just had to make a post about this. I get a lot of inspiration from the novels, and audiobooks. But a lot of them are pretty mediocre stuff, or just too short to really get you involved to any real depth.

 

This Deathwatch novel is surprising the heck out of me though. From page one it's been very interesting. I'm not quite halfway through it, but the whole premise has been done (in part) many times.... but this is a really interesting take on it.

 

Basically we're talking about Nids.

 

Nids are coming... and what can the Imperium do about it? Deathwatch might be the obvious answer but it turns out an Inquisitor tried to handle this situation but has made it far worse (you gotta love upper management making the work twice as hard!) No spoilers though, you'll have to read to know why this is the case....

 

We're seeing lots of Artemis in this novel. Exploration of the basic layout of Black Fortresses, and outposts. How we operate, and the dire situation at hand is all revealed here.

 

So far I've enjoyed this more than any other piece of Deathwatch fiction I've read to date. I don't want to get your hopes up too much, and this may not be setting the bar too high, but still I highly recommend it to anyone enjoying the recent Nid releases and Deathwatch stuff.

 

Personally I am really enjoying the insight into the background. The scene set ups are quite epic too... imagining a starport bristling with Corvus Blackstars and other ships can get any Xenos hunter's blood pumping!

 

I haven't read it all yet obviously but just assume if you keep reading it there are SPOILERS below, and that could include any posts other people make so please be forewarned.

 

So if you've read this and have an opinion on it, I'd love to hear what you thought of it, and how you'd rank it amongst the current Deathwatch fiction line.

[Vel'Cona]

 

So far I've enjoyed this more than any other piece of Deathwatch fiction I've read to date. I don't want to get your hopes up too much, and this may not be setting the bar too high, but still I highly recommend it to anyone enjoying the recent Nid releases and Deathwatch stuff.

 

Not a high bar set there, but honestly your endorsement means quite a bit.  I'll be taking a look at this one!

[Prot]

Whoa, I'm no literary mastermind... I just know what I like. ;)

 

The deeper I get in this book the more I appreciate the author's descriptive scenes and the 'mood' of the story is quite... eerie...almost hauntingly so as they are in the middle of a complete and utter annihilation of two warring species.

 

Plus he does some good character interactions. We get a little depth beyond the very typical stuff we've seen so far. We see how even though some of these chapters have given their Tithe to the Deathwatch, many of these marines still have an affection for each other, as well as their chapter brothers. Good dialogue too where sometimes we can be put off by the bolter porn talk, there's some decent stuff here.

 

The story feels fresh even though in part it's been done a million times. It's set up very nicely.

 

I hope it continues to shine as I get around the halfway point... I am disappointed to see it is a mere 200-ish pages. I want to see Ian St Martin back, writing more Deathwtach. ;)

[TemplarCoyote]

I enjoyed the short story in Heroes of the Space Marines (I believe) but it was pretty short and focused solely on the mission and an aftermath scene away from the main team...