Honourbound

[Lord Marshal]

Well, it's an Imperial Guard novel, but I'm also sceptical about another series focusing on a Commissar. 

 

Anybody who's picked this up able to give their opinions before I grab it and end up disappointed?

[DarkChaplain]

I've heard good things about the Severina Raine short stories, at the very least. Harrison appears to have a good grip on what she's going for.

Haven't read the shorts myself yet, though. Anybody able to clear up the order on them?

 

Either way, I'm not sure why there's any need to be skeptical about another commissar series. Cain only just came back after ages in retirement, Gaunt's Ghosts are done for the moment, and Yarrick appears to be done as well (though I sincerely hope for more books by Annandale on the character). Every other commissar novel has been pretty much a one-off thing (like Hoare's). As long as the commissar characters at their center are distinct from one another and bring different things to the table, I'll take another two easily. It's rarely just about the commissar him- or herself, after all.

[caladancid]

I haven't seen any reviews of this up yet either.

 

The interview on the community page with Rachel Harrison about the model gives some insight into the character I thought.

[Knockagh]

A commissar is a great character to focus a guard book around. There have been a few for that reason. They make great characters that can operate independently of the tight military structures of guard regiments. But at the same time working alongside the ordinary men and women from front line grunts to the top brass. They are uniquely placed outside the structure.

Guard books are gems in a world of space marines. Sorely missed in the Heresy series and not given enough prominence in 40k.

[Phoebus]

I’m curious to see whether Raine will be cast as a Commissar in the Grimdark sense. I haven’t read her stories or Yarrick’s, but I can’t shake the fact that neither Gaunt nor Cain (the two marquee Commissar entries in this setting) aren’t Commissars in the sense we’d expect. At some point, defying the stereotype, well, becomes the new stereotype.

[DarkChaplain]

I mean, Cain's stories are filtered through his own lense and narrative bluster, but he does a good job in his role as commissar. His disciplinary actions in For the Emperor still stand out to me as a highly intelligent, effective approach to his job. It's also important to remember that both Cain and Gaunt are cast as heroes, with one of them being a literal propaganda piece in the Imperial machine. Yarrick's novels in particular, especially Imperial Creed, stress that commissars are political officers as much as anything else, and that role doesn't just relate to dealing with planetary governers or upper echelons of the militarum.

 

Both of them also met their share of traditionally stereotypical commissars, and those tend to kick the bucket sooner rather than later due to their hardline nature. The authority of the commissariat may be pretty absolute, but the less a commissar needs to resort to executing somewhat wavering guardsmen, the better for overall morale and his personal health. The overly cynical hardline type shouldn't be the norm in the setting's reality, although it should be a powerful stereotype that even the commissariat itself might want to uphold. The best commissars are often those with the best grasp on action and consequence, which Cain, for example, undoubtedly is.

 

From what I've heard of Raine would indicate that she's less of a Cain and a tad more traditional, though still not the stereotypical hardliner. So, basically a dutiful, functional member of the imperium rather than a maniac drunk on his executive power.

[Phoebus]

At the end of the day, I don’t disagree with your assessment of the characters. What I’m trying to get at it that, however we may feel about the standard-type Commissar, they are the product the Imperium strives to produce — for better or for worse. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed both Gaunt and Cain. At some point, though, it feels a bit off-putting if none of the protagonist commissars are akin to the “advertising pitch.”

[Moonreaper666]

At the end of the day, I don’t disagree with your assessment of the characters. What I’m trying to get at it that, however we may feel about the standard-type Commissar, they are the product the Imperium strives to produce — for better or for worse. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed both Gaunt and Cain. At some point, though, it feels a bit off-putting if none of the protagonist commissars are akin to the “advertising pitch.”

Didn't one of those 'standard-type' commissars defected to the Crimson Slaughter

 

His name was Tetchvar

[SkimaskMohawk]

 

At the end of the day, I don’t disagree with your assessment of the characters. What I’m trying to get at it that, however we may feel about the standard-type Commissar, they are the product the Imperium strives to produce — for better or for worse. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed both Gaunt and Cain. At some point, though, it feels a bit off-putting if none of the protagonist commissars are akin to the “advertising pitch.”

Didn't one of those 'standard-type' commissars defected to the Crimson Slaughter

 

His name was Tetchvar

You mean turn into a cultist and eventually be used by them? Yes, sure

[Marshal Vespasian]

I am liking honorbound. Raine doesnt feel like cain or gaunt. She isnt a hero of the imperium and she isnt her trrops friend or even comrade. She is feared and even hated, not trusted. She is not in command of troops. Shes the norm of a commissar.

 

But on the flipside she herself doesnt sse her superiors as incompetent pencil pushers but as unfallible and to be absolutely obeyed. I feel like the book shows the totalitarian aspects of the imperium in an interesting way.

Also the sighted are cool cult/enemy.

[Gongsun Zan]

Rachel Harrison is one to watch.

 

In a way, this feels like a dark mirror of the Ghosts - there are some superficial plot similarities, but there's is more than enough here for Honourbound to stand as its own book.

 

Raine is not Gaunt - her first act in the novel is a battlefield execution, and she's a hardline commissar through and through. But she's also not a caricature that so many other depictions of the commissariat fall victim to. She's uncompromising, but never comes across as mean or unjust.

 

I also think that Honourbound is a great example of grimdark done well - the supporting cast is bitter and broken, but the bleakness of it all makes any acts of heroism shine all the brighter (and the final payoff more satisfying).

 

Am definitely looking forward for more.

[Preliminary Bombardment]

I'm rather enjoining this one, proper guard book and a commissar through and through.

 

Also are the Artians basically Welsh in space? That's the vibe I'm getting.

[Felix Antipodes]

Just read through all the shorts in the series to prep for the novel. If it is as good as the shorts I will be very happy. Harrison is one to watch indeed.

 

For those concerned about another series featuring a Commissar, Raine is nothing like Gaunt or Cain. Rather she is the perfect product of the Schola system. I got the same feeling about Fel, the storm trooper captain, who came through the same process. Those who like their grimm dark will like these stories.

[gaurdian31]

The shorts are really good and the book has been really enjoyable so far. I would highly recommend it. 

[Roomsky]

Honourbound - Rachel Harrison

 

Well, that was really excellent. I enjoyed the shorts well enough but damn if this wasn't one of the best out of BL I've read in a while. I'm not even huge on Guard stories, but this dodged all the bullets of flat tropes and endless, mindless action. Time will tell if Harrison can turn it into a series to rival Gaunt or Cain, but as a standalone (IMO) it trumps them both quite handily.

 

Characters

The cast is outstanding. Raine, Zayne, Wyck, Fel, the Voidborn, the Sighted, etc, all ooze personality. Raine is a personal favourite, but she'd be a lesser character without the dynamics she shares with the supporting cast. Each are interesting on their own, but together they are elevated to a very real cast of people. Bonus points for being fairly even in terms of gender.

 

I'd gush more about the main cast but you should honestly just read it for yourself.

 

The Sighted are suitably intimidating, and it's good to see a Chaos fighting force that balances effectiveness with insanity and ritual. They're effective in all the right ways - sorcery, corruption, eldritch resources, all the while having the appropriate weakness of disorganization and often lesser assets. Cretia, for how little she was present, managed a sinister presence even while fulfilling the double role of "psychic that gives characters and audience revealing visions."

 

Serek was effective enough as a plot device, but was a bit weak as an actual character. He suits the narrative very well but never had the charisma or presence you might expect from the big bad. Hopefully the Nine provide more of that in sequels.

 

Prose

Harrison makes great use of a limited perspective, present tense style that keeps the ball rolling and tensions high. The writing's greatest strength is allowing for an easy transition between descriptions of what's happening, and the focal character's internal - often scattered - thoughts. Getting into the character's heads, especially Raine's and Wyck's, really adds to the story in ways that many BL authors fail to capture.

 

Plot

The plot is great but probably the only part of the book I don't give a near-perfect 10, and it might just be out of preference. The execution is certainly excellent, Raine's struggles with her place in Imperial society engage with the subject matter in a way most BL fare barely even acknowledges. The idea of having a coward's blood tainting you especially is something I'm surprised doesn't come up more often. The themes throughout too are excellent, asking and defining what kinship means in several very different ways.

 

Perhaps the whole purpose of the shorts is to give us a more grounded series of adventures for the Antari, but the escalation of the conspiracy plot might have used another book to breathe a bit. As a standalone I don't really have an issue, it tells a very complete and satisfying story, but as it looks like this is going to be a series I would have liked more time with low to the ground gruntwork Raine vs 'I just shot the Lord Commander in the face" Raine. All happened a bit too quickly for my personal tastes.

 

The pacing and structure though is quite on point. The action sequences were always unique and never once overstayed their welcome, and knew when to take a back seat to intrigue or character drama. Very well done.

 

Overall

As a debut novel this was absolutely astounding. The few subjective issues I have with the work are nothing compared to the level of engagement it provides the reader. It's well paced, exciting, and occasionally gut-wrenching, and I don't hesitate to put it somewhere within my personal top 5 of Black Library. Go read it.

 

 

TL:DR - It was fantastic

ANR - 9/10

[aa.logan]

I really liked this.

 

Call me basic, but I love a good Guard novel. Commissars make great characters for introducing a regiment, being in it but not of it. Honourbound is a damn good Guard novel.

 

The Antari are nicely distinct, but largely ‘Codex’; I didn’t feel like things were shoehorned in for marketing purposes, but I did like how their composition matched what we expect from the tabletop.

 

What follows is an explanation of why I was dreading it.

My personal bugbear is dream sequences/scenes that take place in the warp/on some kind of astral plane. They’re beyond dull to me. So after reading the short from the BL Celebration anthology full of that sort of thing, when it became clear that so much of the novel would take place in Zane’s visions, I was a touch apprehensive.

but the rest of the book was so damn good I was able to overcome this.

 

Like the more recent Gaunt and Cadian books, it acknowledged to toll that grinding eternal war must take on participants, and how broken so much of the Guard must be by it.

 

Excellent stuff.

[caladancid]

I am getting this when it is re-released on eBook this weekend. Looking forward to it after all the good reviews!

[caladancid]

 

Honourbound - Rachel Harrison

 

Well, that was really excellent. I enjoyed the shorts well enough but damn if this wasn't one of the best out of BL I've read in a while. I'm not even huge on Guard stories, but this dodged all the bullets of flat tropes and endless, mindless action. Time will tell if Harrison can turn it into a series to rival Gaunt or Cain, but as a standalone (IMO) it trumps them both quite handily.

 

Characters

The cast is outstanding. Raine, Zayne, Wyck, Fel, the Voidborn, the Sighted, etc, all ooze personality. Raine is a personal favourite, but she'd be a lesser character without the dynamics she shares with the supporting cast. Each are interesting on their own, but together they are elevated to a very real cast of people. Bonus points for being fairly even in terms of gender.

 

I'd gush more about the main cast but you should honestly just read it for yourself.

 

The Sighted are suitably intimidating, and it's good to see a Chaos fighting force that balances effectiveness with insanity and ritual. They're effective in all the right ways - sorcery, corruption, eldritch resources, all the while having the appropriate weakness of disorganization and often lesser assets. Cretia, for how little she was present, managed a sinister presence even while fulfilling the double role of "psychic that gives characters and audience revealing visions."

 

Serek was effective enough as a plot device, but was a bit weak as an actual character. He suits the narrative very well but never had the charisma or presence you might expect from the big bad. Hopefully the Nine provide more of that in sequels.

 

Prose

Harrison makes great use of a limited perspective, present tense style that keeps the ball rolling and tensions high. The writing's greatest strength is allowing for an easy transition between descriptions of what's happening, and the focal character's internal - often scattered - thoughts. Getting into the character's heads, especially Raine's and Wyck's, really adds to the story in ways that many BL authors fail to capture.

 

Plot

The plot is great but probably the only part of the book I don't give a near-perfect 10, and it might just be out of preference. The execution is certainly excellent, Raine's struggles with her place in Imperial society engage with the subject matter in a way most BL fare barely even acknowledges. The idea of having a coward's blood tainting you especially is something I'm surprised doesn't come up more often. The themes throughout too are excellent, asking and defining what kinship means in several very different ways.

 

Perhaps the whole purpose of the shorts is to give us a more grounded series of adventures for the Antari, but the escalation of the conspiracy plot might have used another book to breathe a bit. As a standalone I don't really have an issue, it tells a very complete and satisfying story, but as it looks like this is going to be a series I would have liked more time with low to the ground gruntwork Raine vs 'I just shot the Lord Commander in the face" Raine. All happened a bit too quickly for my personal tastes.

 

The pacing and structure though is quite on point. The action sequences were always unique and never once overstayed their welcome, and knew when to take a back seat to intrigue or character drama. Very well done.

 

Overall

As a debut novel this was absolutely astounding. The few subjective issues I have with the work are nothing compared to the level of engagement it provides the reader. It's well paced, exciting, and occasionally gut-wrenching, and I don't hesitate to put it somewhere within my personal top 5 of Black Library. Go read it.

 

 

TL:DR - It was fantastic

ANR - 9/10

 

 

Definitely agree this book was excellent.  Just a solid, impressive first 40k novel by Rachel Harrison.

 

I personally don't think it is better than Cain or Gaunt.  I am a huge fan of both those series though, and almost think they are required reading if you like 40k books.

 

It feels weird to compare them though, because I would absolutely recommend Honourbound to everyone without regard to any other books.