Minka Lesk Series

[Roomsky]

General discussion for Hill's Cadia series as Shadow of the Eighth and the first omnibus dropped recently. 

 

Lesk getting a fourth book was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. I've enjoyed all of them so far and Shadow of the Eighth is no exception, though I find I don't have a ton to say about it beyond that I thought it was good. If you liked the last few Lesk books, you'll probably like Shadow of the Eighth. The characters proceed well and there's some good expansion on what came before.

 

With 4 books, we're now into full-on Guardsman series territory, a la Gaunt or Cain. And while I don't think Hill's prose or character work quite matches up to Abnett, he really excels at making a believable plot (at least, from my civilian POV) in his books. What I mean is that the Lesk stories don't feel like space opera or a big, convenient melodrama like Gaunt often does. Hill's writing captures the drudgery, the grime, and the general lack of dramatics endemic in the life of a soldier. If 40k were real, this would read like an account of real events rather than anything too dramatized or "played up" for the reader. It's a niche I'm glad someone is filling.

 

Curious to see where Bendikt's little obsession takes us.

[cheywood]

Another year, another quality Guard novel from Hill. There’s nothing in Shadow of the Eighth that breaks the mold, but it has quality action and character work throughout. As is often the case, I agree completely with @Roomsky. Hope BL keeps these coming, it’s nice to have a long running series amidst all the standalone novels BL has been publishing recently.