Space Wolf series (SPOILERS!)

[TheArtilleryman]

This is an old series now but I’ve just finished reading the books for the first time and I have to say I’ve been blown away. The prose isn’t the greatest in the world but the plot arc that was created for Ragnar is absolutely awesome. The authors did a great job of creating a compelling backstory for such an iconic character from his life before the Space Wolves to his journey through the ranks, his exile and ultimately his redemption.

 

One observation I noted was that the last two novels, written by Lee Lightener instead of William King, were much better written. I felt that King slipped into some really cliche fantasy tropes but Lightener did a great job of maintaining the tone and characters from the first four books whilst creating significantly better prose.

 

This was possibly the first time reading 40K fiction that I was so invested in the characters that I felt for them and wanted them to survive. Ragnar himself obviously has a ton of plot armour but the characters he meets along the way don’t - they are very likeable and those that don’t make it to the end of the series are sorely missed when they go.

 

Some things I felt were missing were the tale of how Ragnar actually becomes a Wolf Lord, and the lack of integration of other iconic characters like Ulrik and Njal Stormcaller. I don’t know if these tales are in any other books but they were notably absent from this series. If these are out there somewhere then I would love someone to bring them to my attention.

Edited December 26, 2024 by TheArtilleryman

[Preliminary Bombardment]

Worth reading then? I quite like William Kings Marcharius series, was meaning to check out his other stuff 

[TheArtilleryman]

On 12/28/2024 at 10:28 AM, Preliminary Bombardment said:

Worth reading then? I quite like William Kings Marcharius series, was meaning to check out his other stuff 

Yeah I really enjoyed the series. They all follow on from the last so it’s like reading one long novel. I have loads of other books I want to read as well, but I couldn’t take a break from these, I had to read them all before moving on to something else. Which incidentally is “Ragnar Blackmane” by Aaron Dembski-Bowden… 

[BadJokeAK]

That series was my first foray into the grimdark! I think I need to give it a re-read now.