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The Beast Arises #11
Shadow of Ullanor
After two failed attempts to annihiliate the orks, and the deaths of countless heroes, the Imperium may finally have a solution. But to win the war will take unthinkable sacrifice…
The Imperium’s attempts to defeat the ork menace seem doomed to failure; it is only a matter of time before the greenskins triumph, and mankind is wiped from the face of the galaxy. Yet there is some cause for hope – the psychic weakness of the orks has been discovered, and a few Sisters of Silence yet survive. Supported by the full military might and technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines head to the orks’ home world one final time. This time there will be no retreat, no surrender. They must succeed… or die in the attempt.
It's the penultimate instalment in The Beast Arises series and the stakes couldn't be higher… We'd love to say more, but it might spoil the massive events that have happened so far, and those still to come! Just read it and see for yourself.
The Imperium’s attempts to defeat the ork menace seem doomed to failure; it is only a matter of time before the greenskins triumph, and mankind is wiped from the face of the galaxy. Yet there is some cause for hope – the psychic weakness of the orks has been discovered, and a few Sisters of Silence yet survive. Supported by the full military might and technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines head to the orks’ home world one final time. This time there will be no retreat, no surrender. They must succeed… or die in the attempt.
It's the penultimate instalment in The Beast Arises series and the stakes couldn't be higher… We'd love to say more, but it might spoil the massive events that have happened so far, and those still to come! Just read it and see for yourself.
Hardcover
First published October 8, 2016
6 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
About the author
Rob Sanders
114 books84 followersRob Sanders is the author of twelve novels, as well as numerous anthologised short stories, novellas, audio dramas, computer games and comics. His fiction has won national writing competitions, been featured on the BBC and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His poetry has been short listed in national contests. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.
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October 27, 2016
Review also published here
Shadow of Ullanor is my biggest disappointment of the The Beast Arises series. Not only because of its inconsistencies with the rest, lost opportunities and continuity problems, but also because it wrapped up the threat of the Beast of Ullanor in such brevity and without much originality at this point in the series.
Let me preface by saying that this is the first book in a long while that had me mark sections on my Kindle and add notes, just so I wouldn't forget problems and continuity issues by the time I was finished. I also noted a lot of criticisms over on Bolter & Chainsword while reading, simply to have a way to vent my frustrations and not off-load them on my girlfriend. For me, this book was a massive frustration, and beats I Am Slaughter for my least-favorite installment. In a way, it has soured the series for me with its lackluster conclusion and disregard for some of the stellar character development preceding it.
While individual scenes and setpieces were well-done and some even great, there were few saving graces for me.
First off, I'll address the elephant in the room: This is the final attack on the Beast of Ullanor, and the final book, The Beheading , is bound to deal with the political fallout instead of the ork menace. That means that, within about as many pages as the shortest books in the series, Rob Sanders had to wrap up not only the reformation of the Imperial Fists and the death of the Beast (well, all of them). He had to deal with the loss of Koorland, and lead Vangorich up to his infamous deeds.
And it didn't really work.
I had speculated before that, since Rob Sanders already featured the Life-Eater Virus in Predator, Prey , it might be coming to the Imperial Fists using that devastating weapon to wipe out the Beast of Ullanor, rather than facing it in direct combat and wasting countless lives for the third time. While the psychic vulnerability was a cool aspect and almost worked in The Last Son of Dorn , a m0re pragmatic approach like that would have felt... cleaner.
Now, to go off further on that tangent, I think that would have made the book massively better, even if the final blow had to have been struck personally.
Koorland was an idealist. He had an idealistic need to be the one to end the Beast. He had to be there for all manner of reasons. But Maximus Thane, his successor and former Fists Exemplar Chapter Master, represents the pragmatism of the Imperial Fists Legion successors. The Fists Exemplar were the first to agree with Guilliman's assessment that the Legions needed to be split, and the idealistic Dorn didn't like that for a while.
While Thane does make some pragmatic choices in Shadow of Ullanor, he still went for a highly idealistic approach to the third and final attack, basically retreading the same steps as Koorland before him yet expecting different results. In my eyes, it would have been a far more suitable conclusion to have Thane opt for the Life-Eater approach, saving lives and resisting the urge for a personal confrontation. It would have been a fitting end to Ullanor as an ecosystem and usable planet for the Imperium - effectively discarding the glories of the past and the horrors of the present. A clean cut to safeguard the future of the Imperium.
Instead what we got is a book that, as far as Ullanor and the preparations are concerned, retreads most of the same ground The Last Son of Dorn did.
The Deathwatch manage to capture two more Ork psykers off-screen (even though it was stated that the Beast would keep them safe now that he knows that the Imperium figured out how to use them as a weapon, making the strictly-synchronized capture-missions in TLSoD a necessity), making the Imperium attack Ullanor with a trio of them.
Thane explains basically the same plan of attack to Vangorich and Fabricator General Kubik that Koorland did last time, but they're somehow surprised anyway. The Sisters of Silence once again swear to help out, though their powers don't seem at all nullifying this time, more like dampening, and their overall effectiveness is massively decreased.
Thane, like Koorland, forces the High Lords of Terra to cooperate, albeit in a different manner, and throws everything the Imperium had left at Ullanor. How many times have we heard that now? Oddly enough, this time the assault is far better prepared, more numerous and better equipped than in either of the previous two attacks. Bike squadrons, Land Raiders, at least a company's worth of terminator-suited Space Marines and, oh, by the way, the Phalanx is there too. Not even a hint of where the giant star fortress has been for the past 10 books, even though it is crucial to the invasion. While fans know for a fact that the Phalanx existed and were confused as to where it has been all along, Sanders failed to give us a believable explanation as to how it could be that it is now part of the strike force - or any explanation at all. Not even a simple "it had to undergo repairs after Armatura", nothing.
On top of that, it also appears that the Imperial Fists now have access to Centurion armor, which was supposedly not rediscovered until the Age of Apostasy, around 4-5 millennia after the Beast's Waaagh. What's up with that?
And yes, we all knew it was coming: The Imperial Fists are reformed by the Successor Chapters, with Thane at their head. The way it is depicted here struck me as awkward, however.
First the Last Wall celebrates the Feast of Blades on Inwit in Koorland's honor, duelling for the Dornsblade. Thane presents himself as the representative of the Fists Exemplar and ends up, naturally, winning. We only see him duelling the Excoriators champion Tychor, but that duel seemed to take up more space and time than the following proposal by Thane to reform the Imperial Fists from the Last Wall Chapters. No real arguments or opposition are being made clear, and even Bohemond of the Black Templars has nothing to add. Thane is simply accepted as "the man" and declared new Chapter Master, with the successors throwing their veterans at the newborn Chapter. There are no indentity problems here, no arguments of faith from former Black Templars, and Thane is the only one to my knowledge who even makes spoken reference to his former allegiance, in the form of a curse on Ullanor.
The second part of the reformation, the public one, happens on Terra, in Thane's bid for strength. Revealing the full Chapter to the Imperial Palace's powerful, scribes and serfs, the scene is awesome for sure. I liked that chapter of the book in particular, but that is also down to Vangorich making his move in support.
In general, Vangorich's parts were highlights here again. He has fully set his sights on the target we knew he had to come to, and makes sacrifices for it already. One early chapter even sees him asking an ecclesiarch for absolution after confessing his doubts about the way things are going to him.
The assassin's blade is in place for a fantastic conclusion on the political end of the series, at least.
But then there are further inconsistencies and a disregard for series continuity that I hated reading the book.
After the brilliant development of High Marshal Bohemond of the Black Templars in recent books, there is nothing of note about him here. He is mentioned in passing only. In my eyes, he should have been the one to duel Thane in the final round of the Feast of Blades, as he would have been the man to honor Koorland that way, personally, without representatives. He deserved a more prominent role in the book, especially after the tear-jerker of the last book.
Magos Laurentis, who featured alongside Bohemond last time, is completely absent here. So, too, is the Mechanicus adepts' use of tranquilizers on the ork psykers. Or, in general, so are all the adepts beyond Fabricator General Kubik. Inquisitor Veritus is only mentioned once in the entire book, and misspelled as Veritas. Wienand, the Inquisitorial representative, is mentioned but doesn't affect the story in any way beyond being said to be with the Deathwatch during the assault on Ullanor.
It also appears as if Vangorich is supposed to choose a new High Ecclesiarch for the High Lords, even though Koorland made a big show of ousting the Ecclesiarchy from the council and re-declaring a dedication to the Imperial Truth.
There are so many small things and absences of details and characters that were most enjoyable to me throughout the series that I can only wonder how much care the editors in charge put into this penultimate book of the series, and how they expected it to match up with the rest. There is a clear disconnect here that, regardless of a bunch of great scenes, makes the whole book seem like a weak excuse for a finale to me. It is no secret that the series has been on ice for years in Black Library's vaults, and that heavy rewrites were necessary in the meantime, but come the hell on. This is not the satisfying conclusion of one of the two major threads of the series that readers deserved, and I know that Sanders could have done better if the editorial direction had been more appropriate and time & page constraints not as strict.
But the real, the biggest bummer has got to be the ending. After spending a lengthy chapter just for the arrival on Ullanor, and most of the following chapter on slaughtering hundreds of orks to reach the Beast's throneroom, the actual confrontation with the big bad greeny is short and, again, retreading familiar ground. Once again a Chapter Master challenges the Beast, and gets pushed aside by his trusted lieutenant (which, at least, makes the introduction of Tychor sensible), echoing TLSoD. Once again a Chapter Master is near death at the hands of the Beast. Once again the Sisters of Silence unleash their payload.
With the climax being so similar to that of The Last Son of Dorn , it is unavoidable to compare the two. The result is clear to me: Shadow of Ullanor pales in contrast to David Guymer's contribution. It doesn't have the same emotional payoff, not the same sense of it being a showdown for the future of the galaxy, not the buildup for the ork psyker's power... Beyond mention of the other four surviving Beasts, the Great Beast is the only one to appear in the story as well, with the rest being taken care of off-screen apparently.
It is an all-around disappointing way to wrap up the Ullanor plotline and shows just how wrong the series went with having the Imperium go for a third attack on Ullanor. With little variation beyond the inevitable success of this attempt, it is hard to see a reason for this attack to even have occured on a separate occassion rather than being rolled into a previous book.
Thankfully, there were some cool scenes involving Lady Brassanas, and using the orks' strategy of using asteroids for planetary assault was neat. I just wish that the book hadn't spent so long on the latter part compared to the action on the planet.
A lot of the big and dramatic scale was merely glanced at and narrated in passing, but never actually focused on. The Phalanx is being boarded? All we hear about it is curt and detail-barren reports to Thane. Few (none) of the new Imperial Fists captains are explored in any depth, and even the Chief Librarian is reduced to doing communication jobs. The book is even worse at portraying the Imperial Fists as anything but faceless yellow-armored Space Marines than I Am Slaughter did - at least that one introduced the previous Chapter Master and had the Wall Veterans. All Shadow of Ullanor could offer were names and erratic reports, but no hands-on experience.
This review might be long and rambly at this point, and maybe I am being a tad too harsh, but as someone having followed the series for the past 11 months, reviewing installment after installment, this book just feels utterly wrong, disappointing and a waste of my time. The amount of things that could have been changed to make it more compelling is pretty big. It spent too much time on things that, in the grand scheme of things, didn't matter much, while neglecting what would have made for great payoffs. I was in awe of the second assault on Ullanor, yet this third one leaves me cold.
I cannot even be happy that this is one of the shortest books in the series. For all I know, a few additional chapters might have turned a poor semi-finale into a great one, by allowing for more intricate ideas to take shape and deviating from the formula. While not terrible by any means in its own right, as a successor to 10 better books, Shadow of Ullanor feels like a culmination of all the problems and missteps of the series, and makes me wonder why I bothered getting excited.
What should have been the biggest, most earth-shattering installment in the series instead turned out the weakest.
Shadow of Ullanor is my biggest disappointment of the The Beast Arises series. Not only because of its inconsistencies with the rest, lost opportunities and continuity problems, but also because it wrapped up the threat of the Beast of Ullanor in such brevity and without much originality at this point in the series.
Let me preface by saying that this is the first book in a long while that had me mark sections on my Kindle and add notes, just so I wouldn't forget problems and continuity issues by the time I was finished. I also noted a lot of criticisms over on Bolter & Chainsword while reading, simply to have a way to vent my frustrations and not off-load them on my girlfriend. For me, this book was a massive frustration, and beats I Am Slaughter for my least-favorite installment. In a way, it has soured the series for me with its lackluster conclusion and disregard for some of the stellar character development preceding it.
While individual scenes and setpieces were well-done and some even great, there were few saving graces for me.
First off, I'll address the elephant in the room: This is the final attack on the Beast of Ullanor, and the final book, The Beheading , is bound to deal with the political fallout instead of the ork menace. That means that, within about as many pages as the shortest books in the series, Rob Sanders had to wrap up not only the reformation of the Imperial Fists and the death of the Beast (well, all of them). He had to deal with the loss of Koorland, and lead Vangorich up to his infamous deeds.
And it didn't really work.
I had speculated before that, since Rob Sanders already featured the Life-Eater Virus in Predator, Prey , it might be coming to the Imperial Fists using that devastating weapon to wipe out the Beast of Ullanor, rather than facing it in direct combat and wasting countless lives for the third time. While the psychic vulnerability was a cool aspect and almost worked in The Last Son of Dorn , a m0re pragmatic approach like that would have felt... cleaner.
Now, to go off further on that tangent, I think that would have made the book massively better, even if the final blow had to have been struck personally.
Koorland was an idealist. He had an idealistic need to be the one to end the Beast. He had to be there for all manner of reasons. But Maximus Thane, his successor and former Fists Exemplar Chapter Master, represents the pragmatism of the Imperial Fists Legion successors. The Fists Exemplar were the first to agree with Guilliman's assessment that the Legions needed to be split, and the idealistic Dorn didn't like that for a while.
While Thane does make some pragmatic choices in Shadow of Ullanor, he still went for a highly idealistic approach to the third and final attack, basically retreading the same steps as Koorland before him yet expecting different results. In my eyes, it would have been a far more suitable conclusion to have Thane opt for the Life-Eater approach, saving lives and resisting the urge for a personal confrontation. It would have been a fitting end to Ullanor as an ecosystem and usable planet for the Imperium - effectively discarding the glories of the past and the horrors of the present. A clean cut to safeguard the future of the Imperium.
Instead what we got is a book that, as far as Ullanor and the preparations are concerned, retreads most of the same ground The Last Son of Dorn did.
The Deathwatch manage to capture two more Ork psykers off-screen (even though it was stated that the Beast would keep them safe now that he knows that the Imperium figured out how to use them as a weapon, making the strictly-synchronized capture-missions in TLSoD a necessity), making the Imperium attack Ullanor with a trio of them.
Thane explains basically the same plan of attack to Vangorich and Fabricator General Kubik that Koorland did last time, but they're somehow surprised anyway. The Sisters of Silence once again swear to help out, though their powers don't seem at all nullifying this time, more like dampening, and their overall effectiveness is massively decreased.
Thane, like Koorland, forces the High Lords of Terra to cooperate, albeit in a different manner, and throws everything the Imperium had left at Ullanor. How many times have we heard that now? Oddly enough, this time the assault is far better prepared, more numerous and better equipped than in either of the previous two attacks. Bike squadrons, Land Raiders, at least a company's worth of terminator-suited Space Marines and, oh, by the way, the Phalanx is there too. Not even a hint of where the giant star fortress has been for the past 10 books, even though it is crucial to the invasion. While fans know for a fact that the Phalanx existed and were confused as to where it has been all along, Sanders failed to give us a believable explanation as to how it could be that it is now part of the strike force - or any explanation at all. Not even a simple "it had to undergo repairs after Armatura", nothing.
On top of that, it also appears that the Imperial Fists now have access to Centurion armor, which was supposedly not rediscovered until the Age of Apostasy, around 4-5 millennia after the Beast's Waaagh. What's up with that?
And yes, we all knew it was coming: The Imperial Fists are reformed by the Successor Chapters, with Thane at their head. The way it is depicted here struck me as awkward, however.
First the Last Wall celebrates the Feast of Blades on Inwit in Koorland's honor, duelling for the Dornsblade. Thane presents himself as the representative of the Fists Exemplar and ends up, naturally, winning. We only see him duelling the Excoriators champion Tychor, but that duel seemed to take up more space and time than the following proposal by Thane to reform the Imperial Fists from the Last Wall Chapters. No real arguments or opposition are being made clear, and even Bohemond of the Black Templars has nothing to add. Thane is simply accepted as "the man" and declared new Chapter Master, with the successors throwing their veterans at the newborn Chapter. There are no indentity problems here, no arguments of faith from former Black Templars, and Thane is the only one to my knowledge who even makes spoken reference to his former allegiance, in the form of a curse on Ullanor.
The second part of the reformation, the public one, happens on Terra, in Thane's bid for strength. Revealing the full Chapter to the Imperial Palace's powerful, scribes and serfs, the scene is awesome for sure. I liked that chapter of the book in particular, but that is also down to Vangorich making his move in support.
In general, Vangorich's parts were highlights here again. He has fully set his sights on the target we knew he had to come to, and makes sacrifices for it already. One early chapter even sees him asking an ecclesiarch for absolution after confessing his doubts about the way things are going to him.
The assassin's blade is in place for a fantastic conclusion on the political end of the series, at least.
But then there are further inconsistencies and a disregard for series continuity that I hated reading the book.
After the brilliant development of High Marshal Bohemond of the Black Templars in recent books, there is nothing of note about him here. He is mentioned in passing only. In my eyes, he should have been the one to duel Thane in the final round of the Feast of Blades, as he would have been the man to honor Koorland that way, personally, without representatives. He deserved a more prominent role in the book, especially after the tear-jerker of the last book.
Magos Laurentis, who featured alongside Bohemond last time, is completely absent here. So, too, is the Mechanicus adepts' use of tranquilizers on the ork psykers. Or, in general, so are all the adepts beyond Fabricator General Kubik. Inquisitor Veritus is only mentioned once in the entire book, and misspelled as Veritas. Wienand, the Inquisitorial representative, is mentioned but doesn't affect the story in any way beyond being said to be with the Deathwatch during the assault on Ullanor.
It also appears as if Vangorich is supposed to choose a new High Ecclesiarch for the High Lords, even though Koorland made a big show of ousting the Ecclesiarchy from the council and re-declaring a dedication to the Imperial Truth.
There are so many small things and absences of details and characters that were most enjoyable to me throughout the series that I can only wonder how much care the editors in charge put into this penultimate book of the series, and how they expected it to match up with the rest. There is a clear disconnect here that, regardless of a bunch of great scenes, makes the whole book seem like a weak excuse for a finale to me. It is no secret that the series has been on ice for years in Black Library's vaults, and that heavy rewrites were necessary in the meantime, but come the hell on. This is not the satisfying conclusion of one of the two major threads of the series that readers deserved, and I know that Sanders could have done better if the editorial direction had been more appropriate and time & page constraints not as strict.
But the real, the biggest bummer has got to be the ending. After spending a lengthy chapter just for the arrival on Ullanor, and most of the following chapter on slaughtering hundreds of orks to reach the Beast's throneroom, the actual confrontation with the big bad greeny is short and, again, retreading familiar ground. Once again a Chapter Master challenges the Beast, and gets pushed aside by his trusted lieutenant (which, at least, makes the introduction of Tychor sensible), echoing TLSoD. Once again a Chapter Master is near death at the hands of the Beast. Once again the Sisters of Silence unleash their payload.
With the climax being so similar to that of The Last Son of Dorn , it is unavoidable to compare the two. The result is clear to me: Shadow of Ullanor pales in contrast to David Guymer's contribution. It doesn't have the same emotional payoff, not the same sense of it being a showdown for the future of the galaxy, not the buildup for the ork psyker's power... Beyond mention of the other four surviving Beasts, the Great Beast is the only one to appear in the story as well, with the rest being taken care of off-screen apparently.
It is an all-around disappointing way to wrap up the Ullanor plotline and shows just how wrong the series went with having the Imperium go for a third attack on Ullanor. With little variation beyond the inevitable success of this attempt, it is hard to see a reason for this attack to even have occured on a separate occassion rather than being rolled into a previous book.
Thankfully, there were some cool scenes involving Lady Brassanas, and using the orks' strategy of using asteroids for planetary assault was neat. I just wish that the book hadn't spent so long on the latter part compared to the action on the planet.
A lot of the big and dramatic scale was merely glanced at and narrated in passing, but never actually focused on. The Phalanx is being boarded? All we hear about it is curt and detail-barren reports to Thane. Few (none) of the new Imperial Fists captains are explored in any depth, and even the Chief Librarian is reduced to doing communication jobs. The book is even worse at portraying the Imperial Fists as anything but faceless yellow-armored Space Marines than I Am Slaughter did - at least that one introduced the previous Chapter Master and had the Wall Veterans. All Shadow of Ullanor could offer were names and erratic reports, but no hands-on experience.
This review might be long and rambly at this point, and maybe I am being a tad too harsh, but as someone having followed the series for the past 11 months, reviewing installment after installment, this book just feels utterly wrong, disappointing and a waste of my time. The amount of things that could have been changed to make it more compelling is pretty big. It spent too much time on things that, in the grand scheme of things, didn't matter much, while neglecting what would have made for great payoffs. I was in awe of the second assault on Ullanor, yet this third one leaves me cold.
I cannot even be happy that this is one of the shortest books in the series. For all I know, a few additional chapters might have turned a poor semi-finale into a great one, by allowing for more intricate ideas to take shape and deviating from the formula. While not terrible by any means in its own right, as a successor to 10 better books, Shadow of Ullanor feels like a culmination of all the problems and missteps of the series, and makes me wonder why I bothered getting excited.
What should have been the biggest, most earth-shattering installment in the series instead turned out the weakest.
February 24, 2024
We are almost at the end of our journey and this one was probably one of the better ones. We may deal with spoilers but why would you be reading a review of the 11 novel of a series withot reading anyhing.
This time is revenge... again. The third battle of Ullanor. The first they brough Vulkan, the second Koorland defeated one Ork lord and died and the third is this one we see the newly forged Imperial Fists with volunteers from other chapters that called Rogal Dorn their primarch. It's a fast pace story that unfortunately doesn't really dwelt more on politics since it has so much to cover. We never really see other parts of the imperium like Ultima Segmentum, the important Space Wolves or Ultramarines. But we do see here some intersting politics, again very mild, with Thane, allying with Vangorich (grand master assassin) & Kubik of Adeptus Mechanicus. The idea is going back to Ullanor and with the ork-psychers & sisters silent to great a anti-Waaagh of some sorts. Can we really imagine a planet with trillion of orks? What does that number even mean...
Our boy Thane , really went overboard and instead of a full head assualt he uses the same tactics that the Orks use sending asteroids against the planet killing uncountable orks. Then the final confrontation against the beast of beasts. Rob Sanders really tried to convey all the emotion, raw power and so on... And we finally see the importance of the Sister of Silence (sad...) I will give this 88 out 100. Eagerly waiting the last one.
This time is revenge... again. The third battle of Ullanor. The first they brough Vulkan, the second Koorland defeated one Ork lord and died and the third is this one we see the newly forged Imperial Fists with volunteers from other chapters that called Rogal Dorn their primarch. It's a fast pace story that unfortunately doesn't really dwelt more on politics since it has so much to cover. We never really see other parts of the imperium like Ultima Segmentum, the important Space Wolves or Ultramarines. But we do see here some intersting politics, again very mild, with Thane, allying with Vangorich (grand master assassin) & Kubik of Adeptus Mechanicus. The idea is going back to Ullanor and with the ork-psychers & sisters silent to great a anti-Waaagh of some sorts. Can we really imagine a planet with trillion of orks? What does that number even mean...
Our boy Thane , really went overboard and instead of a full head assualt he uses the same tactics that the Orks use sending asteroids against the planet killing uncountable orks. Then the final confrontation against the beast of beasts. Rob Sanders really tried to convey all the emotion, raw power and so on... And we finally see the importance of the Sister of Silence (sad...) I will give this 88 out 100. Eagerly waiting the last one.
November 27, 2016
Well here we are folks, book 11 of the Beast Arises series, and probably one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had with BL in quite a while. In truth, I have mixed feelings. There were a fair number of absolutely fantastic scenes, and a lot of the action and politics present were really well done. That said, the novel was so full of outright lore/series inconsistencies and massively missed opportunities, as well as a supremely unimaginative and lackluster ending that I can’t help but wonder what Black Library was thinking.
The novel finishes off the actual war against the Beast aspect of the series, leaving the last book in the series to deal with the political aftermath of the war for book 12, The Beheading. Rob Sanders definitely had his work cut out for him, having to tie up both the death of the Beast(s) and the reformation of the Imperial Fists, while also dealing with the loss of Lord Commander Koorland and setting up the events infamous events in the next book. Not a lot of page time for some lofty goals, and I think the editorial team really failed with this one (especially considering how much time this novel series sat on ice over at BLHQ).
Much of the novel is basically a re-reading of The Last Son of Dorn, only this time it works. There’s the Space Marines wading through orks heading towards the Beast(s)’ throne room, the Sisters of Silence helping out with more captured ork psykers (rendering the whole mission to capture them in Watchers of Death kind of pointless), the Admech/Astra Militarum have a minor role, etc, etc.
I really wish they had taken the chance to do something different with this one.
One thing that really struck me throughout the whole series was that Lord Commander/Chapter Master Koorland was an extreme Idealist. He had to be there at the End, he was a massive symbol of hope for the Imperium and Terra. Meanwhile Chapter Master Maximus Thane, Koorland’s successor and former Chapter Master of the Fists Exemplar, is shown as extremely pragmatic throughout the whole series, often arguing with Koorland and the High Lords against an idealist approach. While we still see Thane making practical decisions, he still goes with the highly idealistic approach of a third attack. I’ve read quite a bit of discussion online surrounding the novel, and I definitely think that it would have been a much better novel, had Thane gone the route of using Exterminatus to some degree. Either full on Planet destroying, or the Life-Eater virus. Something like that would have really set the course the Imperium does take to the 41st millennium in stone, the irreplaceable loss of a place like Ullanor, but ultimately a tactical victory that shows how much of the Glorious Past that the Imperium has to sacrifice to survive.
Moving from there, we have thing like “Throwing everything the Imperium has left: 3rd Edition”, Sisters of Silence null powers being 100% different compared to fluff and previous entries in the series, Veritus having his name misspelled the only time it was in the novel, the Phalanx suddenly deciding to be a thing without a single mention of where the hell it has been for the past 10 books (seriously, not even a “it was being repaired” or “it was fighting orks over there” it just shows up like it was there all along).
And as much as that much of the novel was a big disappointment;
I really enjoyed the Feast of Blades. A few chapters that showed how the Imperial Fists successor chapters are coming to terms with, and honouring, the Death of the Imperial Fists. As well as the first decision to reform the Imperial Fists with the veterans of the successor chapters. I think this was accepted much too quickly and there was definitely a lot of opportunity for some Space Marine politics to get everyone on the same page. Alongside the unveiling of the new Imperial Fists on Terra, the majority of the politics on Terra (particularly a certain confession), the Space Marines “drop ship” landing on Ullanor, and a lot of the action immediately around there was great.
All in all, I enjoyed the novel, but there were just so many mistakes and lost opportunities. As book 11 in the series and the finale for the major story arc, this should have been one of the strongest books in the series, not one of the weakest.
!
The novel finishes off the actual war against the Beast aspect of the series, leaving the last book in the series to deal with the political aftermath of the war for book 12, The Beheading. Rob Sanders definitely had his work cut out for him, having to tie up both the death of the Beast(s) and the reformation of the Imperial Fists, while also dealing with the loss of Lord Commander Koorland and setting up the events infamous events in the next book. Not a lot of page time for some lofty goals, and I think the editorial team really failed with this one (especially considering how much time this novel series sat on ice over at BLHQ).
Much of the novel is basically a re-reading of The Last Son of Dorn, only this time it works. There’s the Space Marines wading through orks heading towards the Beast(s)’ throne room, the Sisters of Silence helping out with more captured ork psykers (rendering the whole mission to capture them in Watchers of Death kind of pointless), the Admech/Astra Militarum have a minor role, etc, etc.
I really wish they had taken the chance to do something different with this one.
One thing that really struck me throughout the whole series was that Lord Commander/Chapter Master Koorland was an extreme Idealist. He had to be there at the End, he was a massive symbol of hope for the Imperium and Terra. Meanwhile Chapter Master Maximus Thane, Koorland’s successor and former Chapter Master of the Fists Exemplar, is shown as extremely pragmatic throughout the whole series, often arguing with Koorland and the High Lords against an idealist approach. While we still see Thane making practical decisions, he still goes with the highly idealistic approach of a third attack. I’ve read quite a bit of discussion online surrounding the novel, and I definitely think that it would have been a much better novel, had Thane gone the route of using Exterminatus to some degree. Either full on Planet destroying, or the Life-Eater virus. Something like that would have really set the course the Imperium does take to the 41st millennium in stone, the irreplaceable loss of a place like Ullanor, but ultimately a tactical victory that shows how much of the Glorious Past that the Imperium has to sacrifice to survive.
Moving from there, we have thing like “Throwing everything the Imperium has left: 3rd Edition”, Sisters of Silence null powers being 100% different compared to fluff and previous entries in the series, Veritus having his name misspelled the only time it was in the novel, the Phalanx suddenly deciding to be a thing without a single mention of where the hell it has been for the past 10 books (seriously, not even a “it was being repaired” or “it was fighting orks over there” it just shows up like it was there all along).
And as much as that much of the novel was a big disappointment;
I really enjoyed the Feast of Blades. A few chapters that showed how the Imperial Fists successor chapters are coming to terms with, and honouring, the Death of the Imperial Fists. As well as the first decision to reform the Imperial Fists with the veterans of the successor chapters. I think this was accepted much too quickly and there was definitely a lot of opportunity for some Space Marine politics to get everyone on the same page. Alongside the unveiling of the new Imperial Fists on Terra, the majority of the politics on Terra (particularly a certain confession), the Space Marines “drop ship” landing on Ullanor, and a lot of the action immediately around there was great.
All in all, I enjoyed the novel, but there were just so many mistakes and lost opportunities. As book 11 in the series and the finale for the major story arc, this should have been one of the strongest books in the series, not one of the weakest.
!
October 20, 2019
This is it, the final battle. The first two thirds of this criminally small installment are quite good. Thane brings back the Imperial Fists and a new plan is devised. There is more high lord power play bits which are good and even the first part of the final battle is quite good, with the imperium pretty much invading Ullanor like the orks did to them.
Then we get into the real battle which feels very rushed and very much like how every other battle went on Ullanor. I would have liked to see some different plan of attack, virus bomb maybe. Then the final battle with the Beast is just dumb, they bring an ork psychic with them to blow up and only choose to use it after almost all of the imperial fists are killed. Ultimately its the ending which lets this down, a shame because this should really have felt like it meant something.
Then we get into the real battle which feels very rushed and very much like how every other battle went on Ullanor. I would have liked to see some different plan of attack, virus bomb maybe. Then the final battle with the Beast is just dumb, they bring an ork psychic with them to blow up and only choose to use it after almost all of the imperial fists are killed. Ultimately its the ending which lets this down, a shame because this should really have felt like it meant something.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2018
I feel like this just rehashed the last few books without much creativity
October 21, 2016
auribus teneo lupum
That Roman proverb epitomize the penultimate installment in The Beast Arises series. The stakes couldn't be higher. Book 11/episode 11 in the TBA series written by one of the best BL authors Rob Sanders has almost everything – drama, action, epic planning, stratagems and even adventure. As with everything that prepares us for the Great final, this book provides us with answers to some questions, shows us the true Everest of human spirit and what it could achieve if everyone, and I mean every Imperial force are working together to achieve one shared goal.
And this goal is total and utter destruction of orcs, who was beating, razing and annihilating everything in their path in the previous 10 books. And Rob, being a talent he is – has totally achieved his writing goal. But, with some issues …
Plot. First of all plot starts exactly where the previous installment has left off. As with previous novels, which is not a surprise, after 10 novels before that episode - the Imperium’s attempts to defeat the ork menace seem doomed to failure; it is only a matter of time before the greenskins triumph, and mankind is wiped from the face of the galaxy.
But as synopsis tells us - yet there is some cause for hope – the psychic weakness of the orks has been discovered, and a few Sisters of Silence yet survive.
So now Lord Commander, supported by the full military might and technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines (new reborn IF chapter– and yeah, fans who said Fists Exemplar will be a new IF Chapter were totally right) head to the orks’ home world one final time. This time there will be no retreat, no surrender.
And where were none - almost 2/3 of the 11th episode is a non-stop action. Cedere nescio (I know not how to yield) is a true epitome of the Imperium of Mankind. With all it’s glory and all it’s horror.
Shadow of Ullanor is a catalog of everything W40K is famous for: void engagements, orbital dominance achievement stratagems, orbital strikes, boarding actions, drop assaults, armored fist, Titans action, mass infantry attack, artillery bombardments, deathwatch operations, psychic warfare, siege breakers, logistics etc.
Characters. All the characters from the novels from first to ten had a moment to shine here. The ones that lived till episode 11 of course. Not to spoil the story by the names of the ones that lived – let’s say it’s pretty big dramatis personae list. And Drakan Vangorich of course.
His action at Imperial Palace at the first part of the book is one of the best scenes from all the TBA to date. As always it was achieved with due diligence and totality – Grand master of Assassins is famous for ? He and his actions became the true vox populi of Imperium of Mankind. I simply can’t wait for his plans for the final episode. Knowing that it is written by Guy Haley I can only count the days.
Issues.But now about why this novel will never get 5 stars. It is done almost everything right – and that’s a high praise for the penultimate episode, cause it’s always eventful and interesting to read/listen/watch.
Everything, except one point – grim dark tonality. Novel never had a feeling of a catastrophe, it’s too bright and hopeful for it’s own good. Like another Roman proverb brutum fulmen - novel is too cheerful, showing orcs almost as a harmless or empty threat. Consider previous 10 books and danger the Beast and his horde represented and it’s like total change of perspective out of a blue.
Add to that an absolutely flat ending– ‘third time lucky’ and total expectedness of Imperial superweapon, all that leaves reader in total disappointment. In general it’s a total felix culpa for the Imperium forces. They didn’t even tried that hard, comparing to the previous installment.
And again - another con is adventures of Captain Zerberyn (lets call him - mister who took the pages with subpar subplot to make additional pages in really 'small' novels. I totally does not see anything even little related to the necessity of that character or his adventures with Iron Warriors. TBA has only one book left – and I can’t see how it will deal with his story, especially cause we have a lot to happen in Solar system in book 12th.
And the last con is an inconsistency of resources. Guess what – Black Library editors remembered that IF had a big nasty Phalanx! Being totally forgotten for 10 books, like the 'devil in the bush' it arrive for the penultimate episode. Just because!
Without any explanation - where it was for the duration of the previous episodes!
That totally shows that TBA storyline being written by different authors, but most of all that it was edited peacemeal for the last half a year of rewrites.
Resolution All in all for a good story, easy to comprehend Sanders writing style episode 11 get’s a 4 (with a big minus) out of 5 stars from me.
Not the best achievement of Rob Sanders, but totally worth a read.
That Roman proverb epitomize the penultimate installment in The Beast Arises series. The stakes couldn't be higher. Book 11/episode 11 in the TBA series written by one of the best BL authors Rob Sanders has almost everything – drama, action, epic planning, stratagems and even adventure. As with everything that prepares us for the Great final, this book provides us with answers to some questions, shows us the true Everest of human spirit and what it could achieve if everyone, and I mean every Imperial force are working together to achieve one shared goal.
And this goal is total and utter destruction of orcs, who was beating, razing and annihilating everything in their path in the previous 10 books. And Rob, being a talent he is – has totally achieved his writing goal. But, with some issues …
Plot. First of all plot starts exactly where the previous installment has left off. As with previous novels, which is not a surprise, after 10 novels before that episode - the Imperium’s attempts to defeat the ork menace seem doomed to failure; it is only a matter of time before the greenskins triumph, and mankind is wiped from the face of the galaxy.
But as synopsis tells us - yet there is some cause for hope – the psychic weakness of the orks has been discovered, and a few Sisters of Silence yet survive.
So now Lord Commander, supported by the full military might and technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines (new reborn IF chapter– and yeah, fans who said Fists Exemplar will be a new IF Chapter were totally right) head to the orks’ home world one final time. This time there will be no retreat, no surrender.
And where were none - almost 2/3 of the 11th episode is a non-stop action. Cedere nescio (I know not how to yield) is a true epitome of the Imperium of Mankind. With all it’s glory and all it’s horror.
Shadow of Ullanor is a catalog of everything W40K is famous for: void engagements, orbital dominance achievement stratagems, orbital strikes, boarding actions, drop assaults, armored fist, Titans action, mass infantry attack, artillery bombardments, deathwatch operations, psychic warfare, siege breakers, logistics etc.
Characters. All the characters from the novels from first to ten had a moment to shine here. The ones that lived till episode 11 of course. Not to spoil the story by the names of the ones that lived – let’s say it’s pretty big dramatis personae list. And Drakan Vangorich of course.
His action at Imperial Palace at the first part of the book is one of the best scenes from all the TBA to date. As always it was achieved with due diligence and totality – Grand master of Assassins is famous for ? He and his actions became the true vox populi of Imperium of Mankind. I simply can’t wait for his plans for the final episode. Knowing that it is written by Guy Haley I can only count the days.
Issues.But now about why this novel will never get 5 stars. It is done almost everything right – and that’s a high praise for the penultimate episode, cause it’s always eventful and interesting to read/listen/watch.
Everything, except one point – grim dark tonality. Novel never had a feeling of a catastrophe, it’s too bright and hopeful for it’s own good. Like another Roman proverb brutum fulmen - novel is too cheerful, showing orcs almost as a harmless or empty threat. Consider previous 10 books and danger the Beast and his horde represented and it’s like total change of perspective out of a blue.
Add to that an absolutely flat ending– ‘third time lucky’ and total expectedness of Imperial superweapon, all that leaves reader in total disappointment. In general it’s a total felix culpa for the Imperium forces. They didn’t even tried that hard, comparing to the previous installment.
And again - another con is adventures of Captain Zerberyn (lets call him - mister who took the pages with subpar subplot to make additional pages in really 'small' novels. I totally does not see anything even little related to the necessity of that character or his adventures with Iron Warriors. TBA has only one book left – and I can’t see how it will deal with his story, especially cause we have a lot to happen in Solar system in book 12th.
And the last con is an inconsistency of resources. Guess what – Black Library editors remembered that IF had a big nasty Phalanx! Being totally forgotten for 10 books, like the 'devil in the bush' it arrive for the penultimate episode. Just because!
Without any explanation - where it was for the duration of the previous episodes!
That totally shows that TBA storyline being written by different authors, but most of all that it was edited peacemeal for the last half a year of rewrites.
Resolution All in all for a good story, easy to comprehend Sanders writing style episode 11 get’s a 4 (with a big minus) out of 5 stars from me.
Not the best achievement of Rob Sanders, but totally worth a read.
June 19, 2017
You can read the full review over at my blog:
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Ever since the destructive events of Ardamantua, it has not been an easy time for the Imperium. The loss of the Imperial Fists as a Chapter. The loss of hundreds of worlds to the Ork threat. The loss of sanity and belief. The inaction and impotence of the High Lords. One defeat after another until warriors of sagas stepped once more into the breach, awakening legends and battling greater legends still. The Beast Arises has been very enjoyable to read, given the fact that I finished most of the books in the series within a day of starting them. That changed with this next book however.
Rob Sanders, who gave us the fairly-decent Predator, Prey earlier in the series, seems to have lost his unique touch with the eleventh and penultimate novel, Shadows of Ullanor. Picking up some time after the tragic events of The Last Son of Dorn, he tells a story of how the Imperium bounces back and takes the fight to the Orks again. But it is just not the same as the previous novels. The narrative is repetitive and the characters fail to elicit any positive emotion. There are wild inconsistencies in the various plots and sub-plots. To be honest, after the incredible high of the previous novels, this one is a deep, deep low.
Note: Some major spoilers from the previous novels and this novel are mentioned here.
I will not mince words here. I’m a fan of Rob Sanders’ work. As I have said before, Legion of the Damned is one of my all-time favourites and he’s done some pretty good short stories and the like as well, from what I’ve read myself. With Shadow of Ullanor I see not a novel that can live up to the promise of those preceding it or setting an example for the one succeeding it. I see a novel that is too busy telling a story for the sake of it rather than giving the reader a true enjoyable experience.
To begin with, following the death of Koorland at the hand of the Beast in The Last Son of Dorn, Chapter Master Thane of the Fists Exemplar calls a conclave on the Imperial Fists’ homeworld of Inwit. Koorland was the last surviving warrior of that First Founding Legion and with his death, so too did the Chapter die. And the Chapter successors come together to hold their traditional Feast of Blades, a bloody contest of ritual combat that honors their shared legacy and to choose a champion from among their numbers to hold the Sword of Sebastus, once thought to have been used by the Primarch Rogal Dorn himself. Rob Sanders used this contest as an early framing device for his main character in Legion of the Damned as well, and it was a nice throwback to that.
However, what resulted from this contest did not sit well with me. It is during this contest, the final round even, that Thane hits upon the idea of resurrecting the Imperial Fists from “donated” warriors of the successors, all of them. I had been waiting all series for something like this, and was initially excited by what Rob was setting up. But once it all started to play out I was increasingly disappointed. The execution just completely failed for me. To add to that, we don’t even spend any significant time on this. Back when the High Lords decreed that the successors from amongst the Last Wall chapters provide one warrior each to stand as fillers for the select Imperial Fists warriors who had stood as guardians of the Imperial Palace, it was such a big moment and we went back to it so much and got to see all the different defenders. But here, it was just incredibly boring and hasty and just not exciting at all. There are times when providing details is not good for the narrative, and times when they are. This was a case of the former.
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Ever since the destructive events of Ardamantua, it has not been an easy time for the Imperium. The loss of the Imperial Fists as a Chapter. The loss of hundreds of worlds to the Ork threat. The loss of sanity and belief. The inaction and impotence of the High Lords. One defeat after another until warriors of sagas stepped once more into the breach, awakening legends and battling greater legends still. The Beast Arises has been very enjoyable to read, given the fact that I finished most of the books in the series within a day of starting them. That changed with this next book however.
Rob Sanders, who gave us the fairly-decent Predator, Prey earlier in the series, seems to have lost his unique touch with the eleventh and penultimate novel, Shadows of Ullanor. Picking up some time after the tragic events of The Last Son of Dorn, he tells a story of how the Imperium bounces back and takes the fight to the Orks again. But it is just not the same as the previous novels. The narrative is repetitive and the characters fail to elicit any positive emotion. There are wild inconsistencies in the various plots and sub-plots. To be honest, after the incredible high of the previous novels, this one is a deep, deep low.
Note: Some major spoilers from the previous novels and this novel are mentioned here.
I will not mince words here. I’m a fan of Rob Sanders’ work. As I have said before, Legion of the Damned is one of my all-time favourites and he’s done some pretty good short stories and the like as well, from what I’ve read myself. With Shadow of Ullanor I see not a novel that can live up to the promise of those preceding it or setting an example for the one succeeding it. I see a novel that is too busy telling a story for the sake of it rather than giving the reader a true enjoyable experience.
To begin with, following the death of Koorland at the hand of the Beast in The Last Son of Dorn, Chapter Master Thane of the Fists Exemplar calls a conclave on the Imperial Fists’ homeworld of Inwit. Koorland was the last surviving warrior of that First Founding Legion and with his death, so too did the Chapter die. And the Chapter successors come together to hold their traditional Feast of Blades, a bloody contest of ritual combat that honors their shared legacy and to choose a champion from among their numbers to hold the Sword of Sebastus, once thought to have been used by the Primarch Rogal Dorn himself. Rob Sanders used this contest as an early framing device for his main character in Legion of the Damned as well, and it was a nice throwback to that.
However, what resulted from this contest did not sit well with me. It is during this contest, the final round even, that Thane hits upon the idea of resurrecting the Imperial Fists from “donated” warriors of the successors, all of them. I had been waiting all series for something like this, and was initially excited by what Rob was setting up. But once it all started to play out I was increasingly disappointed. The execution just completely failed for me. To add to that, we don’t even spend any significant time on this. Back when the High Lords decreed that the successors from amongst the Last Wall chapters provide one warrior each to stand as fillers for the select Imperial Fists warriors who had stood as guardians of the Imperial Palace, it was such a big moment and we went back to it so much and got to see all the different defenders. But here, it was just incredibly boring and hasty and just not exciting at all. There are times when providing details is not good for the narrative, and times when they are. This was a case of the former.
September 5, 2021
As we reach the end of the series, the story is getting a little circular. They could have finished it 2-3 books earlier, but no doubt this follows the original plan of the authors... unfortunately the books are now repeating like Wheel of Time, and the characters are trying the same thing again, with different leaders.
In the Shadow of Ullanor the Imperium (led by the newly reformed Imperial Fists), once again take the the fight to 'The Beast' on his home planet... will they succeed this time?
Unfortunately, it's more of the same and it difficult to believe that this attack will succeed when the previous attempts have failed. The Imperial Fists are relying on Ork Psykers that they have limited control over due to the presence of the Sisters of Silence, but the ending feels a lot like ... 'it's magic..!' rather than an ending which was reached sensibly.
This book is fine on it's own, but a reader would rarely pick up book 11 in a series, so it's only 2/5 for me.
In the Shadow of Ullanor the Imperium (led by the newly reformed Imperial Fists), once again take the the fight to 'The Beast' on his home planet... will they succeed this time?
Unfortunately, it's more of the same and it difficult to believe that this attack will succeed when the previous attempts have failed. The Imperial Fists are relying on Ork Psykers that they have limited control over due to the presence of the Sisters of Silence, but the ending feels a lot like ... 'it's magic..!' rather than an ending which was reached sensibly.
This book is fine on it's own, but a reader would rarely pick up book 11 in a series, so it's only 2/5 for me.
December 28, 2024
Here we go, the penultimate book in the Beast Arises series and another incrementally more co-ordinated Imperial attempt to literally and metaphorically decapitate the enemy leadership.
After the previous Great Imperial Strategy of painting their armour black didn't work out as planned, this time the Space Marines land on a new plan and paint their armour yellow instead - perhaps the most fan-satisfying moment in a series that has routinely prioritised Easter Eggs over plot cohesion. Ultimately though unless the final book has some major insights to drop there's not enough substance here to rival some of the better known 40k series.
After the previous Great Imperial Strategy of painting their armour black didn't work out as planned, this time the Space Marines land on a new plan and paint their armour yellow instead - perhaps the most fan-satisfying moment in a series that has routinely prioritised Easter Eggs over plot cohesion. Ultimately though unless the final book has some major insights to drop there's not enough substance here to rival some of the better known 40k series.
June 13, 2017
The Beast Arises series begins drawing to a close with an unfortunately uninspiring final battle which somehow feels less epic and momentous than the previous assaults on the same world, written about in earlier books, which failed. I may have missed a trick, but it also feels like the trick used to ensure victory was previously done, with distinctly different results. All told, it feels like the series - which soared to some great heights of horror - is stuttering as it closes on the finish line.
November 12, 2020
It is basically the same story again, only this time the attack somehow works, even if the exact same strategy failed two times before. Third time's the charm, right?
Only thing new is the reformation of the Imperial Fists, but we knew that would eventually happen already.
The end is lackluster at best, the story is inconsistent with the previous ones, important characters are reduced to footnotes or just not present any more.
Honestly? The book is redundant and feels like the story is falling flat on it's face after such a huge buildup. Disappointing.
Only thing new is the reformation of the Imperial Fists, but we knew that would eventually happen already.
The end is lackluster at best, the story is inconsistent with the previous ones, important characters are reduced to footnotes or just not present any more.
Honestly? The book is redundant and feels like the story is falling flat on it's face after such a huge buildup. Disappointing.
December 25, 2017
Rob starts off by rehashing previous story points. While he isn't the first to do it in the series now that we're getting closer to the end it's making things feel less and less utilized. These books are on the shorter side as it is and this isn't helping. Tie this with the fact that the culminating battle isn't much different than the last few"last ditch" attacks and you begin to feel jaded.
June 11, 2018
Blech. This book is basically The Last Son of Dorn all over again. I am beyond tired of in depth descriptions of disparate forces rallying, followed up by the numerous St. Crispin’s speeches ending with another damn battle in the stupid throne room. This is the third damn time! Fuh. Ready to finish this series.
October 22, 2020
Head popping.
The best part of this series is possibly the 1D4Chan summaries: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Beast
The best part of this series is possibly the 1D4Chan summaries: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Beast
May 17, 2021
Oh good we’re back to Ullanor AGAIN where Imperial Fist man dies and then there’s loads of orks so good job everyone. Back on Terra the spyman is getting really uppity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2020
This book details the final Imperial invasion of Ullanor, though not quite the end of the series. The narrative is punchy and Rob Sanders makes the fightling truly apocalyptic in scale.
He conentrates on a reforged Imperial Fists Chapter as they lead a third and final invasion on the Ork homeoword of Ullanor. The writing is quite good and everything is on a suiitaably WH40K sclae. Multiple ships the size of Planet Killer Asteroids crash into the planet and only do as much damage as the narrative requires. Anyone expect Nuclear winters or total annihilation on a continental scale is not teading the right form of science fiction here. The death toll is astronomical Sanders, like all Black Library authors, will happily slaughter millions with a few taps of the keyboard but it is pure "Bolter porn" carnage.
Physics in Black Library novels is very much a lifestyle choice. So some 700 giant Space Marine warriors in heavy Power Armour, Terminator Armour and Centurion suts who are between 7 and 9 feet tall and weighing the best part of a tonne or significantly more, can enter a single room that, we are specifically told, is filled with "hundreds of thousands" of Ork warriors each of which is of significantly greater build. Clearly we are dealing with TARDIS technology here or a room the size of a city. This is all to be handwaved as being the essence of WH40K. As I said in 40K physics is a lfiestyle choice.
The first half deals with the backstabbing politics of the Imperium and this is atguably has been wihere the series is at it's strongest. I particularly ejoy this part of the story and after a few books where it has been sidelined for pure Bolter porn this is a welcome return.
Enjoy it for the unrstrained carnage and the nice writing style. Just don't think about it too hard.
He conentrates on a reforged Imperial Fists Chapter as they lead a third and final invasion on the Ork homeoword of Ullanor. The writing is quite good and everything is on a suiitaably WH40K sclae. Multiple ships the size of Planet Killer Asteroids crash into the planet and only do as much damage as the narrative requires. Anyone expect Nuclear winters or total annihilation on a continental scale is not teading the right form of science fiction here. The death toll is astronomical Sanders, like all Black Library authors, will happily slaughter millions with a few taps of the keyboard but it is pure "Bolter porn" carnage.
Physics in Black Library novels is very much a lifestyle choice. So some 700 giant Space Marine warriors in heavy Power Armour, Terminator Armour and Centurion suts who are between 7 and 9 feet tall and weighing the best part of a tonne or significantly more, can enter a single room that, we are specifically told, is filled with "hundreds of thousands" of Ork warriors each of which is of significantly greater build. Clearly we are dealing with TARDIS technology here or a room the size of a city. This is all to be handwaved as being the essence of WH40K. As I said in 40K physics is a lfiestyle choice.
The first half deals with the backstabbing politics of the Imperium and this is atguably has been wihere the series is at it's strongest. I particularly ejoy this part of the story and after a few books where it has been sidelined for pure Bolter porn this is a welcome return.
Enjoy it for the unrstrained carnage and the nice writing style. Just don't think about it too hard.
March 6, 2019
PRIMORKS. The space marine legions were led by the Emperor's sons, the primarchs, so shouldn't the greatest Ork of all have children of its own? Then again, are these primorks really The Beast's children? Or is each one A Beast in its own right? These are questions no one dared to imagine needing to ask, and now it's too damn late. Lord Commander Koorland is dead and the Imperial Fists are no more.
This is the 11th and penultimate book in the year-long event known as The Beast Arises. It opens a little bit like Predator, Prey did, a reminder that the master Rob Sanders is back at work. Vangorich, the grand master of assassins, is here. He's always been here. All of his string-pulling has led to this, and we're going to get everything we deserve.
The space marines must grieve the loss of their leader. But space marines don't have funerals, instead they have sword fights! And after the sword fights are over, the survivors agree the best strategy is to reconstitute the Imperial Fists with Maximus Thane as the chapter master! When the new Imperial Fists are ready, you know damn well what comes next: ROUND 3, FIGHT!
Don't forget Zerberyn and his Fists Exemplar, who are still derping around with the Iron Warriors. Zerberyn seems *really* confused that the Inquisition isn't thrilled with this set of developments.
We're so close to the end! This series has has retconned, introduced, and revealed so much Warhammer 40k lore that it's hard to keep track. Which of the plot threads will be followed to their conclusion, and which will be dropped and forever ignored? Will *any* of the characters survive?? There's really only one way to find out!
This is the 11th and penultimate book in the year-long event known as The Beast Arises. It opens a little bit like Predator, Prey did, a reminder that the master Rob Sanders is back at work. Vangorich, the grand master of assassins, is here. He's always been here. All of his string-pulling has led to this, and we're going to get everything we deserve.
The space marines must grieve the loss of their leader. But space marines don't have funerals, instead they have sword fights! And after the sword fights are over, the survivors agree the best strategy is to reconstitute the Imperial Fists with Maximus Thane as the chapter master! When the new Imperial Fists are ready, you know damn well what comes next: ROUND 3, FIGHT!
Don't forget Zerberyn and his Fists Exemplar, who are still derping around with the Iron Warriors. Zerberyn seems *really* confused that the Inquisition isn't thrilled with this set of developments.
We're so close to the end! This series has has retconned, introduced, and revealed so much Warhammer 40k lore that it's hard to keep track. Which of the plot threads will be followed to their conclusion, and which will be dropped and forever ignored? Will *any* of the characters survive?? There's really only one way to find out!
May 12, 2017
Finally finished The Beast Arises series. It's been a bit of a slog and the ending was suitably grim as you would expect for 40K.
I'm not sure I'd read a similar series again as it's seemed more of a task than a fun thing to do.
I'm not sure I'd read a similar series again as it's seemed more of a task than a fun thing to do.
December 6, 2017
Really interesting final attack on Ullanor.
January 8, 2020
A very disappointing ending to main story arc of the series. They again attack Ulllanor, but this time succeed. This book has good moments, but the ending feels rushed and short.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2021
Rushed but fun.
July 22, 2022
This is well-written, but it feels somewhat… anticlimactic. Which is even worse when it’s not even the final book in the series. I guess I’ll have to see how the last one leaves me feeling.
November 8, 2016
Shadow of Ullanor is the eleventh, and penultimate, book in The Beast Arises series, and Rob Sanders’ second contribution after the excellent Predator, Prey. After the disastrous end to The Last Son of Dorn, the Imperium stands on the edge of the abyss. Gathering together on Inwit for a solemn Festival of Blades, the Imperial Fists successor chapters form a plan which will honour their First Founding chapter and see one last, all-in attempt to end the greenskin menace once and for all. Meanwhile First Captain Zerberyn begins to see the implications of his alliance with the Iron Warriors.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
November 1, 2016
Rob Sanders delivers another excellent instalment in this series. Well written and very enjoyable. My only gripe is that the end feels a little rushed. Looking forward to the final chapter.
July 6, 2022
Wow! Tons of action. On to the final book…
April 7, 2017
"Here we arrive at the penultimate installment in the Beast Arises series. Shadow of Ullanor gives us the welcome return of Rob Sanders to the series, last seen with Book 2 – Predator, Prey.
One note before I start: certain elements of this review (and the review for The Beheading, when I get it up and written), may seem a bit spoiler-y. At this point, what transpired is pretty much common knowledge. I’ll try to keep the focus on the elements of the book, of course. Here we go.
The second assault on Ullanor has failed. Worse yet, it has claimed another irreplaceable icon as a victim – Lord Commander Koorland, wall-name Slaughter, has been killed. The last surviving Imperial Fist; the Last Son of Dorn, is no more.
It turns out that among this new breed of greenskins, with their increased intellect and mastery of strategic maneuvering, there was a sort of “mirror-hierarchy” to that of the Imperium – with the Beast as the Emperor, and lesser monstrosities as the primarchs – or “prime-orks”, which is the word I mentioned that had ticked me off a bit in the last entry. I mean, anyone who has been paying attention over the last few books has probably noted the different heraldry and unit types of the orks, so, it does make sense.
Koorland’s plan to combine the psychic null power of the Sisters of Silence combined with the pent up mental energies of the weirdboyz worked to a degree, but in the end, an obstruction got in the way, and the Beast lived to fight another day.
The Imperium, defeated yet again, had to return home and lick their wounds. Also, they had to plan who would be next to lead; who could finish the job when all their forces had been diminished, against a threat that had claimed not only the Lord Commander, but also a Primarch?
Shadow of Ullanor is broken down into four primary portions – first is a rather long, but well written Feast of Blades which serves as the beaten Astartes grieving process. Secondly, we have Zerberyn, still fraternizing with the Iron Warriors, attempting to relay a message back home. These two take up the first third of the book. Predicated upon an epiphany Thane has at the culmination of the Feast, we have a theme about the rebuilding of the Imperial Fists. This is no surprise. Back with the release of Predator, Prey, we had one savvy forum poster that recognized Maximus Thane as one of the names scrimshawed along with other great Fists in Ian Watson’s classic yarn Space Marine. And finally, we have the last assault on Ullanor.
There is a reason why I mention the four distinct portions. That is, although they each have varying degrees of quality (no, don’t worry, the book is well-written throughout), they do feel tacked-on. I really got the notion that Sanders wrote this installment “backwards”. To me, in seems he wrote about cobbling the Fists back together from Successor chapters, the final assault, and then had to figure how to lead up to it.
So, the Feast of Blades is fine and all, but it’s a bit of excess. The fight choreography is balletic brutality. However, Sanders already gave us a marvelous Feast in Legion of the Damned, and that one came across as more emotionally driven, since Kersh (a much better protagonist than Thane), was mired in a Catch-22 at the time.
The second portion, with Zerberyn entering an outpost to try and send a message back to Terra, was a bit harder to swallow. Again, the scene was well-written, but it’s a bit odd that Zerberyn doesn’t connect the dots when Imperial forces open fire from him. It’s not too much of a stretch to figure that mayhaps a brutal regime that frowns heavily on fraternizing with traitor legions might have caught whiff that he has been doing just that.
The best part of this segment is the Inquisitor that Zerberyn runs into and his team of psykers. This scene plays out as a sort of “X-Men 40K” with the Inquisitor playing a twisted Charles Xavier.
The part of Shadow of Ullanor that works best for me is the “rebuilding” of the Fists. Sanders really solidifies Thane, a character which he introduced, as a solid leader. The show of force, where the newly reformed legion is paraded in front of the bickering, impotent, conniving High Lords is pretty striking.
Also rousing is the (third) assault on Ullanor. Yes, along with a newly formed and decked out Imperial Fists legion (vehicles and all), plus a Phalanx that magically appears, Thane managers to strongarm out of the High Lords yet another considerably sized planetary assault force. Well, I won’t bicker about all that now. I am getting ready for a post-series review rant that will address all the inconsistencies and lapses from logic, strategy, and common sense.
Where we veer into anti-climactic territory is with the, well ‘climactic’ battle. If you have seen any other reviews floating around that cite its brevity as an issue, I can assure you that they are correct. Now, it is a fine enough fight; but the issue is, it in no way matches the buildup that has been accumulating for the past ten books. I mean, this is supposed to be the Great Beast; the one that has out-strategized the Imperium for months, developed the technology to teleport ork attack moons throughout the galaxy, the Beast who spoke Gothic and sent envoys to the Palace of Terra to demand humanity’s surrender."
You can read my full review here:
https://voxcastsfromthevoid.wordpress...
One note before I start: certain elements of this review (and the review for The Beheading, when I get it up and written), may seem a bit spoiler-y. At this point, what transpired is pretty much common knowledge. I’ll try to keep the focus on the elements of the book, of course. Here we go.
The second assault on Ullanor has failed. Worse yet, it has claimed another irreplaceable icon as a victim – Lord Commander Koorland, wall-name Slaughter, has been killed. The last surviving Imperial Fist; the Last Son of Dorn, is no more.
It turns out that among this new breed of greenskins, with their increased intellect and mastery of strategic maneuvering, there was a sort of “mirror-hierarchy” to that of the Imperium – with the Beast as the Emperor, and lesser monstrosities as the primarchs – or “prime-orks”, which is the word I mentioned that had ticked me off a bit in the last entry. I mean, anyone who has been paying attention over the last few books has probably noted the different heraldry and unit types of the orks, so, it does make sense.
Koorland’s plan to combine the psychic null power of the Sisters of Silence combined with the pent up mental energies of the weirdboyz worked to a degree, but in the end, an obstruction got in the way, and the Beast lived to fight another day.
The Imperium, defeated yet again, had to return home and lick their wounds. Also, they had to plan who would be next to lead; who could finish the job when all their forces had been diminished, against a threat that had claimed not only the Lord Commander, but also a Primarch?
Shadow of Ullanor is broken down into four primary portions – first is a rather long, but well written Feast of Blades which serves as the beaten Astartes grieving process. Secondly, we have Zerberyn, still fraternizing with the Iron Warriors, attempting to relay a message back home. These two take up the first third of the book. Predicated upon an epiphany Thane has at the culmination of the Feast, we have a theme about the rebuilding of the Imperial Fists. This is no surprise. Back with the release of Predator, Prey, we had one savvy forum poster that recognized Maximus Thane as one of the names scrimshawed along with other great Fists in Ian Watson’s classic yarn Space Marine. And finally, we have the last assault on Ullanor.
There is a reason why I mention the four distinct portions. That is, although they each have varying degrees of quality (no, don’t worry, the book is well-written throughout), they do feel tacked-on. I really got the notion that Sanders wrote this installment “backwards”. To me, in seems he wrote about cobbling the Fists back together from Successor chapters, the final assault, and then had to figure how to lead up to it.
So, the Feast of Blades is fine and all, but it’s a bit of excess. The fight choreography is balletic brutality. However, Sanders already gave us a marvelous Feast in Legion of the Damned, and that one came across as more emotionally driven, since Kersh (a much better protagonist than Thane), was mired in a Catch-22 at the time.
The second portion, with Zerberyn entering an outpost to try and send a message back to Terra, was a bit harder to swallow. Again, the scene was well-written, but it’s a bit odd that Zerberyn doesn’t connect the dots when Imperial forces open fire from him. It’s not too much of a stretch to figure that mayhaps a brutal regime that frowns heavily on fraternizing with traitor legions might have caught whiff that he has been doing just that.
The best part of this segment is the Inquisitor that Zerberyn runs into and his team of psykers. This scene plays out as a sort of “X-Men 40K” with the Inquisitor playing a twisted Charles Xavier.
The part of Shadow of Ullanor that works best for me is the “rebuilding” of the Fists. Sanders really solidifies Thane, a character which he introduced, as a solid leader. The show of force, where the newly reformed legion is paraded in front of the bickering, impotent, conniving High Lords is pretty striking.
Also rousing is the (third) assault on Ullanor. Yes, along with a newly formed and decked out Imperial Fists legion (vehicles and all), plus a Phalanx that magically appears, Thane managers to strongarm out of the High Lords yet another considerably sized planetary assault force. Well, I won’t bicker about all that now. I am getting ready for a post-series review rant that will address all the inconsistencies and lapses from logic, strategy, and common sense.
Where we veer into anti-climactic territory is with the, well ‘climactic’ battle. If you have seen any other reviews floating around that cite its brevity as an issue, I can assure you that they are correct. Now, it is a fine enough fight; but the issue is, it in no way matches the buildup that has been accumulating for the past ten books. I mean, this is supposed to be the Great Beast; the one that has out-strategized the Imperium for months, developed the technology to teleport ork attack moons throughout the galaxy, the Beast who spoke Gothic and sent envoys to the Palace of Terra to demand humanity’s surrender."
You can read my full review here:
https://voxcastsfromthevoid.wordpress...
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