Teaser

The Indomitus Crusade is underway, and forces loyal to the God-Emperor are reclaiming lost territory. On the world of Gathalamor, heretic forces seek a weapon of untold power to achieve their dark goals. It is a war that may well have no winner left standing . . .

Review

It’s been a long time since I read Guy Haley’s Avenging Son, and for most of that time I didn’t expect to return to the Dawn of Fire series. It felt weirdly upbeat for a grimdark series in a way I couldn’t quite define. I eventually returned, for two reasons., the first, of course, is curiosity. I just had to know what was happening in this modern epic of the grim, dark future. The other was the form. I’m tackling the rest of this series as audiobooks. Black Library have succeeded in making me convert to the audiophile way (on grounds of cost, if nothing else), and I have plenty of listening lined up for the months ahead as a result.

John Banks reads this entire series (and a whole lot of other Black Library releases), and I’m really enjoying his performances. Despite an overwhelmingly large cast, he manages to make each character distinct. A personal highlight of his narration is Chaos leader Tenebrous, who comes across as malevolent and sinister in the extreme without quite tipping over into the territory of the camp. Banks is also a clear enough speaker that I can listen to him at double speed without any issues. As someone who doesn’t get as much listening time as he’d like, the brevity is greatly appreciated.

To the book itself then. Gate of Bones carries on the tradition established by Haley in having a massive cast. Clark gives us a wonderfully eagle’s eye view of the Crusade, hopping from one head to another, crossing battle lines back and forth, in order to show every facet of the battle for Gathalamor. The downside of this is, as I said earlier, that this gets overwhelming. The first half of the novel is so packed with characters that it can get hard to follow at times. The constant back and forth nature of the perspective jumps make it difficult to establish narrative momentum. each section is good, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

Once the action focuses on the battle on the ground, however, it’s a different story altogether. Here the grimy grit of the story shines through. Gathalamor is a fascinating world, with endless tombs existing alongside the living. The presence of the Mordian Imperial Guard makes for a nice change of pace from the usual hard-bitten Cadians (though I do still love the Cadians), while this is the first time I can recall seeing the Imperial Knights on the battlefield. I would be thrilled to see more novels centred on these groups, but that’s for another day.

In amongst all the battling and death, we also have some serious ponderings on the powers of faith. The Imperial creed dictates that there is no greater death than to martyr oneself, and on Gathalmor we see martyrs aplenty. Yet it is also a tomb for those who sought to use faith for their own ends. I am fascinated y the religious schisms even within the non-heretical elements of the Indomitus Crusade, and I hope we see more of this in future books.

Despite a messy start, Gate of Bones delivers on its promise of showing the Indomitus Crusade in full swing, and brings along all the bolter and gunfire action you could ever ask for in a novel.

Audio Stats

• Performed by John Banks
• Dawn of Fire (#2)
• Published by Black Library in 2021
• 12hrs 42mins