Teaser

Following the war on Bacchus, Lucille von Shard is renowned across the Imperium as a hero. But even a hero can fail, and perhaps the only one who can save her is the propagandist who inadvertently built her legend . . .

Review

Outgunned was one of the sleeper hits of Black Library’s last few years, so I was beyond excited when a sequel was announced. It had a strong foundation to build on, but that also means a tough act to follow. Thanfully, Above and Beyond (sharing its name with one of my favourite SF TV series – always a good omen) lives up to expectations. I dare say its one of the strongest books Black Library have published this year.

Once again, our narrator is propagandist Kile Simlex, currently languishing under demotion for his efforts to reveal the true face of war at the end of Outgunned. Simlex is a great and unique point of view. Someone who still believes in the Imperium of Man, but has grown disillusioned with its methodology. A man who has been an important cog in the machine, and knows first-hand that things are not always as they seem. Yet he has not thrown in his lot with heretics or xenos. He continues to serve, because while he has seen the less savoury aspects of the Imperium, he is also very aware that the monsters humanity faces among the stars are even worse than the general public are allowed to know.

Even among die-hard science fiction fans, tie-in fiction is often denigrated. I’d be very surprised to learn that any novel associated with a major franchise has been shortlisted for ay of the major literary awards. Tie-ins are seen as lesser, because they are not wholly original, or because they exist in part as advertising. However, I have read a lot of science fiction, and nothing comes close to being as good an examination of propaganda as Above and Beyond. Even Heinlein’s Double Star could learn a lesson or two about the masses being lied to by their leaders.

Throughout Above and Beyond, we see the lengths the Imperium will go to in order to preserve control. Not just control over their populace, but over the information they have access to. Yes, the propagandists cut together footage to tell the narrative they want, but there’s more than that. There are staged combats, paid actors, and digital alteration of existing footage. In today’s climate of deepfakes and generative AI, it’s easy to see how such technology can be put to disreputable use. Science fiction has always been used to analyse the possibilities, good and bad, of new ideas. Just because Above and Beyond takes place in an established universe, that doesn’t make its concerns any less valid.

Running alongside the theme of propaganda, we have an examination of what it means to be a hero. Following Bacchus, von Shard is hailed as a hero. A hero the Imperium desperately needs, and one it can’t allow to be brought to harm. So while the propagandists work their dubious magic, von Shard has become a shell of her former self. A self-pitying alcohol abuser who is forbidden to do the one thing she is famous for. there’s something bitterly fitting about the Imperium destroying its heroes in an attempt to keep them safe for further use, and Flowers writes it marvellously.

Of course, Above and Beyond still packs in all the aeronautical action you could ever as for. There are dogfights galore, and a web of intrigue just waiting to be unpicked. With every side pouring their lies into the same news sphere, it’s impossible to tell who’s going to come out on top until the book is at an end, and even then victory is by no means clear-cut.

Above and Beyond is more than a worthy successor to Outgunned, it’s a book that pulls off the impossible and outstrips the achievements of its predecessor. The next time Simlex or von Shard make an appearance, they’ll have an even harder act to follow.

Book Stats

• Lucille Von Shard #2
• Focuses on the Astra Militarum
• Published in 2024 by Black Library
• 375 Pages