Teaser

When the Imperial world of Rilis is gripped by a brutal civil war, the elite soldiers of the Tempestus Scions are sent to eliminate the rebel general. A dangerous mission demands the most dangerous soldiers . . .

Review

My first read of December carried on a long streak of books released in 2025. In fact it’s the ninth in a row, and five of those have been Warhammer 40,000 novels. Not surprising, given how much I enjoy the setting, but that’s still quite a few similar books to be reading in such a short span of time, especially when all but one of those books has centred on the boots-on-the-ground soldiers of the Astra Militarum. this is a long way to the point that this review should be taken with a pinch of alt. The problems I’ll get into in a minute might not be the fault of the book, but rather the result of me being a little fatigued and franchise-weary.

One of the great joys of recent years has been the Astra Militarum range of novels from Black Library. It’s given us the excellent Longshot by Rob Young, the equally brilliant Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward, and a slew of other novels (plus a recent anthology) that have shown us just what it’s like to be a member of the armed forces in the grim dark future. Final Deployment follows on that fine tradition, and highlights a part of the Militarum that hasn’t received much attention in the fiction before. The Tempestus Scions are humans, but have been conditioned and modified to a superhuman extent that puts them well above baseline humanity, but not quite on the level of the Space Marines. For the sake of this novel, that puts them in the perfect territory to work as an elite special ops team.

Like all the best military SF authors, Wilt has a military background. However, in this one instance, this does slightly work against the novel. The soldiers in this book feel like real characters, but there’s something uncanny about seeing modern vernacular in a Warhammer novel. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the word ‘guys’ used as casually as it is here. It’s such a small thing, but jarring. But don’t worry, that is only the tiniest of quibbles.

The Astra Militarum books are tight and compact (only one has a sequel) and that leanness has always worked in their favour. In Final Deployment, I feel like more could have been dine with the civil war. It is one of the most interesting conflicts I’ve seen in recent Warhammer. Yes, Chaos gets involved – because that is what Chaos does – but the spark of the conflict comes from very human and understandable motivations. The rebels might fall into the role of villains, but their grievances are very valid.

This is a slightly odd thing for me to be saying, but I honestly think this would work better if it were not tethered to the rest of the Warhammer canon. It is a really good military SF novel, but the inclusion of the franchise-specific elements feel forced at times.

That being said, this is a good book. It’s yet another solid slice of grimdark military action from the battlefields of the far future. It’s almost a shame that so many characters are killed over the course of the novel, because I would happily have read more about their ordeals. Heroes and villains alike. When the forces of Chaos do make themselves known, Wilt does some very good characterisation work with the Heretic Astartes, for example.

So yes, Final Deployment might not hit as hard as other Warhammer books I’ve been reading recently, but that is largely because the competition has been so stiff. Take this book and read it without any of that personal context, and you’re in for an entertaining read.

Book Stats

• A Standalone Novel
• Published by Black Library
• Published in 2025
• 364 Pages