Bookworm Speaks!- Salamanders: Rebirth by Nick Kyme
Bookworm Speaks!
Warhammer 40k
Salamanders: Rebirth by Nick Kyme
The Story: Five years have passed since war came to Nocturne. Third Company, still feeling its losses, recovers its strength. And though a small party have ventured out in search of a certain errant fire-born, it is the Salamanders of Fifth Company who must wage war. On Helentine, the Black Legion has come in the name of Chaos an only Brother-Captain Drakgaard's warriors stand in the way of their dark glory. Victory for the Imperium hings on the alliance between the Salamanders and the Sisters of the Ebon Chalice, warrior zealots and devout servants of the Ecclesiarchy. But there is more to this Promethean War than conquest, and only as the conflict grinds on are the true motives of the enemy revealed…
The Good: Once again we return the Salamanders Chapter, a personal favorite. This story picks up where the first Salamanders novel series left off and addresses many lingering plot threads and introduces new ones.
One of the great things about the Salamanders Chapter is their humanity. It is an irony, that the space marines who seem among the most fearsome: red eyes, black skin, are among the ones who care the most about the people of the Imperium. One incident in particular is when one of the Dreadnoughts actually speaks and praises an Imperial Guard Commander. Space Marines largely ignore and look down upon the mortals of the Imperial Gaurds and Dreadnoughts in particular, being entombed in a cybernetic sarcophagus and spend most of their time sleeping, are especially aloof. One of the things that makes Warhammer 40k so appealing is in its humanity. In the grim darkness of the far future where there is only war and hellish abominations want to consume humanity in horrifying and terrible ways and yet there is still courage, compassion and honor to be found in humanity. Even amongst those whom normal human weaknesses and emotions have supposedly been purged from their bodies and minds.
These emotions come into play in different way with the character of Ur’zan Draakgaurd, captain of the sixth company. In several stories including this one, it is stated that while a chapter of the Adeptus Astartes are always brothers on the battlefield, but like any group of men, they are still prone to petty competition, squabbles, and power struggles. This reflected in the personal struggles of Draakgaurd, he has served the Salamanders for many years and has no doubt earned many honors to the chapter and saved many lives but at the same time he has never really been the big hero. His stories are not the ones told to the new recruits in order to inspire them and put fire in their hearts. He is little more than a grunt. A good grunt, but not that special of a Space Marine. His drive to win the world of Heletine is motivated by more than duty in a way that feels very real.
For many of the citizens of the Imperium, the Space Marines are little more than a myth, unstoppable Angels of Death. To more informed individuals, the Apeptus Astartes are mistrusted and feared due to their independent ways and traditions separate from Imperial Dogma. This is reflected in the Sororitas as many of the sisters outright fear and are disgusted by their traditions that are decidedly different from the Imperial Creed. The way the Sororitas react and sometimes work against the Salamanders works in very good way that keeps with the character of the Sororitas.
The book also includes illustrations about the main characters in the book, which is very good to have every once in a while to help the reader get a feel of how the characters are supposed to look. It really helped clarify Bookworm’s mind’s eye.
The Flaws: There is a debate floating around the Warhammer club as well as gaming in general in that, in Warhammer 40k, women are not fairly represented and more focused on the all male Space Marines or the male dominated Imperial Guard and the truth is Rebirth further proves this point. As read in the summary, all female army of the Adeptas Sororitas are said to be an important part of the story, but they are rather neglected in the text. Only a handful of chapters are dedicated to their actions and even less when they and the Salamanders fight together. It is quite disappointing and further reinforces the notion that geekdom still remains a boys club, even though it has been proven that women are a major portion of science fiction fandom, if not a larger portion, than men.
While Bookworm can’t say he is huge fan of the Sororitas from what he has read, they do have a fascinating lore and it would be nice to hear more tales of their adventures. The concept of female Space Marines, is one that Bookworm is open to. There are dozens of books about the Adeptus Astartes but there are only three or four about the Adeptas Sororitas, the all female army of the Imperium of Man. Games Workshop really needs to step up and diversify or else it will become increasingly irrelevant.
This also lends to an extension of another flaw of the book and one that is also common in many Warhammer Books, in that is tries to juggle to many story lines at once. The text head hops something fierce, there are times when four perspectives are being seen, sometimes during the same chapter. It can get extremely confusing at some points and raises the question as to why the author did not simply write a separate novel altogether. This may be due to the fact that the author is trying to set up plot lines for future books but the truth is the execution can be sloppy at some points.
Final Verdict: Maybe a little jumbled in a few places, but Rebirth is a fantastic tale that is sure to bring about a new age of the forty first millennium. Action, intrigue, and ancient myth tie together that makes readers itch for the next one.
Four out Five Stars.
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