Bookworm Speaks!- The Plagues of Orath

Bookworm Speaks!

Warhammer 40,000

The Plagues of Orath

by Cavan Scott, Steve Lyons, Graeme Lyon. 

****

Acquired: Barnes & Noble Booksellers

Series: Space Marine Battles 

Paperback: 416 pages

Publisher: Games Workshop (July 19, 2016)

Language: English

****

The Story: The Ultramarines battle the traitorous Death Guard on the plague-ridden world of Orath.

Contains three linked novellas telling the full story of the war for Orath:

Plague Harvest

As the world of Orath withers under the grip of a deadly plague, Ultramarines Librarian Vabion and his Doom Eagles allies fight to uncover the source of the contagion.

Engines of War

The Ultramarines, under Captain Galenus, bring their engines of war to the plague-stricken world of Orath as they fight to save the planet from the clutches of Chaos.

Armour of Faith

Assailed by daemons and with the fate of an entire sector in the balance, Ultramarines Chaplain Sentina faces the ultimate sacrifice if he is to win the war on Orath.

The Review: Three stories in one. Usually, anthologies and compendiums are a bit difficult to review as the stories are of varying quality and/or Bookworm runs out of room to adequately review the whole thing. Thankfully, this is one of the better put-together anthologies and each stories flows well into the next one. Each one reads like the chapter in a larger book. 

Bookworm is a part of many fandoms and one of his favorite parts of them is delving into the lore, soaking up every detail like a sponge. As a result, whenever a book/comic/show delves into a more obscure section of the lore, the short entry in the archive, he gets really excited. In the first story we get just that: We see another chapter of the Adeptus Astartes in action: the Doom Eagles. A successor Chapter of the Ultramarines known for dour demeanor and reverence of death, have been showcased in at least one novel and a short story. 

Captain Galenus has not been mentioned much in other Black Library tomes. His most prominent appearance that Bookworm has encountered is a few appearances in the final book of the Ultramarines saga, The Chapter’s Due, by Graham McNeill. He hasn’t been much, aside from being a Captain, from whom half his company was assigned to a lost space station. After that, Galenus is very shunted to the side. In the first story, he gets his place in the spotlight at long last. We see his personality when it is ‘normal’ and we also get a glimpse at one of the deeper friendships in the Ultramarines even if it is briefly mentioned. Without giving too much away, one of many Bookworm’s favorite things when reading about Adeptus Astartes is when the Dreadnought’s appear. Ancient, mortally wounded Space Marines, entombed in cybernetic war machines. An old friend of Galenus is entombed in such a holy machine and their relationship is actually rather touching with no small amount of pathos.  

Chaos is the archenemy of the Imperium and they come in a wide variety of flavors. From the Beserkers of Khorne or the sorcerers of Tzeentch. Out of all of them though, the ones that evoke the most genuine fear out of Bookworm are the Plaque Marines of Nurgle. Nurgle is the Chaos Lord of Decay and Disease and thusly the Traitor Marines of the Death Guard are monstrous beings, whose flesh is riddled with decay and rotten flesh. 

You can’t shoot a virus or stab a bacteria. You can’t even see them. They can work their way into the nooks and crannies of your defenses and slowly devour you alive from the inside out. Warhammer’s gimmick is how outrageous it all really is but the plaques of Nurgle are only just outrageous. Fear of disease is very real and the sheer grotesqueness of Nurgle’s Champions makes Bookworm’s skin crawl. The writing is extremely visceral and evokes a response of revulsion in Bookworm and evoking a response is the goal of every writer. 

The final story is Bookworm’s favorite. As he has stated on many occasions, his favorite moments in any Space Marine novel is when the fearsome Astartes interact with ordinary Jane and Joe Citizen of the Imperium. We get a lot of these moments when the downed squad encounters of group of Orath’s survivors and reach shelter together. Most Space Marines tend to look down on ordinary humans, Ultramarines are one of the nicer ones but still. Here, the reader can see moments of genuine connection between Chaplain Sentenia and the various mortals and the mortals do not always get in the way. In fact, they actually contribute to the Ultramarine’s victory. There story is a uniquely tragic one as they tend to be in the annals of the Dark Millenium. 

If there is a major flaw in this book, it would be that some readers would pick it up, look at the cover and say: “Oh Boy the Ultramarines… again!” (sarcasm), and yes that is kind of annoying. We’ve seen the Ultramarines over and over again. It would have been a bit better if we had seen a Chapter we had never encountered before or one barely mentioned.

On a final note, there is a strong female character here but the author cheapens her slightly by adding an element of her backstory that is both misogynistic and lazy writing. It’s only in the back story and not focused on but it is disappointing nonetheless. 

Final Verdict: Plagues of Orath Thankfully, the new characters and quality of the world-building, as well the aura of mystery surrounding the whole situation make this one of the more engaging volumes in the Space Marine Battles Series. 

Four Seals of Nurgle out of Five

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