Bookworm Speaks!- Warriors of Ultramar by Graham McNeill

Bookworm Speaks!

Warhammer 40k 

Courage and Honor 

by Graham McNeill

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Acquired: Barnes and Noble Booksellers

Series: Ultramarines (Book 2)

Paperback: 480 Pages

Publisher: Games Workshop Reprint

Language: English

Subject: Fiction

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****WARNING!!! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!***

The Story: Book two in Black Library's iconic Ultramarines series returns

In the cold darkness of space, the voracious alien Tyranids travel from world to world, consuming all in a futile attempt to slake their hunger for bio-matter. Lying directly in their path is the industrial planet Tarsis Ultra, where Captain Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines of Fourth Company stand shoulder to shoulder with their battle-brothers from the Mortifactors Chapter. As war rages and the situation looks bleak, Uriel must accept the barbaric traditions of his allies and act against the ancient tactics laid down in the holy Codex Astartes if there is to be any chance of destroying the alien menace.

This edition also features the prequel short story Leviathan in which Captain Uriel Ventris and his company are charged with destroying a space hulk.

The Review: There is a phenomenon in the entertainment industry that usually occurs in the second part of a larger series. In books, it is called the second book syndrome but the same thing can be applied to films and graphic novels as well. Bookworm will refer to said phenomenon as midquel syndrome. 

Basically, midquel syndrome refers to the opinion that the second volume in a series such as the book Chamber of Secrets or the film Iron Man 2, are the weakest segments in the series, due to fact that they don’t have much direction. They aren’t bad stories by any means. Chamber of Secrets is one of Bookworm’s favorites. He will admit though, its very self-contained. While the first volume is busy introducing this new world to us, the second’s job is mostly to introduce new elements that will come into play later. Does the second volume in the Ultramarines Series: Warriors of Ultramar fall prey to midquel syndrome? Let’s find out!

Like many Warhammer books, there are several prologues made in order to setup the proper tone of death and mayhem. The first is a simple hidden enemy story but the next one is pretty interesting. It shows a band of street thugs in the slums of Erebus, where the novel takes place. They are robbing a bar and they are about as despicable as they come. Some readers may just dismiss these characters out of hand but they do have a role to play in the story and it is actually pretty important. 

The story proper though, starts out promising enough with one of Bookworm’s favorite events in 40k literature, interaction between two different chapters of Space Marines. 

The Ultramarines 4th Company has journeyed to the distant world of Posul in order to solicit aid from the Mortifactors, a successor chapter of the Ultramarines. Neither of them had heard from each other in thousands of years. To Ventris’ shock, the Mortifactors have changed quite a bit in the intervening years. The Morifactors’ customs are bizarre to say the least, some say they reek of impure sorceries. The most shocking of all, they no longer follow the Codex Astartes to the letter. The Codex Astartes is the bible of the Space Marines, written by the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman. As such, the Ultramarines view chapter who disregard its tenants as inferior to themselves. To see fellow sons of Guilliman, becoming grim faced, flesh eating, death worshipers is vexing to say the least. 

That is part of what helps the book succeed. Not only are the Mortifactors interesting as characters the way they bounce off the Ultramarines adds drama to the story. Uriel and the other Space Marines are visibly distressed by the actions of their brothers. This makes them relatable to the reader as we have all been a situation that requires us to work with people who make us uncomfortable but we have no choice in the matter. The Space Marines have a very human reaction. 

Speaking of human reactions, the book takes us to another favorite scenario: Interaction with mortals. While most Astartes look down on ordinary humans (with good reason) the Ultramarines, by and large, do not. Some of the most memorable passages in the book involve Ultramarine Learchus training the human defense forces. While it is clear that he thinks their skill is lacking compared to Macragge. 

If there are some flaws, the main one is that the story tends to fall apart in the latter half. The first part of the book is extremely memorable but for some reason, when it gets to the action it becomes rather dull. Perhaps the reason for that is the action is fairly standard when it comes to Space Marine stories. A lot of running and shooting and shouting. Honestly, Bookworm has trouble remembering the last third apart from a few details. 

Final Verdict: The answer to the question posed at the beginning of this review is no. This book does not succumb to midquel syndrome. While there are certainly factors which would lend to the ‘yes’ camp. Warriors of Ultramar does a sequel right. It is the second part of the story, Uriel Ventris’ story. 

PS: Bookworm hopes we see the Mortifactors again. 

Four Mortifactors out of Five

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