Book Review - Know No Fear

I'm kicking off my book reviews with a novel I finished over the weekend. This one has been out for a few months now, but I just got around to reading it.

And it blew me away.

"Know No Fear" by Dan Abnett is another installment in the New York Time's best selling series, The Horus Heresy.

The story begins on the planet Calth, a verdent, booming planet that is slated to become another regional capital in the five hundred worlds of the Ultramar Empire. Hundreds of thousands of Ultramarines, Army auxiliaries, and Mechanicum forces are preparing to deploy against a host of Orks at the order of the Warmaster, Horus Lupercal. As they prepare, the warriors of the XVII Legion, the Word Bearers, are translating in system. The Ultramarines' Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, and his warriors believe that they are going to attack the greenskins together with the Word Bearers.

But it's a trap. The Ultramarines still don't know that Horus has turned against the Emperor, and the Word Bearers are there to end the Ultramarines.

I'm not going to give away any spoilers. That would ruin the book, and do an injustice to such an amazing tale. There is little introduction to the book except a description of how the Ultramarines mark records of combat operations. Then, Dan Abnett throws you into the muster of the Ultramarines, the Army units, the Mechanicum, and the devious plots of the Word Bearers and their Primarch, Lorgar Aurelian. The book is written in the present tense, as in, "Roboute Guilliman picks his nose, and eats the booger he digs from that oriface." (That's not a quote from the book, just so you know.) "Know No Fear" is fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat. You are bodily dragged at a hundred miles an hour from beginning to end with no apology.

The action is intense. Scenes of battle are littered with close calls, close combat, and plenty of daemon fighting. What gets me is the emotions poured into the story. Some authors do poorly expressing the emotional states of their characters, especially in action/sci-fi. But Dan Abnett fills the book with the rage and anger dug from the depths of the Ultramarines, and especially Roboute Guilliman, at the treachery of their brothers. The mixed words, tones, and descriptions of body language and feelings brings these feelings to life for the reader. The loss of comrades, desperation, fear, and unbridled rage.

It took me four days to get through "Know No Fear" on my kindle. (Damnable work!) I was left satisfied at the amazing saga told, and craving much more of the same. A full five stars for "Know No Fear"!

Glad Tidings

I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a generally good holiday season.

As this year comes to a close I find it amazing at what's happened with Renegade Data Core. What started as a full blown publishing idea transformed into a more lean digital publishing plan and the site opened in April with free content and the promise of the first book. In August, Der Sternvolker hit digital shelves, and in October the short story A Cruel Solar System followed.

You have all waited patiently as I have transitioned jobs and started my masters degree and writing progress wasn't what I expected or promised, and I thank you. Thank you to everyone who has purchased both the book and the short story. I hope you have enjoyed them, and I am hard at work to provide you with more excellent science fiction and, in the future, fantasy.

During this season of giving I'd like to draw your attention to the amazing artwork of Nicholas R. Giacondino at DeviantArt and at his online comic, Free Mars. Nicholas, also known as Aerion-the-Faithful on DeviantArt, is an amazing comic artist who has even caught the attentions of Warhammer 40k author Dan Abnett. Nicholas' Warhammer 40K art, specifically his adaptation of Inquisitor Eisenhorn and his retinue, and his long-running Free Mars comic are excellent pieces of work. I recommend Nicholas' art and suggest that everyone check out his sites and give him a little business if your funds allow it.

Now, as Christmas gift to my patient readers, here is another excerpt from the upcoming novella Run.

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            Alfred Zwinger turned his data pad to face Peter. On the tablet’s screen were two ships Alfred had in stock. Skeleton crews manned and secured the vessels for Alfred until the ships were purchased. The longer the ships sat in Alfred’s inventory, the more money he lost.

            “Here are two ships that are the closest matches to the price and specifications you provided, Herr Drexel.”

            Peter scrutinized each ship. He scratched his chin as he read each ship’s service and maintenance history. Details such as cargo space, small craft bays, and fusion reactor capacities ran through Peter’s mind.

“They’re so old,” Peter said.

“They’re five-hundred thousand,” Alfred said. “Anything newer would cost you more.”

Peter pointed to one of the vessels. “How is this ship still in service? It was built before the End War.”

Alfred shrugged. “The pirates that used to own it kept it in good shape. There are a few jury-rigs--”

“Like with the reactor itself. It looks like they stripped out the old thorium-based nuclear reactor and smashed the fusion reactor into its place. God, it’s ugly.”

Alfred stole the data pad from Peter. “Perhaps you’d like to find someone else to purchase a ship from, Herr Drexel.”

Peter sighed. “No, it’s fine. Let me look at the other one again.”

“Now that is a fine ship.”

Peter retrieved the data pad from Alfred and clicked the image of the other vessel to zoom in on the picture and its stats.

The ship looked like some strange bloated insect, or perhaps an alien’s egg, Peter couldn’t decide which. It wasn’t very large, but it wasn’t some Venusian junk, either. It was a frigate with a full compliment of light naval guns and point defense weapons. Although the frigate’s one-third gravity centrifuge wasn’t ideal, Peter did note that all of the living accommodations were located there.

“Tell me more about this one,” Peter said as he pointed to the screen. “The Voyager-class frigate.”

Alfred smiled. “She may not look like much, but the city-state that used to own her kept her in amazing condition. The fusion reactor is one of the newer models from the Olympus Mons Technocracy. She was originally built in twenty-ninety-five, just before Earth died. The North American Federation crew took her to Ganymede and settled with one of the larger NAF colonies, Gir. The Community Fleet took her a few weeks ago when said city-state decided to harass our merchants.”

Peter smiled. “I remember reading about that on the ‘Net. A single squad of Renegade power armor troopers took the ship.”

Alfred smiled. “Indeed they did. Our boys and girls are efficient. And I made sure they were rewarded handsomely for their hard work.”

“Such is business.”

“Indeed.”

Peter stared at the image of the ship a moment longer. Some gut feeling told him this was the ship for him. Of course, he would have preferred a battleship of some sort. But he had to start somewhere.

“I’d like to take a look at it,” Peter said.

            “I’ll arrange transport for us.”