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The Beast Arises #2
Predator, Prey
The Imperium is under attack by a relentless tide of orks. The Imperial Fists have been destroyed, leaving Terra itself vulnerable, and across the galaxy, worlds are beset by greenskin savages.
After centuries of peace, the Imperium is thrown into panic as human worlds everywhere are menaced by orks. In a relentless tide of slaughter, ork attack moons destroy planet after planet with gravity weapons of unstoppable power. On Terra, the High Lords are paralysed by the scale of the threat, and fail to take any effective action. With entire Space Marine Chapters missing, or known to have been wiped out, does anyone have the will and the power to rise to the Imperium’s defence?
It's a snapshot of the battles that rage across the Imperium as the orks attack in force. It also continues the story of the High Lords as they try to hold the Imperium together... as long as it suits their own interests, of course. And it introduces characters who're going to be very important to the future of the series... if they survive the battles to come.
After centuries of peace, the Imperium is thrown into panic as human worlds everywhere are menaced by orks. In a relentless tide of slaughter, ork attack moons destroy planet after planet with gravity weapons of unstoppable power. On Terra, the High Lords are paralysed by the scale of the threat, and fail to take any effective action. With entire Space Marine Chapters missing, or known to have been wiped out, does anyone have the will and the power to rise to the Imperium’s defence?
It's a snapshot of the battles that rage across the Imperium as the orks attack in force. It also continues the story of the High Lords as they try to hold the Imperium together... as long as it suits their own interests, of course. And it introduces characters who're going to be very important to the future of the series... if they survive the battles to come.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 9, 2016
36 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Rob Sanders
114 books86 followersRob Sanders is the author of twelve novels, as well as numerous anthologised short stories, novellas, audio dramas, computer games and comics. His fiction has won national writing competitions, been featured on the BBC and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His poetry has been short listed in national contests. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
August 10, 2016
Review also published here
Predator, Prey is a bit of a different beast from Dan Abnett's I Am Slaughter . While it is a direct sequel and snatches up the dangling plotlines, its scope is larger, adding more characters and worlds into the pool.
I am not lying when I say that the opening chapter had me amazed. It almost felt like a historical rundown of a world-shattering event, a great war through the lens. Sometimes it would dip into scenarios, giving a quick account of people, but it would always return to the overall view of the unfolding catastrophe. I loved that. It set the stage for the conflict against the Beast in a great way, and made apparent that this is a galaxy-spanning problem, not isolated in a way we have seen in the novel's predecessor.
Sadly, I don't think it ever quite reached that charme again for me, after the first chapter. There were still glimpses of the wider war, and various worlds' fates were explored, but I found the close-up view to be less satisfying in the long run. It worked better on a macro level for me than on the micro level.
With all these attack moons of the orks popping up here and there, I found it hard to care about either of them in particular. In Star Wars, the destructive potential of the Death Star is overwhelming and awe-inspiring. In The Beast Arises, these Death Stars are a dime a dozen. They are popping up all over, and it seems obvious that simply by destroying one, you are making room for the next. Similarly, the orks here were countless masses. Thousands upon thousands die in various ways throughout all plotlines, but I didn't find them to be menacing or particularly horrific. Their excessive numbers took away from individual threats.
To draw a comparison, the ork forces in David Annandale's Yarrick: Imperial Creed are massive, and resistance seems almost futile. Hives fall in droves, as do Imperial Guard. And yet still the conflict felt somewhat more personal. Ghazghkull himself never openly enters the battlefield, yet his influence is felt throughout. His lieutenant Ugulhard is a more active antagonist who, in the end, faces Yarrick in melee. The struggle against the Beast of Armageddon was personal even though one side was only felt, not seen.
The conflict here, spearheaded by the Beast, lacks this kind of personal connection. Not once did I feel the Beast's hand at play here. It was simply a massive assault, random and chaotic, with orks who might as well have been Tyranids for all their individual threat.
On the other hand, the political side of the story got some good developments, and Drakan Vangorich, Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum, remains my favorite part of the series. However, scenes with him and the High Lords of Terra are few and far between, scattered amidst a bunch of plotlines showing various aspects of the Beast's waaagh. I did not think there was enough of it, and what there was of it, was mostly isolated cases of Vangorich confering with his assassins or hunting for information. There were no full table conversations between the High Lords like in Abnett's book, though glimpses of politicking existed. But that's what they were: Glimpses.
Of course, this is a storyline that has to be maintained throughout the whole series. The back cover description of volume 12, The Beheading , already set the end point. There is a lot of ground to cover elsewhere before things can progress more rapidly. Yet still, the Terra-plotline was very heavy on setup and light on payoffs.
Likewise, I found the Adeptus Mechanicus twin forge worlds of Incus Maximal and Malleus Mundi to be too limited. We first see Incus Maximal's struggles and their latest Fabricator Locum in chapter four, then again in chapter eight. The war itself is never tackled in too much detail (which I find to be a small mercy), instead it focuses more on logistics and the intrigue directed by Mars - a plotline whose continuation I am looking forward to very much. Only in the very last chapter do we get a resolution for the forge world's fate. The way it was delivered - clinical, detached - fits the AdMech for sure, but as a reader, I found it a little disappointing.
A bigger chunk of the book is dedicated to the ocean-heavy world of Undine, where a female ex-pirate-turned-military struggles with her group of Maritine Guard to extract the planetary governer before moving on to a more desperate solution devised to stop the orks from taking the world. She is presented as sympathetic and warm, but also as efficient when needed. However, I felt like we spent too little time with her. The relationships between her, her crew and partner were thinly developed, making inevitable losses a little shallow. I could see the impact they had on her, but didn't experience it myself. A bit of a bummer.
Nevertheless, the plotline's conclusion speaks of the immense desperation that is a product of the Beast's waaagh. Being faced with no other option than pure denial of resources, I felt that this was well executed.
And now to the Space Marines. With the demise of the Imperial Fists in the first book, the grail passes to their successor chapters, namely the Fists Exemplar and the Black Templars.
While the Templars are represented by Marshal Bohemond and his Vulpius Crusade, the Fists Exemplar come up with Captain Maximus Thane. The former only get one chapter of void warfare for themselves, facing the difficulties of accepting that retreat is the only option. Dorn's sons are stubborn like that, after all.
The Fists Exemplar provide the bulk of Astartes action, and action against the orks in general. They are standing in defense of their downed star fort turned chapter fortress, on a world whose sun irradiates the surface to the point of burning the orks to a crisp. Yes, this is another last stand-ish appearance of Dorn's scions.
The Exemplars seem to personify many of the reasons why I am not that into Imperial Fists, usually. They are stubborn, sticklers for protocol, and the one time they acted outside the box in an attempt to stem the tide (down to Thane's command), I was genuinely surprised. Fists are stiff and unyielding by design, and I am not sure they're really for me.
But the thing that really bothered me about this plotline was the lack of forward momentum. It was a war of attrition through and through, with little attempt to break out and take drastic measures. It is certainly very IF-y, countering the massed assault with sheer stoicism and stubborness.
The resolution to both Templars and Exemplar was satisfying, however, and Maximus Thane is interesting at the very least. His introspection about Rogal Dorn's decision to split his Legion in accordance to the Codex Astartes was enlightening. But again I thought that this happened a little too late in the plot.
At the end of it all, I feel like the book is more of a staging ground than I Am Slaughter was, in many ways. It added plotlines for the rest of the series, and branched out from the relatively focused plot of its predecessor. There's more here than just Ardamantua and Terra.
On the flipside, it might have been too much for the short novel format. Many aspects needed more time to really flourish and connect.
I am happy to see the Wall-Names nonsense from I Am Slaughter to only receive lip service here (hard to do anything more, with how the Imperial Fists ended up anyway), and the AdMech's conspiracy might have been the highlight of the book. Sanders really has the hang of them by now.
Undine was a very interesting world to visit, and I wish there had been more of it. And good old Terra is gearing up for disaster, dialing up the stakes as Vangorich plans for contingencies.
Predator, Prey was enjoyable while it lasted. Sadly, that wasn't very long, for any of the characters involved. While the scope of it all started out excellent, I feel that its diffuse nature might have worked against it in the end.
A lot of its problems are most likely down to the series' design itself. Here is hoping that subsequent novels will be more focused, now that the scale of the war became a lot more obvious to readers.
Predator, Prey is a bit of a different beast from Dan Abnett's I Am Slaughter . While it is a direct sequel and snatches up the dangling plotlines, its scope is larger, adding more characters and worlds into the pool.
I am not lying when I say that the opening chapter had me amazed. It almost felt like a historical rundown of a world-shattering event, a great war through the lens. Sometimes it would dip into scenarios, giving a quick account of people, but it would always return to the overall view of the unfolding catastrophe. I loved that. It set the stage for the conflict against the Beast in a great way, and made apparent that this is a galaxy-spanning problem, not isolated in a way we have seen in the novel's predecessor.
Sadly, I don't think it ever quite reached that charme again for me, after the first chapter. There were still glimpses of the wider war, and various worlds' fates were explored, but I found the close-up view to be less satisfying in the long run. It worked better on a macro level for me than on the micro level.
With all these attack moons of the orks popping up here and there, I found it hard to care about either of them in particular. In Star Wars, the destructive potential of the Death Star is overwhelming and awe-inspiring. In The Beast Arises, these Death Stars are a dime a dozen. They are popping up all over, and it seems obvious that simply by destroying one, you are making room for the next. Similarly, the orks here were countless masses. Thousands upon thousands die in various ways throughout all plotlines, but I didn't find them to be menacing or particularly horrific. Their excessive numbers took away from individual threats.
To draw a comparison, the ork forces in David Annandale's Yarrick: Imperial Creed are massive, and resistance seems almost futile. Hives fall in droves, as do Imperial Guard. And yet still the conflict felt somewhat more personal. Ghazghkull himself never openly enters the battlefield, yet his influence is felt throughout. His lieutenant Ugulhard is a more active antagonist who, in the end, faces Yarrick in melee. The struggle against the Beast of Armageddon was personal even though one side was only felt, not seen.
The conflict here, spearheaded by the Beast, lacks this kind of personal connection. Not once did I feel the Beast's hand at play here. It was simply a massive assault, random and chaotic, with orks who might as well have been Tyranids for all their individual threat.
On the other hand, the political side of the story got some good developments, and Drakan Vangorich, Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum, remains my favorite part of the series. However, scenes with him and the High Lords of Terra are few and far between, scattered amidst a bunch of plotlines showing various aspects of the Beast's waaagh. I did not think there was enough of it, and what there was of it, was mostly isolated cases of Vangorich confering with his assassins or hunting for information. There were no full table conversations between the High Lords like in Abnett's book, though glimpses of politicking existed. But that's what they were: Glimpses.
Of course, this is a storyline that has to be maintained throughout the whole series. The back cover description of volume 12, The Beheading , already set the end point. There is a lot of ground to cover elsewhere before things can progress more rapidly. Yet still, the Terra-plotline was very heavy on setup and light on payoffs.
Likewise, I found the Adeptus Mechanicus twin forge worlds of Incus Maximal and Malleus Mundi to be too limited. We first see Incus Maximal's struggles and their latest Fabricator Locum in chapter four, then again in chapter eight. The war itself is never tackled in too much detail (which I find to be a small mercy), instead it focuses more on logistics and the intrigue directed by Mars - a plotline whose continuation I am looking forward to very much. Only in the very last chapter do we get a resolution for the forge world's fate. The way it was delivered - clinical, detached - fits the AdMech for sure, but as a reader, I found it a little disappointing.
A bigger chunk of the book is dedicated to the ocean-heavy world of Undine, where a female ex-pirate-turned-military struggles with her group of Maritine Guard to extract the planetary governer before moving on to a more desperate solution devised to stop the orks from taking the world. She is presented as sympathetic and warm, but also as efficient when needed. However, I felt like we spent too little time with her. The relationships between her, her crew and partner were thinly developed, making inevitable losses a little shallow. I could see the impact they had on her, but didn't experience it myself. A bit of a bummer.
Nevertheless, the plotline's conclusion speaks of the immense desperation that is a product of the Beast's waaagh. Being faced with no other option than pure denial of resources, I felt that this was well executed.
And now to the Space Marines. With the demise of the Imperial Fists in the first book, the grail passes to their successor chapters, namely the Fists Exemplar and the Black Templars.
While the Templars are represented by Marshal Bohemond and his Vulpius Crusade, the Fists Exemplar come up with Captain Maximus Thane. The former only get one chapter of void warfare for themselves, facing the difficulties of accepting that retreat is the only option. Dorn's sons are stubborn like that, after all.
The Fists Exemplar provide the bulk of Astartes action, and action against the orks in general. They are standing in defense of their downed star fort turned chapter fortress, on a world whose sun irradiates the surface to the point of burning the orks to a crisp. Yes, this is another last stand-ish appearance of Dorn's scions.
The Exemplars seem to personify many of the reasons why I am not that into Imperial Fists, usually. They are stubborn, sticklers for protocol, and the one time they acted outside the box in an attempt to stem the tide (down to Thane's command), I was genuinely surprised. Fists are stiff and unyielding by design, and I am not sure they're really for me.
But the thing that really bothered me about this plotline was the lack of forward momentum. It was a war of attrition through and through, with little attempt to break out and take drastic measures. It is certainly very IF-y, countering the massed assault with sheer stoicism and stubborness.
The resolution to both Templars and Exemplar was satisfying, however, and Maximus Thane is interesting at the very least. His introspection about Rogal Dorn's decision to split his Legion in accordance to the Codex Astartes was enlightening. But again I thought that this happened a little too late in the plot.
At the end of it all, I feel like the book is more of a staging ground than I Am Slaughter was, in many ways. It added plotlines for the rest of the series, and branched out from the relatively focused plot of its predecessor. There's more here than just Ardamantua and Terra.
On the flipside, it might have been too much for the short novel format. Many aspects needed more time to really flourish and connect.
I am happy to see the Wall-Names nonsense from I Am Slaughter to only receive lip service here (hard to do anything more, with how the Imperial Fists ended up anyway), and the AdMech's conspiracy might have been the highlight of the book. Sanders really has the hang of them by now.
Undine was a very interesting world to visit, and I wish there had been more of it. And good old Terra is gearing up for disaster, dialing up the stakes as Vangorich plans for contingencies.
Predator, Prey was enjoyable while it lasted. Sadly, that wasn't very long, for any of the characters involved. While the scope of it all started out excellent, I feel that its diffuse nature might have worked against it in the end.
A lot of its problems are most likely down to the series' design itself. Here is hoping that subsequent novels will be more focused, now that the scale of the war became a lot more obvious to readers.
February 16, 2020
3.5/10
No sé por donde empezar, este libro tiene tantas cosas criticables, que podría darme para varías reseñas. En cualquier caso, no quiero aburriros, así que os lo resumo.
La trama esta narrada de forma caótica, lo que hace muy difícil entrar en la historia. Hay momentos de preguntarte que narices estás leyendo, por fortuna, el libro es corto y se termina rápido. Los personajes no destacan para nada, quedando bastante sosos. La acción, que suele ser el punto fuerte de estas novelas, es escasa y como el resto de la historia esta narrada de un modo incoherente.
Tras este libro me bajo de esta saga, esa es mi conclusión.
No sé por donde empezar, este libro tiene tantas cosas criticables, que podría darme para varías reseñas. En cualquier caso, no quiero aburriros, así que os lo resumo.
La trama esta narrada de forma caótica, lo que hace muy difícil entrar en la historia. Hay momentos de preguntarte que narices estás leyendo, por fortuna, el libro es corto y se termina rápido. Los personajes no destacan para nada, quedando bastante sosos. La acción, que suele ser el punto fuerte de estas novelas, es escasa y como el resto de la historia esta narrada de un modo incoherente.
Tras este libro me bajo de esta saga, esa es mi conclusión.
December 29, 2016
Predator, Prey is the second book on this twelve book saga.
This book adds more characters and snatches up all plotlines. I think it gave scope to the series whereas the first focus a lot on Ardamantua Campaign.
We learn that there are a lot of attack moons..... which bears the question: Where did they come from? I wonder how noboy find out about this before. It's quite intriguing... I thought of Dark Eldars behind BUT I don't know... because it's not their way. Why help the Orcs destroy everything, basically...
We find out that the Mechanicus Faction are working to understand better of what are the Attack Moons and how they work. In a way they are experimenting. They find out in Ardamantua several space marines and rescue them - not because of compassion but because it could become value memory information. Only one of them survived... Koorland (Slaughter) and he is alone the sole survivor of the Imperial Fists...
One interesting thing is that the Orks althought a major player - we never see them work (or even the Beast for that matter). They arrive and destroy! That's it.
We also see more political agenda by Vangorich (Probably my favorite character so far) and the liasion or the head speaker of the inquisition. They plot and are allies of some sorts against the ineffective way of the High Lords. There is a great clash / power struggle between The Imperial Navy & Imperial Guard.
We also follow for several chapters a world called Undide and a female pirate-military to extract the planetary governor and the quest for the virus bombs to wipe out the world... and kill the orks (a seppuku if you will). It felt that it was a short story all in all but divided in small chapters.
We also have some information about the successor chapters of Imperial Fists like Fists Examplar & Black Templars. The Firsts Examplar are probably the only fighting scenes we see in this book. Basically they died because of Imperial Fists stubborn trait. Here we follow Maximus Thane. (On Black Templars we have some information about Marshal Bohemond). They also talk a bit about Dorn decision to split the chapter.
I would lie if I said "Great" but it's a bit interesting to see more plots being given, more political struggles and I am a bit confused about the Mechanicus almost conspiracy against the Imperium.
Nevertheless we receive a bigger scope to the Ork Threat and political schemes & chapter code thoughts...
This book adds more characters and snatches up all plotlines. I think it gave scope to the series whereas the first focus a lot on Ardamantua Campaign.
We learn that there are a lot of attack moons..... which bears the question: Where did they come from? I wonder how noboy find out about this before. It's quite intriguing... I thought of Dark Eldars behind BUT I don't know... because it's not their way. Why help the Orcs destroy everything, basically...
We find out that the Mechanicus Faction are working to understand better of what are the Attack Moons and how they work. In a way they are experimenting. They find out in Ardamantua several space marines and rescue them - not because of compassion but because it could become value memory information. Only one of them survived... Koorland (Slaughter) and he is alone the sole survivor of the Imperial Fists...
One interesting thing is that the Orks althought a major player - we never see them work (or even the Beast for that matter). They arrive and destroy! That's it.
We also see more political agenda by Vangorich (Probably my favorite character so far) and the liasion or the head speaker of the inquisition. They plot and are allies of some sorts against the ineffective way of the High Lords. There is a great clash / power struggle between The Imperial Navy & Imperial Guard.
We also follow for several chapters a world called Undide and a female pirate-military to extract the planetary governor and the quest for the virus bombs to wipe out the world... and kill the orks (a seppuku if you will). It felt that it was a short story all in all but divided in small chapters.
We also have some information about the successor chapters of Imperial Fists like Fists Examplar & Black Templars. The Firsts Examplar are probably the only fighting scenes we see in this book. Basically they died because of Imperial Fists stubborn trait. Here we follow Maximus Thane. (On Black Templars we have some information about Marshal Bohemond). They also talk a bit about Dorn decision to split the chapter.
I would lie if I said "Great" but it's a bit interesting to see more plots being given, more political struggles and I am a bit confused about the Mechanicus almost conspiracy against the Imperium.
Nevertheless we receive a bigger scope to the Ork Threat and political schemes & chapter code thoughts...
September 13, 2024
“Receiving, Tiamat, this is Elite-one - proceed.”
“Captain…”
“Receiving, Tiamat: proceed.”
“Captain,” the general said, “the regimental astropath has received immaterial confirmation.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The Adeptus Astartes are not coming, Captain.”
Phifer’s news felt like a lasbolt to the heart for each of the Marineers. There was another whimper. Some lowered heads. Others gave nods of grim acceptance.
“Received, Tiamat,” Allegra replied.
“You are authorised to enact contingency measures,” the general said. “I repeat: this is General Phifer and I am commanding you…to initiate contingency measures.”
“Yes, sir,” Allegra replied. “Order received and understood.”
The Marineers started at the master-vox.
“Know this,” Phifer told them. “We are going to win this battle. The battle for Undine. The battle for our world.”
Lux Allegra nodded. “But lose the war,” she said, before dropping the vox-hailer jn the rising waters and turning off the master-vox”
Now THATS how ya raise the Throne-dammed stakes!
Absolutely a different animal than the opener but one that spreads us out comfortably across the increasingly pitched and multi-fronted conflict between the still Heresy healing Imperium and the biggest WAAAGH! ever known to the Kingdom of Mankind.
But appreciatively, this one doesn’t lose the smaller victories and moments that made the opening volume shine. This time though, we get a lot more “little people” throughout the conflict like the poor, doomed, but instantly awesome Lux Allegra above and a lot of very fun, and very clacky Mechanicus bastards coming into the edges of the conflict. I found a lot of that stuff really readable and super engaging beyond still just the…MASSIVE scale and volume of the action throughout these so far.
I felt like the court stuff took a bit of a backseat here, which I didn’t super love, but Sanders juices out the cast well enough with the new characters, I didn’t feel like I missed them TOO terribly. Beyond just wanting to know what they are up to and how they are starting to maneuver as the WAAAGH Gate clambers ever toward Holy Terra.
Idk yall, I wanted something breezy and slightly broader and these so far have delivered in spades. Just a lot of fun times and cool characters and rousing set pieces in one of my fave gaming sectors of all time. What better way to kick off spooky season?
“Captain…”
“Receiving, Tiamat: proceed.”
“Captain,” the general said, “the regimental astropath has received immaterial confirmation.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The Adeptus Astartes are not coming, Captain.”
Phifer’s news felt like a lasbolt to the heart for each of the Marineers. There was another whimper. Some lowered heads. Others gave nods of grim acceptance.
“Received, Tiamat,” Allegra replied.
“You are authorised to enact contingency measures,” the general said. “I repeat: this is General Phifer and I am commanding you…to initiate contingency measures.”
“Yes, sir,” Allegra replied. “Order received and understood.”
The Marineers started at the master-vox.
“Know this,” Phifer told them. “We are going to win this battle. The battle for Undine. The battle for our world.”
Lux Allegra nodded. “But lose the war,” she said, before dropping the vox-hailer jn the rising waters and turning off the master-vox”
Now THATS how ya raise the Throne-dammed stakes!
Absolutely a different animal than the opener but one that spreads us out comfortably across the increasingly pitched and multi-fronted conflict between the still Heresy healing Imperium and the biggest WAAAGH! ever known to the Kingdom of Mankind.
But appreciatively, this one doesn’t lose the smaller victories and moments that made the opening volume shine. This time though, we get a lot more “little people” throughout the conflict like the poor, doomed, but instantly awesome Lux Allegra above and a lot of very fun, and very clacky Mechanicus bastards coming into the edges of the conflict. I found a lot of that stuff really readable and super engaging beyond still just the…MASSIVE scale and volume of the action throughout these so far.
I felt like the court stuff took a bit of a backseat here, which I didn’t super love, but Sanders juices out the cast well enough with the new characters, I didn’t feel like I missed them TOO terribly. Beyond just wanting to know what they are up to and how they are starting to maneuver as the WAAAGH Gate clambers ever toward Holy Terra.
Idk yall, I wanted something breezy and slightly broader and these so far have delivered in spades. Just a lot of fun times and cool characters and rousing set pieces in one of my fave gaming sectors of all time. What better way to kick off spooky season?
September 8, 2024
We're onto book two of the 'Beast Arises' ap-Ork-alyptic mega-series, stepping the conflict up to a greater scale by introducing more worlds, characters and (thankfully) quite a few non-Space Marines to the conflict. While humans argue, posture, and jostle for position, the Orks are out there in full Uruk-hai mode, the green tide everywhere and unstoppable.
It's refreshing to spend time on with new characters and settings - this is a universe seemingly bereft of oceans so spending time on an actual water world is a pleasant change. The new characters are largely enjoyable if not terribly memorable, but dragged down by Space Marines strutting around heavy-handedly reminding us of their duty to protect the Emperor and his dominions, and very much in that order. That said, at least we're dealing with Imperial Fists, perhaps the least obnoxious of the Emperor's Finest, and we are offered some interesting insight into that Legion's collapse at the end of the Horus Heresy.
So, quite a lot to enjoy but too light on story. This is all about getting to know the key characters and selling the scale of the Orkish threat. Those aims are achieved, but not in the most memorable fashion.
It's refreshing to spend time on with new characters and settings - this is a universe seemingly bereft of oceans so spending time on an actual water world is a pleasant change. The new characters are largely enjoyable if not terribly memorable, but dragged down by Space Marines strutting around heavy-handedly reminding us of their duty to protect the Emperor and his dominions, and very much in that order. That said, at least we're dealing with Imperial Fists, perhaps the least obnoxious of the Emperor's Finest, and we are offered some interesting insight into that Legion's collapse at the end of the Horus Heresy.
So, quite a lot to enjoy but too light on story. This is all about getting to know the key characters and selling the scale of the Orkish threat. Those aims are achieved, but not in the most memorable fashion.
November 16, 2025
The scale of the ork invasion is sort of absurd and there's some melodrama, but honestly I don't really care because I had a good time. Switching back and forth between three planets being invaded and the Imperial response on Terra keeps things fresh and moving along at a brisk clip. There's also a good balance between Space Marine shooty shooty and human characters having the opportunity to make an impact. If you've read the previous book, you'll love what happens on the very last page.
August 30, 2022
Fun but a little scattered sometimes, jumping between plot lines and at times abandoning one characters arc for most the middle of the book.
Probably works better in context with book 3- emperor expects.
Probably works better in context with book 3- emperor expects.
October 19, 2022
I was debating on giving this a 3 or a 4 but I’ll give it a 4 because of its last chapter. Idk this one felt like a lot of filler to me, so many POVs weren’t very important and the main plot of the series wasn’t moved a lot and a lot of stuff felt like filler to me.
October 2, 2025
I listened to this as an audiobook.
I’ve been enjoying the build up of the series, but I am ready to see a little more action. I felt like this one had some really interesting twists, and the ending really sold me. Politics in 40K are really interesting.
Can’t wait to get into the next one.
I’ve been enjoying the build up of the series, but I am ready to see a little more action. I felt like this one had some really interesting twists, and the ending really sold me. Politics in 40K are really interesting.
Can’t wait to get into the next one.
May 26, 2016
With “I Am Slaughter” writer Dan Abnett, one of the Black Library’s best authors kicked off their newest event series “The Beast Arises” with a bang. It was a fun and thrilling read, populated with fascinating characters, and imaginative worlds. Best of all it gave us a glance of something we’ve never really seen in Warhammer 40,000; the Imperium of Man in a state of relative peace. So I was excited to tackle the next chapter in the year long event story line, the novel “Predator, Prey” by Rob Sanders, a writer whose work I had not read before.
Let’s get my one real problem with the book out of the way first. I’m not really a fan of the Orks as villains. They’re entertaining as obstacles and side missions, but to me they’re kind of forces of nature like the Tyranids. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re truly terrifying like how they were when Abnett wrote them in “I Am Slaughter” and other times they’re just sort of faceless obstacles like how they were portrayed here. Don’t get me wrong. The action scenes still crackled and were full of tension and intrigue, but with wave after wave of unrelenting ork slaughter some scenes felt like a disaster movie rather than a battle with a monstrous force of foes.
So in future novels I’m hoping to see more personalities within the Orks. I also want to see what united them and armed them with their fearsome and awesome attack moons. I sense something there and it could be Sanders wasn’t allowed to reveal that yet since he was charged more with setting the table in this second entry to “The Beast Arises.”
What Sanders does succeed at in “Predator, Prey” is creating some memorable places andRsanders populating them with interesting characters. For me, the most fascinating place was Undine an aquatic hive world where giant cities floated on chemical seas. On that world we follow the fight for survival of Lux Allegra, a member of the Planet’s defense force and her allies. Lux is a pretty likable character and her planet is a really interesting one; especially when Sanders takes us to one of the fringe cites that have developed on the water world. The action on Undine was fast and furious. So despite my complaint about faceless orks the scenes there still work. I loved the scope and scale of everything.
The other new batch of characters Sanders introduces are the Fist Examplars, a Second Founding (think spin off) Space Marine chapter that originated from the Imperial Fists. In “I Am Slaughter” Abnett really captured the culture of the Imperial Fists and it was one of my favorite things about the book. Here the Examplars, especially their sort of leader Maximus Thane, are interesting characters and there’s some fun action scenes with them, but there’s not as much about what makes them distinctive. They didn’t resonate with me as much as the few scenes Sanders included with their more fanatical brethren in the Black Templars, another spin off chapter of the Imperial Fists.
Sanders also gets to have some fun with returning characters like Drakan Vangorich, the Grandmaster of the Offfico Assassanorum, and his chief enforcer Beast Krule. These scenes are a lot of fun. Sanders has a knack for action, but the political machination scenes were also highly enjoyable.. It was also interesting to see the underlying tension in the political arrangement between the Imperium of Man and the Machine Cult of the Adeptus Mechanicus. There’s a few chapters that give you some clever insight into just how delicate the arrangement between the two cosmic empires are and illustrate how self motivated each can be. I say that too as someone who doesn’t really find the Adeptus Mechanicus all that interesting.
So despite the one slight problem I had “Predator, Prey” was still a pretty great entry in “The Beast Arises” series. I’m excited to see what comes next especially with the really cool reveal that Sanders gives readers in the book’s final chapter.
Let’s get my one real problem with the book out of the way first. I’m not really a fan of the Orks as villains. They’re entertaining as obstacles and side missions, but to me they’re kind of forces of nature like the Tyranids. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re truly terrifying like how they were when Abnett wrote them in “I Am Slaughter” and other times they’re just sort of faceless obstacles like how they were portrayed here. Don’t get me wrong. The action scenes still crackled and were full of tension and intrigue, but with wave after wave of unrelenting ork slaughter some scenes felt like a disaster movie rather than a battle with a monstrous force of foes.
So in future novels I’m hoping to see more personalities within the Orks. I also want to see what united them and armed them with their fearsome and awesome attack moons. I sense something there and it could be Sanders wasn’t allowed to reveal that yet since he was charged more with setting the table in this second entry to “The Beast Arises.”
What Sanders does succeed at in “Predator, Prey” is creating some memorable places andRsanders populating them with interesting characters. For me, the most fascinating place was Undine an aquatic hive world where giant cities floated on chemical seas. On that world we follow the fight for survival of Lux Allegra, a member of the Planet’s defense force and her allies. Lux is a pretty likable character and her planet is a really interesting one; especially when Sanders takes us to one of the fringe cites that have developed on the water world. The action on Undine was fast and furious. So despite my complaint about faceless orks the scenes there still work. I loved the scope and scale of everything.
The other new batch of characters Sanders introduces are the Fist Examplars, a Second Founding (think spin off) Space Marine chapter that originated from the Imperial Fists. In “I Am Slaughter” Abnett really captured the culture of the Imperial Fists and it was one of my favorite things about the book. Here the Examplars, especially their sort of leader Maximus Thane, are interesting characters and there’s some fun action scenes with them, but there’s not as much about what makes them distinctive. They didn’t resonate with me as much as the few scenes Sanders included with their more fanatical brethren in the Black Templars, another spin off chapter of the Imperial Fists.
Sanders also gets to have some fun with returning characters like Drakan Vangorich, the Grandmaster of the Offfico Assassanorum, and his chief enforcer Beast Krule. These scenes are a lot of fun. Sanders has a knack for action, but the political machination scenes were also highly enjoyable.. It was also interesting to see the underlying tension in the political arrangement between the Imperium of Man and the Machine Cult of the Adeptus Mechanicus. There’s a few chapters that give you some clever insight into just how delicate the arrangement between the two cosmic empires are and illustrate how self motivated each can be. I say that too as someone who doesn’t really find the Adeptus Mechanicus all that interesting.
So despite the one slight problem I had “Predator, Prey” was still a pretty great entry in “The Beast Arises” series. I’m excited to see what comes next especially with the really cool reveal that Sanders gives readers in the book’s final chapter.
February 3, 2017
This is part 2 of the year-long event known as The Beast Arises. The first page is a recap of On the Origin of Species for anyone ignorant enough to think that exterminating an enemy means defeating an enemy. Almost every sentence in the opening chapter is the equivalent of the entire first book, which is horrifying as it is dismissive. The ork attack moon revealed at the end of I Am Slaughter wasn't unique.
Deff Stars are popping up across the Imperium as the orks press the attack. On the waterworld Undine, PDF commander Lux Allegra evacuates her planetary governor's family and staff from the hive spires. On the frozen binary forge worlds Incus Maximal and Malleus Mundi, the Adeptus Mechanicus struggle to retreat as the ground beneath their feet ceases to be. On sun-scarred Eidolica, Captain Maximus Thane of the Fists Exemplar refuse to surrender their homeworld to the invader. On Terra, Holy Terra, the High Lords plot and scheme on how best to gain the advantage over one another as they ignore the crisis. And on the broken, dead world of Ardamantua, Artisan Trajectorae Argus Van Auken and Magos Biologis Eldon Urquidex search the rubble for clues to the secrets of the Orks' impossibly advanced technology.
But Van Auken and Urquidex aren't just visiting. They're returning to the world they had been monitoring prior to The Beast's arrival. They knew.
Rob Sanders wrote The Long Games at Carcharias and Iron Within, two short stories memorable for how quickly and relentlessly hopeless the situation gets. The kicker is that the protagonists survive in one, but not the other. Experience tells us that we're in for some damn fine writing, but provides no clue on what to expect.
Deff Stars are popping up across the Imperium as the orks press the attack. On the waterworld Undine, PDF commander Lux Allegra evacuates her planetary governor's family and staff from the hive spires. On the frozen binary forge worlds Incus Maximal and Malleus Mundi, the Adeptus Mechanicus struggle to retreat as the ground beneath their feet ceases to be. On sun-scarred Eidolica, Captain Maximus Thane of the Fists Exemplar refuse to surrender their homeworld to the invader. On Terra, Holy Terra, the High Lords plot and scheme on how best to gain the advantage over one another as they ignore the crisis. And on the broken, dead world of Ardamantua, Artisan Trajectorae Argus Van Auken and Magos Biologis Eldon Urquidex search the rubble for clues to the secrets of the Orks' impossibly advanced technology.
But Van Auken and Urquidex aren't just visiting. They're returning to the world they had been monitoring prior to The Beast's arrival. They knew.
Ruthless efficiency had placed the gifted magos Phaeton Laurentis with the Imperial Fists on Ardamantua, after the bombastic Chapter Master Cassus Mirhen predictably took up the cause.The Adeptus Mechanicus knew what was coming, and they didn't warn the Imperium. They certainly didn't warn the Imperial Fists! There is going to be a reckoning, and everything in between now and then is going to feel like filler.
Rob Sanders wrote The Long Games at Carcharias and Iron Within, two short stories memorable for how quickly and relentlessly hopeless the situation gets. The kicker is that the protagonists survive in one, but not the other. Experience tells us that we're in for some damn fine writing, but provides no clue on what to expect.
HELL YES. That's what I'm talking about, that is why I read books about space marines! This book is devastating, but it is so good that the chief complaint anyone could possibly make is "it's too short".‘I want you to vox all companies and captains with the following order,’ Thane said. Before the battle-brother could protest, Thane added, ‘And if you don’t, Brother Zerberyn, in less than a minute you’ll very much wish you had.’
‘What’s the order?’ Zerberyn crackled back after a moment’s hesitation.
‘All Fists Exemplar battle-brothers to mag-lock their boots to the void hull.’
‘Why?’ the honour guard Space Marine voxed back.‘Why?’ Thane voxed back to Zerberyn. ‘Because we are going for a ride.’
June 19, 2017
You can read the full review over at my blog:
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
The post-Heresy mega project The Beast Arises kicked off with I Am Slaughter by Dan Abnett, telling a fascinating new tale of how a resurgent Ork threat threatens the very foundations of the Imperium. Although we start fairly "low-tech" and the Orks aren't brought out right until the end, the build-up to that moment certainly kept me glued to the pages, and the novel was a great way to get back into the swing of reading Warhammer 40,000 fiction again, as I'd dropped off some years back.
The next installment in this multi-author series, Predatory, Prey is written by Rob Sanders, who has delivered some of my absolute favourite books of the last decade. The novel continues the story of I Am Slaughter, picking up in the wake of the events that followed therein and sets the stage for the return of the Orks as the biggest threat to the safety of the Imperium since the Heresy. While not the knockout I expected it to be, it was still a spellbinding read that touches on many different facets of the conflict and transitions to the larger conflict.
Note: Some minor spoilers from the previous novel and this novel are mentioned here.
As with I Am Slaughter, the second novel jumps all over the place since it deals with not just the Astartes and the High Lords and the tech-priests of Mars, but also with common civilians and law & order officials across the Imperium. Rob Sanders starts off by telling us how dire the resurgent Ork threat is, with the verminous xenos coming out of the woodwork all over Segmentum Solar, annihilating hundreds of worlds and armies and laying siege to hundreds more. The scope of the conflict is not limited to just a few people among the Imperial Fists now or the just the High Lords or even just a few worlds within a single sector. Got to think bigger, much bigger.
The first chapter, while absolutely dense with information on how the conflict has progressed in the days since the horrible debacle at Ardamantua which saw the Imperial Fists and the Navy assets involved in that battle decimated. Panic, shock, desperation, horror. This and more is what the chapter attempts to drive home and Rob pulls it off beautifully. Even as a reader you feel the strength of the narrative when you imagine a true green tide swallowing entire star systems and the Imperium is unable to act because the assaults are hard and fast, leaving little room to react and counter.
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
The post-Heresy mega project The Beast Arises kicked off with I Am Slaughter by Dan Abnett, telling a fascinating new tale of how a resurgent Ork threat threatens the very foundations of the Imperium. Although we start fairly "low-tech" and the Orks aren't brought out right until the end, the build-up to that moment certainly kept me glued to the pages, and the novel was a great way to get back into the swing of reading Warhammer 40,000 fiction again, as I'd dropped off some years back.
The next installment in this multi-author series, Predatory, Prey is written by Rob Sanders, who has delivered some of my absolute favourite books of the last decade. The novel continues the story of I Am Slaughter, picking up in the wake of the events that followed therein and sets the stage for the return of the Orks as the biggest threat to the safety of the Imperium since the Heresy. While not the knockout I expected it to be, it was still a spellbinding read that touches on many different facets of the conflict and transitions to the larger conflict.
Note: Some minor spoilers from the previous novel and this novel are mentioned here.
As with I Am Slaughter, the second novel jumps all over the place since it deals with not just the Astartes and the High Lords and the tech-priests of Mars, but also with common civilians and law & order officials across the Imperium. Rob Sanders starts off by telling us how dire the resurgent Ork threat is, with the verminous xenos coming out of the woodwork all over Segmentum Solar, annihilating hundreds of worlds and armies and laying siege to hundreds more. The scope of the conflict is not limited to just a few people among the Imperial Fists now or the just the High Lords or even just a few worlds within a single sector. Got to think bigger, much bigger.
The first chapter, while absolutely dense with information on how the conflict has progressed in the days since the horrible debacle at Ardamantua which saw the Imperial Fists and the Navy assets involved in that battle decimated. Panic, shock, desperation, horror. This and more is what the chapter attempts to drive home and Rob pulls it off beautifully. Even as a reader you feel the strength of the narrative when you imagine a true green tide swallowing entire star systems and the Imperium is unable to act because the assaults are hard and fast, leaving little room to react and counter.
March 11, 2016
Oh man what a read! It starts off a little slow, with setting up several different story lines. Following a pirate turned Planetary Defense officer, 2nd cpt. Thane of the Fists Exemplar, and a few other smaller ones. This novel easily picks up where Dan Abnett left off with "I Am Slaughter" and really makes the horror of The Beast and his attack moons take the fore. The story on Undine was intense, the orks raining down on the water world and hive-cities. The story from a PDF perspective was insane. The action was so fast paced and in-your-face horrific I couldn't set it down. Coupling the action with how personal the story was, and the how well crafted Lux Allegra's story was really made for a Damn good story. The Adeptus Astartes story lines, namely the Fists Exemplar and Black Templars, was also great. Getting to see the Fists Exemplars defend their fortress monastery from the greenskin invaders was just phenomenal. The action was teeth-rattling, and the Black Templars story was great. I can't wait to see what happens with Dorns sons, and really the Imperium in general. The smaller plotlines really stole the show though. They were truly thrilling, and those are the plots that I really can't wait to see!
Damn good stuff from Mr. Sanders, I'm still shocked and awed at how personal he made the stories in this galaxy spanning war!
Damn good stuff from Mr. Sanders, I'm still shocked and awed at how personal he made the stories in this galaxy spanning war!
August 17, 2022
Intense, fast-paced by every convoluted.
The continuation of The Beast Arises series sees a variety of new characters across multiple worlds dealing with the Ork invasion. This little novel really sets the scene of this new threat in a galactic scale. The first part, in particular, was very moody and apocalyptic in feel, yet as the novel progresses, there's a ton of new characters introduced that feel too inconsequential or lacking, with only a few being memorable enough. The only recurring and returning character from the previous novel is Drakan Vangorich, and others that are mentioned at least once. It feels quite chaotic and too hectic at times, but I guess that's what this sequel is supposed to be all about: the chaos of the invasion and the negligence of the Imperium.
There's various events and characters to follow here, and while I think the stories are pretty interesting, there are so many and they progress too little. The Black Templar and the Allegra plotlines are particularly entertaining, giving us a glimpse into the interesting facets of the Imperium.
I think it's a decent sequel. Less intense and cohesive than the previous one, but more chaotic and fast-paced.
The continuation of The Beast Arises series sees a variety of new characters across multiple worlds dealing with the Ork invasion. This little novel really sets the scene of this new threat in a galactic scale. The first part, in particular, was very moody and apocalyptic in feel, yet as the novel progresses, there's a ton of new characters introduced that feel too inconsequential or lacking, with only a few being memorable enough. The only recurring and returning character from the previous novel is Drakan Vangorich, and others that are mentioned at least once. It feels quite chaotic and too hectic at times, but I guess that's what this sequel is supposed to be all about: the chaos of the invasion and the negligence of the Imperium.
There's various events and characters to follow here, and while I think the stories are pretty interesting, there are so many and they progress too little. The Black Templar and the Allegra plotlines are particularly entertaining, giving us a glimpse into the interesting facets of the Imperium.
I think it's a decent sequel. Less intense and cohesive than the previous one, but more chaotic and fast-paced.
February 15, 2017
i completely forgot to do a review of this book when i finished it last week.
It was pretty good, there were a lot of interesting plot points and characters, but overall, i kinda felt like most of this book was unnecessary. Which is a bit of a shame.
We saw a lot of POV from different worlds being affected by the Ork invasion. Which was fine... but other than giving us a perspective, it didn't actually feel like it added much to the story. The first chapter was a quick run down of how awful everything was going... and then we caught these chapters centered on specific people who... well... no spoilers... but had a series of very bad days.
But the stuff with the Inquisition and the Assassinorium, that was fun to read, and pretty important to the series' overall plot. I enjoyed those a great deal and really found myself wishing the whole book had been about that.
Taking a break from this series for a bit, while i read the first few Expanse books.
It was pretty good, there were a lot of interesting plot points and characters, but overall, i kinda felt like most of this book was unnecessary. Which is a bit of a shame.
We saw a lot of POV from different worlds being affected by the Ork invasion. Which was fine... but other than giving us a perspective, it didn't actually feel like it added much to the story. The first chapter was a quick run down of how awful everything was going... and then we caught these chapters centered on specific people who... well... no spoilers... but had a series of very bad days.
But the stuff with the Inquisition and the Assassinorium, that was fun to read, and pretty important to the series' overall plot. I enjoyed those a great deal and really found myself wishing the whole book had been about that.
Taking a break from this series for a bit, while i read the first few Expanse books.
August 27, 2017
While not a horrible book there were many issues. The most obvious of them would probably the writer's language. I have been reading the black library novels for over a decade and the only other novels I could think of that use such heavy verbage would be the Shira Calpernia series. Where that series was elegant though this one was heavy handed. There will be multiple times where entire sentences don't make sense because they're so deep in the lore. The story itself isn't the best either. While some of the many arcs are interesting they're hard to get invested in due to the blitzkrieg like style that is forced by the novels short length. It reads more as a set of short stories than a novel. At least it moved the over arcing story along.
November 8, 2021
Where the first book was purely a set up piece for the series overall, the second book feels like pointless fluff. It seems to be there to solely demonstrate the scale of the conflict that is happening but it fails to do that.
The story primarily bounces back and forth between several planets besieged by the Orks. The individual invasions are solid enough, showing the overwhelming force of the Orks but that's all it shows. There really is no tension or drama because they are trying to build the Orks are undefeatable because they have 10 more novels to go and the Orks can't be weakened at all at this point.
It was a solid enough read but after the first book's slow introduction, a hollow book like this wasn't a great follow up.
The story primarily bounces back and forth between several planets besieged by the Orks. The individual invasions are solid enough, showing the overwhelming force of the Orks but that's all it shows. There really is no tension or drama because they are trying to build the Orks are undefeatable because they have 10 more novels to go and the Orks can't be weakened at all at this point.
It was a solid enough read but after the first book's slow introduction, a hollow book like this wasn't a great follow up.
January 18, 2016
much inferior to "I am Slaughter". It has strong beginning, but then drags a lot in the middle. The ending is a OK, though and so is the book.
July 10, 2021
Si bien considero que esta novela no está a la altura del tomo #1, "Soy Masacre", sí tengo muchas cosas positivas para decir sobre ella. Sin embargo, me gustaría empezar por lo negativo, de manera de despejar toda duda al lector que se proponga leerla.
En cuanto al acto 1ero de la novela, a mi parecer le hizo falta más desarrollo y descripciones más atinadas. Por momentos se sintió como si los combates fueran apresurados o las descripciones no plasmaran correctamente el escenario al cual se estaba queriendo hacer alusión. Además, los primeros capítulos son un cúmulo de datos sobre la guerra aquí y allá que no permiten situarnos en ningún punto en concreto con precisión, simplemente nos cuentan que tal o cual sector, planeta o segmento tuvo millones de bajas o fue aniquilado, como si estuviéramos leyendo una lista de productos que debemos comprar en el supermercado.
A su vez, los primeros capítulos abusan del recurso narrativo y casi no tenemos interacciones entre ningún personaje, más allá del relato de hombres y mujeres que caen ante los arcos y los cuales deben escaparse de ellos.
Sin embargo, una vez que la novela deja atrás estos problemas y comienza a desarrollar la trama a través de sus personajes principales (algunos los cuales se retoman de la novela anterior y otros son enteramente nuevos para el lector), es cuando esta novela se transforma en una lectura placentera y un verdadero recuento de los hechos que están sumiendo al Imperio de la Humanidad en el caos y aniquilación absolutas.
Todos los personajes que sí tienen desarrollo me hicieron sentir muy a gusto, desde Drakan Vangorich, pasando por Bestia Krule, el capitán Thane, la capitana Allegra e incluso (a mi modo de ver), los antagonistas principales, que son los magos, servidores y tecnópatas que sirven al Dios-Máquina.
Los combates del segundo y tercer acto también se sintieron muy "Warhammer 40.000" (sin llegar a tener la tenacidad y el impacto de los combates de Dan Abnett, los cuales, en mi opinión, no tienen rival), pero por sobre todas las cosas, esta novela destacó en cuanto a las maquinaciones y conspiraciones que comenzó a desarrollar y que solamente se habían esbozado en la primera novela.
Todo lo negativo de esta novela se acabó muy rápido y para cuando llegamos al segundo acto reconocemos plenamente que estamos en una novela del universo de Warhammer 40.000. que tiene el derecho a ser mencionada como tal.
A modo de resumen, es una novela que disfruté mucho pero que siento que no está al nivel de la primera. Sin embargo, sí logró atraparme al punto de querer continuar con la historia y ver cómo la humanidad podrá (o no) hacer frente a la amenaza de los Orkos.
No la considero una lectura imprescindible pero sí una buena lectura para todos los amantes del grimdark, la ciencia ficción y las novelas dramáticas en general.
En cuanto al acto 1ero de la novela, a mi parecer le hizo falta más desarrollo y descripciones más atinadas. Por momentos se sintió como si los combates fueran apresurados o las descripciones no plasmaran correctamente el escenario al cual se estaba queriendo hacer alusión. Además, los primeros capítulos son un cúmulo de datos sobre la guerra aquí y allá que no permiten situarnos en ningún punto en concreto con precisión, simplemente nos cuentan que tal o cual sector, planeta o segmento tuvo millones de bajas o fue aniquilado, como si estuviéramos leyendo una lista de productos que debemos comprar en el supermercado.
A su vez, los primeros capítulos abusan del recurso narrativo y casi no tenemos interacciones entre ningún personaje, más allá del relato de hombres y mujeres que caen ante los arcos y los cuales deben escaparse de ellos.
Sin embargo, una vez que la novela deja atrás estos problemas y comienza a desarrollar la trama a través de sus personajes principales (algunos los cuales se retoman de la novela anterior y otros son enteramente nuevos para el lector), es cuando esta novela se transforma en una lectura placentera y un verdadero recuento de los hechos que están sumiendo al Imperio de la Humanidad en el caos y aniquilación absolutas.
Todos los personajes que sí tienen desarrollo me hicieron sentir muy a gusto, desde Drakan Vangorich, pasando por Bestia Krule, el capitán Thane, la capitana Allegra e incluso (a mi modo de ver), los antagonistas principales, que son los magos, servidores y tecnópatas que sirven al Dios-Máquina.
Los combates del segundo y tercer acto también se sintieron muy "Warhammer 40.000" (sin llegar a tener la tenacidad y el impacto de los combates de Dan Abnett, los cuales, en mi opinión, no tienen rival), pero por sobre todas las cosas, esta novela destacó en cuanto a las maquinaciones y conspiraciones que comenzó a desarrollar y que solamente se habían esbozado en la primera novela.
Todo lo negativo de esta novela se acabó muy rápido y para cuando llegamos al segundo acto reconocemos plenamente que estamos en una novela del universo de Warhammer 40.000. que tiene el derecho a ser mencionada como tal.
A modo de resumen, es una novela que disfruté mucho pero que siento que no está al nivel de la primera. Sin embargo, sí logró atraparme al punto de querer continuar con la historia y ver cómo la humanidad podrá (o no) hacer frente a la amenaza de los Orkos.
No la considero una lectura imprescindible pero sí una buena lectura para todos los amantes del grimdark, la ciencia ficción y las novelas dramáticas en general.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2024
Enjoyable but very simple trivial plot... It is simply a continuation of the first book in the series with the imperium getting destroyed by orcs. You get some insight into the mechanicum and their efforts to acquire orc tech. There are some politics happening between the assassinorum, inquisition, imperial navy and the imperial cult. The plot here does not really go forward. I enjoyed the dark templars and fists exemplars meeting and joining forces
August 12, 2025
A very different book from the first in the Beast Arises series which focused on a specific world and Chapter, this book broadens the scope and switches from world to world as the threat of the Orks becomes ever clearer. Although the writing was good, the switching focus does negatively affect the detail and stakes slightly.
August 25, 2025
After finishing the Horus Heresy, I was eager to hear more of what happened to the survivors. Aside from a throw away line here and there -there’s one in this book about one of the Primarchs- there’s Heresy is treated like some long-ago event. For something that happened a millennium prior (not long in an Astartes’ measure of time) it’s sad how intently they’ve moved on from it.
October 29, 2024
No está mal pero todo lo de mechanicus me aburre muchísimo. Máquinas esto magos lo otro, a quien le importa. La parte de la fortaleza de los astartes es buenísima, Maximus Tane es más duro que un muro.
April 25, 2022
Wow! It keeps the same fast pace as the first novel. Action packed, grim dark, and epic!
April 21, 2023
I'm really enjoying this series based on the orks.....and the Imperial Fists. Good installment that kept up the pace and action.
Read
February 27, 2024Muchos orcos. Pero todavía no los suficientes.
February 7, 2025
Nothing of import really happens during this book, but it's all really damn cool. Loads of great grimdark moments throughout
February 9, 2025
Nowhere near enough daka... Praying to Form and Mork for more in the next one.
June 15, 2025
Good read.
Lots of action. Good character building. Variety of character personalities and perspectives. This is so far pulling me through this series.
Lots of action. Good character building. Variety of character personalities and perspectives. This is so far pulling me through this series.
January 20, 2016
"As far as continuations go, Sanders elaborates more on the initial appearance and immediate effect of the orks than on the progression of their hellish crusade. Where I Am Slaughter focused its narrative primarily between Terra and Ardamantua (site of the utter decimation of the Imperial Fists), Predator, Prey opens with a chapter-long battle report of planets, systems, and industrial sites that were obliterated by the appearance of the attack moon of the Beast. Sanders seems to have some fun here assigning clever names to worlds, and describing them fully in a sentence or two, before snuffing them out entirely.
From there, he splits his book between accounts of different characters, playing their parts in this grand tragedy. Some we are already familiar with (Vangorich, Wienand, and other players on Terra). Others are new faces, including:
Lux Allegra - an Imperial Guard commander on the aquatic hive world of Undine. She begins the story on an escort detail trying to extract the planetary governor amidst the unfolding chaos.
Urquidex - an Adeptus Mechanicus magos attached to a survey team gathering information on this new ork technology. Well, it goes deeper than that, of course. It also involves a nasty little mantra known as the Bystander Paradox, which is a clinic in terrifyingly callous logic.
Maximus Thane - a Space Marine of the Fists Exemplar (a Second Founding Chapter). As a Captain, he finds himself the senior ranking Astartes of his Chapter, and must rally them to hold through the night of impossible odds on their planet of Eidolica.
There are also some other chapters dedicated to characters who play supporting roles in this volume, including the Fabricator Locum of an AdMech forge world, and a Marshal of the Black Templars.
Let's take a look at how each of these arcs fare:
First of all, I enjoyed the scenes on Terra more in this second volume. Vangorich is a tighter, more focused character here; still revealing nothing while simultaneously plotting all options and outcomes. The political intriguing; a real low point of I Am Slaughter, is done in a slicker and more plausible manner. The cogs in some real power moves are beginning to turn; one involving a bold show of force by Naval Commander Lansung, and another regarding machinations and preparations by the AdMech.
The scenes on Undine are where Sanders hits both his highest and lowest points in the book. The world-building here is impeccable; involving socio-economic systems and factors, believable environmental considerations, and imaginative megafauna. The military forces are well-realized and the characters sympathetic. However, the emotional aspects are a little forced at times. There is one scene in particular, where Allegra snatches up a little urchin while squaring off against a greenskin monstrosity that was more than a bit reminiscent of Ripley and Newt evading the Xenomorph Queen. Also, some might feel that making Allegra pregnant (and continually rubbing her belly) is indenturing readers to an emotional obligation predicated on the usage of a growing baby as a convenient prop. Or not. I honestly liked Allegra and felt bad for her plight.
What did bother me were two scenes which were resolved via deus ex machina. Not that there isn't a time and a place for that particular plot device, but what was missed were two opportunities for Allegra to show her mettle in thinking on the fly and under extreme pressure.
Moving along. I really enjoyed the scenes with Magos Urquidex. Now, the less said the better here, due to spoilers and all. But, Sanders proves in these chapters why he deserves top consideration for AdMech stories. He knows how to bring for the best semblances of emotion from a faction that does its best to suppress it. And yet, he does it without compromising the legitimacy of the AdMech. Again, we have a very sympathetic character in Urquidex; one who takes issues with some of his protocols, yet follows his duty well.
This brings us to Maximus Thane. with the Fists Exemplar, Sanders creates another Successor Fists Chapter (his Excoriators, true highlights of Legion of the Damned, get a name drop here). The Exemplars embody Dorn's values, and like with his AdMech characters, Sanders makes these Astartes completely sympathetic, likable, and genuine, without making them any less "Space Marine". The world-building of Eidolica is nice, though not as thorough as Undine. The focus of these chapters is trained more on introducing these characters, and providing the bulk of the novel's high action."
You can read my full review here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
From there, he splits his book between accounts of different characters, playing their parts in this grand tragedy. Some we are already familiar with (Vangorich, Wienand, and other players on Terra). Others are new faces, including:
Lux Allegra - an Imperial Guard commander on the aquatic hive world of Undine. She begins the story on an escort detail trying to extract the planetary governor amidst the unfolding chaos.
Urquidex - an Adeptus Mechanicus magos attached to a survey team gathering information on this new ork technology. Well, it goes deeper than that, of course. It also involves a nasty little mantra known as the Bystander Paradox, which is a clinic in terrifyingly callous logic.
Maximus Thane - a Space Marine of the Fists Exemplar (a Second Founding Chapter). As a Captain, he finds himself the senior ranking Astartes of his Chapter, and must rally them to hold through the night of impossible odds on their planet of Eidolica.
There are also some other chapters dedicated to characters who play supporting roles in this volume, including the Fabricator Locum of an AdMech forge world, and a Marshal of the Black Templars.
Let's take a look at how each of these arcs fare:
First of all, I enjoyed the scenes on Terra more in this second volume. Vangorich is a tighter, more focused character here; still revealing nothing while simultaneously plotting all options and outcomes. The political intriguing; a real low point of I Am Slaughter, is done in a slicker and more plausible manner. The cogs in some real power moves are beginning to turn; one involving a bold show of force by Naval Commander Lansung, and another regarding machinations and preparations by the AdMech.
The scenes on Undine are where Sanders hits both his highest and lowest points in the book. The world-building here is impeccable; involving socio-economic systems and factors, believable environmental considerations, and imaginative megafauna. The military forces are well-realized and the characters sympathetic. However, the emotional aspects are a little forced at times. There is one scene in particular, where Allegra snatches up a little urchin while squaring off against a greenskin monstrosity that was more than a bit reminiscent of Ripley and Newt evading the Xenomorph Queen. Also, some might feel that making Allegra pregnant (and continually rubbing her belly) is indenturing readers to an emotional obligation predicated on the usage of a growing baby as a convenient prop. Or not. I honestly liked Allegra and felt bad for her plight.
What did bother me were two scenes which were resolved via deus ex machina. Not that there isn't a time and a place for that particular plot device, but what was missed were two opportunities for Allegra to show her mettle in thinking on the fly and under extreme pressure.
Moving along. I really enjoyed the scenes with Magos Urquidex. Now, the less said the better here, due to spoilers and all. But, Sanders proves in these chapters why he deserves top consideration for AdMech stories. He knows how to bring for the best semblances of emotion from a faction that does its best to suppress it. And yet, he does it without compromising the legitimacy of the AdMech. Again, we have a very sympathetic character in Urquidex; one who takes issues with some of his protocols, yet follows his duty well.
This brings us to Maximus Thane. with the Fists Exemplar, Sanders creates another Successor Fists Chapter (his Excoriators, true highlights of Legion of the Damned, get a name drop here). The Exemplars embody Dorn's values, and like with his AdMech characters, Sanders makes these Astartes completely sympathetic, likable, and genuine, without making them any less "Space Marine". The world-building of Eidolica is nice, though not as thorough as Undine. The focus of these chapters is trained more on introducing these characters, and providing the bulk of the novel's high action."
You can read my full review here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
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