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wittdooley
04-13-2010, 11:20 AM
As anyone involved with any collectible hobby knows, things go out of print and then become hard to find, and damned expensive. When I first got into the hobby, I remember seeing a copy of Life of Sigmar at my local store and being disinterested in it. That same book goes for $120 minimum now online. So when I saw that the Black Library was doing a series of limited run books online, I jumped at the opportunity to purchase the first offering, Iron Warrior.

Because the book is a bit different than a traditional Black Library offering, I’ll be doing this review a bit differently, and in two parts. First, we’ll look at the story itself and I’ll do a shorter version of a normal review. Then, I’ll look at the…special features, as it were, of this collector’s edition.

The Story
Iron Warrior, written by Graham McNeill, is an offshoot story from his Ultramarines series focusing on Warsmith Honsou and his legion of Iron Warrior traitor marines. I haven’t read the Ultramarine series, so sadly I cannot place this story in a proper canonical timeline; however, McNeill makes it quite clear early in the novella that Honsou has some serious spite for Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines.

Due to this hatred, Honsou sets off to strike a blow at the Ultramarines, seeking to release a Demon Prince, the Thrice Born, from his captivity and unleash him on the Ultramarines. The real story here is that the Thrice Born is imprisoned at the heart of the warp core of the Ultramarines star fort Indomitable. What results is a fast and brutal novella centered on the Iron Warriors siege of Indomitable that does a really nice job capturing the nature and spirit of Intergalactic Naval siege warfare.

McNeill is in top form here, delivering a narrative that moves at a blistering pace—and rightly so, as he has only 90 pages to tell the story—and introduces characters that make delicious villains. Honsou is brutal and efficient, and is a credible threat throughout the entire novella. While Honsou is the star of the show, I found myself constantly compelled by Adarric Vaanes, one of Honsou’s compatriots whose history is written with other marine chapters. Without divulging too much, suffice it to say that Vaanes is a character that I REALLY want to hear more about, and I think his internal conflict could really fill some pages.

The story of the siege is quite good for a 90-page novella. McNeill does a really nice job of creating some interesting characters and writing some great battle scenes, with a surprise battle at the end that I really enjoyed. The pacing is fluid and the story achieves its purpose, and it really makes me want to read more, both about the Iron Warriors and Warsmith Honsou, as well as the Ultramarines he so loathes.

The Extras
One of the real selling points of Iron Warriors is the collector’s edition features it boasts. The Black Library has already shown with the Space Marine Battles series that they’re looking to branch out into a more artistic territory with their novels, and Iron Warriors is the first in what seems to be their ‘premium’ editions.

The novella is nicely hardbound in a similar fashion to the earlier Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer, and is laid out accordingly. Intermittently throughout the book are sketches depicting the wargear of the Iron Warriors as it is discussed in the narrative. It is a really nice addition to the story, with my personal favorite being of the xenos race the Ioxtyl, as it adds a good visual to what you’re reading about. If you like the black and white style sketches in the Uplifting Primer, then you’ll like them here. The real star, however, is the eight page full color spread in the center of the book depicting Honsou, Vaanes, and more of their compatriots, as well as a blueprint of Indomitable. I really like these additions, as it helps to flesh out the characters, and the image of Vaanes is particularly nice.

The books is priced a bit high (30£/$45) and I think it would be quite a bit more palatable at a $25-$35 price range, but you’re paying for collectability here, and as it’s already sold out on BL Online, others seem to agree. I think the overall value suffers due to the high price point, but for Black Library collectors, this is a must have. McNeill’s strong story, coupled with really nice production quality, make Iron Warriors a good buy, but, due to price, not a must buy.

(7/10) Recommend, unless you’re on a budget.

Sparda
04-14-2010, 03:09 AM
*SPOLER WARNING FROM THE ULTRAMARINES SERIES*



What happens to the clone of Uriel? Is he involved in the book at all? And Vaanes is a awesome character, I loved him in Dead Sky, Black Sun and cant wait for the new Ultramarine book.

wittdooley
04-14-2010, 05:07 AM
He is, and he and Vaanes have a lot of interaction. The Newborn, correct? There's also a really gruesome picture of him in the book.

Sparda
04-14-2010, 08:02 AM
Yeah that's him, thanks. I was going to say awesome, I'm going to buy it then saw it was sold out, ugh. I hope they do what they did with Space Hulk and just "happen" to find a ton of copies laying around. T_T

wittdooley
04-14-2010, 08:22 AM
Yeah that's him, thanks. I was going to say awesome, I'm going to buy it then saw it was sold out, ugh. I hope they do what they did with Space Hulk and just "happen" to find a ton of copies laying around. T_T

I wouldn't get the hopes too high... each copy is numbered and signed.

Duke
04-14-2010, 10:42 AM
Great review buddy, too bad it's too late to get the book, you make it sound very compelling, even at that price point.

wittdooley
04-14-2010, 11:49 AM
I imagine they'll re-release it in some format; my guess would be that it'll be without some of the bonuses. PS Duke, your BAs look great!

robertsjf
04-14-2010, 12:06 PM
I imagine they'll re-release it in some format

Don't count on that. Look at the print version of the Dark King/Lightning Tower. That's only seen one format.

Personally, this would have been great in a "Battle for Black Reach" or "Space Hulk: The Novel" format...

wittdooley
04-14-2010, 01:01 PM
Don't count on that. Look at the print version of the Dark King/Lightning Tower. That's only seen one format.

Personally, this would have been great in a "Battle for Black Reach" or "Space Hulk: The Novel" format...

Except that they re-released Dark King/Lightning Tower as an audio book. I bought it from BL Online like... 2 weeks ago.

The art wouldn't have worked in a Assault on Black Reach format.

Extinction Angel
04-15-2010, 09:08 AM
At this point I just want the story. I'd accept a PDF of nothing but the story, no pictures.