[40k Review] Redemption Corps - Rob Sanders

Redemption Corps – Rob Sanders

I’m a Space Marines guy. I have tons of the minis and tons of the books. My experiences with the Black Library have been, until recently, almost entirely devoted to the Astartes. I read Dan Abnett’s Titanicus and liked it a lot. Then I thought about Legion and realized how much I appreciated the portrayal of the guardsmen in that. So I began venturing into the world of the Imperial Guard, finding that it is an exciting and fascinatingly diverse world. With that in mind, I picked up Rob Sanders’ debut for the Black Library, Redemption Corps.

Redemption Corps, at its heart, is almost like the A-Team of the Imperial Guard. Focusing around Major Zane Mortensen and his group of hardened storm-troopers the Redemption Corps—the creative titling of the guard books continues!—the rag tag bunch is the, for lack of a better phrase, impossible missions squad in their respective sector. We follow them on a campaign—and I use this term loosely as it’s really a few missions—that sees them involved in quashing a shipboard mutiny, infiltrating a death world and participating in a prison break. This all sounds really great; however, the construction of the plot is maddening at times, and convoluted with others.

Sanders is clearly a good writer. His characterization—which I’ll go into later—is really well done and his prose style is readable and intelligent—he makes some clever references to playwright Christopher Marlowe and philosopher Jeremy Benthem (which are, sadly, probably a fair number of readers) that really flexes his literary acumen—but the pacing and plot direction of Redemption Corps is all over the place. One of the major issues I had was Sanders’ decision to tell the story through flashes forward sprinkled within the present-time plot. Lost is one of my favorite television shows ever, so I’m no stranger to time-jumping narration; however, it just doesn’t work here. We see things happen early that we have absolutely no build up or precedence for. It left me feeling really confused. Everything sort of meshes together at the end of the novel, but it was really unsatisfying.

Another problem spinning out of the flashes is Sanders’ understanding of the Sisters of Battle. I can’t really say it’s a characterization problem, because the characters are fleshed out relatively well, but the use of the Sororitas in Redemption Corps is questionable. Without revealing plot points, the Sisters are used very poorly and with a seemingly poor understanding of their nature and background.

It is because of this—and again, I think it’s a lack of understanding on Sanders’ part—that we’re left with a novel that finishes in a very contrived, and ultimately unexplained, way. Stuff happens that really left me shaking my head, thinking, “Huh?” It’s almost as if Sanders wanted to throw a lot of different flavors from the 40k universe into one book, but didn’t know how to effectively do it.

On a more positive note, I absolutely loved Mortensen and his Redemption Corp squad mates. Mortenson’s back story is fleshed out really well, and his compatriots are given enough non-generic flavor to keep them interesting. I want to read another story about the Redemption Corps. In addition, the character cadet-commisar Kreig is a nice addition to the novel. He’s works well as a foil to Mortensen, and grows really believably as a character throughout the novel. Sanders created a really likeable group of characters that ultimately redeem a lot of the book.

Redemption Corps is a flawed book, but is by no means terrible. Rob Sanders is a very capable writer; he proves this sporadically throughout the novel. However, Redemption Corps is plagued with a myriad of small problems that lead to a read that left me a bit wanting. The questionable choice in plot construction, the poor understanding of the Sisters of Battle, and a contrived ending make Redemption Corps a tough pill to swallow. However, Zane Mortensen and crew prove their namesake and ultimately redeem Rob Sanders’ first Black Library effort.

(6.0/10) Cautiously Recommended