Book Review: Legends of the Space Marines

I thought I’d start this blog by reviewing a Black Library publication I recently finished (Christmas being an opportune time for catching up on a spot of reading). The book in question, Legends of the Space Marines, is a collection of short stories focusing on various different Space Marine Chapters (including some of the lesser known, such as the Mantis Warriors and Doom Eagles) by some of the Black Library‘s most renowned authors (including Graham McNeill and James Swallow).

For me, this book was brilliant. Although I’m an avid fan of Space Marines (who can resist an 8 foot tall super-human warrior, afterall), I’m always somewhat narked by the way GW concentrate on the three Chapters they’ve chosen are the most important: Ultramarines; Blood Angles; and, to a lesser extent, the Space Wolves. Even the wonderfully gothic and brooding Dark Angels have somewhat dropped off the radar of late. As a Space Wolves player this may sound somewhat hypocritical, but I wish they made more of the hundreds of different Space Marine Chapters with their endless variety of interpretations on the doctines of the Imperial Cult and the Codex Astartes. So, when GW release something like Legends of the Space Marines, I pounce on it like a rabid animal. Anything that adds more depth to this area of the fluff.

Thankfully, it doesn’t disappoint. The stories are incredibly varied, detailing a broad spectrum of different Chapters each with their different ideologies and associated problems. Personal highlights include ‘The Returned’ by James Swallow that goes some way toward exploring the Doom Eagles Chapter and their beliefs, and ‘Orphans of the Kraken’ by Richard Williams. ‘The Returned’, for me, is a particularly great bit of short story writing. I was gripped from start to finish, staying up until 3 am (ignoring the Ashes I might add!) because I simply had to know how things turned out in the end.

The only minus point I can level at the whole thing is that it includes a story by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. It’s not that I don’t like his ideas or plot lines. In fact, as an ideas man, he’s excellent. However, as a writer, he sucks the proverbial! For some reason he seems to find it impossible to stick with a single narrative style, constantly switching between first- and third-person in the middle of a scene. Whether he does this on purpose (because he somehow thinks this is cool and hip and different) or simply by accident I don’t know. What I do know is that it breaks a cardinal rule of writing – a cardinal rule for one very simple reason, it’s bl**dy confusing and breaks any suspense that’s been built up.

Sadly this story, ‘At Gaius Point’, is the last one in the book, so, despite the great fiction that had gone before, I was left with something of a sour taste in my mouth. However, the rest of the book is truly excellent. Anyone who is interested in Space Marine fluff should read this book.