Savage Scars (White Scars Series) Book

If you liked the first two books, you'll probably like this one. It has problems, though, including problems that the first two didn't have.

First off is the villains. The Inquisitor and the Cardinal are suitably villainous, but they get less screen time than they need. The Tau get far more time, but while they have cool fighting tech, they're not given a chance to be characters or villains either. We don't see them do evil; we just see them fight the Imperial troops who landed on their planet. It's hard to get excited about that. Maybe I'm old, but then again maybe fights are better to watch if you have an emotional investment in the outcome.

Another failing is that, while this book is in a Rogue Trader trilogy, there's way more time devoted to Space Marines than any of the Rogue Trader characters. I have nothing against Space Marines, but there are already lots of Space Marine books; they don't need to conquer adjacent novels in the name of the Emperor.

The resolution has a bit of Deus Ex Machina about it; we see hints of diplomacy and the possibility of the Tau and Imperium working together, but we see little of it in action. The two potential heirs never entirely settle things; they just don't die. I wanted resolutions to a lot of arcs, and I don't entirely feel like I got them.