Salamander (Tome of Fire Series) Book

I'm confessing straight away that I'm writing this through rose tinted glasses. I love the 40k universe and as far as I'm concerned it takes a lot to really cock it up. Had I judged this solely for the writing style and skill of the author then this would score a very poor 1 star, however, its space marines fighting aliens and heretics. There are explosions, corrupted ambitions, space battles, warp creatures and even a fortress siege. You can't ask for more action or drama and although the descriptive writing can get tiresome it does allow your imagination to run wild.

Given that this is pretty much my go to universe of choice and that I have spent more time than I can fathom in the war torn distant future, this novel did give me my literary fix but left me short of being satisfied. If you are looking for a starting point for 40k this is probably not what you want. I was able to plug gaps in the story from my background knowledge that would have otherwise caused the story to be confusing or at the very least disjointed. Novels by the likes of Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill or William King would be a much better introduction into the genre.

That said there was enough in this novel to engage my curiosity so I'm now the proud owner of the other two novels in the trilogy (Firedrake & Nocturne) and look forward to seeing how the story unravels and how the characters develop. So overall not the best 40k novel I've ever read but still very enjoyable.