Review: Blood Reaver by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Details:
Blood Reaver by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
A Night Lords Novel

Black Library Publishing

416 pages

Description:

Driven on by their hatred of the False Emperor, the Night Lords stalk the shadows of the galaxy, eternally seeking revenge for the death of their primarch. Their dark quest leads them to a fractious alliance with the Red Corsairs, united only by a common enemy. Together with this piratical band of renegades, they bring their ways of destruction to the fortress-monastery of the Marines Errant.

http://blacklibrary.com

Review:

To be fair I have been anticipating Blood Reaver for a long time. I read Soul Hunter and loved it. Best book of 2010. I had some reservations on whether ADB could top his previous novel in the series. They were totally unfounded.


Blood Reaver as a sequel or part of an ongoing series of novels, short stories, audio dramas works beautifully. Mr. Dembski-Bowden does a fantastic job with characterization. You can't help but dig the characters. They all have a distinct voice. I think it is fair to say that these stand up nicely as stand alone stories too. The author does a fine job in keeping the plot largely contained and anything referring to previous plots/ stories is nicely explained without violating the show vs. tell "rule". Really nicely done.


The plot is pretty tight. Everything comes together nicely. Almost too nicely. There were instances where I felt that the author loved his characters too much: they were just too good. They fight better, plan better, do all the right things. For the most part I was wrong. The characters DO get in trouble. ADB does an excellent job in giving the reader surprises without resorting the the lame swtcheroo, or last minute twist. Important characters do die.


The characters we all know and love are all there. Talos is of course stellar. Cyrion, Xarl, Uzas, Mercutian, Septimus, Octavia. The old crew, still present. New faces arrive on scene and become crucial. You can't help but feel for them. All of the characters get some attention, but most especially Uzas, which was surprising, and most excellent. The Exalted has an excellent part in this, and the expansion on him is most welcome. I was very happy with how he was fleshed out. Ruven as well. Some wonderful scenes with him. Overall, Aaron Dembski-Bowden makes wonderful characters we all admire/ hate, laugh/cry with. These aren't two-dimensional cardboard cut-out characters that are easily created and tossed away. These are lovingly crafted, detailed characters that the author puts through the wringer.


There are some juicy secrets illuminated in this novel. A little more of the curtain around the Eighth Legion pulled back. It's all good stuff. ADB is a horrible tease. You can't help but feel that Talos is fighting a losing battle: trying to restore the legion to former glories in some way. It is SO interesting to see how the night Lords aren't a Chaos Legion per se. They certainly are no Word Bearers, but you can see how so many of the Legion's finest have fallen from the original path as renegades, traitors. So many have been twisted in to something monsterous (as if being a post-human superman killing machine wasn't monsterous enough). So many are compromised by chaos in one way or another.Uzas is just an obvious example, but all of them are in some way compromised. You can't help but love Septimus and Octavia. Both now faced with this corruption daily, living with it...surviving in spite of it. Haven't I mentioned that the characters are awesome? Yeah, they really are.


I was discussing with a friend of mine about how Aaron Dembski-Bowden has a very unique writing style. In some ways it almost feels anachronistic. he writes so succinctly, direct, in your face. His descriptions feel very personal, real and in many cases fit today's language and nuance. Something young adults and adults in 2011 would easily recognize and understand, but in relationship to the "Grim Dark Future" are almost out of place. Almost. I can't explain why, but it works. Maybe it's just his style, and we forgive it because he writes everything else so beautifully. I don't know. I think if someone else tried it it wouldn't necessarily work, or work near as well. It's THE ADB STYLE, and like the Dan'verse, it is unique to the author. I think it is brilliant. It totally works. I think it is part of what makes ADB the rockstar he is today.


We get some fun glimpses in to the Red Corsiars, Marines Errant, their characters, and their vibe. Now I want to see more about the Red Corsairs and the Tyrant of Badab, Huron Blackheart. Fantastic character. I hate him.


Cover art by Jon Sullivan is of course excellent. Jon never fails to satisfy.

Rating:

Aaron Dembski-Bowden has proved again that he is a powerhouse of a writer. A damn fine tale of betrayal, regret and vengeance.
Ave Dominus Nox.

4.5 out of 5 Stars.

Review: Fall of Damnos by Nick Kyme

Details:
Fall of Damnos, Nick Kyme
A Space Marine Battles Novel

Black Library Publishing

416 pages

Advance Review Copy

Description:

When Damnos is hit by cataclysmic earthquakes, an ancient force is awakened. Deep beneath the earth, the necrons rise from their slumber to decimate the human populace. All appears lost until salvation comes from the heavens – the Ultramarines brave an orbital bombardment to deploy their forces on Damnos, led by two legendary warriors – Captain Cato Sicarius and Chief Librarian Tigurius.
They are the planet's last, great hope against the remorseless alien foes, but tensions within their ranks threaten to derail victory. As battle rages on Damnos, and the Ultramarines seek to defeat their soulless enemies, Tigurius receives a terrible vision – a vision telling of the death of a hero... http://blacklibrary.com

Review:

So we have Space Marines, Ultramarines no less versus Necrons. Second Company, Captain Sicarius and the poster boys of Games Workshop and Space Undead: two of the single most dreaded subjects of most 40k readers. If you're around online, on 40k forums you hear the constant bleating of how Space Marines are boring and how Ultramarines are the most boring of the boring. "Vanilla Marines" they call them. At the initial sight of this novel I can just foresee the "groan" of Space Marine haters the world over.

Add to this Necrons; space undead. Not exactly easy to get folks interested in. Neither of them really: Ultramarines OR Necrons.
Ultramarines and Space Undead, those characters can't be deep, compelling or sympathetic. Right?

Wrong. 
Nick Kyme proves everyone dead wrong.

I have to really hand it to Mr. Kyme. He's taken what could be a disaster of subject matter, the ultimate in boring subjects and breathes life in to in a way I would have never guessed.

First off, as some of the best authors of 40k fiction have already expressed, Space Marines are not boring. They can have depth to them. Hypno-indoctrinated superhumans they may be, but they still have all the failing of mere mortals: anger, jealousy and hunbris. The striving for glory is something that really shines within the Ultramarines and it is quickly shown to be a chink in the armour of the Second Company.

As Nick Kyme shows us, straight away we are thrust in to a world where the "perfectness" of the Ultramarines is tested. First off, there is trouble within the chapter and nowhere else is it as clear as within the Second Company. Internal squabbles and strife threaten to undermine the entire deployment. At the heart of this are several of Sicarius' Veteran Sergeants. We get to see the struggle through their eyes and we get a varied perspective on the internal politics of the Chapter as well as the fight against the Necrons. We see personality flaws clearly, mistakes made, hubris shown and dearly paid for. The Ultramarines Second Company certainly pays dearly in this campaign.

On the other side of the battle lines there are the Necrons. I've never seen such characterization of something so...dead before. Prior to this Necrons have been illustrated as typically undead, unfeeling and largely uninteresting antagonists. They awake and snuff out all life. They are no better than the Tyranids. A faceless enemy out to wipe out everything else. Blegh.

When I started reading the first paragraphs of Mr. Kyme telling the Necron side of the tale I was taken aback. My suspension of disbelief was shocked. I got a taste of what it must be like to be as ancient as the stars, hungering, needing, the pain of being lost, craving flesh and utter hatred of the living. It was awe inspiring. So many things I had never considered were laid bare. in-depth explaiantion through prose on how the various sects and divisions within the Necrontyr actually WORK. Warhammer 40k fans who play Necrons are going to geek out so hard on this their head is going to spin. Without a doubt this is *THE* definitive book for Necron fans. Absolutely required reading.

I've read all of Graham McNeill's Ultramarines novels telling the tales of Uriel Ventris and his 4th Company, and they are good. Mr. McNeill weaves a great yarn and has proven Ultramarines can be fun to read about. Now Nick Kyme is ascending to tell of the Glorious 2nd Company and it appears Mr. McNeill has a Challenge to the Throne of Macragge!

To be fair, The stories of McNeill's 4th Company and Kyme's 2nd Company are completely distinct. They stand nicely on their own as excellent examples of how Space Marines are interesting subjects, and how the "perfect" can be so flawed...human. The Ultramarines in Fall of Damnos are actually very different from Nick Kymes's previous work on the Salamanders Chapter, which is a testament to his versatility as a writer (I know I expected a bit of similarity, redundancy, re-hashing of the same-ol, same-ol. I was happily surprised in Mr. Kyme's ability to keep his work distinct...unique.)

The characters in Fall of Damnos are very rich. Even the venerable brothers encased in Dreadnought sarcophagi are compelling characters. Sicarius is played fairly close to the vest. I would have liked to see more in to his psyche. We get a view in to him and his command squad and I would like to see more of them, but maybe that is saved for later tales. Kyme started something very cool in Battle for Macragge, and it is played out nicely in this novel. (I'd say more but I don't want to spoil the plot/ key subplots)

Internally there is a planetary map, and a nice Order of Battle sheet which is quite useful in keeping track of who is who.

The cover art by Jon Sullivan is perfect (probably my favorite of his in this series). It clearly gives the appropriate feeling of creepy wrongness of the vile Necrons.

Rating:

This is a damn fine read! nick Kyme shows he can weave a tale and make Ultramarines, Necrons even Dreanoughts compelling as characters. HUZZAH!

Any shortcomings in the plot were negligible. I only wanted MORE of it. Nick Kyme has a firm grasp of what it means to tell a tale in the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium: characters die, and nobody is safe. Even the mighty are flawed and the smallest of characters can shine as brightly as a superhuman.

4.5 out of 5 Stars.

Review: Marvel versus Capcom 3 by Capcom

Details:
Name: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: February 15, 2011
Type: Fighting
Version: Special Edition
Reviewed by Earl Davis

Description:
After a decade of waiting, iconic Marvel and Capcom characters join forces again in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, a re-envisioned team fighting game for a new generation of gamers. Fill the shoes of legendary characters from both the Marvel and Capcom universes as you engage in 3-on-3 battles within living comic book art style environments powered by Capcom's MT Framework, an advanced version of the graphics engine used for Resident Evil 5.


Review:
The last time a new Marvel vs. Capcom title was released, the world was a different place. The iPod was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye, Y2K was a looming threat on the horizon and arcades were still operating in malls across America. It’s a dollars to donuts wager to suggest that most people probably can’t even remember the last time they saw an arcade. At the time, it was a destination game; a source of pride for loyal players eager to drop endless streams of quarters and expletives.

Fast forward more than a decade, America has changed. In 2000, nothing actually happened and we realized that our fears were ridiculous. In 2001, we grew up and learned that the things we should fear the most are the ones we’ll never see coming. The years flew by as advances in technology made everything smaller, faster and more powerful. Arcades became a thing of the past and the console wars challenged publishers to up their game. Capcom took up the challenge and released Marvel vs. Capcom 3 into this brave new world of home based and high-speed multiplayer gaming.

At its root, Marvel vs. Capcom remains unchanged. It is a “2D” fighter, featuring three man teams selected from a roster of characters taken from various Marvel and Capcom titles such as the X-MEN, Avengers, Street Fighter and Resident Evil. Anyone who has ever dreamed of smacking Chun-Li around with She-Hulk can now have their cross-over fight club fantasies realized in high definition.

The game runs at a fast pace and I was able to complete the basic arcade mode in just under thirty minutes gathering several trophies (achievements for all you xbox folk) along the way. Let’s face it though, the value of any fighting lies not in the initial play through but in the subsequent replay value. MvC3 is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to replay. With a bevy of characters, each sporting a variety of moves and combinations, this game gives players plenty of replay value.

Gameplay:
With MvC3, the game play is old hat to anyone who has played any of the series’ previous entries or any other fighting game produced in modern era. Players select teams of three characters and duke it out using special moves, flashy combos attacks and “hyper” combos which are special finishers boasting ridiculous damage. Tag moves, character switching and even the over-sized, over-powered final boss remain constants in the core game play mechanic as well. However, there are a few notable that help keep this game from being just a rehash of MvC2.

The first notable change is on the character select screen. MvC2 boasted a total character count over fifty, depending on which version you played. Capcom decided to pare that number down to thirty-six and the game is better off for it. Each move set has a unique feel and even the character’s that feel like clones on the surface, for example Wolverine/X-23 or Magneto/Dr. Doom, shine as individuals after a little play time.
Control scheme is the focus of the second major change to the series. Capcom has merged the schemes from MvC2 with the traditional Street Fighter style controls to create something new. The four face buttons map to Light Attack, Medium Attack, Heavy Attack and Special Attack (not to be confused with Special Moves). The top trigger (bumper for xbox) buttons are the Assist buttons which swap out team members or call them in for tag-team attacks. It’s an extremely responsive system and friendly to both the casual button masher and the grizzled 2D veteran.

The final notable change is a small one but it is brilliant; the Advanced Guard. Many years ago, one arcade junkie rotated a joystick forward with a quarter degree turn, pressed a punch button and the first Hadoken was thrown. Thus, the first fireball spammer was born. Now, instead of getting constantly pinned to the opposite wall and forced to engage in fireball war, savvy players can press an easy button combination and block while moving forward. There are few greater pleasures in gaming than finally getting to go Hulk-smash on Ryu.

MvC3 isn’t all roses and nerd-gasms, though. A few problems exist and keep the game from perfection. The decision to continue the tradition of undersized, yet overpowered characters creates some frustrating game moments that will have some players screaming “bullsh!t” at their consoles. I’m talking to you Amaterasu and Viewtiful Joe. These characters cannot be hit by a large number of normal attacks and their hyper combos are begging to be nerfed in a future path. I’m as enamored as anyone at Amaterasu’s striking water colors. It shouldn’t cost me half a health bar every time I see them.

Also, Capcom decided to allow “Simple” controls as a selectable option for Ranked online matches. I was beaten at my first six ranked matches in a row. Everyone was pulling off the same moves only a fraction faster than I could. It wasn’t until I noticed that I could turn on “Simple” for a ranked match that I understood why. This means that players can invoke special moves and combos with a single button mash. There is no way for standard players to compete with that speed. It’s something that Capcom needs to address for there to be any validity to the Leaderboard rankings.

Visuals:
This game is beautiful. Period. There are no visual glitches and all of the frames come through with stunning vibrancy at 720p. The backgrounds and models are stunning. Every time a new stage or character is selected, I highly recommend setting the timer to infinite and taking a few minutes to soak up the details.

Audio (Voice):
Capcom went above and beyond with the voice acting. Select Deadpool , listen very carefully, and you’ll understand exactly what I mean. His one liners alone are worth a good portion of the admission price.

Audio (Music):
It’s a generic techno-mix that doesn’t overpower the game. Capcom keeps the music mixed low against the game sounds and voice acting, so it doesn’t detract from the other audio which is far superior.

Plot/ Story:
What? If you think it will have a coherent story, then you obviously haven’t played a fighting game before.

Achievements:
Most of these are easy to get and are based around winning matches with specific team members, like the Avengers or completing a specified move count, like 100 hyper combos. A few are online based, but nothing out of reach for most players.

Extras:
MvC3: Special Edition comes with a metal case, a mini comic book, three decals featuring MvC3 characters/moves, a one month subscription to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited and two downloadable characters, Jill Valentine and Shuma-Gorath. The mini-comic and decals are laughable at best, unless you are eight years old. Unfortunately, MDCU is online 9.99 a month. With a price tag at 99.99 for the special edition, this means that consumers are paying an extra $30.00 for a sub-par comic, a few stickers and two DLC characters that can’t be used until mid-March.

Grading:
Overall, MvC3 is a solid game with amazing replay value that can be enjoyed by both the casual and hardcore gamer alike. A few balancing issues and one poor design choice keep this from being the perfect game. I highly recommend purchasing the standard version of this game, but don’t waste your money your money on the Special Edition.

SHORYUKEN!
4 out of 5 stars

Best of the Best 2010

This year I continued shifting this site more and more towards reviews and commentary and less and less about my illustration work. I did reviews for a number of sites and publishers but the lion's share of my reviews were for Black Library. This year I reviewed lots of books, some games, and ran some opinion pieces on publishing and art. The following are my picks for Best of the Best for 2010:

Best Sci-Fi Novel:

SOUL HUNTER by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.
Black Library, March 2010
Released in March and it still sits on top of the heap (with some close company*). SOUL HUNTER I feel made the single largest impact on my reading, perceptions and assumptions about how Warhammer 40k Stories are told, especially regarding Chaos Space Marines.
*Honourable Mentions: A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill, Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett, Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe, Firedrake by Nick Kyme, The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Crosscurrent, Paul S. Kemp (Del Rey/ Spectra).





Best Fantasy Novel: 

SWORD OF JUSTICE by Chris Wraight.
Black Library, July 2010
Chris Wraight again blew me away with his ability to characterize big named characters as well as keep "the little people" interesting. Wonderful plot, great twists, and a story anyone could get in to and enjoy. Turned Ludwig Schwartzhelm and Kurt Hellborg in to realistic, breathing fallible characters. Bravo!
Honourable Mentions: Grimblades by Nick Kyme, Prince of Wolves by Dave Gross (Paizo), The Crown of The Blood by Gav Thorpe (Angry Robot), The Shadow King by Gav Thorpe. Triumff by Dan Abnett (Angry Robot).




Best Cover Art:

Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe, art by Neil Roberts

Enforcer by Matthew Farrer, art by Marek Okon

The Erevis Cale Trilogy by Paul S. Kemp, art by Raymond Swanland

Aenarion by Gav Thorpe, art by Jon Sullivan

Sword of Justice by Chris Wraight, art by Cheoljoo Lee

Best Editor of 2010:
We usually don't get to see who the editor is for most novels, so unfortunately we have no real way of knowing who does what, recommends X or Y, how much guidance or help an editor gives an author, etc. The only real time we see this is in the anthologies and this year we've had several good ones.
Christian Dunn, Black Library is responsible for gathering the best talent and getting books edited and off to press. When editors aren't sorting out grammar, plot and pacing issues, they are herding cats trying to get those bloody authors to get their work in on time. Editors are the unsung heroes of any publisher.
Honourable Mentions: Nick Kyme, Lindsay Priestley.




Best Author 2010:

Nick Kyme, Black Library.
While none of Mr. Kyme's novels hit the #1 spot in my categories, he was easily neck and neck in the #2 spot in every category applicable to him. An editor cum novelist Nick has been a powerhouse: cranking out quality after quality, top shelf books every time. His consistency is amazing. His previous works on the Dwarfs are stellar, and his current work on Grimblades, and both Salamanders novels (and an audiobook) are amazing.
Honourable Mentions: Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Dan Abnett, Gav Thorpe, Graham McNeill, Paul S. Kemp, Chris Wraight.









Summary:
I'd like to take a moment to thank all the above-listed folks as well as the MANY others who have written, edited, drawn and painted this year's novels (and respective covers). I read a LOT of really great material and you make people's lives more exciting. You bring stories to life. Thank you all! 

Best wishes for you in 2011!


Cheers!
Jeff Preston
Reviewer: The Emperyan.

Review: Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie

Details:

Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie, by Codex Pictures

Special Edition Collector's Set
DVD (NTSC)
72 minutes

Description:

Captain Severus, a revered veteran warrior with a considerable reputation, has received an urgent request for assistance from the remote backwater planet Mithron. Mithron has only one site of strategic importance, a shrine defended for countless generations by a full company of Space Marines from the Imperial Fists Chapter. What dreadful fate could have overcome them that they ask for help? ...http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/movie/story

Review:

The Warhammer 40k movie. This is something that has been discussed for decades. Every fanboy of Warhammer 40k has dreamed of it...and now it is here.


So what do we have?

Well...it's CGI. This is to be expected. I think we all knew it would be. Now since it is 2010, the level of perfection capable with CGI is amazing. Throw enough money at a studio and they can make something gorgeous. Look at Avatar for films and the Trailers for Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Mark of Chaos, Dawn of War and Dawn of War 2. We know what can be done.


As Avatar evidenced, a pretty picture is nice and all, but the story has to be good. It has to be Warhammer 40,000.


For the writing they got Dan Abnett to do the screenplay. I think it is safe to say that Mr. Abnett knows 40k. It shows. The story is good. I wish there was more of it: it was a bit short. The prelude is in the little hard-bound graphic novel included in the Special Collector's Edition, but really, I wish they would have "filmed" that as well. 72 minutes is an awfully short movie.


The CGI was pretty good. The facial capture work, very well done albeit a little static and stiff. It works ok, Space Marines aren't exactly the most expressive folks so it's passable. The animation of the characters, not as good. It looks stiff. They move like animation from Terminator 2 or maybe Toy Story. mechanical, not motion-captured. The models for Space Marines and their gear is pretty good. The skins good as well. Scoring this as 50% good, 50% not so good.



The environments were mixed. The space-based bits were excellent. The Battle Barge, the interiors and exteriors as well as Mithron from space and the star field, totally good. However when you get to Mithron it is stark and like basic CGI class 101: a flat desert with occasional rocky bits sticking up. Not good. However once you move in to the crags and then to the monastery, it turns really sharp and looks excellent. There's a reason for this of course.


This is something that should have been realized in pre-production but when you have sparse settings, the eye will look  for imperfections. The way to resolve that issue is to either have really exceptional, realistic environments (so for a desert it needs to be photo-realistically imperfect) or clutter it enough with rocks, crags and "stuff" that your eye stops looking for it. That's why the craggy bits and monastery bits work...they have enough there to make us simply stop looking for patterns that are "wrong". Anyhow, the environments get a 50% score as half were good and half not so much.


The story is solid. You have a bunch of scouts that get elevated to full battle brothers and taken by the Captain to Mithron to investigate the goings on. The vibe is on target. The dialog witty and appropriate. Nothing grossly out of place like female Astartes or the Emperor becoming a woman or anything like that. I'm sure that there will be a few purists that will balk over scouts being elevated to a tactical squad right off the bat, or the apparent age of the Captain, Apothecary. Really, it doesn't matter to me and I give it a good solid 90%


The vocal work was solid. I hope so, they got top shelf talent to do the voice work. They did well in vocal work as well as the motion capture for their faces, so that part was solid as a rock. I can't help but wonder how this would have turned out if the funds spent on voice talent were instead spent on the animators, but that is neither here nor there. A solid 90%


Audio effects were solid as was the sound track. Actually, the sound track was brilliant, I'm trying to see if they are going to release it for download or something because it's especially good. The sound effects like how the thunderhawk, bolters, explosions...good. They could have had a little more depth and the sound off the DVD had to be turned up for the voices and down for the gunfire. I'll give this am 80%


Presentation and Collector's Edition goodies. The packaging was good, I like the metal tin. The special features were cool albeit limited. Most of the imagery we had already seen on the website so it wasn't so great. The little featurettes were class though and made up for it. Also included was a hard-bound comic book. The pencils were okay, inking weak, coloring weak, story good, lettering good. Overall for the presentation, I have to give it a 70%

Rating:

Overall it's an enjoyable film I've watched twice and enjoyed both times. I do admit that the Dawn of War trailers looked better (lets not even compare it to the upcoming Space Marine game from THQ.) but the story makes it worth watching as does the soundtrack.

3 out of 5 Stars.