Nightbringer (Ultramarines) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Nightbringer finds us on the troubled planet of Pavonis where an Ultramarines squad and a mysterious Administratum official have been dispatched to find out why the planet's governor has not been meeting the required Imperial tithes. Once there, the Imperial delegation is plunged into a complex web of government corruption, secret alien manipulation and an evil guilder on the verge of awakening an ancient alien entity that nightmares are literally made of.

There is action here galore (for those who feel the need for constant carnage), but there is also fascinating insight into the complexities of Imperial governorship of a distant planet, the shakey collaborations between corrupt humans and alien exploiters, and the fragile nature of Imperial domination of the universe. We also get some welcomed insight into the creepy and perverted world of the Dark Eldar.

Ths novel was obviously timed to be released with the new Nercon miniatures and Codex book from Games Workshop. A bad writing effort might have made one resentful of this obvious "product placement," but McNeil manages to only increase our excitement for what dimensions the revamped Necrons (and future Graham McNeil novels) might add to the already endlessly fascinating 40K universe.

This includes excellent characterization of characters, including humans, aliens, and secondary roles. The plot was also very well drawn out. The horror of the times and various aliens and sociopathic humans is well presented, gruesome but not overdone and ridiculous. If I had to summarize it, the book is a combination of Stephen King horror, gritty sci-fi, and war novel.

It is also faithful to the fluff of the Games Workshop 40K world. If you are a gamer or even just a reader of that imagiverse (which is beginning to rival Tolkein's Middle Earth in breadth and depth...granted, only through the efforts of hundreds of people!), this book fleshes out many plot details and events of 40K.

Basically, the plot revolves primarily around a missing Necron vessel that has been haunting the warp for millions of years. A complicated set of schemes involving the dark eldar, the humans, psycho evil humans, and the faithful Space Marines emerges with various characters trying to stop others from locating the missing ship and the C'Tan god known as the Nightbringer (which is why the title of the book suits it. So it is NOT just a space marine novel, it is really much more.

I would recommend this for anyone who was interested in gritty, action oriented sci-fi with the usual plot twists and teases to keep you excited and reading. You should also be able to tolerate explicit violence, including torture, which crops up occasionally. If you like that style of book, you will love this book. If you want Star Trek style heavily cleansed sci-fi universe heavily guided by modern morality and delicate sensibilities, this probably isn't for you.