40K Book Review: Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons
The Death Korps of Kreig are, by far, my favorite force in 40k – so as soon as I saw this released I jumped on the chance to read it. This is my verdict.
The Death Korps of Krieg are amongst the most fanatic Guardsmen in the service of the Emperor. To end a civil war, and save their home world from chaos cultists, the loyalist soldiers of Krieg released ancient powerful weapons on their foes. This permanently destroyed the environment and left them with a dead world where only the strongest can survive. Krieg has proven to be a real asset for the Imperium and both it’s excellent weapon production and population are considered resources in the war for mankind. Driven by guilt the soldiers of Krieg strive to cleans the galaxy from all enemies of the Emperor and their will never falters because of their unbreakable conviction that they are right.
Hieronymous Theta is a young mining colony and the setting for this book. A coincidence sees the planet engulfed in conflict as a force of Death Korps of Krieg arrives at the same time as the Necrons begins to devour the planet. Caught between a hammer and an anvil is the population of the planet and in the smoking ruins it is hard to determine who is friend and who is foe.
Instead of seeing the plot unfold through the eyes of the Guardsmen from Krieg, we get to experience it through a few different characters – a Commisar, a mine supervisor, a governor and the governor’s niece. Each one give their side of the story which helps to draw a much better picture than if only experienced through one main character.
This choice turns out to be the first genius choice by the author. I didn’t think about it before reading the book – but the Death Korps are probably not the best characters for a story and a book full of mathematical war and “Yes Sir!” might quickly run out of creative steam. This way we get to judge the actions of the Krieg in a much more nuanced way and the story is able to surprise and engage the reader.
The second genius choice is the choice of Necrons as the opposing force. It is genius because it gives a great soulless opposition to the Death Korps and helps the reader really get a feeling for how the Krieg “calculate” war. It also feels fresh in the midst of all the Chaos Marines and usual xenos featured heavily in the 40k books.
My final verdict is that this book was better than I expected and one that got me feeling more emotions than many of the other Black Library books. It does a great job of describing the Korps as well as give a glimpse into the mind of a citizen of the Imperium in the midst of war. The Death Korps are still my favorite and the book gave me more insight in the faction than I could possibly get from any number of Imperial Armory books. Also I have to say that Necrons have never been a faction I liked – but they are pretty bad ass in this story. If you are a Necron player you should read this book!
Verdict: 4 out of 5 Hellguns. I really enjoyed this and recommend it while you are digesting your turkey this Christmas (or ham if you are in Sweden :-).)
