Carcharddons Red Tithe Book review spoiler free...ish

 

Carcharodons Red Tithe by Robbie MacNiven.

The Carcharodons are a strange chapter, with no homeworld until recently. (given Mantis Warriors homeworld along with Primaris Marines) A fleet-based chapter that follows the less often pattern of the Nomad-Predation. They are allowed by ancient pacts to descend on certain worlds to take recruits and serfs as and when needed; these events are called the Red Tithes. Unfortunately, due to this chapter's savagery and the beliefs it holds, there is a significantly higher attrition rate than in other chapters. They are also allowed to partake in something called Grey Tithes, which is when the chapter finds Archeotech and trades them with the Mechanicus for arms and equipment as needed. This book, as its title suggests, focuses on a Red Tithe. In the prison world of Zartak, there is a potentially powerful psyker who is unaware of his abilities, but he is wanted by two different groups for their own ends. A Night Lord warband led by The Prince of Thornes, along with a psyker named Shadraith, who is a thrall of the daemon Bar'ghul.

I really enjoyed this book for a few reasons. The characters are interesting and stand out on their own instead of all of them being the same shade of boring you get in some stories revolving around a lesser-known chapter. Each character has been fleshed out to make them stand out clearly within the crowd, even the baseline humans have been given a bit more of a storyline compared to other plots, which allows you to become invested in the plot and how it unfolds. this novel is the first of a trilogy about the Carcharodons, which includes the same characters throughout it. As the storyline progresses, you're given brief glimpses into the practices of the chapter and the little actions that make them stand out from the normal chapters of the Imperium. They are a chapter that toes the line between loyalist and renegade, and you can clearly see why that is. 

If you would like to read the other Carcharodon books, they are - 

• Outer Dark
• Void Exile

Top image used under Creative Commons Warhammer wiki

bottom image book cover of the version used in the review