Deathwatch Book review spoiler free...ish

 

Deathwatch by Steve Parker.

The Death Spectre chapter Librarian Lyandros Karras has received the call to join the ever-present war of the Deathwatch. They protect mankind from Xenos species they will never know of, they fight unlike any other arm of the Astartes fight forces taking the fight to them with technologies and upgrades given to no one else. Lyandros has been summoned to take the role of the killteam leader of Talon squad under the handling of the secretive Inquisitor, only known by his callsign, Sigma. This is the first full-length novel in the Deathwatch omnibus. The first part of this novel shows you the training and abilities the new killteam much learn and develop, and shows the lengths to which the Ordo Xenos is willing to go to build up the knowledge needed for the eternal fight to make humanity the foremost species in the universe, in particular this novel deals with a Genestealer Cult and what the Deathwatch is faced with when called in to deal with a mature cult that has started to breed the later generation hybrids.

I really enjoyed the whole omnibus, but that was mainly because this first full length Deathwatch book does such a good job of setting it up. The surprising point of contention that came up from the training side of this Plotline was actually the difficulty that the Deathwatch goes to mesh the multiple chapter idiosyncrasies and differences, one of the issues being the prideful stubbornness of the progenitor chapters like the Ultramarines or Raven Guard. Within the Talon squad is a member who sees it as a major insult that a member of the vaunted Ultramarines must be subordinate to a flawed lesser chapter member, as he sees it. It proves to be very tricky ground where a few mistakes are made all around. There really is a lot to lose yourself in before the fighting actually begins in full force. Nothing is diminished by the lack of combat in the beginning because the latter half of the story more than makes that up. The pacing can seem off when it flicks between the future mission and back to the squad being built, but you get used to it quickly. Having not read much in the past by Steve Parker, I was a bit apprehensive going in at first, but I completely forgot about that after just a few chapters. This is a must read if you enjoy the more unique fighting styles rather than just the good old Bolter to the face action, and if you enjoy reading about the cults and how they weave themselves into society so completely, you will enjoy this.