A pretty damn good anthology to introduce you to the world of Warhammer Crime.
I was already familiar with Zidarov from Aberrations, having previously read Bloodlines but it was pleasent to read one of his previous investigations. All the other main characters were new to me.
I am definitely interested to learn more about Marc Collins character Quillon Drask, featured here in Cold Cases, who also features in Marcs' novel Grim Repast. His tale here certainly felt like a kick in the teeth towards the main character, which makes me want to see how he recovers and moves forwards. 9781789991741 Хороший сборник детективных рассказов про обычных людей из города-улья. Никакого пейсмаринового ура-брат-сват, много быта простого люда вахи. Для людей незнакомых с вахой будет читаться как набор несложных киберпанковых детективных историй 9781789991741 Incredibly solid collection of short stories for the Warhammer Crime series, with only one real misstep (Exit Wound feeling somewhat detached from the themes and set up of the other stories). My favourite was either No Use For Good Men (can't wait to read Flesh and Steel), or Against The Grain (I'd love to see a standalone book from Nick Kyme)
Honourable mention goes to Impurities which read like a pulp detective radio serial from the 30s in the best way possible. 9781789991741 Crime stories, but in the grim dark future! Some good, some bad. Most fun.
Setting: It's the 41st Millennium...
Style: Grim and Dark
Characters: Pretty cool
Plot: Solid entertainment 9781789991741 A brilliant anthology, simply put.. At the time of getting this book I had a mystery crime, sort of noir itch that I had to scratch. This came in wonderfully, with the only down-side being that it left me wanting more..
I enjoyed the separate story format, with different authors (mostly veterans) telling their stories. To an avid 40k fan this will be a lovely pallet cleanser from the (chain)sword and bolter dramas and for the detective story enthusiast this will be an interesting introduction to the world (with a few confusing tidbits).
With all that being said, if not for my love for the setting, this would recieve 3/5 stars simply due to the thematic clichés tied to the noir/detective spiel. On the surface every character is identical, a law enforcer (or they had a past in law enforcement) and they go digging where they shouldn't.
Any real motivation and the additional dimensions to the character must be found by digging through the story.
In summary, all of these stories have the potential to shine as individual, whole entries that have the necessary time to unfold and demonstrate separate motivations, backgrounds and characteristics. All in love, I love Warhammer and I love Crime (series) and this covers both. 9781789991741
FREE READ ☆ WWW.TEXASBEERGUIDE.COM ó Chris Wraight
A Warhammer Crime anthology
In the megacity of Varangantua, life is cheap and crime is rife… Experience seven tales from across this vast urban sprawl in a collection of short stories by some of Black Library's finest.
READ IT BECAUSE
Discover some of the many tales from Varangantua, encompassing the highest and lowest citizens of the city, and showing some of the darker sides of the 41st Millennium.
DESCRIPTION
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is a vast city… an urban sprawl of murder and corruption. A den of vice and illicit deeds where the law is failing and justice is fleeting. Glutted merchant-kings turn the wheels of industry, feeding the engine of war on distant worlds while the lowly dream only of survival. As the gilded prosper, hidden behind their fortress walls, the masses must find a place within the underbelly. But regardless of station, whether criminal or law-keeper, one fact remains true – this city is dirty, and no one escapes it without a little sin.
For in Varangantua, there are no good men.
CONTENTS
Aberrant by Chris Wraight
Exit Wound by Darius Hinks
The View from Olympus by Gareth Hanrahan
Impurities by Graham McNeill
No Use for Good Men by Guy Haley
Cold Cases by Marc Collins
Against the Grain by Nick Kyme No Good Men (Warhammer Crime)
Honestly a bit bemused by this. Each individual story is fantastic - Graham McNeill’s tale very CyberPunk and definitely favourite. But when you put them together, they’re all the same - the same backdrop, the same colour palette, the same players, and an effectively identical basic narrative. And this all means that the anthology becomes less than the sum of its parts - which is weird (possibly even unique). Would love to see more standalone stories! 9781789991741 3.5 overall - great stories individually, but as an anthology it's lacking in variety and diversity.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/09/... 9781789991741 Surprisingly excellent collection of hardboiled noir set in the Warhammer 40k universe 9781789991741 Some books you enjoy so much you can’t stop reading them; others you take you time over to prolong the pleasure- this is one of the latter, though the anthology format absolutely enables this.
Each of the stories adds so much depth to Varangantua, a setting which holds so much promise for the Warhammer Crime imprint.
The quality of each entry is consistently high, from BL stalwarts and newcomers alike, and like the previous entries in the series they play with the conventions of the genre whilst maintaining the intrinsic ‘40kness’ you want from BL.
It’s full of horrible people, doing horrible things for horrible reasons. But they’re just the right side of compelling and charismatic, and within the context of the world of Alecto and the Imperium itself almost excusable.
Aberrant by Chris Wraight
Revisits the protagonist of Bloodlines, and continues to explore the gritty and unpleasant realities of life at the very bottom of the Imperium that we statutes to explore with Dredge Runners; Zidarov and Wraight hopefully have a lot further to go than these two stories.
Exit Wound by Darius Hinks
Presumably this is more than a stand-alone tale; complex and violent, it brings the reader to a new strata of hive life.
The View from Olympus by Gareth Hanrahan.
The closest the anthology comes to a classic whodunnit. Engaging and unpredictable it is very accessible but still passes the intangible 40k test.
Impurities by Graham McNeill
The Imperium is unsustainable and unhealthy; as readers of BL we know this. I’m not sure I’ve read such a perfect example of just how much this is the case. Well worked and economical, it’s yet another great story that works perfectly as a short rather than a full novel
No Use for Good Men by Guy Haley
Is a contender for the best piece in the anthology. Guy Hayley is one of BL’s best for building the character of places and this does that; we see the desperation of both those trying to eke out an existence on Alecto and that of those who are trying to maintain order. Morality, by any measure, is shown to have little value but there are still those motivated by their own.
Cold Cases by Marc Collins
Is a really interesting study in obsession; it is genuinely unsettling and wouldn’t sit that far out of place in one of the Warhammer Horror anthologies.
Against the Grain by Nick Kyme
To me is very much in the mould of Robert B Parker’s Spenser- a military veteran private investigator who can’t stop his mouth getting him further into trouble. The story itself returns to many of the themes explored in earlier entries and shows the scope of the imprint and suggests where the aspirations of it lie. Reflecting on this, I’m expecting big things.
9781789991741 No Good Men is part of the Warhammer Crime sub-genre of Black Library, with each of the stories following some sort of investigation into the general wrong-doings of varying aspects. There are the usual offerings from novels of a crime theme; missing persons, murder inquiries, and other nefarious tricks of the trade that are to be uncovered by those on the ‘correct’ side of the law. I add with as much emphasis on the title of the book in this statement, as while we’re reading via the perspective of the Warhammer 40k universes Imperium of Mankind and there are, No Good Men. Just varying shades of grey.
In Aberrant by Chris Wraight, we’re reunited with the protagonist, Augusto Zidarov from the Warhammer Crime novel, Bloodlines. I adored the story and setting that Bloodlines establishes, so to revisit the main character and further his exploration of the hive-city of Varangantua and delving into the deepest, darkest aspects of the setting was an absolute winner for me. The first story in the anthology really sets the dark tone for the rest of the book but does so in a familiar manner; with a character that we are already invested in – if Bloodlines has been read to prior to picking up No Good Men obviously.
Another character that has left a lasting impression on me, amongst a collection of decent characters, is Probator Symeon Noctis from Guy Haleys No Use for Good Men. To the point that I ordered a copy of Flesh and Steel, in which the character also features, a few days after finishing No Good Men.
What is impressive about No Good Men is that all the short stories are generically good. They are all well-written, fully complete stories. Each of them resolves in a satisfying way but leaves the reader itching to hear just one more gritty tale of the grim life that Varangantua’s inhabitants endure. None of the individual stories falls short and they’re all enjoyable for their shared theme and subtle differences. However, as a collective, there doesn’t seem to be quite enough variation to keep the reader fully engaged. Each of the stories has a protagonist that feels vaguely similar to the one read about in the previous short story. So while each story works very well as a stand-alone, together they all blend together and become rather unremarkable, which is unfortunate as it doesn’t let the quality of each story shone as it should. The main characters of each of the stories all seem to come from the same mold, aside from Darius Hinks lead in Exit Wound, who offers a vastly different method of solving their ‘problems.’
What No Good Men illustrates is how depraved the Warhammer 40k setting really is. We’re far removed from the heroism of the front line, military battles that the setting has become more well-known for. Instead, we have a more regular human element to the expansive universe; a relatable element to the setting that shows just how futile the individual is against such a vast plethora of problems. No Good Men goes to great lengths to illustrate how little the Imperium really cares about the individual in the settling, seeing itself as one vast machine rather than a collection of separate people. Throughout this anthology, we’re shown how these individuals react to this and strive to lead their own lives; through interpretations of justice in the cases that they are connected to.
No Good Men, while set in the Warhammer 40k Universe, doesn’t always feel like it fits as neatly into that vast setting as it should. There are elements of other science-fiction that creep in at the edges, giving Varangantua a life of it’s own. While it does draw on some of the settings more basic signifiers; the naming of weaponry, the discussion of some fundamental ‘Warhammer Universe’ aspects (The Warp, Imperium, etc) that place it firmly within the 40k Universe, I’d also be as bold to say that this book would be a fantastic entry point for any Science Fiction (or other readers) wanting to explore the setting without jumping in at the deep end. 9781789991741