[.ca] Necropolis (ISBN 1844160068)

Necropolis: Awesome.:
Necropolis is the third book in the Gaunts Ghost's series and it's the best one up til this point. The book starts off with a hive world, Verghast, besieged by their neighboring world, Ferrozoica, which is infested by Chaos. The Ghosts along with other Imperial guard regiments are sent to the battle zone to repulse the invaders. Can they do it? One of the things I love about Abnetts writing is his characters and their development. The first 50 pages in Necropolis he introduces several new characters, which are extremely important to the story and later books. The first time I read this book and got a lost with all the different characters and subplots. But if you just take your time it's not confusing, I guess I read it to fast. Other thing Abnett is wonderful at is his descriptions with action and painting a picture with words of sheer dread. At times I was in absolute awe, other times it almost brought me to tears. Necropolis is an Action-packed, military sci-fi, balls-out warfest with wonderful character emotion and development. If you didn't like ghostmaker (I still don't know why you wouldn't) don't give up on Abnett and the Ghosts, this novel is Fething Awesome. recommend for fans of Warhammer 40k and military sci-fi.

My 100-word book review:
In Necropolis, the third novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series, the Tanith First and Only are among a task force diverted to the planet Verghast, where a vast hive city is threatened by the forces of Chaos. Vervunhive is no mere arcology but virtually an entire city state enclosed in a single stupendous building, now under siege by hordes of foes. Dan Abnett depicts the horrors of future war with grim relish, and I found myself compulsively turning the pages, late at night, wanting to find out who survives and who doesn't. Another nightmarishly readable novel in an excellent series.

Inspiring examples of the resiliency of the human spirit ...:
This book tells the collective story of how humanity can rise up from the deepest depths of despair to grab victory from the closing jaws of defeat, rallying the besieged to acts of heroism, self-sacrifice, and glory. Reading this book reminded me of WWII accounts of cities holding fast against invading armies. The individual tales of courage and devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds, were uplifting and awe-inspiring. It strengthened the respect and gratitude felt towards those realworld veterans of our countries past wars. For those of you familiar with WH40K, you will thoroughly enjoy the battle sequences and the "fluff" included regarding the overall Crusade and the seemingly small part played by the Tanith First-and-Only. The descriptions of the Hive city and its vastness are wondrous, making me wish some ambitious director (Peter *cough* Jackson *cough*) would take this series to their hearts and bring it to the big screen. I would thoroughly enjoy watching this on film. It would be like taking HBO's "Band of Brothers", George Lucas's "Star Wars", and Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" and melding them into a 7-8 part mini-series or a series of movies 2 1/2 to 3 hours long! The way Dan Abnett brings us into the individual experiences of front line soldiers, helps bring to us both the horrible carnage and waste of war, as well as the tremendous courage, fortitude, and devotion of duty and faith that are the heart and soul of every trooper of the Imperial Guard (and PDF of Verghast)! The beginning of the book is wonderfully written, first bringing us into the local politics and what appears like a simple conflict between two rival Hive cities, then accelerating the story along as war breaks out and the stalwart, but horribly outclassed defenders are forced to call for aid from off planet. This whole segment of the book is more like a prologue, as the actual story begins with the arrival of the Imperial Forces. To give us perspective, it is immediately made apparent that the Tanith First-and-Only are perceived as a mere specialist regiment of stealth troops, given low status among the other higher profile regiments of the task force assigned to Verghast. As you might expect, their significance changes dramatically, paralleling the prominence of their commander. Now, if I could just find a way for them to work better on the game table! (But that's for another forum) Whether you enjoy war stories, Sci-Fi, WH40K, or simply a well-written story with well-developed characters and an engaging plot - you WILL enjoy this book.

Great book:
OK, lets face it, this book is not a literary masterpiece. But, if you want a good sci-fi "junk food" book, this just about fits the bill. Oh, and if you really want to blow your mind away, read the first half of this book, put it down, read up on the battle of Stalingrad, and then finish the book. Gives the thing a whole new perspective. A definate must if you enjoy any WH40K products.

Another good Warhammer novel:
While I enjoy the space marine novels better, the Gaunt's ghosts series has not disappointed me yet. Necropolis had alot going for it; large scale warfare, squad combat, personalizing the characters to the point you either like or dislike them, and it follows a good storyline.