[.ca] Grey Knights (ISBN 1844160874)

For all-out space action, this book does have it all!:
Seemingly from the very beginning of this book in a series of books regarding the Grey Knights (futuristic space Marines) ferocious fighting against "daemons", etc., is in place and in your face (in a good way). I am not as familiar with this series as some, so I'll be back-ordering my way to the very origins of these Grey Knights and their space opera action. I eagerly add this particular copy to my other sci-fi books of old and new: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "Foundation", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.

Ben Counter Delivers:
Any fan of the Warhammer 40k universe should already be familiar with the Grey Knights. And to most of us, they are one of the most interesting yet mysterious Space Marine Chapters in the Imperium. With this in mind, one's expectations would be pretty high when beginning this novel, but once again, Ben Counter delivers a solid and impressive story. Well, for those of you benighted souls who don't recognize the Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter, the Grey Knights are the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's Ordo Malleus. Translation: They kill daemons for a living! Yes, that's right. Grey Knights are Marines specially trained and outfitted for the sole purpose of killing anything that comes out of the warp. So, of course, any novel about the Grey Knights should have, say, inquisitors? Check. Daemons? Check. Intrigue? Check. Psykers? Check. Ferocious, bloody, detailed, all-out warfare? Check. Yes, that's right, this novel has it all. Ben Counter provides, in my opinion, his best work yet, giving Warhammer 40k fans almost everything they could ask for in one nice, long (400 pages!) novel. Now you might have noticed that I really haven't gone into the details of the plot, but really, think about it. What do you think a novel about the Grey Knights should have? Make a wish list. Then keep it with you while you read this novel, because you're gonna get everything you asked for.

A Good Read...:
I liked this book a lot. It's my first Ben Counter novel, but won't be my last. Well written and reasonably well paced. My only gripe is that the battles scenes seemd a bit too perfunctory to me, as if the author was going through the motions just to get past them and on to the more interesting parts, such as character development and backstory (which are both done well I think). Battle scenes lacked real intensity and emotion in my view. But nevertheless, I still recommend it.