Dark Apostle (Book Review)

As with the last book review this is posted in full on http://thefoundingfields.com/ and this is simply a preview. If you want to see it in full then please follow the link through to there.

Even in the dark and twisted nightmare future of Warhammer 40,000 getting the reader to root for a villain is always a difficulty. While at least with the Imperials and eldar you know they are fighting something far worse, but something so self serving as Chaos? It’s like walking a tightrope. Go too far into their villainous nature and no one has a reason to root for them, stray too far away from it and you betray the essence of the characters. While it can be done, many of the most successful ones seem to find ways to tone down these elements. Henry Zou’s Blood Gorgons showed them as monsters, but they were still far better than the true soldiers of the Long War. Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s works are highly deserving of all credit, but it also seemed to often sidestep association with daemons or the more unrepentant aspects. Often with the marine protagonists themselves being exceptions within an otherwise insane, backstabbing and utterly corrupt legion. Dark Apostle meanwhile shows the Word Bearers in full daemon worshipping mode, killing innocents and yet manages to keep them as the heroes.