Honourbound

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Pub Date 3 Sep 2019 | Archive Date 30 Aug 2019
Black Library | Games Workshop

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Description

Fantastic novel from Scribe award winning author Rachel Harrison. Follow the story of the unflinchingly courageous Commissar Severina Raine as she battles the dark forces of Chaos.

Uncompromising and fierce, Commissar Severina Raine has always served the Imperium with the utmost distinction. Attached to the Eleventh Antari Rifles, she instills order and courage in the face of utter horror. But horror take smany forms, and Rains's unshakeable faith is about to be put to the ultimate test. As the Chaos cult known as the Sighted sweeps through the Bale Stars and a shadow falls across its benighted worlds. In answer, a great campaign, led by the vaunted hero Lord-General Militant Alar Serek is under way to free the system from tyranny and enslavement, and the price of victory must be paid in blood. As Raine and the Antari become embroiled in the conflict, dark secrets are unearthed... Secrets that might cast a light onto Raine's own troubled past. Only by embracing her duty and staying true to her belief in the Imperium and the commissar’s creed can she hope to survive this crucible, but even then, will that be enough?

 

 

Fantastic novel from Scribe award winning author Rachel Harrison. Follow the story of the unflinchingly courageous Commissar Severina Raine as she battles the dark forces of Chaos.

Uncompromising and...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781781939840
PRICE US$16.00 (USD)
PAGES 496

Average rating from 11 members


Featured Reviews

Rachel Harrison’s debut Black Library novel, Honourbound follows on from several excellent short stories and features Commissar Severina Raine serving with the 11th Antari Rifles as part of the decades-long Bale Stars Crusade. As Raine and the Antari grind their way to hard-fought victories over the chaos cult known as the Sighted, the stress of constant attritional warfare starts to show – even on the resolute Commissar. With the Sighted changing tactics and darkness forming within the Crusade, Raine knows that her faith and determination will be tested like never before as she wrestles with the implications of her past and the dangers of the present.

Similarities with other Commissar-featuring Imperial Guard series are only superficial, as Raine is very different to famous names like Gaunt, Cain or Yarrick and it’s clear that an awful lot of work has gone into developing a rich history and identity for the Antari and the key characters in this story. It’s a big old book (380+ pages in hardback) and the dialogue does occasionally dip into a slightly over-formal style, but any minor niggles are quickly forgotten amidst the compelling drama unfolding as Harrison explores this fascinating little corner of the 40k universe. For anyone with even a passing interest in the conflicted, bruised and battered, human realities of life for the Imperial Guard (as well as in a rollicking war story), this should be right at the top of the list. It’s that good.

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I received this book from NetGalley and Black Library for review.

Most 40k books you hit the action running,

Rachel Harrison has you hitting the action stumbling, scrambling, half-blind and smelling of a heady mix of singed las-fire and burning promethium that's not near enough to take the brutal edge off the shock of war, as you are thrust abruptly into the decades-long Bale Stars Crusade against The Sighted.

There's a story being told that's reminiscent of Dan Abnett's beloved Gaunts Ghost series with Commissar Severina Raine and the Celtic-fey influenced 11th Anatari Rifles replacing Commissar Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only. Just like Dan Abnett, Rachel Harrison has you quickly attached to a host of characters covering the spectrum from the morally grey and flawed to damn right heroic. The action is tight and the narrative flows. There's a story blossoming here and even though the book is a contained stand-alone novel the seeds for a series are planted and if the debut full-length novel is representative of what's to come, I want more.

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I’ll start off by saying that you need to pay attention as there is a lot going on in this book. On the face of it you’d think ‘dark science-fiction because it’s Warhammer 40,000’. What you get is dark science-fiction with and undercurrent of military mystery/thriller style plot.

Just based on the writing, it was one I expected to hate. It is written in present tense and that really grated on me to start with. So much so that I nearly broke my own ‘thou shalt not DNF’ rule. What I didn’t expect was for the writing style to become so familiar that I barely noticed it at all and it did not inhibit my enjoyment of the book.

And enjoy it I did. As I said, there is so much going on in this novel and so many interesting characters that each has plotlines of their own going on in the background. My main gripe regarding characters would be that, considering it is a series named after Severina Raine, the commissar herself doesn’t feel like she takes up much of the spotlight. In fact, if I had gone into this reading it without any idea of series title, I’d have assumed the main character focuses would be Wyck, Lydia Zane or Arden Fel. Those three had the more interesting plot arcs and depth of character and seemed to eat up more of the words than Raine; who’s only real page time was normally spent remembering her fallen family members. Just feel as though more could be done with her character.

My main non-character gripe would be that it just didn’t feel like a Warhammer 40,000 novel. None of the main tropes/jargon are ever mentioned in more than a passing word, if at all. So you barely ever hear the word ‘Chaos’ or ‘Warp and, I’m venturing a guess into my memory here, but I don’t think the words Imperial Guard or Astra Militarum are used. If they are, it’s so infrequent that it doesn’t commit to memory. To be quite honest; if you were to remove every mention of the God Emperor of Mankind and give the book to someone that hates Warhammer, they would enjoy it. As it just feels like a general science fiction novel that has ever so gently dipped its toe into the Warhammer 40,000 pond.

My main complaints aside, I really enjoyed this when I got stuck into it, which is why I scored it so highly. I even found myself spending more time reading than I normally do just to get through it. The run up to the ending was pretty intense and handled well. I’ll certainly look towards future books in the series with interest, but would hope that they have a more 40,000 feel to them than this offering.

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A stellar book filled to the brim with action, bloody mayhem, and tension. Honourbound is one of those books that just refused to be put down. I was enthralled page after page, and I can't wait to read more from Harrison.

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There will be link to a full review added here later. For a debut novel this was an absolute amazing read! Settings, lore, the people involved, Harrison did an amazing job. Thank you Black Library and NetGalley for accepting my request to read. This novel deserves to be praised!

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Cracking read from a very promising author. Earmarked for further review in our Brave New Words podcast.

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Amazing, especially in a debut novel.
Very good and recommended if you are tired of the same old Black Library titles.

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Good world builidng and adds further depth to the people of the Imperium. Dark and gritty and relatable

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