He feels entirely unbelievable from the onset and the unrevealed past that justifies it doesn't pay off when it is finally revealed. The protagonist Noctis has such a deep well of spite for the extreme wealth he grew up in that it really begins to become a bit of a bore how one dimensional he is. There are jutting edges and problems that stick out and weaken the composition quite a bit, though. ![]() Somehow the warhammer aesthetic comes across very Bladerunner in moments and the story has enough interesting characters to keep it from ever falling into drudgery. It's so blatant that it will have you shaking your head at moments and smiling in others, but never cringing and tossing it down. Guy Haley swings it at you like one of those fat wiffle bats for little kids. It even opens with a lot of complaining about the rain. A plot filled with a scramble of elements that conveniently come together to reveal a web of connections. ![]() A distant and unreachable love interest with a veil of mystery about her. A snarky down and out investigator with a drinking problem and a troubled past. It's so loaded with the typical tropes and elements you would expect in any noir fiction that it borders on cheesy how transparent the construction is. The end might feel a tad rushed, but it’s set up nicely for the characters to be revisited either in shorts or full novels.įlesh and Steel is a noir detective story. We get a good mystery to solve, some character development and all of the glorious world-building I mention above. Most importantly though, he’s told a fantastic story. Guy has shown himself to be so good at all of this in his recent works, so it’s nice to see this unflinching approach continue here. The grim reality of so much 41st-millennium technology is addressed, as are the fundamental hypocrisies required to keep the Imperium functioning, even at the debased Level it just about manages. He’s also explored the nature of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the way they interact with the wider Imperium in, to me, an unprecedented level. Guy Hayley has managed three great things here- he’s fleshed out Varangantua, and by extension the Imperium, even further than the previous books have, making it a living-breathing city (we have alcoholic drinks beyond amasec! Gay male characters! Sects within the Cult Mechanicum!), with a dysfunctional but plausible social model. Noctis follows in the tradition of JD Robb’s Eve Dallas and Pratchett’s Vimes as a loaded police officer, but unlike these two, he’s born into obscene wealth, which puts a different spin on his experiences. This is yet another really enjoyable title from the Warhammer Crime imprint. Would that Games Workshop released a Warhammer Crime tabletop game one day. And good for them, since compared to what’s happening elsewhere in the galaxy, their local conflicts are just pillow fights. A civilisation very similar to our own (after all, humans are essentially the same, whether now or 40,000 years in the past / future), though most of its people have little idea of the current situation in the wider Imperium Hominis. Varangantua, on Planet Alecto, Segmentum Tempestus, is a city where any probator can afford an apartment with a smart home system (okay, that was a joke). ![]() However, some adepts of the Machine Cult may even appear more humane than ordinary men… detective) from the family of a groundcar industry king. One of the most prolific Black Library authors, he writes about iconic 40K heroes as well as original characters - many of whom belong to my favorite factions - and he also created the second Warhammer Crime novel, Flesh and Steel, which I had the honour to translate.įinding common ground with the Adeptus Mechanicus is no easy feat at the best of times.
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