Review: Space Marine

Print on demand cover.

 

Space Marine, by Ian Watson. A true classic indeed. Click on that link really quick there then come back. Ok? Cool. Did that seem like The Black Library was trying to apologize for the existence of this book? This book was published in 1993 and it was published a few years after it was written due to the change in ownership* and, as a result, direction that Games Workshop was taking. So it was already feeling a tad bit dated when it was released. But rest assured, GW were not apologizing for it at the time, they not only loved it but even reprinted a chunk of it in White Dwarf 165**.

To sum it up, this story follows a trio of Necromundian youths who enlist into the Imperial First Space Marine Chapter. This is not the Necromunda that most of you are likely to be familiar with, but the Necromunda setting for the Confrontation skirmish game that was published in White Dwarf throughout 1991. Same planet, different trappings. Of particular note, and most obvious of trappings, would be the gangs. The upper hive gangs were known as Brats, whereas the other hive gangs consisted of an assortment of gang types such as Clan gangs, Undercity gangs, Tech gangs and other more exotic ones such as Ash Nomads, Scumniks and Scavies. Some time after first encountering each other in gang warfare, they each decided to give up on their dead-end lives and try enlisting with the Imperial Firsts Space Marine Chapter. 

We follow these three youths as they ascend the ranks and stations of the Adeptus Astartes through many harrowing and zany adventures until the final battle on a Tyranid hive ship. This is a book about the bonds of brotherhood, and the jealous rivalries that challenge them. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++SPOILERS AHEAD!+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This book is over 30 years old now, but it's scarcity justifies the need for spoiler warnings. 

PART ONE: Three Brothers From Trazior

We start the novel by following Lexandro d'Arquebus, a Brat ganger who was born in the upper class society in the Oberon spire of Trazior Hive, who is descending into the lower hive with his fellow gangers (The Phantasms) to engage in some murderous mayhem. They had plotted to capture someone from a rival gang and drop that prisoner into a heat-sink. Either to die from the many kilometer fall or burn up. Either way, their twisted curiosity needed to be sated. So they interject themselves into a gang battle already in progress between a tech gang and a scumnik gang. It is this fateful melee where Lexanadro d'Arquebus first encounters Yeremi Valence, a techie, and Biff Tundrish, a scumnik. Luckily these are not the two gangers that the Phantasms take prisoner and throw into the heat-sink. 

A change of fortunes occurs in Lexandro's family resulting in their reduction of stature and they are forced to move down to tech territory. Knowing he had already established enemies here he had to escape this new path that life had set for him. He found himself in the Imperial Fist recruiting station where he signed up to join them. Yeremi Valence and Biff Tundrish also signed up. These three gang rivals from the same world were instructed right off the bat that they were not to attack each other (unless so ordered by a superior officer) upon threat of being sent off to a laboratory for testing. (Eek!) They are sent to the Imperial Fist fortress monastery, which in the book is a massive space ship, where they begin the initiation and transformation into Space Marines. There's a lot of great details regarding the surgeries, challenges, and tortures these three endure during this time. 

PART TWO: The Karkason Crusade

As scouts the three brothers partake in the retaking of Karkason because, in the words of their Sergeant, Sergeant Juron: "We're here because Lord Sagramoso is a damned heretic against the Emperor, stirring up other heretics" These chapters are a blast to read with some refreshing battles that don't read like some of the war-porn I typically review here. Granted there is some stuff that wouldn't fly in today's understanding of the tech of 40k, especially in regards to the scouts commandeering of a titan and using it against other titans. However their methodology in still fluffy in today's lore, as they quickly learn how to work the controls of the various titan stations by eating the brains of the occupants to learn their skills. This is something that i am surprised doesn't happen more in 40k stories, as it's great, albeit disturbing, way for Space Marine protagonists to figure things out. 

They pursue Lord Sagramosso to a Squat world were he has turned these squats to chaos. My favorite encounter was with a squat miner that had an enslaved ambull and was riding it's back and using it to attack the marines in the tunnels beneath the planet. Very cool idea. Without giving too much away, the marines do prevail but it was a dire situation that they had to get through to achieve it. It was also a delight seeing Tzeentch worshipping Chaos Squats, a faction that has disappeared from the lore.

Original cover. (yes, those are not Imperial Firsts). 

By the end of his part they have earned their first ten-year service studs on their foreheads. At the start of this novel they were only 14 year old boys, now they are augmented supermen. . 

 PART THREE: Tyranid Terror

This is where it all goes nuts, but it's also the most engaging part of the book. It's interesting to see what the interior of a hive ship looks like, especially from this time period as most of the 'nids that we know and love today did not exist yet. They encounter a Zoat which was a pretty rad scene, and I still lament the loss of these things in the tyranid lore. Ultimately, stuff goes south for the three brothers, and although they accomplish their mission, not all of them make it out alive. 

• Did I like it? Very much so. I found Ian Watson's writing, for the most part, to be a lot more focused than Inquisitor. But many times I found myself distracted by his strange apparent obsession with comparing things to sex organs. Seriously. Here's an example: Liquefying, the ornate device slumped in upon itself, shrinking into a bubbling, wrinkled scrotum of sintered alloys. It happens a lot throughout this books and it's odd. I mean, who does this? And then when they get to the tyranid hiveship it's amped up even more so and no effort at all is made to mask this. The opening line of Chapter Sixteen is: "We're going in through it's anus," Biff whooped boisterously. I could quote more, but to do so may exceed the limits of a mere review. ****
• Was it hard to put down? No, not really. it was a very engaging book for the most part and made for a good read. 
• Could I care about the characters? Yes, but I found the changing of the three points of view to be a bit more inconsistent that I would like, however I thought it was ultimately vital otherwise the reader wouldn't have the buy-in needed in the final chapters when two of the brothers make their final sacrifice. I think it could've maybe been handled more smoothly. 
• Did the writer truly grasp how the 'world' of the 41st millennium works in the sense that it doesn't betray or retcon previously established (as I know it) lore? Or is this the work of a hack chasing a paycheck vs. establishing his mark on the ever-expanding 40k universe? Ian Watson did some serious world-building here, some of which still resonates. Often his works are dismissed as being old and non-canon, but there are elements here that did not exist in the materials presented to us via the game product. The Imperial Fist's fanatic devotion to the Emperor and the near crazy hobby of scrimshawing, pain gloves, etc. these elements still live on, even if so much of the lore has moved on past what was laid out here. 
• Was I being talked down too? The snarky tone that annoyed me when I read Inquisitor for the first time is, thankfully, toned way down, so that was a relief. 
• How predictable is this story? There are lots of these type of stories that explain the recruitment and rise through the ranks details of Space Marines, but this one sets itself apart by being very unpredictable for the most part. 
• Do I recommend this book? Yes, although fans of the current lore for the Imperial Fists might find it...challenging. I don't know much about the current Imperial Fist lore but I doubt they are nearly as sadomasochistic as presented here. Anyone who was involved with Warhammer 40.000 "back in the day" of the late '80's and early '90s might have want to check this out if they haven't done so before. And anyone who wants to see how the 40k lore has grown might want to check it out also. But beware of those distracting comparisons to sex organs 

"We're going in through it's anus," Biff whooped boisterously.

* "The first medieval Warhammer fiction, and the Dark Future books by Kim Newman writing as Jack Yeovil, and the first 40K fiction by me were all published by GW Books edited by David Pringle in Brighton. David Pringle edited from Brighton the leading British SF magazine Interzone, and David prevailed upon some of his stable of writers to provide the then-owner of Games Workshop, Bryan Ansell, with his dream come true of “real books by real authors” set in Bryan’s beloved Warhammer domains. This arrangement came to an end in about 1991, and new management at GW spent a while before settling on the media packagers Boxtree as a new publisher. (This was long before the Black Library.) So some books got delayed, such as also the second volume of my Inquisition War trilogy, and Space Marine." -Ian Watson, .ianwatson.info/a-bundle-of-interviews. 

** "

WD #165 featured a Space Marine excerpt.

GW seemed quite happy at first at any rate, since a big section of Space Marine appeared in White Dwarf 165 in Sept 1993, although I do seem to recall a murmur in my ear that the section appeared because an important article on games rules wasn’t ready on time, consequently the pages needed to be filled.." -Ian Watson, ianwatson.info/a-bundle-of-interviews

***"I do myself regard Space Marine as part of the Inquisition War series – and indeed it is thus in the gigantic Hungarian language omnibus edition – since my Marine, Lexandro d’Arquebus, plays a role in Harlequin and then a major role in Chaos Child." -Ian Watson, .ianwatson.info/a-bundle-of-interviews.

****...Maybe the Black Library really is trying to apologize for the existence of this book?

Imagines and text snippets are Copyright Games Workshop and are used here for review purposes and are not intended as a challenge to Games Workshop's Copyright.