The Tau Empire

Legends of the Dark Millennium

by Braden Campbell, Peter Fehervari, Phil Kelly

It is the manifest destiny of the Tau Empire to rule the stars. Guided by the principle of the Greater Good and driven by the orders of the mysterious ethereals, they conquer worlds, by words or force, and defend them by the might of the fire caste, noble warriors armed with advanced weaponry and powerful battlesuits. 'Shas'o' contains ten tales of the Tau Empire at war, featuring mighty battlesuits battling Imperial tanks, fire warrior snipers duelling with Space Marines and stories of some of the tau's greatest heroes, including Farsight, Shadowsun and Aun'Shi.

Read it because
Get all sorts of insights into the way the tau Fire Caste wage war. Embittered snipers, tank-busting battlesuits, and some of the greatest heroes of the Empire all get their time in the spotlight. Plus two novellas showing the infamous Commander Farsight both from the tau perspective, and from that of mankind's Imperium.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Short Stories, Anthologies

418 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2016

Reviews

[Arron Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up after ordering the 'Eisenhorn' trilogy and found myself too impatient to just wait it out. My knowledge of the 40K universe is pretty casual with a few more developed scraps of knowledge here and there. So I picked up this as a "eh fuck it, might as well jump in" and found myself pleasantly surprised. The book contains several novellas and short stories regarding The Tau, and I found them all entertaining and enjoyable. Earlier in the year I read "Legion of the Damned" by William C. Dietz out of the desire for space wars and combat, and honestly I should have just picked up this. Overall, good quality but if you're new to 40K do yourself a favour and hit up the wiki.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Same book as Shas'o.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really hate that my 'updates' aren't saved into this review space. I posted a review of the first novella, then remembered that's just lost to the ether now and didn't bother updating after that.

The first novella in here, Farsight by Phil Kelly, turned out to be my favorite, which was a shock because I haven't been a big Phil Kelly fan. But still, I didn't really love anything in here, so I guess I might be damning with faint praise.

Braden Campbell's stuff is not great, on a purely technical level. His writing is sophomoric at best, and a lot of times he's telling rather than showing, but it's got a flow to it and I overall enjoyed all of his stories. Shadowsun especially worked pretty decently, despite a stale opening.

Everything else was pretty meh. I definitely got a good taste of the tau and how their empire works - I think that's what I was mostly interested in, and it's probably why I enjoyed Kelly's novella the most, since that's kind of the central spine that the story is built around. So I'm glad I got this years ago. I just probably won't be going back for a reread anytime soon.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasently surprised book of solid Tau shorts.

Bradon Campbell delivered the standouts for me personally but I did enjoy Andy Smillie's rare dips into writing too.

One of Peter Fehevari's done me in though, it's twists and turns a bit too much for my senses 😂

[Martin Jørgensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had a few good stories in it, but also so fairly bland ones. Not sure I would recommend.

[NickMohr · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of the Tau, this is a great anthology. The retelling of Farsight, in particular, is a strong story.

[Timothy Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the T'au player

This book is for the T'au player. It gives good insight a broadens the race. My only regret was the minimal coverage any of their playable vehicles received.

[Paul Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A selection of short stories and novella about the Tau and their expansion into the the imperium, really enjoyed reading them all and gaining greater insight into the greater good

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Jess :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of 40k for over a decade now. I must say that this book in my opinion could have been a lot better. Commander Farsight is one of the best Tau to read about. Plus side to this book, you get multiple stories for a decent price.

[Justin Woody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read about the Tau in Warhammer. Writing isn't the best but overall it's a satisfying read.