Sons of Dorn

Warhammer 40,000

by Chris Roberson

Sons of Dorn is a thrilling new Imperial Fists novel featuring a memorable cast of characters and all the intergalactic action associated with the Black Library.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 2009

About the author

Chris Roberson is the co-creator with artist Michael Allred of iZombie, the basis of the hit CW television series, and the writer of several New York Times best-selling Cinderella miniseries set in the world of Bill Willingham’s Fables. He is also the co-creator of Edison Rex with artist Dennis Culver, and the co-writer of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D, Witchfinder, Rise of the Black Flame, and other titles set in the world of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. In addition to his numerous comics projects, Roberson has written more than a dozen novels and three dozen short stories. He lives with a teenager, two cats, and far too many books in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Student Teacher]

This book by Chris Roberson tells the tale of some Imperial Fists as they go from being "regular" humans through their induction into the Fists, their time as scouts and their eventual elevation to full battle brothers.

This book is interesting because in the book Heroes of the Space Marines which was published a year or so ago, we see the main characters in the short story Gauntlet Run. So this first story falls somewhere in the timeline of the novel, but isn't really discussed.

This wasn't a bad book but I kept having the feeling I'd seen it before. This is a story of "savages" taken by the sky warriors to become space marines. I was thinking, "I saw this in Space Wolf." They even have the plot device of Zatori hating du Quest because du Quest killed Zatori's master before both were taking up by the space marines. This is just like Ragnar hating Strybjorn in Space Wolf, but this is even better because in Sons of Dorn, you also have Taloc hating Zatori because Zatori killed Taloc's father! Its a hate three-way! So I'm sure that like Space Wolf, the three will finally come to an understanding that all of that drama was in their old lives, and their bond as battle brothers is stronger than past transgressions.

Nope.

There is lots of "Zatori couldn't wait for the moment when it would fulfill his blood oath and kill the dog du Queste," but nothing ever comes of it. I was waiting for a paragraph at the end of the book saying they were all happy with each other now, but nada.

Another complaint I have had with a lot of the Black Library authors is their verbosity and loquaciousness (I had to look both of those words up). As Calvin put it, "these guys need to understand they are writing pulp fiction." But I fear that with Graham McNeill getting on the NY Times best seller list we'll see more of this. To give you an example of what I'm talking about, this is the first sentence of the book.

"In the exercise hall deep in the heart of the Imperial Fist strike cruiser Capulus, Captain Taelos swun his blade through the air in a two-handed grip, eyes closed and thoughts racing."

I think these guys are trying too hard. One of the best opening sentences in my opinion comes from The Gunslinger by Stephen King, "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed." Short, to the point and thats enough. Some of the other gems from Sons of Dorn are as follows.

"Ever since he'd been a mere neophyte, to perform the sword-forms had been for Taelos a meditative act, one which in even the most stressful and demanding of circumstances helped him order his thoughts and centre himself, pushing away distractions and focusing on the essential matter at hand."

"In the near distance, just north along the ocean's shore, rose a huge structure of some kind, and thought they could see little of its detail, they could clearly see the bright lights which twinkled merrily on towers and steeples, and the brilliantly bright yellow flames that danced atop the tallest spires."

Each one of those is just one sentence each! All in all the book isn't terrible, but I just couldn't get away from the overly wordy sentences, the contrived division between the tree initiates and the total ass-hatitude of Imperial Fist Captain Lysander. I mean, that dude is a douchebag. I can't believe he wasn't exiled for the shit he pulled in this book. If I were the chapter master I'd be pretty pissed at the resources he had thrown away.

Anywho, I give it two slightly unsettling (as if yearning to be more than their humble beginnings as an arbitrary classifier to mediocre science fiction) stars out of five.

[Jeff]

It's a familiar tale: enemy warriors fighting a desperate battle only to be snatched up and put through a grueling series of tests and implantations to become Astartes. Eventually they learn to be a team and work together (or die) as scouts, neophytes, etc. If you've read the Space Wolves Omnibus (specifically Space Wolf) by William King then you know the story. Honestly, if you're a Space marine fan of any sort you likely are familiar with the story already. That's all there is to know, right?

Wrong!

While the process of creating a Space Marine may be fairly well-trodden ground, this is very much an Imperial Fists book, and Imperial Fists aren't your everyday Space Marine. The Imperial Fists are one of the original founding Legions, from which many smaller "chapters" were spawned. These aren't Ultramarines or some other cookie-cutter Codex Astartes clone...and they take their identity serious. The book has a lot of unique Imperial Fist flavor to say the very least.

Add to this that Chris Roberson isn't your everyday writer. He's got a unique feel to his writing style. Where the Space Wolf stories read like Icelandic Sagas of superheroes who are greater than gods...Roberson makes Astartes supermen without making them perfect in every 4-color way. These guys have an ounce of humanity left in them. Unlike some stories that lead you to believe that Space Marines are these perfectly indoctrinated controlled psychopaths who are nigh unstoppable...Chris Roberson gives them a little bit of feeling. A bit of color. A bit of inner turmoil and gives us as readers a bit of insight in to what it would be like to undergo such a life altering event, complete with missing or fuzzy memories and added hypnotherapy weirdness...and deal with it without going nuts.

Roberson tells a good yarn. He's really good at setting the stage, pacing and misdirection. He'll trick you. Most of the time these sort of stories play out fairly predictably. Chris Roberson does a great job in keeping you going and throwing curves and twists at you.

Is it a unique story? No. It is however done in a very creative manner. To be honest, I wasn't sure if another "making of a space marine" would be anything short of a snoozer, but Chris Roberson really does a great job at taking a well-worn concept and breathing fresh new life in to it.

Rating:

3 of 5 (4 of 5 for IF fans)

Definitely an enjoyable read! I want to see Chris Roberson get cut loose on some fresh material...I'm sure he'll knock our socks off!

[Trevor Vallender]

I decided to read this ignoring the mostly negative reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. I regretted it.

Roberson's writing endlessly repeats things, patronising the reader beyond belief. He seems to believe if he doesn't restate who wants to kill who on each page we might get confused, and forget. The story is overlong and simplistic, the emotion heavy-handed.

There are a few redeeming factors - for a 40K nerd reading the details of the transition into a Space Marine is interesting, and at times the prose does become somewhat enjoyable, but overall it's just not worth it. Many people hold a low opinion of tie-in fiction; this is not the book to change their mind.

[Jay]

I’ve been a Space Marine fan for a quarter of a century and I’ve enjoyed adding characters to the vast library of background fluff that I’ve soaked up over the years.

This tale tells of the initiation of three Imperial Fists marines, from selection through to Battle Brother, and an epic encounter with the forces of Chaos somewhere in between.

[Matt Phillips]

good intro into the 40K universe. This is the tale of three space marine trainees

[Max]

If you're a fan of the setting, add a star.

[Jason]

Its really boring. Even without having read the sh1ddy Space Wolves novels the story has nothing to pull the reader along. We spend a third of the book following the story of an uninspired cheap knockoff French and Japanese civil war, then another third in a bland recruitment and training montage, then actual Space marine bits. It just goes thriugh the motions of explaining things and laying a story without making it actually interesting. There’s no central plot, no antagonist, no central theme. Its like going on a a disneyland ride just watching all the animatronics just talking to you for an hour. Like making an ordinary donut sith flour and eggs but not adding any sugar, topping, filling or sprinkles. Just generic ‘donut’ like someone whos never had a donut would make.
What do we learn about the Fists? They like swords and pain. The 40k universe? Apparently there’s still French people. Do any conflicts or plotpoints get resolved? No, The three protagonists are still enemies quietly swearing revenge.

Pointless book that adds nothing to the lore, youre better off reading something like The Iron Snakes for a better look at the warhammer universe and an actually unique space marine chapter.

[Matthew Taylor]

A solid & functional Warhammer 40,000 story, as three new members of the Imperial Fists - each from a differing warring culture from the same planet, plucked mid-combat into the wider galaxy -navigate their training and enhancement into mankind's finest fighting force. To an extent, this book felt like an "update" of 1993's "Space Marine", which also covered several new recruits to the Imperial Fists. The story fell down in a few ways, not enough to make me dislike the book, but lament the path not taken, there is little evidence of religio-ideological indoctrination of the new Marines (indeed, toward the end, one prays to Rogal Dorn, the Emperor, and the God/s of his own world, for aid!), and the implied tensions that exist between the three due to their pre-Marine pasts are continually referenced but not particularly well resolved.

[David]

Fun and interesting look at the making of a Space Marine, focusing on recruitment and from neophyte to scout and finally full Battle Brother. Rather repetitive at times but a quick and easy read.

[Thiện Thái]

The book describe the training of an imperial fist space marine, from when he is 'kidnap' until he become full battle-brother.

[Nicolas]

Interesting book, one of the few times you get to see astartes as scouts

[Arthur B]

Decent but not remarkable Imperial Fists novel which takes more from Ian Watson's Space Marine than I expected. Ok, but disposable. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...

[Sean]

This book is more 3.5 stars, I enjoyed it more then I thought I would reading the previous review, the reduction in stars is because I feel the book didn’t complete a few of the sun stories happening

[Ulzeta]

Quite boring.

[Jimmy]

It feels like the first book in a series. Mainly due to the lack of closure for the main story arcs. There is no resolution for several of the story arc setup right from the start that you might be reasonably expected to see closed out or at least partially addressed in this novel.

Aside from that it's an OK 40K novel.
The main reason I'm feeling Meh about it is there are only so many times you can read about random neobarbs being picked up by the Superhuman marines and turned into said superhuman marines.

To it's credit the book does give a bit more of time to "what it's like to be a scout" but it never feels fully engaged. The entire book seems to be setting up the 3 main protagonists as something special.

Thousands were picked off the planets and then winnowed down to a handful to be initiates. Those initiates are then whittle and winnowed down to 5 battle brothers. Wonderful. Now could you do that in the first half of the book or figure out a more engaging interim story arc to keep us entertained?

[Andrew Ziegler]

When I saw that this book was coming down the pike I was instantly drawn to it. The BL has been consistently putting out awesome 40K fiction over the last few years, and anything to do with the Marines is a draw for me. I did not care that I did not recognize the author, plus learning more about the Iron Fists beyond what the Heresy series had revealed was appealing to me. That being said, it took me 300 pages to actually care about anything that was going on. I really had a hard time with the characters and their sub-plots, not that they were overly complex, but man were they boring. The scouts were 1 dimensional, and the marines faceless. Plus the whole enemies becoming marines together was a complete rehash of the SPACE WOLF novels by William King, and those were far superior. The action at the end was fun, but a little too neat in its climax. Will I go on with them? Maybe. But I might go from instantly owning them to borrowing them, and that is saying a lot because I keep buying the Blood Angels novels, and those are next to dreadful.

[Ghanarama]

Sort of a poor man's Space Wolf series. Characters are real flat, doesn't really delve into that inherent weirdness of the 40k universe. I wish the pain glove and and general masochism which gets amplified in their sired chapters was explored better and go into the implications of a bunch of genhanced child soldiers whose particularly fighting group derives clarity and insight from hurting themselves. Pretty basic story that is not all that exciting. The three protagonists are not all that interesting to follow and are pretty underdeveloped. I went in with low expectations and it met those expectations.

[Joshtafari]

Even if your yardstick is other Warhammer novels, this one doesn't measure up. Disappointing, because I've liked what I've read of Roberson's original work. Skip it.

[Scooter]

Not a bad read, although I thought the storyline cut a little to similar to the novel Space Marine by Ian Watson.

[Thomas Zakrzewski]

An awesome book. My 2nd Black Library book. It really gives you the feeling of becoming a space marine of the 7th Founding chapter, The Emperor's Imperial Fists. It was a good read.

[Michael Borunda]

Another one that will bring tears to your eyes. Dying for your brothers selflessly is an example we all should follow.

[Angel]

(Review forthcoming)

[Pauline Rhodes]

This is a very good book if you wish to know about the Imperial fists space-marines and the way you build a chapter in in. Warhammer Universe.