Book Review: Sabbat Worlds

Just finished the Sabbat Worlds collection that features Dan Abnett and other writers such as Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Graham McNeill, Sandy Mitchell and more….

Overall I have to give this book 4 out of 5 Imperial Eagles overall. The quality was very good throughout with perhaps one exception or two that I will go into later.

Stories:

Apostle’s Creed (Graham McNeill): This picks up on the wings of Double Eagle about the Imperial Navy fliers of the Apostle’s and gives another great story into the life and times of the elite of the Imperial flyers in an epic story that opens the book really well.

The Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings (Matthew Farrer): This was the worst of the book. Matthew Farrer wrote the Enforcer book series which is well written but also very dry. Many people that I have talked to about books have commented the same that the quality is there but not the flavor to keep your attention. This was even more so as the story unfolds in the book telling of how Chaos attempts to revive some ancient war machines that sit in an Adeptus Mechanius junkyard. I had to put down the book several times, tell myself there are better stories afterwards that will redeem this book. Some people may have a different slant to this story as to the quality but I found it lacking.

Regicide (Aaron Dembski-Bowden): A top notch story here and fought hard against Apostle’s Creed as my favorite in a tie. The story is about Slydo and his final moments before his death told by one of his sergeants. Aaron Dembski-Bowden has always produced top notch work and this story did not disappoint.

The Iron Star (Dan Abnett): This was a short story that was given to those that attended the 2008 Games Day UK and reprinted now for everyone to enjoy about Gaunts Ghosts. Thanks for making us suffer there GW just because we live in the US! This was not Dan’s best; it was still good and a bit different from his other stories. Yet, this is also what Dan Abnett is known for is changing up his style to give you a different flavor in each book/story he writes. I really appreciate this and find this is the #1 reason why he is a top notch writer.

Cell (Nik Vincent): This story features the resistance on a small world that features a priest that tries to hold on to his faith on an occupied world held by Chaos. This was a good story, not great but told a good tale that presented an excellent point of view of the resistance on occupied world.

Blueblood (Nick Kyme): This brings the Volpone regiment back into the light with a story of the Major after he is split off to another theatre away from Gaunt and the Ghosts. For those that may recall they had a love/hate relationship that carried on in the series that was in my opinion one of the best regimental rivals and interactions they ever had. Nick put a nice twist in this story making it an enjoyable reed and held to the character of the Volpone “blueblood” attitude throughout the story.

Of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities (Dan Abnett): Dan does it again with a different style of book that opens into a story of Gaunt’s early days with the Tanith. He really shows how Gaunt bonded with them and teases many things we already know after reading his books over the years. This story also wins the longest title in the book but is fitting for the story.

Overall, this was a great book to read and I would advise anyone to read it. Be prepared for the second story and you may find Iron Star a bit tough as it isn’t one of Dan’s best, but still a story of quality and bearing to the saga.