The Founding: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus

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He even has the truly amazing ability to make you give a damn about characters who aren't from the Tanith or from Verghast like those from Gereon and (especially) from Belladon. Colonel Wilder, a hell of a fine officer and no greater example of a truly great Commissar (save Gaunt and Hark of course) is to be found than Gennady Novobazky... (I know I butchered that name, sorry, the book is far from me right now so I can't look it up). The story of their last stand is...well, soul tearing. The speech that Novobazky gives the troops, all of whom must know that they will fall, is really awe inspiring. I was literally irate when it dawned on me that both Wilder and Novobazky died, I truly felt their loss. Not all writers can do this, Abnett can. For the target audience that is probably fine. I'm just saying that, unless you want to spend a fair amount of time reading wiki entries over on warhammer40k.fandom.com, this simply isn't a good entry point. One other thing I do want to mention about the third book, is the serious introduction of female characters. The first book has none I can think of and is very much men-make-war, the second has one of note but is at least a significant and interesting role. The third, though, seems like a coming tide, that Abnett made a decision to blow women right through the universe, setting not just multiple female characters up for future warmongering, but changing the whole gendered system of the Imperial Guard as we (thought we) knew it. I do think it's very clear what Abnett was doing here, it's not subtle, but neither does he beat you over the head about it. It's more a 'shit, and here comes the women!' feel, like Abnett made a deliberate point of opening the gates, shifting the macho-man's world of these 40k stories into a new, somewhat more balanced realm. I found it welcome and well handled.

Likewise, I understand that [to an extent], Chaos is the macguffin and the sane human dinguses who do not Do A War as well as Gaunt Does A War are the antagonists. But they're so much less interesting!) The Tanith First-and-Only is deployed as part of the reinforcement army sent by Warmaster Macaroth. They learn that Ferrozoica, whom Vervunhive had fought in the Trade War ninety years before, had silenced communications with its neighbours in recent months and began arming. The influence of Chaos is evident. Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and his Ghosts face opposition from not only the enemy, but also their fellow Guard regiments and the local politicians. In the step-cities of Ancreon Sextus the Gereon veterans are reunited with old comrades and new in the 81st/1st regiment under Belladon Colonel Lucien Wilder. Necropolis - The word means "city of the dead". I expected this to be about Necrons. I was oh so very wrong. The Tanith First-And-Only face their sternest battles yet in the third Gaunt's Ghosts omnibus, containing the novels Traitor General, His Last Command, The Armour of Contempt and Only in Death.Gaunt’s Ghosts is a series of military science fiction novels written by the bestselling British author of short stories, I managed to finish this book in a record time of one week and two days. My normal reading speed for omnibuses of this size was around 3 to 4 weeks, but this book was special. Ghostmaker - an introduction to each of the main characters, interspersed between the interminable waiting before a major campaign. Yes, all the characters appear for the first time in the first book (dur), but this is where we actually meet them.

His Last Command introduces troopers from the 81st Belladon, several of whom become key characters in the series. The title refers to both Gaunt and Wilder. When informing Gaunt of his demotion, Van Voytz tells him that the Tanith was "[his] last command". Wilder issues his last command to a platoon of Belladon soldiers participating in a suicidal rearguard for the rest of the regiment, of which Gaunt assumes leadership. The jungle world of Monthax is the setting for the end of Ghostmaker, when Gaunt and his men encounter the alien Eldar as they struggle to wipe out a Chaos infestation. The Ghosts have to co-operate once again with the Royal Volpone 50th, and with an inquisitor who had accused Brin Milo of witchcraft. They discover an ancient portal leading to one of the Eldar's craftworlds, self-sustaining cities in space, which the inquisitor, Lilith Abferquan, closes after the alien Farseer guarding the portal dies. At the end of this battle, the Ghosts lost an excellent leader, Sergeant Lerod.Although Gaunt is the primary character, the perspective from which the novels are told shifts regularly to encompass a wider view of events – it is usually told from the Imperial point of view, though the perspective is occasionally seen through the eyes of antagonists. Elements of the series later reappeared in other series by Abnett, including the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and has resulted in two spin-off novels, Double Eagle and Titanicus. The forge-world of Orestes, a vital supplier for the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, becomes the battleground of Imperial and invading Chaos Titans. The plot of Blood Pact somewhat mirrors that of Traitor General, with Etogaur Mabbon in place of Noches Sturm, but differs with the assassination squad holding the upper hand over their target's captors. The novel also provides greater detail of Gaunt's past tour on Balhaut during his service with the Hyrkan 8th, before the founding of the Tanith First-and-Only. The way he ended the book was also pretty decent, a couple of loose ends from previous booked were tied up and stuff. In his last book, Only in Death, he seemed to have a new style of writing which was kind of fitting into the situation and setting. One last point,' Hark added. He punched the man in the side of the head with his augmetic. The man tumbled the length of the wall and fell on his face. His skull was probably fractured. A mercy, Hark considered. Thirty years on a penal colony would probably pass a lot easier if you were simple from brain-damage.