from James Swallow today. This is the fourth book in the Blood Angels saga in the Warhammer 40, 000 universe. Now I am not going to do a formal review on this novel quiet yet, but I will offer up some of my cursory thoughts on the story. First I have to say that I never really got emotionally involved in this book like I did the last three. The first two I was living vicariously through Rafen (the main character of this saga). His every victory I cheered out loud for him. His every lost I felt myself, and when he did something badass I felt the rush of adrenalin.
By the third and I believe second book, I was thrilled by the involved me of my favorite heroes in the game actually having involvement in a real way with the plot. This I was a first so far for me, because usually the black library books I read so far only glancingly mentioned heroes and instead focused on original elements.
I guess what took me about this was the fact that what happened with what I read impacted I whole of the universe of the game. These were no mere cannon fodder ready to die at the plot's whim, but character's who if maimed or killed would mean they would no longer be the same in the game if they still remained.
The Black Tide
on the other hand had none of these elements from the previous entries. I am not saying it wasn't a good book, but it just didn’t have the impact. This book was action packed and the pacing was unrelenting. For me it also lacked suspense. I never doubted that Rafen wouldn’t rise to the challenges placed before him. So for a while during the middle I kept wanting things to move on and get to the final scene. I should say I was slightly spoiled with a review I read before hand, but regardless I didn't feel like the events in the middle would have much lasting impact on the plot.
Overall if you have read the first three books in the series reading this will give you closure, but it does not stand up well on it's own.
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