The Death of Antagonis – Book Review

David Annandale is one of the more recent additions to Black Library’s team of writers. He wrote a few short stories (which I missed) and the fantastic novella Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha. David also granted me a short interview. Given how much I enjoyed my taste of his writing in Chains of Golgotha, I was eager to get his first “full-length” Warhammer 40K novel – The Death of Antagonis.

The Black Dragons fall upon the world of Antagonis, summoned to combat the plague of undeath that has engulfed the planet. Allying themselves with Inquisitor Werner Lettinger and a force of Sisters of Battle, the Black Dragons endeavour to save the souls of the Imperial citizens who have succumbed to the contagion. But there is more than a mere infection at play – the dread forces of Chaos lie behind the outbreak, and the Black Dragons stand in the way of the Dark Gods’ victory.

#1 – The Book

The book is a 400 page paperback novel from Black Library’s Space Marines Battles series. As the name implies, Space Marines Battles are novels written to serve up stories brimming with a maximum of power-armoured Chainsword & Bolter action.

The Death of Antagonis – telling a story of the Black Dragons Space Marines – is no different.

It is interesting to note that the book comes with a 4-page colour-inlay, which depicts Black Dragons artwork and a map to one of the early battle-scenes in the book. The other Space Marines Battles novel I read recently – Flesh of Cretacia – had a similar colour-section, though I assumed it had for being a Black Library exclusive hardcover novella. I guess I was wrong.

#2 – The Story

The story.. well.. there isn’t much to say about it. In a nutshell, it is an inter-planetary scavenger hunt with the Black Dragons (and their allies) chasing their nemesis of Chaos Space Marines as they seek to find, and activate, a potent doomsday weapon. At the same time, the Black Dragons need to confront a schism among themselves, partly by coming to terms with their own nature.

If “Space Marines Battles” books are written action movies, than this is a story-line made to serve up the different action-set-pieces and trigger the unfolding schism within the Black Dragon’s 2nd company itself. It certainly does that. But the story itself isn’t (or tries to be) the highlight of the book.

Far more memorable in The Death of Antagonis are the wildly exotic locations and battle-scenes.

I envy David Annandale’s imagination to dream up places and situations as freakishly outlandish as some of the things you’ll find here.

I am not sure if everyone will like them (and I won’t … can’t really .. spoil them), but the crazy mix of utterly alien, outlandish sets – such as the stories final “grinder” – and the more mundane (for 40K), yet excellently crafted battles scenes – such as the fight for the hive world Aighe Mortis – make The Death of Antagonis a hugely fun pulp romp through the wackier possibilities of the 40K universe.

But be warned. The Death of Antagonis isn’t a gritty story about guardsmen sharing their last lho-stick in a muddy trench. This is off-the-rails, “high-fantasy” 40K at its most fierce.

#3 – The Characters

There are some underwhelming characters in The Death of Antagonis.

The nominal main villain, Nessun, is kinda flat, as the book turns more and more towards the internal struggle among the Black Dragons as the story progresses. Likewise, the Black Dragons own “bad egg” felt stereotype as well. Often, the overarching theme around purity seemed to stand out more than the actual characters who carried the theme. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of a “brilliant” villain, mainly because I enjoyed David Annandale’s work on Ghazghkull Thraka a lot.

The Death of Antagonis also introduces one of the coolest 40K characters in a long, long time:

The Canoness Errant Setheno.

I am not (was not?) a huge Sisters of Battle fan per se. But holy! Setheno hits the pages of The Death of Antagonis with a bang and steals the limelight from everyone in the book, including the novel’s (eminently cool) main character Volos.

If someone from Black Library is reading this, chain David Annandale to his desk and have him write a Canoness Setheno novel. Or three! Do it now!

Setheno is one of my favourite characters from Black Library in a long time. She is just the kind of quirky, grim-dark being that can only really exist in Warhammer 40K. She would be comical elsewhere, but fits in 100% here.

#4 – The Style

David Annandale clearly has a gift with metaphors and pictorial language that allows him to nail a scene or theme with a choice few words.

Some hive worlds glittered like spiked jewels from a distance, the cloud-piercing turrets of the elite creating a mirage of beauty. Others had mountain chains and oceans that defied the feature-eradicating virus of humankind. But Aighe Mortis was honest. It looked like an infected boil.

Descriptions like that make his books plain fun to read. There is plenty more of that in this one.

#5 – Verdict

The Death of Antagonis isn’t a straight 5-star-perfect like Chains of Golgotha. Perhaps, because more words give me more opportunity to nit-pick. I did enjoyed it immensely though, both for the “purity-theme” the fuels the conflicts and because the story kept surprising me with utterly mad locations.

Annandale’s vivid imagination and his wizardry with words make him one of my favourite Black Library authors at the moment. Unless you are opposed on principle to a more “fantastic” (for lack of a more appropriate word) take on Warhammer 40K, this one is definitely a book worth reading.

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Pro

• Canoness Errant Setheno!
• Packed with loads of fast-paced, highly varied Space Marine action (it is a Space Marines Battles novel to the core the bone!)
• David Annandale’s flavourful style of writing

Con

• Villain and story are a bit on the weak side
• The wildly imaginative, weird and fantastic might not be everyone’s cup of 40K-tea (admittedly not really a Con.. more a heads-up)

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Let me know what you think. Leave a comment!

Z.