Each chapter in the book is from the perspective of a different character, roughly 40% Ufthak, and another 40% from the perspective of Zaefa Varaz, Hephaesto’s Lexico Arcanus. The remaining chapters are divided between other characters which would be spoilers, which we won’t be discussing here.

Yet the abhorrence would see only another enemy to fight. Even those amongst them who could bend and shape reality to their will drew that power mainly from the massed latent psychic ability of their kin, not from the raging tempest of the warp. It was as though the glory of Chaos were simply irrelevant to them. There is also a great side-story and internal dialogue of a senior tech priest, her name is Zaefa Varaz who is trying to figure out wtf is going on. All isn't what it seems on the forge world and the Mechanicus isn't so resolute in it's mission.Another thing I loved was the total dumpster fire an Ork war is. Nothing ever works quite like it should for either side. The Mechanicus keeps getting blind sided by the shitshow that is the Orkz. Now, it isn't to say some of their plans worked, they certainly did, but because the Orkz are insane, things always seem to devolve into a total meat grinder which of course the Orkz love. The description of the battles is also great, especially the Titan legion going up against the Gargant. Get into the heads of a band of orks in the first-ever novel from their point of view. Discover what it takes to be part of the Waaagh! and carve out your own little piece of glory amidst the mayhem in a novel that's brutal, kunnin' – and darkly hilarious.

Honestly, I don't quite know how to feel about this novel. On the one hand the Orky parts are great and fun to read. On the other you've got the Mechanicum sections, that are at times just unreadable. MB: I LOVE ORKS. Always have done. I’ve drifted in and out of 40k, but any time I’ve played it, it’s been with orks. They’re tremendous fun, whether that’s playing as them, or in the lore. Part of the reason I wanted to do this was to prove that it can be done, and partly (I must admit) because I wanted to be the first person to write a 40k ork novel, but mainly it was because it felt like one of the most fun things I could be paid to do.

Like all Orks, this giant walker is even better at killing stuff up close and personal, with its advanced mega-choppa technology.** Those Imperial Knights will soon be nothing but chivalrous scrap. Mechanicus Secutor Mitranda (gets two characters from her own perspective, interacts with Zaefa and )

I found this passage particularly intriguing, as it gives a short blurb about each race's relation to Chaos from the perspective of Chaos (or at least a greater Daemon, which is as close as we're ever likely to get). While nothing seems exactly groundbreaking, I think it's an excellent little summary. The most surprising thing, to me, is the hatred that this Khornate daemon feels for the Orks. They are, well, abhorrent to it! In a way, it makes sense: Orks really seem like they should be super easy to turn to Khorne, but they're just... not. That frustration evidently builds resentment among the Blood God's servants. I also like how this excerpt dovetails with the idea that Gork and Mork (or is that Mork and Gork?) are what keep the greenskins from falling to chaos, which I've seen on here a number of times. In true Orkish fashion, however, it's not some kind of mystical purity protecting Da Boyz (a la Grey Knights or Battle Sisters)... they're just having so much fun with their current deities that, well, why would they want to try anyone else's? Like Te'Kannaroth says, there's nothing the Big Four can offer that Orks both want and don't already have. Now, again, I don't think any off that is truly brand new, but it's cool to see it from the Chaos PoV as well as the Greenskin one. honestly I think I just like Warhammer books but I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The 40k Orks are just forces of complete randomness and violence and yet its that vibe that makes this book a compelling, brain-off kind of story. This book is also legitimately hilarious with the Orks facing off against the cyborg Adeptus Mechanicus and the constant strain of the two factions trying to figure counter each other with opposing logic is very compelling.

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There was also some pronoun confusion. If the above paragraph was a little hard to read, you understand. A few of the AdMech characters are so changed by their bionics that Mr. Brooks decided to go with the singular "they" pronoun for them. After an initial moment of confusion, I didn't really have any troubles understanding the scenes where these characters showed up., so it's all good. Princeps Arlost Vast (gets a single chapter before being killed by Ufthak, which robs Daelin of the revenge he wanted) CONTEXT: During an Orkish invasion of a Forge World, Te'Kannaroth — a greater daemon of Khorne now bound into a daemon engine — looks over the battlefield. This prompts the daemon to think about each of the galaxy's major 1 races, particularly "the abhorrence" (AKA the Orks). More potential spoilers below: read at your own risk! MB: I think Guy Haley has said it before, but the key to orks is that they seem funny, unless you’re the one they’re happening to. It was interesting approaching it from the ork POV however, because of course to orks, what they’re doing isn’t horrific, it’s normal. So I was describing fights and scenes of slaughter for which, had it been from a human perspective, I would have been using words that really brought home the gruesomeness of what was occurring. When seeing the same events from an ork perspective, it’s much more matter-of-fact. In everyone of Mikes story he seems to use plural pronouns to generate a singular non-gendered pronoun. This would be well and good if this didn't come at the cost of collapsing the difference between singular and plural. This is especially frustrating when one person works in conjuncture with a group (Skitarii in this case) or for interactions between two people that use this "new" pronoun. The worst part is that it isn't even necessary to get the idea across, just use "it". It's not that Mechanicum personnel will mind, after all getting refereed to as "it" would bring the even closer to the holy machine. Plus the ease of using the proper genderless pronoun "it" is also demonstrated in this novel during the chapters about Te'Kannaroth. Which are a joy to read. In the end I hoped that I would get used to it but even at chapter 24 I still needed to pause every time to make sure I didn't misinterpreted anything.

Thanks as ever to Mike for taking the time to answer these questions! I’m sure I’m not the only person very excited to read this novel – it sounds so much fun! Expect a review just as soon as I get hold of a copy… A full length followup to the short Where Dere’s da Warp Dere’s a Way, this one follows the story of a WAAAGH! way to loot the shiniest, most technological gear they can find. I think it's also worth noting that the passage doesn't rule out the possibility of Chaos Orkz entirely; it just explains why they're so very difficult to create! (Question for those who've read more on the subject: are Tuska's boys ever actually stated to worship Khorne, or are they simply bog standard Orks that he resurrects for his own amusement?) Orks are loaded with great units, but if you’re looking for something big, brutal, and belligerent – and BATTLELINE , to boot – look no further than the Beast Snagga Boyz .

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This story shows the fight from both sides, and it does a good job of showing the contrasting views. For the orks, it's humorous. They're having fun and getting into shenanigans as they butcher their way through the defenders. On the other side, you have a palpable sense of the desperation and hopelessness of the AdMech as they desperately try to save as much as they can while they're being ground down by overwhelming ork numbers and power, while being hampered by their own incompetent leadership and an insidious third party. If you’re looking for something a little more low-tech, how about tossing a fungal ball of teeth and attitude at the enemy? The squig launchas on the Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy don’t have an explosive payload, but squigs are much worse. Secondly, there's a subplot that starts very slowly and once it feels like it's getting going, is resolved near instantly. Even the aftermath of that resolution is undone when it would be more interesting to see it left. But it is in the nature of 40k to kill on an unprecedented level so I cam forgive a little. With that in mind, it should be noted that this is as much a Mechanicus book as an Ork one, despite what the cover implies (according to Brooks, this was mandated.) But he uses that split extremely effectively – I’m always looking for a good AdMech book and this one was all the sweeter for being unexpected.