Pretty good reading here
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First Officer Tomas Ward, of the space frigate "Relentless", has never seen real battle. The captain died months ago and Commander Ward took his own sweet time reporting the fact. Since then, Ward and his officers have patrolled the sector, but instead of boarding vessels for inspections of illegal items they simply take what they want out of the cargo hold, whether or not the ship boarded really had anything hidden or not. It all comes to a halt when the new captain arrives.
Captain Becket and his aide, Officer Samuel Warrant, are two survivors of a previous ship. The two have no idea about any of the corrupt schemes surrounding Ward and his men until it is too late. Unwilling to lose his "collection", Ward has decided that Becket has to die. It is planned during the stop on the planet Pontus. The scheme works out exactly as Ward planned, except that Becket's body is not found. The only mistake made was in assuming Becket is dead.
Becket has not only survived, but has also figured Ward for the weasel he is. Before Becket could settle on a plan of action, he finds himself conscripted instead. With all his injuries, no one looks close enough to realize who Becket really is. He, and hundreds more like himself, are forced to toil in the ship's lowest and most dangerous underbelly. And so begins Becket's ruthless campaign to fight his way back up through the ranks to seize back control of the ship and claim his revenge.
**** If you are expecting to read of space marines, heroic space battles, and loyalty to the Emperor, then this book is not for you. This story is all about traitors, greed, and mutiny. The character of Ward is well done, in a sleazy way. Readers will hate Ward immediately. The readers will feel the total opposite about Becket. However, I cannot help but feel that Becket, with all his battle experiences, should have seen through Ward and his closest officers much earlier on and done something about them. I would not wish to serve under one so blind about the officers closest to him. Still, ignoring that, the story is very entertaining and the author did a pretty good job on showing the less glamorous aspects of being on a ship. All-in-all, though the ending felt rushed I believe most will thoroughly enjoy this tale set in the W40K universe. ****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Review.
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A solid debut
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This is Richard Williams' first novel in the 40K universe, and as such it's impressive how confidently the work is written. He knows how to tap into one of the rich veins of the 40K universe, which is that of the normal everyman suffering horribly under the weight of a quasi-fascist regime ( The Imperium, of course ).
It's a world which Captain Becket is introduced to when he tightens the reins on a battleship crew gone soft, who until his delayed arrival have been collecting regular 'tithes' from trading vessels and growing fat on the proceeds. His new initiatives upset First Officer Ward, who had all but proclaimed himself Captain, and finally an assassination is attempted to remove Becket from the picture.
Not knowing who was in on the conspiracy, Becket re-enters the Relentless as a Conscript, the 'human fuel' of the vessel who are subjected to a lifetime of back-breaking labour, with only the strongest having any chance of advancement. The images Williams conjures of countless, pale human bodies, working on machines of collosal size, are affecting and compelling, reminding me of the Morlocks from H.G Wells 'The Time Machine' - supplying essentials to an elite who were neither conscious nor caring of their efforts.
Unfortunatly, there is little surprising in the characters, most being familiar cliches - the sadistic overseer, the cocky young worker, the religious zealot, but none of these are badly written, and cliches are familiar for a good reason. In the end you feel it's the tale itself which restricts Williams, it's a formulaic story of revenge and heroism, yet also a considerate slow-burner which may put people off who tune into this universe for the immediate thrill of bolters blazing.
There's obviously some talent here and I hope Williams writes more in the 40K universe, the Imperial Navy feels ripe for exploration and he may be just the man to do it.
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