Rynn's World: Space Marine Battles: Warhammer 40,000

I had bought this book a while ago and never got around to reading it. I had so many books to read that I never got round to it, but now that I have both finished this book and have already read so many books in the Space Marine Battles series I can say this is one of the good ones.This is was the first Warhammer 40k book I have read that made the Orks seem menacing and not just a comedic enemy for the Space Marines to fight. The orks in this book feel like something you should be truly terrified that lurks in the darkness.All the characters are great in this book as well. I was interested in see what happened to all of them form the space Marines to the humans.If you are interested in see how the orks can be something to fear or in the Crimson fist’s fight to stay alive you will not be disappointed.

It's right over there.Love that.So, this is the first WH40K book I've read. I picked it carefully based on reviews and my love of Orks. And it did not fail me.The author does a wonderful job of showing the gap between the Space marines and the regular humans. The contempt that some Space Marines have for the humans (that they were once) is really quite amazing.The battle scenes are well done and a rip roaring good read.The governor doesn't get much screen time, but you do see her face reality as opposed to what her fantasy was like.I wonder if there are different versions, as my copy is over 500 pages long with pretty big type, not the 400 pages listed. Easy to recommend for science fiction or for military action lovers.

'Rynn's World' very diligently chronicles the greatest tragedy to befall the Crimson Fists, and their desperate battle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. The Crimson Fists are one of my favourite Space Marine chapters, so I was pleased to see their most famous battle put to print. I wasn't disappointed, but at the same time I wasn't wowed, either. I am quite sure that if I had read this before 'Titanicus' by Dan Abnett I would've liked it better, but now that the bar for 40K fiction has been raised so high, it's tough for other 40K tales to compete. If you like tragedy, sacrifice, and Space Marine action, 'Rynn's World' will not disappoint, but it's unlikely to linger in your mind for a long time.I was also annoyed by the sloppy editing of this book. There were several homonymic typos ("martialled" instead of "marshalled" for example) and other errors that should have been caught. I don't blame the author for that, that's an editor's job, but it detracted from the book.

For anyone even remotely involved in the 40k universe, the battles fought by the Space Marines against Xenos, heretic, and traitor are the focal point of many a discussion. We see references to great battles in all of the codecies, often hear our favorite characters refer to them in passing, and games have been made based on them. However, there was never really a series, aside from the Horus Heresy, that highlighted these epic and historically significant battles. With Steve Parker's Rynn's World, the Black Library introduces to the 40k universe the Space Marine Battles series.Having not previously read any of Parker's BL work (Rebel Winter & Gunheads), I didn't quite know what to expect from the story, which gives its focus to the brothers of the Crimson Fists and their struggle to defend their homeworld, Rynn's World. Primarily, the story focuses on three Astartes of the Crimson Fists: Chapter Master Pedro Kantor, 4th Company Captain Allesio "the Immortal" Cortez, and Captain of the 2nd Company Drigo Alvez and the struggles they go through defending their world from a massive Ork Waaagh!, led by a brutal and intelligent ork Warboss name Snagrod, Arch-Arsonist of Chadron.To tell the tale, Parker breaks the novel up into three parts essentially pre-invasion, post-catastrophic event (which I won't spoil here, as it caught me quite by surprise), and late-invasion/turning point. It works very well. Parker uses the first part to introduce the main characters and builds them well enough that we will care about them later on. His work on Kantor, Cortez, and imperial governess Maia Cagliestra is particularly good, as we're shown quite a bit of breadth in characterization. Kantor and Cortez couldn't be more different, the former being more stoic and even tempered, the latter being fiery and impulsive, which allows them to balance their friendship--which Parker details exceptionally well--throughout the novel. Their friendship, and the way it meshes and interferes with the chain of command is a nice thing to see, as Parker has obviously put some love into developing a believable relationship between the two Astartes. Cagliestra serves as a strong heroine in the novel, while her adoration of the Crimson Fists, and Kantor in general, is a nice addition showing an interesting relationship between human and Astartes.That human/Astartes relationship is another facet of the book that Parker seems quite concerned with, and is an addition to the narrative that I can't help but love. I've noticed a trend recently with many of the Black Library novels about Space Marines that has allowed the reader to see that the Astartes still have a human side and still form emotional relationships. Parker explores this through the Kantor/Cortez friendship, the Cagliestra/Kantor adoration, and further through the interactions the Crimson Fists have with the Rynnites they're sworn to protect. I think the latter relationship is where Parker's narrative really shines. I LIKE that many authors are showing the Astartes' humanity. It makes the characters a lot more likeable. While the Crimson Fists are concerned with their chapter's survival, Kantor realizes that they have no purpose without humanity to protect.Throughout that protection of New Rynn City, Parker does give the blood-seeker some really great battle scenes, my favorite of which actually comes at the very beginning of the novel when we get to see some 10th company scouts doing a bit of Astartes wetwork. After those scenes, and after having read about Telion in Assault on Black Reach, I can't help but think the scouts need their own book. Regardless, Parker does a really nice job of painting a hectic picture of a city under siege, often bloody and brutal, but not without some nice tactical touches thrown in.The layout of the book is also something I really like. The cover is white with the title across the top, with a nice picture of the Allesio Cortez and his Crimson Fist brethren wrapping from front to back. On the spine is, again, the title, but also a silhouette of the Crimson Fist power armour, a trend I'm sure will continue in future additions to the series that will make it look great as a collection on a shelf. Also, others have stated that there were errors within the text that distracted them too much from the story. While there are a few typographic errors - a "form" where it should have been "from"--the errors are negligible and do not distract from the text past a second to correct your own reading.Overall, I'm very excited about the Space Marines Battle series. With Rynn's World, Steve Parker has created a very nice benchmark that I hope the future Space Marine Battles books can live up to. Parker had the unwelcome task of creating a unique and interesting story about a chapter that, aside from Kantor's codex entry, didn't have a whole lot written about it. He does a commendable job of establishing some canon for the Crimson Fists, all while spinning an enjoyable addition to the Black Library.The Good+ Great character development of Kantor & Co.+ Excellent battle scenes that really depict a city under siegeThe Bad-- Lots of characters can be a bit confusing at first

It's not terrible, it's not even very bad, just mediocre and bland in almost every aspect. Save for Grimm I found no likable characters here.

This book was hard work. The characterisation was one-dimensional, the plot thin as anything, and the novel itself was overlong. A good editor would have stripped out at least a third of it. I suspect that Black Library pay their authors by the k̶i̶l̶o̶ word, which combined with the fact that no-one at Black Library knows what an editor is for and hires them based on how long they've been hanging around Warhammer World, leaves us readers struggling at times. Steve Parker's later WH40K novel Deathwatch is much better than this, he's learnt to self-edit by then but this is over 500 pages of fan-service. Rynn's World needed a novel, but this isn't it.

This book wasnt what I was expecting at all - the crimson fists were my original chapter that I painted my very first plastic space marines when I was a kid, and the story is very different than the ego I had made up for them! Some of the other reviews slate their Chapter Master (Kantor) but I think he is hardcore - exactly what you would expect from a warrior and a diplomat/ strategist. A very unusual twist in the story that I am sure had its origins in older space marine literature, but it was inserted nicely into the story. What surprised me was how some of the characters are portrayed - some with compassion and feeling for their human lessers, and some with outright loathing/ disdain. Ive never thought space marines would be like that considering their heritage and overall job? Makes for good reading, with some skirmishes well written, but little on the scale of big battles like Helsreach - get some titans in there :) Still a good read that I would recommend - Black Library often doesnt do poor books, so that goes for most of them though!

Great story, Really enjoyed it.

Ok

Great book, very cool story.Lore is good, story slightly not explained, but its 40k not everything can be explained.