[.uk] Dark Adeptus (Grey Knights) (ISBN 1844162427)

Not as Good as the First One....but What Is?:
I really enjoyed this book. The Grey Knights are my favorite Space Marine Chapter in the Black Library, and this is a fantastic book. The Dark Adeptus have never appeared in any story before this novel(at least to my knowledge), but I had some issues with them. It just seemed like they are not really evil enough. I was expecting something a little more dark. Also, the Grey Knights themselves did not really recieve the attention to detail that they had in the first novel. With the exception of Dvorn and Alaric, the Grey Knights are somewhat 2 dimensional. Another minor complaint is the battle scenes; any Space Marine, let alone the Grey Knights, should not be presented as being on the defensive. I expect a Space Marine to be far more assertive than Alaric and his squad were sometimes portrayed. Those are nothing but small complaints, and it is really not fair of us to expect Ben Counter to write a sequel that is every bit as good as the first Grey Knights novel was. This is still a very good book. Those of you who enjoy a good Space Marine story will enjoy reading this.

Counter delivers a very good follow-up sequel to Grey Knights:
Ben Counter's one of my favorite Black Library writers in addition to Dan Abnett and William King. Counter's already written one series of Warhammer 40,000 novels for the Black Library: the excellent Soul Drinkers Saga. Counter added to that by starting a second series that focuses on the daemonhunting, space marine chapter of the Grey Knights. The self-titled intro novel of Counter's second series started off with a bang and kep the foot on the gas. Dark Adeptus is the second novel in this new series and continues the adventures of Grey Knight Justicar Alaric and the surviving members of his squad. Their mission this time around takes them far from the raging war near the Eye of Terror as Abbadon and his 13th Black Crusade continues its attempt to break through the Imperium's defenses for a bee-line to Terra (Earth). Alaric, his squad, a senior Ordo Malleus Inquisitor and a small Naval fleet are sent to a backwaters system to investigate the sudden appearance of an Adeptus Mechanicus Forge World which had disappeared a century earlier and from a different location. As soon as they arrive Alaric and his squad senses something terribly wrong about the reappearance of Forge World Chaeronias. This wrong start to their mission becomes even more complicated with the arrival of a Mechanicus ship also sent to investigate the reappearance of one of their own forge worlds. As with all Warhammer 40k novels allies sometimes work as if they're the enemy as each organization work towards their own agenda. Counter does a good job in continuing the growth of Alaric as a unique character in the 40K universe. He does give Alaric abit more time being a holy crusader as seen in some of Alaric's dialogue, but Counter doesn't go overboard to make the character regress as a character. Counter expertly details the organization of the Adeptus Mechanicus and its relationship with the other groups in the Imperium. The way all these groups vie for control and any little advantage one wonders how the Imperium of Man has survived for 10,000 years. The action is less epic than Grey Knights despite the epic location in this sequel. The action slowly builds up until the final confrontation in the ash and dune wastes of Chaeronias as Alaric, his squad and his erstwhile Mechanicus allies finally confront the corruption and cause of Chaeronias disappearance and troubles. Dark Adeptus finally gives a good accounting of one of the mysterious details of the Warhammer 40K universe and it involves the Mechanicus and a certain template. In the end, Ben Counter goes a good job with this sequel to Grey Knights. I would say that it's not right at the same level of quality as Grey Knights, but not to say it's a terrible book. It's actually a very good novel but it just took a different tone than the rip-roaring first novel. Dark Adeptus does help in bringing to light more of the shadowy unreleased details of the 40K universe. I can't wait for Counter to release another novel detailing the exploits of Justicar Alaric and his Grey Knights. I highly recommend this book to fans of Warhammer 40k novels. They won't be disappointed.

Good Action - Just Don't Look Too Close:
This is the second book of the Grey Knights series, and much like the first it's primarily a tale of action rather than character development. Justicar Alaric and his squad return as the central heroes of the tale, supported by Inquisitor Nyxos, Interrogator Hawkwspur, Magos Antigonus, and others. The author sets the novel in the familiar Warhammer 40,000 (40K) universe developed for the tabletop game by Games Workshop. M. Counter is an action-oriented writer, and some of the other tools of the writer's craft don't receive as much attention. His exposition tends to be applied with brute force, starting with Magos Antigonus' dictation of his current situation to his servitor, and followed by occasional instances of characters talking for the benefit of the reader more than that of their fellows. Plot devices come similarly applied, with saviors emerging - literally - from the ground, villains suddenly discovering new purpose, or faith somehow destroying physical enemies. The combination makes suspension of disbelief difficult at times, and it jars one out of the flow of an otherwise solid plot. The large-scale plotline, and his handling of the Dark Adeptus Mechanicus synonymous with the title, is actually quite well done. The basis for the story is interesting and pulled from an unexplored portion of the 40K background: the heretically corrupt sect of the Adeptus Mechanicus that sided with Horus and chaos during the Horus Heresy. The action scenes are similarly well done, but sometimes the heroes remain functional after soaking up rather a lot of damage, even for Space Marines. A Marine's broken arm that "folds uselessly" one moment delivers a "two-handed strike" that runs his enemy completely through seconds later. The protagonists have simple motivations and enough character depth to support the action. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the antagonists of the tale. Their intelligence and decisions at any given moment depend on how much the author needs to pull one of the aforementioned plot devices out of his hat. They come to startling personal revelations that change their course of action, and sometimes even their form, usually to the benefit of the heroes. When frustrated from one goal, in a fit of rage, they destroy all the things that could have helped them continue their fight. Though creative, M. Counter's feel for the 40K background just doesn't quite mesh with the established tone set by the other authors of the Black Library stable. Some elements just don't sit well with established canon, such as an individual existing entirely as information that can jump from machine to machine as necessary. Excepting the points above, the book is generally solid, and any fan of either the Grey Knights or the Adeptus Mechanicus should enjoy it, as will any fan of an action yarn that isn't particular about well-written villains or jarring plot twists.

A Good Sequel:
Dark Adeptus is the second Grey Knights novel by Ben Counter and continues to follow the actions of Justicar Alaric. This book picks up a year after the first novel Grey Knights but it takes a completely different route than the first book, so be warned of that when you read this one. Alaric and his squad are sent to investigate a planet that mysteriously appears from the Warp, which ends up being the planet Chaeroneia that disappeared from real space centuries ago. Alaric, along with a small fleet of Imperial ships are sent to investigate the world only to find that it is now polluted by the taint of Chaos. The world itself is neat at first, but the effect quickly wears off. I wont tell you about it because it will ruin some surprises but Counter does a good job of describing the now chaotic world. Many of the enemies are puppets throughout the book, but you never know who the puppeteer really is until the end of the book, so it is good that Counter keeps you wondering. He keeps this sense of something bigger the whole way through until he finally drops it on you at the end. In addition to this, Counter constantly makes you feel like there is a traitor in the midst, and you suspect just about everyone and read into what they say even if it sounds innocent. This is a nice twist but of course I wont tell you the outcome. Dark Adeptus isn't quite as action oriented as the first novel, going for a more exotic feel so to speak by impressing you with the environments and characters rather than just the fighting. Alaric is developed even more and you don't get the normal two dimensional feel that is the norm for a space marine in this book at all, a refreshing change for the Warhammer 40k universe. Also different from Grey Knights is that there are space battles and he delves some into the Adeptus Mechanicus so there is a change of pace in those respects. Also good is that the book is not dependant on the first. While there are mentions of events and characters from Grey Knights, they do not directly affect the story other than one case, and it is something that is rather self explanatory. The ending I found to be pretty fulfilling. Again Counter goes for the big battle but this time it is more in depth, varied and exotic than his other books like the Soul Drinkers saga. I was pleased with the way things panned out, the revelations and Counters ability to concisely get it across to the reader. Again my only real gripe with Counter is that his follow up is skimpy, covering the basics and doing little more, but this far from ruins the book seeing as how I keep reading his novels. I wouldn't say Dark Adeptus is as good as Grey Knights, but it is at most a step down, and probably not even that. 3.5 out of 5 stars is probably more accurate than 3 out of 5. While it has a different feel it is still entertaining and a worth while read.

Interesting concept, flawed antagonists:
This is an interesting concept, and fairly entertaining execution. The background and depiction of the adeptus mechanicus is interesting, given that not a lot has been written about them as far as I know. The protagonists vary from interesting to rather one-sided (the inquisitor particularly), however, the book does have a major flaw in that the antagonists are almost entirely one-dimensional. spoilers the captain of the enemy ship, a human from the heresy (a chaos space marine IIRC) with over 10,000 years of military and command experience, and handpicked by Abaddon for this mission, upon seeing the tribute destroyed, ravages the local area and its extremely valuable assets, rather than using a brain and reasoning that the evidence of recent combat, presence of imperial vessel, and the tribute's destruction were caused by enemies and not by the planet itself. He was also 'stupid' enough to leave surviving fragments of the imperial fleet behind him so that our characters would have a way to leave. the castigator is sufficiently stupid to want to make a big personal deal of killing up close rather than just use its power and the titan's weaponry and get the job done. It is also nice that the castigator explains everything to alaric before deciding to kill him. It is also interesting to note that if you compare the characters of the chaos ship captain, the castigator, and scaeras (spelled wrong), they are all pretty much the same.