The Emperor's Gift: Warhammer 40,000

This is yet another of Aaron Demski-Bowden's superb books. I received the Emperor's Gift on Monday evening and had finished it by the end of the next day before starting another of ADB's books. This time, the focus is on the Grey Knights, the most secretive of all Space Marine Chapters to the extent that all humans that learn about their existence must be purged. As Warhammer 40k or readers of Ben Counter's Grey Knights Omnibus will know already, the Grey Knights Chapter - the Emperor's Gift - are Psyker Space Marines specialized in fighting the Daemons of Chaos across the Empire. They mostly operate in small units at the call of Imperial Inquisitors. This book is centered on one Hyperion, a young Grey Knight who joins Castan Squad and the events take place before, during and after the first war for Armageddon. There are numerous reasons for loving this story, which is told in the first person by Hyperion himself.One is that it presents the Grey Knights in a different light than what Ben Counter has done a while ago. Gone are the super-heroïc Grey Knights who make "ordinary" Space Marines seem like children. Instead, you tend to get another Chapter of Space Marines, but a secretive one with specialized skills, and these Space Marines have their weaknesses, just like any of the others. As ADB tends to favor, his Space Marines are first and foremost human, and then super-warriors. They are not invincible, far from it, and are no stronger than other Space Marines, especially not the fierce Space Wolves of Fenris.Another is that the book brings in the Wolves and opposes them to the Inquisition and the Grey Knights. This is particularly interesting because it allows it to get ADB's take on the Wolves, which, while not original, emphasizes their fierce independence and their sense of honor, as opposed to what they see as the traitorous Inquisitors. A related point is that opposing the Wolwes to the Grey Knights allows to contrast the two organizations, although both are traditionnally viewed, in different ways, as the Emperor's executionners. This is where ABD seems to have introduced a bit of a novelty when compared to other novels where the Wolves appear: they care for "ordinary" humans in a way that the Wolves of Leman Russ do not in previous novels.Anyway, introducing the Wolves and giving them such an important role is likely to draw in many readers for whom the Wolves have a special attraction: they have always been among the most favoured Space Marines Legions for many readers. A related point and another original streak is to oppose two sets of heroes - the Grey Knights and the Wolves - and the "goodies" are somewhat difficult to determine when the two get to fight each other, just lik,e in any civil war.In a similar vein, ABD paints Hyperion, and the Grey Knights more generally, with all their qualities, but also all their flaws, insisting on their contradictions, emotions and limitations as has become his trademark. In a way, this book can be seen as the "initiation" of the young and largely untested Hyperion through trials, errors and sacrifices in what can only be a long, painful and bitter process.Apart from that, his battle scenes as a good as usual, with this feeling that every fight is a desperate struggle and every "victory", if they can be called that, is a costly achievement and comes with grievous losses. There are no shining triumphs in this book.Finally, the most striking feature of this book is, once again, ADB's originality and the way he stands apart from what we have come to expect from most other Black Library authors. This is not to say that he is necessarily "better" than the others but rather that he has a different take which comes out as a breath of fresh air as moves away from the paths that others have already trod. In a way, this book, like others, make him into some kind of "First Heretic" among Warhammer 40K authors. This originality makes the book worth reading in itself, regardless of whether you agree with ABD's take or not.I loved it and I hope many other readers will love it as least as much.

Aaron never writes badly. Never. This boom is no exception to that rule.each memever of squad Castian is knowable,relatable, and yet oh-so-different to you and I. My only gripe,is how knowable they are. These are the Emperor's hidden sword, his last throw of the dice before fate and the Golden Throne took him from us.

I wasnt sure if i was going to like this as im more imperial guard but i was pleasantly surprised i can tell you. The grey knights are demon hunters and work closely with the inquisition. they are the sharp edge of the sword and are called upon only as a last resort. They have powers and work in squads to fight the good fight against warp spawn abominations and evil incarnate. This book interestingly follows a new recruit to the knights and his acceptance to squad castien and eventually earning his new name. His mind has been wiped and he is now a blank slate...a weapon that can now be sharpened to fit a specific need. The knights are known only to a select few and those that do not have the clearance are mind wiped or exterminated as to look upon these super humans is to know the evil of the warp and to know is to be susceptible to taint in turn. The book follows H (you'll see!!) in a first person way as he journeys with his brotherhood and battles foul abominations. I enjoyed this book quite alot and i especially liked the human side to it as the astartes are human but they have difficulties interacting with lesser humans ie normals. A very human approach to a sect in 40k that are little known. A good stand alone read and well worth the time in reading.

A great, in-depth look at the Grey Knights and what they get up to on a daily basis. You will probably need a basic knowledge of the setting to fully appreciate it but it is still a good read for the uninitiated, I'm sure!I also love the depiction of the Space Wolves and Bjorn the fell handed in particular, probably my favourite character in the book, despite only appearing for around 10 pages!Great work as usual, ADB!

Simply a pleasure to pick up and read. I finished it in two days and that's only because I didn't have the chance to sit and read non-stop.The characters, the world - all of it is given depth and texture. The story and those that inhabit it are compelling but also convincing.

This is a gripping read, I went through it in just 2 days as I couldn't put it down. Love ADB's take on the Grey Knights, Space Marines made from the gene seed of the Emperor himself. The story starts well giving a good insight into the type of actions the Grey Knights are specialist in before the story lurches into a much deeper level as they realise that the warp tainted ship they are investigating was sent as a cry for help from a world besieged by an enemy returned from a previous era. From that point on you'll probably want to read the rest of the book in a single sitting.

Very fun book to read that delves more into the Grey Knights chapter.Features Space Wolves as well so its an interesting interaction.I feel they tried to do too many things in this book as opposed to sticking with one main theme, however each one of our protogonists adventures are exciting.

As far as 40k fiction goes, this book is great. The story builds up slowly but surely, the few pages dealing with the first Armageddon war are extremely well taught. The following part, dealing with the conflict between the Inquisition and the Space Wolves, is very interesting in its portrayal of a bittersweet struggle in which the foes are on the same side, respect each other but are forced to fight because of slightly conflicting approaches to the same problem (a welcome change from the usual good guy fights bad guy). Finally, Aaron Dembski-Bowden manages to add a few slices of additional background for "fluff" hungry readers.

I highly recommend this book. A tale of the Gray Knights as they’ve never been told. And of course, any story involving Space Wolves is worth the read. It’ll also make you HATE the Inquisition even more. A tale of heroes as told in the Days of the Emperor. It gratified me to see an ancient hero of the Wolves walk again. It was also gratifying to see the Great Knights in action and learn more of them. What a wasteful policy though, to commit genocide and Exterminatus just for seeing a Gray Knight. Still a great read, it’ll have you on the edge of your seat. Highly recommend!

Really enjoyed this book, was my first 40K novel. Love the epic scale andhyper sci-fi setting.

Literally one of the most interesting stories, the characters have depth, the story is complex but still entertaining, and it reveals a lot on some pivotal points in the history of several Space Marine chapters prior to Horus heresy.Just a warning though: this book contains big spoilers if you haven't read the last books of the Horus Heresy's series.But again it fits perfectly with this series and makes you want to read more.

Dopo aver finito di leggere "The Betrayer", che è stato scritto da lo stesso Aaron Demski-Bowden, avevo voglia di un'altra storia che avesse la presenza del Primarch Angron, e visto che "The Emperor's Gift" era incentrato sugli eventi della prima guerra di Armageddon, è stato la scelta giusta. Anche se prima di questo libro, gli Grey Knights non mi affascinavano tanto, dopo averlo letto sono rimasto sbalordito. Aaron Demski-Bowden con questo libro è riuscito a mettere in luce un lato nascosto della psiche degli space marine e anche di come l'Inquisizione sia un disastro a livello di organizzazione. C'e tanta azione, ma i punti forte sono i momenti più tranquilli che mi hanno fatto ridere e triste.Questo è un libro da avere.

This is a great book..lots of great insights into how the grey knights fight together, and also a really cool slice of 40k history that we've read about in codexes and other books..was awesome to read the story of the wolves and grey knights