‘Blood Angels: Black Tide’ – James Swallow (Black Library)

Ok, I’m reading a lot of stuff from the Black Library at the moment (although I’m sure they’re not complaining!) There are a number of reasons why and most of these centre around the fact that life has been bloody annoying just recently, what with one thing and another, and I’ve found myself in need of books that will take the edge of my urge to commit acts of violence with blunt objects. If you can’t give idiots a clip round the ear (at the very least) then the next best thing is to read a book where this kind of thing happens on almost every other page. Talk about wish fulfilment!

Amongst other thing, Black Library books (I’m talking about the Warhammer 40K ones in particular) are a rich source for this kind of action; hence my picking them up more and more. On the whole, they’re also very well written which means I don’t have to sit through piles of dross in order to get my kicks. It’s a win/win situation really! Other than ‘Flight of the Eisenstein’ and ‘Heart of Rage’, I haven’t really come across much of James Swallow’s work in this setting (compared to others) so ‘Black Tide’ looked like as good as place as any to jump in and see what it was all about...

Following on from the events of ‘Red Fury’, the home planet of the Blood Angels (another Chapter of Space Marines) has been secured against the threat of Chaos. All is not well though; the Chaos Traitor Fabius Bile has escaped with one of the Chapter’s most precious relics, a vial of their dead Primarch’s blood. Honour demands nothing less than the return of the vial and the death of Bile for his insult against the Blood Angels. Honour will lead Brother Sergeant Rafen and his men to Dynikas V, a planet swarming with Tyranids but home to the object that they seek. Will the Blood Angels exact their vengeance before the twisted plans of Fabius Bile come to fruition...?

I’ve read a few WH40K books now and what I saw in ‘Black Tide’ doesn’t match Dan Abnett’s ability to get into the soldier’s mindset or the relentless new energy of Aaron Demsbki-Bowden. Where Swallow does stand out though is in his ability to give the Warhammer universe the full weight of forty thousand years worth of history (both remembered and forgotten) and show us how this weight hangs heavy on the servants of the Imperium. I haven’t come across another Black Library author who can do this as well as James Swallow.
Swallow’s Imperium is a strange and dark mixture of high technology held in superstitious reverence by a populace mired in ignorance through misplaced religious dogma. Almost everything has a ritual to it and when the reader realises how long these rituals have gone on for it becomes clear just how stagnant the Imperium has become. This becomes even more apparent when you meet the servants of Chaos and see what their relative ‘freedom’ allows them to do. Swallow paints some pretty gruesome pictures of a madman free of conscience and willing to do anything for the biggest prize of all. The only thing that changes, in the Warhammer universe, is the ebb and flow of battle...

‘Warhammer 40K’ novels are all about the warfare and ‘Black Tide’ is no different in this respect! You’re looking at four hundred and nine pages of genetically enhanced warfare taking place in locations such as a burnt out asteroid colony, a ship full of lethal traps for the unwary and a planet swarming with vicious alien life bred to consume everything in it’s path. There is plenty for the Blood Angels to pit themselves against but although the foe they have sworn vengeance against is devious enough you never get the impression that their attempts to negotiate the intervening obstacles is never anything more than a foregone conclusion. There never seems to be a lot of thought going into solving problems; guns are pointed and unloaded until the problem isn’t there anymore.

You can’t deny the sheer spectacle of this and Swallow’s dialogue evokes the spirit of the ‘questing knight’ rather nicely. You could also say that Swallow has captured the spirit of all Space Marines perfectly by their simplistic response to threats. After all, this is what they have been bred to do... I just found myself wishing that things had been a little harder for the Blood Angels. Only the physical size of the enemy really differs, the level of force in reply never does.
It got to the point where even Rafen’s captivity (although very well handled in terms of atmosphere and the machinations of the enemy) wasn’t enough to have me worried for his safety; not with a bunch of invulnerable Space Marines coming over the horizon. I also lost a little more of the sense of urgency when it became clear how Fabius Bile was managing to be in more than one place at a time. When that revelation came out I found myself waiting for the next book rather than waiting to see how this one played out...

If you’re after a book where the plot is driven by more than the chatter of bolter fire then ‘Black Tide’ might not be the one for you. If you’re after atmosphere, spectacle and full on warfare then you’re not going to find much better than what’s inside these pages. I fell somewhere in the middle. Whilst I was after something a little more challenging for our heroes to go up against, I couldn’t deny just how entertaining and dark it all was...

Eight and a Quarter out of Ten