Seeing the universe from the perspective not of tanky Space Marines blasting and chopping everything in sight, but from significantly lower down, the scared, desperate, extremely vulnerable soldiers of the Imperial Guard, makes much more of an impact. Into this mix step a gang of soldiers with very little in the way of armour, armaments, or chances for survival.

One other thing I do want to mention about the third book, is the serious introduction of female characters.In the step-cities of Ancreon Sextus the Gereon veterans are reunited with old comrades and new in the 81st/1st regiment under Belladon Colonel Lucien Wilder. He has written over fifty novels – his other work for Black Library includes the acclaimed Gaunt’s Ghosts series, the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and I Am Slaughter, the opening novel in The Beast Arises series. After the Ghosts successfully infiltrate the Blood Pact's defences and prevent a disastrous loss for the Imperium, Lord-General Van Voytz re-considers his approach on the Ouranberg invasion.

Their battles are normally against the forces of Chaos, although they briefly face orks on Typhon Eight. The value of individual human lives in the face of the greater goals of humanity is repeatedly questioned. So far the characters seem a fairly standard Mil-SF lot, including the honourable, commander who cares for his men. Registered office address: Unit 34 Vulcan House Business Centre, Vulcan Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3EF.Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Hyrkan 8th are deployed in the underways of Formal Prime, during the final stage of Operation Redrake, Warmaster Slaydo's initial advance into the Sabbat Worlds.

At its essence, I would describe as others have - Band of Brothers in Space (although, if I'm being pedantic, not usually in space itself, just as Star Wars is rarely warring between the stars). The Jantine shock troops annihilated the Tanith Seventh platoon commanded by Sergeant Blane, but were themselves killed to a man by Gaunt's allies, the Vitrian Dragoons. Biography: Dan Abnett has written over fifty novels, including the acclaimed Gaunt's Ghosts series and the Ravenor, Eisenhorn and Bequin books. The first book has none I can think of and is very much men-make-war, the second has one of note but is at least a significant and interesting role.However, Gaunt must also see to the protection of the incarcerated Mabbon, deal with the malcontents within the Tanith First, and cope with personal issues that he never anticipated. The second book gives much needed history, back story, and character development while going between flashbacks and current events.