Gaunt serves as the perfect introduction to the Ghosts, as he learns about what they can do, and they unique skills of the Tanith. Humanity and interest is injected into nearly every Ghost mentioned, so that each loss is keenly felt. Some how Abnett manages to give monolithic traits to the Ghosts, while also humanizing each individual soldier, it is really well done. It is pretty sweaty. Deus ex machinae are on clearance sale. Everyone's a Central Casting Northern European war movie archetype in spaaaace. There is a barely-characterized noblewoman who bones the main character for very little reason and gets monumentally horny for him after he books it up the gravity well. But that was expected! It is not a terrible example of any of the above, and I really mean the two stars as an honest "it was okay". It is okay!

The supporting characters are thumbnail sketches at best and often get dropped without any further development.

Customer reviews

Likewise, I understand that [to an extent], Chaos is the macguffin and the sane human dinguses who do not Do A War as well as Gaunt Does A War are the antagonists. But they're so much less interesting!)

Traitor General (S Tier) is, in my opinion, the finest Gaunt's Ghosts novel. In spite of only involving a small group, the pacing and intense tension make for a tight and satisfying story. The Iron Star, originally published 2008 – ISBN 978-1-84416-716-6 (not included in ISBN 978-1-84416-819-4) In Remembrance - This takes place roughly around the the time the story in Necropolis is drawing to a close. Given how unrelentingly intense Necropolis was, this is a good way to unclench and bring down the reader's adrenaline levels in a controlled fashion. Including this in the omnibus was a very smart choice.

and Only is the first book in Gaunt’s Ghosts series. Generally, like many novels opening a series, this book is about setting the tone of the entire series: who are these Gaunt’s Ghosts, where do they come from, who is Gaunt. This is a brilliant series opener that revolves around Ibram Gaunt and his regiment of Imperial Guard known as Gaunt’s Ghosts. sci-fi, comics and graphics novels, Dan Abnett. The series is set in Warhammer 40,000 universe and spans fifteen books. Mostly it seemed like a bunch of contextless action sequences who's main aim was to invent new and gorier ways for those around the main cast to explode into sprays of shattered organs... Also just like First and Only, Ghostmaker is a thrilling no-nonsense space war novel with lots of carnage and action and the story only brief interludes showcasing how soldiers spend their free time between demanding missions. One of Dan Abnett’s strengths when it comes to novel writing lies on character building, Ghostmaker is a brilliant example, as the author works through different characters from Gaunt’s Ghosts and vividly explains their history, opinions and the feelings on the loss of Tanith. If you like science-fiction stories set in space, then Gaunt’s Ghost Setting all of that aside: the book simply isn't good. It has a weird structure: the first 20% or so is quasi-WW1 themed set piece of trenches and artillery barrage. Gaunt's Ghosts, a regiment of perhaps 2,000 men, manage to single-handedly win the war for the entire planet. All of which kind of has nothing to do with anything in the rest of the book. There's another long interlude -- another long action scene that has no point -- where some members of the regiment steal alcohol from the mafia. This kind of padding just feels...weird?