Having read about Roboute Guilliman's return to Warhammer 40,000, I decided to read Roboute Guilliman: Lord of Ultramar in the Primarchs book series. This is my review of the book. This post contains no spoilers.
I have no particular affinity for the Ultramarines, aside from the fact that they're the public face of Warhammer 40,000. But after reading about them in Dark Imperium, I want to learn more, and there's nothing like stepping back in time to get some perspective. Lord of Ultramar is set during the Great Crusade, before even the events of the Horus Heresy. It's Orks against the Ultramarines, which is basically the most iconic match possible.
The planet Thoas is populated entirely by Orks now, but historically it was a human world. Concurrent to this campaign, though, Guilliman has accelerated his initiative to cross-train his marines. Promotions are going to unexpected choices, and the very culture of the Ultramarines appears to be threatened. Will it tear the Legion apart? Probably not, but that's the B plot.
The real plot is Thoas. It's an exciting battle, with lots of tense but heroic moments. Chapter 4 is a real highlight. Guilliman takes on an entire tank (or whatever the Ork equivalent is) and it's epic. It's such a cool sequence, full of brute force and serious Primarch power. It's very much what I was hoping for from a book about a loyalist Primarch at the height of his power.
The rest of Chapter 4 is good, too, but in an unexpectedly poignant way. Guilliman and one of his captains is in some ruins, and through some observational archaeology they realise that the Orks didn't concquer Thoas. The human civilisation of Thoas had already died out by the time the Orks arrived. The cycle had already run its course. Humans built up their planet, created civilisations and governments and art and culture, and eventually it faded away. There's no way to know how or why, and there's no need to know. The point is, nothing lasts, and Thoas is just one of countless civilisations that couldn't sustain itself.
Guilliman comments that the Emperor is trying to defaut exactly that cycle. He's trying to build something that lasts. That's the expected result of the Great Crusade and the Imperium. It's like in the early books of the Horus Heresy series, when somebody mentions what things might be like "after the war". Everybody talks about it like it's just around the corner. Like they're living in the "end times" of the Crusade. Humanity has nearly won, unified under the Emperor, and soon everyone will lay down their arms and live in peace. What will the Adeptus Astartes do with themselves then? Obviously the Horus Heresy creates a major diversion to that plotted course, but it's interesting to hear it as the expected destination.
This was a good book. Whether or not you're a fan of the Ultramarines, I think this book is satisfying Warhammer.
All images in this post copyright Games Workshop.