Wrath of Iron by Chris Wraight

After months spent in the service of the Chaos god Slaanesh, the ruling classes of the Contqual sub-sector have finally brought true damnation upon their people - innumerable hordes of foul and lascivious daemons swarm from a tear in the fabric of reality to embrace their mortal pawns and drive them on to ever more depraved acts of worship. It falls to the merciless Space Marines of the Iron Hands Chapter to cleanse these worlds of the warp's unholy taint, and it is upon the surface of Shardenus that the fate of a billion lost souls will be decided.

Having devoured Chris Wraight’s previous offering, Battle of the Fang, in record time and with no little pleasure, it was a no brainer to pop Wrath of Iron into my hand luggage for our recent holiday. 

It lasted a day, reminding me why Kindles are worth twice their weight in gold for holiday breaks.

Wrath opens with a clever gambit- it’s the start of the Iron Hands led invasion, but seen from the defenders’ point of view. Defenders who are convinced that they’re loyal to the Imperium. It’s an early, unexpected twist (and no, this isn’t a spoiler) that lets Wraight demonstrate how devastating it is for normal men to try face up against Space Marines, establishing this early so that the you can understand their effectiveness in the battles to come without him having to put the point across each time.

The target of the Iron Hands wrath is Shardenus Prime, a massive heavy industry based Hive City comprised of a central spire supported by six others, each heavily defended by deadly weapons and soon-to-be-revealed minions of chaos. It’s too big a target for the Iron Hands to tackle by themselves, not with the deadline they’re working to, and as such they are supported by Imperial Guard and a titan legion. 

The respective commanders and a handful of individuals of these support factions play a large role in Wrath, and it’s through their frustration and suffering under the ‘do this or die’ orders of the Iron Hands that we get to experience the reality of the Iron Hands’ sociopathic tendencies and disregard for any considerations beyond the successful execution of their mission. These threads (including that of an Imperial assassin - always cool) come together around the foundation of the Iron Hands' story, expanding the scope of the struggle and providing both a contrast to highlight the scope of the Iron Hands' obsessive nature and a respite from the same. These threads are distinct, but mesh smoothly and, importantly, are each brought to a suitable conclusion. 

By the time Shardenus Prime begins to yield its secrets and the reasons behind the Space Marine commander’s haste becomes apparent, you’re able to see both sides of the story.. but of course by then it’s too late for the poor old Imperial Guard to do anything except try and survive. The final confrontation is a maelstrom of action, both physical and psychic, delivered with a ferocity that must've made his keyboard smoke when he wrote it. 

This was a great, fast read. Despite their cold hearted bastardness, Wraight has made the Iron Hands an interesting, complex Chapter to delve into and I know I’d like to have more of the same. Please. 

You can read an extract here.  

Battle of the Fang by Chris Wraight

It is M32, a thousand years after the Horus Heresy. The Scouring is over and the Imperium at the height of its post-Crusade power. When Magnus the Red is tracked down to Gangava Prime, the Space Wolves hasten to engage the daemon primarch.

Even as Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm closes on his ancient enemy, the Fang on the Space Wolves home world is besieged by a massive force of Thousand Sons. A desperate battle ensues as the skeleton forces of Wolf Lord Vaer Greylock attempt to hold back the attacking hosts before the last of his meagre defences gives in. Though a single Scout ship survives to summon Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm back to Fenris, none of the defenders truly realise the full scale the horror that awaits them, nor what the Battle for the Fang will cost them all.

In simple terms, this is the story of a siege. What ups the ante though is that it's the survivors of the Thousand Sons legion who are laying siege to the Fang, the fortress of the Space Wolves. Their motivation is ostensibly revenge for the destruction of Prospero a thousand years previously (see Prospero Burns), but as ever with the Thousand Sons, there is more to it than meets the eye, for there are secrets hidden in the Fang, secrets that could damn them all.

With the main body of the Wolves haring across the galaxy to lay waste to the planet where Magnus has taken up residence, the Fang is left with a single company of Space Marines to hold off a huge force comprising close to a thousand marines and uncounted legions of their mortal troops, all supported by a powerful fleet of ships and armoured regiments. But the Fang isn't just home to the Wolves and their slumbering heroes, but also the hundreds of native Fenrisians who serve them. And as the mortals are mobilised in the defence of the Fang we get to experience the fury of the battle from their perspective, notably through a father and daughter who serve in two different sectors. It's their experiences and points of view that add depth to the story, providing an insight into a world that only respects martial prowess and highlighting the arrogance of the Wolves alongside the desperate heroism and singleminded determination that makes them who, and what, they are.

Wraight does well to do justice to the Thousand Sons, capturing their bitterness and a sense of a Legion fighting desperately not to lose themselves to the mistakes of their past.

Battle of the Fang is absolutely stuffed with the kind of fast, brutal violence that erupts when mortal enemies collide, particularly when said enemies are 8ft tall genetically engineered killers armed with chainswords. The pace is unrelenting and the tension is maintained as Magnus' plan is revealed and the Wolves are forced back into a last stand. It's the combination of the human perspective, the sympathetic treatment given to the Thousand Sons and his understanding of what makes the Wolves tick makes this much more than a simple action fest and hugely enjoyable. I demolished it in two sittings.

You can read an extract here.