First and Only by Dan Abnett

Overview

The Sabbat World have been lost to the Imperium for many long centuries. Now, a crusade fights to reclaim them. In its midst are Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his “Ghosts”, the brave men of the Tanith First-and-Only

The Sabbat World have been lost to the Imperium for many long centuries. Now, a crusade fights to reclaim them. In its midst are Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his “Ghosts”, the brave men of the Tanith First-and-Only. As they survive battle after battle, Gaunt and his men uncover an insidious plot to unseat the crusade’s warmaster, a move that threatens to destabilise the war effort and undo all the good work and sacrifice of millions of soldiers. With no one to trust and nowhere to turn, Gaunt must find a way to expose the conspiracy and save his men from a needless death.

When I was a teenager, I sank a lot of my allowance into Games Workshop (GW) products and I still remember the lore in the setting being impressively well developed. I have not played any Warhammer or 40K for about 15 years, but now I am developing my tastes in grimdark speculative fiction I thought it was worth investigating some of the stories from the lore that gave my favourite subgenre its name.

The Black Library, GW's publishing house for stories set in their IP now has a vast amount of literature in it and working out where to dive in is a challenge. One series kept on coming up as a good starting place and that was Gaunt's Ghosts, so finding a 20th anniversary copy of this at my local bookstore I figured I would give it a try.

Upon reading it I have to say the 40K lore is as deep and inventive as I remember it to be. The world created for GW's games is a vast sprawling universe with a detailed history and backstory. I am glad I knew some of it from my early days playing otherwise this would have been a hard story to follow. There are a lot of characters mentioned in the first 100 pages of this book. even knowing the basic 40K law I found myself confused as to who was who and what their various motives were. The first third of this novel is frankly a mess. As this is the first book in a series, it would have really benefited from some proper scene setting, world and character building, but instead it throws you into the middle of huge and confusing battle with a vast array of characters who you haven't got to know yet. I had no real clue what was going on.

The rest of the book settles down somewhat, allowing the characterization to build up allowing the reader to empathize with the various characters more. This definitely aids the story telling. The flashbacks to the past are a little jarring but I can see why they have been used to give context.

Ultimately this story was let down by the confused mess during its first 3rd. I definitely would not recommend this as an entry to the Black Library. It does improves as it goes on, but it needed that scene setting and world building.

I enjoy Dan Abnett. Ravenor was one of those books that stuck with me, long after I read it. That fondness is what drove me to take the risk on reading another WH40K book.

It was all right. First & Only is typical of the series, pulpy military fiction that is easily forgettable. I was hoping for a more character-driven story, but perhaps later books in the series will take advantage of the characters he does have; they certainly have potential.

My review comes as two stars: It was acceptable. I can't bring myself to enjoy pulp anymore, hence not giving three stars. If you're new to the WH40K universe, maybe this book isn't for you.