Rogue Star (Warhammer 40,000) by Andy Hoare

Rogue Star (Warhammer 40,000) Reviews

• 
  M Hamed

  very naive and amateurish writing to say the least
  
  FOR THE EMPEROR
• 
  Owen

  I was looking forward to this book, because Rogue Traders are one of my favorite parts of the 40k universe - people who sail beyond the Imperium, discover lost and undiscovered worlds, and trade goods and blows with unknown civilizations, aliens, and all manner of colorful characters. I got a bit of that here, but not much.
  
  I'll start with what I did like - there were a lot of interesting descriptions of places and shipboard life. The places felt real, and well-described; the ships felt huge and lived-in. The place descriptions were all well-executed.
  
  The people were not as well-drawn, though. Apart from the three Rogue Trader characters, nobody else of note gets enough page time to really define themselves - not the aliens, or the treacherous planetary rulers, or the other traders. A planetary governor gets a decent amount of time, but he's hard to understand and not at all threatening. To make matters a bit worse, only one of the three main characters flirts with likability. The patriarch casually threatens his crew for no apparent reason, and his son is a smug asshole. It's only Brielle who I was really rooting for, and she doesn't get to make that much progress on her own.
  
  It's a bit of a side note, but the really interesting characters in the 40k universe are the ones who play against expectation. Everyone knows that commissars are right bastards who will kill their own troops as soon as sneeze, for instance. And yet, the commissar characters we really like (Cain and Gaunt) are the ones who care about their troops and do what they can to keep them safe. On the opposite face, I know that plenty of ship captains and nobles in 40k are bastards to their subordinates, but when I see Lucian do it, it makes me instantly dislike him.
  
  The storytelling is very dry, with a fair bit of telling - the reader isn't trusted to figure out many of the political maneuverings, even though they aren't excessively complex. In retrospect, the plot is a bit thin, with many of the political developments going nowhere. There are fewer exciting battles and fights than one generally expects in a 40k novel, too. The battles are not exactly enthralling, either; most of the foes are not challenging enough to make things truly interesting, and the descriptions are sometimes hard to follow.
  
  I feel that the 40k universe is rich ground for stories partially because of how horrible a place it is to live. If you can make me care about someone who's trying to survive in this crapsack of a universe, then the stakes will be high, because I know how deadly it is. In that respect, the book had little success.
• 
  Tarl

  This is my second time reading this book, and I had remembered it being far better the first time around.
  
  That's not to say Hoare can't tell a good story, because he most certainly does. The dynamics between the three protagonists in this novel are entertaining to read, and they certainly add a certain level of tension and interest to the story.
  
  But overall, there is no character development at all. All the characters are the same people they were at the beginning. The family have not become closer knit, and if anything, are actually further apart than they were at the start. The entire book actually feels like more of a set up for the remaining two novels rather than a neat little package unto itself.
  
  Still, Hoare does some pretty nice things in this novel. The space combat between ships is handled extremely well, and each detail is handled in such a way that you feel as if you are looking out a view port yourself. And as this is a major element within the story, it helps to move things along really well. Also, the politics are done well enough so as to be at least of some interest. Rogue Traders are an interesting part of 40k canon, and Hoare does capture some of their more interesting aspects in this tale.
  
  But in the end, this is just an average novel with an average tale. I am hoping things pick up in the second book, but we shall see. If you are interested in the Rogue Traders, or space combat in the 40k universe, this novel will tickle your fancy enough to keep you engaged. Otherwise, pick up one of the other multitudes of 40k books instead.
• 
  Dev Sodagar

  I've been working my way through a lot of the 40k universe books this year having picked up a bundle on discount. As usual these stories with human protagonists engage me a lot more than those focused on the Adeptus Astartes. Although a good read, it seemed a rather abbreviated plot. Hopefully the rest of the series will build on this though.
• 
  Shane

  A brief but decent read, Rogue Star is a book set in the Warhammer 40K universe covering a snippet of adventure involving a Rogue Trader dynasty. For a book where pages are at a premium, there is a lot of putting on of clothes and pinning of medals. The better parts involve some wandering around on a couple of worlds in the Imperium's hinterland...that sort of thing. The best part of the book is at the end where there is some cool starship combat that really make it 3.5 stars, almost four.
  
  Honestly if you aren't much interested in 40K this book isn't for you. But if you are, and if you have already read some better books set in this multiverse by Abner and others, then check it out. The biggest problem is the brevity. It was like the first third of a really good book. There is a sequel which I'll read sometime soon that I think is more or less a continuation.
• 
  Michael T Bradley

  Not super well written (it FEELS like Hoare is a game designer rather than a novel writer - oftentimes people will approach parts of their ship's bridge, and we'll get intense detail about how things are situated, and what everyone is doing, rather than, say, something that moves the narrative forward), but a short, fun little romp about a family of rogue traders who get caught up in a political struggle near the Damocles Gulf at THAT point in history. This first book didn't wow me, but I'm definitely curious enough to check out the second one. MOSTLY because I'm a fan of the tau, but hey, whatever works, right?
• 
  Jonathan

  A fun read but not a lot gets done. The story follows a Rogue Trader and his two children who are at odds with one another as they try to strike a deal with a back water leader who may or may not be dealing with sinister forces. The warhammer 40,000 setting is dark and gritty and set up nicely. The main plot really never gets going till the end. It feels like the first act leading up to a big reveal that in turn is set up for several sequels.
• 
  Ivelina Panicherska

  meh
• 
  Sean Mckeever

  I couldn't get into the story.
• 
  Marco Antonio

  An Anarco Capitalist family has to deal with the troubles of petty local governments while the threat of communism looms in the horizon