Chris Dows

3.7- way above average

I not long ago watched the kill team trailer of them Elysians vs Tau and found it derpy compared to the sheer grim darkness present in the near ‘kamikaze’ (I’m sure there’s a better word, just don’t remember it) fervour of the previous one with kriegsman vs orks.

I used to think (in my naïveté) that them fighting with actual tactics wasn’t dark enough like some sadist iPad baby without his dopamine fix. After reading this- I’ve changed my opinion and show more gotten newfound respect for these soldiers. They, unlike the kriegsman value lives, value living another day, love their identity as imperials and Elysians. I was looking at them for the wrong things when much like salamanders- they represent the normal humanity which survives even in the far future. A good listen. show less

3.6 a thrilling sequel to the first instalment. I’d never considered how omission could’ve changed the whole narrative of the story in such an efficient way. The fact that the information was this big (no spoilers) but hidden and revealed so well without feeling shoe-horned in is super impressive!

3.9
I won't spoil anything, but it's clear Chris took inspiration from Eisenhorn or a similar character when writing Mastroval. The story is so simple that it comes back around to being complex as if they have a formula but it's designed in a way that it seems broken. The trilogy was good I would agree but the ending was slightly dissapointing in that there was (much like reality) no soothing ending but a gap left for the future to be fulfilled. I would love to see more work from Dows' on the show more militarum. show less

Well that's cute. The stories' ideas are intelligent, and the characters are themselves. The art is awful though, so much so that I have to take a star off for that. And of course very short stories are not fully satisfying. But if your library happens to have a copy of this and you need a quick TOS fix, have fun.