QUICK REVIEW: Defiant – Andy Clark

A short story in his Imperial Knights series, Andy Clark’s Defiant sits somewhere between Kingsblade and Knightsblade and sees Lady Jennika Tan Draconis still coming to terms with her role as First Knight of Adrastapol. The darkly pious Imperial world of Pyrodiah burns under the assault of endless waves of necrons, but the Knights of Adrastapol walk in its defence. Tasked with retrieving the planetary governor before the capital city is overrun, Jennika leads several lances of Knights into battle, however she faces not only the soulless necrons but the prejudices of her own warriors.

Leadership struggles are a familiar theme in 40k stories, but deep-rooted sexism in a historically patriarchal society is less so. While on the surface this is a story about massive robots fighting alien robots, it’s also an exploration of a highly topical theme as Jennika wrestles with duty and honour in the face of danger and annoying men who should know better. Anyone expecting an epic robot vs robot showdown with the necrons as antagonists might be disappointed as they’re seen very much at a remove and don’t offer too much tangible danger. Nevertheless there’s plenty of gothic 40k creepiness elsewhere on Pyrodiah as a backdrop to the core of the story, which focuses on Jennika kicking ass and stamping her authority. It’s not essential within the series, but it’s an interesting little character study.

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