The first novel in a new series, Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Spear of the Emperor explores the grim realities of life for the defenders of Elara’s Veil, in Imperium Nihilus. Over a century after the Great Rift, the Imperium sends Amadeus Kaias Incarius of the Mentor Legion to assess the status of Elara’s Veil’s defences. The Star Scorpions are long gone, the Celestial Lions crippled, so the Spears of the Emperor hold the line almost alone. Despite a cold welcome from the Spears, Amadeus recognises that there’s no way back to the Imperium, so resolves to stay and fight, and help the Spears however he can.
While Amadeus is nominally the main character, it’s told in first person through the eyes of Anuradha Daaz, one of three Mentor Legion helots tasked with supporting Amadeus both on the battlefield and off. She has a strange relationship with Amadeus and the Mentors, mixing professional respect with a degree of bitterness, but she recognises that her role within the Chapter allows her considerable privileges. It’s some of those privileges – a fiercely analytical mind, and technologically-enhanced recall – that facilitate her narration, and allow her to pose in-universe questions that we don’t often see in 40k stories. Filtered through the lens of her perspective the book offers a fascinating look at two very different Chapters of Space Marines in action, and the role that ‘normal’ humans play alongside them.
It’s typically character-heavy, with nary a bullet fired for almost the first third of the book, conflict instead coming from characters interacting and learning about each other. It’s compelling stuff, told with a calm and steady pace as Amadeus, Anuradha and the rest learn (and therefore we do too) about the realities of life in Imperium Nihilus, and about the structures and characteristics of the Spears. It’s still a 40k novel though, so when the action arrives it quickly escalates into brutal, breathless carnage. Anuradha and the other helots begin by participating at a remove, directling Amadeus by technological means from behind the lines, but that soon changes and despite all of her advantages Anuradha finds herself lost in the confusion of a genuinely horrifying war between the Spears and the Exilarchy, Chaos forces led by Traitor Marines known as The Pure. Crucially, you feel that every action scene, every moment of conflict is there to further develop the characters, so while there’s action aplenty – and it’s satisfying in its own right – it’s clearly been thought through and deployed with a purpose.
There’s so much detail to take in here, as Dembski-Bowden shows us how catastrophically different Imperium Nihilus is to what we’re used to seeing in the main Imperium. The setting, location and characters are so fascinating that it remains compelling and engaging even as you’re trying to work out exactly where the plot is going. It’s cleverly disguised at first, and it’s only as the story progresses that it gradually becomes clear just how beautifully well considered and plotted it all is (though to say more would risk spoilers). This is a book which can be enjoyed on so many levels, not least as an exploration of a complex, characterful Chapter forced into an impossible situation (arguably two Chapters, as the Mentors come across as genuinely intriguing too), an introduction to the wider context and history of the Adeptus Vaelarii, and a glimpse of the stark realities of the Dark Imperium. It’s endlessly thought-provoking, sometimes (enjoyably) challenging, and deeply satisfying, and suggests that this is going to be a hugely influential series that does for the ‘new’ 40k lore much the same as what the Black Legion series does for classic 40k lore.
Click here to order Spear of the Emperor – or click here for the audiobook on Audible.