Gav Thorpe’s Warhammer 40,000 novel Indomitus, released in July 2020 to coincide with the latest edition of the tabletop game and its ongoing background, pits the Ultramarines of Crusade Fleet Quintus – considered a cursed fleet by some – against the nightmarish Necrons led by Overlord Simut. After years of uphill struggle against the forces of the Archenemy, the Ultramarines onboard the Ithraca’s Vengeance are in dire need of a comprehensive victory to lift morale and spur the fleet’s momentum. When the strangely becalmed Warp strands them in a system afflicted by a bizarre psychic malaise, they’re drawn into a desperate defence against the undying Necrons, whose relentless assault and terrifying abilities threaten the Indomitus Crusade and the Imperium as a whole.
The main focus is on three main Ultramarines characters – the relatively inexperienced Captain Aeschelus and his two Lieutenants, action-oriented Nemetus and reserved but more experienced Praxamedes. An early, enjoyable set piece nicely sets up the dynamic between these characters ready for their conflict with the Necrons, after which the plot settles into a rhythm as the two forces converge upon an embattled Imperial world. Under pressure from the Silent King, Simut is desperate to extend the influence of the Pariah Nexus, while the Ultramarines have to contend with not just taking the fight to the Necrons but understanding the deadening effect their enemies bring with them. All the while the Ultramarines commanders contend with concerns over their aspirations and places within the command structure – Aeschelus in particular has one eye on finding some sort of glory to prove his worth.
Viewpoints alternate between the three Ultramarines and a trio of Necrons – the paranoiac Overlord Simut, a somewhat insubordinate Plasmancer named Ah-hotep, and Skorpekh Lord Zozar, the leader of the Necrons’ Destroyers, whose sole focus is the destruction of all sentient life. Thorpe imbues the Necron characters with considerable personality, balancing Zozar’s damaged air of melancholy and an entertaining political rivalry between Ah-hotep and Simut, who’s convinced in a strangely skaven-like way that his strategic genius is being undermined at every turn (to be fair to Simut, Ah-hotep’s loyalty to her Overlord is tenuous at best). While they get a bit less page time than the Ultramarines, they more than hold their own in context of the story and make for satisfying protagonists with their own (often conflicting) concerns and motivations.
Thorpe packs in lots of battle scenes as expected, in a range of environments and from various perspectives, and factors in all of the new character types introduced in the latest incarnations of these two factions. This is tie-in fiction after all, but the new names are worked into the narrative in just the same way as all the others, and make a good showing of themselves. Alongside the fighting, however, there’s lots of time given over to strategic considerations as Aeschelus, Praxamedes and Nemetus debate the different approaches their varying temperaments instinctively call for, and exploration of how the Necrons view the implementation of the ‘Contra-Empyric Matrix’. This isn’t a book specifically about the grand sweep of the Indomitus Crusade or the Silent King’s overarching strategy, but it does dig a little bit into what makes these particular Necrons tick.
If the book’s title is arguably a little misleading, it does do a good job of telling a standalone story which illustrates this particular aspect of the ongoing 40k narrative in a satisfying manner. Readers who just want cold hard facts about the Pariah Nexus and the Indomitus Crusade will be better served by sticking to Codexes and background books, as that’s not what this is about. Anyone interested in a more characterful approach, however, should find plenty to enjoy – not least in how the mild, largely polite sort of conflict amongst the Ultramarines commanders contrasts with the authoritarian battle of wills taking place within the Necron ranks. That this is pretty action-heavy should come as no surprise, but look past that and there’s character and personality – especially for the Necrons – aplenty.
Check out this interview with Gav Thorpe discussing Indomitus.
