Fire Warrior (Warhammer 40,000)

This book is honestly incredible. Its one of the few books I've read where the author manages to make action truly exciting. Many of the action scenes got my blood pumping even more than a movie would! Spurrier does a masterful job of making you feel what Kais feels. As the book begins, Kais is about to enter his first combat. The excellent descriptions and brilliantly done first-person narration create a genuine sense of dread and adrenaline, just as if you were there about to fight for the first time as well. The book keeps this up throughout, and it only gets better as the book goes on. The only problem with the book is that I feel one of the revelations at the end makes it much better if you know it going in. One or two of the action scenes can seem beyond belief otherwise, as can some of Kais' thoughts. Readers should stop reading here if they do not wish to know, but personally I feel this improves the book from the beginning: It turns out that Kais is possessed by a daemon of Khorne. All in all this is not only one of the best books I have ever read, but the best action book or film I have ever experienced. 5/5, I cannot recommend it enough!

I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The Tau have always been my favorite race in the 40k universe as they're the only empire who have the "Greater Good" as their way of life. I thought the story was believable and not too far fetched - Kais is described throughout as much more than a simple line soldier, and there are hints that his abilities might be hereditary. The insight into Tau culture and way of life was a breath of fresh air from the characteristically gothic 40k literature, and seeing the Imperium from an outsiders perspective is really interesting. Although I have to agree that at some points in the book *** MAYBE SPOILER??*** (aka the ending) that it really does read like a video game. The first 75% of the book isn't too bad, and very much worth the read if your itching for something other than a bunch of Imps or Space Marines.

The story of this fire warrior from his first mission to possibly his last depending on how you read it. It's an amazing story that while not canon within the Warhammer 40k Mythos makes an interesting point of exploring the Tau under the Etheral's directions. If you don't understand what those mean or don't really care for 40k as a universe, that's fine and you should be able to get a decent idea of what the universe is like just reading it. It tackles subjects from the idea of a child trying to live up to their parent's legacy, political intrigue, find out that legends sometimes over shadow the truth, uneasy alliances and much more. It is not for those who don't like descriptive violence ,as it does go into detail on people's deaths and it's definitely not for those who have religious sensibilities that can be offended by talks of demonic possession and imagery.

I am a big fan of the Tau and there is a lot of interesting development that could be done with the race. Unfortunately, this novel provides very little in comparison to what is typical of Black Library novels. The basis for the story could make for a great novel but the writing was poor in comparison to other Warhammer 40,000 novels I have read. Had it been written by Dan Abnett, or Lee Lightner, it could have been a real treat. Some parts of the book were hard to follow the first time through, forcing me to go back and readjust my mental picture of what had just happened. Some things did not follow logically from the events that had already occurred, though it is evident later how they tie in. The characters are not very deep, and in some cases they are downright absurd. The novel covers a lot of events, and the pacing is sometimes inappropriate. This is an area where following the video game too closely probably hurt the novel. So many events occur that too little time is spent developing each one. A novel which only loosely follows the game, and omits many of the events from the game, would probably have turned out better. The Dawn of War omnibus is an example of such an approach. Having played the game this novel is based on, I did not expect much. The other reviews I found of this book were not encouraging either. I bought the book anyway because I was interested to see what development had been done with the Tau race and stories featuring the Tau are few and far between. I have read over 20 Warhammer 40,000 novels and this is the worst I have read by a significant margin. If you love the Tau, this book is mediocre but better than nothing. Otherwise, I would not recommend this book when there are so many great Warhammer 40,000 titles available.

Just amazing. One of the best books i have ever read. Kept me on the toes all the way through.

I loved the way this story showed how everyone has darkness inside them and that it is up to us if we let it take control or not.

If you're a Tau fan like me you'll know that there isn't a whole lot about the 40k universe from there perspective. For everyone else I probably would bother. I got it for $4 and I consider it money well spent.

Incredible read and one the best Warhammer books from the Tau perspective out there.

Fire Warrior is a good SF novel set in the 41st milinium where there is only war. It has good action in there and the descriptions of the horrors of war and the gore are excellent and fitting for the tabletop game it derived from. However some of the main characters seem bland and have no real growth. The exceptions being La'Kais, the book's protagonist, his commanding officer, the Space Marine Captain and possibly Kais' friends Yhol and Ju who have very few lines. Also the lack of a main female character is a tad sad and same goes for a lvoe itnerest, but then again it is a war novel so you can let that slide. This novel is a good introduction to the Tau Empire, focusing rather on the Tau homeworld and the Tau race rather then the Kroot (who get mentioned) and Vespid, and gives the Space Marine/Imperial Guard fans also a little something to chew on. Chaos makes a strong appearence in the novel and really cranks up the gore elvels (as they should). Again this is a Tau novel so do not expect anything new expect maybe a new Space Marine Chapter called the Raptors whom I haven't seen in any other source but this one. This book is FAr superior then the game it was based on and is one of the black library's forgotten treasure's in my opinion. There is some good action here which focuses on a single Shas'la and how war and great expectations can mentally scar one for life. I recommend this book to Tau Empire fans, well only those who only care about the Tau race rather then the Kroot and Vespid allies, and some Space Marine/Imperial Guard fans to. Go forth for the Greater Good!

Guter Einstieg in das Tau Imperium

Arrived on time, I'll be happy to delve into some T'au literature. The book was a little battered and bent but all is well!

Man kann sich dank der gut beschriebenen Emotionen von Kais sehr gut in die Rolle eines T'au Feuerkriegers hineinversetzten. Seine zweifel an dem Tau'va und seinem Vater stützen die Story und seinen Werdegang zum Elitesoldaten der Tauarmee. Endlich einmal sieht man das Imperium gut detailiert aus der Sicht seiner Zahlreichen Gegner...

Firewarrior Ich fand das Buch spannend. Ein ewiges, zermürbendes Gemetzel zwar aber dass erwarte ich auch nicht anders im 40K Universum. Klar der Hauptakteur bleibt etwas blaß aber die Grundanlage der Figur ist schon ansprechend (entwickelt sich dann aber kaum). Vielleicht liegt es auch daran dass die Tau zum Zeitpunkt der Veröffentlichung noch ein junges Völkchen waren, somit eine unbekannte Größe und gerade die asiatisch anmutende Persönlichkeit Westler befremdet und zunächst auf Distanz hält. Mich hat es auch nicht gestört, dass die Kampffähigkeiten des jungen Taus die aller anderen Völker übertrifft. Die Geschichte bietet Erklärungen an: Auserwähltentum "Glück" und dämonische Schützenhilfe. Rambo, Luke Skywalker oder Conan der Barbar sind auch nicht realistischer oder wahrscheinlicher. I ch habe das Spiel noch nicht gespielt aber so wird das Erlebnis sicher noch vertieft. Vielleicht kommen weder Spiel noch Buch vollends ohne einander aus aber als Doppelpack kann das schon Spass machen. Ich kann die Rezension ja nocheinmal aktualisieren. Sprachlich fand ich den Roman schon recht anspruchsvoll. Mein Englisch reicht aus um die Geschichte zu lesen, die schriftstellerischen Fähigkeiten möchte ich nicht bewerten. Als Leseerlebnis fand ich die Geschichte aber so ansprechend, dass ich das Buch innerhalb von 3 Tagen durchgelesen habe.