All of this snazzy loot is encased in a luxury presentation box, so everyone can see who’s the flashiest git in town!**

Yet the abhorrence would see only another enemy to fight. Even those amongst them who could bend and shape reality to their will drew that power mainly from the massed latent psychic ability of their kin, not from the raging tempest of the warp. It was as though the glory of Chaos were simply irrelevant to them.

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With only 2,000 uniquely numbered and individually signed copies available, any self-respecting ork enthusiast needs to grab theirs before they are gone. Princeps Arlost Vast (gets a single chapter before being killed by Ufthak, which robs Daelin of the revenge he wanted)

Iron Warrior Warpsmith Gavrak Daelin (interacts with Zaefa, get's killed by a combination of her and Mitranda, wants revenge against Vast's Titan for destroying a corrupted warlord titan that was his charge) I did have to abandon the audiobook version and go with text. Tom Allenby, who narrated the audio version, made some orks so exaggerated in their accent and sound like such idiots that I seriously stopped enjoying it. Granted, you have to mix it up, you can only do so many credible ork voices and you have to mix it up to differentiate them, but it was honestly painful to hear some of them. With that in mind, it should be noted that this is as much a Mechanicus book as an Ork one, despite what the cover implies (according to Brooks, this was mandated.) But he uses that split extremely effectively – I’m always looking for a good AdMech book and this one was all the sweeter for being unexpected.MB: I think Guy Haley has said it before, but the key to orks is that they seem funny, unless you’re the one they’re happening to. It was interesting approaching it from the ork POV however, because of course to orks, what they’re doing isn’t horrific, it’s normal. So I was describing fights and scenes of slaughter for which, had it been from a human perspective, I would have been using words that really brought home the gruesomeness of what was occurring. When seeing the same events from an ork perspective, it’s much more matter-of-fact. In this story, two rival Ork Warlords decide to beseige a Mechanicus Forge World to try and grab some loot. This isn't a massive WAAAGH of any sort, just 2 small fleets that want to smash some 'teef' in. Brooks handles writing from an Ork perspective fantastically; we see through Ufthak’s eyes, encounter his thoughts and manage to relate to his desires. When he is the focus, Imperial Knights are humie walkers, armed with Kannons and Scorchas, though all of the boyz keep their Mork-given names- the text, however, is clearly written *about* an Ork rather than *by* one, so we get actual description and story rather than a jumbled blur of emotion and explosion. It’s a nice inversion of the death-by-Codex entry that can sometimes detract from a BL story. In his first appearance, Ufthak occupies a relatively lowly role in his Waagh, I’m hoping it’s not giving to much away to say that this book is an account of his ascent through what pass for ranks in Ork society; Brooks is clearly enthused by Ork Kultur, and while we don’t see much about the various Klans, he certainly nails the dynamics of mobs and the mindset of the faction. Listen to it because: get into the heads of a band of orks in the first-ever novel from their point of view. Discover what it takes to be part of the Waaagh! and carve out your own little piece of glory amidst the mayhem in a novel that's brutal, kunnin' - and darkly hilarious. With a contender from each clan warring to succeed the dead warboss, this standalone novel is set in the same ork-verse as Mike’s previous teef-rattling tales.*** It’s filled with fantastic characters, dark humour, and orkish hijinks. Throw in a prophecy from a weirder-than-usual weirdboy – and a grot revolutionary with a shiv who isn’t afraid to use it – and you know you’re in for a great time.”

in meeting the initial invasion as an academic exercise, and then allowing their responses the orks being somewhat more than the animals their data led them to expect being guided as much by wanting to preserve or improve on their status I’d say that the Ad Mexh portrayal was politically nuanced. Personality is injected into these characters, even the super-archetypal Titan crew. They’re more than cannon fodder, (literal) diabolical plots exist for reasons beyond ‘ha! We’re evil’. We have characters second-guessing the motivations of others, and even themselves. The Ad Mech are shown as separate in terms of psychology and approaches to the rest of mankind, but still very much part of the Imperium, with all that that entails. Like a lot of the 40k I’m enjoying at the moment, this highlighting of the Imperium’s self-sabotaging nature shines here. The ork stuff is superb on its own as well. Brooks sets a good balance between normal prose mixed with orky nouns, a decision that kept this section entertaining instead of unreadable. They have a good cast as well, all feeling distinct while remaining orky. If you’re looking for something a little more low-tech, how about tossing a fungal ball of teeth and attitude at the enemy? The squig launchas on the Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy don’t have an explosive payload, but squigs are much worse. This does not include Tyranids or the T'au. The latter are still fairly minor on the galactic stage, so their omission isn't a complete surprise. The Tyranids' absence is a little harder to explain. My guess is that, to an entity as ancient as Te'Kannaroth, they're simply too recent an addition to worry about. This would also apply to the T'au. However, since time holds little to no meaning within the Warp, I'm not certain how relevant that actually is. In a way, what's left out is as intriguing as what's put in. There is also a great side-story and internal dialogue of a senior tech priest, her name is Zaefa Varaz who is trying to figure out wtf is going on. All isn't what it seems on the forge world and the Mechanicus isn't so resolute in it's mission.honestly I think I just like Warhammer books but I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The 40k Orks are just forces of complete randomness and violence and yet its that vibe that makes this book a compelling, brain-off kind of story. This book is also legitimately hilarious with the Orks facing off against the cyborg Adeptus Mechanicus and the constant strain of the two factions trying to figure counter each other with opposing logic is very compelling.

Complete your Orky learning with the short stories Road Rage , Mad Dok , and the novella Da Gobbo’s Revenge about the legendary Red Gobbo. This story shows the fight from both sides, and it does a good job of showing the contrasting views. For the orks, it's humorous. They're having fun and getting into shenanigans as they butcher their way through the defenders. On the other side, you have a palpable sense of the desperation and hopelessness of the AdMech as they desperately try to save as much as they can while they're being ground down by overwhelming ork numbers and power, while being hampered by their own incompetent leadership and an insidious third party.ToW: Did you look outside of Warhammer for influences when writing this? Where do you look for inspiration when writing a story like this? I also really appreciate that Brooks’ antagonists always have a struggle of their own in his books. His antagonists are not unstoppable until the climax, rather, the protagonists and antagonists are constantly struggling to outplay each other and I really love that in a story. Daemon Engine Te'Kannaroth (gets two chapters, interacts with Gavrak, is his mechanism for revenge, the Mechanicus characters witness and fail to prevent its birth, is destroyed by Ufthak)