Salamander (The Tome of Fire Trilogy)

by Nick Kyme

Book Overview

First novel about the Salamanders Chapter of Space Marines, superhuman warriors of the far future. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844167410
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Games Workshop
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.3" x 4.0"

Customer Reviews

one of the best sci fi books i have read

if you like to speed read your entertainment books, you know, skip the mushy stuff and get to the fighting and glory, this book is NOT for you. the book has some of the most sophisticated prose i have ever read for a scifi space marine book, the author is has a real grasp of the language and science you just cant read it fast. the book has to be absorbed. a random example: "A thin mist drifted over the deck of the cryogenic vault like the slow passage of a tired apparition. A gaseous amalgam of nitrogen and helium combined to produce the chemical compound that would catalyse the cryogenic process, it rolled languidly off a series of semi-transparent tanks situated at one end of a large metal room. A high ceiling still carried the ubiquitous censers and there were small Mechanicus shrines set into alcoves in the walls. Exposed hosing, cables and other machinery were also prevalent. it was as if they were the excised innards of some mechanical behemoth, and this room was part of its mech-biology." the authors descriptions put you there. the battle sequences are also smartly developed. my criticisms are that the transistions from one persons activities to anothers are somewhat abrupt so if you read too fast you can get lost as to where you are at in the battle and some of the saved in the nick of time sequences were somewhat contrived, the fonts are too small for me, i wish it was a kindle book so i could choose a better font. i would give the book 4.5 stars for my complaints but i cant so it gets a five. it is intelligently written and i liked it and i am looking forward to the next one. especially if its on a kindle, otherwise maybe not.

Seeing both sides of the reviews...

Hmmm, it's funny reading after all the reviews here, I see the trend is that those who somehow never, ever read about W40K, just happened to pick THIS novel. Go into any chain bookstore and you will see whole sections of W40K and Warhammer Fantasy novels. Then the bashing begins (I mean comparing something that's been out for over 25 years to "Halo's Space Marines", come on), yet they don't have a list of books/novels THEY wrote to compare the literary styles. Read more about the W40K universe. Pick up a W40K roleplaying Codex, the main game's rulebook or hey, look up the background info online on W40KWiki or something similar. It's very trite to see all the flak a new author gets. If Tolkien came out now, he would be considered too much of a read, boring and copying someone elses style. As for the fans, you see hope and optimism. They know some novels are not on the same level as some of the writers who have wrote dozens of books, design parts of the roleplaying game and work for Games Workshop/Black Library. I have read many of the books, played the video games and constanly update myself on the lore. It's no different than Star Wars or comics to me. I try not to stay in the dark and then think about trying to complain. Just my view. I think the novel was decent and talked about a Space Marine Chapter than has been overlooked in W40K canon. This is why the author had to provide background info. As for the characters with no backgrounds and just showing up, well it's MILITARY Sci-Fi, not a fantasy-adventure love story. A miltary unit has many members and you are not going to get a full history on every member (this I know as 21 year infantry vet). Since this a planned trilogy, I expect to see more development and fleshing out. I wish the critics would give it a chance and read a little bit about W40k or hold their opinions and not compare Drake, Pournelle or even "Halo" to this realm lol.

A great beginning for another Space Marine Chapter

My favorite part of 40K are the Space Marines. These are not your typical science fiction Space Marines. The 40K Space Marines are broken up into Chapters. There are probably over a hundred different Space Marine Chapters and possibly many more. What I like about the Chapters is that they are each a little different and unique. The Salamanders are one of the Chapters. The Salamanders are probably considered to be one of the more "normal" Chapters. If this is your first experience with 40K Space Marines don't be fooled into thinking that all Space Marine Chapters are "normal", some would be considered quite bizarre. I personally am waiting for a series of novels involving the Mortifactors Chapter. Nick Kyme does a great job and shows a lot of imagination with Salamander. For regulars of 40K the slow start of Salamander gives us some information for the overall 40K big picture. For the uninitiated the slow start may be hard to get through but don't give up, you will be rewarded and may find that as your 40K knowledge expands you read the beginning over again with a new understanding. Highly recommended.

This is how to start a trilogy

In Salamander, Nick Kyme delivers a book that is about as good as it gets. He rivals Abnett's superior works for the best among the Warhammer 40k library. Tracing the travails of the Salamander Space Marine Chapter as they seek retribution against a betrayer from their own ranks, Kyme focuses mainly on Da'kir, something of an outcast among his own kind due to his lowborn status. In addition to the many alien and daemon enemies the Space Marines must face, Da'kir also has to fight the oppression and prejudice of some of his own comrades. The struggles of Da'kir in dealing with the bigots and his own self-doubts about his worthiness of being a Salamander present a wonderful evolution of his character. As he fights the inner daemons he also fights the daemons of his own past and the uncertainty of his future. With his own strange nature coming to the fore throughout the story in numerous hints and somewhat overdone foreshadowing, Da'kir is character worth caring about. The other characters are larger than life. From the legendary heroes of the Chapter to the newer members trying to establish their own legacy of glory in the annals of the Marines' history, we are treated to both camaraderie and betrayal, friendship and animosity, love and hatred, loyalty and distrust. This is an epic novel that does precisely what the first novel of a trilogy needs to do. It sets up all the characters and tells a great story at the same time. The villains are at times ill-defined, but that is due to the nature of the orks and the mysterious nature of the others. Given the surprise that Kyme wanted to deliver, some of that mystery was absolutely required and justified the lack of details prior to the resolution of the story. That the story is a complete one and not one that simply leaves the reader waiting for the next book is what makes this one a five-star book. Too many authors of late seem to ignore completing the story of the individual books of a series knowing they will advance things in the next book. That's laziness and shows disrespect for the readers, in my opinion. It's a cop-out to get them to read the next book just to get more of the story they already should have gotten for their money. Kyme does not make that mistake, telling a complete story while delivering an epilogue that not only resolves things for many characters but also puts in place some new storylines for the next book in the series. Perfection.