Courage and Honour: Graham McNeill

THE NOBLE ULTRAMARINES epitomise the Space Marines, the genetically enhanced warriors who protect the Imperium from its foes. Newly returned from the Eye of Terror, Captain Uriel Ventris must redeem himself in the eyes of his battle-brothers, who fear he may have been tainted by Chaos. When the Planet Pavonis is invaded by tau, what better opportunity could Uriel have to join his Chapter in combat and prove that his honour is beyond reproach?

Well, here we are again with a review for the next chapter in the epic Ultramarines series, appropriately Courage and Honour.

In a sense, this book is kind of similar to the first, Nightbringer. Especially since that it’s set on Pavonis, the site of Uriel’s first mission as a fourth company captain. As well as Pavonis returning, we get a host of characters from Nightbringer itself, despite them being a bit older. Also, we’re not fighting the Nightbringer this time. The enemy of the Ultramarines is the Tau, an upstart xenos race.

Graham McNeill’s portrayal of the Tau is something of a letdown – they don’t charge into close combat, they don’t hold their ground and they don’t throw away their soldiers’ lives needlessly.

Ignoring that, I enjoyed the fifth Ultramarines novel. Even though it was constant warfare all the way through, McNeill doesn’t just focus on the battles. He introduces or re introduces each of the characters, giving them their own turn in the spotlight despite the main plot being focused around Uriel Ventris’ battle for redemptation in the eyes of the Company’s Chaplain, Clausal. (R/N: Is this how you spell Clausal? Is it Clausel?)

We also get a few twists in this novel, and you can’t help thinking that you didn’t expect him to turn, or her to do what she did in the end. Of course I won’t tell you their names.

Now, continuing with the review, and let’s look at the Tau breed of xeno, once again. They’re normally shown to be the light-hearted race, the xenos that are willing to co-operate with others. However, McNeill shows the reader the darker side of these upstarts, and portrays the Tau as the type of people who say, “Join us or else we’ll kill you.”

All of this, so far and I haven’t even touched the message that Courage and Honour is trying to get across. And that message is, quite simply – Follow Guilliman’s 10,000 year old tome known as The Codex Astartes or you will be punished and fail any battle that you try to win.

And this is what Uriel’s trying to do. The Captain of the Fourth, having been exiled from Ultramar for breaking the Codex rules in the first place, is now trying to prove that he will not deviate from it.

Okay, despite the fact that there is little character development in this novel, I seemed to rather enjoy it. As stated earlier, the main focus is on action-packed fights between the Tau and the Imperium, which aside from his portrayal of the Tau, McNeill has done fantastically.

Oh, by the way, just to let you know, I’m not doing any more High and Low Points.

Rating out of 10: 6.5/10 – Not as good as the Killing Ground, but not the worst book ever.

Should you buy this book?: Yes unless you’re a Tau fan, or an Ultramarines hater.