Helion Rain: George Mann
Read by Toby Longworth
The world of Idos is on the verge of destruction, wracked by catastrophic storms and plagued by ravening tyranids. Into this maelstrom come the Raven Guard 4th Company, the warzone perfectly suited to their lightning-strike methods of combat. Led by Veteran Sergeant Grayvus, their mission is simple – to rescue the planet’s last survivors. But in the midst of this nightmare, they receive new orders to locate and destroy a power station. The station is built upon a fault line, and the resulting quake would swallow thousands of tyranids and turn the war in the Imperium's favour. Grayvus and his company must fight their way through genestealers, acid spore mines and a deadly biomorph if they are to succeed and reclaim Idos for the Imperium.
~http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/coming-soon/Helion-Rain.html
Note: This is an advanced review for Black Library and this novel is not available for purchase until February 2011.
Now then, this is my third audiobook, and it’s also the first outside of the Horus Heresy Series (See Raven’s Flight) to give the sons of Corax a starring role. This is also written by George Mann, who as far as I’m aware, has not written any other Black Library novels or audio books for that matter, to date. However, the reader, Toby Longworth, has been the voice actor for several Black Library audiobooks, including Garro: Oath of Moment, and Heart of Rage.
Now, because it’s an Audiobook, I’m going to start with the voice acting, which in my opinion is not very good at all. Sure, there are few characters in this audiobook, but shouldn’t they each have different voices? Even if they are astartes?
Each character’s voices, and no I am not counting the vox-casting, which at some points I couldn’t even understand what the characters were saying when they were speaking through the vox, which caused me to lose track of the conversation.
Moving onto the next part of the review, Helion Rain, you will find, has a very predictable storyline. It basically sums up the plot in the blurb above, so yeah- and you will know the ending before you get to the final chapter.
Now, this was the first audiobook that I’ve listened to in which the sound effects also helped to get in the way of the voices. The background fighting scenes were loud and disruptive, which didn’t help.
However, if there’s one thing that does salvage Helion Rain is description, which gives detail about the setting, the people and the monsters in M41. However, just because one thing is good doesn’t make the whole thing worth getting.
Moving on once more, I’m going to talk about character development. As one might have expected by the short length of the audiobook, there is not much time to give a chance to develop the character’s personality when the focus is more on the setting and the mission, and of course – the enemy.
Now, the Tyranids are possibly one of my most favourite ‘bad guys’ in 40k and it’s because of their awesome portrayal in the fluff. They don’t conquer worlds, they eat them. They have no understanding of mercy, honour or surrender, and will not stop until the galaxy is completely devoid of life.
But on the other hand, opposing them, are also one of my favourite astartes chapters, the XIX Legion themselves, the Raven Guard; experts at stalking in shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike, and when they do – they strike quickly, leaving no enemy of the Imperium alive.
And that is what they are doing in this audiobook.
Now, there are two more things I would like to touch on before I conclude my review of Helion Rain. The first is the fighting – it’s great to listen to, and suits the style of the Raven Guard, and is well described.
The second, and the last, is the artwork on the cover of the audiobook. It’s just awesome.
And, on that bombshell, I will leave you with this:
Rating: 7/10
Should you buy this audiobook? If you are a Raven Guard fan, or a Tyranid one, then the answer is yes. However, if you aren’t, then you can give this book a miss.
