A small, elite unit battles through the enemy lines featuring a wide array of tyranid forces on a dying planet. Lazulai is an Imperium gem world and in the final phase of destruction by the Tyranids in their relentless consumption. But hope rises when reports of a weapon that could change the outcome of the war come to the surface.
The challenge arises then for Major Wulf Khan who is tasked with leading a select team of Catachan jungle fighters, a Cadian and a tech adept to recover the weapon for the Imperium, in the full knowledge that all life on Lazulai is about to end and in any event, even if they are successful, their comrades will die regardless as they defend the last bastions as a distraction to offer Khan the slim chance of success she needs.
I enjoyed Deathworlder, it’s entertaining in parts despite the horrific backdrop where the planet itself becomes an enemy and there is sufficient attention given to the team’s characters. Whilst Deathworlder it not a long novel, I think this helps keep the narrative tight and prevents it being long and drawn out to the detriment of the story. At this point, for the uninitiated, I’ll mention that the title of the story refers to the Catachan heritage of the majority of Khan’s team. The Catachan jungle fighters have a well-established and justified reputation for toughness in the light of surviving their hostile jungle homeworld. The deathworlders do things a little differently which offers a nice contrast with the Cadian and Mechanicus traditions which also get a fair amount of representation.
Even with the story looking into the motivations of the team and the reflection of the differing cultures, I never felt that Deathworlder gets bogged down in unnecessary narrative. It could have featured greater depth, especially with the character interactions, but this might easily have hampered the storyline which develops at a healthy pace and overall, for me, it worked.
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