Space Marine (Book) - Review
Originally published December 2015What? Space Marine? A book review? What's that doing on here?
Yes. Before the internet, in the far-off past, people used to read books for entertainment. There are some that still do somewhere...
All right, I'll stop being a smug POS. It's not like I just finished reading 15th-century literature that people worship as a godsend of creative writing and language arts. I read Ian Watson's 1993 novel, Space Marine: a book about big dudes in the far-flung future of the Warhammer 40,0000 universe who kill aliens with big machine guns. Nuff' said, right? Well, there's a little more to it than you might think.
Pros
Serves as a good introduction to the Warhammer 40,000 universe
Interesting scenarios play out in unexpected ways
Easy reading
Author not afraid to kill characters, adds to the tension
Drastic character growth and change from the protagonists
Influence on the narrator based on the central character of the scene is a plus
Descriptions can be really good and in detail, or...
Cons
Descriptions can be really vague or filled with unnecessary language
Word choice gets excessively thesaurus-y and feels needlessly complex
The language and word choice is intelligent but doesn't help tell the story/characterize enough
Humor falls flat in most places
The characters grow and change, but it doesn't necessarily make the most sense
Surprising number of references to bodily functions
Just, sort of, ends
Plot & Thoughts
While considered to be outdated by the standards of the Black Library (the collective who control the literary fiction and canon of the Warhammer 40,000 universe), Ian Watson's Space Marine is nonetheless a solid and exciting read for those who are looking for an entry point into a universe as daunting and vast as Star Wars, but 40,000 times more intimidating.
There's an abundance of lore, species, historical events, etc that take up this expansive, fictional universe, but Watson does a commendable job of providing readers with a focused perspective on several individuals in this vast galaxy. The best portion of the book gives insight into the process a man has to go through to become a legendary space marine in the 41st millennium. I won't bother going into specifics of Space Marine in this regard, or of the Warhammer 40k lore, as there is plenty to read on that already. Instead, I'll quickly discuss the plot and the finer points of the book.
The plot is a bit of a weakness for Space Marine because there isn't much of one. There are four smaller arcs that bridge from one section to the next, but in terms of an overarching story, all that's there is the strained friendship among the three "brothers." This, of course, wouldn't be a bad thing if there were more to it than that, and Watson certainly tries. Yet it never quite reaches the interest or complexity I think he intended.
The three protagonists are Lexandro, Yeri, and Biff. They're all excitable and violent teenagers from the same distant planet of Necromunda. They all happen to hate each other because each is from a rival gang. They even manage to kill members of each other's group; Lexandro is particularly diabolical of the three. Suddenly, the legendary 10-ft tall space marines of the Imperial Fists chapter arrive seeking recruits. These three brothers of Necromunda are then selected and get the honor of going through the body augmentation, training, and rituals to become legendary warriors themselves.
This is where the book is at its most interesting and detailed. The opening arc of the novel focuses on the characters, how they'd like to kill one another, and how the difficult and rigorous process of becoming a marine sculpts them as zealous brothers in arms. Watson puts a lot of effort into the details of surgical augmentations the boys go through, as well as the training, and even the ritualistic culture of the Imperial Fists.
It's also during this opening arc that we see the most drastic changes in characters. We don't quite spend enough time with them during these moments to see the changes occur gradually. Instead, there are significant jumps in time that serve as book montages; we hear about how all the surgeries and training have shaped them the into strong-willed, eccentric killing machines they've become. This is fine because it's not like we need to see every aspect of their growth, however, the transition each protagonist goes through is drastic, so it feels like we're missing out on some of that character progression. It's like planting a seed in the ground and then returning the next day to see a 10-foot-tall tree in its place. We see the ideas and personality traits forming in the beginning and can see where they might lead, but then suddenly the character has skipped a stage in their metamorphosis. While we may know the origins as the seeds they were, it still feels abrupt, which makes the characters drastically different and a bit unfamiliar as a result.
Lexandro wants to be the very best (like no one ever was), and since he was a snooty little rich kid he only expects that he will be the best of the three brothers. His faith in his leader and misplaced sense of superiority feed into his sudden masochistic urges and desire to die in battle gloriously like a hero. Of the three, Lexandro is the most flushed out and we spend probably the most time with his perspective skewing the narration. He does behave a little too erratically at times, but by the end, I felt that he was a successful enough character that I wouldn't mind seeing him again, especially after the events that played out.
Yeri, who hates him and knows that Lexandro wants death on the battlefield strives to prevent that from happening out of his animosity for him, which then evolves into an obsessive devotion to Lexandro. His own masochistic behavior leads him to forget his original intentions and become so obsessed with protecting him that it becomes a bizarre love and adoration in place of hate. This would be fine for a character who loses focus on their original goals and becomes insanely driven down a misguided path, however, the transition from animosity to adoration is not as natural and progressive as it could have been. Book montages effectively eliminate the necessary moments we would see where his mind might fight back against itself.
Biff, the character whom I liked the most of the three, was the least complex. He basically came from the lowest life on their home planet, barely understood language well enough to communicate, and was practically feral. A book montage later, he's eloquent and educated, having spent a decade reading all the books he could find in his days of training. This is his primary transformation in the book and it happens relatively early. As a result, his character arc is mostly done before the halfway point and Biff serves as a less-insane voice of reason throughout the novel. I liked him for his pragmatic nature, as well as for how Watson would work some of his more primal language/behavior into the narration at times when he would revert a little bit, but so much focus on the straight man of the group was almost unnecessary. Biff doesn’t have much of an emotional impact on his other brothers throughout most of the story and ends up being something of a third wheel. I would have preferred that the story had been almost exclusively told with Biff's influence on the narration, while primarily focused on Lexandro—much like Nick and Gatsby from The Great Gatsby—instead of this three-way split that detracted more from the details and story-telling.
Regardless, their early days in training stand out in the novel as a strong point and Watson does a good job holding my attention during that time. It's when the boys start going on their missions that the novel gets a little lost. The story arcs that follow the training arc feel drastically shorter and condensed, even if they actually aren't. Perhaps there were some editorial restrictions, but when I read each arc, it felt like there were at least one or two chapters missing from their stories in regard to how quickly the characters went from infiltration to destination. It felt like there could have been more opportunities to flush out the characters a little more and add some tension to their missions. Considering the fact that each one involved a rather monumental threat by the standards of Warhammer 40,000, I feel like the stories suffer from a desire to get to the point too quickly. Each big threat or event is given to us swiftly through exposition and is over almost just as fast. I would have preferred to have had small hints early on in the story arcs to let my mind run with some ideas first, or to have been given the necessary information, and then, after letting it sit for a while, allow the marines resolve to the situation.
Still, when they do resolve the situation, Watson is actually able to paint the picture rather well, in certain places. The set-pieces end up being quite exciting and satisfying, if a little vague. If he collaborated with some artists, I think a graphic novel of Space Marine would be a fantastic read.
TL;DR (Conclusion)
While I might have nit-picked the novel a bit, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading Space Marine. Indeed, the characters and their adventures, while unique and memorable, come across as a little fragmented and incomplete. It's Watson's style and attention to detail at specific moments that help make the novel a fun, easy read that maintained my interest from start to end.
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