‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’ – Justin D. Hill (Black Library)

Another day in the office so another short read was required for a trip into work that reminded me how much I hate the trains and that buses are a lot nicer. Lesson learned, at least until the next time I’m running late… 😉

Anyway… As luck would have it, I’d found ‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’, browsing Amazon last night, so my commute read ended up choosing itself. I haven’t gone wrong with any of my previous ‘Justin Hill reads’ so was looking forward to more of the same with this one. And as luck would have it… I chose well again.

Every hero has a moment that defines their legend, a battle that sets them on the path they are meant to walk. For Ursarkar E Creed, that moment is here. Cadia itself is under threat – the hordes of Chaos emerge once more from the Eye of Terror, and the forces of the Imperium muster to meet them. But on Tyrok Fields, an act of base treachery, spurred on by an old enemy of Creed's, will change everything and provide General Creed a chance to prove his worth once and for all, and embrace his destiny as Lord Castellan of Cadia.

Sometimes, it’s ok to know where the story is headed, it’s all about seeing how characters handle it in the meantime. That’s very much the case with ‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’, the opening salvo in the Despoiler’s Thirteenth (I think) Black Crusade that ends in a big space where Cadia used to be. We know what’s coming but that’s beside the point. What ‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’ is really about is how one Ursarkar E Creed rises to the occasion and takes charge of a situation that only he saw coming. Which makes me wonder… Out of a whole planet of people whose sole purpose is to be that bulwark against Chaos, how was Creed the only person who saw a problem? You would have thought that Cadia would be the most paranoid planet in the Imperium and that everyone would be jumping at shadows (or firing ordnance at them). Sorry, went off on a tangent there… 😊

The long and short of it is that Hill does a great job of giving us a character who is derided by his peers but sticks to his guns and ends up on the right side of history. Creed has many opportunities to say ‘I told you so’ but knows what the priority is and gets on with delivering. Definitely a hero from where I’m sat. And Hill clearly doesn’t stint on the ongoing battle either. It’s not just background scenery, this is warfare that’s right up in your face which makes ‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’ very easy to get into and keep reading, both in terms of the narrative flow and staying true to the ‘horror of war’ theme. If you’re going to write about war then you need to be honest and Hill is most definitely that. You’ll see some sights during the course of ‘The Battle’ but it’s all there for a reason.

I continue to be a bit of a fan of Justin Hill’s WH40K output then 😊There is a lot happening in ‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’ but Hill never forgets what this story is really about and amidst the betrayal and assorted viscera, gives his reader some real insight into Ursarkar E Creed and why he is such a big deal in the setting. Worth a read if you’re a fan of WH40K or if you just enjoy military sci-fi, either will work for you 😊