Review: Death World

Death World by Steve Lyons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine a group of soldiers, facing the predator.

Now imagine, that every person in that group, is an 80s action movie protagonist, dripping with manliness, swag and regularly give one another, epic handshake like Dutch and Dillon from predator.

Now Imagine, instead of a single predator, it's a planet full of predators.

Now Imagine, if the entire fracking planet is the predator, and is trying to deal with these pesky creatures on it, like you would deal with mosquitoes irritating your skin.

That would give you a near idea as to what you can expect from the novel Death World, by Steve Lyons. If features a mission embarked upon by the legendary members of the Catachan Jungle fighters. As they come across a planet designated as a 'death world'. In case anyone was wondering what that designation meant, it's quite literal and mentioned at the beginning.

A little context on these guys. These soldiers, hail from the mother of all death worlds 'Catachan', hence their name. Which is a place where every single thing is out to kill you. From apex predators to venomous critters, to poisonous plants, to parasites that turn you into the human version those zombie deer you can find online. Those are just a few of the things that can and will kill you.

Understandably, for those born in this planet, notice how I say born, the mortality rates are quite high. In fact, on could say that the children born here need to learn to kill before they even learn to walk. If you manage to survive childhood, then you've run through the gauntlet of one of the galaxy's most formidable crucibles. One that is so hyper lethal, that the inhabitants actively choose to go off planet to other active war zones, to face all manner of Xenos monstrosities, as an overseas vacation.

Yeah, your planet is so dangerous, that fighting an actual war, is more relaxing.

Needless to say, in the countless diverse legions that make up the Imperial Guard, these guys are a riot to read. They lie on the opposite spectrum of someone like the Death Corps of Krieg, who are interesting to read, for a different kind of survival and lore. Also, personally, my top three guard regiments go in the order of Krieg, Cadians and Catachans; there's that.

The story is nothing fancy. You won't find galaxy spanning space battles, the treacherous debauchery of chaos, or the intricate machinations of the Xenos or heretic in the reading. It's quite simply, a bunch of Rambo looking dudes, fighting and surviving all manner of things trying to kill them. Simple as that.

Ironically enough, these space Rambos themselves, have a figure they admire and adulate as their Rambo, who makes an extended cameo across the story. If you don't know about the legend of Syl Rambo, ahem, I mean Sly Marbo, they you are indeed missing out on quite a treat my friend.

If you want to turn off your brain and want to read something with a healthy amount of meta satire, and a well told survival story, Death world would be to your liking.


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