Review: Down Amongst the Dead Men

Down Amongst the Dead Men by Steve Lyons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Despite being amongst some of the emperor's most loyal and formidable guard regiments, most other Imperial guard don't relish fighting on the same battlefield as them. The reason? They're damn depressing man.

Which is expected, when your entire planet, history and upbringing centers around sacrificing yourself for the emperor. Where you as an individual have no value, less value, compared to other 'essential' resources like, you know, bullets. After all, bullets take time, resources and expertise to craft. Your average nameless numbered Kriegman are legions strong, ready to buy vats grown, trained, indoctrinated and shipped.

So, what if you end up suffering ten times the casualties as your average guard regiment, who themselves are no stranger to grievous battlefield casualties.
So, what if your value is so low, you're not even given a name, just a serial code printed on your dog tag.
So, what if you're a teen, barely an adult, whose whole brief life is training, indoctrination and death.
So, what if the metaphoric inch of land you gained after sacrificing your entire brethren would ultimately be worthless or taken over by the next invading force.
What ultimately matters are that your life is lost in the ultimate service of the Emperor.

Man, just writing that made me a few degrees more depressed.

This story, which if you hadn't guessed, takes place in the radiation ravaged home world of Krieg, follows a nameless failed recruit. Yeah, someone who was judged so much of a failure that he didn't
'qualify', for the duty of being a glorified kamikaze. Instead, he's fated to act as live target practice for the final round of successful cadets ready to be shipped out.

Being in a suicide cult is bad enough; but not even deemed worthy to be in said suicide cult? That's just high school all over again.

And despite, (view spoiler)[saving the entire planet, maybe the entire sector by unwittingly hunting down and killing a seeder gene stealer looking to lay down its corrupting roots, his ultimately fate is death, and oblivion. (hide spoiler)]

Poetic and depressing at the same time. But those are my favorite shovel boys. Too innocently violent for the horrors of the world of 40K. Can't wait to read more of their stories. Now, it's time to go and read some Krieg fan comics to cure my depression.



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