The Adeptus Astarters Audio Collection

Warhammer 40,000

By: Ian St. Martin, Steve Lyons, James Swallow, Nick Kyme, Guy Haley, L J Goulding, David Guymer

Narrated by: various

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

A Warhammer 40,000 audio drama collection.

From the heart of an alien-haunted space hulk to a war-torn shrine world and the wastes of Armageddon, the Adeptus Astartes bring the Emperor's wrath to mankind's enemies.

Listen to it because:

Discover heroes of the Space Marines from a wide range of Chapters, across seven action-packed audio dramas.

Description:

The Adeptus Astartes are humanity's champions, superhuman warriors armed with the finest weapons and clad in mighty armour. They defend the Imperium of Mankind from all its myriad foes - the alien, the heretic and the daemon. There are a thousand Chapters of Space Marines across the Imperium, each with its own traditions and ways of waging war, but all have one thing in common - their total dedication to eradicating their enemies in the name of the Emperor. This audio drama anthology contains seven stories of the Space Marines. Discover how the Blood Angels, Salamanders, Crimson Fists, Black Templars, Scythes of the Emperor, Iron Hands and Mortifactors Chapters wage war against mankind's enemies in action-packed, full-cast audio dramas with immersive sound effects and music.

Contents:

'Taker of Heads' by Ian St. Martin

'The Madness Within' by Steve Lyons

'Heart of Rage' by James Swallow

'Fireborn' by Nick Kyme

'The Glorious Tomb' by Guy Haley

'Daedalus' by L J Goulding

'The Calculus of Battle' by David Guymer

Performed by John Banks, Toby Longworth, Steve Conlin, Jonathan Keeble, Antonia Beamish, Cliff Chapman, Luis Soto, Ian Brooker, Robin Bowerman, David Seddon, Gareth Armstrong, Andrew Fettes, Philip Nightingale, Matthew Hunt, Emma Gregory

©2020 Games Workshop Limited (P)2020 Games Workshop Limited

A bit of the same isn't always a bad thing

This collection of stories served as my first foray into Warhammer 40K literature, and I must say I'm quite impressed. Every story was great in its own way, every actor performed fantastically (Toby Longworth in particular was great, that man's voice and acting chops were perfect for the stories he narrated), and the sound effects and music were generally on point. These stories are a great place to start for people new to 40K or those who have only played the tabletop game. The descriptions are on point, the sound effects, music, and narration all come together to create a dark, gritty, and beautiful immersive experience, and most characters are written in a way that makes you love to hate them. Indeed, it would seem that in the 41st millennium there are no good guys, just guys and girls who are slightly less arrogant than the fellow around the previous corner. In the 41st millennium people are still flawed. Still broken.

With that being said, I do have a minor point of criticism. Around half of the stories suffered from a certain degree of sameness: Space Marines arrive to deal with a threat, they learn their mission isn't quite what it seems to be, the Space Marines face their foes and begin falling one by one, a solitary Marine survives and completes the mission...with some kind of twist. While normally that might be a big problem (you are paying for multiple stories and a decent amount are samey after all), here...it really isn't. That is to say it fits the overall tone of the universe, the gritty grimdarkness of the 41st millennium. Everything that is accomplished is accomplished at a price, even the mighty Space Marines who often look down on the humans they protect as "mere mortals" are not superheroes who get hit by a death ray and just stand up because they're the "good" guys, the happiest ending is the death of a wounded war vet preserved in a glorified mechanized casket.

The formula also proved itself to be particularly effective in one of my favorite stories in the set: "The Madness Within". The twist at the end, a man's denial of truth and willingness to cast aside growth in favor of believing a comforting lie was especially poignant. The willingness to delude oneself to feel safe, to feel right, to feel comfortable is something I like to think we've all experienced ourselves or witnessed in others. For a brief moment the light is seen, but then we turn away from it because maybe it's just a little too bright, a little too painful.

Then there's "The Glorious Tomb". The story is a masterpiece, and the performance just sells it. It starts at a fevered pace that will have your mind racing just as much as the dreadnought the story focuses on during his boot up sequence, and gradually slows to a somber, yet happy ending. An ending more sweet than bitter, where we're given a glimpse into the mind of a man who likely once looked down on normal humans as little more than something he was tasked to protect, but now understands his own mortality. We witness an Adeptus Astartes humbled, but nevertheless optimistic of humanity's ability to survive in a galaxy full of danger.

This collection of stories gets a strong recommend from me.

Awesome Job

That was a great collection of stories. Everyone involved did amazing. Looking forward to finding more of yalls work.

As a new 40k fan this was incredible

Highly recommend this to anyone fan or not of this universe. Heart of rage was probably my favorite story. But they were all superb.

Amazing performance...the stories tho..

this was pretty fun to listen to and never boring. But some of the stories were very meh. but I would still recommend for a painting background book or if your working and not able to put your full attention to the book.

40K never disappoints!

A welcoming look into a more human side of the Emperors finest warriors. Defiantly a worthy choice for any 40K fan.

superb quality

the book was amazing the only bad side is that now I wish the other books added in the hail of gunfire, explosions, and dramatic music. This was everything I wanted in a warhammer novel

Outstanding!

I've always loved the voice work of Toby Longworth and he totally shines in this collection, especially in "Glorious Tomb".

Good acting and awsome soundeffects!

the stories was taken to a new level. I especially loved the dreadnought story from the point of view of the its toomb.

The typo in the title bothers me...

... and that's the only bad thing I can say about this collection. Toby Longworth narrating most of the stories makes this collection worth it by itself. the first person perspective on a couple of other stories provides just enough variety to keep everything fresh and engaging. The disparate stories from all across the Imperium do a good job of showing just how expansive the Imperium of man actually is. There are truly opportunities for countless different kinds of stories from the age of man in the 41st millennium.

Absolutely fire!!!

Top tier Warhammer!!! Must read for any fan of the series! Get ready for some great stuff