Book Review // Ragnar's Claw by William King

Welcome to the second installment of William King's exploration of the Space Wolves chapter and their most famous character, Ragnar Blackmane. The first book of the tale can be found here. It's taken me a while to get back to this series (my bad). So, with this in mind, let us dive in.

Title: Ragnar's Claw

Author: William King

Publisher: Black Library

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 282

Fluff: From the death world of Fenris come the Space Wolves, the most savage of the Emperor's Space Marines. Ragnar's Claw is the storming tale of Ragnar's first mission as a young Blood Claw warrior. From the jungle hell of Galt to the polluted cities of Hive World Venam, Ragnar's mission takes him on an epic trek across the galaxy to face the very heart of evil!

Review

First up, this was a surprisingly quick read for me. William King's writing style is engaging and accessible. It kept me engaged from start to finish. The downside to his storytelling is that you need a working knowledge of 40k; otherwise, you get completely lost. The tale follows Ragnar's first off-world mission as a young Blood Claw (think entry-level fighting unit). His mission is to help aid an inquisitor in collecting three pieces of an Eldar artifact, which is prophesied to help save the inquisitor’s homeworld from a deadly plague. Throughout the tale, the marines face off against orks, genestealers and daemons while traversing jungle worlds, space hulks and industrial planets. As a character, Ragnar gains more background. He becomes a more rounded character with faults and flaws that make him seem human—even developing a fear of mortality after being seriously wounded by some orks and watching a comrade die in battle. Throughout the book, we deal with Ragnar's suspicions about his allies and get rewarded at the end for wondering who these offworlders are and what they are really after.

As with the first book, King expertly delivers fast-paced battle scenes that are quick and brutal, as befitting a 40k book. He then starts to explain the wider Imperium of Man to the reader via Ragnar's own developing story. For me, the best part was how far Ragnar and his pack developed as a group, travelling further than ever before and fighting foes for the first time. We start to see a novice unit becoming an elite fighting force.

Overall, it's a fun, quick read. Some may find it a simple book, but I really enjoyed it.

"For Russ and the Allfather!"