Sheep Book Review: 'Within the Flames' by Marjorie Liu

Within the Flames, by author Marjorie Liu is the 11th novel in her PNR series Dirk & Steele. Unequivocally one of the best books out there, Lyssa and Eddie burn up the pages in a flaming hot paranormal whirlwind! The gauntlet has been thrown my friends with Liu smashing down anything in her way. The level of excellence contained in Within the Flames takes the reader to the edge of emotion and back, pushing within the boundaries of this whimsical PNR world.

Plot:

A pyrokinetic and former car thief, Eddie cannot refuse an assignment to cross the continent in order to rescue an extraordinary woman in peril…even though he fears losing control of the destructive power of flame at his fingertips. The last of her shape-shifting kind, Lyssa hides in the abandoned tunnels beneath Manhattan. Like Eddie, fire is her weapon, her destiny…and her curse. For beneath Lyssa’s extraordinary beauty are dangerous secrets…and even darker, nearly irresistible urges…

Lyssa and Eddie are one of my new favorite book couples! Coming from extremely heart breaking pasts, these two lost souls come crashing into each others lives. When a band of psychotic witches unleash their plot to take over the world, and not in the 'Pinky and the Brain' kind of way things get crazy fast. The coo-coo group of witch gals are sucking peoples souls and torturing them relentlessly with endless mind games and excruciating physical pain. It's torture to read at times but a torture I'd gladly read over and over if not to be deeply submerged once again in this magnificent world.

Liu touches on so many issues it's hard to cover them all in one simple review, and honestly anything I have to say could never give this latest book its full due. But to provide a basic summary, you have a world of class issues, humanity rights, prejudice, loss and ultimate evil tipping the scales of power. Amongst it all is the power of love and how much would it take to have love light the way. Is it ever really enough? Lyssa's character in specific has been on the run for so long that letting anyone close is extremely difficult for her, letting anyone get close could end up getting that person killed. Eddie's on what he thinks is a milk run job for his employer, Dirk & Steele, but little does he know his life is about to get completely turned upside down. The world he thought he knew changes in more ways then he could have ever expected.

In an adventure taking you from San Francisco to New York, Liu heats up the pages with some smoking, fire-wielding romance. And while this may be a PNR, do NOT be fooled by the classification. It's more then just a smexy story with hot men to lap your tongue at, it's an action-packed adventure from beginning to end with everything you could ever hope for in between. The full range of the emotional rainbow is covered with a solid stamp of genuine genius which will leave you throughly engrossed. In a word: Masterpiece.

Good and Evil plus all the grey in between are covered in Within the Flames, truly an outstanding story that I'd recommend to anyone. If you're sick and tired of the same thing reach out and grab a hold of this world. You won't be disappointed and you will thank me for it!

Getting 5 Dragon Fire Sheep

KD

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: A Look Back

Have you ever wondered why dragons capture princesses in the first place? Did you ever find yourself regretting borrowing that magic carpet from the giant? Do you know the difference between a magician and a wizard? Did you know you can melt a wizard? All this and more is contained within the books of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

A long long time ago when I was much younger than I am now, I read a series of books called The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles is a collection of four books that take place in and around the titular Enchanted Forest. I remember them being really good books when I was ten, so I decided on a whim to go re-read them and see if they were just as good as I remembered. And just so I don't leave my one reader in suspense, they have aged rather well.

Before I get into the books themselves, I want to talk about the series. First of all, the series is young adult fiction, the books are meant for kids. However, they're still really good books which adults, or people who are ostensibly adults such as myself, can enjoy. For our readers who happen to have children, I recommend reading this series together because it's a series the whole family can enjoy. As for the technical details, originally the fourth book, Talking to Dragons, was published as a stand-alone novel in 1985. The other three books, Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, and Calling on Dragons were written in the early 90's and are actually prequels to Talking to Dragons, however I feel only Calling on Dragons suffers from some flaws unique to prequels. Other than that, the series as a whole is really good.

As my readers know, I am a huge fan of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which has been lampooning fantasy tropes since 1983. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are a lot like early Discworld books in this respect, taking fantasy tropes that we know from older stories and folklore, and subverting them in clever ways. For example, we all know dragons kidnap princesses, and the princesses are usually rescued by some valiant knight or kind and noble prince. Since St. George and the Dragon this story archetype goes back centuries. But have you ever wondered why the dragons kidnap princesses in the first place? It seems a very silly thing to do, considering it seems to bring knights right to their doorstep. Well, in Dealing with Dragons we find out the dragons use the princesses as a sort of housekeeper, cooking meals, washing tables, organizing treasure (because dragons are rather untidy creatures.) And of course most princesses aren't very good at this seeing as they're...well...princesses. Our heroine, Princess Cimorene, was never a conventional princess to begin with and runs away from home to become a dragon's princess. And it turns out she's really quite good at it and has no interest in being rescued by anyone. However it seems the wizards, old enemies of the dragons, are up to no good and it falls to Cimorene to stop them.

The second book, Searching for Dragons, introduces us to Mendanbar, king of the Enchanted Forest, and gives us more information about the Enchanted Forest itself, which was only casually introduced in the previous book. Mendanbar has found several burned patches of forest, and he fears dragons might be involved. However, upon meeting Cimorene on a visit to the King of Dragons (who's gone missing) he finds that it is not the dragons, but rather the wizards who are trying to cause trouble. Together they adventure to try and stop the wizards before it's too late.

The third book, Calling on Dragons, is told from the perspective of Morwen, a witch who lives in the Enchanted Forest. And I like Morwen as a character a lot, the problem is this book sort of suffers from the disease prequels tend to get: we already know how the story ends, we already know how it begins, this story is just filling in the dots. Honestly, it's still a funny book and I can recommend it, but it still...feels like it's missing something.

The final...or rather first book, Talking to Dragons, is told from the perspective of Daystar, Cimorene's son. Now, I know I said that the other books are told from a perspective, but this one is told in the first person. The other books just happen to follow Cimorene, Mendanbar, and Morwen around, the characters do not actually tell the story. In this one, Daystar serves as our narrator. To be honest, this book has a different sort of feel to it from the others, however since it was written about six years earlier I suppose that makes sense. That being said, it's still a good comedy and teaches the importance of proper manners.

What? Dragons are very picky on proper manners. Furthermore they're dragons, they can eat you if you're impolite.

Now, I have to admit that the motivations of certain characters are kind of weak in the middle books. For example, it's mentioned that it's very stupid for the wizards to SPOILER! kidnap the King of Dragons in Searching for Dragons, but it's never really explained why they take that risk. The book's still good, but it seems the wizards are being evil just for the sake of being evil, which is never really good character motivation. In Calling on Dragons we also meet a certain individual who hates what he calls "untraditional" magic and who is a thorn in Morwen's side. (By the way, Morwen has nine cats, none of them black, doesn't cackle, stands up straight, and has a sign over her door which says NONE OF THIS NONSENSE PLEASE. She is about as far from being a traditional witch as you can get without being a witch at all.) And it seems like this guy is a thorn in the side of the magical community at large. But....he himself does not seem to have any magical ability, or if he does then it's never really mentioned. He seems to be that guy who writes an editorial to the paper each week about the damn kids and their music these days and how they don't know the value of a dollar, HEY! GET OFF MY LAWN! Seriously, that's kind of what I see him as and...no one takes those people seriously in real life, so I would expect the magical community to not care. I just felt like he played too large of a role. The third book still has a really good plot, but it gets eclipsed by the problem I just mentioned, as well as the overall feeling that it's just connecting books.

Ultimately, as I said before, these books are meant for kids but that doesn't mean an adult can't enjoy them as well. For our readers who have kids somewhere in the seven to ten age range, I recommend getting these books and reading them together as a family. You're in for a ton of laughs and will meet a few interesting characters on the way.

Sheep Interview: NYTBS author Marjorie Liu + Giveaway!

By: Katie Dalton

Founder & Head Writer

I Smell Sheep is honored to have back with us the talented New York Times Best Selling PNR & SciFi author Marjorie Liu. In addition to the PNR world this busy lady writes some kick butt comics for Marvel like Dark Wolverine and Black Widow. If you're unfamiliar with Liu's work NOW is a great time to dive into her world, you wont regret it!

Check out the full interview below and stay tuned until the end for an awesome giveaway.

Katie: Welcome back Marjorie! How have things been with you since we spoke last year?

Marjorie: Fantastic. And crazy.

Katie: Sounds like my life at the moment too! Are you loving it?

Marjorie: You bet I am!

Sharon: Hello, I wasn’t around for your first interview so I got to ask, what’s under your bed?

Marjorie: Dust bunnies. Sometimes I feed them socks to keep them from nibbling on the books stacked around my bed.

Katie: You write some of the best series of books on the shelf today. For those that don't know about the Hunter Kiss or Dirk & Steele novels can you give them a little insight?
Marjorie: You're very kind.

The Hunter Kiss series is about a woman covered in living demonic tattoos that peel off her body at night to form a little army made up of five ferocious (and somewhat quirky) demons – affectionately called, “the Boys”.

The Dirk & Steele novels deal with a detective agency (of sorts) where the investigators are creatures of legend, urban and otherwise – mermen, shape-shifters, gargoyles, psychics – all dedicated to using their powers, in secret, for the greater good.

The latest Dirk & Steele novel, WITHIN THE FLAMES, just came out. In it, a young man – a pyrokinetic – is sent to New York City to find and protect a woman who is being hunted by witches who want to drain her blood – because she’s a dragon shape-shifter.

I’m excited about this novel. The hero, Eddie, has been with the Dirk & Steele series from the very beginning, and I’ve been waiting for what feels like forever to tell his story. I had to, though! It was all about finding the right heroine! Lyssa, however, finally slipped into my mind: a woman in hiding beneath the streets of New York City, disfigured, living in fear of hurting others with the fire that rages through her dragon blood – and terrified of being discovered by her enemies.

Katie: I've waited patiently (not really) for the latest edition in the Hunter Kiss series, The Mortal Bone, what can we look forward to with Zee and the boys?
Marjorie: The next Hunter Kiss novel, THE MORTAL BONE, finds Maxine Kiss dealing with an event more terrible than any she could have imagined: the Boys, her little demons, are stripped from her body, their connection to her completely severed…leaving Maxine unprotected and alone. Worse, without that connection, the Boys might revert to their old ways – as Reaper Kings, the devourer of worlds.

In other words, big trouble. Maxine’s life changes forever after this book.

To celebrate the release of the novel at the end of this month, Penguin is e-releasing a brand new short story called “The Silver Voice”, which set in the Hunter Kiss universe and bundled with a previously published novella, “Armor of Roses.”

Katie: *picks up a paper bag to breathe into* OMG….I love it and I can’t freakin wait!!! *passes out for a few minutes*

Sharon: *waves essence of vampire under Katie’s nose*

Katie: Sorry about that, okay moving on. This might be a spoiler question but I need to ask, will Maxine ever get pregnant? *leans closer to Marjorie*

Marjorie: Hm. Good question!

Katie: That’s it?! Oh Marjorie come on just a little taste! Give a gal something!!!

Marjorie: Sorry!

Sharon: As an author, what features do you like/dislike in a review blog? We are always looking for advice on how to improve our site.

Marjorie: I love critical honesty in a review, good or bad. That, and links: to the author’s website, along with places to purchase the title.

Katie: What are three things you couldn't live without?

Marjorie: Hope, integrity, and love. Hahaha. That, and pie.

Katie: What kind of pie? Banana cream?

Marjorie: Pumpkin!

Sharon: *makes ‘yucky’ face behind Liu’s back- Sharon gets hit in the head by flying book from Katie*

Sharon: Do you have any rituals you follow when you write, like a snack or drink you need?

Marjorie: I need to be comfortable. A good night’s rest helps, too. Other than that, I’m flexible.

Sharon: Me too! *touches toes*

Katie: As the big vamp lover that I am I gotta ask you a VERY important question, how many vamps do you know and can you hook me up? *winks*

Sharon: *pokes Katie* psst…ask about shifters too…

Katie: Right, I will. AFTER the vamp one. *looks expectantly at Marjorie*

Marjorie: Ha! Sorry, no vamps in the family or amongst my friends. At least, I don’t THINK so…

Katie: Bummer…

Sharon: See no vamps Katie but it sounds like there could be a shifter or two…

Katie: Where can folks find you in the coming months?

Marjorie: No public signings or evenings. Mostly, I’m just buckling down and working on the next book. I might attend C2E2 in Chicago, and I’ll be teaching a weeklong course next July in San Diego. You can find more information at the Clarion website: http://literature.ucsd.edu/affiliated-programs/clarion/index.html

After that, San Diego Comic Con!

Katie: We now move on to our famous rapid fire round, you know the drill so here we go!

Katie: Hair up or Down?

Marjorie: Depends on what I'm going for. I now have bangs, so mostly down.

Katie: Punch or Smack?

Marjorie: Punch. Once you start a fight, ladies, you might as well go all the way.

Katie: See? This is why I love Marjorie so much.

Marjorie: Aw!

Sharon: Thin crust or Thick?

Marjorie: Thin, thin, thin.

Katie: Tucan or Flamingo?

Marjorie: Flamingo!

Sharon: Mother Goose or Dr. Seuss?

Marjorie: Mother Goose!

Katie: Roman Castle or Scottish Castle?

Marjorie: Is there a time-traveling Highlander involved? The more wind-swept and bare-chested, the better.

Katie: Again. Why I love Marjorie. hahaha

Sharon: *wipes drool from mouth* I like wind-swept and bare…er, chested too ;)

Sharon: Bikini or One-piece?

Marjorie: The last time I wore a bathing suit was in high school, and that was a one-piece. And traumatic.

Katie: Babylon or Atlantis?

Marjorie: Stargate Atlantis?

Katie: I’ll take that answer...wait didn’t that show have Jason Momoa?!

Marjorie: Conan the Barbarian and Khal Drogo!

Katie: Oh we'll be getting into some GOT after the interview for sure!

Richard: Modus Ponens or Reductio ad absurdun?

Marjorie: Hi Richard! I’m all about the absurd consequences, so let’s go for Reductio ad absurdum.

Katie: *jumps* GEEZ! Richard, how the frel did you get in here?! Figures you found a way to pick the lock!

Richard: Pfft. Mere mortal locks can't keep me from this interview...um, yeah. sorry about the door though... M, good choice. I thought the attorney in you might pop up and Modus Ponens the response!

Sharon: *scratches head* Modus, huh?

Sharon: Soft and chewy or Hard and crunchy?
Marjorie: That’s like asking me to choose warm gooey brownies over…er, wait. Um, soft and chewy.

Katie: Rolling Stones or Beatles?

Marjorie: Neither. Give me the entire Michael Bolton collection and I’ll wallow, happily, in all the sweet love of the 80’s and 90’s!

Katie: Uhhhh……moving on! hahaha

Sharon: Peppermint or Butterscotch?

Marjorie: Peppermint. That is, if there isn’t chocolate around. Or mango flavored ice cream.

Katie: Grey Skull or Autobot City?

Marjorie: Autobot city. Absolutely, unequivocally, Autobot city. I would polish Optimus Prime’s windshield anytime.

Katie: Oh no…we might just witness a cat fight….um Marjorie? Sharon is OBSESSED with Optimus. *hides behind a chair*

Sharon: Ha! Katie’s funny, but she is right I do have a major crush on Prime. It’s his deep voice that makes me turn to Jell-o. *holds pumpkin pie up ready to throw just in case she needs to protect her man, er…robot*

Katie: Thanks again for coming back to chat with us, would you like to add anything before we wrap?

Marjorie: Just that you’re all wonderful! And thank you to my readers for their lovely support and enthusiasm. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Katie: We feel the same way. Keep holdin it down for the ladies M. and we’ll have your back till the bitter end!

Richard: *sigh* Marjorie Liu thinks that I’m *wonderful*…happy panda….

Katie: Oh geez! Someone call security!

Marjorie: Ha! I love you guys!

***GIVEAWAY***

Marjorie Liu is offering up two of her latest works: Dirk & Steele novel and Hunter Kiss BOTH signed! We can’t thank her enough for this generous offer. So in the comments below make sure to enter both things and double entries for followers.

1. Your Email Address

2. Marjorie’s latest book (Within the Flames) talks quiet a bit about power and the fine line one can walk before turning that power to evil. If YOU could have ultimate power what would you do with?

Contest ends December 11^th at midnight.

Good luck!

Sheep Book Review: Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione

Immortal Rider, by author Larissa Ione, is the second novel in her Lords of Deliverance series. Most folks might run and hide from the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse but I'd run straight into their fearsome arms. These men are Hot with a capital H, and when you combine Larissa's uncanny ability to write top quality literature, you have yourself one heck of a party!

Plot:

The signs are everywhere...disastrous world events. Evil rising up, unleashed upon the innocent. The prophecies were there...but no one listened. Until now. The time has come for those who can either usher in Doomsday...or prevent it. They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Arik Wagner, a soldier with the U.S. Army's paranormal unit, the R-XR, kissed a girl and liked it. And then he went to hell as punishment. Where he's spent weeks being tortured...and plotting revenge.

Limos, Horsewoman of the Apocalypse, isn't your average girl. She's immortal, dangerous, and her fiancé is Satan himself. In a moment of weakness, she gave in to her desire and kissed Arik, triggering her fiancé's wrath - and his claim on her. In order to save Arik, and the world, Limos must make a dangerous pact with her recently turned evil brother, Pestilence. A deal that might just cost her her soul...and her heart.

For those of you that don't know, I fell in love with Larissa's Demonica series a long time ago. So when she started this spin-off series to Demonica, I knew that I had to jump on board. Book one in the LOD series, Eternal Rider, sold me lock stock and smokin' barrel all because of uber man muffin Ares. *dreamy sigh* That man is one of my fav alpha males from the vast number of books I read. That being said, I was a little concerned going into this story with Limos being the focal character. The sister to the three kickass Horseman brothers has big shoes to fill, but Limos brings the girl power with a vengeance! She's one tuff chick who enjoys a lot of pain with her pleasure. I can dig it. *winks*

Forced to wear a chastity belt for the last three thousand years, Limos is well past due for some romps in the stables. But when your betrothed is Satan himself, getting some action isn't going to be that easy. Limos wants to get her freak on with Mr. beef candy land in the form of military heart-throb Arik. (Sir! Yes, Sir!) BUT with a history of lies and deceit this means Limos has some serious patching up to do with her family. Will she be able to stop all the lying when it's become a habit of survival over the centuries? I'm not telling! As the reader you really are pulling for Limos but things get heated in the book and the path ahead looks bleak and unsure. I gotta hand it to Arik for being the type of man who can understand the "crazy" yet still he's ready to die for his woman.

Larissa puts together some of the most incredible stories with a ton of interesting dialog between characters. Ultimately it gives her books a stamp of believability. Immortal Rider also has tons of action-packed fighting with blood and guts for those that love some gore in there adventure stories. These are not the boring type of books I can't really stomach reading, these are a nonstop journey in the world of the Lords.

I'm going to recommend to newbies that you start with either book one of this series or even go back to the Demonica series and work through those first. There's a bunch of cross-over characters from those books, which for folks that are up to date with Larissa's works is a great thing. Not that you CAN'T enjoy this book but a few things are mentioned with little or no explanation in THIS story. Those details have been talked about throughly in previous books. I think readers would understand the series as a whole better if you read them in order. So it's good for the fans, but a little tuff for new guys in certain areas.

I did get a nice hunk of Ares, so hats off to Larissa for keeping the previous characters still VERY involved in the continuing series.

Getting 4 and 1/2 Ares humping Sheep

KD

Kalpar Lectures: So what is a Space Marine?

Recently there has been a lot of girly stuff on the blog. Posts about the sexiest bits of beefcake and mancandy in the Marvel universe and nonsense such as that. (By the by, Katie owes me a quarter every time she uses mancandy, beefcake, or a similar term.She's up to about twenty dollars by now.) So I have decided that weneed to bring something MANLY to this site! "But Kalpar!"my one reader is probably exclaiming. "You have already reviewed the manliest comic ever: Tales From the Bully Pulpit. In which the manliest president of all time, Theodore Roosevelt, engages in the manliest pastime of all time, punching Nazis, on the most manly of planets of all time, Mars, even though it ain't the kind of place to raise your kids because it is in fact cold as hell." Well,dear reader, it is true that there is very little quite as manly asTales From the Bully Pulpit, I shall nonetheless attempt with a helpful lecture on the Space Marines of Warhammer 40k and their origins. BECAUSE SPACE MARINES ARE AWESOME! AND MANLY! And also I've done a couple of posts about Space Marines, so I figure people who are unfamiliar with Warhammer 40,000 would like to have some idea what on earth this is all about.

First I want to provide some background information on Warhammer 40,000 in general. Back in the 1980's a company called Games Workshop developed the table top game Warhammer 40,000. Set in the distant future of the 41st millennium, the forces of the Imperium of Man fight against....pretty much everyone really. How the game works is people buy, assemble, and paint model soldiers to formarmies based on rules in a collection of rule books called codices(plural of codex, I refuse to use codexes). Then you find someone as crazy as you and play on a table (thus tabletop game). To simplify, it's basically a more grown up and expensive way of playing with toy soldiers. The Space Marines are just one of the many armies available to play in 40k. But where do the books and video games that I've reviewed come into the picture? Well that's what we players like to call the "fluff". Basically all information about games like Warhammer 40k are divided into the categories of fluff and crunch. Actual game rules, like how much damage a Hellhound flamethrower tank does, is called crunch. Information like the tendency of Hellhound crews being pyromaniacs, which doesn't really affect gameplay, is called fluff. Books by people like Dan Abnett and Graham McNiell are pure fluff, entertaining to read and with lots of great stories, but really doesn't affect how I play the game. Some people do without fluff entirely, but I think it's a lot more fun to read the fluff and know the rules. So before I get into the fluff of Space Marines, I guess I'll provide their crunch. Basically the Space Marines are a middle-of-the-road army. There's nothing they're particularly bad at, but there's nowhere they shine either. Space Marines can be expected to do any task competently, but they probably won't win a shooting match with a Tau army or hand-to-hand combat with a bunch of Orks, simply because those armies have specialized in those tasks. Overall they're a pretty good army to play for beginners or people who like to keep their options open.

Now we start getting into the fluff. And to give credit where credit is due, some of my phrasing for the first part of this lecture is taken from this helpful video. In the distant future, the Immortal Emperor of Mankind unites the people of Terra under his rule and begins planning his Great Crusade, which would unite the many planet shumanity has settled upon into the Imperium of Man. To do this, he created twenty legions of genetically altered super-warriors which he called Space Marines. Each Space Marine is given nineteen extra organs which turn them into a seven foot tall bad ass warrior completely unarmed. The Imperium then makes them even better by giving them power armor, bolters, and chainswords. The power armor makes them very very hard to kill and the bolters fire .75 caliber bullets that explode. The chainswords are just really freaking cool. So, as you can imagine with twenty legions of these guys, the Emperor's armies seemed unstoppable. In addition, the Emperor created even more powerful Primarchs to lead these legions. However, the four Chaos Gods, realizing the Emperor was going to cause them some trouble, scattered the twenty Primarchs across the galaxy. Shrugging and deciding he'd best get to work anyway, the Emperor proceeded to conquer the galaxy. Along the way he found eighteen of his Primarchsons and put them in charge of their respective legions. (...We don't talk about the two missing Primarchs.) Of all the Primarchs, the Emperor chose Horus to be his commander-in-chief and left him in charge of the Grand Crusade so the Emperor could go set up a government for this empire he conquered. Eventually Horus began to feel unappreciated and fell to Chaos, taking eight other Primarchs and their legions with him. The remaining nine Primarchs and their legions remained loyal to the Emperor, but were overpowered by the treachery of their brothers. Eventually Horus managed to attack Terra itself and the Emperor had to intervene personally.

In the epic battle which followed, the Emperor managed to kill Horus but only after taking serious wounds to his body. (Hey, he was the Immortal Emperor of Mankind, not the Invulnerable Emperor of Mankind.) The traitor legions now broken, it fell to the surviving loyal Primarchs to rebuild the Imperium.

One loyal Primarch, Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines, decided to write a book called the Codex Astartes. This book would provide the rules for how Space Marines would act in the future and divide the Space Marine Legions into thousand-strong Space Marine Chapters. One Chapter would keep the colors and emblem of the original Legion, but the successor chapters would adopt their own colors and emblem. This division of the Space Marines would prevent any individual from controlling tensof thousands of Space Marines at once, as the original Primarchs did, and hopefully prevent a civil war on such a scale as the HorusHeresy. Initially half of the surviving loyalist Primarchs opposed Guilliman's plan, however Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists intervened and convinced his brothers to follow the Codex Astartes. To this day,however, several Space Marine Chapters do not follow the CodexAstartes and have their own organization and rules. While the successor Chapters number in the hundreds, the nine Chaptersdescended directly from the Legions are alive today, and are listed in order of Legion number.

• Legion I – The Dark Angels: The Dark Angels and their successor Chapters hold a dark secret: half of the Dark Angels Legion betrayed the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. As a result the Dark Angels and their successors, who collectively call themselves “The Unforgiven”, are dedicated to hunting down the surviving traitors.
  
• Legion V – The White Scars: Skilled in hit and run tactics, the White Scars are experts at using motorbikes in lightning assaults against their enemies. Frequently the enemies of the Imperium will find themselves outflanked and outmaneuvered by the White Scars.
  
• Legion VI – The Space Wolves: A notoriously unorthodox Chapter that refuses to follow the Codex Astartes, the Space Wolves are still one of the mightiest and most respected Space Marine Chapters. If there's anything they love more than drinking and carousing, it's fighting the enemies of Mankind. Kind of like Vikings in Space. If the Vikings could spit acid.
  
• Legion VII - The Imperial Fists: Experts at siege warfare, the Imperial Fists are notorious for holding a position against all odds. They also have a reputation for being meticulous in their planning and incredibly serious.
• Legion IX - The Blood Angels: The Blood Angels are one of the more...unorthodox of the Space Marine Chapters. While they follow the Codex Astartes, there are certain mutations in their genes which make them thirst for blood and go crazy. Kind of like vampires, except Katie wouldn't like them. Although repeated investigations have never proved the existence of such a mutation, it remains a major concern.
• Legion X - The Iron Hands: The Iron Hands are different from their brother Marines in the respect that they consider human flesh to be weak and inferior. As a result mechanical augmentations among the Iron Hands are extremely common and they work very closely with the Adeptus Mechanicus, the scientists of the Imperium. As a result of this close partnership, many other Chapters view them with a degree of suspicion.
• Legion XIII - The Ultramarines: The most rigid followers of the Codex Astartes, and as a result the most generic, the Ultramarines had the most surviving members after the Horus Heresy (mostly because they were on the other side of the galaxy.) As a result, the Ultramarines have the most successor Chapters out of all the original Legions.
• Legion XVIII - The Salamanders: The Salamanders have an affinity for fire and fire-based weaponry, which makes sense since they come from a world covered in volcanoes. The Salamanders are also famous for going out of their way to protect the people of the Imperium and are less willing to sacrifice civilians than some other Marine Chapters.
• Legion XIX - The Raven Guard: Despite being super strong and really tall super warriors, the Raven Guard are experts at infiltration and guerrilla warfare. Many enemies of the Imperium have found themselves tormented by the unpredictable and almost-unstoppable attacks of the Raven Guard where they least expect it.

Each Chapter which follows the Codex Astartes is divided into ten companies. The first company consists of the Chapter's veterans, experienced and much-honored warriors. The second through fifth companies are the Chapter's battle companies, the teams that do the bulk of the fighting. The sixth through ninth companies are reserve companies, typically called upon when the battle companies need extra men for a campaign. The tenth company consists of new recruits who are scouts. They do advanced reconnaissance for the other Marines and help soften up the enemy before the main force arrives. Each company is lead by a captain, and is divided into ten squads which are lead by sergeants. The entire Chapter is lead by a Chapter Master, although some Chapters choose to be lead by a council instead. Each Chapter also has a pool of armored vehicles, as well as several heavily armored space ships. Even at only a thousand strong, a Space Marine Chapter is a force to be reckoned with, especially if the entire Chapter is deployed in one place. (Although usually just one Company is enough to settle a conflict.)


Hopefully I haven't bored you to sleep with my lecture on Space Marines and have helped you learn something. Stay tuned for more Kalpar Lectures in the future when I talk about other 40k armies.