Gaunt's Ghosts - Traitor General

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**Kid_Kyoto**

I dropped the GG books a few years ago when I realized that the main characters were 100% safe until the last 50 pages. It doesn't matter if they're up against 6 chaos titans and 888 Blood Thirsters, if we're not around page 350 everyone is safe. And even then maybe 1 of the 2nd tier characters will die and Guant will get a cut on his forehead.

So I just finished Traitor General and here's my review on Amazon:

Abnett has always been the most reliable of the Black Library authors and in this volume he does not disappoint.

Gaunt's Ghosts (a elite infiltration unit of the 40th millennium) are sent on a suicidal mission on an enemy-held world to assassinate a traitor general before he can spill his secrets. The odds are against them. They are only 12 troopers against a hostile world where even the environment is slowly tainting them.

In the process they fight enemy troopers, daemons, superhuman Chaos Marines and must gain the trust of the locals who were hoping for a full-fledged liberation force.

The action rarely lets up, and even when it does the character moments and the Abnett's talent for creating rich worlds keeps the reader engaged. I bought this for an upcoming vacation but after a few pages I was hooked and read the whole thing in a few days. Then ran out and bought the next two books in the series. It's not great literature but it is fine entertainment.

The only problem is one that mars all long-running series, the heroes have become much, much too safe. Although the author stresses how the odds are against them and how they're over-matched, the simple fact is any core character is pretty much safe until the last 50 pages. And probably even then. This robs the first 3/4 of the book of a lot of the drama the writer is trying to build.

I stopped reading the Gaunt's Ghosts books a few years ago because I was tired of this cliche and I was sad to see its still there.

So I like Abnett, I really do but FOR FETH'S SAKE how can he keep writing these stories where Gaunt takes on 5 CSMs and comes out with a bloody cheek?

ARG!

That being said I got His Last Command and Armor of Comtempt (a local bookstore now carries the whole BL line, go figure) and look forward to them but geeze...

**metallifan**

I personally love the GG's series. The symptom you describe is the classic Hollywood Cinematic Syndrome - Look at James Bond. He's survived 2 eras, going on his 3rd, and still has yet to die. Jason Bourne (Bourne Trilogy) Survived the entire US Gov't hunting his arse and won out. Hell, any Hollywood action/war film will be that way. The only one in which I've seen the Main Character die that I can think of is 'Saving Private Ryan' when Tom Hanks bites it. I've probably forgotten a few other titles, but point is it isn't common for the 'Hero' to die.

This is Abnett's take on Gaunt I suppose. He's made all others seemingly disposable - what with the death of Bragg, Corbec, Milo, and so many others - but Gaunt will still be there in the end as he is the series' Hero character.

Some prefer this style, some do not. While I agree that it can hurt a series, that's really the style you get into by starting a series. Things like this should be expected the second you read the "Part of the (blank) Series" on the cover.

**VictorVonTzeentch**

Watch Blood Diamond, Sands of Iwo Jima, and technically you can count Apocalypse Now ( he may survive but he'll never be the same).

Heroes dying in movies? Its more likely than you think.

But yeah, metallifan fan hit close to spot on.

Nice to see you're giving GG a chance again KK, once you get past Gaunt's immortality the series is pretty good.

**Kid_Kyoto**

(spoiler) It was really obnoxious in this book because he had 12 ghosts plus 3 new characters they picked up and they all live.

But once past that, yeah good, good stuff.

**VictorVonTzeentch**

And thats why Traitor General isn't one of my favorites in the Series. Plot Armor was 110%. The next book might have been better I don't remember. I know I liked the last book in the "Lost" arc alot though.

**tigonesskay**

We all know in RL all of these characters would be dead or missing limbs by now, and GW and the BL won't be making money!

**VictorVonTzeentch**

Gaunt is missing bits

**metallifan**

That's true, Gaunt has left some pieces of himself on the odd planet here and there. And his Uncle did disembowel him with a chainsword when he confronted him about his father's death.

But if Gaunt wasn't invincible, it wouldn't be called the Gaunts Ghosts series. It would be called the Tanith First-and-Only series

**Emperors Faithful**

When did Bragg die? (what page)

But you're certainly right about the trend. Mostly...

**caligo89**

One the subject of character killing has anyone read the Matthew Reiley books? specifically the scarecrow books the character killings in those are pretty extreme.

**VictorVonTzeentch**

Oh god the one part in Scarecrow i had to re-read it just to make sure I saw that right, seriously what the hell.

Though that series suffers from Gaunt syndrome as well, main character can't die. Its like that in most of Reiley's books. He's a fan of using a Marty Stu.

**Huffy**

caligo89 wrote:One the subject of character killing has anyone read the Matthew Reiley books? specifically the scarecrow books the character killings in those are pretty extreme.

I loved that character killing, you never saw it coming

**Kanluwen**

Wait until you read Only in Death, KK. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

And for the record:
Gaunt didn't kill 5 Marines. Him, the Ghosts, and an entire village of poison magbow wielding Space Tribesmen did. And only because the Marines acted like retards in fighting, and didn't wear helmets

**Emperors Faithful**

True, there was a high level of retardedness at that point. But Gaunt HAD killed marines singlehanded before in previous books. 2 Iron Warriors in Tanith First and Only, and an unkown amount of World Eaters in the second.

Also, Mkoll too on a dred. A blind dred yes, but a dred. There was also a part where Gaunt talked about a guard who shot another dred dead with a single las-shot.

**Beastmaster**

Seeing how everybody seems to like GG i think ill read it. Also, if you read the Last Chancers, Kage doesn't die until the very end of a three book series. I mean, its not so bad because alot of times he gets a whole bunch of injuries.

**Kanluwen**

Emperors Faithful wrote:True, there was a high level of retardedness at that point. But Gaunt HAD killed marines singlehanded before in previous books. 2 Iron Warriors in Tanith First and Only, and an unknown amount of World Eaters in the second.

Also, Mkoll too on a dred. A blind dred yes, but a dred. There was also a part where Gaunt talked about a guard who shot another dred dead with a single las-shot.

Gaunt didn't kill the Iron Warriors singlehandedly though.
He had two or three platoons--or even more-- worth of Guard pouring fire into them with EVERYTHING they had, autocannons, heavy bolters, lasguns, etc.

And the World Eaters in Ghostmaker?
They ambushed a World Eaters force that was focused on destroying a Basilisk/Chimera convoy. And remember, again, that quite a few of those World Eaters(a small squad of them at that), still managed to kill quite a few of the Ghosts...and it was the *entire* First Company that ambushed the World Eaters.
The Dread also was a technicality. He overloaded a lasgun and used it to blow the cover off, and even a belt of frag grenades.
What killed it was the vast amount of heavy toxin loaded/ridiculously huge spikes from those plants getting into the uncovered corpse inside.

But seriously. People get too much on Abnett about the little details...he really doesn't go far too overboard, when you consider the kind of wacky things that can happen on the tabletop.

**Emperors Faithful**

True, but short of a meltabomb a guard is never gonna stand a chance against a dred.

**cadbren**

If Gaunt hadn't survived all those near death experiences then he wouldn't have become the hero of legend that Abnett writes about. I'm sure the Imperium is full of Ibram Gaunt types who have done amazing things but were then killed in the next battle and so they don't get written about.

Gaunt is lucky as well as being good and that makes for a great character as he gets to use his wealth of experience to accomplish even more outlandish tasks. I do wonder about the rest of the regiment though as there can't be too many original Tanith left.

**Kanluwen**

Emperors Faithful wrote:True, but short of a meltabomb a guard is never gonna stand a chance against a dred.

Overloaded lasgun+frag grenade *belt*(as in: all of his frags) just to blow the cover off and get meter long spikes shot at supersonic speeds lodged into the corpse controlling it isn't enough luck?

**Emperors Faithful**

I didn't say that, it's just...well...How many freaking variants/copies of Sly Fething Marbo are there in the guard?!?

**Kanluwen**

What, one in a few hundred bajillion Guardsmen randomly being good at improvising?

**Emperors Faithful**

Yeah, how OUTRAGEOUS is that?!?

Anyway, what about when someone (I think it was Gaunt) reminisced with a friend about a fellow guard had killed a dread with a single las shot?

**VictorVonTzeentch**

They've only featured two Dread, one Mkoll killed with the Spikes and grenades, the other was boiled.

**Kanluwen**

I don't ever recall that, in any point whatsoever.

And I just finished rereading from The Founding to the end of The Lost cycle.

The closest I recall is them mentioning what Mkoll did, which wasn't a las shot. The other scout with him might have embellished it to his bunkmates though.

**reds8n**

I think perhaps he might be getting confused with a certain sniper taking out a tank by slotting the driver perhaps ?

**Emperors Faithful**

No, I can't remeber when but guant was talking to a friend (I think it was the first one) and the friend is bragging about how great it was in "the good old days" and says "remember (such and such)? Killed the Chaos Drednought with a single las shot? 1 in a million chance that was" or something like that. I remember ther friend was also a commissar.

**jack1995**

He was talking adout tanhauser who was in the hrykan regiment which gaunt was in before the tanith. He fired a las-shot into a dreds eyeslit at the battle of balhaut.
It was in first and only, i think.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
He was talking adout tanhauser who was in the hrykan regiment which gaunt was in before the tanith. He fired a las-shot into a dreds eyeslit at the battle of balhaut.
It was in first and only, i think.

**VictorVonTzeentch**

Kanluwen wrote:I don't ever recall that, in any point whatsoever.

And I just finished rereading from The Founding to the end of The Lost cycle.

The closest I recall is them mentioning what Mkoll did, which wasn't a las shot. The other scout with him might have embellished it to his bunkmates though.

The Boiled Dread is the one they killed in the Saint's pool, it was one of the things the Blood Pact sent to kill the reborn Saint. Gaunt promptly sliced into it with his Power Sword, to allow water into the sarcophagus and then ordered all flamers to the front and super heated the water boiling the thing. That was in the book where Cobrec dies.

**metallifan**

Emperors Faithful wrote:When did Bragg die? (what page)

But you're certainly right about the trend. Mostly...

Bragg dies at the end of Guns of Tanith when "Fething Cuu!" Stabs him for ratting Cuu out in a murder investigation.

**Kanluwen**

Stynier it wasn't directed at you

.

And the book you're referring to is Sabbat Martyr, the end of The Saint cycle.