Outgunned (Warhammer 40,000)

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Simlex’s cynicism develops interestingly; but his creeping horror as it dawns on him that the simple caricature of orks he has been raised to expect is a dangerous lie is excellently portrayed. Likewise the slow peeling away of Shard’s protective(?) personality and the uncovering of the cause of Bacchus’ decay and blight. His trio of servo skulls help progress the plot unobtrusively and I *really* appreciate the way that their use as translation devices is gradually introduced- the Xenos in this book, unlike several recent titles, aren’t conveniently fluent in Gothic. DF: I suspect I would be assigned to the Imperium’s equivalent of Lord Flashheart’s Twenty Minuters… A mission from the Adepta Sororitas joins the ‘cursed’ Indomitus Fleet Quintus in Pilgrims of Fire by Justin D Hill, author of the Cadian Honour series. Sister Helewise may be a Battle Sister, but she’s not inclined to rush right into martyrdom – not until she’s found a higher purpose that her death may serve, anyway. Her time with the Crusade Fleet may just be what she needs to discover what the Emperor plans for her, but it will be a journey that tests her faith to its core. ToW Do you have anything else in the works (whether for BL or otherwise) that you can talk about at all?

Propagandist Simlex has been sent to the (notional) agriworld of Bacchus to make a recruitment film for the Imperium as volunteers are better fodder for the meatgrinder than conscripts. His choice of subject is the Aeronautica Imperialis Ace Lucille Von Shard as who is better than a dashing and faithful hero of the Imperium who daily duels the foul Ork menace in the sky as his focus? At least that what he thinks until he actually meets her... Denny Flowers: I was born in Kent and never moved. I’m still in walking distance from the house I grew up in. I did go to University in Brighton and then spent a few years commuting to London where I worked in a children’s hospital. My job was collecting and analysing the morbidity and mortality data for children in intensive care, something an acquaintance once cheerfully referred to as ‘The Most Metal Job Ever’. Bleak as it sounds, it was really rewarding (and sometimes heartbreaking) work, but the commute was four hours a day and it slowly killed me.There are arrogant aces, waxed moustaches, airborne antics and a very generous amount of dakka - all the important parts of a good Warhammer 40,000 air-war...and that's without even considering the plot itself!

But the plot doesn't stay, it progresses, and in moment's notice it is no more a war story or detective - the reader is brought under shower of ice cold facts which brings his understanding of Imperium upside down. Through harsh facts reader is made to understand, that imperial life in reality is completely different from that in actuality, and that in actuality is in turn completely different from that which is official. Kile Simlex can't be one he was once after uncovering that - and so is the reader. Yes, we had a Sabbat Worlds Crusade story "In Remembrance" about a sculptor, but "Outgunned" is the first 40k novel (at least of those I read) which protagonist is a man very, very far from military. Kile Simlex is a typical imperial upper middle class member - he doesn't know how to use any weapons, he has never been in a battle, always filming battlefields after end of hostilities, he never experienced travelling through a warp storm. He doesn't know Gellar Field can malfunction, all his knowledge about orks in the start of the book stems from a single recruitment video (and very, very derpy one). He is not a hero, and his appearance is unremarkable. But he also can be called a privilleged person - he is very far relative of a subsector governor, has made himself quite positive reputation in imperial cinema circles by filming a succesful biopic about an imperial saint who bludgeoned 300 traitors with his own severed leg and important enough to own three servo-skulls made from heads of famous imperial propagandists who died on work.ToW: The (brilliant) cover has a real WWII war movie vibe – was that the sort of tone you were going for with the book? Can you talk a bit about some of the influences you drew upon while writing this? Outgunned served as an impressive standalone entry in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and I deeply enjoyed how self-contained the narrative turned out to be. Flowers also did a great job explaining most of the relevant Warhammer 40,000 elements featured within Outgunned, and I felt that this book can be easily enjoyed by most science fiction fans, although established Warhammer fans will probably get the most out of it. I loved some of the very unique Warhammer 40,000 aspects that Flowers featured in Outgunned, as the author came up with some fantastic new elements that added so much more to the story. I personally thought that Flowers did a really good job examining the Imperium through his character’s eyes, and you really get to see a fun new edge to it. Not only do you get to see the Aeronautica Imperialis in action, which will appeal to many Imperial Guard fans, but you also get a cool viewpoint of the Imperium’s propaganda department. Watching the protagonist dive into the techniques and motivations of the Imperial propagandists is quite fascinating, and it gives another great edge to the already dark and gothic Imperium that make you understand that deep down, they really aren’t the good guys they try to make out. Throw in a fun blast of Imperial politics, as a corrupt planetary governor can manipulate the Astra Militarum for their own selfish ends, as well as some dark viewpoints of the brainwashing of young soldiers that occurred to certain characters, and you have a great, cynical view of the Imperium that I deeply enjoyed.