Bloody Books Reviews - The Beast Arises Book Four: The Last Wall by David Annandale

For The Last Wall, the torch for The Beast Arises is passed to David Annandale to tell the tale of Terra in panic over the arrival of a (bad) Moon arriving in orbit. This time out, there is not a Navy to protect the Solar System as they are far too far away to be part of Terra's defence. However, the Moon does not attack, leaving the populace of Terra confused, as the plan for an offence is slowly pieced together. (By which I mean the High Lords want to throw every available body at the moon until it falls).

It's an audacious start to the fourth book, with a lot of moving parts shifting and shunting events towards the larger narrative. The chapters dealing with the Imperial Fist Successor Chapters are a stand-out, as is the wider view of seeing that it's not just the humans who are taking a pounding from the Greenskins. The series has so far made a good go of showing political intrigue in the 41st millennium (kinda), and Annandale continues this trend beautifully as the insanity of the Proletarian Crusade begins to gather steam. Annandale has a not inconsiderable task with this entry, having to gather the dangling threads as well as pushing the main thrust of the next few books and a few shaky moments aside, he does a damn fine job. The public opinion of the Crusade is writ large in broad strokes but it works for that when it carries that same public on badly trained ships into the maw of the Ork Moon,

The Last Wall ramps the action and tension up a fair few notches this time around, stepping past a collection of surprises and shocks in favour something truly shattering that changes the focus for going forward.

I am excited to continue this journey.