Book review: Fell Cargo

I have ploughed through a tonne of these pulp fantasy/space opera books set in the Warhammer universe(s) this year, but I figure I will only read one like this, as it is a genre piece about pirates.

Maybe this was part of some GW strategy at some point to try and sell us their gameswith ships in it. I cannot be bothered to check a timeline for that possibility, but suffice to say, I do not recall there being many other books about Sartosan pirates from Black Library. If there are, then kindly inform me. Or maybe Dan Abnett just gets to write whatever he feels like writing these days? That would suit me just fine. I hate it when you can FEEL that the author would much rather have written something else, or indeed that he DID write something else, but the work was changed to fit into some release schedule or even the setting as a whole.

The book is of course riddled with cliches, or "fixtures" if you will, from pirate tales. It reads like a (better) "Pirates of the Caribbean", and it is neat mix of tall tale, horror story and swashbuckling adventure on the high seas. Sea monsters, pirates of any stripe, villains, heroes... The book seemed to have it all, and it is written with the same quality that Abnett usually provides. The only thing that I do perhaps not like as much as the rest of the details in the book is the joy the author takes in naming various bladed weapons and... firearms. Not that I don't appreciate details, and we are not at a Melville level of educational info about something, but I had to look up several of these along the way just to find out what to visualize in combat situations.

There are few surprises in this book, but there probably should not be a great deal of surprises either, if this was to be the pirate yarn it set out to be. While other authors, desperate for a tiny twist, kill off some characters that you might have expected to live or make someone a surprise traitor, Abnett manages to kill off the right ones and at the right time which is something of an accomplishment at this point. Added bonus? No characters who'll annoy the piss out of you as some other books might eagerly provide. The "young lad" who comes of age in this book is not so young or so naive that it becomes painful, and there are no talking parrots or monkeys or what have you to add comedy. The worst? A few one liners that you see coming a mile away.

The books is only 250 pages. Could it have been 400? I doubt it could without getting boring or requiring more meaty subplots.

Over all I give it 4,5 stars. A seafood platter with everything on it.