Outgunned (Warhammer 40,000)

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Iain M. Banks is my favorite Sci-Fi author of his time (though I love his non-genre fiction too), but my love of sci-fi really originated from reading comics as a kid, especially 2000AD. The blending of the horrible, humorous and bizarre with just a hint of satire is something I think carries forward in my own work. 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. DF: The story was a natural follow on from The Hand of Harrow, where our heroes’ somewhat rash choices were inevitably going to have consequences. Low Lives opens with the two of them escaping the latest batch of bounty hunters, and life on the run has begun to take its toll. Caleb is drowning his fears and Iktomi is increasingly paranoid and aggressive. Low Lives gave me the chance to explore how they react under pressure, their unusual friendship, and exactly how far each is willing to go to keep their word and honour intact. DF: Caleb Cursebound is the Underhive’s ninth most dangerous man, and a skilled thief, fighter, lover and liar. Probably. There are certainly plenty of stories that paint this picture, though the origin of most of these stories appears to be Caleb himself. He is prone to arrogance, greed, drunkenness, and not considering the consequences of his actions. However, Caleb has one redeeming quality, something rather unusual for the Underhive; in his heart he is a hero. Not because of a desire for glory and fame (though that certainly is a driving force too), but because somewhere under his neuroses and insecurities is a spark of goodness, and an unwillingness to look the other way.

I was also quite impressed with the intriguing and cool viewpoint of the orks contained in Outgunned. 2022 has been a pretty good year for fascinating ork novels, such as Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh! and Catachan Devil, and Outgunned offered another great look, even though you rarely get to see the creatures in person. Instead, Flowers offers an interesting look at them through the human characters’ eyes as they try to work out just how these supposedly crude creatures are winning the war for the skies over the planet. Watching the characters slowly realise just how ingenious and clever the orks really are is pretty fun, especially as the propagandist main character has spent most of his career showing them as stupid beasts. As such, the book shows many fantastic examples of the complex ork culture through the eyes of characters who really don’t understand it, which I think worked to make it appear a lot more interesting and mysterious. Established fans of the ork faction (and what Warhammer fiction reader doesn’t love the orks?), will have a blast watching the characters, especially the sheltered Simlex, try and understand their motivations and tactics, and I felt that it was a great way of showcasing the orks without having a major ork character present. I deeply enjoyed all the awesome Warhammer 40,000 elements contained with Outgunned, and it really proved to be an amazing entry into the wider canon.I also deeply enjoyed how Flowers paired Simlex with three servo-skulls who are linked to him mentally. These skulls (literal skulls that have been turned into drones) are specifically altered to act as Simlex’s cameras, and he uses them to record the combat footage and gather information as he attempts to unravel the conspiracies of Bacchus. The powerful link he has to these skulls ensures that his mind is often split between different perspectives, and he often views the world through these robotic eyes. This unique method of viewing the world becomes a key part of Simlex’s character, and it was fascinating to see how connected he was to his floating skulls, who almost become characters in their own right. Simlex proved to be an impressive centre for this entire narrative, and his dark and compelling view of the world really helped to shape this awesome book. ToW Do you have anything else in the works (whether for BL or otherwise) that you can talk about at all? I read a lot on the train. All sorts of genres and authors; whatever I could find. One day I ran out of books but had some paper in my bag. I decided to try writing a story, which soon became a novel, and then became a completely different novel. I experimented with a variety of genres and formats and was wildly unsuccessfully, but kept trying.

ToW: Why this story? Of all the possible stories you could have written about these characters, what made you go for this one? Braving the foetid waters of Bacchus and its rampaging greenskin hordes, Simlex is tasked with producing a cinema-pict portraying Shard as an Imperial hero. Shortly after his arrival planetside, however, he discovers the war effort is in shambles—the Imperium’s overstretched forces are in full retreat, the local planetary governor is desperately downplaying the conflict at every turn, and Shard is an arrogant misanthrope who only avoids sanction due to her consummate skills. 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?I play various games depending on my time constraints. Currently I’m in my third Blood Bowl league; it’s such a well-designed game and it fits neatly into my gaming time constraints. I’m also painting up some Death Guard that have only been sitting on my painting table for a couple of years, an impressive turnaround for me. Thanks SO MUCH to Denny Flowers for sending me a copy of Outgunned in exchange for my honest review. There is a third significant character in the story, but it’s difficult to talk about her without straying into the realms of spoilers. It’s not often we get to witness tales of aeronautical derring-do in the 41st Millennium, but now the action ascends to the skies in Outgunned by Denny Flowers. The pilots of the Aeronautica Imperialis have been thrown into battle against hordes of Ork flyboyz, and propagandist Kile Simlex has been sent to capture the exploits of ace pilot Lucille Von Shard! …if only things were going as well as he was told. Though Simlex is the semi-reliable narrator of the novel, the hero and star of Outgunned is Flight Commander Lucille von Shard. A fighter ace of consummate ability, Shard’s skills are matched only by her disdain for her foes, peers, superiors, acquaintances, and virtually everyone and everything else she encounters. In fact, were she a less capable warrior, she would have long since been consigned to a penal colony. Or more likely an executioner.

What began as a war story the book transforms into a Tarantino-style detective with really epic dialogues and scenes. Kile (and reader together with him) learns more and more about Bacchus, war, orks, politics and society of the Imperium of Man, and of course about Lucille von Shard - imperial fighter ace and heroine of his film. And all that is during the course of the plot, which is awesomely built, is extremely interesting and fabulously switches from grimderp to serious, from childish to mature, from tragedy to comedy, from farce to gritty realism, often during a single paragraph. Author isn't afraid to deconstruct and laugh out of gothic pathos - his characters aren't grimdark edgelords, they are living people first and foremost. They don't just fight and think about how to serve humanity, but also get drunk, eat heavily, laugh and yawn loud, spy on each other, accuse each other in having soiled themselves, get shat upon by birds and Imperium. Braving the foetid waters of Bacchus and its rampaging greenskin hordes, Simlex is tasked with producing a cinema-pict portraying Shard as an Imperial hero. Shortly after his arrival planetside, however, he discovers the war effort is in shambles – the Imperium’s overstretched forces are in full retreat, the local planetary governor is desperately downplaying the conflict at every turn, and Shard is an arrogant misanthrope who only avoids sanction due to her consummate skills. Can Trooper Torvin earn the respect of Colonel ‘Hell Fist’ Alvaron and his Catachan Devils? Because if not, they may turn out to be even more dangerous to his health than the Orks…

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The reality is an Imperium in full retreat, while Shard’s arrogance threatens to derail Simlex’s tales of glorious inspiration. The ace would surely wind up behind bars were it not for her piloting skills, and the squadron must rely on her to save the day when the Green Storm approaches from the clouds.

Thematically it is a story about stories; the tall tales that are told throughout the Underhive, and what happens when myth meets reality. It is also a story about keeping your word, where most of the main characters are in some way bound by a promise or oath which may not be in their best interests. But honour is at stake, and even in the Underhive giving your word is taken very seriously. ToW: Could you give us an overview of your general writing process, in terms of how (or whether) you plan your writing, when you find the time to write and so on?ToW: To start things off, how would you describe Outgunned, and what readers can expect from it? What sort of story is it?