Imagine the future. If you picture a world full of peace and harmony then Dan Abnetts’ The Guns of Tanith, isn’t for you. Instead of peace throughout the galaxy you’ll read about how mankind is threatened every day by numerous alien races and the twisted, evil, and corrupted forces of chaos.

This book is the fourth book in a long series, so I recommend reading all of the other books first before starting this one because it can be kind of confusing unless you’ve already been introduced to the world of Warhammer 40,000. I also only recommend this book to boys because of its pretty graphic content.
The book takes place along side of the Tanith First, one of the hundreds of Divisions in the Imperial Guard, the protectors of the Imperium of man. They have been given the task of going ahead of the main force to clear out a mountain city on a planet covered in toxic fumes to set up the assassination of one of the Blood Pact’s high ranking officers.
I liked this book because it always keeps you on your toes. In other books there is usually one main character that never dies. Maybe there’s a near death experience, but the main character won’t die. This book is the opposite. You’ll be reading when just like that, one of the people in the book gets killed. It might be someone important; it might be someone that you as a reader have connected to. It doesn’t matter. When reading these books its more than likely that at least three of the characters will die.
I also like this book because of how you connect with the characters and what they’re going through on the battle field. It might just be the writer setting you up for the kill of that character, but that just makes you understand just how dangerous the battle field is.
The third thing that I like about the book is the action. There is so much detail on every page that it’s easy to get caught up in the fight and never want to put the book down. Every fight has twists and surprises like an ambush or a secret weapon that the enemy has hidden. Maybe even an Autocannon or Heavy Machine gun will pop up and mow down a couple of troops.
The final reason I really like this book is the story. There are some moments when you think that they aren’t going to make it but they end up alright. Maybe they have done something they wished they never had. Sometimes people get shot and end up in the medical bay. Dan Abnett leaves you guessing with every page on how the battle will end, or how everyone will turn out afterwords.
Dan Abnett is the master of the Warhammer 40,000 world with at least 20 books on the topic. Reading the Guns of Tanith would be reading the best of the best.