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Fist of Demetrius (The Macharian Crusade) Hardcover – May 1, 2013

by William King (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 38 ratings
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As the crusade reaches its apex, Lord Solar Macharius is drawn by a prophecy to the world of Demetrius in search of an ancient artefact - the Fist of Demetrius. Rumours and legends abound of the artefact’s providence as a weapon of a primarch, the lords of the Horus Heresy. With it, Macharius believes his success and victory is assured but others crave this potent weapon, and the dark eldar will do anything to obtain it.

Book two in the Macharian Crusade Trilogy
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  1. Book 2 of 3
    The Macharian Crusade
  2. Print length
    320 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Black Library
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 2013
  6. Dimensions
    6.3 x 0.98 x 9.45 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1849704015
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1849704014
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Library (May 1, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1849704015
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1849704014
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.01 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 0.98 x 9.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
38 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Brett Yeadon
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2015
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Good for the second book in a trilogy.
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Logan Calhoun
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun and enjoyable story but the ending is majorly rushed
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2020
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Fun characters and well written and quite an enjoyable story but once again the ending is rushed. I feel as if the author wants to do more than he is allowed and so the ending is the very definition of rushed. Still a fun read. Would be 5 stars if it was not rushed.
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Maus
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2015
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Great read!
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JPS
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2013
Review first posted on Amazon.co.uk on 3 June 2013

I cannot state that this book is "bad"; neither can I claim that I disliked the whole book or even forced myself to finish it. There were however a number of things that did not quite work out for me, namely some of the characters, parts of the plot and the pace of the story itself.

Starting with my "mixed feelings regarding the characters, I rather liked Macharius who is increasingly looking like some kind of Alexander the Great equivalent in Warhammer 40000 (and has been deliberately portrayed based on the Macedonian King). I also liked the narrator, one Leo Lemuel, one of the bodyguards of Macharius who appears rather sympathetic with his mixture of bravery and loyalty, although he seems to have second thoughts at times. Mixed with these were some other characters which I found less plausible. One was the Inquisitor. Another was the Dark Eldar lord. Both characters seemed a bit shallow to me.

Regarding the plot, some scenes were simply great while others were a bit bland, generic or perhaps a bit "over-the-top" at times. This is, of course, essentially a matter of opinion and impressions. The whole story of having the commander in chief of the biggest Crusade for thousands of years discover a rare artefact, have it stolen from him and then go off on his own to chase the thief down across the stars while leaving his whole army behind is difficult to believe. The scene describing Macharius' generals and the arrival of the Space Marines was great.

These, however, after helping Macharius a bit, just seem to "drop out of the picture" and only one of them is detailed to help the Guard Commander track down the Dark Eldar lord and his remaining warriors. This again did not "feel" quite right. I got the impression that the author wanted to introduce Space Marines into his story to "spice things up" a bit but then has to ditch them (apart, once again, for that lone warrior who seems to be doing most of the work) so as to avoid them taking centre stage.

The battle scenes were generally good. I particularly liked the Eldar assault on Macharius' flagship with their boarding devices and their superior and deadly speed and manoeuvrability. More generally, I liked the idea that the Eldar could get trapped by their contempt for the humans, their superiority complex and their sadistic lusts. However, here again, I felt that the author tended to "lay it on a bit thick". Having mentioned this, the pieces and allusions to Eldar history, and how the Black Eldar came to appear, was rather interesting, even if the read became slow going at times. Finally, I found that the end of the story was very predictable.

So, not a "bad" read, but, unlike with some other volumes, I was not "carried away" this time.
5 people found this helpful
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Edward Denison
4.0 out of 5 stars 2nd of the Macharius series and well worth reading.
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2014
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As a fan of the Warhammer universe, this was a good book. Macarius seems a bit more than a normal man, but the story handles his actions well. Good book, worth reading.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Brian K
4.0 out of 5 stars Good follow up to 'Angel of Fire'.
Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2016
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Book 2 of the series finds our cadre of characters from 'Angel of Fire' in a new situation, attempting to retrieve an item they believe will be of use to a Space Marine chapter.

I really enjoy Macharius as a character, and the surrounding support players are all well fleshed out as well. This book was pretty entertaining, and also included some 'Dark Eldar' characters for a new foe and it lead to a pretty solid climax, with some good twists and turns along the way.

I think I may have enjoyed 'Angle Of Fire' more, but that was because I've always been a Panzer buff, so getting some inside view of the Baneblade tank was quite enjoyable/interesting.

I never thought William King was all that great an author (I didn't really enjoy any of the Space Wolf novels really) but he seems to have excelled when he targets human characters like Macharius rather than 'super human' like Marines. He seems to be able to write more compelling and interesting work, which I am happy to discover and read. (Oddly, it seems that Dan Abnett was the same way, his 'Gaunts Ghosts' stuff was really good, but his Space Marine book (something like Iron Snakes or similar) was really pretty bad by his standards, imho)
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Matthias
3.0 out of 5 stars gut, aber nicht wieder Vorgänger
Reviewed in Germany on November 5, 2013
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der zweite Teil der Reihe ist bequem zu lesen und Gutsunterhaltung, kann jedoch nicht an den Vorgänger heranreichen. Die Geschichte alleine eine Menge Potenzial und viel Spannung zu erzeugen, wirkt aber leider an vielen Punkten zu wenig detailliert um diese Spannung auch wirklich auszunutzen. Das interessante an dem Buch ist die spürbare Veränderung einzelner Charaktere, welche für den weiteren Verlauf der Serie schon anmerken lassen das nicht sehr gut steht um die Elite der militärischen Operation.
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matthew fort
5.0 out of 5 stars good book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2013
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fast delivery, book is very good differs from the first in many ways and portrays the xenos very well and the point of view of the guard in fighting them. twist at the end, not sure whether to be upset or find it very funny.
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Omnissiah
2.0 out of 5 stars Macharius' Stern sinkt...
Reviewed in Germany on December 27, 2013
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Die Handlung von "The Fist Of Demetrius" knüpft mehr oder weniger direkt an den Vorgänger "Angel Of Fire" an, dessen Handlung zwar nicht unbedingt notwendigerweise bekannt sein muss, den Roman aber dann insgesamt deutlich runder wirken lässt, als wenn man ihn ohne Vorkenntnisse liest.

Die Hauptdarsteller des ersten Teils, die ehemaligen Panzerbesatzungen Lemuel, Anton und Ivan, sind nach den Geschehnissen von Karsk und dem Kampf gegen die dortige Chaos-Invasion, inzwischen Teil der Leibwache des General-Feldmarschalls Solar Macharius und als solche nicht mehr so sehr an vorderster Front zu finden, sondern sehen sich einer neuen Front gegenüber, aus Intrigen, Eifersüchteleien, politischen Winkelzügen und Machtkämpfen.

Um seine Position als vielleicht mächtigster Mann des Imperiums und dessen erfolgreichster Feldherr zu behaupten und sich seiner immer zahlreicher werdenden Kritiker, politischen Gegner und Neider erwehren zu können, plant Macharius, das Adeptus Astartes näher an sich zu binden, und sich deren Loyalität zu sichern. Daher plant er, den Space Wolves ein uraltes, verloren gegangenes Artefakt zu überreichen, welches aus der Zeit der Primarchen selbst stammen soll. Als dieses jedoch von einem Archon der Dark Eldar gestohlen wird, droht sein gesamter Plan - und damit vielleicht auch seine ganze Karriere - vor dem SCheitern zu stehen. Macharius muss die "Faust von Demetrius" mit aller Gewalt zurückholen.

So viel zum groben Ihalt des Romans.

Leider kann Teil 2 nicht mit dem ersten Teil der Macharius-Kreuzzug-Trilogie mithalten. Zu langatmig, zu wenig actionreich, zu sehr auf die Veränderungen Macharius und sein Umfeld betreffend fokussiert ist das Buch. Es schleppt sich von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite, die Actionsequenzen sind eher schlecht als recht ins Gesamtbild integriert und bis zuletzt fragt man sich, warum King unbedingt noch Space Marines mit ins Buch packen musste, wenn sie bis auf wenige Ausnahmen gar nicht auf den Seiten auftauchen.

Natürlich hat "Fist Of Demetrius" auch gute Seiten. King gelingt es schon recht gut, die ganzen Veränderungen, die sich seit dem Beginn des Kreuzzugs ergeben, darzustellen, auch, wie sich der Blick der Menschen auf Macharius langsam ändert, wie einstige Verbündete zu Feinden werden, wie Macharius selbst immer wieder scheinbar auch an seine eigenen Grenzen gerät - und wie es ihm doch immer wieder gelingt, auch jetzt noch aus einer vermeintlcihen Niederlage einen Sieg zu machen. Und auch die Blicke des Archons auf seinen eigentlich so unterlegenen, weil primitiveren, aber dennoch so überraschend ebenbürtigen Gegner sind interessant, oder auch die Kämpfe zwischen Menschen und Dark Eldar, die ihnen so weit voraus sind, so fremdartig, so böse, so tödlich.

Aber das reicht letzten Endes einfach nicht, um einen über hunderte von Seiten zu fesseln. Gerade das Ende ist nicht einfach nur unbefriedigend, sondern ein Witz. Alles baut sich zu einem epischen Showdown auf und dann *puff* ist alles vorbei. "The Fist Of Demetrius" ist langatmig, träge, zäh, flach und letzten Endes nicht zufriedenstellend. Schade. Ich hoffe, dass Teil 3 die Scharte wieder ausmerzen kann und vl. auch einige Fragen klärt, die jetzt noch offen geblieben sind, aber mehr als einen auf wenigen Seiten recht guten Einblick auf die Veränderung des mächtigsten Mannes der Galaxis zu bieten, kann das vorliegende Werk leider nicht.
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Luke McKenna
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic 40K
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2014
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Great book, classic 40k, has you gripped from the beginning and really cannot wait for the last one to come out
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