Book Review: Soul Drinker by Ben Counter

Because my reading list has lately been overloaded with things far to serious and informational and because I enjoyed Dan Abnett's First and Only, I have decided to continue reading some of the fiction that the Black Library puts out. 

I was also going on a week long trip to San Francisco for my 5th anniversary and would be utilizing public transit quite a bit.

Soul Drinker is the first book in the Soul Drinkers Omnibus. It follows the Space Marine chapter that shares its name.  The book begins the tale of the Soul Drinker's fall from being the honorable successors of Rogal Dorn's Imperial Fists, to their traitorous present as renegade marines that have been touched by Chaos. 

I find the action to be entertaining.  Black Library fiction isn't going to win awards, but otherwise, this book presents a lot of lather, rinse, repeat plot elements.  Ben Counter is certainly no Dan Abnett, but his work is passable. 

The thing that really got me were the mistakes all throughout the book.  You would think that editing would catch them, but there were missing words, repeated words, fragments, etc. on many occasions as I read the book.

That aside, I found the book enjoyable and easy to read for some down-time reading.  It follows the general trend of hack and slash sci-fi that Black Library is known for.  That said, it is interesting to delve into the fluff of a chapter that I didn't know much about before. 

I would recommend Soul Drinker for anyone looking for a fun diversion.  It isn't superbly written, but it's action keeps the pages turning.  I give it a C+ to B. Only buy it at a reduced price.