Book Club #23: Fist of the Imperium by Andy Clark

Every two weeks we read a new book in the WH40k universe and discuss it on our podcast. We invite you to read along with us and join in on our conversation via comments, Twitter, email, or vox cast.

This episode we’re reading Fist of the Imperium by Andy Clark. You can purchase on Amazon, Black Library, or Audible.

From the back of the book:

Deep within the Segmentum Solar, an Imperial Fists Honour Guard lies slaughtered upon the very world they swore to protect. The mysterious cult responsible grows in power by the day. Their malevolent tenets poisoning the hearts of Ghyre’s citizens, from its lowliest miner to its arrogant ruling class. To purge this threat, the Imperial Fists send Primaris Librarian Aster Lydorran and his tenacious brothers. These masters of siegecraft face an insurgent foe beyond any they have fought before. As dark omens proliferate, Lydorran finds himself embroiled in a battle of wits and wills with an enemy whose psychic might may surpass even his own. But this is a patient enemy, and with every passing hour, Ghyre’s doom grows closer. The stoic Sons of Dorn must leave their walls and embrace new allies, or risk unleashing the apocalypse itself upon the very doorstep of Terra.

Questions to ponder after reading Fist of the Imperium:

• Did you like the book?
• What parts stood out to you?
• How does the nobility of the planet, the Space Marines, and the genestealers view humanity? Is one “better” than the other?
• Ultimately the book boils down to two options: Exterminatus, or fight. Which side do you fall on? Which is the “better” option?
• Lydorran challenges the entire philosophy of exterminatus in a key moment. How did you react to this scene? Is he right?
• How did you react to Hastur’s scene? Did this feel within character of the Imperial Fists?
• We’ve posed this question before but it bears repeating: do the space marines really save a planet by saving it?
• The goal of the cultists is to “ascend” to the Star Children. Do you think the Tyranids would be half as successful without their psychic manipulation?