Book Club #88: Kasrkin by Edoardo Albert

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.

For this episode, we’re reading Kasrkin by Edoardo Albert. You can purchase it at Amazon, Black Library, or Audible.

From the back of the book:

When the perfidious t’au bring down a valkyrie containing an Astra Militarum general on the besieged Imperial world of Dasht i-Kevar, all could be lost – what the general knows could break the war effort, and see the planet fall under the control of the vile xenos.

Only the Kasrkin stand a chance at bringing him back. They are the elite of the elite, but the enemy that Captain Bharath Obeysekera and his squad are called upon to fight is unlike any they have faced before – the desert itself, endless and implacable.

With sandstorms cutting them off from support, Obeysekera has only his soldiers to rely on. As the Kasrkin journey deeper into the wastes, they begin to realise they’re not the only hunters searching for the missing general, and that their war has caught the attention of something ancient lurking beneath the desert sands…

Questions to ponder after reading Kasrkin:

• Did you like the book?
• What parts stood out to you?
• Did you like Obeysekera as a character? Was he a good leader?
• What did you think of Roshant as a commissar? Were you surprised by his arc?
• Did you like Tchek? Was their alliance compelling or interesting?
• Despite being the setup for the novel, the Tau make little presence in the book. Did it “work?”
• What were your thoughts on Nebusemekh?
• Itoyesa, Malick, and Obeysekera’s thoughts on the Imperium vary widely. Who is “right?” Do you sympathize with Itoyesa or Malick?