All in all a decent read. Some stories were more entertaining than others.I will say it should have been named the Heroes and Villans of the Space Marines, as there were just as many Chaos/Renegade stories as Imperial ones.
My favourite was the first. If you have read Iron Warriors and Dead Sky, Black Sun, then you at least need to go to your local book store and sit around for a half hour to read this story. The Skull Harvest follows Honsou as he prepares to take his vengence upon Ventris and the Ultra Marines. It also provides a little quirky insight into Huron Blackheart. All in all a good tale.
The rest go from good to meh.
Gauntlet Run isn't very inspiring or intriguing, but is rather entertaining. Imp Fist scout biker action. Made me want to buy some SM bikers for in game.
Renegades is lackluster and not very high on action. Avenging Sons Space Marines. They don't even look that exciting do they?
Honour Amongst Fiends is a good one, especially for the Horus Heresy fans in the crowd. It is a very interesting concept on Mr. Owen's part and I am not going to spoil it here. Imp Fists versus Black Legion.
Fires of War isn't bad, but Nick Kyme is a better editor than writer. There is nothing particularly bad about his writing, it just the story goes on a bit too long and isn't the most exciting. I hope the Salamanders book is better than their debut short story.
The Labyrinth is weird and didn't really fit into the compilation in my opinion. Not a bad story, but not a memorable one. SPOILER ALERT (THAT LINK HAS A SUMMARY OF THE STORY ON IN) Sons of Malice CSM. I guess Malice is some Daemon or Lesser Chaos God
Headhunted is probably the best Imperial story in the book. It is about a Death Watch kill team and their raid on an Ork Kroozer. Has an Exorcist and Death Spectre SM in it, which is cool.
And They Shall Know No Fear is of the standard 40k short story quality. Good but not Abnett. Black Templar action with a glimpse of Hellbrecht as an Initiate. And for once, it paints Sisters of Battle in a half decent light.
Nightfall is another outlier in the story. It was slightly confusing and a little awkward. As well, all the weird things aren't really explained. They just are. If you really want to read about the Night Lords, read Lord of Night. This was essentially an foil of that, in that some Nightlords are going down the Uberchaotic road while some old school guys are hard core long war disciplined marines.
One Hate is another standard 40k short story. Crimson Fist Chaplain action. Although it is a little lighter on action than most the stories, the plot makes up for it.
All in all I give the Compilation 3.5 out of 5 Aquillas.
