Review: "Primary Instinct" by Sarah Cawkwell

Spoiler alert. I'm alerting you to spoilers. They're minimal, but just don't say I didn't warn you if you add 2 and 2 and get four. K?

What is this? A serious blog post? Without sarcasm and highly infrequent use of the work "bollocks?" Just put it down to personal growth and get on with it. Jeez, like I'm never serious.

Anyway, I have just finished reading the space marine short story "Primary Instinct" by Sarah "Pyroriffic" Cawkwell from the all new and extremely shiny "Hammer and Bolter", the digital publication from the folks at the Black Library.

Suffice to say, Primary Instinct is a Warhammer 40,000 short story featuring the Silver Skulls chapter of the adeptus astartes and centres on an assault squad lead by Sergeant Gileas, accompanied also by one of the mighty space marine librarians who, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with this particular IP, are much more badass than they sound. These guys are eight foot, armour clad, power-weapon carrying, post human psychics who could rip off Chuck Norris's testicles with one hand while pimp-slapping Bruce Lee with the other, stealing your pin number directly from your memory at the same time. Cool, huh?

Needless to say, the shit hits the fan in double-quick time and the limits of the marine's powers are sorely tested, particularly those of Bhehan, the aforementioned librarian. (Well, prognosticator, but let's not over-complicate things.)

Obviously it will be mostly existing warhammer fiction fans who read this and the story, being short, will appeal most of all to those who have at least SOME familiarity with the source material, as if the writer had spent all of her time explaining in minute detail what the astartes were, the specifics of why the marines seem to be so appallingly xenophobic and exactly why there isn't a red-shirted ensign getting bummed to death by carnivorous plants, the story would have been bloody awful to read.

Having said that, the tale is written with enough skill and detail that it can be enjoyed as a Warhammer newcomer without the reader needing to endlessly stop and think "Ok, that's great, but how long exactly IS a snargleclack, and what's he going to do with that florkinator? Hit someone, or eat it?" I believe it was Stan Lee that said "every comic book is someone's first comic book", and in this case I can safely say that you do not need to be a warhammer nerd-supreme to enjoy the writings of Cawkwell.

The action is certainly very well written and handled in an intelligent fashion. While at times visceral, the fighting never descends into the kind of brainless goriness that would have Charles Manson reaching for the tissues, nor does it feel detached and sterile. The correct balance of detail and pacing is struck throughout and at no time do you ever get the feeling that everybody is going to come out of this intact.

For those of us familiar with them, Primary Instinct sheds some more light on the Kroot, the cannibalistic foot-soldier allies of the Tau, adding a further layer of interest to them in what I would hope would be a sign of things to come, with the "other" alien races being explored further in Black Library fiction.

The underlying premise of the story is solid and well executed, eliciting more than one massive grin as a new revelation comes to light, particularly when the "truth" of the hostile alien race comes to light.

There is not much more I can say without giving the game away, so I'll end with this:

Well written, an interesting and original plot, great characters and plenty of scope for further stories, "Primary Instinct" scores a solid seven out of ten on the arbitrary scoring table, with ten being a story so well written I am compelled to spontaneously orgasm, and a one being "Beware!" by Richard "let's repeatedly rape the protagonist for no clear reason" Laymon.

If I wasn't already familiar with Sarah's work, I'd still be putting myself down for a pre-order when Gildar Rift comes out.

Congratulations on a fine debut, Pyro!