The ‘Deathworlder’ Pitch
Victoria Hayward’s Deathworlder is epically apocalyptic. Violently charged in a universe filled with only grim darkness. It’s a witness to the end of a world violently under siege by an alien force you cannot reason with. A plague that is nigh unstoppable.
It follows the exploits of Major Wulf Khan, a tough as nails Major of the 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’. Major Khan is given an impossible task: to lead a elite squad of misfit soldiers across the surface of the planet Lazulai which is under siege by the Tyranids. Their mission is to retrieve a piece of archeotech that may doom (or deliver) not just Lazulai – but an entire system of planets.
In their journey, this crack shot group of elite soldiers is joined by an Adeptus Mechanicus priest, a Cadian officer and his Cultist prisoner. Giving rise to Hayward’s opportunity to flesh out the lore of Catachan and Cadian regiments, their preconceived stereotypes – due to countless Warhammer codexes – and how a Tyranid invasion can not only doom a world but also reshape it.
Victoria Hayward spends as much time exploring the interpersonal relationship of Major Khan’s squad as she does the effect a Tyranid invasion has on the environment of a planet. From the halfway point of Deathworlder there’s this idea of cosmic horror as the planet consumes itself from the inside, out. All the while, Wulf’s squad gets closer to their objective.
The Tyranid invasion of Lazulai is like a cancer spreading rapidly across a mildly healthy organ. There are moments of body horror and unspeakable mutations which feel equal parts Lovecraft and Warhammer 40,000 texts. However, Hayward finds a way to navigate the landscape of Warhammer extremity and explore the relationships between the members of the squad. Beliefs are questioned, creeds are tested and the tension between squad members hit boiling points with a variety of emotionally charged flavours.
Deathworlder has all the makings of a death-squad facing an un-winnable scenario. This book feels like Suicide Squad set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Hayward keeps you guessing on which character will make it out alive until the final turn of the last page. There are delectable moments of horrific savagery but it’s the softer moments that break up the violence with humanism that is so intensely relatable.
Playing 40K is no longer enough. Deathworlder elevates the Warhammer universe.
