The Guns of Tanith is the fifth novel in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and sees the Ghosts executing an aerial assault on the promethium-rich world of Phantine, commencing with the domed city of Cirenholm. The planet has been overtaken by the forces of Chaos, the Blood Pact, so Gaunt is tasked with retaking the Imperial supply lines. Successfully retaking the city, the army is further tasked with retaking Ouranberg, which has significant promethium stocks. Several of the Ghosts are hand-picked to form kill teams to infiltrate Ouranberg and assassinate the Blood Pact’s leader, Sagittar Slaith. The hope is to demoralize the Chaos forces and their loxatl allies, and break the back of the invasion.
I really enjoyed this book, I have to say!
There was a lot to enjoy here, particularly as we see the ongoing clashes between the original Ghosts and the Verghastite recruits that filled in the ranks following the third book. The court-marshal of Caffran was really interesting as a part of that, and was a really intriguing part of the story. We also get a quite heart-rending subplot for Gol Kolea as we find out the lengths he has been going to with regards his children. It really helps to feel like the story of a real bunch of fighting men and women.
It had been a long time since I’d last read a Gaunt’s Ghosts book, and I’m hoping that it won’t be quite so long before the next one!
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