Books like Annihilation Squad

The third and final book in Gav Thorpe's Last Chancers series takes the 13th Penal legion, which once numbered four thousand soldiers but at the beginning of this book stands at about about thirty men and women, mostly recent recruits, to the meat grinder that is the third war for Armageddon. As in 13th Legion and Kill Team, the story is told first-person point of view from the perspective of Lieutenant Kage. Kage, whose mental state has always been questionable, is notably even more psychopathic in this story than in previous installments, and his sanity degrades throughout the novel. The book adheres to the formula already established by Thorpe. Colonel Schaeffer has a mission for the Last Chancers, and it's one that they probably won't return from. The rag-tag team is subjected to a series of trials along the way before finally confronting their main goal. You've seen it a thousand times in books, movies, etc, but it works. What sets Annihilation Squad aside is that we see the action from Kage's perspective, and Kage - whose mental state in previous novels has been questionable at best - is becoming notably more psychopathic. The trek across the ravaged world of Armageddon doesn't help, nor does the industrial hell of Acheron Hive and the grotesque carnival which lies within. The greatest strength and weakness of Annihilation Squad stems from these changes. It's fascinating to be able sit inside Kage's head as he descends gradually into insanity, but in order to do so the rest of the team is neglected for much of the last third of the book and are effectively robbed of their agency as Kage becomes the central focus of the story. It's a disappointment, and I think it robs of the ending of a lot of the weight it could have had. However, I'm glad Thorpe used this opportunity to take the novel into some truly dark territory (if a series about condemned prisoners in the most awful universe imaginable can't "go dark", nothing can). The ending was, if not entirely satisfactory, then definitely fitting. There's plenty of gritty action sequences to go around, and some terrific views of the planet-wide warzone that is Armageddon. If the third act had been stronger, I would have given this a four. Still, I enjoyed reading it immensely and am glad that the series ended with some kind of closure. A note on availability: The three Last Chancers novels are all out of print, as is the Last Chancers omnibus, and have been for some time. I've been tracking them down at bookfairs and on eBay. Hopefully, the Black Library can put this series into print again and do a better job of reissuing their older material.