Reddit reviews Relentless (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Only War)

Yeah to back up what /u/darksier said the 40K ships really are fucking huge, like there's entire decks which aren't used anymore and people have forgotten about, and stowaways live in there surviving off rats and garbage.

There's a really sort of cheap action movie type novel called "Relentless" published by the Black Library, I got a copy ages ago because it's one of the few novels that talk about life on an imperial ship.

If you want to read it this is the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Relentless-Warhammer-000-Richard-Williams/dp/1844165019

It's probably out of print now which is why a brand new one is £32 (lol).

Basically the Captain of this cruiser (not even a grand cruiser) is brand new and he starts implementing proper discpline on the ship. No more bribes from traders, no more whoreing, actual ship drills etc. He doesn't want to be liked, but he knows if a crew drills hard and trains hard they are proud of their work even if they resent the early mornings and hard labour.

The second in command doesn't like this at all and mutinies and the senior officers conspire to have the Captain fall victim to an "accident" which leaves him stranded on the planet they were visiting. Unfortunately for them, the crews are conscripting people to serve on the ship and the captain gets conscripted as a slave.

Thousands of lsaves are used as a sort of human fuel for Imperial ships, with cruel taskmasters who make slaves work until they die. The captain manages to work his way up the ship, escaping the slave pens and making it to the mid decks. When he is there is figures out who he can trust and who he can't and takes back control of the ship.

It's not a great read, it's a bit cheesy, but it's an acceptable read.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Relentless yet. It's not primarily void combat but does feature a fair bit of it, and focuses entirely on the Imperial Navy.