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Renegades: Lord of Excess - Rich McCormick (Audiobook) Another debut novel! Another very good debut novel. This is probably the most ambitious first book I've read since Fire Caste, at times to a fault. There's no 3-act structure here; the first third of the book provides some set-up and gets what I assume is the action quota out of the way, and the last two thirds are basically its own novel slightly compacted into a tighter space. This does make the book a bit messy, but has the benefit of being all killer and no filler after a certain point. While that first third is the least interesting part, I still think it was pretty good. Traitor Astartes vs Genestealer cultists is a rare match-up, and unlike other BL books with similar openings (Wolftime springs to mind) this section still effectively sets up the dynamic of The Adored and gives each character enough development to make sure you're invested in what's to come. The remainder of the book is basically the pivotal moments in Xantine's reign of his now world. The premise alone makes this worthwhile, and while nothing really has room to "sit" and take a breath, it's constantly interesting. The status quo shifts in basically every chapter as someone is always sowing new consequences to reap later. We get rebellions, shifts in political structure, rival Chaos cults, deals, and betrayals. It's never shallow; the themes and character work are more than adequate throughout, but the lightning-fast pacing may not be to everyone's taste. The unique premise certainly helps things in this regard, if this were a typical war story it wouldn't work nearly as well. Our protagonist, Xantine, is a real treat. He sees the daemon sharing his body as a lover, which in itself already sets him apart from your typical Chaos marine, and he's the perfect blend of ambition and total lack of self awareness that I like to call "the Emperor's Children special." Xantine is a man deeply affected by Canticle City's destruction (see Talon of Horus) and is desperate to recapture the glory of his legion's past by reshaping his newly "conquered" world into something perfect. This proves difficult for him, since he expects everyone else to be simultaneously in awe of his brilliance but just as ambitious as he is. Like any good Child of the Emperor, being called out on this doesn't faze him. Man talks the talk and walks the walk, all while actually trusting the daemon living in his head. Speaking of Emperor's Children, I was glad to see a backwater assume they're loyalists because of their name. The story never bothers with the population's grand realization that they're traitors, either - it's a cliché the story doesn't need. The rest of the Adored receive good characterization, as well as each human POV from the world they're now squatting on. Check the amazon extract for any BL book before purchase to make sure the prose gels with you, but I certainly thought it was good. And honestly, despite how messy the pacing made it at times, it really worked for me. Kind of has that classic sci-fi quality of shoving the interesting bits to the fore at the expense of all else. Definitely "To Taste," and my critical mind would probably give this a 7 or 8. Personally though, I've gotta give it a 9, the risks McCormick took with this all really worked for me. Man is the heir to Reynolds' III Legion throne far as I'm concerned. Multiple reviews on Goodreads list "not important to the wider universe" as one of the book's few negatives. I die a little every time I see that sentiment.