Helsreach Novel Discussion

[Julius Firefocht]

Its less that Black Templar got a book and more of that they got a book written by ADB that Julius Firefocht was referring to methinks.

 

Brother Kaelgrim got that right. ADB is possibly the best Black Library author right after Dan Abnett himself, and is on par with Graham McNeil in my opinion. And this is only his third novel in the Black Library! I expect great things of him in the future.

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

I agree with you there. Reading Soul Hunter was like reading Eisenhorn for the first time. The 40k universe through Talos' eyes brought the same feeling of a massive universe filled with cruel and uncompromising creatures preying on the fragile bits of mankind that struggle to stay sane. Or something like that, its hard to describe.

[Ashe Darke]

So far Andrej is my favourite character in this book. He's definitely rising into my top favourite characters ever.

[Brother Hadafix]

I meant more in the way that there are plenty BA novels out there, if he had mentioned one of the BA successors I would of totally agreed.

 

Given that Helsreach is an important piece of BT fluff and has a small part in the C:BT, how willing are people to take the novel as canon, or what percentage of it?

 

Loving the battle scenes right now. Sons of Dorn! Knights of the Emperor! Charge! Happy days :)

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

I have yet to read it but if it is anywhere as good as Soul Hunter I know I will consider it canon :)

[DarkKnightCuron]

I meant more in the way that there are plenty BA novels out there, if he had mentioned one of the BA successors I would of totally agreed.

 

Given that Helsreach is an important piece of BT fluff and has a small part in the C:BT, how willing are people to take the novel as canon, or what percentage of it?

 

Loving the battle scenes right now. Sons of Dorn! Knights of the Emperor! Charge! Happy days :lol:

 

When a lack of information is present, and information is provided to fill said gap, the information being provided is usually taken as canon, until something overrides the first information provided (if you catch my horribly-worded meaning). In other words, until I hear otherwise, this is canon in the making, gentlemen (at least in my viewpoint.)

[Ashe Darke]

Finished it last night. At first I didn't think it was amazing, it may have been to do with the fact I was a bit distracted or that I didn't know much about the Black Templars, but it was well written, and as much as I was putting it down I was picking it back up again in about 5 minutes. I essentially read it in two chunks over two days as it was hard to put it down. I won't talk about specific moments as it's not been out long and many people are yet to read it.

 

This book has left me lost for words in how to describe it. I kinda think of Storm Of Iron as a bit of a benchmark, it is far from perfect but it is a well rounded story and by the time it has finished there is a sense of completeness about it. That wasn't the case as with Soul Hunter as it is at least a trilogy and that sense of completeness will not come for a while and until that time it won't be able to topple SoI although I can this happening when it is complete. But I imagine this is how I would have felt if I'd just read the first Eisenhorn book and I was told there were two more on the way. Helsreach has that completeness to it which really sealed the deal for me that this is an amazing book. It really went from strength to strength and I'm going to re-read it again to see if I enjoy it more now the distraction has passed. Grimaldus as a character is exactly where he should be at the end of this book and journey he takes the get there is one of the best character progressions I've read in a book short of Eisenhorn, not that he was going down a good road but Abnett had more books to broaden his scope. It doesn't feel fake or as forced as in other books.

 

This book is probably the deepest BL I've ever read, like ADB has said on the podcast and in his blog this isn't the kinda battle porn book people might think it is. It's far better than that. It does have a lot of fighting sure and these guys are mental and kick ass but the best bits are the interactions between the characters (Andrej being one of my favourites). I had no idea who Grimaldus was before reading this book and when I found out who he was I read up on him just to give me an idea of who/what he is. The way he is portrayed in this book and his development as character is another thing that sealed the deal with me and what ADB did with this piece of established fluff is amazing. He intends on setting the next NL book at the Fall of Vilamus and if this is how he writes for established fluff then let him have it and anything else he wants as I guarantee it won't disappoint.

 

As I've said, I don't know loads about the Templars but this was good enough on it's own for that not to be a problem and even non-Templar fans should get it as it is about a key moment in normal fluff as well as Templar fluff. It was pulled off in the best way I can imagine anyone from BL doing and you're really missing out on an excellent expansion of your own fluff if you don't read it.

[Knight of Old]

Indeed. I had my doubts when purchasing this novel. Part of me wanted to know more about Templars, while the other part was weary of the fact that it might be all action uncensored pr0n. I am glad the later proved to be wrong. I really love the style of writing and love the fact that certain scenes are left up to the reader to fill up the detail.

 

In short I would recommend this novel to the people who had the same fear as I had, or are purchasing their first WH novel and don't know where to start.

[Chaplin Alexander]

So I am sitting here looking at the cover for Helsreach. I have not had the chance to pick it up because all the book stores around here have not gotten it in yet. Yes makes me want to drive my crusader through their front door. Anyways back to the cover Grimaldus is armed with a plasma pistol and I see one in the art and he is fireing it. The thing is that is not how I would imagine a plasma pistol being fired. If you ask me that looks more like what you would see if you were fireing a bolt pistol or a bolter. Just saying.

[Ashe Darke]

It's all about the Crozius man :)

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

Authors don't often dictate the covers of their novels from what I've heard. Plus, artists often take a bit of license when crafting their works, such as the lightning on the cover of Soul Hunter actually being lightning instead of looking painted on. This looked really really cool, so I didn't find it too hard to let that slide and the bolter style fire from a plasma pistol isn't a big deal either.

[Chaplin Alexander]

I know it is all about the Crozius. He should be using it. :ph34r: I think it is a cool picture that was just my only issue with it.

[Brother Hadafix]

Shoot me, but AD-B made an error.

Emperors Champions are chosen before the Crusade, it is not a normal rank like other HQ's, but a very unique one, held (as far as I know) for that Crusade alone. The do however retain Company Champions as normal.

Its not one thats going to ruin the book,

I didn't notice it in till the bit about those that didn't think Gimaldus should be promoted, was doing well at sticking to the fluff till that point to.

, but it is annoying once you know its there.

 

Could have done with a little bit more editing to weed out a few word errors, but no spelling mistakes that I can see.

 

One of the best I have read so far from the BL, hope there is another to come some time in the future. Better understanding of the point I have raised would be nice though. What happened?

[A D-B]

Shoot me, but AD-B made an error.

Emperors Champions are chosen before the Crusade, it is not a normal rank like other HQ's, but a very unique one, held (as far as I know) for that Crusade alone. The do however retain Company Champions as normal.

Its not one thats going to ruin the book,

I didn't notice it in till the bit about those that didn't think Gimaldus should be promoted, was doing well at sticking to the fluff till that point to.

, but it is annoying once you know its there.

 

Could have done with a little bit more editing to weed out a few word errors, but no spelling mistakes that I can see.

 

One of the best I have read so far from the BL, hope there is another to come some time in the future. Better understanding of the point I have raised would be nice though. What happened?

 

You're right in that it's an error, but it's also intentional. A break with tradition.

 

 

He was a holdover from the last crusade, sent to die with them. It's supposed to highlight how flawed the Helsreach Crusade really was - led by by a reluctant leader, little ammunition left, etc. etc. and even their Emperor's Champion was a legacy of a finer, better crusade. That's why it changes when Grimaldus develops towards the end of the book, and he nominates Priamus as the Emperor's Champion "of the Helsreach Crusade". Note when that happens: when Grimaldus comes into his own as leader, it's one of the changes that happens around then.

 

It's a metaphor in the story (not a purposeful one by Grimaldus, obviously) - part of all those events coming together at the close. They're all about to die, but at last, everything feels right.

 

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

I unfortunately can't get the book until next week, it hasn't arrived yet :)

[Drac0]

I unfortunately can't get the book until next week, it hasn't arrived yet ;)

 

I feel your pain. Got up early today, went to the local store to check if they had the book and I was told that the book isn't out yet. -.-' :D

When I told them that the book was out and that I could buy it online the reply was that the book takes longer to get here because they order them from the US -.-'

 

Now I have to wait till next month to get it. :D

[Brother Hadafix]

@ AD-B: Reading that, it makes more sense. Well done on another great novel.

 

What were your favourite bits when writing the book and what were the hardest parts?

[SeanDrake]

Hi just finished the book was an excellent story well told and makes me glad that I picked the Grimaldus mini up as a freebie a couple of months back as i'm feeling inspired to paint it up now.

 

Also AD-B if you read this your depiction of the SM's as something not quite human was spot on and despite what you said in your 40k radio interview I don't think your going to get much flak about it and I at least think it was worth the effort you put in.

[isilvra]

Just finished it. I must say, he's done a better job with the Templers than Mr Green did, I must confess to never finishing either of his Armageddon books. I did like this new direction that Space Marines are taking. |The removing of their humanity is, after all, something the marines themselves clam has happened to them. This is the only real book that actually gets it across. Unlike some BL books it's very well researched. I'm a complete fundamentalist for BL continuity and accuracy and I only found one point...and it was so minor I can't even remember what it was and it could easily be explained away.

 

The only negative I could find was that we have just had a Space Marine on Ork seige book from Rynns World. I do prefer Helsreach though.

[Chaplain ChonkE]

Hah! I thought it was the best parts of Uncensored Action Pr0n and Sci-Fi campaign novel. Great book, great read for any fans of Templars. Just finished the book and I thought the individuality of the Templars was shown very well throughout the novel, and Grimmy had excellent characterization. I give it two Lit Claws holding a shredded Space Ork corpse up! I am certainly going to add some Armageddon marks to my guys.

 

Thank you ADB for making my Chapter of choice not suck! In the Halls of the Black Library your legend grows, as does the ADB section in my fiction/pulp library :P Keep it up!

[Templar Initiate]

Long time lurker coming out of the shadows to say how much I enjoyed this book!

 

I'm going to be brief so as not to spoil any details for anybody who hasn't read it yet, but I think that this book is the best example of being inside the mind of an Astartes that I have read.

 

I believe Mr. Dembski-Bowden has hit another home run. I encourage not just 40k players, but anybody who is a fan of military sci-fi to give it a read.

 

 

 

Yes, I'm an A D-B fan; no, I don't think that changes my opinion of this book. It's fantastic!

 

Read it; you won't regret it.

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

So I just finished Helsreach and LOVED IT. The writing was fantastic, the characters believable. I especially loved the Templars. You got to see alot of their flaws in the book, such as their disregard for the authority or desires of humanity, their merciless nature, and their reckless assaults. But you also got to see alot of what makes the Black Templars such an amazing chapter.

 

They were valorous, inspiring, and downright killy. Grimaldus definitely felt like an individual instead of some legend portrayed in stiff quotable scenes like I've seen in other BL books. I've been loving ADB's books so far as he really feels like an author who 'gets' the 40k universe.

 

I give it an 8/10. It lost some points for some things, like the sense of time was a bit off, hard to keep track of where I was in the siege. At times, the action flowed from scene to scene without any connection, though this wasn't always the case. I loved some of the little references to Abnett work, the overall story was great but there does still appear to be some room for improvement. However, for an early Black Library work by a swiftly rising author, it was fantastic.

 

Some quick questions for the rest of you though.

 

 

Does the Forgemaster die when he fires Oberon? The words used indicate he did, but its not quite clear. Also, did Domoska die at the end?

 

[StrangeGuy]

I spent 45 minutes in the local bookstore today, they said they'd have copies in store when I called them on sunday. The in store computer said they had 2 copies today.... there were no copies and now I'm angry ;)

[Marshal Wilhelm]

I spent 45 minutes in the local bookstore today, they said they'd have copies in store when I called them on sunday. The in store computer said they had 2 copies today.... there were no copies and now I'm angry ;)

 

That's not angry => :(

 

These are angry => ;) :lol:

 

I see we're gonna have to re-introduce the Emperor's Wrath classes.... you did at least Righteous Zeal towards them but remain 1" away, right?!

[StrangeGuy]

Always.