A Thousand Sons: Propaganda

[Grimtooth]

I read this entire book just the night before last in a marathon all night reading session and I have to say that it is a very well written book for what it was designed, the telling of the fall of the Thousand Sons, FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE.

 

As we all know, there is always two sides to a story and McNeill really is brilliant in his writing style of telling such a one-sided version of events in the fall of the Thousand Sons.

 

1. The cast of characters from the book are all depicted as tragic heroes, the greatest being Magnus. Victims of circumstance, not their own actions.

 

2. The loyalty of the Thousands Sons to the Emperor is not really revealed throughout the book, but the fanatical loyalty to the Emperor by the World Bearers is constantly mocked.

 

3. The Space Wolves loyalty is constantly mocked as being mere attack dogs of the Emperor.

 

4. The Space Wolves are consistently only described as being barbaric and unrefined as Space Marines.

 

5. Russ himself is given his props as a primarch, but only in his bestial fury and combat. Only once is it mentioned that the uncouth behavior and appearance could really only be a disguise.

 

6. The entire setting as told by the Thousand Sons characters of the gathering on Nikkea (sp) is completely skewed towards the persecution of the Thousand Sons and Magnus when it is calling into question the use of librarians throughout all the Legions, not just the Thousand Sons.

 

7. After the events on Nikkea, it is very much glossed over that the Thousand Sons and Magnus continued to use sorcery and their powers. As if the what the Emperor had just decreed was of absolute no value at all.

 

This book is really a full blown propaganda leaflet for the Thousand Sons. That their fall to Chaos was of hardly any responsibility of their own and that even Magnus himself was just a victim of fate and not of his own undoing. Yes he admits he messed up, but he blames the manipulations of Chaos, not his own power hungry, glory seeking ambitions. Even at the end where you have Ahriman describing his attempt to use the Rubric, despite all that has happened when trying to use sorcery (the Fall of Prospero and the Legion), there is still the smug power hungry attitude that this time will be different.

 

Like I said, a great read for what this book and ultimately Prospero Burns are intended to show, re-telling of the events leading to the fall of the Thousand Sons and the destruction of Prospero from different perspectives. I will be reading this book many times while awaiting the release of Prospero Burns.

 

A couple of additional things I would add that do not relate to the propaganda:

 

1. In the very biased descriptions of the Space Wolves by the Thousand Sons, I am even more attracted and excited to be a Space Wolves player. The descriptions of the Fenrisian wolves alone several times in the book really makes me want to find a better model to represent them then just dire wolves or goblin wolf riders.

 

2. The reverberating psychic howl of Russ must be completely awesome. I mean it even brings the Chief Librarian Ahriman to his knees with its power. I can imagine it being exactly what happens right before a assault to cause the psychic powers to lapse long enough to run someone through with a power weapon or chainsword.

[clanfield]

i liked the book it shows the 1k sons out to be what they are heratics plain and simple self obsesive fools and the wolves wello what more can i say but for me the best part was the fleet pulling into orbit how cool was that

 

crawles under the tabble to finish his ale

[Grimtooth]

i liked the book it shows the 1k sons out to be what they are heratics plain and simple self obsesive fools and the wolves wello what more can i say but for me the best part was the fleet pulling into orbit how cool was that

 

crawles under the tabble to finish his ale

 

Well it only shows that if you read into their actions a little bit and not just take it for face value. I am sure Thousand Sons players all over are solemnly nodding their head at the great tragedy of their Legion when reading this but then happily carve the sign of Tzeentch into an unbaptized baby.

 

I think my favorite part was the confrontation on the bridge when one of the Thousand Sons flesh changes after the psychic attack on the Space Wolves. The one Wolf Lord stutters while bleeding like hell,

 

"I know you!"

 

And then Russ delivers a bolter shell to the head.

[Stormshrug]

Well it only shows that if you read into their actions a little bit and not just take it for face value. I am sure Thousand Sons players all over are solemnly nodding their head at the great tragedy of their Legion when reading this but then happily carve the sign of Tzeentch into an unbaptized baby.

 

 

I thought most people played Thousand Sons because they're freaking Mummy Sorcerers of DOOM, not because they're "misunderstood"... not that specific cults are terribly worthwhile in the current Chaos codex.

 

-Stormshrug

[Grimtooth]

Well it only shows that if you read into their actions a little bit and not just take it for face value. I am sure Thousand Sons players all over are solemnly nodding their head at the great tragedy of their Legion when reading this but then happily carve the sign of Tzeentch into an unbaptized baby.

 

 

I thought most people played Thousand Sons because they're freaking Mummy Sorcerers of DOOM, not because they're "misunderstood"... not that specific cults are terribly worthwhile in the current Chaos codex.

 

-Stormshrug

 

I am sure the initial draw to the Thousand Sons was the Sorcerers of Doom aspect, but now they have a book to place on their nightstand that they can now justify why they are Sorcerers of Doom.

[Decoy]

1. The cast of characters from the book are all depicted as tragic heroes, the greatest being Magnus. Victims of circumstance, not their own actions.

Fitting. The heretical Thousand Sons see themselves as Emo-Marines.

 

2. The loyalty of the Thousands Sons to the Emperor is not really revealed throughout the book, but the fanatical loyalty to the Emperor by the World Bearers is constantly mocked.

Well, to be fair, don't us Wolves kind of mock the same thing? We only revere the Emperor as the one person who actually beat Russ in a slug-fest.

 

3. The Space Wolves loyalty is constantly mocked as being mere attack dogs of the Emperor.

I have no problem with this in the least. ^_^

 

4. The Space Wolves are consistently only described as being barbaric and unrefined as Space Marines.

I also have no problem with -this- in the least. :)

 

5. Russ himself is given his props as a primarch, but only in his bestial fury and combat. Only once is it mentioned that the uncouth behavior and appearance could really only be a disguise.

Fitting. A master strategist never reveals himself or his capabilities fully.

 

6. The entire setting as told by the Thousand Sons characters of the gathering on Nikkea (sp) is completely skewed towards the persecution of the Thousand Sons and Magnus when it is calling into question the use of librarians throughout all the Legions, not just the Thousand Sons.

Poor, poor widdle K-Sons. Always persecuted. They're getting as bad as the Dark Angels...

 

7. After the events on Nikkea, it is very much glossed over that the Thousand Sons and Magnus continued to use sorcery and their powers. As if the what the Emperor had just decreed was of absolute no value at all.

Kinda comes with the job description of "Traitors". Yet another instance of acting out, similar to listening to whiny music, wearing one's hair in disturbing fashions, donning skintight jeans and sulking.

 

So... For the TL;DR crew here.

 

Space Wolves act like Space Wolves

Thousand Sons are blue Dark Angels in terms of emo-ness.

 

Hehe. Nice summary, Ramses. I got bored and felt like throwing some snark around. Thanks for the heads up regarding the book. *thumbsup*

[Grimtooth]

1. The cast of characters from the book are all depicted as tragic heroes, the greatest being Magnus. Victims of circumstance, not their own actions.

Fitting. The heretical Thousand Sons see themselves as Emo-Marines.

 

2. The loyalty of the Thousands Sons to the Emperor is not really revealed throughout the book, but the fanatical loyalty to the Emperor by the World Bearers is constantly mocked.

Well, to be fair, don't us Wolves kind of mock the same thing? We only revere the Emperor as the one person who actually beat Russ in a slug-fest.

 

3. The Space Wolves loyalty is constantly mocked as being mere attack dogs of the Emperor.

I have no problem with this in the least. ^_^

 

4. The Space Wolves are consistently only described as being barbaric and unrefined as Space Marines.

I also have no problem with -this- in the least. :)

 

5. Russ himself is given his props as a primarch, but only in his bestial fury and combat. Only once is it mentioned that the uncouth behavior and appearance could really only be a disguise.

Fitting. A master strategist never reveals himself or his capabilities fully.

 

6. The entire setting as told by the Thousand Sons characters of the gathering on Nikkea (sp) is completely skewed towards the persecution of the Thousand Sons and Magnus when it is calling into question the use of librarians throughout all the Legions, not just the Thousand Sons.

Poor, poor widdle K-Sons. Always persecuted. They're getting as bad as the Dark Angels...

 

7. After the events on Nikkea, it is very much glossed over that the Thousand Sons and Magnus continued to use sorcery and their powers. As if the what the Emperor had just decreed was of absolute no value at all.

Kinda comes with the job description of "Traitors". Yet another instance of acting out, similar to listening to whiny music, wearing one's hair in disturbing fashions, donning skintight jeans and sulking.

 

So... For the TL;DR crew here.

 

Space Wolves act like Space Wolves

Thousand Sons are blue Dark Angels in terms of emo-ness.

 

Hehe. Nice summary, Ramses. I got bored and felt like throwing some snark around. Thanks for the heads up regarding the book. *thumbsup*

 

It is a good read regardless of my preconceived notions of the Thousand Sons and my bias towards Space Wolves. I mean I almost read it just on a "Know thy enemy" aspect alone, but I also just like to read in general.

[CainTheHunter]

So the book is basically about "rednecks" v. "emo"?

[Grimtooth]

So the book is basically about "rednecks" v. "emo"?

 

The book really doesn't even go into describing the Space Wolves beyond just appearance. The Thousand Sons characters toss a couple of double-sided inults/praise every now and then but don't delve much into them. It almost seems that the Space Wolves are so far below the Thousand Sons, they do not warrant much in the telling of the tale.

[Lord Ragnarok]

I would say we are portrayed more as savage, unrelenting, single minded tools of utter destruction with no other compunction than to attack when we are told to "fetch". I'd guess our book will provide more background on why we are the way we are and place this in a better perspective from our point of view. The 30k savagery somehow flies in the face of our more "humanitarian" feel in 40K, so I'd like to see a little more of that, unless we were just savage brutes when being lead by Russ, and the more humanitarian part came post his departure.

[Vash113]

I've said it many times before but I actually I really didn't like the book, the Remembrancers could have been tossed out the window for all it would have effected the story, the lead up to the Scouring of Prospero took for freakin ever and major events like Horus' fall were skipped over while others like the Council of Nikaea where criminally short and the edict at the end of that event was just plain dumb. The fight scenes were boring and one sided, the Thousand Sons emo and self absorbed to the point where IMO all sense of tragedy was lost, their utter inability to contemplate the weight of their actions or the reprocussions not to mention their utter arrogance completely undermined any sympathy I could have felt for them in their fall and left me with a feeling of "they got what they deserved" which is not what the Scouring of Prospero should depict. Then of course you have every single one of the Thousand Sons able to blast sorcerous psychic powers around like they're firing bolters and even the people of Prospero all seem to have some psychic ability as well. The Thousand Sons were always supposed to have more psykers than usual but not 100%, that's just nuts.

 

I liked the Thousand Sons and their background before, but McNiell did a good job of destroying everything I found cool or interresting about the Legion, even worse than he did for the Ultramarines, at least there he shares blame with Mat Ward. The account from the Thousand Sons perspective should have made their fall out to be a tragic fate, not the just the just consequences of their foolhardy and arrogant actions. For their to be a tragic fall, one has to actually fall, its important to show how far someone has fallen from and the unavoidable circumstances, but IMO McNiell utterly failed to do this. Not once did Magnus or anyone else suggest that they follow the Emperor's decrees or at least try to as much as they could, not once did the Legion try to temper their abilities, McNiell didn't even focus on the rampant mutations that had been a major cause for the use of Sorcery in the Legion pre-heresy according to their IA, no he pegged that on Magnus and lost one of the major factors that necessitated the Thousand Sons actions. Without such a dire need the Legions use of Sorcery was simply choice and a choice they abused until they got burned for it, there's nothing tragic about that.

 

I seem to be in the minority but for those reasons and many, many more I feel A Thousand Sons is one of the worst Horus Heresy books and depicted the fall of the Thousand Sons in the least sympathetic and most pitifull light possible. They went from tragic heroes desperate to aid the Emperor in stopping Horus to arrogant fools who single handedly destroyed the Emperor's plans... and that... sucks. :lol:

[Lord Ragnarok]

Vash that is not new (destroying the Emperor's plans) That was introduced by Merrett in the Horus Heresy art books.

[Grimtooth]

I've said it many times before but I actually I really didn't like the book, the Remembrancers could have been tossed out the window for all it would have effected the story, the lead up to the Scouring of Prospero took for freakin ever and major events like Horus' fall were skipped over while others like the Council of Nikaea where criminally short and the edict at the end of that event was just plain dumb. The fight scenes were boring and one sided, the Thousand Sons emo and self absorbed to the point where IMO all sense of tragedy was lost, their utter inability to contemplate the weight of their actions or the reprocussions not to mention their utter arrogance completely undermined any sympathy I could have felt for them in their fall and left me with a feeling of "they got what they deserved" which is not what the Scouring of Prospero should depict. Then of course you have every single one of the Thousand Sons able to blast sorcerous psychic powers around like they're firing bolters and even the people of Prospero all seem to have some psychic ability as well. The Thousand Sons were always supposed to have more psykers than usual but not 100%, that's just nuts.

 

I liked the Thousand Sons and their background before, but McNiell did a good job of destroying everything I found cool or interresting about the Legion, even worse than he did for the Ultramarines, at least there he shares blame with Mat Ward. The account from the Thousand Sons perspective should have made their fall out to be a tragic fate, not the just the just consequences of their foolhardy and arrogant actions. For their to be a tragic fall, one has to actually fall, its important to show how far someone has fallen from and the unavoidable circumstances, but IMO McNiell utterly failed to do this. Not once did Magnus or anyone else suggest that they follow the Emperor's decrees or at least try to as much as they could, not once did the Legion try to temper their abilities, McNiell didn't even focus on the rampant mutations that had been a major cause for the use of Sorcery in the Legion pre-heresy according to their IA, no he pegged that on Magnus and lost one of the major factors that necessitated the Thousand Sons actions. Without such a dire need the Legions use of Sorcery was simply choice and a choice they abused until they got burned for it, there's nothing tragic about that.

 

I seem to be in the minority but for those reasons and many, many more I feel A Thousand Sons is one of the worst Horus Heresy books and depicted the fall of the Thousand Sons in the least sympathetic and most pitifull light possible. They went from tragic heroes desperate to aid the Emperor in stopping Horus to arrogant fools who single handedly destroyed the Emperor's plans... and that... sucks. :tu:

 

I read your review in the Chaos forums as well Vash.

 

I think one thing you need to take into account that I prefaced this topic was is that I think this book is completely skewed toward the Thousand Sons perspective. If you were to read this book without any knowledge of the Thousand Sons, the book does come down more along the lines of a tragic heroes face destruction. However, any knowledge of the Warhammer 40k storyline, you can easily read between the lines and see the b.s. of an attempt to legitimize their fall, cast themselves as poor victims, and everyone else as adversaries.

 

Sadly, I think the delay for Prospero Burns possibly ruined the effect that both of these books released in conjunction could have created and presented.

[Simo429]

the descriptions of the wolves made me much happier not having a wolf to model them on

 

wargs all the way for me

[WolfLord Digby]

Vash has hit the nail on the head there...i enjoyed pretty much all of the heresy books but 1k sons was utter b******s !

[Commander Sasha]

Whereas I am actually inspired to try some 1K sons lists using my marines, and decide if I like them!

I thought it was no better or worse than a lot of the HH books, and I've always had a soft spot for art that takes the bad guys' perspective; Tarantino, Godfather, Firefly, anything intelligent with a vampire...

 

Several of the earlier HH books were more-or-less concurrent from differing perspectives; they could have just given us a dull school history book outlining events. This was better food for thought.

 

That being said, my 'favourite' Dan Brown moment was when the Wolf captains sword was described as

...fashioned from ice hewn from the heart of a glacier and tempered in the breath of the mightiest Kraken...

What happens when you stick ice in the fire? Oh, right...melta weapons!