Blood Reaver

[Pavement Artist]

As long as they still stab stuff, i'm golden.

This + are Night Lords, then I'm the same. :P

 

Oh i can just picture that now, the end of the trilogy when they've got back into the eye. First claw whip their power armour off to reveal themselves as Alpha legion.

 

Talos: "You would not believe the week we've had"

[Fimbul]

As long as they still stab stuff, i'm golden.

This + are Night Lords, then I'm the same. ;)

 

Oh i can just picture that now, the end of the trilogy when they've got back into the eye. First claw whip their power armour off to reveal themselves as Alpha legion.

 

Talos: "You would not believe the week we've had"

 

Hey. I'd love that ;)

[Dark Mechanicum]

@AD-B: Ah, alrighty. Like i've said many times in obvious fanboyism and groveling. I"m excited for this book and the fact that they are a "part" of that event is still cool. The fact that we get to see some very awesome character building makes me even happier to just wait till I can get my hands on this book.

[Kitchen Knife]

Hooray! Praise the dark lords... and amazon for sending me the book!

 

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6127/16683017.jpg

 

Then again I spent half the night reading so damn you dark lords and amazon for robbing me from my sleep!

 

My review after the first 125 pages:

 

Impression: Badassery on every step!

 

What I liked: Even more sarcasm and cynicism than in Soul Hunter.

 

Summary of BR: If Calgar would be only 10% badass like first claw, I would start collecting ultrasmurfs!

 

 

If you’ll excuse me now, I have to go to sacrifice some fluffy kittens in my very personal A-D-B shrine in the dark corner of my cellar....

 

 

P.S. Hound seems to be a funny guy... (that's enough spoiler for this post) :huh:

[Brother Garrod]

ADB i love you ;p

didnt think you'd top soul hunter.. but you managed it. dont really wanna throw spoilers out for those that havent read it yet , but certain characters are handled really well and gives a nice look into Nostramo itself

anyone else read it yet ?

[Marshal Traben]

I have.

[Commissar Joe]

I've got it on preorder and the wait is killing me.

I don't think you're alone in your opinion though, every review I've seen has said exactly the same thing (i.e. that it tops the already impressive Soul Hunter). I'm going to reread Soul Hunter again in the lead up to the book's delivery.

The series has also inspired me to pick up Fantasy Flight's Black Crusade RPG (when it’s released) and run a campaign where a small number of Night Lords terrorize an Imperial World, scavenging supplies and sowing fear among the populace.

 

The only thing stopping me from collecting a Night Lords army is the knowledge that I can't paint well enough (yet) to do it justice!

[Vilicate]

Just read it this last weekend - bought it on Saturday, finished it Sunday night. What a great book. I loved the fleshing out of several of the characters (Uzas is a lot more interesting now), and the flashbacks really helped to see why Talos interacts with different characters the way he does.

 

I guess I don't remember Xarl having an eviscerator - but a nice touch none-the-less. As my main army is Ulthwé, I'm super stoked it seems they'll probably feature in the next book, without giving a lot away. I was sort of hoping it'd be in this book, after reading the ending to Soul Hunter.

 

ADB has gone a long way to becoming my favorite BL author after reading this; this series is actually surpassing Riders of the Dead and the Eisenhorn series for me.

 

/Fanboy

[caboosebe]

I started reading this morning, didn't do anything else xD I NEEDED to finish it :P, it was like the Dark Gods commanded me to keep reading, damn you A-D-B.

You've keepen true to your statement of what Chaos is. I loved it! The feel that Chaos is so much more then just backstabbing idiots. The hate for Imperium, the hunt for vengence, the planning, plotting, alliances and enemies.

You sir, have given us back our old glamor.

 

/Fanboy

[Marshal Traben]

This book made me like the Night Lords even more. :P

[Mr. Sandbot]

This book has been worth every delicious, amazing second of reading. I have a few minor problems with it, but I feel like ADB definitely offers an amazing opportunity to see into the minds of some really-not-nice guys who you can't help but continue reading about.

[McNs]

Really enjoyed this one!

 

I was really impressed with how well ADB captured the character of the Night Lords, without putting in an obscene number of "NIGHT LORDS!! F$&$ YEAH!" moments. We see First Claw doing what they do best, which isn't hot marine-on-marine action. And that's kinda awesome, especially in a book that held the promise to have that in spades.

 

Without giving anything away, the human drama was captured extremely well; better than most of the Horus Heresy novels. In short, this is genuinely a good book, not just a good 40K book.

 

Speaking of 40K, this inspired me to start painting a Red Corsairs force. Huron and his band of Runaway Boys are painted differently than they are in Codex:CSM, IA:10, or in McNeil's short story. I don't want to give too much away, but if you like the Corsairs, this would be a good reference.

 

All in all, I'd say pick this up before you snag Age of Darkness. This is coming from someone who luuurrrvess Heresy stuff (and AoD has some true gems in it for Chaos players [both from ABD and Rob Sanders]). Yes, its that good.

 

If you're lurking out there ABD: keep up the good work. Can't wait for your novella (though I wish BL wasn't charging $36 US for shipping)!

[Son of Rawl]

I picked Blood Reaver up on Monday and finished it today, it is an awesome read love the charecter development and looking forward to the next installment

[Midgard]

I am about half-way through it right now (would have finished it had it not been for the horrendous lack of time), and so far, it is absolutely excellent. Love the interactions between Octavia and Septimus, the shades of humanity that keep on showing up with Talos, and the additional depth to Uzas (my view of him has significantly changed). Even better, Huron (at least in his appearances this far) is not a cardboard cut-out villain, but seems actually (gasp!) sympathetic.

 

I got this together with "Age of Darkness" and a few other recent 40K books, and thus far, I have only read one story from "Age of Darkness" ("Savage Weapons", ironically enough) - "Blood Reaver" has taken precedence over other stories this far. Needless to say, I can't wait to finish it - and it will be a very, very anxious wait for "Void Stalker". Another year... urgh!

 

I will post a full review once I am done with it and had a bit of time to think it over.

[Corsair]

I just finished the book then, and once again I am left utterly amazed.

 

If you read this ADB, I don't know how you manage to craft characters who are at once compelling and loathsome, but you do. I hate Talos, First Claw, even Septimus, yet I also want them to succeed, to survive and maybe even find a little happiness. Hell, you made me feel sorry for Uzas!

 

Beautifully written and an inspiration for someone looking to break into the writing game, I definitely think Blood Reaver is an even stronger book than Soul Hunter.

[Balthamal]

Finished reading it today and it's epic. After reading Soul Hunter and TFH I thought I had a fair expectation of what the standard of the book would be. I was very very wrong. As the previous post states, managing to make anyone feel sorry for Uzas would be a lauded achievement all on its on. The fact that it's a relatively minor point throughout the book speaks volumes. It is everything a Night Lords fan could want and it is also great to see some characters finally fleshed out such as Lugft Huron. As a quick warning to any who may read this before hitting the book, don't even attempt to guess the ending because you'll never see the twists coming and the last 3 chapters are mind blowing. Well worth buying, soon.

[Lord Ragnarok]

I'm still reading it when I find time. Love every page. I've read and listened to the other ABD NL stuff. Damn him for making me really like a Legion I've always disliked. And a sincere thanks on his depiction of my beloved Huron and the Red Corsairs (so far).

[nurglez]

awesome book, couldn't put it down til I had finished it, A-D-B is now one of my favourite authors, especially as he signs his name like the metallica symbol!

[Lord Ragnarok]

Just finished. Great Story! Can't wait for the next installment.

[Lexington]

Grabbed this on Sunday, about a third of the way through now. Every single scene friggin' crackles with tension, and is heavy with subtext. Soul Hunter was about being trapped, teetering at the precipice of giving up and consigning one's self to fate. Blood Reaver's the natural sequel, with characters making their first tentative steps towards freeing themselves - mind, body and soul - from their self-imposed confines.

 

It's brilliant, and the fact that I've still got several hundred pages to go fills me with an obscene sort of glee. ;)

[ninja6fett]

Having just finished Soul Hunter and about to move onto Blood Reaver soon there were a few things popped out at me.

 

The first is Talos' tendency to deny the Emperor as he kills the Imperium's servants. Why this pops out is from having read the Heresy novels and knowing that the Emperor wasn't trying to abandon his sons to ascend into Godhood as the Chaos Gods told Horus. So anytime he does this with his righteous indignation at the betrayal of his Legion and primarch by the Emperor it strikes me as particularly tragic.

 

The other thing that has me very curious is the character of Curze himself. In multiple places throughout the net it talks about how he may have had two personalities. I'm curious if that is true or merely people reading too much into it? Or maybe A D-B wishes to keep The Night Haunter as a mysterious figure. For some reason out of all the traitor primarchs his story is more interesting to me than the others. hopefully there will be more stories and possibly a Night Lords novel set during the Heresy era.

 

All that said I absolutely loved the book! And I cannot wait to read Blood Reaver.

[mega_marines]

Oh God, I'm already rereading it for the third time, and I picked it up on Saturday.

 

Damn you A-D-B. You have created crack in book based form.

[Ammonius]

This is an inspiring addition to the Chaos canon. A-D-B, I will buy any book you author from now on.

 

Some other thoughts:

 

After getting a few chapters in, I reflected that there is no way to have a squad of marines like First Talon on the tabletop. Some have marks of chaos, some don't, heck they have marks, not Icons. But then, the next day at my FLGS, someone brought up KillZone, the fan-dex that allows you to run smaller, more detailed squads of troops with more variety in their wargear, etc. thus, it has become a goal of mine to put together a squad of chosen of The Purge (modelling and written fluff) that come close to being as characterful as First Talon, without being a copy.

 

The scenes where Huron and Talos interact, and directly refer to the differences between a Traitor Legion and a Renegade Chapter are wonderful. I know that the explanations for why it wouldn't happen have been posted elsewhere on B&C, but I'd love it if A-D-B could write the fluff for the next CSM codex, or at least contribute.

 

Speaking of the codex, I smirked when one of the Red Corsair terminators wields his storm bolter ;) Hopefully this is an indication that Renegades will be able to buy them in the next codex.

 

All in all a great book, and one I know I'll wear out.

So, when are we getting a Night Lords hardcover omnibus?

[Lord_Caerolion]

Sadly, they probably won't. A D-B has commented before that he calls them storm bolters purely because combi-bolter sounds stupid, whereas storm bolter is just awesome.

[Dark Mechanicum]

Picked up the book last friday along with Age of Darkness...read them both and finished by saturday noon (I didn't sleep much too hyped up.)

 

I agree with one of the above posters, It is crack...i'm addicted. I'm only on my 2nd read through and i'm going slow but I've read the last two chapters over and over just for sheer laugh purposes. You sir have rekindled my love of the Night Lords and I know get to get into another argument at my local hobby center for the bat winged heads....and this time I get to win since they do have them and they ACTUALLY have a bloody purpose.

 

A-D-B, you have hit this scene like a bolt shell hitting an astartes, with enough force to knock them back and either kill outright or hurt incredibly. Black Library is that Astartes hit by the bolt shell that is your writing, they are all going to have to step up their game and us fans are now going to be loving what will be coming out.

 

Oh, and Savage Weapons made me smile, I hope to hear more about the different colored gauntlets and everything soon.