Fear to tread cover

[Brother_Martin]

I was just having a look on the Black Library website and the cover for fear to tread is up (sorry if this has already been shown):

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/Product...ar-to-tread.jpg

 

For more info see:

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/fear-to-tread.html

 

Looking forward to September!

[Demoulius]

holy :devil: that is one awesome book cover :angry:

 

whats this about us already having deamons though? ;)

 

 

ssssswaaalloooowwww!!!!!!

[Pavement Artist]

The full artwork is awesome. There's a looming gothic cathedral thing off in the background (it'll be where the blurb goes on the cover.) overall it's a stunning piece.

[bushman101]

:) thats a good looking cover

can't wait to read this one

[vharing]

Hopefully Swallow doesnt ruin Blood Angels like in the other books

[Kol Saresk]

I suppose you would rather have Dan Abnett write it even though they both have the same writing style because Dan Abnett is 'fluff-consistent" and adds coolness points to the Space Marines he writes for about sales purposes instead of adding character to create a good story and showing that even the best can hit bumps in the road? You're right, let's throw character development and all that crap out the window. That way the Blood Angels can be Vampire Grey Knights with no one ever falling to any type of Chaotic corruption. Just that every now and then they have to go see a therapist so they don't tear apart anymore innocent Imperial Guardsmen.

 

Personally, great cover and thanks for showing it to us. Cannot wait to read more from James Swallow, regardless of what some people say.

[masterchief4911]

A quick question about the horus heresy books: Are the books to be read in sequence, or can I pick this book up and just start reading it? I guess what I'm asking is, Are the books linked into one big-ass story or are the novels separate from one another?

 

As a blood angel player I can not wait to read this!!!

[Kol Saresk]

Some are linked together like the first three and the DA HH novels, but you can pretty much jump in wherever you want.

[SevenExxes]

It's about time we got our own book in the Horus Heresy series. Who knows? I might buy the whole lot now.

[Zealadin]

Shouldn't his weapon be a spear or lance? Rather than a sword.....

Just read the first Omnibus recently and the whole thing is basically about his spear.

 

The daemons thing is also obviously referring to the black rage/red thirst. Personal daemons aren't literal daemons in that kind of context. Literal 'problems'.

 

Should be interesting though, and I have to say I've found Swallow's work much better than that of many of the other authors (well pretty much all of them).

Seeing as how he's done the majority of BA work it should be in safe hands, rather than a marketing ploy to make people buy the army.

[Demoulius]

yes Sanguinius always had inner deamons :) my point is though that the legion itself dident. they only started to develop those after his death by horus caused the psychic backlash that basicly "cursed" his geneseed with the black rage and red thirst. when fighting on signus prime the legion got their first taste of it with the fall of sanguinius when they all went into a rage that basicly send KHORNE DEAMONS packing but as far as im aware they were had any of that rubbish floating about until that date :huh:

 

the novel seems to imply that the legion has ALWAYS had this "secret khorne worship" floating about or however were supposed to look at the rage now :tu: heck, it flatly states that horus tricked sanguinius into believing a cure could be found on signus...

 

what

the

:lol:

 

i hate retcons....

[Kol Saresk]

Maybe the "taint" was the strong psychic connection between Sanguinius and his sons that was never seen in any of the other Legions when their Primarchs were killed. Like Ferrus Manus. We know that either Iron Hands sat out the rest of the Heresy or like the White Scars their actions are just unrecorded after Istvaan, but there isn't any fluff(that I know of at any rate, please feel free to correct me) of any lasting side effects of his death that are similar in any way, shape or form to the Black Rage/Red Thirst.

 

Or it could be that maybe their practice of injecting aspirants with a drop of the Primarch's blood was starting to have unforeseen side effects after so many years as a Space Marine. Like possibly the Red Thirst. The fluff can be made to say just about anything we want it to say since it is so vague on what is and what isn't. Like why there can be a Chapter-wide Schism but the Imperium at large doesn't know about it because the Blood Angels manage to keep it quiet. It's possible that this "taint" was just kept quiet too. Like the Word Bearers still being religious right under the noses of the Custodians.

[Gv0zD]

My concern as well. From what I remember, Blood Angels were sent to Signus Prime in order to pacify a rebellion, not to look for a cure. Besides, even if they already suffered the black rage, how the hell did Horus knew it? I mean even after 10,000 there are only rumours and no obvious evidence that BA have something wrong within their geneseed (speaking from ingame prospective). I hope that the teaser simplyfied the book's content, but on the other hand, BL showed certain tendency to make things simplier, so who knows...

[Demoulius]

true enough about the oversimplyfing things...

 

i hope to whatever god that will listen that we dont get a loyalist copy of the world eaters :huh:

 

but then again, lets wait till the book comes out. no paint in having any angst over it... someohw i doubt we'll have much say in what comes in the novel either way :lol:

[Kol Saresk]

Well I can't remember when it happened, but the fluff has also started to separate the Red Thirst and the Black Rage into separate entities. You always hear about BAs afflicted with the Black Rage but the only time you see the Red Thirst is in the Swallow novels when Malifax shoots out that massive burst of hate when he was banished. You can hate him for it, but he's the only one who has bothered to not just state that there is a difference between the two, but actually show what that difference is. If you want to blame someone for the difference, then look at GW. The Red Thirst is just pure, uncontrolled rage. Beserker. The Black Rage is when a Blood Angel relives the last moments of Sanguinius and can perceive anyone as either Horus or a Traitor. What BL is doing now, with GW's approval since GW owns the copyrights, is saying that either the Red Thirst existed before Signus, or there was something else. And it might not even be in the gene-seed. It just might be from the fact that they were taking pure, undiluted blood of a Primarch and putting it into Astartes and mixing it with the gene-seed. And we can't know the difference since the blood that is used know is the blood that flows through the veins of the Sanguinary Priests. The Grail on Baal simply possess the purest strand of the blood. But it is still diluted with the blood of the Priests who poured it into the cup.

[Demoulius]

it most certainly is the geneseed. before the horus heresy they already needed his blood but they dident suffer from any ailment...after that though...

 

red thirst is just as the name implies, a thirst for blood. black rage is reliving the final days of sanguinius, leading to be put into a death company. therese actually a big difference between the 2. they can overcome the red thirst and they can resist it. the black rage however only one has been able to resist and thats our chief librarian. all the others succumb sooner or later.

 

some have even succumbed to the red thirst completly and are put in the tower of Amoreo on baal. They crave blood and completly lose their control.

 

All that succumb to the black rage are inducted in the death company or given the emperor's peace in times when they cant be send to the front lines. They fight battlecrazed as visions of sanguinius last days of life overtake them. in some cases the rage is so advanced that they even see their fellow brothers as foes.

 

Both curses happend AFTER Sanguinius fall. And other then the outburst on Signus when Sanguinius was mortally wounded the legion had no mention of having inner deamons before.

 

So it seems mr.Swallow is pulling a retcon out of the place that the sun doth not shine here....

 

But like I said earlier, perhaps he can do it in a way that wont make me hate the bound bundle of paper that he writes... i can only hope <_<

[Grizzly_bear]

I've always loved the Blood angels story, and since reading a few of the HH novels and reading the few bit that include Sang the primarch, I've always wanted to read more on him, and the cover on this book looks fantastic.

 

Rob

[Sokhar]

The blurb has me concerned. Swallows' previous BA books were terrible. Like barely above middle-shool fanfic bad. I read the omnibus (because I didn't read reviews of it beforehand) and I believe one additional novel, but wouldn't subject myself to more. He makes up a ton of stuff, doesn't seem to "get" Blood Angels, and the prose was horrid. Didn't really want to read more of his work for a long time.

 

Then I got started on the Horus Heresy, and plugged through the first several books. Saw Swallows' name on Flight of the Eisenstein and got nervous, but gave it a shot. Liked it a lot. Didn't even seem like the same author. Eventually read Nemesis as well, and while not as good as Flight, still found it a worthwhile read. Some faith restored in his writing talents.

 

Now he's back to Blood Angels, and that backcover blurb shows he's already screwing with BA history. Not a fan of that pitch at all, though I'll give it a shot still because I've been dying for a Heresy Blood Angels book. But was kinda hard to contain my disappointment when they announced Swallows had that particular project. And no, I don't want Dan Abnett, haven't really been that impressed with his last couple Heresy books. AD-B would have been my preference by a mile, or Graham McNeil as a close second.

 

I hope I'm proven wrong, but seems like we're probably overdue for a "Battle of the Abyss" style turd-laying at some point.

[SevenExxes]

As long as there is no Company X and/or Slayer, I'm cool with it.

My thoughts on the Red Thirst is that it's a gateway to the Black Rage. A marine may succumb to the Red Thirst but if they don't snap out of it at the end of a battle they become Black Rage infected. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it. For now.

[Gv0zD]

I actually think that in the end GW got confused with BA fluff. Judging by Index Astartes, which I personally still hold as the basis canon fluff, the Blood was the name of the tribe that adopted young Sanguinius. The People of true blood, not mutants literally. So Blood Angels meant the Angels if the true blood, heirs to the God-Emperor and their Primarch, the Archangel. Only after Signus Prime and Sanguinius' death the name changed the meaning to "Angels that thirst for blood" thanks to the emerged curse. Now, with this novel's teaser it seems that BA always suffered at least the Red Thirst (I won't be surprised if the novel would state that some marines suddenly became obsessed with the visions of their Primarch's death a-la Night Lords in A D-B's novels).

 

So, being a bit pessimistic, I expect that BA will ultimately transform into Vampires with the gift of prophecy, or to put it simplier, a hybrid of World Eaters and Night Lords. Everyone knew they thirsted for blood, they themselves knee that the curse could not be cured in any common way, thus they swallowed the bait (unintentinal play of words :)) and went to face the daemons. I wish however, that BA would still be a mysterious and noble Legion, with only hints on vampirism (at least for outsiders) and that the speculations on their Chaotic nature would never be confirmed. But judging by Prospero Burns, where despite the "mystery" imposed by Mr Abnett, SW were portrayed as simple barbarians and the Fenris wolves were just wolves, no matter what the previous book hinted, BA would become less mysterious. I apologise for long sentences that may be hard to read, but I hope you will grasp my idea.

 

-EDIT-

Don't get me wrong, I love Mr Swallow's books, both 40k-related and not. His HH books are among my most favourite in the series (still The First Heretic is the best in my opinion). I'm currently reading Deus Ex Icarus Effect by Mr Swalliw and I really enjoy it. My suspicions relate to general GW direction towards fluff that I see in recent books. I really hope I'm wrong in my judgement and no matter what, I long to read the discussed book.

[JamesI]

I know Mr. Swallow is a contentious topic at times, but lets watch the language.

[Arkangilos]

Sanguinius has always suffered from the Red Thirst (it is in the IA, but it isn't really stated as the Red Thirst at that time). The Red Thirst being passed down to their brothers is rumored to be because of the way they transfer the geneseed, and it has gotten WORSE since his death. There is nothing actually saying that the Red Thirst was caused by his death (iirc, I am letting a friend barrow my codex).

 

The whole spear thing was actually new, and in the past he was depicted with a sword (banners, art work, etc). However, there is no reason he can't have both. Primarchs can really have whatever they want.

 

Swallow is a good writer. It is that he butchered the BA fluff with his latest books (not even mentioned in the codex which was made after). But I have to say I liked how he showed the artistic side of the BA.

 

Personally, I hope he makes the BA closer to the Emperor's children. Seeking perfection, but in a more humble way.

[Zealadin]

I guess the problem is that the fluff a lot of older players refer to just doesn't exist for newer BA players like myself.

Trying to find the really old school fluff is all but impossible unless you have the old published works, and as noted is constantly evolved to suit different writers needs in books/codexes.

 

I don't think Swallows is a bad writer at all, he might not stick to the original fluff but I find the books pretty good, I know however that many people seem to think the first Omnibus is a bit meh, while the second is much better, as he really gets into the whole thing. Personally I am half way through the second and think they are both pretty similar.

Even he seems rather confused about the red thirst/black rage at times, which made hard reading trying to identify and separate the two!

 

Of course when it comes to the GK novel I thought it was mediocre and had almost no fluff/lore at all that suited the old codex, which I have followed for a far longer period. Alot of newer GK players love it however.

Then the new codex came out and I can't physically read the 'fluff' contained therein without feeling the onset of the black rage ^.^

 

So I guess it may be that we judge the novels by our knowledge of the race or army that they are about, and perhaps having more knowledge, that dates back to earlier lore may impede the enjoyment of the novels themselves, since that lore is so often left behind.

 

Just be grateful you don't like a xenos race, or you would have books about getting owned by marines :lol:

[Arkangilos]

I guess the problem is that the fluff a lot of older players refer to just doesn't exist for newer BA players like myself.

Trying to find the really old school fluff is all but impossible unless you have the old published works, and as noted is constantly evolved to suit different writers needs in books/codexes.

 

I don't think Swallows is a bad writer at all, he might not stick to the original fluff but I find the books pretty good, I know however that many people seem to think the first Omnibus is a bit meh, while the second is much better, as he really gets into the whole thing. Personally I am half way through the second and think they are both pretty similar.

Even he seems rather confused about the red thirst/black rage at times, which made hard reading trying to identify and separate the two!

 

Of course when it comes to the GK novel I thought it was mediocre and had almost no fluff/lore at all that suited the old codex, which I have followed for a far longer period. Alot of newer GK players love it however.

Then the new codex came out and I can't physically read the 'fluff' contained therein without feeling the onset of the black rage ^.^

 

So I guess it may be that we judge the novels by our knowledge of the race or army that they are about, and perhaps having more knowledge, that dates back to earlier lore may impede the enjoyment of the novels themselves, since that lore is so often left behind.

 

Just be grateful you don't like a xenos race, or you would have books about getting owned by marines :P

 

Well even the new codex didn't have any of that in it, or I would have been far more likely to accept it. I remember actually wishing that Rafen would have been a character at first.

 

Also, I liked his ideas about Sanguinius' prophecies of him returning.

[Mullinstron]

The blurb has me concerned. Swallows' previous BA books were terrible. Like barely above middle-shool fanfic bad. I read the omnibus (because I didn't read reviews of it beforehand) and I believe one additional novel, but wouldn't subject myself to more. He makes up a ton of stuff, doesn't seem to "get" Blood Angels, and the prose was horrid. Didn't really want to read more of his work for a long time.

 

Then I got started on the Horus Heresy, and plugged through the first several books. Saw Swallows' name on Flight of the Eisenstein and got nervous, but gave it a shot. Liked it a lot. Didn't even seem like the same author. Eventually read Nemesis as well, and while not as good as Flight, still found it a worthwhile read. Some faith restored in his writing talents.

 

Now he's back to Blood Angels, and that backcover blurb shows he's already screwing with BA history. Not a fan of that pitch at all, though I'll give it a shot still because I've been dying for a Heresy Blood Angels book. But was kinda hard to contain my disappointment when they announced Swallows had that particular project. And no, I don't want Dan Abnett, haven't really been that impressed with his last couple Heresy books. AD-B would have been my preference by a mile, or Graham McNeil as a close second.

 

I hope I'm proven wrong, but seems like we're probably overdue for a "Battle of the Abyss" style turd-laying at some point.

 

Its like you are speaking the words right out of my head. I feel almost the same although I liked Nemesis a bit more than flight. I have read his new short stories for the BA and they are just as bad as the BA books. I think that you really hit the nail on the head when you said swallow does not get the BA. Its like I’m reading emo Ultramarines that cry. There is nothing special or cool about the way he portrays them. It is really very depressing and I am very nervous that he’s going to make this book into another Deuce.