Betrayer

[Captain Idaho]

It's my own fault;I shouldn't had allowed myself to join in with a loosely on topic discussion within this thread. Right, let's get back on topic now we know how to pronounce the three Primarchs who feature (or might feature) in this novel.

 

And no more internet leet speak.

[Purge The Weak]

So that is why there are two price hikes a year ! Awesome cover haha!

 

(Joke :) )

[Greyall]

We still don't know in what way the story of 'Betrayer' relates to the title. ADB has insisted that the title's main function is to identify the main character, but I'm not convinced (maybe that's the problem, but speculating about 40K is always interesting.

 

He has also referred that 'his' Khârn is different from the one we saw in Rebirth, so

right now there's no indication that Khârn's regret for giving his soul to Khorne - which is ever-present in his mind, thanks to the Thousand Son in the story - will play a role

. Yet I do believe there'll be at least a slight indication of his growing adherence to Khorne's savage doctrine at the expense of everything else, his mind included.

[Castiel]

The book features Lorgar as well as Khârn, so betrayers and betrayal could be more of a theme running through the book. My 2 pence.

[A D-B]

We still don't know in what way the story of 'Betrayer' relates to the title. ADB has insisted that the title's main function is to identify the main character, but I'm not convinced (maybe that's the problem, but speculating about 40K is always interesting.

 

Well, not exactly. I think I said the title makes it obvious who the main character is (and it does), but it's a title like The First Heretic. It refers to the theme running through the novel, and could refer to more than one character. It's just, in a meta-sense, it's a title that points to the main character because we as 40K fans will say "Clearly about Khârn, right there."

 

 

He has also referred that 'his' Khârn is different from the one we saw in Rebirth, so

right now there's no indication that Khârn's regret for giving his soul to Khorne - which is ever-present in his mind, thanks to the Thousand Son in the story - will play a role

. Yet I do believe there'll be at least a slight indication of his growing adherence to Khorne's savage doctrine at the expense of everything else, his mind included.

 

I don't want to go too deeply into this, but part of the problem is that we saw the World Eaters ostensibly fine in False Gods, and then ten minutes later in Galaxy in Flames, Khârn was shouting "I AM THE EIGHTFOLD PATH", and people who'd seen him a few weeks ago barely recognised him.

 

For me, personally, that was one of the least-convincing moments in the Heresy. I thought it was very... gamey. Very, um, unsubtle and rapid "Chaos Corruption" in a tabletop sense. It came out of nowhere, with no foreshadowing, suddenly suggesting the World Eaters were one of the Legions deepest in thrall to Chaos already, practically before the first shot was fired, before any of the series' main characters - even the Sons of Horus - had any real idea what Chaos was. And, again, that stole any credence I had of the moment. I understand it's a popular scene in the Heresy because of the event itself, but you'll have a difficult time convincing me it rocked with how it was done.

 

Then you have Rebirth, which is trickier. It's excellently written, and by one of my friends, no less. But it was written on editor request, without the Powers That Be checking the timeline properly (We'd lined up Isstvan III and Prospero roundabout the same time; now Khârn is somehow at both); coupled with the fact I'd already said I was sending the World Eaters with the Word Bearers, so Khârn was technically off the table post-Isstvan V). A a minor note/change, it took the Chaos taint in the Legion much further, faster, than I'd been planning for months. But again, tiny changes - only stuff you notice behind the scenes.

 

So to be blunt... we'll make sure nothing openly conflicts to the point of ending the world, but the license itself is set up specifically to offer different authors' perspectives. I don't feel beholden to anything that came before when it comes to the minutiae, just as no other BL author feels particularly beholden to anyone else. It's like Scions of the Storm. There are parts in that which don't match up to The First Heretic perfectly, but at the same time, it hardly matters. They both cover the same ground, with slightly different points of view. One lacks the same details because it was written first, though. Nothing game-changing. It's two people writing about the same moment of lore.

 

Anything in Betrayer will basically be the kind of differences people don't notice unless the author points them out, like... here.

[Purge The Weak]

Sounds jolly good to me!

[Tranc]

Ok, this response is a little late, but

 

I've briefly considered, uh, "cheating". Because I want to write about the Ultramarines so much, I considered having Ultramarine POVs, but that feels a bit self-indulgent (even for me).

This^

 

Please. Do. This.

 

Please? :(

 

We would give you money, power, women... (or baby toys if that is your preference now). Dan Abnett used Word Bearers' POV in Know No Fear, so there's precedent! :P

[Beachymike123]

i saw the link and thought 'will i, won't i?'. and then i was actually stupified! what a great cover. look forward to reading it is all i can say.

[Bearingtheword]

Damn that artwork is bloody fantastic!!

 

Exactly how I envisioned a pissed off Lorgar in my mind, hehe.....

 

"Primarch Lorgar: granting bluebirds their wings since the 31st century!" LOL!

 

Look forward to getting my hands on that novel...Thanks A-D-B for sharing this with us!!

 

~BtW

[Greyall]

I don't want to go too deeply into this, but part of the problem is that we saw the World Eaters ostensibly fine in False Gods, and then ten minutes later in Galaxy in Flames, Khârn was shouting "I AM THE EIGHTFOLD PATH", and people who'd seen him a few weeks ago barely recognised him.

 

For me, personally, that was one of the least-convincing moments in the Heresy. I thought it was very... gamey. Very, um, unsubtle and rapid "Chaos Corruption" in a tabletop sense. It came out of nowhere, with no foreshadowing, suddenly suggesting the World Eaters were one of the Legions deepest in thrall to Chaos already, practically before the first shot was fired, before any of the series' main characters - even the Sons of Horus - had any real idea what Chaos was. And, again, that stole any credence I had of the moment. I understand it's a popular scene in the Heresy because of the event itself, but you'll have a difficult time convincing me it rocked with how it was done.

 

I did notice the "brusqueness" of that change, but the fact that World Eaters always have an air of bloodlust about them puts Angron's chaps in a "priviledged" position to embrace a more chaotic view.

 

Other than that, and especially after reading 'Rebirth', I assumed that changing to the side of Chaos had - at this stage - heightened the World Eaters' ferocity when in combat to animalistic levels but, like with other traitor Legions, had left them more or less identical when away from the battlefield (apart from the obvious change in fields).

 

Again, though, when reading Angron breaking the surrendering cerimony in 'False Gods', he seems his usual self.