The Warmaster and Penitent.

[Petitioner's City]

Hi all, I just wondered if anyone knew the status of The Warmaster and Penitent? The Warmaster is really late, isn't it? And Penitent was due this year? Or am I wrong? Merci for any information :)

[MasterofMankind]

The warmaster is supposed to be summer 2015 I think, but I have no idea on Penitent

[The Red Thirst]

Black Library are fairly lenient with Mr Abnetts deadlines, but id imagine Penitent will be next year

[Chaeron]

I'm always happy to wait for his work.

[SteelPaladin]

I finally got around to reading Pariah, and just finished it Monday night. Now I wish I had put it off a bit more, because I am dying to find out what happens next. Hopefully Penitent will come out soon. 

[Artein]

Amazon states that Warmaster will be release on 7th or 25th of July 2015.

[Petitioner's City]

Hey all, thanks for info. I had seen the Amazon entry for The Warmaster, but wasn't sure if it was a holding card, or for real. I guess I am desperate to see what happens in either series,  and more so to see how Abnett's style in each series continues (I was only slightly anxious that it has been three years since (what I thought was the excellent) Salvation's Reach. And now nearly two since the excellent Pariah). In both Pariah and Salvation's Reach the details and continuity was all a bit muddied, but the quality and experimentalism of what he was doing in each just put all that to the side for me - it's great to have basically followed a writer since I was a teen and see him grow and grow. 

 

What do you think of the grand old man of BL? Abnett's style has really developed over the past ... sixteen(?) years. This mature phase (including his narrative experiments in Prospero Burns and Know No Fear) is so self-evidently authorial and beautiful. I just find myself wanting more (and also wishing there were more youtube q&as - they are great). I tend to think that Abnett's writing has become a lovely development from his earlier phases, such as when he hit his more experimental and better world-building strides with Necropolis and the Eisenhorn books. His work circa the Ravenor and middle Ghosts books was a bit different too - perhaps more fragmented. 

[Phoebus]

To answer your question, I've almost always been impressed by Abnett's work.  The Unremembered Empire was a notable exception; I more or less enjoyed the individual parts of the novel (minus Curze's turn as an unstoppable super-villain), but I wasn't impressed by their sum.

[Petitioner's City]

To answer your question, I've almost always been impressed by Abnett's work.  The Unremembered Empire was a notable exception; I more or less enjoyed the individual parts of the novel (minus Curze's turn as an unstoppable super-villain), but I wasn't impressed by their sum.

 

Yes, I didn't really like the whole of TUE either - although many individual ideas are lovely, it was strangely unbecoming of the subject matter, too short and too light. I remember Abnett saying he was studying renaissance and early modern court politics for the novel, and I was imagining something like the fruits of prior research in, for example, Prospero Burns or Pariah. I was even hoping that there would be no big fights in the novel, that it would be mostly politics and characterisation (although I do love the Alpha Legion assassination attempt scene in the novel).

[DarkChaplain]

 

To answer your question, I've almost always been impressed by Abnett's work.  The Unremembered Empire was a notable exception; I more or less enjoyed the individual parts of the novel (minus Curze's turn as an unstoppable super-villain), but I wasn't impressed by their sum.

 

Yes, I didn't really like the whole of TUE either - although many individual ideas are lovely, it was strangely unbecoming of the subject matter, too short and too light. I remember Abnett saying he was studying renaissance and early modern court politics for the novel, and I was imagining something like the fruits of prior research in, for example, Prospero Burns or Pariah. I was even hoping that there would be no big fights in the novel, that it would be mostly politics and characterisation (although I do love the Alpha Legion assassination attempt scene in the novel).

 

 

I also enjoyed the assassination attempt quite a bit. If that had been a bit later in the novel, with more time spent on politics, and an earlier arrival of the Lion and Sanguinius (who was a completely wasted opportunity in my opinion), the book would have benefitted greatly.

 

I mean, the role of Thiel as Guilliman's "friend" would have probably struck harder if we'd seen Roboute and the Lion debate and argue much more beforehand. In the end, though, the Lion seemed to be pleased far too easily, especially considering that two stories (Savage Weapons and The Lion) basically ended on a "I will stop Guilliman"-note from him. Jonson was too easily lulled in.

 

It spent too much time trying to depict Curze as completely gone off the deep end, and not enough time detailing Imperium Secundus. Looking at Guy Haley's story "The Laurel of Defiance" from Sedition's Gate, which is focused on showing various heroes of the Ultramarines mingling with Macragge's populace, before being honoured for their deeds, I cannot help but think that Abnett really dropped the ball on his themes.

[Petitioner's City]

 

 

To answer your question, I've almost always been impressed by Abnett's work.  The Unremembered Empire was a notable exception; I more or less enjoyed the individual parts of the novel (minus Curze's turn as an unstoppable super-villain), but I wasn't impressed by their sum.

 

Yes, I didn't really like the whole of TUE either - although many individual ideas are lovely, it was strangely unbecoming of the subject matter, too short and too light. I remember Abnett saying he was studying renaissance and early modern court politics for the novel, and I was imagining something like the fruits of prior research in, for example, Prospero Burns or Pariah. I was even hoping that there would be no big fights in the novel, that it would be mostly politics and characterisation (although I do love the Alpha Legion assassination attempt scene in the novel).

 

 

I also enjoyed the assassination attempt quite a bit. If that had been a bit later in the novel, with more time spent on politics, and an earlier arrival of the Lion and Sanguinius (who was a completely wasted opportunity in my opinion), the book would have benefitted greatly.

 

I mean, the role of Thiel as Guilliman's "friend" would have probably struck harder if we'd seen Roboute and the Lion debate and argue much more beforehand. In the end, though, the Lion seemed to be pleased far too easily, especially considering that two stories (Savage Weapons and The Lion) basically ended on a "I will stop Guilliman"-note from him. Jonson was too easily lulled in.

 

It spent too much time trying to depict Curze as completely gone off the deep end, and not enough time detailing Imperium Secundus. Looking at Guy Haley's story "The Laurel of Defiance" from Sedition's Gate, which is focused on showing various heroes of the Ultramarines mingling with Macragge's populace, before being honoured for their deeds, I cannot help but think that Abnett really dropped the ball on his themes.

 

 

I haven't read the preceding Lion stories, so I don't know how much TUE does or does not follow on from them. Can I ask if the different wings, iconography and sense of the archaic which Abnett gives the First Legion occurred in these too?

 

I really liked The Laurel of Defiance - it felt like a nice pause (even with its obligatory battle). And in its far shorter page count contained the same amount of Sanguinius as in TUE. Oh, that did feel dissapointing.

 

Still looking forward to the Black Library novel that wholly eschews violence and goes for politics one day... Ultimately I don't think TUE needed a 'big' bad in order to solidify the Lion and Guilliman. It would have been better if it had been more in words, ideas and deals. 

[Phoebus]

The sense of the Dark Angels being the heirs to a knightly legacy was pioneered by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, in "Savage Weapons".  The iconography as pertains The Unremembered Empire should be credited to the same author/story.  Gav Thorpe's "Call of the Lion" describes Chapter Master Belath as having heraldry belong to the Order of the Raven's Wing, but more emphasis is placed on the Terran-born Dark Angels following Astelan.  With "The Lion" (a novella in the Primarchs anthology), Gav follows Aaron's lead in terms of visual cues, etc.

 

The Stormwing and Dreadwing first appear in The Unremembered Empire. I'm fairly sure that the Deathwing makes its first appearance in the Horus Heresy in this novel as well (though it's a matter of a lieutenant of the Lion bearing its heraldry on his power armour).

[Artein]

The best scene in TUE was the traditional duel between SW and DA. Or it was me loving how the Lion is portrayed in HH series.

[Perrin]

The best scene in TUE was the traditional duel between SW and DA. Or it was me loving how the Lion is portrayed in HH series.

 

As a schizophrenic with multiple personalities? Every author seems to create their own Lion, it's kind of annoying.

 

I preferred the Lion as he was in Savage Weapons and The Lion that in UE, though I agree that the SW v DA duel bit was good.

[Artein]

As a bit paranoid, not trusting Guilliman, Typhon or.... Iron Hands? The one in The Lion that were fighting against Death Guard. That's when he'd risen to my favourite loyalist primarch. Ferrus, Vulkan and Corax trusted Night Lords, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion and Word Bearers. Lion learned his lesson after being fooled in Fallen Angels by Perturabo. The most brilliant in its paranoid way was his plan to attack Macragge with drop pods.

 

It's not different Lion by different authors it's a character that's evolving during the series. I know that it's wrong but I like to believe that it's not.

[Carach]

To answer your question, I've almost always been impressed by Abnett's work.  The Unremembered Empire was a notable exception; I more or less enjoyed the individual parts of the novel (minus Curze's turn as an unstoppable super-villain), but I wasn't impressed by their sum.

i think it was a limitation from vulkan lives that made the story fall short for me, tbh.

 

Was like a carry-over of the tedious repetition in that regard. 

 

Has some good mini-stories developing in it though, it seems like a hinge of a book storyline-wise, rather than the meat.

 

As for the Lion's character development; after the short story that came before TUE, i had expected the Lion to be a lot more devious and distrusting of Guilliman from the get go. I feel he came across a little too friendly and understanding, despite what went on. That didn't matter by the end of the book, but at the start i just think there could of been a lot more tension there.

 

Pariah was an awesome book. I've been waiting ages for the next release - ive read the entirety of eisenhorn and going back through ravenor again (+ gona read pariah for a third time) in preparation.