Bad reads that you just gave up on...

[Veteran Sergeant]

. Maybe we're spoiled by the standard of 'Rynns World'

Wait, is this the same Rynn's World that reads like the author wrote the battle scenes first, and then realized he was going to need a story to connect them together?

 

I had to laugh when, during the climactic battles, the text is describing in detail sights/sounds/feelings that are happening in the battle that would have been pretty important for the reader to have understood a couple hundred pages earlier.

[Resarys]

Deliverance Lost - I just can't bring myself to care about anything from the Hours Heresy series.

 

And Kauyon. The blue commies are always my first love, but after the Damocles audiobook omni, I just cannot survive another sentence of the accent the voice actors have settled on for the Tau. It was a little bit better in The Tranzia Rebellion, at least.

[Hyaenidae]

Funny, I thought the book was better than the cover. And I hated that book.

 

I'm usually a fan of that artist, too.

 

Back then, though, that was an inspiring piece. Loyalists amongst traitors was a really rare occurrence back then (Barring Istvaan III of course), and we had heard so little about the Thousand Sons, so seeing a XIII legion warrior protecting a traitor from traitors was compelling to me.

 

Besides, never forget what was done to poor Angron.

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/Product/DefaultBL/xlarge/poster-tales-of-heresy.jpg

[Conn Eremon]

All the more reason to dislike it for me. A cover with that high potential being done to that low quality.

 

And to be fair, there really isn't a good way to depict Angron wearing his Lady Gaga armor, so I don't fault that particular piece. :p

[SyNidus]

It pains me to say it, but Unkindness of Ravens just made me want to puke. I held on as much as I could but the characters were so one-dimensional, the action was un imaginative and honestly I don't know why authors seem to insist on allying the Raven guard with other chapters just to show how sneaky they are...really it's just lazy and unnecessary. I genuinely hope Captain Koryn is killed off so we no longer have to deal with him.

[Resarys]

It pains me to say it, but Unkindness of Ravens just made me want to puke. I held on as much as I could but the characters were so one-dimensional, the action was un imaginative and honestly I don't know why authors seem to insist on allying the Raven guard with other chapters just to show how sneaky they are...really it's just lazy and unnecessary. I genuinely hope Captain Koryn is killed off so we no longer have to deal with him.

 

I liked the Koryn stories and would love to hear more about the War in the Sargassion Reach, but, I have to admit, the Brazen Minotaurs have thus far outshined the Raven Guard in most of those stories. That, I think, is a symptom of exactly what you mention - using a "bull-headed" chapter to show how smart and badass and stealthy the Raven Guard are. But the Minotaurs have interested me more than the Raven Guard due to that, ironically.

[Uprising]

It was fulgrim for me, just could not get through it.  The human characters was actually really good, but the marines I hate with a passion. 

[Veteran Sergeant]

I was reminded today by the latest release announcement that the only way I've ever "finished" a Nick Kyme story was having stopped paying attention and having the audio version of it play to completion.

[Reldn]

What drove you nuts in Fifteen Hours Reldn? I read through it rather quickly. If it's a fluff thing then that might be why since I'm not as knowledgeable about past fluff vs. current fluff.

 

It was more the dialogue and characters that for some reason just rubbed me the wrong way. I definitely know that the constant use of "New Fish" got old really quickly.

 

It's been a couple of years now, perhaps I'll attempt to read it again sometime and see if I can get through the entirety of it this time.

[Sothalor]

 

What drove you nuts in Fifteen Hours Reldn? I read through it rather quickly. If it's a fluff thing then that might be why since I'm not as knowledgeable about past fluff vs. current fluff.

 

It was more the dialogue and characters that for some reason just rubbed me the wrong way. I definitely know that the constant use of "New Fish" got old really quickly.

 

It's been a couple of years now, perhaps I'll attempt to read it again sometime and see if I can get through the entirety of it this time.

 

 

Oh Golden Throne, so much this. The dialogue in that book is atrocious. For all the crap that people gave Prospero Burns about "wet leopard growls" Fifteen Hours was way worse about repetition and overuse of phrases. I just flipped through one section: in the span of two and a half pages dialogue between characters used the phrase "new fish" eight times - and that's more the norm than the exception.

 

Additionally, the author didn't know what a contraction was when he wrote this book, which results in horrendously awkward and formal dialogue. I remember I kept frowning to myself and going, "people just don't speak like that."

 

Painful.

[The Doctor Of War]

The only Black Library book i've given up on was the novelization of Dawn of War by C.S Goto. It wasn't just badly written, it was literally unreadable, sentences just didn't make any sense. As mediocre i find the work of Nick Kyme and others, at least they are comprehensible the whole way through the novel.

[Wade Garrett]

Well, I didn't give up on "Legacies of Betrayal", but I essentially paid $17 for "Brotherhood of the Storm".

 

Apparently everything else was released in audio drama format first, but while they may have worked in that particular format, in dead tree form they're mainly drabbles or vignettes, and in the main, uninteresting ones.

 

Aside from "BotS" and "Honor To The Dead", the only memorable story was "Lucius, the Eternal Blade" aka Graham McNeil tries to convince us Lucy is not a pathetic jobber.

 

Memorable mainly for being another instance of "Just stop writing about Lucius, Black Library! JUST STOP!" Lucius decides to challenge a swordsman as skilled as Nykona Sharrowkyn to avenge his loss (Didn't you say Nyk was an ordinary battle brother, Graham?) And instead of the obvious choice of the God Emperor of Mankind, he goes after a member of the Thousand Sons who has never been seen or heard from before this story.

 

Lucius wins this fight by letting his rage overtake him and going beserk. Because obviously, the beloved of Slaanesh can reach his full potential by going beserk like a worshipper of Khorne and STOP WRITING ABOUT LUCIUS. JUST STOP. WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU?

[Jareddm]

Oh yeah, I had thought Sanakht sounded familiar. He features quite prominently in Ahriman: Sorcerer.

[Resarys]

Overfiend is starting to get dangerously close to this territory for me. Once again I opted for audio (I always do, if I can, with Warhammer stories) so maybe I'm just not loving the reader, but.. as much as I want to know what is drawing the orks, 6+ hours left to go seems like a LOT of hours. I had such high hopes for this anthology. My three favourite Chapters!

[Iron Father Ferrum]

There isn't a single BL novel that I have started and not finished.  Some of them were slogs and some required more than one start, but I finish every book I bother to spend money on.  After all, I spent money on it.  I at least want to get something out of them.

 

That being said, Eldar Prophecy by CS Goto is probably the absolute, single worst 40K book I have ever tried in my life to read.  It's like he decided to take every thing ever published about the Eldar and throw it out the window.  A farseer that's not a psyker, fat Eldar who worship Slaanesh, a rebellion on board a Craftworld, a non-Phoenix Lord Phoenix Lord who started as a whiny kid that never stepped on the Path of the Warrior. . . . thank God for Thorpe's Path of Something series redeeming all Eldar fiction.  I had to put down and restart Eldar Prophecy twice before I could actually finish it, and even then I think I only finished it because I was in Iraq at the time and was getting close to the end of my deployment, so I didn't want to order something else for fear that it wouldn't arrive before I left.

 

Of course, that particular pile of literary vomit is followed closely on its way to the bottom of the barrel by the deservedly much-maligned Battle for the Abyss.  But that's a dead horse at this point.  The only redeeming point of that novel is introducing us to the Abyss-class super-battleship and impressing upon the reader just how large and lethal those ships are. . . so that Lorgar can show off an entire flotilla of them in Betrayer.

 

There's also Kyme's Tome of Fire Trilogy, which I only finished because I wanted more exposition on the Dragon Warriors.  I was expecting a whole warband of fallen Salamanders who kick ass and take names. . . and got one sorcerer, one idiotic turn coat Salamander, and a Marine Malevolent.  Psh.  I've given up on him entirely, and only read Feat of Iron because of my Chapter/Legion loyalty.  Which it turns out was another colossal waste of time.

 

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet (that I recall) is SMB: Architect of Fate.  Sooooo boring, and there were barely any links between the stories despite the fact that the book was touted as being about the adventures of some Marines trying to stop Kairos Fateweaver.  Anyone interested in this book, I highly recommend that you save your time and money.

[TDF]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet (that I recall) is SMB: Architect of Fate.  Sooooo boring, and there were barely any links between the stories despite the fact that the book was touted as being about the adventures of some Marines trying to stop Kairos Fateweaver.  Anyone interested in this book, I highly recommend that you save your time and money.

Ah yes, I completely agree. I think the Relictors one was the worst, simply because Relictors are so cool and interesting and the story was so boring. The Imperial Fists one was notably for the apparently sentient space station.

 

 

 

What drove you nuts in Fifteen Hours Reldn? I read through it rather quickly. If it's a fluff thing then that might be why since I'm not as knowledgeable about past fluff vs. current fluff.

 

It was more the dialogue and characters that for some reason just rubbed me the wrong way. I definitely know that the constant use of "New Fish" got old really quickly.

 

It's been a couple of years now, perhaps I'll attempt to read it again sometime and see if I can get through the entirety of it this time.

 

 

Oh Golden Throne, so much this. The dialogue in that book is atrocious. For all the crap that people gave Prospero Burns about "wet leopard growls" Fifteen Hours was way worse about repetition and overuse of phrases. I just flipped through one section: in the span of two and a half pages dialogue between characters used the phrase "new fish" eight times - and that's more the norm than the exception.

 

I think to an extent that was supposed to be intentional. The other guardsmen wanted to put the main character down and carried on with the 'new fish' nickname just to annoy him.

[Scribe]

Is there anything redeemable regarding HH Raven Guard? I did get through Deliverance Lost but it was pretty uninspiring, one of the rare cases where I was put off a planned army by a book...

[Conn Eremon]

Thorpe has done that for many. But by and large, I think FW has done an amazing job. Mileage may vary on how people like the Carcharadons' more overt connection, like the Raven Guard Contemptor, but there is a lot of good stuff in there.

 

Really been wanting someone to do a Pale Nomads army.

[Scribe]

Yeah FW keep's dragging me back, despite BL pushing me away. :p

 

I'll probably get some of the conversion kit + Contemptor to paint up regardless, but is there NO BL fluff that is good for these poor souls?

[Conn Eremon]

I felt that Ravenlord was better than Deliverance Lost, but not by much. If you didn't like Deliverance Lost at all, I wouldn't bother with any of his others.

 

There are some books like Angel Exterminatus and The Damnation of Pythos had Raven Guard characters, but otherwise nothing much else.

[Scribe]

How was Damnation of Pythos? I wasnt too big on Sharrowkin (or whatever his name is) in Angel Exterminatus. 

[Conn Eremon]

The overall book got a solid "s'okay" from me, which is better than I have heard from others. It gained some redemption with a Iron Hands vs Emperor's Children space battle that was pretty epic, but that happens like a quarter of the way through.

 

Unfortunately, the XVIII and XIX are small-time bit players on the sidelines of the show in this book.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Is there anything redeemable regarding HH Raven Guard? I did get through Deliverance Lost but it was pretty uninspiring, one of the rare cases where I was put off a planned army by a book...

 

Frankly, as somebody who is building a HH RG army and have been in love with them since their Index Astartes article, there is nothing worth the price of admission written about the Raven Guard in the HH so far from the Black Library.

 

actually, the HH series has been rather disappointing since Betrayer.

 

WLK

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I'm not quite halfway through Damnation of Pythos at the moment, and I've got mixed feelings about it.  The general consensus seems to range between "meh" and "all right," and I don't have a lot to complain about yet.  The plot wasn't exactly set up very well and I'm in the dark about what the big reveal is because I didn't bother to spend any money on the Pandorax campaign stuff.  So far, it doesn't seem that bad, with my only real complaint is just how big a bag of :cuss-wads my Legion is being to the Sallies and Ravens.

 

Except Sergeant Galba.  He's a nice guy.

[Hyaenidae]

I wish I could say something to get you to put that book down now, before you truly understand the meaning of boredom and useless plot arcs.

 

Just don't be surprised when you hit the end, you look like this...

 

http://i.imgur.com/RlniyQy.gif