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Black Library: Skitarius by Rob Sanders (hide spoilers)

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Ordo Machinum Venerable Brother

Ordo Machinum

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SELECTED: DENTRICA I OF II

ENGAGE NEURAL CONGRESS – WIRELESS AUTOSHUNT ACQUIRED

UPLOADING…  + BLACK LIBRARY +

 

Black Library:  Skitarius

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JlSSAkWyLZA/VSchQYCj_iI/AAAAAAAAAQM/yb8G-zZIYfk/s400/skitarius%2B1xl.jpg

 

Started reading the eBook and listening to the audio as I wait for the hardcopy. 

 

I'm enjoying it immensely.

 

Anyone else?

 

Please be courteous and hide spoilers.

 

< The punishment for such trespass is assimilation. >

  • 2 weeks later...
Battybattybats Venerable Brother

Battybattybats

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I finished it last night and (the following spoiler is a HUGE spoiler discussing the ending. You have been warned!)

Ouch that ending was harsh!

I expected cold and callous but after all he achieved that was a gut-wrenching fate. I hope he might end up rescued in any follow-up book but i don't like the chances.



I'd like to see a conversion done to represent the main character as a miniature.

Also i suspect that the book will have quite a few clues to upcoming releases.

Ordo Machinum Venerable Brother

Ordo Machinum

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Several of the characters would be cool to do.

 

I've begun rereading it to start making lists of characters, descriptions, etc. And to note any other details that might be useful.

 

 

Too bad it isn't possible to do a legal weapon load of the main character. Of course, one could always model one of his 'extra' pistols looking burnt out and laying on the ground as if discarded.

 

"Hysparsii serving as cybernetic armsmen..." - another unit to come?

 

CommodusXIII Veteran

CommodusXIII

Posted
Posted

I'm a couple chapters in - I've been focused on painting and haven't had time to really dig into it.  I find that 40K fiction falls into two categories:

1)  Fluff-centric, with hobby elements to tell the story.  Gaunt's Ghosts is a good example - you can tell what individual units are, even if the writer doesn't call them out specifically.  Also, fluff-centric books aren't afraid to think outside the box.  Stalk Tanks were created pretty much just for one book, but have made a lasting impression.

 

2)  Hobby-centric, with fluff elements.  Skitarius falls into this category.  These stories focus heavily on in-game units and call them out specifically, taking elements directly from the Codices to tell the story.  This can be quite jarring to me.  Codices are filled with special rules and wargear that become instantly-recognizable keywords.  Using them directly in a story, and more than once, breaks the fourth wall for me.

 

I'm enjoying the story so far, but the constant name-dropping is starting to wear on me.  I understand that the novel's purpose is to introduce the faction and drum up interest for the model line, but it would be an easier read if BL would tone it down a bit.

  • 1 month later...
Terminus

Terminus

Posted
Posted

I'm a couple chapters in - I've been focused on painting and haven't had time to really dig into it.  I find that 40K fiction falls into two categories:

 

1)  Fluff-centric, with hobby elements to tell the story.  Gaunt's Ghosts is a good example - you can tell what individual units are, even if the writer doesn't call them out specifically.  Also, fluff-centric books aren't afraid to think outside the box.  Stalk Tanks were created pretty much just for one book, but have made a lasting impression.

 

2)  Hobby-centric, with fluff elements.  Skitarius falls into this category.  These stories focus heavily on in-game units and call them out specifically, taking elements directly from the Codices to tell the story.  This can be quite jarring to me.  Codices are filled with special rules and wargear that become instantly-recognizable keywords.  Using them directly in a story, and more than once, breaks the fourth wall for me.

 

I'm enjoying the story so far, but the constant name-dropping is starting to wear on me.  I understand that the novel's purpose is to introduce the faction and drum up interest for the model line, but it would be an easier read if BL would tone it down a bit.

The overall art and story direction of 40K is more hobby-centric with the newer releases. The Cult Mechanicus book is the absolute worst codex I've ever read. A few pages of fluff, 3-4 cartoony illustrations of the product line, and then loads and loads and loads of pictures of the product line. They didn't even deign to include that little two-page spread of a Forge World to try to give the book some character and give more insight into the setting and grimdarkness of it all. As it is, it's a product brochure with some rules thrown in.

 

Anyway, if you don't enjoy that type of writing, run, don't walk, away from anything written by Privateer Press. They call out specific rules and abilities of the units all the time (Caine allocated a portion of his mind's focus to the Charger, allowing it to make more precise attacks. He then cast Snipe on the Trenchers, letting their bullets travel faster). It's like reading an annoying pseudo-fluffy battle report. Makes me want to punch babies.

  • 11 months later...
Foghost Novitiate

Foghost

Posted
Posted

Good day,

 

Can anyone help me a little again and give a text positioned on page with skitarii picture in a section named RAD CENSER (right bottom corner of the page)?

 

Thanks in advance. If someone can send a good photo by e-mail - it'll be great.

  • 3 weeks later...
jeffersonian000 Veteran

jeffersonian000

Posted
Posted

"Named dropping" as mentioned above is a stapple of the cyberpunk genre. Why shoot a "gun" when you can fire a "H&K 5000 with a drum magazine and friction strap"?

 

Some authors do it better than others, while some company require specific mentions over good writting.

 

SJ

SydonianDragoon404 Battle-Brother

SydonianDragoon404

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Posted

I read Skitariius after reading Mechanicum and Priests of Mars, and I was pretty disappointed. The best part was the very last fight scene between Stroika and the big bad, the rest was kind of meh. The writing style just didn't really grab me, immerse me, and make me care about the characters in the same way Mechanicum and Priests of Mars did. 

 

Screw kitbasing a Stroika model, I want one of Secutor Dahan with his badass halberd. The way book described him, his design seems like it would be close or similar to that of an Infiltrator Princeps with an extra leg and a couple extra arms. 

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