The damnation of Pythos, worst book in the serie?

[Leonidas Noxar]

Hi everyone,

 

Dont know if this is already discussed in an other topic (couldnt find it) and since i'm new to B&C i'll just ask it:

 

Did I miss the point in the HH book 'The damnation of Pythos'?

 

I've seen some people rate it as 'good' but I really hated the book. Maybe that's because I was really excited about the shattered legions and their stories and warfare/campaigns (I hadn't read Vulkan lives and other shattered legion stories yet) and instead got a story about a daemons and those lunatics from Davin (again). Dont get me wrong I love the HH and this was the first book every in the serie that I didnt really felt like finish reading (did finish it in the end though). Did I perhaps miss something? a link to something else in the HH or 40K universe?

[Dizzyeye01]

There is a link to the 40k in that one of the Space Marine battle books (Can't remember the name) took place on Pythros as well. It involved the Dark Angels, Grey Knights and the Black Legion.

 

I personally enjoyed the book because of the fact it was to show what was happening across the whole Imperium with its' scattered forces losing ground to potent forces of Chaos. 

[Legio Draconis]

I haven't been able to finish it

[Calas Typhon]

The book was more of an insight into the Legion after the death of Ferrus rather than a solid powerpunch to the Heresy. I personally liked the Iron Hands, however the Dinosaurs were not for me. At all.

 

 

There is a link to the 40k in that one of the Space Marine battle books (Can't remember the name) took place on Pythros as well. It involved the Dark Angels, Grey Knights and the Black Legion.

 

I personally enjoyed the book because of the fact it was to show what was happening across the whole Imperium with its' scattered forces losing ground to potent forces of Chaos. 

Is that confirmed? I was under the impression they just shared the same name rather than being the same planet

[MasterofMankind]

BL confirmed that both the events of Pandorax and Pythos take place on the same planet

[Carach]

i didn't bother getting it to read as i fast realised that it was not really essential reading for the series and i was bored of reading about shattered legions.

 

That being said there are some books that i found incredibly difficult to finish; would you put this in the same category as Vulkan Lives or Deliverance Lost? Some would also add Battle for the Abyss to that list but apart from moustache twirling bad guys i didn't find it as bad as those other two.

[Jareddm]

Damnation of Pythos is much less a Horus Heresy book and much more a prequel to Pandorax. If you treat it as such, it's a much better story. That said, if you're truly interested in the Shattered Legions post-Heresy, nothing but Meduson and Scars have even come close for me in terms of good stories.

[no I'm alpharius]

The best bit is at the very end. Very Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

 

The group that arrive about half way through are so very obviously eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil, its painful. 

[Jareddm]

Well, we already knew the group. They were the main focus of the story, Sermon of Exodus, where we see the beginning of their trip from Davin.

[Izlude]

As a book it was well written just not my cup of tea. I think the part that really made me say, "Really?!?" is as others have mentioned when the cultist arrived and no one is really any wiser they are up to no good. While we are still at the stage of "what is chaos?" there was just so much shadiness going on that it was so hard to believe the SM let this fly especially the Ironhands who are eternally suspicious. Granted that sally swayed their minds it is still hard to believe anyone can be this naive. 

 

Well it at least it puts Sermon of exodus into context. I just got War without end and I actually had to stop reading Sermon of exodus, it was little too painful but now I may try to read it again since it seems to link with DoP. 

 

Anyway probably a read over once but it definitely does not advance the HH timeline but it is a good study in the shattered legion dynamics. I think Annandale is a pretty good writer...if anything you get to read about space dinos!

[Tymell]

I really don't get the hate Damnation of Pythos gets, personally. Almost all the complaints I've read seem to be variants of "It has nothing to do with the Heresy!", which is nonsense. The Horus Heresy is a galactic civil war involving thousands of worlds, battlefields and groups. Not every story has to feature half a dozen primarchs and a plot that could swing the balance of the entire conflict. It was a look at the Iron Hands legion and how they're dealing with what they've been through so far, following directly on from Isstvan V, as well as discovering some of the truth about the warp and it's inhabitants.

 

Annandale's writing is good as ever (especially regarding the horrific nature of Chaos), I enjoyed several of the characters, especially Atticus and Erephren, and the ending was deliciously grim.

 

I wouldn't rank it alongside Scars, Know No Fear or The First Heretic, but it's a good entry to the series that gets far more bile than it deserves. If you're after the worst in the series, I'd look more towards Descent of Angels, False Gods or Battle For the Abyss. On a more positive note though, if you're after more general Shattered Legion warfare, the Meduson anthology has some good stories for that.

[Leonidas Noxar]

I really don't get the hate Damnation of Pythos gets, personally. Almost all the complaints I've read seem to be variants of "It has nothing to do with the Heresy!", which is nonsense. The Horus Heresy is a galactic civil war involving thousands of worlds, battlefields and groups. Not every story has to feature half a dozen primarchs and a plot that could swing the balance of the entire conflict. It was a look at the Iron Hands legion and how they're dealing with what they've been through so far, following directly on from Isstvan V, as well as discovering some of the truth about the warp and it's inhabitants.

 

Annandale's writing is good as ever (especially regarding the horrific nature of Chaos), I enjoyed several of the characters, especially Atticus and Erephren, and the ending was deliciously grim.

 

I wouldn't rank it alongside Scars, Know No Fear or The First Heretic, but it's a good entry to the series that gets far more bile than it deserves. If you're after the worst in the series, I'd look more towards Descent of Angels, False Gods or Battle For the Abyss. On a more positive note though, if you're after more general Shattered Legion warfare, the Meduson anthology has some good stories for that.

I have to say that I think Annandale is a great writer and I did enjoy about half of the book (until the point of the cultists and shady stuff). Personally I was hoping the story would take an other turn than it did, which was a first for me in the HH series (besides the fact of some deads of characters I really liked :p).

[Icarus1138]

I thought it was fairly bad. I've really enjoyed how the Heresy setting has allowed for more interesting and nuanced takes on Space Marines. That was completely tossed out in this book, the Iron Hands were just copy-pasted from 40k with no change. They were angry and bitter and then they died, that does not a good novel make. 

[DarkChaplain]

They were angry and bitter? No surprise there. They just escaped from Isstvan V after seeing their brethren slaughtered and the fleet shot to bits. They got betrayed not once, but twice. And Atticus was pretty damaged as a character to begin with.

[Leonidas Noxar]

They were angry and bitter? No surprise there. They just escaped from Isstvan V after seeing their brethren slaughtered and the fleet shot to bits. They got betrayed not once, but twice. And Atticus was pretty damaged as a character to begin with.

For me Atticus was a great character who really represented the broken Iron Hands after Isstvan V, maybe I really wanted Atticus to take a greater revenge (besides blowing up an Emperors Children's vessel).

[DarkChaplain]

I agree, I liked him a lot too for what he represented. All his flaws and anger contributed to it very well. It was a great look at the Iron Hands' shattered being after Isstvan V, before Meduson picked up the shards and pieced them back together into an effective force.

[Calas Typhon]

The thing is, I don't think he was necessarily flawed looking at it, he made mistakes perhaps in his anger, or would have sometime if Galba had not stepped in but he was probably the most sane and logical out of all of them.

 

The only Astartes I did not like, as with all their showings in the Horus heresy books, bar the Unforged story in Meduson and its audio-short precursor (I wont mention the other travesty of a story in the Meduson collection), was Khi'dem the Salamander. Especially considering the events of Isstvan, it was in my view, utterly pointless to help the humans and put the lives of the Astartes in danger. It just makes me think that Salamanders are just there as Human Rights activists and to die, no logical thinking, no thought of what would happen if an action takes place, just HUUURRRR LET HELP HUMAN.

 

I get it, Salamanders are supposed to be the nice Astartes, but its downright stupid in some cases, especially in a situation where every Legionary is needed to combat the Warmaster and defend what is left of the Imperium.

[Jareddm]

The only Astartes I did not like, as with all their showings in the Horus heresy books, bar the Unforged story in Meduson and its audio-short precursor (I wont mention the other travesty of a story in the Meduson collection)

Was it Deeds Endured? Because I thought both Unforged and Unbroken did a sound job of making the Salamanders different from their usual selves.

[Calas Typhon]

 

The only Astartes I did not like, as with all their showings in the Horus heresy books, bar the Unforged story in Meduson and its audio-short precursor (I wont mention the other travesty of a story in the Meduson collection)

Was it Deeds Endured? Because I thought both Unforged and Unbroken did a sound job of making the Salamanders different from their usual selves.

 

 

Aye, Unforged and Strike and Fade were decent enough, I have not heard of Unbroken, all I can think of is that Space Wolves book. But Deeds Endure was by far one of the most annoying stories I had read from a massive fan of the Iron Hands.

 

It falls into what I said above about Khi'dem in Damnation of Pythos, only a hell of a lot more in this case. Especially considering the world they were focused on.

[Jareddm]

 

 

 

The only Astartes I did not like, as with all their showings in the Horus heresy books, bar the Unforged story in Meduson and its audio-short precursor (I wont mention the other travesty of a story in the Meduson collection)

Was it Deeds Endured? Because I thought both Unforged and Unbroken did a sound job of making the Salamanders different from their usual selves.

Aye, Unforged and Strike and Fade were decent enough, I have not heard of Unbroken, all I can think of is that Space Wolves book. But Deeds Endure was by far one of the most annoying stories I had read from a massive fan of the Iron Hands.

 

It falls into what I said above about Khi'dem in Damnation of Pythos, only a hell of a lot more in this case. Especially considering the world they were focused on.

Unforged and Unbroken were both in Meduson and follow after one another, with Strike and Fade being the first in the story.

[Calas Typhon]

 

 

 

The only Astartes I did not like, as with all their showings in the Horus heresy books, bar the Unforged story in Meduson and its audio-short precursor (I wont mention the other travesty of a story in the Meduson collection)

Was it Deeds Endured? Because I thought both Unforged and Unbroken did a sound job of making the Salamanders different from their usual selves.

Aye, Unforged and Strike and Fade were decent enough, I have not heard of Unbroken, all I can think of is that Space Wolves book. But Deeds Endure was by far one of the most annoying stories I had read from a massive fan of the Iron Hands.

 

It falls into what I said above about Khi'dem in Damnation of Pythos, only a hell of a lot more in this case. Especially considering the world they were focused on.

Unforged and Unbroken were both in Meduson and follow after one another, with Strike and Fade being the first in the story.

 

Oh yes, Unspoken I think you mean, I completely forgot about that story.

[Jareddm]

Damn! Didn't even notice autocorrect had been changing it!

[Tymell]

Yeah, Strike and Fade, Unforged and Unspoken were good, I like Donak and would love to see Guy Haley do more with him/the Salamanders.