Taliesin Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 So, I wanted to create a thread asking two questions: 1) What were your favorite releases from 2016 by BL/ Games Workshop? You can include BL novels here, or GW campaign books, or maybe Age of Sigmar stuff, just post here. If you're going to name several books, please rank them, and if you feel generous, maybe a short explanation as to why it's a favorite. 2) A separate category for the favorite books you read in 2016 that are not related to Warhammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribe Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 1. Master of Mankind. Because it made people face some of the truths of the setting, that apparently many people did not either understand, accept, or that they had been unaware of. 2. The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. I cant recommend it though, (oh but its not a 2016 book, but I read it in 2016!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDarth151 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 1. Master of Mankind. Because it made people face some of the truths of the setting, that apparently many people did not either understand, accept, or that they had been unaware of. Is that a jab at me? Because I feel that is a jab at me. Oh, and the best book of 2016 was, to me, Praetorian of Dorn, hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribe Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 No not at all, just because you are the most vocal here in this sub-forum in your protestations, does not mean you are the only one with opinions on the setting wildly divergent from my own. :] Like I said over in the Age of Darkness, people made mountains out of mole hills over plenty of things in the book that are barely relevant to what (imo) was the core of the story. 'The Web Way is Lost, we are screwed.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veterannoob Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Off the top of my head I'll say Praetorian of Dorn for IF action in the homeland territory and for, the big spoiler at the end. Makes us now able to be more surprised as we don't know the details of how certain key events in the established history really happened. Also Traitor Legions as a supplement as a game-changer. In the spirit of Lord of the Rings not getting its due Oscars until completion I'll lump The Beast Arises as a complete project deserving of much praise. We saw a new type of project with a finite number of books over an established timeframe which develop one tiny blurb in the fluff into a killer series. Sure, note every book was a masterpiece but overall for what it did and how BL arranged it, even lined up with GW releases like Death Watch & Sisters of Silence, plus some great spoilers and surprises in the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 1. Genestealer Cults. Fabius Bile: Primogenitor is a close second, and for short works my pick goes to Manglers Never Lose by Josh Reynolds, since it got me all nostalgic for WHFB and had the insanity of Blood Bowl just right. 2. Wrath by John Gwynne. Seriously satisfying ending to the 4-book series. Ended up being my favorite novel of 2016, and I finished it just in time before the year ticked over. Incidentally, I wrote up a list of my highlights for the year. No Horus Heresy on it, despite it being a pretty damn strong year for the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellow Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 1) The Master of Mankind. 2) I didn't read any non Warhammer books this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribe Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Hmm, I'll take you up on that Genestealer Cults recommendation based on your review DarkChaplain, it sounds like it fits with how I like the setting done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelborn Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Best of what I've read this year (novels & short stories): 30K - Scars & The Last Son of Prospero 40K - Talon of Horus & The Reaping Time Both Warzone Fenris books where quite entertaining and way better than the last campaigns I've read, namely Damocles. Didn't read that much recently but these were the best this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Loss Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Master of Mankind, Path of Heaven and Praetorian of Dorn, in that order. It was an excellent year for HH. I hope 2017 will be even better. Best book non-GW was Edward Anson's 2nd edition of his work Eumenes of Cardia: A Greek among Macedonians. Stunning piece, a real inspiration for my own research. I'd heartily recommend it to the historically inclined here, although it may be a little expensive to get a print copy in person. Requisition it from your local university! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuittzz Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 1) Weregeld. An average book overall but it brings the Raven Guard arc in the HH to an end and the bludgeoning they received from Thorpe along with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plastic_slug Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 My pick would be Guy Haley's Shadowsword. It did a good job of following up on Baneblade, and showed off the dark side of the Imperium to what had been a fairly idealistic main character. Who will probably never look at things quite the same way again. The Imperium may be the best thing humanity has going for it, but this showed off some of the unpleasantness and outright unfairness of it. Give a strong nod to Primogenitor as well. It was a 'fun' read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfburk Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Path of Heaven and Praetorian of Dorn no doubt for me are the bests from 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1soul Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Path of Heaven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwell84 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 My personal favourites released in 2016: Path of Heaven, 'The Reaping Time' and Carcharadons: Red Tithe (so far - up to chapter 6). Haven't read Fabius: Primogenitor yet but from what everyone's saying I'm near-certain to retroactively add it to this list Favourites read for the first time or re-read in 2016: Brotherhood of the Storm, Scars, Path of the Eldar, Night Lords Omnibus, 'The Masters, Bidding' from Treacheries of the Space Marines. Got The Talon of Horus downloaded and on my reading list after Carcharadons. Non-BL/GW favs in 2016: Christian Cameron's Long War series, The Expanse series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwell84 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Master of Mankind, Path of Heaven and Praetorian of Dorn, in that order. It was an excellent year for HH. I hope 2017 will be even better. Best book non-GW was Edward Anson's 2nd edition of his work Eumenes of Cardia: A Greek among Macedonians. Stunning piece, a real inspiration for my own research. I'd heartily recommend it to the historically inclined here, although it may be a little expensive to get a print copy in person. Requisition it from your local university! Ditto, just hope all of the audio dramas and shorts are finally collected into novel format. Eumenes of Cardia: A Greek among Macedonians sounds like an interesting read, is this set during Alexander's time or after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeLeto69 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 As I only buy HH in MMPB I am somewhat behind but suspect from reviews/discussions MoM would be at or near the top. Best BL book of 2016 was Genestealer Cults (for all reasons Dark Chaplain has said) Honourable mention to The Beast Arises series (as a whole rather than single books as some were great and some were weaker though arguably none weak) - love and agree with veteranoob LotR analogy lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izlude Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 1. PoD: It really showed both the AL and IF at their best. I do admit Archamus was bit of a dullard but I have been following all of John's French HH's work so I did enjoy the Easter Eggs in the book. Of course the spoiler in the end...wow. Would have loved to get some more Polux and Sigismund action but I understand why that didn't happen. Also the coverart is my favorite up there with KNF. This along with the awesome warmaster short story should make him a top contender for some good Siege of Terra action! I also just ordered the Ahriman series more for his writing. 2. MoM: Loved the look into the Custodians and sisters. Obviously a somewhat controversial book amongst the fans...plus I have to admit it was freak'in depressing. I really enjoyed Land and the short story with it. This book only makes be believe ADB should be a top contender for writing some big Siege of Terra scene. The whole thing what that sword got me interested in Talon of Horus which just finished and absolutely loved! 3. Pharos: While it was a Xmas release with the hardback in 2016, I really enjoyed the book despite people's feeling on the whole Secundus thing. I know Path of Heaven brought tears to some people, Pharos actually almost did the same for me. As Guy Haley's first full length (I think?) he can write and I def consider him up there. These were my favorite three for 2016. I did enjoy the other stuff this year like The Beast series, Angels of Caliban was good and I also enjoyed Corax (also slightly depressing in the end). All in all, was a great banner year for BL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathspectersgt7 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The Beast Arises : all of them enjoyed very much even when some made me scratch my head and say really!!! . Master of Mankind Silver Skulls : Portents Talon of Horus Scars 1of 3 books I really enjoyed out of the heresy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuittzz Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Surprised at so many saying The Beast Arises series. I think while having a large stable of writers may be good for such an extensive series such as the HH, TBA series felt like there were too many chefs in the kitchen. So much stuff went unwritten and not fleshed out because they needed to get to a certain point in the series. The need to crank out a book every month, was it? I don't think it lent itself to the overall story and possibly hampered it. I.e. less writers and more time would have yielded something far greater IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veterannoob Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Surprised at so many saying The Beast Arises series. I think while having a large stable of writers may be good for such an extensive series such as the HH, TBA series felt like there were too many chefs in the kitchen. So much stuff went unwritten and not fleshed out because they needed to get to a certain point in the series. did learn ma The need to crank out a book every month, was it? I don't think it lent itself to the overall story and possibly hampered it. I.e. less writers and more time would have yielded something far greater IMO. Well, they did learn many lessons from TBA so looking fwd to the next one (Scouring or Age of Apostasy?) Books 1-3 were written 4 years ago now, year-18 monthsish break, then wrote 4-12 with some repeating authors. When I close each interview from TBA that's a series wrap for the author it's interesting to hear them answer what they have learned from this experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I really enjoyed The Beast Arises as a whole but I'd be lying if I called it one of the best things to come out of 2016. While I considered The Last Son of Dorn as a contender because of how much I liked seeing everything come to a climax, the series direction was ambitious and impressive, but seriously flawed all things considered. They get grades for effort, damn sure, but the result limps behind other offerings that had stronger direction. It is easy to recommend and to enjoy, especially for all the reveals it had to offer, but the overall series quality was too hit and miss in my opinion. I really wish I had already read Shadowsword by Guy Haley, though. Still waiting for the paperback release since that's what I got for Baneblade, but everything points towards it being more of what I loved about Baneblade, which, along with Skarsnik, got me to buy almost every single book Guy's written (even the Sci-Fi Chronicles lexicon). Had I read Shadowsword closer to release, I'd probably have put it onto my list too, knowing how much Guy suits my tastes with ideas and execution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Surprised at so many saying The Beast Arises series. I think while having a large stable of writers may be good for such an extensive series such as the HH, TBA series felt like there were too many chefs in the kitchen. So much stuff went unwritten and not fleshed out because they needed to get to a certain point in the series. did learn ma The need to crank out a book every month, was it? I don't think it lent itself to the overall story and possibly hampered it. I.e. less writers and more time would have yielded something far greater IMO. Well, they did learn many lessons from TBA so looking fwd to the next one (Scouring or Age of Apostasy?) Books 1-3 were written 4 years ago now, year-18 monthsish break, then wrote 4-12 with some repeating authors. When I close each interview from TBA that's a series wrap for the author it's interesting to hear them answer what they have learned from this experience. Same as DC I can't call TBA one of the best out of 2016. We will see how they will elude the mistakes BL made with TBA. I really enjoyed The Beast Arises as a whole but I'd be lying if I called it one of the best things to come out of 2016. While I considered The Last Son of Dorn as a contender because of how much I liked seeing everything come to a climax, the series direction was ambitious and impressive, but seriously flawed all things considered. They get grades for effort, damn sure, but the result limps behind other offerings that had stronger direction. It is easy to recommend and to enjoy, especially for all the reveals it had to offer, but the overall series quality was too hit and miss in my opinion. I really wish I had already read Shadowsword by Guy Haley, though. Still waiting for the paperback release since that's what I got for Baneblade, but everything points towards it being more of what I loved about Baneblade, which, along with Skarsnik, got me to buy almost every single book Guy's written (even the Sci-Fi Chronicles lexicon). Had I read Shadowsword closer to release, I'd probably have put it onto my list too, knowing how much Guy suits my tastes with ideas and execution. I really wish I had already read Shadowsword by Guy Haley - YOU STILL HAVEN'T? LOL. One of the best books of 2016 and instead of reading it, you read 'epic' 'Tyrant of the Hollow Worlds' (probably the worst book of 2016 after the Sons of the Forge). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah32 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 My top BL books of 2016 is pretty much dominated by Horus Heresy releases as 2016 was most certainly a Horus Heresy year. So I have broke it down into two categories; HH Angels of Caliban Praetorian of Dorn Master of Mankind Path of Heaven Primarchs - Leman Russ 40k Beast Arises series ( I could not pick a book) Unforgiven Fabius Primogenitor Genestealer cults Ragnar blackmane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 5 best books of 2016 are: Path of Heaven; Praetorian of Dorn; Genestealers Cult; Fabius Primogenitor; Shadowsword. And only after that list Master of Mankind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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