Dark Imperium Spoilers/Plot Summary (Read Along)

[Knockagh]

Heresy, Beast Arises, Dark Imperium or Sigmar the same problem/ strength exists across them all. Different authors. We live some and loathe others. I found people recently who like David Annandales work, I might question their sanity but it comes down to taste. All the series’s will vary in quality or popularity because they have different authors. Cain, Eisenhorn, Gaunt etc come across as being universally popular due to a single author creating a singular style which is appreciated by a group who buy it. So they all like it and tell each other that. Multi author series’s don’t have that luxury. You can see that as a positive or a negative

[b1soul]

I thought the non-combat Primaris scenes were well-done

 

The disbanding of the grey shields was very poignant, even though I found Bjarni to be a bit stereotypical.

 

The problem with the action was the lack of drama or stakes. You knew the Primarid and Guilliman were going to pull through with minor to moderate losses. It was hard to get invested.

 

I also felt the two human Guardsmen characters were a bit wasted. It would have been interesting if Bolus' friend had survived. He could have developed into a good low-level character

[Sete]

The Marines in the squad were all stereotypical.

I disliked that a lot.

 

Nurgle merry men was quite fun.

[Ashur]

I specially liked Guilliman's internal debat about the nature of the Emperor, who he now sees for what he always was, a ruthless visonary who never thought of him as a son. Yet, as Guilliman ponders on those questions, he ends up concluding that in a very twisted way, the Emperor may not love anyone, but he does love humanity.

[b1soul]

The Emp is all about humanity's long term survival. The expenditure of individual lives to further that goal is completely acceptable to him.

[Xisor]

I didn't care for a few of the battles, as said, but that's not uncommon.

 

What I was overjoyed with (yet with a touch of overwhelming cosmic horror), and where my mind keeps coming back to, is this line:

He behaved like a prisoner locked in an iron cage who is passed a rasp.

Guilliman had no illusions. He was not the man who brought the rasp; he was the rasp.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Xisor

[b1soul]

I'm assuming "rasp" in this context means...

 

"a coarse file or similar metal tool with a roughened surface for scraping, filing, or rubbing down objects of metal, wood, or other hard material"

 

i.e. Guilliman is only a tool to the Emp

[Xisor]

I'm assuming "rasp" in this context means...

 

"a coarse file or similar metal tool with a roughened surface for scraping, filing, or rubbing down objects of metal, wood, or other hard material"

 

i.e. Guilliman is only a tool to the Emp

Indeed.

 

At least in Britain, perhaps further abroad, it's a common image of sneaking a rasp (though I'd usually heard it called a file) to a prisoner, usually baked in a cake, thereby allowing them to furtively enact their own escape.

 

Imagine Guilliman being smuggled into the Emperor's throne room inside a cake.

 

For me it's hugely poignant, all the more for the slightly intrusive comic aspect. It shows the sheer horror of how little the Emperor's views Guilliman; but also how utterly essential that is.

 

The preceding passage talks of the Emperor's voice having lost it's nuance and subtlety, so you also get a sense of... rabidity? Mania? Fervour? Did the Emperor *always* view Guilliman that way and the guard has slipped, or is it necessity showing that things are so far gone the 'extraneous' (albeit true?) feelings of paternity have been sacrificed in the urgent need to *achieve a goal*.

 

I found it fascinating, and gutting, and comic, and agonising.

[bluntblade]

I suspect that the Emperor might have developed some affection for His sons that He perhaps didn't intend for, but regardless, if a little under two centuries with Roboute known to him wasn't much time to Him then, imagine now. He's spent ten millenia aware of just how screwed humanity is, powerless to influence it, and in incomprehensible pain.

[drooling blood]

I imagine 5 minutes with Guilliman and anyone would want to rasp themselves to death.

Or trip over and stub their neck.

[b1soul]

 

I'm assuming "rasp" in this context means...

"a coarse file or similar metal tool with a roughened surface for scraping, filing, or rubbing down objects of metal, wood, or other hard material"

i.e. Guilliman is only a tool to the Emp

Indeed.

At least in Britain, perhaps further abroad, it's a common image of sneaking a rasp (though I'd usually heard it called a file) to a prisoner, usually baked in a cake, thereby allowing them to furtively enact their own escape.

Yeah, I've always called it a file...so I was really confused at first

[mc warhammer]

finally reading this...my fav parts have been clagar's thoughts on/around guilliman

 

so i know barely anything about the primaris, but i'm assuming chaos astartes can harvest their gene-seed and make chaos primaris?

 

also, is BL calling space marines astartes again now?

[Phoebus]

I hope so. "Astartes" has gravitas to it. I like the idea Adeptus Astartes, Astra Militarum, etc., being High Gothic terminology, and that Space Marines, Imperial Guard, etc., are the Low Gothic equivalents.

[b1soul]

Astartes packs a lot more oomph than Spess Mehreen

[mc warhammer]

further reading, all the loyalist are still space marine...

[A D-B]

also, is BL calling space marines astartes again now?

 

I don't think so, and I don't recall it in Dark Imperium (which Guy nailed, I think) but I'll send out some feelers.

[Sete]

You need to tell Guy to drop BA and start writing Templars again. Loved his novels. And you too while you are at it :D.

But not as antagonists damn you!

And also Rob Mac and Chris Wraight! Everyone!!!!!

Edited November 24, 2017 by Sete

[bluntblade]

I still want a First Black Crusade-set Templars book. Edited November 24, 2017 by bluntblade

[Kelborn]

I'd like to have any good BT book. They got so many good stories and wars to fight. They need to be told. ^^

[Izlude]

Yeah just finished second reading and agree the Calgar bits were among my favorite parts for a couple of reasons:

-Calgar 40k is this god of war and used to being in charge then Guilliman comes and his world is flipped on its head

-I really like the doibbt that goes via Calgar’s head, he is clearly not “fainting over g-man” and questions his evey action...almost like seeds of doibt for chais to play with (not that Calgar would go rogue, but it seems implied

-He is clearly bitter about being second fiddle and inteprets every one of g-man’s comments as critism

 

The best part is when g-man bluntly says (parapharsing) “ Don’t bother comparing yourself to me...I’m a primarch and your not.” Total biatch slap to Calgar, which as a UM fan found funny. I like the 30k UM more their 40k counterparts. The digg against Sicarius was also funny with g-man saying “that guy has too many silly titles.”

 

The Mortarian parts were gems as well as his interactions/memories with the emperor. The primaris fights were okay standard bolter stuff just to say how awesome they are compared to the “standard SM”...also to sell models.

 

Was totally expecting this to be a “sell models” book which battle of calth was when that gameset came out...look how tough that cata terminator is... now buy me! Dark Imperium is a homerun to me which made Haley a top with Pharos (another book I loved).

Edited November 24, 2017 by Izlude

[b1soul]

Highly doubt Calgar will go rogue...he fully agrees with Guilliman's key decisions, he's just a little underwhelmed by his actual return. Fantasy always beats reality.

[Ascanius]

I really liked the way Calgar was depicted as unsettled by the way Guilliman didn't behave the way he thought he would, and depressed by how poorly he compared to the primarch.

 

Calgar isn't disappointed by Guilliman himself - he's disturbed by the way Guilliman treats all the relics the chapter still has from his time as just objects. It's like if you met the king in medieval times and he just treated the royal throne as a normal chair, dragging it over to the window for a better view or whatever. Or if Jesus came back and used the Holy Grail to drink Coca-Cola, maybe!

 

Calgar's depression is also about how many mistakes he sees himself as making when he has a real, living, breathing primarch to compare himself to. It's like any pride he might have felt in his performance as chapter master of the Ultramarines was sucked out of him all at once, because he realised neither he nor any of the others for the past ten thousand years could possibly measure up.

[mc warhammer]

 

 

also, is BL calling space marines astartes again now?

I don't think so, and I don't recall it in Dark Imperium (which Guy nailed, I think) but I'll send out some feelers.

yeah, after i started paying closer attention “astartes” was used primarily for the death guard “traitor astartes” or “chaos astartes” almost never for ultramarines (“adeptus astartes” was the exception)

[b1soul]

Calgar is also disappointed that Guilliman has to resort to playing politics, instead of everyone instantly obeying him because he's a primarch

[Ascanius]

Yeah, that's another good point, b1soul - Calgar's disappointed in his era.

 

It also, I think, shows how 40K Space Marines have a warped point of view compared to at least some of the 30K Space Marines - he doesn't think Guilliman should have to play politics because his entire worldview is founded on Imperial authorities giving commands and being obeyed. It's the "leader principle".