Lucius: The Faultless Blade

[Marshal Loss]

I read the book and thought it was pretty good. Lucius is not a character I particularly enjoy so the book had an uphill journey to convince me otherwise, and I don't think this characterisation one-ups my favourite EC portrayal (the magnificent Eidolon in Path of Heaven). That being said, Ian did a fantastic job of showing what an Emperor's Children warband would look like in 40k. There are lots of terms and names added - and as a Sons of Horus fanboy I got a good giggle at the constant references to the Cthonian Failure - which add a lot of depth and help ram hope the fact that these astartes are very divergent from what we've seen in other series. 

 

I also appreciated the references to older material (anybody catch the Cohors Nasicae link from Collected Visions?) and it's the best we've seen of Lucius so far. I'll definitely be interested in the inevitable sequel.

[b1soul]

he's also strangled a wulfen to death

 

Cool...which book?

 

 

and beaten an Emperor's Champion in single combat, he's even had an extended combat where he was only defeated after seven days and seven nights while taking on an Iron Hands champion and all of his honor guard.

Lucius's mediocrity as a combatant is exaggerated, largely by people viewing his formative years.

Lucius is an elite CSM duelist...but he's far below primarch level. Sharrowkyn straight up bested him. His "weight class" would be other elite SM and CSM champions. I personally think Sigismund would have thrashed him.

 

His extreme arrogance is also a very real weakness capable of being exploited.

[1ncarnadine]

I personally think Sigismund would have thrashed him.

 

It's actually not at all impossible that Sigismund cuts him down during the Siege. Sigismund would take no satisfaction, and Lucius would likely come back through an artificer that took pride in crafting or maintaining the Black Sword. I don't think it would be incredibly one-sided, either.

[Loesh]

 

he's also strangled a wulfen to death

 

Cool...which book?

 

 

and beaten an Emperor's Champion in single combat, he's even had an extended combat where he was only defeated after seven days and seven nights while taking on an Iron Hands champion and all of his honor guard.

Lucius's mediocrity as a combatant is exaggerated, largely by people viewing his formative years.

Lucius is an elite CSM duelist...but he's far below primarch level. Sharrowkyn straight up bested him. His "weight class" would be other elite SM and CSM champions. I personally think Sigismund would have thrashed him.

 

His extreme arrogance is also a very real weakness capable of being exploited.

 

He's definitely below Primarch level just by virtue of the fact Abaddon is below Primarch level, yes he beats Horus, but only with a metric ton of backup. Also 'In Wolfs Clothing' is the short story where he squares off against Wulfen, on re-examining the passage he strangles the Wulfen half to death then stabs a sword through it's head, not quite as metal but still. Agreed on Sigismund but that's not saying much, Sigismunds just straight up the best personal combatant in the Legions and would thrash about anyone at the Sieges.

 

It's worth noting that 40k Lucius is quite a different beast from Horus Heresy Lucius though, in much the same way Abaddon becomes waaaaaaaaaaaay more powerful over the Long War.

 

 

 

I personally think Sigismund would have thrashed him.

 

It's actually not at all impossible that Sigismund cuts him down during the Siege. Sigismund would take no satisfaction, and Lucius would likely come back through an artificer that took pride in crafting or maintaining the Black Sword. I don't think it would be incredibly one-sided, either.

 

My money is still that, if he kills anyone, he probably kills Khârn, it would be...fitting.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Loesh

[b1soul]

Sigismund offing Sevatar would be most fitting IMO

Sigismund offing Sevatar would be most fitting IMO...but should be unlikely

Edited September 14, 2017 by b1soul

[HeritorA]

 

 

 

Does Lucius have any other character defining traits other than his ego and pride in his swordsmanship? I never really "got" his character. The other EC guy that was with him back in the early HH books, can't remember his name, but I found him a far better character. Lucius comes across like some angry kid on Xbox live screaming at you over call of duty.

I mean there's his arrogance and ego, but there's also his disillusionment in the Third and to a degree Slaanesh in his quest for sensation, his sort of 'tired old rockstar' status where he's killed about everything at this point and is just seeking out ways to feel again, his internal balance between going to Slaanesh but staying away from corruption just enough to avoid being a blood crazed zerker and how that internal balancing act has driven him insane. Plus, he's genuinely not stupid, I loved his intentional use of his death defying power in In Wolf's Clothing to stage a massive ambush from the inside of the ship. Personally of the Four, he's the second most well written to me after Ahirman, above Khârn who was interesting and then became boring, and way above Typhus who is the worst by virtue of the fact that there is not enough written about him to be interesting.

 

Indeed. The main issue with Lucius by that point is that the next real challenge to get him some joy - is to duel/kill at least a Primarch and in the best case one of the Universe Gods.

Lucius is a sensational hedonist who will always be seeking more - and will never get it, cause he can't kill Primarch or a God.

He can't be compared with Khârn or Typhus. The last 2 are servants of their Gods. They get 'joy' from doing their deities job.

 

That's the trick really, it's the same reason Sigismund is not going to fight any big names at the Siege of Terra. They are both such stupidly good duelists that by rights they should kill the character(And even worse, Lucius has a clause that always ensures a mutual kill even if you're a bloody Necron), but won't, so they would have to put together some convoluted reason for why the character would live.

 

And that's why we will never have deaths of Khârn, Typhus, Lucius etc. They are protected by 3 elephants: plot armor, deities and their own wishes.

 

LetsYouDown

On the contrary - Sigismund get a lot of satisfaction killing Lucius, not because of the win and traitor death - but because of DUTY being done. And debt honoured.

 

b1soul

Sigi will not kill Sevatar. To obvious. And I don't think Sevatar will be back into Traitors ranks before Siege of Terra.

[Sandlemad]

Finished this yesterday. Quite good! More action-centric than I'd usually like but it's well written and the author knows when to skip forward. Not sure the book really cohered fully; the pacing was strange, some characters seemed to die off early or weren't put to as much use as they warrant (thinking of the Eagle King here), and some plotlines only surfaced briefly (e.g. Lucius' armour rebelling) but it was enjoyable.

 

The characters were good though, and there's a lot of interesting stuff done, like tracking the horrible life of a former World Eaters mortal serf in his new life serving the EC. The sexual element of Slaanesh that he encounters was handled more maturely than I've seen elsewhere and, more importantly, as just one element of the attraction alongside ambition, wealth, luxury, status, etc.

 

I'd second Marshal Loss that the delving into the 40k EC culture was some of the best stuff. The constant references to 'the Cthonian Failure' were, dare I say, perfect. In Combat Phase (good interview veterannoob) the author mentioned having the EC refer to Slaanesh simply as 'God', to show their utter narcissism and disregard for the other three. It was a wonderful idea and shows genuine deep diving into EC psychology but I can see why the BL editors removed it. Good creepiness too, with details like the Composer's cloak of sense organs.

 

Some real care went into this on Ian St Martin's part, not least on thinking through the implications of Lucius' immortality; how did he find out about it? Who else knows about it? How far is he willing to push it? Could it be withdrawn by his fickle patron at any moment? St Martin took something that is usually taken for granted and treated as a dull, almost mechanical detail, and successfully fleshed it out.

 

Lucius is a simple character. This isn't a bad thing and I'm reminded of what Terry Pratchett said about Captain Carrot, he's simple in the same way that a sword is simple, he cuts through things. Lucius is pure id, careening through the galaxy like a furious dumbass, no angst (like Talos) and no greater ambition (like Fabius or Abaddon). It's genuinely compelling but it means that you need stuff like the conflict with his armour or the threat to his immortality to get good drama out of him. I enjoyed his final speech - and the whole book - but I can't say I felt that anything had really significantly changed for Lucius by the end of it, besides getting some sick new drugs.

 

The other characters though, they had more in the way change and development, particularly Cesare and the WE serf. I also like that we're at the stage where an author can write a 40k CSM book and have it actively work in dialogue with other CSM books, not just the heresy ones. One of the interesting ideas here (and that St Martin mentioned on Combat Phase) is that the traditional method for advancement in a warband is over the cooling corpse of your former champion. This path is prominently depicted in pretty much every chaos novel, most obviously ADB's Night Lords works. For the warriors following Lucius, this isn't an option, they are essentially trapped in this insane (abusive?) relationship. It's that kind of engagement with the 'normal run' of CSM fiction (including fan's own warband background) that shows a lot of promise, both for the Lucius books and other chaos-centric books that might come out in the future.

 

So yeah, not perfect but definitely good stuff.

[HeritorA]

 

he's also strangled a wulfen to death

 

Cool...which book?

 

 

and beaten an Emperor's Champion in single combat, he's even had an extended combat where he was only defeated after seven days and seven nights while taking on an Iron Hands champion and all of his honor guard.

Lucius's mediocrity as a combatant is exaggerated, largely by people viewing his formative years.

Lucius is an elite CSM duelist...but he's far below primarch level. Sharrowkyn straight up bested him. His "weight class" would be other elite SM and CSM champions. I personally think Sigismund would have thrashed him.

 

His extreme arrogance is also a very real weakness capable of being exploited.

 

 

Lucius is expert 'duelist'. But he is also a SM at the core - so he is a formidable 'soldier'.

Sharrowkyn bested him - cause 1) McNeil needed to create an image of 'shadow master ninja' for Sharrowkyn and show his prowess. 2) Lucius in HH is a lovely chap comparing to his road up to W41K and the time of 'Lucius' novel.

He is not that arrogant now b1soul (especially if you finished the novel fully - you will see what I mean).

 

Plus Lucius - same as everyone else from the Legions up to W41K definitely below Primarch level.

Sandlemad

'The other characters though, they had more in the way change and development, particularly Cesare and the WE serf. I also like that we're at the stage where an author can write a 40k CSM book and have it actively work in dialogue with other CSM books, not just the heresy ones. One of the interesting ideas here (and that St Martin mentioned on Combat Phase) is that the traditional method for advancement in a warband is over the cooling corpse of your former champion.'

Indeed. And the most strange in their relationship inside the warband is that everyone afraid to kill Lucius. He is partly guarded against his 'brothers' treachery by them being afraid to kill him. Cause they are 'all' hedonists and definitely would feel even a spark of 'joy' by killing Lucius. And we know how it all will go.