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The Devastation of Baal- Discussion


caladancid

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Dante says he expects the total number survivors to number less than 300. But almost every mortal left on Baal who can survive the process will become a Primaris Marine. That actually leaves the Blood Angels in a much better position than I originally thought. It means even the new Primaris Marines will at least be Baalites and know the Blood Angel customs.

 

Would anyone who read Traitors Hate mind spoiling the end for me? I know the Angel's Blade side, but I'm not sure what all that business at the end was. Did it have anything to do with the Blood Angels?

If almost every mortal becomes a marine, how will the Baalites reproduce in a sustainable fashion????

 

Good thing then that outside of the 8th narrative, which Devastation of Baal and Dark Imperium were part of, BL has given the green light to more stuff than at any point the last 5 years at the minimum.

 

Carcharodons, Horusian Wars, Rogue Trader content, Sons of the Hydra, Fabius Bile, new Eisenhorn, there are A LOT of stories being approved now that authors got to pitch on their own. The last time we had that happen, we got plenty of classics. To complain about some narrative tie-ins being restrictive is kinda tone-deaf, seeing how few books actually fall under that now in a sea of reborn creativity.

Apart from the RT content, theres nothing there that they didnt already do. Just rename it, people will swallow it.

You have a a couple of renamed SM battle books, a few warlords of 40k.

Ive got a bolter of the new millennium to sell you.  

 

 

By that logic, the old Eisenhorn books were just "Warlords of 40k" before it became a series, Gaunts Ghosts were just "Imperial Guard battle books", Storm of Iron was just a battle book, etc. Just because it's about a battle doesn't mean it wasn't pitched by the author. We know the Ragnar book was pitched by the author, despite you being so dismissive of the series.

Any Black Library book can be ignored when you're that dismissive. A book featuring any sort of wide-spread conflict? It's just an X battle book, who cares? A book about a character-driven story? It's just a Warlords book, who cares?

 

I honestly don't get what your point is supposed to be. "Other books exist in the same genre already, so everything is terrible", perhaps? It's not hard to see that it's good that the authors are being freed up to more often write the stories they want to, rather than being dictated by sales.

  • 1 month later...
Quick question as i havent finished the book yet (loving it btw), can anyone remeber the names of the places each of the sanguinary priests, librarius and reclusiam live in the arx angelicum. Also what was the name of the Dreadnought, mephiston talks to in the deepest parts of the librarium?

Quick question as i havent finished the book yet (loving it btw), can anyone remeber the names of the places each of the sanguinary priests, librarius and reclusiam live in the arx angelicum. Also what was the name of the Dreadnought, mephiston talks to in the deepest parts of the librarium?

The Carceri Arcanum

Guest Triszin

 

Dante says he expects the total number survivors to number less than 300. But almost every mortal left on Baal who can survive the process will become a Primaris Marine. That actually leaves the Blood Angels in a much better position than I originally thought. It means even the new Primaris Marines will at least be Baalites and know the Blood Angel customs.

 

Would anyone who read Traitors Hate mind spoiling the end for me? I know the Angel's Blade side, but I'm not sure what all that business at the end was. Did it have anything to do with the Blood Angels?

If almost every mortal becomes a marine, how will the Baalites reproduce in a sustainable fashion????

 

allow the marines to have families/households like ultramar does?

 

Dante says he expects the total number survivors to number less than 300. But almost every mortal left on Baal who can survive the process will become a Primaris Marine. That actually leaves the Blood Angels in a much better position than I originally thought. It means even the new Primaris Marines will at least be Baalites and know the Blood Angel customs.

 

Would anyone who read Traitors Hate mind spoiling the end for me? I know the Angel's Blade side, but I'm not sure what all that business at the end was. Did it have anything to do with the Blood Angels?

If almost every mortal becomes a marine, how will the Baalites reproduce in a sustainable fashion????

 

 

They won't. They will most likely be replaced by people brought out of the system.

 

Also, finally read the book properly instead of just skimming it.

 

I'm of opinion it would be a much better story without Guilliman coming to save the day.

I'm currently reading the book myself, and so far, I did not like how Erwin dies.  The way I see it, It's kind of a waste to spend a lot of time (and pages) developing a character, only to have them die like the flick of a finger.  

Eh, I kinda like how they do that. This is war. Sometimes, good people die bad deaths. Sometimes the sniper makes the shot, or a shell lands in the wrong place, or countless other things could happen. Not everybody gets to die in a Glorious Duel with the Evil Warlord.

Eh, I kinda like how they do that. This is war. Sometimes, good people die bad deaths. Sometimes the sniper makes the shot, or a shell lands in the wrong place, or countless other things could happen. Not everybody gets to die in a Glorious Duel with the Evil Warlord.

 

It is, however, a bit narratively unsatisfying to see a portion of the book dedicated to character that ultimately doesn't really serve a purpose. Especially if you thought, as I do, that we could use a bit more focus in the book.

Power armor isn’t imobilized when it loses power, per several other BL novels.

 

And no reason why it should be. It's still armour. If you are strong enough, you can move it. Sure, it's going to be a lot harder without the "power" part, but not impossible.

Must have just been for dramatic effect. I seem to remember Erwin getting tossed from his command dais and having the power pack ripped off his armor. As a result he is barely able to move and just kind of rages at the Carnifex before it kills him.

For what it's worth: I adored the book. Went very well as a sequel to Dante. Very impressive pair of books.

 

The only 'let down' was the end; but we sort of knew that anyway, and Guy realised it brilliantly.

 

Realising that Dante and his peers had gone through and endured hells far more daunting than those Guilliman faced is pretty chilling.

Massively bigger. Warriors of Ultramar only had to deal with a splinter fleet iirc, whereas Baal is being invaded by pretty much an entire tendril. It's probably the biggest coordinated incursion to date.

I see.  It reminds me of the event during the Great Crusade known as the "Rangdan Xenocide".  

  • 2 weeks later...

They'll probably have to canonise too many things to make it viable. I'm happy for that to stay fairly shadowy, though I wouldn't say know to a Primarch novel digging into it, if any could.

ummm......... Perhaps, the Lion El'Jonson book could cover that campaign. For it was said that the First legion was dealt a catastrophic blow that reduced them greatly. They lost like 50,000 legionnaires, and it was a crucial moment in their history that saw the Ultramariens surpass them in numbers.

 

Sorry for the prolonged off topic...

  • 5 months later...

Sorry for slight necro - which Blood Angel stories do you need to read beforehand to get the most from this? Shield of Baal? Dante? None?

 

I would say Shield of Baal and Dante, but it is not a must. The book is perfectly readable without it.

 

I think that Dante is a better novel, more suited to Haley's strengths as a writer, though. I found The Devastation of Baal to be somewhat disappointing. And ending to be severely disappointing, to the point that I think the novel would have been severely improved if it was cut out entirely.

 

Sorry for slight necro - which Blood Angel stories do you need to read beforehand to get the most from this? Shield of Baal? Dante? None?

 

I would say Shield of Baal and Dante, but it is not a must. The book is perfectly readable without it.

 

I think that Dante is a better novel, more suited to Haley's strengths as a writer, though. I found The Devastation of Baal to be somewhat disappointing. And ending to be severely disappointing, to the point that I think the novel would have been severely improved if it was cut out entirely.

 

 

So where would you have the story finish?

I mean, it finishes showing the aftermath of the invasion. It wouldn't have been satisfying to end it just as the Tyranids are destroyed. It has to show some sort of situation after the invasion, and the arrival of Guilliman is a fairly important plot point, so that's got to be there too. I can understand not liking Guilliman, but the fact remains that he's an important part of the event being told.

 

 

Sorry for slight necro - which Blood Angel stories do you need to read beforehand to get the most from this? Shield of Baal? Dante? None?

 

I would say Shield of Baal and Dante, but it is not a must. The book is perfectly readable without it.

 

I think that Dante is a better novel, more suited to Haley's strengths as a writer, though. I found The Devastation of Baal to be somewhat disappointing. And ending to be severely disappointing, to the point that I think the novel would have been severely improved if it was cut out entirely.

 

 

So where would you have the story finish?

I mean, it finishes showing the aftermath of the invasion. It wouldn't have been satisfying to end it just as the Tyranids are destroyed. It has to show some sort of situation after the invasion, and the arrival of Guilliman is a fairly important plot point, so that's got to be there too. I can understand not liking Guilliman, but the fact remains that he's an important part of the event being told.

 

 

I think it would have been more interesting to leave the aftermath ambiguous. I would have expanded the vision of Sanguinius at the end of the book, and leave it at that, especially since it is pretty obvious that a sequel will be in works. Yes, I am aware that the presence of Guilliman was required since he already showed up in the rulebooks, but still.

 

And I like Guilliman. However, I like Horus Heresy Guilliman, not the one we got.

 

And even then, I think it should have been handled better. The entire ending has this... annoying feeling for me. I have been Blood Angels fan since my earliest days as a 40k fan. They are my favourites amongst the loyalists. So yes. It grates on me that a vision of Sanguinius is immediately one-upped by Guilliman. It grates on me that the Flaw Blood Angels struggled all their existence and Sanguinius could not find solution to is seemingly solved by Cawl, off-screen. It annoys me that Roboute says it was totally possible to terraform Baal and make it great place to live, Sanguinius and every Blood Angel chapter master since him just didn't do it for some reason, even though it would be completely in character for Dante, and even though Sanguinius had the helping of Mankind as one of his stated goals since Index Astartes.

 

The story really seems to be making questionable turns to shill Roboute at the cost of Blood Angels. And I don't like it.

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