Fabius Bile series: is it any good?

[Warpmiss]

I didn't care much about Fabius as a character in the HH books I've read in which he appears. However, I've always loved to read about necromancers, no matter if they are of the magical or scientific kind (like Lovecraft's Re-animator). Bile is one of the latter so I am of course curious about reading stories in which he is the main character.

 

EDIT: I should explain that while Fabius goal is not that of a necromancer (resurrecting the dead), his methods do remind me a lot of such a kind of character (Frankenstein, Herbert West, etc) so it was easier for me to refer to him as some sort of necromancer-scientist.

 

Without spoiling the plot, do you think his series is worth reading?

[Vesper]

Primogenitor is damn awesome, really. I haven't read the Blood Angels stuff with Fabius in it, but I've heard mixed returns about it.

[Warpmiss]

Primogenitor is damn awesome, really. I haven't read the Blood Angels stuff with Fabius in it, but I've heard mixed returns about it.

I was mainly thinking about Primogenitor and Clonelord, is he a prominent character in a BA series too?

[Vesper]

Indeed, but it's mostly about Blood Angels, Fabius is just the main antagonist and doesn't get much screentime at all.

 

But yeah. Primogenitor is amazing.

[Knockagh]

I found Primogenitor a mixed bag. The opening chapters were wonderful. Life in the eye among the fallen brothers was well described and Fabius given a great aura. Personally I thought the book lost it after that. The combat scenes were boring and the story laboured. I listened to an interview with Josh were he said he basically was told to write 40k by BL but it wasn’t were his passion lay. I think that comes across. A good effort from an obviously talented writer but not enough enthusiasm for the subject to carry it to the end.

[Slave to Darkness]

I have only read Primogenitor so far, pretty good book though some chapters are a bit 'meh' in places. 

[DarkChaplain]

Yes, it is fantastic.

 

That is all that needs to be said.

[Sandlemad]

Primogenitor is great. Excellent black humour combined with horror, and a lot of clever things done with the charcters. I did feel quite a bit of passion went into this, albeit passion for Hammer horror films and the performances of folks like Vincent Prince and Peter Cushing, all wedged into a 40k mad scientist trope. 

 

Would also seriously recommend the audiodrama Repairer of Ruin, best BL audio thing I've come across. The guy the plays Bile is incredible, you won't be able to hear his voice any other way.

[rendingon1+]

I don't know how about you but at some point I imagined Fabius has a Rick Sanchez speaking manner. I cannot shake it off.

Series is great indeed.

[Izlude]

I found Primogenitor a mixed bag. The opening chapters were wonderful. Life in the eye among the fallen brothers was well described and Fabius given a great aura. Personally I thought the book lost it after that. The combat scenes were boring and the story laboured. I listened to an interview with Josh were he said he basically was told to write 40k by BL but it wasn’t were his passion lay. I think that comes across. A good effort from an obviously talented writer but not enough enthusiasm for the subject to carry it to the end.

I know it was well received by many but I also agree with Pete. It was a mixed bag. I love the bits about life in the eye but I honestly wasn't a big fan of the way Fabius came across: cartoony evil villian type with sort of cheesy wise cracks. I also think the fights were sort of eh. I sort of stopped half way and never finished it (just sold it). Take my opinion with a grain of salt, I am mostly a HH reader so I am not as into the 40k setting so I am sure that is a factor in my opinion as well. 

 

Being a medical person I have really wanted to like Fabius as a character since that is sort of the area I do work in (not cloning space marines or Primarchs mind you...). He is pretty detestable in the HH series as well so I guess that plays into my feelings into the book. Anyways it is fairly cheap to get a copy so little downside since the majority love the book. 

[Warpmiss]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

 

From what you've said, even if it has it's downsides I think could enjoy Progenitor so I'll pick it up. I'll also be on the lookout for the other books/audiodramas you've mentioned!

 

 

I found Primogenitor a mixed bag. The opening chapters were wonderful. Life in the eye among the fallen brothers was well described and Fabius given a great aura. Personally I thought the book lost it after that. The combat scenes were boring and the story laboured. I listened to an interview with Josh were he said he basically was told to write 40k by BL but it wasn’t were his passion lay. I think that comes across. A good effort from an obviously talented writer but not enough enthusiasm for the subject to carry it to the end.

 

Man, that's a shame, I feel sorry for him then, although I'm guessing that might be a problem BL authors must run into every now and then. 

[Guest Anakwanar]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

 

From what you've said, even if it has it's downsides I think could enjoy Progenitor so I'll pick it up. I'll also be on the lookout for the other books/audiodramas you've mentioned!

 

 

I found Primogenitor a mixed bag. The opening chapters were wonderful. Life in the eye among the fallen brothers was well described and Fabius given a great aura. Personally I thought the book lost it after that. The combat scenes were boring and the story laboured. I listened to an interview with Josh were he said he basically was told to write 40k by BL but it wasn’t were his passion lay. I think that comes across. A good effort from an obviously talented writer but not enough enthusiasm for the subject to carry it to the end.

 

Man, that's a shame, I feel sorry for him then, although I'm guessing that might be a problem BL authors must run into every now and then. 

Primogenitor and Clonelord are awesome novels. Joshua outdid himself with both books. If the first one gave you Fabius the 'scientist', 'hero', 'humanity savior' through dark places, 'Clonelord' gave you Fabius 'the abomination', treacherous monster and antihero of the worst kind. And both of them read easily and without breaking the stride.

 

Get both of them. You will not regret it. 

[Warpmiss]

Thanks, that sounds even more awesome! Now I know what I will be reading for Christmas.

[Never_born]

If you fancy a bit of info about what to expect in Clonelord, I've got a quick interview with Josh up on Track of Words:

 

https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/12/08/rapid-fire-josh-reynolds-talks-clonelord/

 

Cheers,

 

NB.

[DukeLeto69]

I found Primogenitor a mixed bag. The opening chapters were wonderful. Life in the eye among the fallen brothers was well described and Fabius given a great aura. Personally I thought the book lost it after that. The combat scenes were boring and the story laboured. I listened to an interview with Josh were he said he basically was told to write 40k by BL but it wasn’t were his passion lay. I think that comes across. A good effort from an obviously talented writer but not enough enthusiasm for the subject to carry it to the end.

I am with you on this. Having seen so many people raving about the book I decided to buy it and...meh. It really didn't do it for me but could really out my finger on why...except that it was actually fairly boring (and I am not talking about wanting lots of battles).

[Morovir]

Clonelord will really make you hate Fabius, and also sheds light on Trazyn's collection.

 

His collection includes a section of Calth, complete with Ultramarines and Word Bearers, a 12-meter high Krork in armour more advanced that the Space Marines' own, and now...

Fabius' last remaining cloned primarch, a perfect clone of Fulgrim, who he traded to Trazyn in return for the gene-seed reserve of the Emperor's Children that was lost before the Great Crusade.

[Marshal Loss]

I enjoyed Clonelord a lot. Thrilled to see

 

Eidolon!

 

back in the flesh. 10/10 worth the admission for his presence alone. Reynolds writes good EC - even if you're not a huge fan of Fabius, which I am not, his work is worth reading for that alone. If/when GW bring back the EC, I would hope they consult him on the matter. It would be nice to see him flesh out the Legion further, and I'd like to see what kind of unique Terminator/Consul style units, in the vein of what the Death Guard received with the Blightlords/Foul Blightspawn (etc, etc), he could come up with.

 

Also, I think he wins an award for inserting 'mistakes were made' into a 40k novel.

 

 

‘According to Eidolon.’
Diomat grunted. ‘You should never have reattached his head.’
‘Mistakes were made.’

 

Another fun fact that is just so 40k-ish in its absurdity:

 

 

 

Erebus would approve. Efficiency was one of the thirteen virtues, along with self-reliance and ruthlessness. Saqqara glanced at his armour, with its wine-dark hue. There were currently three hundred and forty-seven approved hues for battleplate within the Legion. That number changed, depending on the whims of the Dark Council. Following those whims was considered another virtue.

 

Word Bearers players had better pay attention to the shade of red they put on their models, lest they anger Erebus.

 

The dialogue sometimes feels like it's trying too hard to be witty, but there are lots of gems in here. It's a better read than Primogenitor in my opinion. This isn't Talon of Horus/Black Legion level insight into CSM and the warp, but it's still really good. Hopefully Reynolds keeps it up, I'd like to see more.

[bluntblade]

The hilarious thing is that Eidolon was so vastly improved by that mistake.

[Warpmiss]

Marshal Loss, gotta love those bits you've posted. Now I am even more interested in the books!

[Karthak]

Clonelord will really make you hate Fabius, and also sheds light on Trazyn's collection.

 

His collection includes a section of Calth, complete with Ultramarines and Word Bearers, a 12-meter high Krork in armour more advanced that the Space Marines' own, and now...

 

Fabius' last remaining cloned primarch, a perfect clone of Fulgrim, who he traded to Trazyn in return for the gene-seed reserve of the Emperor's Children that was lost before the Great Crusade.

What's the clone like? Any indications on whether he's Traitor or Loyalist inclined?

[Warpmiss]

I have already read part I of Primogenitor! While I am enjoying it, there's one thing that bothers me: said.

 

There are so many verbs you can use to express someone is speaking but these are the exception in this book. The conversations constantly go like this:

 

"Something, something, something" X said.

"Something else" Y said. "Something else."

"Stuff, stuff, stuff" Z said.

"Something, something!" X said.

 

Rinse and repeat for every conversation.

 

It's annoying to read but it gets worse while listening to the audiobook in the commute. I keep thinking of all the other verbs that could have been used either neutral (commented, stated, replied, answered, continued, observed) or anything to convey the way the character is spreaking (retorted, laughed, whispered, growled, shrugged, hesitated, bragged, etc). It's driving me crazy.

[Sandlemad]

Can't say I noticed that quirk in Primogenitor or Clonelord but the new book does seem to be much more dialogue-driven than most BL novels. It's good revealing dialogue that fleshes out the members of the Consortium/crew but there are a lot of characters. It almost feels like everyone has to have a plotting scene with everyone else in the middle act. It's fun skullduggery but the momentum sags a little because of it.

[Warpmiss]

I love the conversations (or conversations in general in any kind of book) but goodness, I hope this improves by Clonelord because it is jarring.

[Khornflakes]

I did really like Primogenitor - the humour made it stand out; particularly the snarky comments made to and fro amongst the people.

 

Halfway through Clonelord and, so far, it's grand. not as good as Primogenitor but enjoyable enough. 

 

Fabius as a character never really appealed to me before these books. he always tend to come across like a Frankenstein character or moustache twirling caricature of a villain. These do give him some more depth, particularly how he sees himself as different from the other traitor legions.

 

Warpmiss - i don'r recollect seeing that writing style in Primogenitor; or at least it didn't stand out enough to warrant notice. May go back and re-read the book and see if it comes across. 

[DarkChaplain]

The whole "said" thing is actually one frequent thing you'll come across in fiction these days. Authors go so far as to actively discourage using other verbs. I can't say it bothers me usually, but the attitude of said authors claiming that anything but "said" should be left out or replaced does.

Doesn't matter if they're shouting, asking a question, whatever, those authors and advice columns tell you to just use "said" anyway and leave the rest to exclamation or question marks. It's modern.

 

I don't really notice it much while reading, but the attitude makes me mad.