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Things You Like About... Scars


bluntblade

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Well to be fair, he couldn't exactly kill off a Primarch that we know doesn't get killed by him.

 

 

dorn. alpharius :wink:

 

 

Who before this has never been given any actual appearances post-Heresy, other than a widely-discredited "death" against the Ultramarines. Mortarion, on the other hand, we know survives both to take part in the Siege of Terra, and to reach Daemonhood. Kinda different situations between the two.

 

One we have no idea what happens to, so him dying in the Heresy fits. Another we know lives. It's like saying you're upset that Sanguinius didn't die at Signus, or that Horus didn't die at Molech.

 

 

Well to be fair, he couldn't exactly kill off a Primarch that we know doesn't get killed by him.

 

 

dorn. alpharius :wink:

 

 

Who before this has never been given any actual appearances post-Heresy, other than a widely-discredited "death" against the Ultramarines. Mortarion, on the other hand, we know survives both to take part in the Siege of Terra, and to reach Daemonhood. Kinda different situations between the two.

 

One we have no idea what happens to, so him dying in the Heresy fits. Another we know lives. It's like saying you're upset that Sanguinius didn't die at Signus, or that Horus didn't die at Molech.

 

 

yeah, the winky face was all about not being serious.  it's not a perfect example, as you point out

 

though, i think adb did say they could potentially get away with deaths of certain primarchs that hadn't been established previously eg the khan

Actually, one other thing:  The fact that Space Wolves were involved.  Now, the SW scenes were good, and acts as a prelude to "Wolf King" novella; but the way how Chris Wraight slips the VI legion into this IV legion novel just felt awkward.  

The appearance of the VI had the opposite effect on me, i was so blindsided by their appearance not two chapters into Scars that it properly got my blood racing. The proper ballsy follow up attack on two fronts by the Alpha Legion and seeing how the VI & V both dealt with it in completely different ways was awesome.

 

Gotta love Jaghatai's en mass fleet sized middle finger to the Alpha's when they kick it into gear, freaking awesome!!

I like that Qin Xa is the one who explains to Ilya that a lot of the truth about the Galaxy has been hidden from Mankind. It both makes sense Qin Xa doing the explaining - he's the Khan's closest companion barring Yesugei - and it subtly bolsters the reader's impression of the Scars. If the bodyguard guy is this astute, the Noyan-Khans must be even more so.

 

He also suggests the Zao at Chondax, which again is a nice subtle touch. It shows the Khan's relatively relaxed approach to leadership, and it avoids the issue of every smart idea just coming from the Primarch.

The best thing, in my opinion, really, is that it talks in great length and detail about the V legion's cultural backgroud.  The beginning where Shiban grew up in the steppes (of Mongolia) and met with Yesugei. 
The language differences between Korchin to Imperial Gothic (Yesugei's low gothic was priceless);
Henricos "You sound like one of Magnus' sorcerer." 
Yesugei: "I think, they speak better gothic than me."
 
But yeah, just the overall Asiatic-Astartes feel is a new and pleasant change. 

I think there needs to be action to break up non-action and vice versa.

The only action I coule have done without was Bjorn's ship combat. Felt too SW-centric

The combat between the Space Wolves and Alpha Legion, seen from the SW point of view, was too SW centric? I don’t get what you mean.

There is a full list of WS stories too, but off the top of my head Rebirth and Brotherhood of the Storm set up for Scars, Allegiances and Brotherhood of the Moon carry on from there (I'd say read those two in that order) bridge the gap with PoH, and then The Last Son of Prospero and Restorer follow on from that book.

 

And Daemonology follows Mortarion after Scars and before VS.

 

And another thing I like. Ilya. Ilya is a terrific character, and a breath of fresh air as someone who's old by mortal standards. It adds a curious dynamic to her interactions with the Scars as she recognises the impetuousness that many of them show, rather than just being bowled over by them.

Regarding Bjorn...I just felt he was a bit shoe-horned into Scars. I'm not a huge SW fan...so the less SW POV in a WS novel the better (from my perspective). 

 

I thought the scene in which Russ reacts to the Khan's decision to leave them was appropriate and well-done. Bjorn vs. AL was superfluous in my view. 

My favorite character of the book was iIlya Ravallion the departmento munitorum officer charged with the unfortunate task of attempting to apply logistics to a legion known for not having supply lines  and her juxtaposition to a bunch of post humans....

I like the vague mentions to the tense relationship between the Emperor and the Khan.

 

We already have cases of primarchs who were close to the Emperor and rebelled. Now for the first time we have the case of a primarch who had every reason to abandon the Imperium, but had to make the hard choice of rejecting his closest brothers.

 

Unlike other primarchs, their source of disagreement is not personal, but political, philosophical even. And although the Khan is loyal to the Imperium, it is clear he does not share much with his father and his intentions. This makes the Khan an interesting kind of outsider who had to decide that the people he disagrees with are the right side.

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