What moved you, the reader?

[Slan Drakkos]

Honestly, when I think about moments in Black Library books that really moved me, I tend to gravitate towards A-D-B and in particular the Night Lords trilogy. Truly it's a masterclass in how to write sympathetic anti-heroes (they're the protagonists but they're not the "good" guys, and they're certainly not antagonists), because I had moments for those heretics that I've never really felt for any loyalist Astartes.

If I had to pick only one, then I would put the following forward:

 

Void Stalker:

Throughout the first two novels of the trilogy Uzas is seen as a Khorne Bezerker in all put name, he is reckless and prone to bouts of extreme brutality with little obvious knowledge of his actions. By the beginning of this novel he has initiated a conflict with another squad aboard the Echo of Damnation, forcing Talos' hand in siding with him and First Claw in wiping out this other squad. For his actions, and many others before, Talos hands Uzas the punishment of the Red Gauntlets - an edict from the time of the Night Haunter, where a legionnaire would be condemned to death with the execution postponed until the legionnaire is of no further use to the Primarch. His gauntlets would be painted red to allow all others to know of his crimes and fate, and Uzas is left wondering in a moment of clarity where in the Echo of Damnation he is to find red paint. During the events of the novel Talos tries to reconnect with Uzas before he fell to Khorne, reminding him of the time during the Heresy where he was a squad sergeant of note, reminding him that he doesn't need to power that is being offered by the Chaos gods.

By the time we reach the end of the novel, and the Eldar have slaughtered the majority of the Night Lords, Uzas is gifted another moment of clarity about his actions over the years. He comes to realise that he has been punished for murders and slaughters that were not committed by his hand, that another within his squad has been using Uzas as an excuse to cover their own depravities. The only other within the squad with the capacity for those acts is Cyrion, who has been secretly indulging in his feeding of fear in humans - a gift from Slaanesh, and who is the only squad member who is present with Uzas. As he's confronted, Cyrion admits his actions and pinning the blame of Uzas' mannerisms, which leads Uzas to attack Cyrion for vengeance. Talos walks in on the two fighting, with Uzas in a bezerker state and Cyrion telling Talos that Uzas has gone mad and attacked him. Talos is forced to step in and assist in killing Uzas and defending Cyrion, with Cyrion's secret remaining hidden with Uzas' death.

 

Never before have I felt so sorry for a Khorne worshipping bezerker with a pachant for skinning humans, who is fundamentally betrayed by someone who he calls 'brother'. Most of his violent actions are carried out in a fugue, but during his moments of clarity it's clear that he want's to remain in control whilst taking the power that Khorne is offering. He deserves his fate for what he has done, for what he's done is barbaric and evil, but he's taking the punishment of others with no way of defending himself and has no choice but to accept that judgement. Finally he figures it all out, that he's taking the blame for someone else, and in the rage of discovering this he is betrayed one final time.

gotta correct you on one thing.

Uzas didn't attack Cyrion out of anger. Cyrion tried to cut his head off to silence him. Uzas obviously wasn't having that and easily smacked Cyrion away.

 

As far as moments that really get me go, this one from Galaxy in Flames made me spontaneously burst out clapping.

 

A HUNDRED OF Tarvitz’s loyalists remained. They were the only survivors of their glorious last stand, and he had gathered them in the remains of the Warsingers’ Temple – Sons of Horus, Emperor’s Children, and even a few lost-looking World Eaters. Tarvitz noticed that there were no Death Guard in their numbers, thinking that perhaps a few had survived Mortarion’s scouring of the trenches, but knowing that they might as well have been on the other side of Isstvan III. This was the end. They all knew it, but none of them gave voice to that fact. He knew all their names now. Before, they had just been grime-streaked faces among the endless days and nights of battle, but now they were brothers, men he would die with in honour. Flashes of explosions bloomed in the city’s north. Shooting stars punched through the dark clouds overhead, scorching holes through which the glimmering stars could be seen. The stars shone down on the Choral City in time to watch the city die. ‘Did we hurt them, captain? asked Solathen. ‘Did this mean anything?’ Tarvitz thought for a moment before replying. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘we hurt them here. They’ll remember this.’

 

Such a fantastic moment.

[Slan Drakkos]

I forget which novel this was from, but I loved a little scene where some Sons of Horus in the original trilogy were mucking about and at one point one of them was holding the murder sword and he spoke his comrades name and there was this sense of dread that overcame the room. I dunno why but that scene has stuck with me since I first dove in to the fiction.

 

I think it's the second book, the one where Horus gets injured and they go to find the sword.

[rookie40K]

Garro Legion of One-Garviel Loken PTSD rant.

 

Helsreach-Grimaldus few chaplain speeches are pretty good, especially when telling an apothecary to get it together.

[Xisor]

In 'Hereticus', towards the end of the novel, there's a few gutting pieces, but one in particular that leaves me utterly inconsolable.

----

In 'Execution Hour', by Gordon Rennie, the is a scene which is the culmination of a tense bit of cat/mouse starship combat. In contrast to the negative emotions, this one is a much more wholesome and savage one.

Semper stared at the image of the Contagion on the flickering green screen, willing it to move closer. Hendrik Morrau was a tenacious and determined opponent, yes, but Semper remembered reading of another side to this Battlefleet Gothic legend. Morrau had been a cruel and capricious martinet who had once ordered over three thousand mutineers to be fed out of an open airlock. This was a man who had enjoyed the suffering of others, even before throwing in his lot with the Emperor's enemies. How could he resist the lure of the spectacle now being offered to him?

'Enemy vessel closing!'

As the surveyor finished speaking, Semper was already issuing orders: 'Engage reserve power systems and reinstate Geller Field integrity. Helm control - engage starboard manoeuvring thrusters and bring us about hard to port! Mister Nyder—'

'Torpedoes, flag-captain?'

Semper's savage smile of triumph matched that of his officer. 'Oh yes, Mister Nyder. Torpedoes.'

It's such a simple piece, but it fills me with an intense glee and relief reading it. Perhaps it's all that time playing Battlefleet Gothic and knowing the satisfaction of lining up and executing an excellent little plan. Who can tuly say?

I'll be damned if it doesn't move me, though.

----

'The Binary Succession' by David Annandale. The combination of excellent writing, acting and audio production come together here to yield something truly epic that, throughout the story, moves me time an again. From the Stellarum Vigil, to some of the words spoken in the debating chamber, to the simple conversations between the characters, and even the denouement itself, it's an audio that is singular in its capacity to move me so completely.

Who says machines minds are cold?

----

'Throne of Lies' by that interminable hack, ADB. "Ave dominus nox" knocks me for six every time I listen, for the most part, but I get a peculiar sense of satisfaction from the phrase "Commander Kurze of the Night Lords Legion" too. Not Primarch, not Lord, nothing arch or fancy. Commander.

Like hearing the HH referred to as a civil war or rebellion. There's something charming to know the scale but hear it 'undersold' prosaically.

----

The Ahriman trilogy by John French. I'm not sure it was individual scenes as much as the overall effect of the trilogy via each of the scenes. It's continually something terrifyingly sad, but also aggravatingly hubristic. It really twists the knife.

----

The Fall of the Antrodamicus in 'Know No Fear'. The entire novel is a long parade of gut punches, but the collapse of the grand cruiser Antrodamicus stood out for me the first time I read it as just such an overwhelming 'wow' of an elongated moment.

[DarkChaplain]

Another scene that moved me is from Ravenor, the first book, when Zael and Nayl have a very human, very relatable conversation in Harlon's room. It showed the trouble with Inquisition work, the longing for more when things didn't quite work out the first time, the memories and regrets of what should normally be a hardened bounty hunter. It was a different side of Harlon Nayl, dealing with a kid, that you don't usually see.

[Manchu warlord]

 

 

Another scene that moved me is from Ravenor, the first book, when Zael and Nayl have a very human, very relatable conversation in Harlon's room. It showed the trouble with Inquisition work, the longing for more when things didn't quite work out the first time, the memories and regrets of what should normally be a hardened bounty hunter. It was a different side of Harlon Nayl, dealing with a kid, that you don't usually see.

 

...And that Nayl had a folded picture of Kara Swole naked.  Zael asked if he could unfold the picture, and Nayl told him that he would have to kill Zael if he did.  Zael said it would be worth it.

[bluntblade]

Jaghatai Khan's speech at the climax of Path of Heaven.

 

"They come, hungry for more blood. But we have bled enough, and they will have no more. Until the ends of time! We defy the dark!"

 

For me it's on par with Horus' stand at the close of Book 1. That is the kind of inspirational oomph a Primarch should have, and coming on the heels of such wrenching losses, when the Khan himself has teetered on the absolute edge of the abyss, it's glorious.

[A D-B]

Caffran dying. I have a tediously good relationship with my parents, but how hard he tried as a parent and how little he was rewarded for it, sort of broke my heart.

[Nemisor]

The deaths/betrayals in hereticus.

[Chapter Master Valrak]

 

Got the be Sigimunds final words, I thought that I would be angry at his death but I was cheering and feeling full of joy, such a badass way to go:
 

---

 

As I stared through Abaddon's eyes, I confess I expected the triteness of some knightly oath, or a final murmur in the Emperor's name. Instead, the ruined thing that had been the First Captain of the Imperial Fists and High Marshal of the Black Templars spoke through a mouthful of blood, committing the last of his life to biting off each word, ensuring he spoke each one in shivering, sanguine clarity.

 

'You will die as your weakling father died. Soulless. Honourless. Weeping. Ashamed.'

 

[Prot]

Great thread with so many great answers I’d easily agree with.

I can’t cite the exact dialogue but I remember some moments that just stuck with me and became defining moments in these large story archs...

Dark Imperium: the brutal truth that Guilliman wakes up to realize. It’s like an ice bucket slamming into the face of drunkard. A sobering effect that leaves him bitter, ashamed, disappointed and depleted on so many levels. Yet he carries on, even after realizing the Emperor sees him as a tool. He will die (?) keeping that a secret from humanity.

Know No Fear: the very first moments of the ultimate betrayal on Calth. This is really the first time Brothers breaking bread are gunned down in broad daylight. Even as it happens, the Ultramarines cannot digest it. The unfathomable is a new reality.

Thousand Sons: There is a true sadness when Magnus believes he’s mastered the Warp and must warn the Emperor of Horus’ Betrayal.

His world truly comes crashing down. He’s destroyed his father’s work, has no Legion, and his very appearance is not angelic...it is of a Daemon that kills on sight. He realizes he has been manipulated, master of nothing, played right to the end.

[bluntblade]

Reviving this to add the end of Solar War. That sucker hit hard.

[Kenzaburo]

Oh jeez, there's a lot of moments in here I remember. And just reading them has all the old emotions stir in me. It feels good to know that in this fictional universe, in what some might call trite licensed fiction, there have been so many emotional scenes. Man, I got goose-bumps now, thinking of some and ... wait, is that the hint of a tear in my eye. Yeah...well, thanks, you guys.  :)

[bluntblade]

That point in Betrayer where Angron finally vents his old grief about Nuceria hits harder than I'd expected.

That point in Betrayer where Angron finally vents his old grief about Nuceria hits harder than I'd expected.

[aa.logan]

That point in Betrayer where Angron finally vents his old grief about Nuceria hits harder than I'd expected.That point in Betrayer where Angron finally vents his old grief about Nuceria hits harder than I'd expected.

Twice as hard, I’d say

[Kelborn]

The moment in his Primarch novel when Angron took away the pain of his family, revealing us that he once was a good guy.

 

 

I read that passage three times, laid it aside for a moment and thought about him, his situation and his downfall, etc.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

When Dante sees the vision of Sanguinius and meets Guilliman (after having read Dante, it hit home even harder). 

 

Also, mega uber-chills when Tieron heads to Luna after all the madness descends on Terra.

[Lord Marshal]

For me it's Sabbatine Cirk's fate in Gaunt's Ghosts got to me more than I expected.

 

For the two books she's in, she's presented as a pretty hardened, pragmatic and somewhat unlikable character. That said, her mindset is understandable given the Chaos-occupied hell she's living under and the story makes that apparent. She manages to conjure up the means to see her homeworld liberated, namely giving the Inquisition a load of rubbish that the Resistance has essentially homemade anti-Chaos salves in order to justify a liberation of Gereon.

 

In the end, there's not very much left to liberate, the Resistance end up being rounded up by the Inquisition for all their service anyway. When she realises there was never really any Gereon left to save, she wanders off into the swamps and commits suicide via poison. None really thinks or mentions her again, none will likely know she's pretty much the reason her homeworld is liberated, and she dies thinking she sold out her comrades to a fate-worse-than-death after all they've endured (though at least they do escape).

 

For a pretty minor character, who was quite abrasive, I was surprised how much of a reaction her final scene got from me.

 

 

She heard the rising echo of the jet engines as the Valkyries climbed out of the landing clearing. The din faded, and the quiet of the Untill re-established itself.

 

The camp was a smudge of light in the distance, like a swamp light flickering beyond the trees. Where she was, it was so black the trees were like anthracite and the air like oil. Tiny white moths fluttered in the air like blossom. There had been white blossom like that in her family orchards once, all those years ago.

 

Sabbatine Cirk took out the reynbow quarrel. She held it in her hand for a while, and then pressed the venomed tip against the palm of her left hand until the skin broke.

 

With no splash, no murmur, and hardly any ripple at all, she slid down beneath the glossy surface of the lightless water.

[Fire Golem]

Just finished Double Eagle, a few moments towards the end got me a lil bit.

 

Particularly the very last paragraph.

 

Marquall, a young pilot, realises after another pilot suffered from hypoxia that he thinks it would be the worst way to die. At the very end he gets hit by an enemy fighter, and when the rest of Umbra flight return to the airbase they realise he’s missing.

 

‘Vander Marquall sat in his seat, his head hung forward slightly.

The vox crackled. ‘Umbra Eight? Umbra Eight? This is Lucerna Operations? Do you copy?’

Marquall did not answer. The damaged air-mix system had filled his cockpit with carbon dioxide over half an hour earlier.

The plane flew on, true to its nature at the very last, out across the ocean and into the folds of the night.’