Vulkan Lord of Drakes

[Mellow]

I’ve just finished Vulkan and agree it’s somewhat of a boring combat book. It’s certainly in the realm of the Guilliman and Ferrus novels (i.e. not that great) and it doesn’t really touch on Vulkan and his personality much which is disappointing.

 

I’m a bit lost on the attack moon though. With TBA it’s almost like he should have face palmed and said “not again”

[Knockagh]

I’ve just finished Vulkan and agree it’s somewhat of a boring combat book. It’s certainly in the realm of the Guilliman and Ferrus novels (i.e. not that great) and it doesn’t really touch on Vulkan and his personality much which is disappointing.

 

I’m a bit lost on the attack moon though. With TBA it’s almost like he should have face palmed and said “not again”

Absolutely, Annandale is a terrible writer by any standard. When I came across the attack moon I was flabbergasted at how anyone could possibly do something so utterly appalling as that. It’s shockingly bad.

[Orwell84]

I’ve just finished Vulkan and agree it’s somewhat of a boring combat book. It’s certainly in the realm of the Guilliman and Ferrus novels (i.e. not that great) and it doesn’t really touch on Vulkan and his personality much which is disappointing.

 

I’m a bit lost on the attack moon though. With TBA it’s almost like he should have face palmed and said “not again”

 

Grateful for the heads-up. I was tossing up whether to get this one, but now I figure I'll give it a miss. I'm wondering how / why an editor didn't mandate some changes to the first draft: "Vulkan being the lead character, perhaps you could drop the attack moon and focus more on the primarch?"

[Fedor]

Why is having an attack moon in it a bad(or utterly appalling) thing? I'm a bit out of touch with greenskin lore.

[Biscuittzz]

It's not a bad idea generally, more so just the fact that there was already an Ork attack moon in TBA series which had Vulkan in it too. Just seems recycled really.

[Knockagh]

Why is having an attack moon in it a bad(or utterly appalling) thing? I'm a bit out of touch with greenskin lore.

Attack moons were a great and original idea in the Beast Arises. But putting one of them into Vulkan was blinking lazy writing. The moons are synonymous with TBA series, when they appeared in the series it was shocking. It was ork power on a scale no one had imagined and no one had seen. It wasn’t something a primarch had fought back a bit. Oh and yes the very primarch who was actually active during both TBA and is supposedly the central character in his very own moon book. But fails to mention he has seen them before in TBA.

But it’s just one of a catalogue of rubbish in the book.

[Fedor]

I see. I wasn't sure quite how unusual and rare they were meant to be.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Yea, I wasnt a huge fan of Vulkan either, which disappointed me as I just order his model...

 

I was hoping for some novel based enthusiasm and left with a solid "meh..."

[Indefragable]

Just on to Chapter 4 of the audiobook (finally came out!). Verdict still out (as it :cuss well should be, being only 4 chapters in!), but I did find this pretty neat-o:

 

Hidden Content

 

Pretty cinematic to have SM and Orkz fighting on a volcanic planet kinda like the end of the Star Wars Episode III. It's actually quite brilliant to pick a death world as a means of defense.

 

 

 

 

...but this part kind of dull:

 

Hidden Content

authors need to come up with a better way of fighting Orkz seem interesting. You can only read (listen to) "they killed thousands, but thousands more came on" so many times in a single chapter, let alone narrative, let alone book series. Especially there's very little description or detail it's just "like, LOTS of Orkz you guys! Like, a TON!" and that's it for descriptors.

 

Maybe it's because I just fought Orkz in my last game, but when I think about that army I faced there were a LOT of Orkz, but many differentiating factors from the buggies to the bikes to the trukss to the Psyboyz to the big wagon things.

 

A splash of variety goes a long way.

[Kelborn]

Maybe 30k Orks are like AoS Bonesplitterz and only with the Beast in charge did they become Ironjawz in speeehz?

 

Just kiddin'. ;)

[bluntblade]

That wouldn't really make sense, as in the DaoT they presumably crossed choppas with a Mankind armed with Sun-Snuffers and the like

[Noserenda]

Oh god this is bad, im glad im not the only one who thinks so... The numbers have become meaningless, you could literally replace the word Ork with "Gaunt" and 90% of it would make more sense, and the Termite sequence is just awful, especially how it ends up.

Just... Arg... Theres the core of a great story here with the Terrans and such but its such a draaaaaaaaaaaag.

[Indefragable]

Finished the audiobook.

 

Nothing special.

 

It wasn't terrible.....but it definitely was not that good. Above the Guilliman one, but that's about it.

 

Wasted opportunity.

[Amun Ra]

Finished this now. Bit of a slog in all honesty. The plot itself was fine just dragged on and on. The Termite was weird and it felt like we got barely any Vulkan in his own book.

[Indefragable]

I don't like to bash particular authors, but $20 says the next Anannadale Primarchs book is:

 

Primarch X

fights lots of Orkz

in setting:

Ancient planet

Volcanic planet

Desert Planet

Ice planet

Endor Forest planet

[Knockagh]

Please tell me Annandale isn’t doing another primarch novel?

[Tymell]

Well, there aren't that many left. I heard tell that Swallow is doing Sanguinius. I strongly suspect Horus' one will be about The Castigation of Terentius (no orks), which just leaves Mortarion, Alpharius, Dorn and Lion.

[Kelborn]

Curze will ve done by Haley, right?

 

And yes, Swallow revealed on Warhammer Fest that he'd ne doing Sanguinius.

[rookie40K]

I believe Alpharius will be doing the Alpharius book.

 

To keep things on topic though, VULKAN LIVES!!!

[SkimaskMohawk]

I really don't like Haley's night lords, as much as I do enjoy his take on other legions. Pharos soured me too much; even his Purterabo hasn't redeemed my opinion on any night lord follow ups.

 

I really liked curze from adb in the sons of the emperor; spiteful and ruthless, but uncompromising in following imperial law.

[Taliesin]

I've been wondering what the next one will be, after Angron and Kurze, which we now know the details and release dates of.

It's probably going to be Mortarion. There was rumours two years ago that Haley was doing him but it seems if that was the case it would have been out by now.

Still could be Haley though. We know Sanguinius is not coming soon, sadly, because Swallow said he's been assigned and doesn't have ideas yet..

 

That leaves the Lion, Dorn, Horus, Alparius. Anyone of those being the next one after Kurze would be a pleasant surprise ( I'm personally not interested in the Mortarion one).

[DarkChaplain]

We know Sanguinius is not coming soon, sadly, because Swallow said he's been assigned and doesn't have ideas yet..

 

I... wasn't optimistic to begin with, but that only makes it worse in my eyes.

[Roomsky]

I've been wondering what the next one will be, after Angron and Kurze, which we now know the details and release dates of.

It's probably going to be Mortarion. There was rumours two years ago that Haley was doing him but it seems if that was the case it would have been out by now.

Still could be Haley though. We know Sanguinius is not coming soon, sadly, because Swallow said he's been assigned and doesn't have ideas yet..

 

That leaves the Lion, Dorn, Horus, Alparius. Anyone of those being the next one after Kurze would be a pleasant surprise ( I'm personally not interested in the Mortarion one).

 

My own guess is this year will give us Morty and Alpharius after Kurze, the following as Lion, Dorn, and Sanguinius, with the last on Horus? Would fit with their current model of loyalist year, traitor year, loyalist year, etc.

[Indefragable]

My feeling is that the last will be Alpharius with Horus and Sanguinius (in either order) being 2nd and 3rd to last.

 

For reasons.

[DarkChaplain]

I just want the Alpharius novel to be done by Haley, to get a fresh perspective and milk his talent some more.

Also so it can include his Guilliman and deal with Eskrador, the stolen Primarch genetech, and set up / cameo Cawl with the Primarch stuff.

 

I just don't want Sanders or French to write the Alpharius one. Or Abnett. They had their turns, and while The Serpent Beneath was great, I feel like they've become too gimmicky over the years, and could use a new approach that straightens up the various incarnations. The Scouring-era, post-Siege Alpha Legion also strikes me as more interesting a subject than filling in the Heresy years, post-Cabal, or the Great Crusade, which we had glimpses of in Praetorian of Dorn already.