Rate what you Read, or the fight against Necromancy

[DarkChaplain]

No worries, I won't disagree with you on Lord of Ultramar's blandness; it *is* an Ultramarines vs Orks novel, when it comes down to it.

 

My usual issue isn't with people not liking it, or finding it dull, but for overlooking (or ignoring?) what Annandale tried to do with it under the hood. In short, the themes! He almost always delivers strong theming in his longer stories (and often in the form of examining the characters' relation to faith), and that's also the thing I found most interesting about Lord of Ultramar. The story itself is nothing to write home about, but I liked the way he contrasted the facets of Guilliman and wrapped his principles into the plot - which, by itself, is fairly typical action fare.

 

As for Lord of Drakes... It has its moments, but I think it didn't go far enough thematically, while leaning too heavily into the big action setpieces. I remember coming away with a different impression of the Pre-Vulkan Legion than I had expected; while they threw themselves into the grinder, it didn't feel as frivolous and reckless as I'd always thought it'd have been. It also didn't help that Vulkan's plotline was fairly isolated from the on-planet war; I'd have liked to see Vulkan more involved, reeducating his sons more directly.

 

I particularly liked his The Unburdened, the tie-in short novel for Betrayal at Calth. I hated The Honoured by Sanders, but I loved the way Annandale explored the Word Bearers faith in the deep dark of Calth. The characters were all broken, and prone to self-delusion. It was unsettling and felt like a steady progression into the abyss.

 

Definitely recommend The House of Night and Chain, by the by.

 

As for his Space Marine Battles contributions: "Uneven" describes Overfiend pretty well, especially since it is a collection of three novellas, all dealing with a different Chapter as protagonists. On the other hand, I really liked his Death of Antagonis. It's taking a good look at a Chapter with gene-seed mutations resulting in draconic features. There's an internal struggle going on, especially as a big ol' Inquisitor and legendary solo-Canoness Setheno hit the scene. There's even a growing schism within the Chapter, regarding what it means to be a monster, if they are even pure in the Emperor's eyes, or if they are to use their own monstrosity as a way to enforce his will more openly and honestly. Again, faith is a big factor, as well, especially since Setheno had a bit of a complicated past with her Order.

Yes, it has some whacky Chaos plot going on, too, as is kind of a given for Annandale. But it's also pretty 40k, in my opinion.

 

Setheno also features in some of David's Yarrick stories - which I also enjoyed immensely. In fact, I liked Evil Eye, the first microshort so much that I reached out to the guy back then, and I remember him telling me later that he was a bit frustrated that he couldn't tell me about the Chains of Golgotha novella earlier :')

Yarrick, again, is well-themed, and explores the faith in authority, the expectations that come with it, the responsibility, the way a political officer has to work etc. I'm still miffed that BL hasn't commissioned more Yarrick, personally.

 

What I never got around to reading (besides Neferata - would've helped if Mortarch of Blood had an audiobook, I think, but they only did one for the sequel) are his Mephiston novella and Curse of the Wulfen - the latter I didn't read mainly because they scrapped the arc's conclusion (which MacNiven was supposedly going to write). Little point in reading an unfinished story that builds up to something I'd have to look up in background texts.

[Roomsky]

Great post, DC. I'll definitely check out House, and The Unburdened's been floating on the periphery of my to-read list for a while, I've always been wary because 1: yes, The Honoured was tripe and 2: I wasn't sure if it was worth putting the time into a novella about someone who's arc ends in a Kyme short story. It sounds like it might be what I look for out of the guy, though.

 

I feel like if nothing else, Annandale needs a pat on the back for actually injecting themes into his narratives. For all I'm weary of his over-long action scenes, they usually do exist to serve what he's trying to say with the story overall. Ruinstorm, for all I'd have liked something more introspective like Pythos, uses each of its action scenes to have the cast live out their struggles in an active way. Guilliman's choice to deny use of the athames, for instance, wouldn't have been as impactful if we hadn't seen his thought process in a fight, taking smaller hits to ensure victory. As with the Chaos taint in Pythos (Galba's visions, the initial success in using the planet to strike at the traitors), he shows exactly why rational loyalists would fall so easily into Chaos' grasp.

 

So much comes out of Black Library that amounts to "look at this cool world-building," or "you guys like X Chapter, right?" all the while forgetting that the underlying story actually needs to be saying something. Even if I often hate how he goes about it, I can't claim Annandale puts out anything for shallow nerd cred. 

[DarkChaplain]

Man, that wrap-up in Kyme's Censure was such a letdown. I mean, there was plenty to like about the audio drama, especially since it was one of the earlier full-cast ones, but Kurtha Sedd was done dirty. But yeah, The Unburdened was a real surprise for me at the time. Wish Annandale had just written a full Betrayal at Calth novel instead, or at least The Honoured as well. He'd probably have done something interesting with Steloc Aethon at least.

 

Anyway, I concur. The novels that still stick with me the most after years and years are those that tried to have some meaning, some food for thought, or some reevaluation of the setting and the characters within it. I think that's also one of the biggest reasons why Angels of Darkness has so much staying power (though more often overlooked nowadays, I suppose). It isn't simply that it provided fuel for theorycrafting about the Heresy and the Lion, but that it provided a more spiritual conflict between Astelan and Boreas. Regardless of how much of what Merir Astelan said was actually true or relevant, or since disproven by other works, it makes Boreas doubt. It makes him question the way of the Dark Angels and reexamine his own place within the system and the Imperium. It does have action, but it serves as a vehicle for the wider, character-driven plot.

Astelan's claims themselves might have been without true merit, but that he made them, and verbally sparred with his interrogator, certainly was.

 

Contrast that with Phil Kelly's Space Marine Conquests novel about Dark Angels getting Primaris.... oh jolly.

 

Now, when I think back on, say, John French's The Horusian Wars: Resurrection - which I dislike for partially overlapping reasons - I don't think I got away with much from that one. Things happen, action happens, characters are left barely explored or relatable (by design, supposedly), and plot beats repeat. Deliberations and teases happen, but are cut short time and again, leaving me frustrated to the point where I still haven't bothered reading the sequel. It seemed like a book that tried too hard to be mysterious but, as a result, didn't offer much beyond the adventure itself at the time. Thematically, it fell short, was underdeveloped and maybe too comfortable with being a new series pilot, thus having time to explain later.

 

And looking at the Heresy? I just need to look at Swallow's contributions to get annoyed with shallow inclusions.

[Tarvek Val]

Y'all are making me want to go back and re-read some of Annandale's Heresy-era works! I liked Damnation of Pythos a lot more on my second and third re-reads, I think his material and writing style just took a little bit of time for me to get used to. I'd definitely second DarkChaplain in that Death of Antagonis is worth a read, in my opinion. 

[Fedor]

Unburdened is very good imo. It's one of the few times we get to see a Word Bearer  in a position of authority that isn't worshipping Chaos like he's already an old sagely shaman, long initiated into its depths.

 

it's a lot better than the honoured, though tbf to that one i did get effectively surprised at the way it ended.

[Noserenda]

Just finished listening to Cadian Honour (And prior Cadia Stands) by Justin D. Hill and quite liked them. Cadian Honour is by far the better book, mostly because its a more coherent story as Cadia stands is hobbled by the "main plot" happening off screen. 

Having the lower class Cadians be Geordie was a bold choice but i think it really worked :D 

Minka's sections were definitely the stand out, though most of the rest added context Bendict started strong but got increasingly "meh" as things went on if im honest. The Sisters of the Ebon Chalice were also superb, you got a real feel for the power and skill of them and the "Black Hawk down but with Power armour" sections were a highlight too.

Overall good but not amazing stuff, scratched my Guard Itch nicely while i wait for more Cain audiobooks!

[DarkChaplain]

Your wait is over for now, then, as The Traitor's Hand just released! I'm fighting the urge to skip right to it, but that'd just put all the other stuff I'm reading and listening to on the back burner again... Still, it's Cain.

 

Edit: Well, that's just peachy. Went over the tracklist of my Audible version (and double-checked), and it appears that at least two of Amberley's Editorial Notes are missing from the audiobook, one between chapters 5 and 6 (with a Sulla excerpt) and the one between 7 and 8 (with the Sablist in Skitterfall excerpt). Guess that decides it, then. I'll wait and see if they get this fixed, as they're quite substantial chapters for the context of the story.

 

Heck, comparing the runtime given by Audible to that of Black Library... 8h53m vs 9h58m. I'm not sure what else is missing, but this does not match up at all.

Edited June 13, 2020 by DarkChaplain

[Noserenda]

Yay but then yikes! Hopefully its fixed by the time i finish the first Fabius book :) 

[Harlan Skorus]

Now, I have not read a black library novel back since I was a teenager and on some weird impulse ("sci-fi should have SPACESHIPS") picked up a copy of Execution Hour. That's it. That's my exposure to 40k novels.

 

Anyway, due to my recent cruising around 40k lore, I acquired a copy of Fire Caste. Fehervahri is the name that comes up most commonly in nebulous 'best BL author/books' so I thought I'd roll with it.

 

Overall I liked it. The setting felt unique, and Phaedra seemed very... complete? Visualisable? It was alien, but without being unimaginably so. I think in novel terms it was pretty short, and I think I'd have appreciated even more digging into the detail of the campaign; but I'm a logistics guy, and perhaps with that the book might have lost the air of mystery that permeates throughout. The characters, on the whole, were pretty cool as well; I really like that not every mystery/character motive was explained, although some felt underutilised (see spoilery bits below). Generally the intimate scale of it - combat when it happens tended to be small-scale, tanks are few are far between, and often-overlooked Sentinels are presented as a very real and scary threat - was good throughout. I agree with all of the comments that it's 40k Heart of Darkness, but only really in terms of the second act.

 

More spoilery thoughts:

 

- Jhi'karra, Abel, and Si add some necessary bite to the Tau. Maybe it comes with being a child of pre-Tau 3rd ed but they're always been my least favourite, bland 40k faction. A bit of infighting and lack of ethereal/copy&paste adherence to the Greater Good makes them seem a lot more palatable.

- Jhi'karra especially though, I think needed more. She's simultaneously caste (huehuehue) in the prologue as this important character, and again at the very tail of the book, but between that there's a whole lotta nothing. I gather she exists in another book which might flesh her out more but that's not very useful to someone coming in blind.

- I like the Arkan Confederates. Joyce righteously made my blood boil and I'm both thrilled and angry that he lasted as long as he did. Struggled in particular to visualise the Steambloods, which are painted as an awesome concept but for something so non-standard I think needed a bit more description.

- by far what I liked was people dying in normal ways. Vendrake's in particular was just a bit... silly, and I found it jarringly heroic-sacrifice-y but the others were all fairly grounded.

- I wanted the whole 'Trinity' arc to be a lot grimmer than it was. That said, maybe it didn't need to be. We are talking about Guardsmen here, I guess.

 

In conclusion, I'd say it's a solid To taste. It has an awesome feel to it, and has a different take on the usual grim-darkness. It's not bolter/lasgun porn and doesn't always explain itself well, so if you prefer things to be more on-the-nose and detailed it's maybe not the one; if you like the weirder side of 40k, plot twists, and locations as characters, it's great.

[Fire Golem]

I read through all of the Eisenhorn/Ravenor novels over the last couple of weeks (except Pariah because it’s hard to get hold of - I’m assuming/hoping they’re gonna reprint it when the next one comes out). I’d read the Eisenhorn trilogy and the Magos before but not the Ravenor books and was surprised that I actually think I enjoyed them more than the Eisenhorn ones. It still had relatively ‘rushed’ endings but they were a bit more even than Eisenhorn (although part of that might be that I read the omnibus, so didn’t register quite as much where the end of each one was). I don’t think there’s much to say really, they’re pretty seminal 40k novels that the majority here will have read anyway. Very much looking forward to the Bequin trilogy eventually. 
 

Also, I genuinely think Drusher is my favourite BL character ever. I absolutely love him. If the Eisenhorn tv show ever gets to the Magos story, I would love to audition for the part. 

[DarkChaplain]

....you remind me that maybe I should look into what the original hardcover goes for these days. I doubt I'd be able to bother with selling it, especially since locally, interest wouldn't be that great anyway, and shipping far off is a royal pain. But maybe it'll help me get over some of the sodium from being a preorder customer who is still waiting for the follow-up 8 years later :')

 

I, too, really enjoyed Drusher, by the by. Wonderful chap.

[Noserenda]

Finished Primogenitor, its gooooood! 

I am somewhat glad the new rules in War of the Spider dont allow you to make a warband as shown in this novel though, or my finger may have slipped :D 

Made a start on "Sons of the Selenar" which so far so meh. Though Ta'Lab Vita-37 and her toys are pretty badass. I suspect i may have more receptive if id re-read some of the earlier books again but no, aint noone got time for that...

Really not helped by one of the more distinctive (Because the others come in pairs) Iron hands having a perfectly Salamanders name and the Salamander having a forgettable name :P Sharrowkyn is a lot less annoying than previous at least.

[Roomsky]

Mephiston: Blood of Sanguinius – Darius Hinks

 

This calls to mind Black Library’s output from well over a decade ago, for better and for worse.

 

For the better, there’s an undercurrent of malice noticeably missing from many of the publisher’s more recent works. Mephiston is a creepy (occasionally violent) weirdo, which far better justifies his treatment than Haley’s. The Blood Angels, despite usually being a friend to humanity, are hierarchical to the point of it becoming detrimental. Religion and dogma permeate everything, and what’s more, the insistence on ignorance for the masses actively contributes to how easily a world can be swayed from the Imperium. The novel paints a portrait far more in line with a tyrannical church state and it’s prerequisite dysfunction than most modern works. It moves at a brisk pace after the first few chapters, and I enjoyed the balance of ritual, investigation, and psyker porn. Hinks’ writing also comes across as mildly unhinged, with plot put before recognizable tropes for the most part. This is refreshing in a world where I feel 40k is slowly sliding towards greater homogeny. It also has that old BL habit of getting weird and trippy to break up the narrative.

 

For the worse, the it’s rarely deeper than a puddle. Mephiston is a distant figure, fine on its own, but Antros and co aren’t the most compelling bunch, though we’re certainly not at FtT levels. Antros has his dark secret/guilt, which never pays off. His superiors dislike his rapid ascension, but don’t do anything but whinge about it. Perhaps Hinks has a trilogy-long arc ready, but there isn’t really one here. Mephiston has an arc, but again, he’s a distant, mysterious fellow. He’d certainly be very effective if his subordinates were more distinct, but here we are. I will say the human characters are largely interesting and entertaining, but they really don’t get appropriate screen time compared to the red marines. The writing is fine, as banal and confusing as often as it is evocative. The plot is your average macguffin quest, and as always with WIZARD FIGHT novels, the stakes are nebulous. I’d pay good and better money for a novel about a chief librarian that’s more of a full mystery: they can annihilate their enemy with ease once they catch up to them, but finding their enemy is the conflict.

 

Anywho, I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I don’t think it’s better than Dante and DoB per se, but I certainly prefer it to them. It’s weird and a bit wacky and often style over substance, but there’s a lot of good here too. I appreciate the earnestness, and as always, I love when a work portrays the Imperium as suitably horrible.

 

ANR: ehhhh strong 6?

To Taste, possibly Diehards Only if you don’t like wizard wars and 2000s Black Library

[StrangerOrders]

Finished Primogenitor, its gooooood! 

 

I am somewhat glad the new rules in War of the Spider dont allow you to make a warband as shown in this novel though, or my finger may have slipped  

 

Made a start on "Sons of the Selenar" which so far so meh. Though Ta'Lab Vita-37 and her toys are pretty badass. I suspect i may have more receptive if id re-read some of the earlier books again but no, aint noone got time for that...

 

Really not helped by one of the more distinctive (Because the others come in pairs) Iron hands having a perfectly Salamanders name and the Salamander having a forgettable name Sharrowkyn is a lot less annoying than previous at least.

I'm not actually sure about a reread being a good idea tbh.

 

In my experience the Selenites get weaker with each showing, to the point of slipping into a really depressing parody of themselves than the compelling and mysterious cults that they were initially portrayed as, powerful and competent despite their defeat.

 

Nowadays they are... I really hate this word but they literally make me cringe.

 

This especially evident compared to their first and strongest true characterization with Praetorian of Dorn. I am sorry but they come across as really substandard characters compared to the strange mix of wit, sass, arrogance and silent air of potency that Andromeda showed in the book (I still remember that terrifying use of psychic suggestion she used to break a man with very thought of water during the torture scene in that book, or her strange mix of maternal sentiment and resentment towards the Astartes of the VII and XX). 

 

Its gotten to the point where I actively hope they get no further characterization just because I fear how much worse it can get.

Edited June 27, 2020 by StrangerOrders

[Noserenda]

I was more thinking the Sisiphyum crew rather than the Selentites tbh, mostly because the book relies on you already caring about the characters to work really and id forgotten them all except a dislike for the unstoppable Sharrowkyn.

Im quite liking the Selenites still, im always a bit interested in human, non martian tech bases and non imperial cultures, ymmv ofc.

[Harlan Skorus]

Well, seeing as I had so much fun last time, I decided to come back for another go and do a 15-year overdue re-reread of my introduction to the Black Library, Gordon Rennie's execution hour.

 

I am surprisingly, pleasantly relieved to find it's still an enjoyable read, and it's been interesting comparing it now to what my perception of it was. I remember it being weirdly foot-focused for a book purportedly about His Divine Majesty's Imperial Navy, but actually there's a comfortable mix of familiar ground-based action and big ships doing big ship things. The focus on arbitrators is very cool, although in retrospect a bit odd as they've never been part a significant part of either the 40k or BFG tabletop games. And of course, Maxim Borusa is still an awesome character that I want to spend more time with. I like that it manages to tell a relatively (in the world of 10,000+ crew spaceships) small scale story with enough dramatic oomph to carry without having any major ramifications for the overarching narrative fluff of 40k, which is no mean feat consider it only features

bloody Abaddon the Despoiler himself

as a character (albeit one given not a lot of fleshing out). Also,

chaos spawn! Someone actual gets turned into a Chaos Spawn. Brilliant.

 

On the flipside, I really noticed how rushed the end feels. The last fleet action in particular, which I think is meant to be tense, climactic and cathartic, but is written a bit "they were getting shot but then guns fire everyone dies". The writing is not great in some places, Rennie relies too much on some stock phrases and reuse of terms/descriptions within the same para, sometimes the same sentence, which I find jarring. Surely there was at least one person in the Gothic sector who doesn't have to refer to it as His Divine Majesty's Imperial Navy? Just one? There's a good variation of characters, but some of them end up falling flat as a result of not getting enough screentime. I remember

Zane in particular

being a much bigger part of the plot than it turns out he actually was. I' not sure if it was a repressed memory or not but I forgot the whole chaos agent subplot and still guessed pretty quickly who it was.

 

Overall, I'd chuck it down as a To Taste. I enjoyed it, but it's not profound, and not sure how much of my enjoyment was just nostalgia. That said, couldn't put it down from start to finish so that's got to count for something, and it gives some interesting detail on areas not commonly (to my knowledge) fleshed out in the 40k universe.

[cheywood]

I didn’t read much this past month. I’ve been getting a lot of eye strain recently and switched from a tablet to a kindle to lessen it. Haven’t quite adjusted to the switch. I’ve also decided to switch up my palate and make an effort to read more non-Warhammer fiction. BL’s great, but I feel like the homogeneity is affecting my engagement. That being said here’s what I read:

 

Dark Imperium: Plague War - Well worth a read. It expands on the plot threads begun in Dark Imperium while retaining a sense of focus that the first book lacked at times. Haley’s Nurgle is very much on point. He mixes the humorous and grotesque very nicely. I found Justinian’s plot line a little bit less interesting than the events happening on Parmenio, but it still has its moments. The ending chapters are especially enjoyable. One of the characters, Devorus, has a weird backstory. He’s supposed to be twenty nine years old but has two teenage daughters on another world and serves in a Calthian regiment but was born on Parmenio? Nothing impossible to explain, but it leaves him as somewhat odd.

 

The Path of Heaven - an absolutely beautiful book with which I didn’t completely connect. Looking back on it I can’t find any explanation for that disconnect because the book’s brilliant. Maybe my expectations were too high or maybe I just need to read some fiction outside of BL’s grim darkness. The book itself does everything it sets out to do - fill in the White Scars actions before the Siege, detail the ways a few of the legions and those who command them are changing, and explore the Emperor’s post-unity designs. It has a sense of tragedy running through it that dovetails nicely with the plot and a few plot twists and misdirections that I very much didn’t see coming. Arvida, Ilya, Shiban, Torghun and of course Yesugei remain as great characters with some wonderful moments between them while Eidolon, Cario, and Mortarion show what Wraight can do with those on the Warmaster’s side. I’m very much looking forward to rereading this eventually and connecting more fully with it.

 

Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris - it has a few very strong scenes, both in terms of action and character interaction, but I can’t help but feel this novel is far less meaningful if you haven’t read Wraight’s other Scars work. The prose is great as usual, but the story feels somewhat directionless/very focused on providing context for Scars and Path of Heaven. While I’ll never complain about more fiction from Wraight I would’ve liked to see a different author tackle this book so as to give another perspective on the Khagan. Still one of the stronger primarch novels that I’ve read even with that criticism. Wraight just gets the White Scars.

 

Also read some of Wraight’s Heresy short stories, specifically The Sigillite, Last Son of Prospero, Soul, Severed and Restorer. All of them are of quality but The Sigillite and Restorer stand above the rest for me. They both capture beautifully human moments amidst the grand oblivion of the Heresy.

Edited July 1, 2020 by cheywood

[Roomsky]

Ahriman: Exodus – John French

 

Presumably the entry into the Ahriman series that most people sleep on, this collection of shorts is probably my favourite entry (much like Divination for the Horusian Wars.)

 

I was never huge on Ctesias missing the proper introduction Ignis got, which is rectified here. As always with French’s shorts, he puts less stress on a tense, complex plot and more on neat scenarios. The different aspects of daemonology we see here are fascinating, displaying the tremendous power and startling fragility of the occupation excellently. We get straightforward warp shenanigans to subtle assassinations to the most roundabout of plots, and it never gets stale thanks to the short story format. It’s also an excellent look into our villain protagonist from the eyes of another; Ahriman’s manipulative behaviour is on full display compared to his appearance in Exile thanks to Ctesias’ role in things. It’s an excellent in-between for the novels, and honestly a strong standalone as well for its look into Ahriman’s followers.

 

If I had to make any complaints it would be that like the rest of the trilogy, no one is terribly personable and there’s never even a hint of levity to vary the tone. Also, while I’m not normally one to care about power levels, a particular named daemon makes an appearance and, to my mind, was rather easily thwarted considering their nature. YMMV on that, though.

 

All in all, very strong and a reason why the Omnibus is definitely worth a buy.

 

Must Read

ANR: 8/10

[Bobss]

Ahriman: Exodus – John French

 

Presumably the entry into the Ahriman series that most people sleep on, this collection of shorts is probably my favourite entry (much like Divination for the Horusian Wars.)

 

I was never huge on Ctesias missing the proper introduction Ignis got, which is rectified here. As always with French’s shorts, he puts less stress on a tense, complex plot and more on neat scenarios. The different aspects of daemonology we see here are fascinating, displaying the tremendous power and startling fragility of the occupation excellently. We get straightforward warp shenanigans to subtle assassinations to the most roundabout of plots, and it never gets stale thanks to the short story format. It’s also an excellent look into our villain protagonist from the eyes of another; Ahriman’s manipulative behaviour is on full display compared to his appearance in Exile thanks to Ctesias’ role in things. It’s an excellent in-between for the novels, and honestly a strong standalone as well for its look into Ahriman’s followers.

 

If I had to make any complaints it would be that like the rest of the trilogy, no one is terribly personable and there’s never even a hint of levity to vary the tone. Also, while I’m not normally one to care about power levels, a particular named daemon makes an appearance and, to my mind, was rather easily thwarted considering their nature. YMMV on that, though.

 

All in all, very strong and a reason why the Omnibus is definitely worth a buy.

 

Must Read

ANR: 8/10

 

In Ahriman: Exodus there is a scene where Big Named Demon shows Ahriman/Ctesias a scene of a Demon Prince of Tzeentch, once a Thousand Son, battling a Demon Prince of Nurgle, once a Son of Horus (if I am remembering things correctly) - and we never find out who this is or who this will become. The fan-favourite theory I've seen is Helio Isidorus, which is particularly dark

 

I do hope this is explored in any future Ahriman works, and based on a few titbits here and there it seems John French intends for Ahriman to try experimenting with Necron chronomancy (which is presumably a failure, before his quest for the Black Library begins) so more Ahriman works might be on the horizon!

[Xisor]

 

Ahriman: Exodus – John French

 

Presumably the entry into the Ahriman series that most people sleep on, this collection of shorts is probably my favourite entry (much like Divination for the Horusian Wars.)

 

I was never huge on Ctesias missing the proper introduction Ignis got, which is rectified here. As always with French’s shorts, he puts less stress on a tense, complex plot and more on neat scenarios. The different aspects of daemonology we see here are fascinating, displaying the tremendous power and startling fragility of the occupation excellently. We get straightforward warp shenanigans to subtle assassinations to the most roundabout of plots, and it never gets stale thanks to the short story format. It’s also an excellent look into our villain protagonist from the eyes of another; Ahriman’s manipulative behaviour is on full display compared to his appearance in Exile thanks to Ctesias’ role in things. It’s an excellent in-between for the novels, and honestly a strong standalone as well for its look into Ahriman’s followers.

 

If I had to make any complaints it would be that like the rest of the trilogy, no one is terribly personable and there’s never even a hint of levity to vary the tone. Also, while I’m not normally one to care about power levels, a particular named daemon makes an appearance and, to my mind, was rather easily thwarted considering their nature. YMMV on that, though.

 

All in all, very strong and a reason why the Omnibus is definitely worth a buy.

 

Must Read

ANR: 8/10

 

In Ahriman: Exodus there is a scene where Big Named Demon shows Ahriman/Ctesias a scene of a Demon Prince of Tzeentch, once a Thousand Son, battling a Demon Prince of Nurgle, once a Son of Horus (if I am remembering things correctly) - and we never find out who this is or who this will become. The fan-favourite theory I've seen is Helio Isidorus, which is particularly dark

 

I do hope this is explored in any future Ahriman works, and based on a few titbits here and there it seems John French intends for Ahriman to try experimenting with Necron chronomancy (which is presumably a failure, before his quest for the Black Library begins) so more Ahriman works might be on the horizon!

 

We "know", thanks to the "delights" of the Gather Storm books, that somebody has the very real ability to undo the rubric.

 

Unfortunately we "learn" this in the cheapest, tackiest, jump scare I've read yet.

 

(And this is a book series where Cadia splits open, Biel-tan falls apart and R. Guilliman doesn't bat an eyelid and being killed, resurrected, encased in armour and in cahoots with xenos and maverick machine priests to nip off and tour the Maelstrom and spar with his ol' pal, Magnus the Red. So the low point being what's used to kick down the Ahriman sandcastle is pretty low indeed.)

[Noserenda]

Well i finished Warlord: Fury of the God machine. 

I think mostly out of spite... It was not good, nor was it particularly focused on a Warlord titan. 

I think after the weak start i was hooked it my the fairly strong second act but it didnt stick the landing. About half the POV characters are pointless and actively hurt the pacing and the last act just goes full clownshoes nonsense to be honest. 

Avoid! 

[Roomsky]

Blackstone Fortress – Darius Hinks

 

A resounding “meh” from me. I’ll admit that, unless you’re some master of the craft, I don’t really like adventure novels, and Hinks is hardly that. The characters seem like accessories to the journey rather than vice versa, which is what I would have needed to be especially engaged. I won’t say characters like Grekh and Taddeus weren’t fun to read about, but a simpler plot would have given each more time to breathe, and for the plot threads weaved throughout to be given appropriate gravity. I liked the guardsman daemon plot, but it barely features.

 

As it is, it’s a lot of dull descriptions of mind-screw without any kind of rules to give the scenarios stakes. Hinks seems to be the go-to for “everything but the kitchen sink” style writing, his books are always packed with ideas but they often stifle each other. It was scarcely a third of the way through book where I started to wonder why I was bothering, though credit to Hinks, I did finish it without much pain.

 

To Taste, on a fair scale. I lean Diehards Only for anyone who shares my preferences.

[Tarvek Val]

Well i finished Warlord: Fury of the God machine. 

 

I think mostly out of spite... It was not good, nor was it particularly focused on a Warlord titan. 

 

I think after the weak start i was hooked it my the fairly strong second act but it didnt stick the landing. About half the POV characters are pointless and actively hurt the pacing and the last act just goes full clownshoes nonsense to be honest. 

 

Avoid! 

 

Ugh. It's in my pile of books to read in the near future (I'm way behind in the canon of BL works). Looks like I'll have to push through it nonetheless...

[StrangerOrders]

So I started reviewing the Primarch Books a while back and completely spaced on finishing. I am a man of my word so here are the missing ones!

 

 

Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix

 

Read it.

 

...Well, what are you doing here? Go read it!

 

Jokes aside, this is my favorite Primarch book by a long mile and one that holds a special place in my heart. Before this book I very much played EC because I thought their FW lore was interesting despite the extremely poor joke they were across the rest of 30k (The Fabius books being set far too late to fully help). This is the book that made me realize that there was something more to Fulgrim than the preening idiot so many BL books go out of their way to make him. Reynolds takes our conceptions of this spoiled, arrogant peacock who can't stare past his own nose (thanks McNeill) and turns it on its head completely. 

 

The Fulgrim we meet is something altogether more awesome, twisted and tragic than any of his brothers really. A man crafted to be superhuman but whose entire life is more or less an unrelenting wall of suck, an unending series of challenges which have created both an unmatched ego and a bone-wrenching fatigue that the rest of the cast catch occasional glances of whenever his increasingly brittle mask of self-assured preening cracks. This book is relentless in making it clear why Fulgrim became who he did and why he was so loved before that Daemon Sword of McNeill-Plot-Tumors got its grips on him, he is charming and infectiously likable even when he lets his temper get the better of him but that isn't quite what does it.

 

Its that he genuinely means well and that so many other characters don't quite get that. To Fulgrim the entire world is a broken machine and at some level he never grew past that child crawling through the muddy mines of Chemos trying to fix things. 

 

We have all read books where we see a Primarchs vanity or pride be slighted and they blow up and kill everyone. Yet here we see something odd, Fulgrim is genuinely haunted by what he sees as necessary violence (because to his mind, the problems are both obvious and to go against him is actively causing suffering) and you see it in little ways across the book. The way he still hesitates when thinking about the tribes that fought him on Chemos, the way he seems to be doing everything in his power to keep himself from hating his brothers for their quickness to violence and even the way that he outright begs a character in this book to stand down and surrender. When was the last time you saw a Primarch completely crush a foe and then breakdown crying for the defeated foe to surrender?

 

Yeah, I can never just think of Fulgrim as a joke after this book.

 

I would be remiss not to mention the rest of the cast of course. Fulgrim's highly-debatable-number-of-blades offers us in this short novella a wider and most insightful spectrum into the conflicting personalities and viewpoints within a Legion in a short novella than some Legions have managed over a frankly ridiculous number of books (coughXVIIIcough) and somehow none of them manage to be 2 Dimensional. To use the Example of Narvo Quin, the proverbial aristocratic brute with an axe. He isn't as smart as his brothers, is fixated on his own strength and is sort of a dick at the best of times. Yet he is also the first to stand up when someone talks down about the mortals in the Crusade, shows outrage at the idea of abusing workers and actually goes out of his way to protect soldiers he fights with. This is a minor character, yet he shows more depth than some protagonists show.

 

I could talk as well about how it shows us a young Fabius before he had gone completely mad and was still conscious enough that we can see the hatred of his brothers actually hurting him and pushing him away. I could talk about Lord Commander Abdemon who quietly conveys both more wisdom than any other IIIrd LC on record while quietly hinting at having alot of emotional baggage from the Blight. I could also talk about Iterator Pike, who is basically the political mastermind grandma trope done perfectly and makes the existence of 'brilliant' minds like Sindermann seem like Malc started taking some powerful heroin at some point in the Crusade. Heck, I could even talk about the fascinatingly incompetent Byzantine-analogues that are the primary setting. But I am already dragging on.

 

Yet I can't give this book a perfect score, precisely because it is a BL book. Reynolds almost screams that he is neither that interested in or really wants to include most of the action scenes and is quick with them. Because the conflict of this book is one of political intrigue, philosophy and of Fulgrim wrestling with himself. And every word allocated to some contrived fight is one taken away from a far worthier reflection on the nature of our doomed hero. Sort of like cramming unnecessary action scenes into Game of Thrones, its not what you are here for and it detracts from the main story. 

 

Rating: 9.5 Unnecessary Fights/ 10 Fabulous Phoenixes. Must Buy, Buy it Now.

 

Ferrus Manus: The Gorgon of Medusa

 

Yap, an 8. I frankly never really understood the hatred for this book since it both gives us an awful lot of insight into a Primarch who has frankly been robbed of screentime and a very cool, if not exactly 'upbeat' story to go with it.

 

To begin with the easiest bit, the Gardinaal. Jesus just the Gardinaal. They are one of the most nightmarish machines of pure soullessness that I have seen in this setting, they have frankly more in common with pre-5th Necrons than anything human and frankly remind me a bit of my early life (communist country and not one of the better ones). Just a dystopian nightmare where you get like five ancient monsters literally controlling miserable drones to the point where there is not a touch of humanity in them. Even our PoV, a high-ranking psyker (something which literally anywhere else in this setting would be living rather well) can only muster barely-contained glee that he gets to watch it all burn. Frankly? They are the right kind of alien to me, since they don't feel like a rehash of western society combined with some dress-up and peppered with alien-sounding concepts. 

 

Next is the EC in this book, namely Akurduana. This book is one of the nicer ones to the EC in that it explores their drive for perfection in an interesting light. Akurduana has near-literal perfection with a blade but faces a very unique problem I think, since he is more or less useless off the battlefield and is fixated on trying to find something else to be good at. He comes across as genuine and almost childish in his wonder at anyone showing any merit because he so despreatedly wants to grow and seems to see a mirror to that in Ferrus Manus.

 

Which brings us to the titular Primarch which this book supposedly hurts so much.

 

And you know what? I get Ferrus after this book.

 

Ferrus Manus and his sons are the heroes of the bronze age writ large. They are mighty, heartless and arrogant to the point of lunacy. They are also well and truly terrifying. The Iron Tenth might have their flaws, which this book begins hinting at, but dear gods does this book make me prefer the idea of fighting a swarm of chainsaw-wielding lemmings than to have a mildly annoyed Iron Hand starring my way. They are depicted as relentless monsters that simply will not accept or even register the idea of defeat, they will just keep coming and pushing until they have completely run over you and then proceed to level your house out of spite.

 

This book has moments that should be embarrassing for them and yet their sheer nature flips that for me. We see a Space marine crippled and captured and subjected to interrogation by one of the strongest psykers the Gardinaal had. And the most he could do was to make the three-quarters-dead IH willing to answer questions in a vaguely passive-aggressive way with the psyker feeling like he just spent the bulk of his day trying to break a brick wall.

 

Those moments are worth more to me than several hundred pages of bolterporn about how great a chapter is tbh.

 

How merciful and tolerant of weakness would you be when your entire life looked like a Greek Myth crossed with Fallout and Sucking? That's the sort of background that creates a monster that will kill a few billion to soothe his wounded pride pretty easily tbh.

 

Rating: 8 Billion Gardinaal Lives/ 10 Yen Coin.  Must Buy, You See a Guy Punch a Laser, What More Do You Want?

 

Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris

 

When it comes to reviewing stuff, I'm often reminded of the fact that I must not be very smart. Since despite both the common opinion and several books, the Khan kind of reminds me of a more shy version of a Perturabo about attention? I see alot of comments about how much he hates the Imperium and wants to be alone and so on.

 

Why do his books, and especially this one, read to me so much like the Khan and his Legion both desperately want to be acknowledged by the Imperium and to have their points taken into account? Seriously, he is way too defensive about his choices and his insistence on being alone to really come across as genuine in his desires. 

 

Someone that actually wants to be alone does not give a complex monologue about why he totally feels its for the best. Someone that does not care if he is deemed a savage doesnt go off on a techpriest for several sentences about how knowledgeable he is on technical readouts. Nor does someone that doesnt care seek so much to argue his points at every given opportunity.

 

Frankly this whole 'I'm just a lone wolf, I don't want praise. NOW NOTICE ME BEING A LONE WOLF PLZ!!!' makes their friendship with the Luna Wolves rather understandable. As does their inclusion in the Griping Lodges.

 

The Khan is a Tsundere, just saying.

 

Anyhow, this book is more like a hand compellation of short-stories to fill in the blanks in his story from the Crusade and to inject it with a near-fatal amount of irony.

 

Rating: 7 Tsundere Khans/ 10 Shady Luna Wolves. Must Buy If You Already Have Scars and Path of Heaven.

 

Vulkan: Lord of Drakes

 

How can fighting Orks on a planet made of fire be boring? There is a question I never thought I'd be considering. Yet this book somehow had me there. The prose here are painfully dull, to the point that someone that is to much of plebian (like your's truly) to usually notice these things was noticing it. 

 

I can't actually think of much more to say here, since I am not sure I can do justice to exactly how dull this mass of bolterporn and milk-toast heroism is. 

 

There is also the fact that the Salamanders seem to have never had much a grasp on not picking the most hilariously suicidal way of doing things. To the point where it comes across less as 'heroic' and more like 'you really should have gotten a second opinion here...'

 

It seems the curse of the Salamanders to be wasted, since I am not sure how 'tragic army of demigod warrior-smiths' can be boring yet it somehow always is.

 

Helped me sleep like a babe though, so I have to give it credit for that.

 

Rating: 3 Vulkans/ 10 Inteligent Strategic Choices. Diehards Only, It Will Help You Die Faster.

 

Corax: Lord of Shadows

 

There is something to say for watching a usually boring character get some life injected into him. This book does that.

 

Corax in this book gets dragged through the mud a fair bit and I will be damned if it didnt make me like him more as a consequence.

 

In this story we get our regularly scheduled reminder that the Imperium is actually pretty damned far from the biggest collection of small male genitalia and female secondary sexual characteristics in 30k along with a nice reminder that you can have the best intentions and still come across as a total prick.

 

The foes Corax fights are an extremely petty and homicidal little pile of republics and kingdoms which remind me of nothing so much as ancient greece, right down to having a hilariously overinflated idea of their own worth. Its an interesting take by Haley (a writer who has made it his business to fluctuate the Imperium between Dark and Reasonable on a regular enough basis for nuance) to show us a group of people preaching high morals and standards and exactly how depraved and fanatical they get when pushed against a wall (like say... unleashing one of the more terriyfing bioweapons on record).

 

And as for Corax? We get to see what he is when he isnt in his comfort zone. His comfort zone being either in a position to be the just savior or the oppressed underdog. But when he is truly in a position of power and he is slighted?

 

Here we see all of his high ideals tremble, here we see an undercurrent of true pettiness as he goes out of his way to browbeat and generally be dismissive of his human subordinates or just how willing he is to throw lives away when it suites him. As well as how poorly he takes having these things be pointed out to him. Or worse yet, when it is pointed out to him that he isnt as good at his whole 'liberator' bit as he thinks he is.

 

Its an interesting read that actually made me like the XIXth more than i ever had before.

 

Rating: 7 Birbs/ 10 Political Incompetents. To Taste Like Chicken.

 

Angron: Slave of Nuceria

 

I find it interesting how many people condemned this book. It sort of says alot to me that it surprises people that someone who earned the name 'the Betrayer' and happily uses 'ingroup-outgroup' logic at the drop of a pointy-hat might be a bit deluded. 

 

Anyway, this book is a fabulous read to my eye since it really unveils what Angron and his sons actually are in all of their tragic and pathetic glory. They are both victims and victimizers in the extreme, looking for every possible excuse to inflict their suffering on the galaxy while also showing a truly disturbing way of making it 'their fault' in a way which I am sure rings uncomfortably familiar to some and rationalizing away all responsibility.

 

This is the book that reveals how flawed the PoV in Betrayer was and also the book that makes the most sense of their fall.

 

Angron wasn't alone and he wasn't forced to become what he is. He had people reach out to him, constantly. But all he could do was to lash out again and again like a feral monster because he refused to give the galaxy the mere opportunity of proving him wrong.

 

But this book somehow makes you understand both his twisted nature and the traumas that brought him there. His childhood was monstrous, with every glimpse of being granted even the vaguest scraps of humanity being savagely ripped away from him until he was nothing but hate incarnate. 

 

Yet the character this book most clicks into place is Khârn. Khârn in the grand arc becomes an enabler, someone that encourages abuse and then washes his hands of it or tries to spread the blame and to turn the victim into the traitor. He is the fanatic to a T, that guy who makes every cause he joins more toxic and discards responsibility with an almost supernatural grace.

 

I don't exaggerate when I say this is a horror story, but it is a must-read.

 

Rating: 8 Ironies/ 10 Angrons Deaf to Them. Must Buy For the Recently-Broken Centurian.

 

Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter

 

And lastly we come to the literal horror story.

 

This is by far the least coherent and most disturbing book in the Primarchs series, and unlike the previous entry it was these things in absolutely the best way. 

 

Here is a book that walks us through every step of Konrad Kurze's broken mess of a mind and the things it unveils are as heinous as they are insightful.

 

It also takes the whole 'he was just a misunderstood hero' angle reddit likes to spit out and stomps on it violently. It shows us Kurze's visions and Nostromo in all of its horror and... guess what? It's all on him and he sure as hell could have done better with even marginal effort.

 

It wonderfully shows us that Kurze actively worked to neglect risks that could have brought better futures, how he rationalized away his depravities and the slow cancer that infected his Legion as a consequence. Kurze might have hated his sons, but of this book taught me anything it is that they are sure as hell HIS sons.

 

I will take points away for suffering by far from the whole 'present' thing. I honestly cared nothing for the whole bit with Kurze rampaging on that ship or the disturbed latent psyker and frankly it was here that the gore got indulgent to the point of it actively hurting how invested I could be in the book.

 

But the ending, dear dark gods the ending to this book is sublime in how horrible and funny in an abysmally dark way it is. So much so that I would not even say a word on the off-chance someone who hasnt checked it out reads this.

 

On the whole, I'd check it out.

 

Rating: 7 Tubs of Greese/ 10 Night Haunter Hairstyles. To Taste Eyeballs.

[Roomsky]

Fantastic reviews StrangerOrders, as always. 

 

Gonna disagree on Curze though. I enjoyed it on the first go-through, but I gave it a listen a while later and stopped the moment Curze said "You could have made me ruthless, but instead you made me evil." Holy :cuss on a :cuss sandwich, that's awful.

 

Biased towards Spurrier and ADB, of course. I like to pretend most of his other stories didn't happen.