Rate what you Read, or the fight against Necromancy

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

When going through the old anthologies, I keep finding authors with excellent stories who, sadly, never returned to 40k again.

 

Obligatory 'Matt Ward's fantasy books are actually really damn good', too, though I'm not sure how much involvement he has with James Workshop today. I know he's got writing credits for stuff like Darktide and BFG, though, which is great.

[Roomsky]

Fist of Demitrius - Bill King

 

Well, that's more like it. For some, like Sotholar, I can see why it wouldn't be much of an improvement over Angel of Fire, but I personally found this a significant step-up from that first book, at least in terms of portraying Macharius and his crusade. Putting Lemuel close to him for the duration of the book just makes it work sooooo much better.

 

We get discussion of strategy and tactics. We get politicking among Macharius' generals. We get a proper idea of what the Crusade looks like. We get to see stubbornness and pride bleeding out the sides of Macharius' perfect facade. We see his strenuous friendship with Drake in detail. We get more than a generic fictional military leader. I won't claim it's deep, that's not really King's style, but the title character is way more interesting and human than last time. I'm also so pleased that the Hephaestion equivalent in Sejanus is here this time, even if only for a few scenes. The informal general with no insecurity about his position is a wonderful contrast to the career social climbers who share his rank.

 

And, as a bonus, a Dark Eldar POV! I gets a bit tired by about the 60% mark (the guy is really just a caricature of his faction) but it's welcome all the same. Dark Eldar work quite well as foils to Macharius and co. - they are after all a society of opportunists, and their leader's lack of respect both for and from those around him sharply contrasts Macharius' Alexander-style aura of authority and loyalty.

 

King's prose remains laudable for its accessibility, unremarkable in its presentation, and occasionally frustrating for its simplicity (Describing the Webway as "spooky" in the narration sort of takes me out of it.) It's simple, workmanlike, and unchallenging. But it also disappears, for the most part, as you read, making it easier to focus on the substance of the book. To be clear, I don't think the lack of depth in King's writing is anything other than intentional - he writes very accessible series in a setting that often seems impenetrable from the outside. And, despite all that, he's quite good at hiding genuine humanity behind the simplicity.

 

I'll say this against the series: a better book 2 hasn't given me any greater appreciation for book 1. Angel of Fire does have a handful of elements that I think it does better as a Guardsman book, but it really drops the ball in being about Macharius, both directly and indirectly. It's an origin story for how a tank crew became Macharius' bodyguards, which it does fine, but it fails to tell me anything meaningful about the man or his campaigns. I'm honestly tempted to say that if you're interested in this series, book 1 isn't even required reading. Lemuel, Anton, and Ivan organically demonstrate who they are from the get-go here, and Anton is significantly less annoying.

 

Thank the Emperor this book isn't "the commander of a billion men is trapped alone behind enemy lines" again. The cast certainly shrinks towards the end, but it comes so late I don't begrudge it at all. The plotting in general is just a lot less trite to me in this one.

 

7.5/10? It didn't blow my socks off, but it was basically what I wanted out of the series. Easy recommend if you're curious and appreciate King's style.

[Rob P]

Carcharodons: Outer Dark

 

Much much better than Red Tithe. I really enjoyed the first third whilst also wondering if we'd get a typical action focussed story. The stuff withe the Ashen Claws and continuation from Red Tithe were done well.

 

It does develop into a rather typical bolter porn story and the big fights on the planet felt a bit like the climax was a little quick. However, the space stuff was much better and the conclusion leaves the story at a great point.

 

7/10

[Jareddm]

Above & Beyond 

 

I've got a hot take for this one. This is the Fire Caste of Aeronautica stories. In that fighter pilots are present but boy is that not the point! Instead we get deep dives into the uses of propaganda and misinformation, the strengths and weaknesses of faith presented across a range of beliefs, and an awesome cast of developed and competent characters.

This improves on its predecessor, Outgunned, in every way, but especially in regards to the antagonist. As a bonus, Philip Sacramento is the audiobook narrator and does a phenomenal job all around. I'm super excited for a third book and I genuinely can't think of a critique that wouldn't just directly tie into the third book

 

10/10 Read more Denny Flowers!

Edited June 9 by Jareddm

[Fire Golem]

Sanguinius - The Great Angel

 

I’ve had this since it came out and for some reason have only just got round to reading it. I really loved this book, gang. Between the Remembrancer main character (who was excellent) and the return to a battle from book 1, it really took me back to starting the series almost 20 years ago. I’ve seen some discussion about people being disappointed it wasn’t more about Sanguinius but I thought that, as is often the case, the much more restrained use of him made it much more impactful.
 

There’s a real sense of like creeping unsettling dread through the book, it’s almost like a horror at times, there’s a later scene with some statues that gave me chills, despite not being particularly traditionally horror. And all throughout the book and particularly at the end it just made me feel sad. Sanguinius is such a tragic character and the legion such a tragic legion. And as people in the 3 year old dedicated thread mentioned, the idea that the Imperium was decaying even as it was being built is really striking to me. 
 

I feel like it can be pretty lazy to give 10/10 but I can’t think of any issues I had that wouldn’t be just nitpicks and even though I’m sure a lot of it is recency bias but I can’t even really think of any nitpicks so I guess it’s a 10. Definitely a highlight of the spotty Primarchs series. 

[neOh (AV)]

Words of Blood: The Journey into the Past Continues

 

Words of Blood – Ben Counter

Old anthologies are strange beasts. Under one cover, you might find both clever, inventive stories and absolute absurdities. And I honestly can't tell what dominates this tale of the Black Templars (who feel more like average, rather unprofessional mortals here) tactically retreating in a battle against Khorne-worshippers – creativity or nonsense.

 

Raptor Down – Gav Thorpe

An indirect sequel to the even older short story Acceptable Losses. Imperial air forces, an unusual xenos species, and aerial battles where a single decision can determine the fate of an entire campaign, the lives of one’s subordinates, and the task completion. This has all the hallmarks of a great pilot story! Gav was among the first to write about Imperial aviators, and I’m pretty sure both Abnett and Flowers drew inspiration from his work later on. A pity he never returned to Jaeger and his squadron.

 

Chains of Command – Graham McNeill

Uriel Ventris short story. And well – being Uriel Ventris story, that pretty much sums it up. Still a sergeant here, he learns not to blindly follow the Codex Astartes and to think for himself. All while firing his bolter, naturally.

 

Loyalty’s Reward – Simon Jowett

Simon’s quickly become one of my favourite authors of the early BL era. A mafia-style story that soon spirals into something much more sinister – though the appearance of Space Marines at the end slightly undermines the grounded feel. Had Simon wrote this today, with more creative space and some refinement, it could easily fit under the Horror imprint.

 

Deus ex Mechanicus – Andy Chambers

A Mechanicus expedition, a dead world, and black monoliths. We all think we know what’s coming next. Or do we? Chambers doesn’t turn the Necrons into some vague mystery; instead, the real twist comes with the finale of the priest’s expedition, raising more questions than answers.

 

Barathrum – Jonathan Curren

Another excellent but sadly forgotten gem. Two Inquisitors with clashing ideologies investigate the murders of Mechanicus archaeologists in an ancient, sand-burried city. Suspense, gruesome imagery, haunting atmosphere of a forgotten place, and a classic “they delved too deep” narrative straight out of Lovecraft. Oh, I'm not gonna lie, despite the predictable ending, I found Jonathan’s tale genuinely gripping.

 

Missing in Action – Dan Abnett

Eisenhorn story. Another case for Gregor—but this time, the suspects are the very last people he (or we) would ever expect. A strong little mystery.

 

Liberty – Gav Thorpe

Last Chancers story. Cage is in trouble, thrown into yet another prison by his colonel. But no bars can hold this madman down for long: his escape is fast, bloody, and not exactly subtle. Classic Penal Legion style.

 

Ork Hunter – Dan Abnett

The Jopallians expected to defend Armageddon like everyone else, only to be dropped into jungle hell with feral Ork hunters. Savage and deadly psychopaths, perfectly nailed by Abnett – as is the sheer alienation felt (not for long!) by bewildered Jopallian guardsmen. Reminds me of 20-years-much later Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley, though even the Catachans were more welcoming to the newbie. That says a lot about these guys. 

 

Business as Usual – Graham McNeill

Spin-off to Warriors of Ultramar but not about Marines, but… a scum. Snowdog, an amoral underhive ganger, finds his shady narcotics deal going sideway. And by “sideway” I mean tyranids and an Arbites officer on his tail. Familiar underhive crime tale with a surprisingly hilarious ending involving drugs and tyranid. Honestly, I enjoyed it way more than yet another Uriel story.

 

Defixio – Ben Counter

The Imperium has plenty of tankers, but Savlar Chem-Dogs? That’s a rare treat. Especially when one of them seems cursed with constant bad luck – just in time to get surrounded by greenskins. If Ben’s first entry in this collection bordered on the absurd, this one works – something any Savlar fan will appreciate.

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

Missing in Action – Dan Abnett

 

Abnett at his best...

 

Quote

‘I am Inquisitor Eisenhorn. I’m here to relieve you.'The careful war against the blight of Chaos that you have waged through Urbitane in secret is now over. The Inquisition is here to take over. You can stand down.’

Two or three of the hunched veterans began to weep.

‘You lie,’ said Lund, stepping forward.

‘I do not. Surrender your weapons and I promise you will be treated fairly and with respect.’

‘Will... will we get medals?’ the bearded man asked, in a quavering voice.

‘The gratitude of the God-Emperor will be with you always.’

 

...is really the best, isn't he?

 

Master Imus' Transgression and Strange Demise of Titus Endor are equally good, though I think Strange Demise is one of my absolute favourites in the canon along with Little Horus, another Abnett short. When the man has a story to tell, with good direction and good editing, he's a master of the craft. 

 

Opinions differ, but for that reason I think Magos is his absolute magnum opus. It's this wonderfully cohesive whole, these small threads tightly woven to create tension, intrigue, suspense, horror - but real, genuine human feeling, friendliness, compassion, even love. Magos is near-perfect. These little stories, these little lives, this cross-section of the best and worst of the Imperium and its citizens, good and bad, great and small. Eisenhorn's comeuppance, revelation, and release - with a necessarily uncertain end, because we are left to ask: what has he learned from all this? Innocence, once lost, can never be regained. Eisenhorn can never be a puritan again. But will he do better, be better? Can he? Can that ever happen in this setting?

 

I love Magos. I love where it ends. I love the questions it poses and the answers it insists you find for yourself.

Edited June 20 by wecanhaveallthree
WHERE THE RISING APE MEETS THE FALLING EDIT

[Fire Golem]

I remember getting Words of Blood from the library when I was pretty young, the only one I remember reading was Ork Hunter, so that would’ve been my first warhammer story. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Da Red Gobbo Collection by Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers, and Rhuairidh James

 

A collection of 5 linked stories about the Red Gobbo. Whilst it's not an origin story, it's laid out a little bit like one. Lots of grots, lots of orks, a smattering of pointy ladz, a few fancy 'ats, and one or two long coats.

 

The writing seems to harken back to the 1990's era of orks, where they were a bit zany, and with some humour, e.g. the orks' litany of accuracy being "please let dis 'it da gitz wot I kinda pointed it at", an ork being distressed by the lack of noise a needle pistol makes so shouting "BANG!!" when firing it, and Da Red Gobbo 2 shouting "not more than 2 or 3 steps back".

 

The audiobook (Audible) is well narrated, and without production issues (as far as I noticed)

 

Rating: 8/10 (aka To Taste)

Edited July 4 by Firedrake Cordova

[kabaakaba]

9/10. 

Finished Gaunt's ghosts. 

Nice, very nice series, not immortal characters, good plot and narrative. You don't feel that it's stupid most of time like it was with some sm books for example. With one exception.

Oan Mkoll. He is too much Raven Guard space marine(I forgot the special name for sm who hide themselves) . Hide from mandrake? Easy, and kill him easy too. Roam enemy ranks? Pf... Hold my sakra. If they meet demon primarch I think he deal with him with. 

But anyway it's nice novels. Again plot is nice, dialogues are easy to read and character don't talk for talk itself. I definitely reread it sometimes later.

 

[LemartesTheLost]

Shroud of Night by Andy Clark

 

Narrated by Andrew Wincott

 

I really had fun with this book, I can't believe it took me this long to get around to it! The plot was interesting and well-paced throughout with a suitable number of twists and turns for an Alpha Legion novel. Every member of the warband was characterized extremely well. Never once did I feel that it was "random Astartes #7" that disagreed with Kassar, but a unique individual with their own motivations and opinions in regard to the future of the warband. Speaking of Kassar,

 

Spoiler

I thought it was really powerful the way Andy Clark wrote his pact/possession with the daemon trapped inside Hexling once he was absolutely carved up by Khârn. The majority of the time, we see Chaos corruption as a means to further one's own ambitions, but here we have Kassar damn himself to allegedly save his brothers. It's really something I think would be more common amongst CSM/Renegades (especially those who have spent a relatively short period in the Eye), but we rarely see it. I certainly pondered what my choice would be in that situation for a good while.

 

I also want to comment on how brilliant it was to use Khârn as a plot device. His inclusion really upped the ante and helped provide the sense of urgency that this novel required.

 

The Imperial Fists Captain, Dysorian, and the Sororitas Canoness were pretty standard fare as far as Imperial defenders go, and this book definitely reads/listens like an 8th Edition era novel. Lots of Firstborn initially doubting the Primaris brothers, etc. It was well done, however, and not nearly AS forced as in many other novels from the period. It was a real treat to see the Unsung's near incredulity at the Primaris' survivability as well, I caught myself chuckling.

 

As for the narration, I come to this subforum once again as an ardent Andrew Wincott enjoyer. This might be controversial to some, but the man IS the voice of CSM, to me at least. The cadence of his voice just really sold the urgency with which the centuries old demigods were moving/communicating for much of the novel. 

 

Final Rating: 9/10 (Where is the sequel?)

Andy Clark has just cemented himself on my "Insta buy" list with this one. It was an absolute barn burner through & through. Not full marks because there was A LOT of action in this book + 8th Ed Primaris awkwardness, but it didn't overly detract from the story. Steel Tread is probably the weakest of his work I've read yet and that was a solid 7/7.5! Hoping he returns to write more Unsung shenanigans soon.

[Urauloth]

Fallen Angels by Mike Lee

 

This is one of those oddities of the early Heresy where they clearly hadn't hammered out the details yet, so the lore and the tone are kind of all over the place. Astartes operate more like their 40k counterparts, for example, and a lot of Imperial societal norms seem to be essentially the same as they are 10,000 years and a messianic religion later. Despite that, it's a very fun book. It doesn't have any lofty aspirations to literature status: it's more Space Marine Battles than Master of Mankind, which is fine. This is solid, workhorse tie-in fiction. I like reading that.

 

The cast are an odd bunch. Nemiel is off Space Marine Battling with a squad of forgettable tactical doofuses, and Nemiel is fine, but his segments are focussed on the plot (and plots) developing on the Forge World of Diamat, with very little time or concern for character drama or development. We get that back on Caliban, where everyone is up to so much skulduggery it would give Tzeentch a headache.
Luther is great in this book, and the various disillusioned old knights are all interesting even if some of them are only brief character sketches. The changes to Caliban and the notion that something is fundamentally wrong with the planet are all explored enough to feel satisfactory without slowing the pace or feeling like they downsized the scope of anything by explaining it too much.

Probably if you were waiting for more of the "main plot" of the Heresy when this novel hit shelves, you would have felt a bit short-changed, but as I've said before I'm very much not a "main plot" reader and I like books that fill out the setting. I'd say this one is "to taste," probably? I had a blast with it though.

[darkhorse0607]

Carcharadons: Void Exile (audio) by Robbie MacNiven. Narration done by Shogo Miyakita

 

Up front, I could've sworn that I read Outer Dark a while ago, but some of the mentions in Void Exile don't sound familiar at all, so who knows. Regardless, if I bring up something that was explained in Outer Dark, feel free to correct.

 

Also up front. I will echo what I said on the Upcoming thread. Miyakita has got to be the most improved narrator that Black Library has, and I went from not really being a fan at all when he did Red Tithe and Scars, to now rating him amongst the best for Black Library. A lot of times for audio listeners, you get a narrator that you consistently don't like and have to write off books sometimes (I'm that way with Wincott for example), so I just want to highlight how improved Miyakita is here

 

There's going to be a larger spoiler section towards the end, I'll give brief thoughts about the book overall, but a lot of my bigger issues I had are spoilers so it's up to you if you want to go there especially since this is still within the first week of release. There's also going to be a light spoiler section (I guess?) just with tidbits about the chapter that I noticed

 

Overall: This is pretty solid. I think it's either the best of the Carcharadon novels or at least up there with Red Tithe depending on how you liked that, and I would say it definitely beats out Oathes of Damnation in terms of his recent work. It's also one of MacNiven's cleanest novels, in the terms of structure and organization. One thing I find with how MacNiven writes 40k, is that you generally jump into the middle of an event and are left to figure out the characters/situation along the way (Blood of Iax for example has you start in the middle of the invasion rather than building into it, this also does something similar). Sometimes that works, but if the editors aren't on top of things, it can leave it feeling messy imo. This feels a lot better organized, which is either a conscious effort or just because we have the benefit of this being the third novel with these characters so there's not as much of a learning curve. The technical side of his writing (meaning how he normally goes into pretty great detail about weapon types, marks of armor, etc) is toned down but you still get enough of it to scratch the itch

 

BUT. There are some things that really bothered me throughout the book, I can't say what they are (they'll be in spoilers), and I still enjoyed it overall, you just have to be willing to overlook some things. It also uses the term "offal" (i.e. "he got splashed with awful") more times than I can count

 

One reason I was also excited for this, is because it's the first novel featuring Vashtorr's faction, so I wanted to see how they're handled. He doesn't make an appearance into this (he's mentioned, that's about it), but the protagonist is good enough, he has a backstory/reasoning for being there, some characterization, etc. Vashtorr's Chaos faction also feels substantially different enough, at least here, that it feels justified. There is some wonkiness of what technology they can and cannot control, but I don't blame MacNiven for that, I believe that's on GW for basically saying they (Vashtorr at least) can control any tech, except when they can't.

 

Now on the scale of how Chaos is written, this is definitely more on the grimdark side of the middle, so I can't say that if someone else writes the faction they won't be either broken, or used for comedic relief, but at least how they're written here works and is pretty brutal in some scenes. I guess for a comparison, if you compare how Wraight writes Nurgle versus Haley, this is more on the Wraight side. 

 

Chapter tidbits (light spoilers?):

 

-They're a lot more oceany that I remember them being. Some of that might just be my memory and I realize that they have always had things like shark tanks, but everything is ocean now. Formations are something-tide. The champion's shield has coral on it. Etc.  I dunno, it's not a bad thing by any means but it feels more prevalent

 

-The ash blindness is focused on in the book a lot. It seems to range from being more like the Sable Brand from the Raven Guard, to borderline Black Rage from the Blood Angels, leaning toward the Sable Brand side.

 

-The company champion wields a black blade. It's said that they've had it since the Carcharadons were exiled way back when, they haven't been able to figure out what it is made out of, just a black metal. I thought of Sharrowkyn's as another link back to the Raven Guard theory but your mileage may vary

 

-Exiles get a lot of attention here that I'll go more into in the spoiler section

 

Up next is the heavy spoilers. If you stop now, I'd rate it as pretty good like I said. Worth a read, but there are some things that might stick out to you that you might have to overlook. 

 

Spoiler

Ok, like I said there are some issue I had with the plot side of this

 

-First. If you want a satisfying conclusion for Sharr, do you get it? I guess? Not really? His whole arc is almost the exact same as it is in Red Tithe just in a different setting. After Outer Dark he is exiled, basically because he asked to be over shame of the Ash Blindness. When you meet him here, he and a group of Exiles have been sent on a mission in the space hulk the Chaos folks are attacking on. He has shame. He doesn't believe he should be part of third company, especially not the commander. He meets Te Kahurangi who then chews him out for feeling sorry for himself. Sharr feels better. Sharr acts like a commander and then regains his command. Sound familiar? The book ends with him as Reaper Prime again, so you're basically back where we started at the end of Red Tithe. Also, half of the characters in this book struggle with the blindness, but Sharr is the only one that sulks/lets go of control, so it makes him genuinely seem like the weakest of all the characters in this book, or at a minimum, the least deserving of the company leadership. 

 

-Te Kahurangi is the biggest mcguffin in this book and predominately was the biggest issue I had with it. Initially he isn't with 3rd company. When things start going south Khauri reaches out to him via the warp because they have a special connection of some sort. Te Kahurangi then forest walks his way to the planet and is there for the rest of the book. He even takes a shot at Star Wars: The Last Jedi when Khauri asks him if he's just a projection or if he's really there, saying how cheap that would be if he just projected himself. Khauri then also uses this power at the end of the novel, where Sharr and the other exiles are able to walk with him. It's not called forest walking, but that's basically what it is

Cannot underestimate how not a fan I am of this trend that characters can just pop up wherever they need to be because everyone can walk through these warp dimensions. 

 

-They do make an off-hand comment saying how hypocritical it is for a chapter who's whole thing is being exiled, to then exile members of the chapter over ash blindness and "crimes" (not gone into a lot here). It's also semi-inconsistent of the whole process. Some of mind-wiped and sent on missions, some, like Sharr, still have their memories, some have their wargear, some scavenge. 

 

-The protaganist (Voldire) is a Datagnost of the Mechanicus on Diamantus (the planet the book is set on) who was stripped of his augmentation and cast down because he was trying to innovate basically. He then left the planet, meets Vashtorr and goes down that road. I actually liked him, he is a bit more scholarly than other Chaos protaganists, he refers to his minions as "learned fellows," at one point said that they don't have tenure which got a chuckle. He is trying to "calculate exact number of sacrifices to become a demon prince" and/or open a portal to the Forge of Souls. 

 

-There is a shot taken at the Heresy (at least that's what it brought to mind) where Te Kahurangi has attacked Voldire's mind by bringing him to Te Kahurangi's birthworld, to which Voldire asks if they are just supposed to sit around a Regicide board and discuss philosophy now, Te Kahurangi replies no and then they fight

 

-The interludes with reports from the responders to the situation make a return. There are four in total and then the epilogue is focused on that. Rannik (the arbitrator from Red Tithe) is the one who sent the investigation team and is now an Inquisitor. It almost is made to sound like she is hunting the Carcharadons but it doesn't go any deeper

 

 

as I'm typing this I realize it may seem like I hate the book, I don't, like I said earlier I do think overall it's pretty good, but when you do have to overlook quite a bit. 

 

Edited July 9 by darkhorse0607
*edited thanks to Roomsky's clarification

[Roomsky]

8 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

It also uses the term "awful" (i.e. "he got splashed with awful") more times than I can count

That is probably "offal," which means blood and guts.

 

Great review! I personally thought Outer Dark was a massive improvement from Red Tithe, so I'm very curious if this continues what I perceive as an upward trend. Though based on your comments about our protagonist's journeys, I'm a bit cynical now lol.

[darkhorse0607]

2 hours ago, Roomsky said:

That is probably "offal," which means blood and guts.

 

Great review! I personally thought Outer Dark was a massive improvement from Red Tithe, so I'm very curious if this continues what I perceive as an upward trend. Though based on your comments about our protagonist's journeys, I'm a bit cynical now lol.

 

Good shout, thank you, edited

 

Yeah, I get that. I dunno, I fully expect some will overlook it and not have an issue at all which I get, but it's one of those things that once I noticed it, I couldn't unnotice it 

 

Oh, one last thing, I know when this was announced there was a question by some (including myself) about how the Primaris work with the Carcharadons and the Tithe system. It's never discussed at all. All of their tanks (at least the ones that feature here) are firstborn vehicles (Vindicator and Predator specifically). There is mention that one squad, I believe second, only has one firstborn left and that's all they mention about anything regarding that whole side of things. Everyone wears mixed armor patterns, everyone has varying weapons, there's no real discussion about the Primaris which is fine, but just an FYI if someone is going in hoping it answers questions on that front

Edited July 9 by darkhorse0607

[kabaakaba]

Mitchel Scanlon Fifteen hours - 10/10

Grim and Dark. Books shows people's faces and souls in really hard circumstances. Ugliness of IG and  incompetence of command structure . And how really munitorumworks. Non hero astra militarum book. Read it in one go. It even had a "happy end " here. Absolutely like it.

[Jareddm]

On 7/9/2025 at 8:38 PM, darkhorse0607 said:

 

Good shout, thank you, edited

 

Yeah, I get that. I dunno, I fully expect some will overlook it and not have an issue at all which I get, but it's one of those things that once I noticed it, I couldn't unnotice it 

 

Oh, one last thing, I know when this was announced there was a question by some (including myself) about how the Primaris work with the Carcharadons and the Tithe system. It's never discussed at all. All of their tanks (at least the ones that feature here) are firstborn vehicles (Vindicator and Predator specifically). There is mention that one squad, I believe second, only has one firstborn left and that's all they mention about anything regarding that whole side of things. Everyone wears mixed armor patterns, everyone has varying weapons, there's no real discussion about the Primaris which is fine, but just an FYI if someone is going in hoping it answers questions on that front

MacNiven posted awhile back that the Carcharodons would've either stolen the gene tech from elsewhere or just been given the gene tech to convert their own stores with none of the extra bells and whistles to go along with it. That would explain the presence of Primaris but the lack of Era Indomitus equipment.

[darkhorse0607]

22 hours ago, Jareddm said:

MacNiven posted awhile back that the Carcharodons would've either stolen the gene tech from elsewhere or just been given the gene tech to convert their own stores with none of the extra bells and whistles to go along with it. That would explain the presence of Primaris but the lack of Era Indomitus equipment.

 

This might be true, but over the last few days I've been finishing The Successors and thinking more about Void Exile and all of this has been leading me to semi-sour on parts of it. I'm going to put it in a spoiler block just in case folks are still reading (although from the lack of discussion here and other places I don't really think this has been all that widely read in general)

 

Spoiler

The more I think about it, I'm really not sure what the point of the novel is, to the extent that it kind of feels like it was originally meant to be a short story that they extended into a full-length novel, or significant parts got cut out. This is down to a few reasons:

 

-If you wanted a continuation of Sharr's story, there is a boatload missing. His exile (self imposed or otherwise) starts right after Outer Dark according to Void Exile. Void Exile is then decades later. So you're missing a ton there. At the end of Outer Dark he's a firstborn, does he then go into exile and then they decide to have him get the surgery? That doesn't make much sense considering how the chapter views them (having them file off serial numbers, revoking their names, etc). As mentioned before, realistically if you were to cut the entirety of Void Exile, then Sharr's story is no different. He struggles with the blindness but is Reaper Prime

 

-If you wanted more information about the Carcharadons, then you really don't get all that much either. Yes, you now know that they have Primaris (which I have seen asked about in other places time and time again since they rolled out in 2017), the things about the coral shield and black blade, but that's about it. You don't know how they got almost the entire chapter through the Rubicon (although it does mentioned one character died off screen during the surgery, forget his name), but there's no info given other than a post on social media. I assumed it was through a Grey Tithe, but still, in a book where it talks about the specifics of a boltgun's operation and how it's repaired, it could've also gone into a bit more detail behind everything. Honestly, this next part is complete personal conspiracy theory, but the way the book is written and some of the wording MacNiven uses, it really gives off the vibe that he either a) doesn't like the Primaris thing at all or b) didn't want the Carcharadons to be Primarised but it is what GW does now. Again, complete theory on my end but how it's all handled kind of checks out with that

 

-If you liked Rannik's story, then the only mention you get is a sentence at the end that she is now an Inquisitor still hunting the Chapter which doesn't make a ton of sense considering that supposedly Outer Dark takes place before Badab, and the Inquisition there deems them loyal at the conclusion of the conflict. But now, even that I type that the whole timeline for the series doesn't make sense at all if this is only a few decades after Outer Dark then it doesn't line up with Guilliman's return/the Crusade/anything else. It's starting to give me a headache trying to think about it

 

-Also there's some weirdness at the end as well. The Inquisitorial team sent to investigate is being hunted by something and is wiped out after finding literally no one else on the planet (there is a lictor that factors here, but I don't think that its the cause of the team's demise from how it's written). But at the same time, the last time we see the Carcharadons, they're conducting a Red Tithe because it verbatim states that a lot of the laborers have survived, as well as a moderately sized Mechanicus contingent that has been there throughout the book. So what happened between that and the Inquisitorial team arriving? The Magos gives the approval for the Tithe but it's pretty clear that they don't intend for Sharr to take the entire workforce as they're starting to rebuild, so there's a big gap there

 

-and then all the stuff I already mentioned

 

I dunno, it's one of those books that the more I think about it, even though I still don't regret reading it and think it's alright, the more I'm souring on the whole thing. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Warboss by Mike Brooks

 

The story tracks the fortunes of a band of Orks and Grots as they seek to breach the walls of Davidia Hive on Aranua, with the Orks being divided amongst Goffs, Speed Freaks, and Blood Axes, all vying for overall control of the Waaaagh! There's a nice counter-story following Captain Armenius Varrow, a member of the Imperial Guard as he tries escape captivity and warn the populace.

 

The writing gives a good feel for narration via a greenskin, e.g. the chapter numbers once you get past three are somewhat less certain (i.e. Ork: "chapter, there's a 1 and a 6", Grot: "16 boss", Ork: "yeah, what 'e said"). The Orks feel like the Orks from the 1990's, with animosity and in-fighting being pretty prominent, and there's some definite moments of humour.

 

One possible negative point is that the book name-checked all of the "new" Ork buggies (Boomdakka Snazzwagon et al), which you could argue felt a bit "marketingy".

 

The audiobook (Audible) is well-narrated by Harry Myers. I think it was a nice touch that the Speed Freaks actually talked more quickly ...

 

Rating: 8.5/10 (aka To Taste)

Edited 6 hours ago by Firedrake Cordova