Taliesin Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 We did this last two years as well and the results were pretty interesting. What's your top 3 for 2018 releases? I'll mention a few big releases to start it off. Dan Abnett: The Magos, and Anarch ( it was pre-released by BL so for those who read it, it is allowed in here) ADB: Spear of the Emperor Chris Wraight: Jagathai Khan Primarchs book, Lords of Silence. Robbie McNiven: Carcharodons: Outer Dark, Blood of Iax John French: Slaves to Darkness; Horusian Wars Incarnation Guy Haley: Wolfsbane, Titandeath, Corax Primarchs book and Dark Imperium: Plague War Gav Thorpe: Wild Rider; Imperator Rob Sanders: Sons of the Hydra Ian St Martin: Of honour and Iron Sandy Mitchell: Ciaphas Cain Choose your enemies David Guymer: Voice of Mars; Ferrus Manus primarchs book Phil Kelly: War of Secrets Darius Hinks: Mephiston Revenant Crusade; Blackstone Fortress novelization Visions of Heresy Sons of the Emperor anthology Heralds of the Siege anthology Burden of Loyalty anthology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkins Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Slaves To Darkness was incredible So was Anarch, but I'll say that's a 2019 release Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelborn Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Didn't manage to read all I wanted to. For example Lords of Silence or Spear are on my to read list. From what I've read: 1) Slaves to Darkness: Bought in on Warhammer Fest and devoured it in no time. What a book. Loved everything, from Lorgars odyssey up to the SoHs. But the IW are just... Damn! Just like I want them to be. Need more of them done by him. Please with Fists, as well. ;) 2)Jaghatai Khan: Plain and simple, one of the few, who nailed the respective Primarchs and a great show of Scars, Luna Wolves and Blood Angels + Magnus! It speaks for itself when it's the first and currently only LE I possess. 3)Carcharodons: Outer Dark (such a good continuation, desperately waiting for the sequel, Rob!) Just love his Sharks and the Ashen Claws were amazing. Right on spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishagu Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 The Magos Dark Imperium Plague War Lords of Silence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 That weird realization that you've read basically no 2018 BL novels outside of the Heresy despite having bought numerous audiobooks on Audible, including The Lords of Silence, but never got around to them. Even what I did read this year actually released sometime in 2017, it looks like. With my limited range of picks available, I'm not confident in picking a winner by any means. I'll just say that while I enjoyed Warhawk of Chogoris, I felt it was kind of lacking in terms of a self-contained plot, and most of my excitement came from how it tied into Wraight's other Scars stories, more than what it really did on its own. It's still showcasing a great view of the Legion and the Librarius origins, but in hindsight that's all it really did for me, and the conclusions were found elsewhere. The Magos had some pacing issues along the way, but I quite loved it. Druscher was a wonderful point of view character to contrast the "fallen" Gregor Eisenhorn with. I'm not sure it's valid to elevate it further based on the anthology section, personally, but it featured some of the most compelling 40k shorts available, so as a full edition, it was incredibly good value, albeit none of the shorts were new. The novel itself spent a little too much time on the action sections midway through for my taste, but the characterizations and connecting bits from the end of Ravenor Rogue to Pariah were incredibly satisfying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Loss Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Slaves to Darkness #1 for me. Lords of Silence a close second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandlemad Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 1. Lords of Silence by Wraight. Absolutely up there with the best CSM books and probably the best 40k books. Great characters (Vorx is just a delight and a wonder), excellent development for a historically underserved legion, actually interesting battle scenes, a complex delving into intra-warband dynamics, and a good look at the appeal of Nurgle. Despite that, it's the wry, weary narratorial voice that sticks with me and bumps it up to being probably the technically best thing Wraight's written. 2. Slaves to Darkness by French. I've read this one twice now and as brilliant as it was the first time, it offers even more on the nature of chaos the second time. Not 'just' the metaphysics of the warp, though that's there and well-done, but what does/did falling to chaos do to traitor characters beyond mutation and spikes? Their will, their desires, what they prioritise, how they relate to each other. We're still not at full CSM stylings here but this is such an important book for taking stock before the siege, not so much for the plot relevance as seeing how far the traitors have come. French's afterword reads more like a mission statement on filling in what the heresy could have done with earlier and is a valuable piece on its own. The characters are all well-drawn; Maloghurst is great as a lonely, desperate vizier trying to hold things together, Horus gets some of the tragedy of his fall back, Lorgar is taken in a startling but convincing direction after ADB's work on him, and I think this portrayal of Perturabo easily surpasses Haley's in his primarch book. Excellent weirdness (the first obliterator, everything about Layak) and a fantastic sense of scale too, makes the heresy truly feel like a colossal empire-shattering war. 3. Carcharodons: Outer Dark by MacNiven / Sons of the Hydra by Sanders. These are both some distance behind the other two but I can't choose... Outer Dark was a very solid book that offered good development from the first Carcharodons novel and poked into some new areas for 40k (Ashen Claws in particular) while still managing not to rob the chapter of their mystery. It's also clearly setting up a Badab War-based third part, which, you know, is great. Despite that, I haven't really thought that much about it since. That's not a black mark against it by any means, it's certainly a good book, but until I saw the list I'd kind of forgotten it was published this year. Sons of the Hydra was like a draft of a better novel, with fairly thin characters and a seeming lack of connective tissue between action-y vignettes. Buuuuut it was suitably twisty for an Alpha Legion novel and packed to the brim with ambitious ideas, ideas that could have done with being fleshed out. The portrayal of an eastern imperium tottering on the edge was good, the musing on CSM identity was surprisingly fresh and similar to that in Lords of Silence, and it demonstrated convoluted Alpha Legion plots failing through simple bad luck. Compared to Outer Dark, I was fairly disappointed immediately after reading Sons of the Hydra but bits have rattled around in my brain for a year now, so something about it stuck. Still not a huge success but I think 'best of' ratings have to account for these oddballs somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Rohr Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Slaves to Darkness and Titandeath are the only ones I've read that were published this year. So StD #1 and TD #2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlo Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Slaves to Darkness #1 for me. Lords of Silence a close second. Pretty much the same for me I think, I'd also controversially throw Wolfsbane in there as I thoroughly enjoyed that too! Some thoughts: Slaves to Darkness: so much excellent character development for most of the traitor primarchs including the most important one, big H himself. Some true justice done to Perturabo too, which he thoroughly deserved. Biggest movements in a Heresy novel in a while for sure. Lords of Silence: an excellent look at the state of the DG in 40k and Nurgle's followers in general. The DGs practices, mysticism and methods are totally intriguing and this completely elevates them beyond the one-track moustache-curling Chaos Marines of old akin to the way ADBs Black Legion novels have done. Mortarion also has such a presence it's amazing. Word Bearers get a special mention for being total s. Wolfsbane: A personal story for Russ and a look into why he does what he does in the Heresy. A risky move but it almost works! The VF are always a joy to read and while weird, I was totally on board for the Fenrysian dream sequence as a method for exploring Russ' (and by extention the Wolve's) duality and facade. A runner up would actually be the Spear of Ultramar novella. The characterization was absolutely on point and the ending made me shudder, just a perfect representation of the hopelessness of the Heresy and blurred lines in the conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tymell Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 For me so far it's Slaves to Darkness, Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris and Titandeath, in that order. Though I still need to read Lords of Silence, The Magos, Spear of the Emperor and Corax: Lord of Shadows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockagh Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I’m gushing over Spears of the Emperor right now and if the limited ed release counts as a release it gets my number one position by a long way. Number two goes to Cadia Stands by Justin Hill, it’s not on your list but I’m pretty sure it was early 2018, beautiful book. Loved every second of it. Wild Rider gets my number three spot, I’m really enjoying the Eldar developments in the new reality of 40k. Gavs world building is superb. Number four goes to choose your enemies because it felt like an old friend had popped round for tea and we had a bloody good yarn. Great stuf as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1soul Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I really enjoyed Warhawk of Chogoris, but I feel it falls short of BotS, Scars, and Path of Heaven. Still really good. Lords of Silence is superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indefragable Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris and Slaves to Darkness would be the only ones for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeLeto69 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Difficult for me as I only buy HH in MMPB so way behind. In terms of what I actually read this year (as well as what was released)... In no particular order: Master of Mankind The Magos Horusian Wars Incarnation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliesin Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 Difficult for me as I only buy HH in MMPB so way behind. In terms of what I actually read this year (as well as what was released)... In no particular order: Master of Mankind The Magos Horusian Wars Incarnation 3 great books though, and certainly Magos and Incarnation are 2018 releases. Master of Mankind was I believe the winner two years ago. I’m gushing over Spears of the Emperor right now and if the limited ed release counts as a release it gets my number one position by a long way. Number two goes to Cadia Stands by Justin Hill, it’s not on your list but I’m pretty sure it was early 2018, beautiful book. Loved every second of it. Wild Rider gets my number three spot, I’m really enjoying the Eldar developments in the new reality of 40k. Gavs world building is superb. Number four goes to choose your enemies because it felt like an old friend had popped round for tea and we had a bloody good yarn. Great stuf as always. Cadia Stands was a 2017 release I'm fairly sure, that's why I excluded it from my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuintusSertorius Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I only have a top 1: The Magos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishagu Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I've not read Spears of the Emperor. It's next on my list. From the comments I feel like I've really missed out!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reldn Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Since I haven't gotten around to reading Slaves to Darkness and Spears of the Emperor right yet. (They are the next in line on my to-read list) My current top three of 2018 would be: Lords of Silence The Magos Carcharodons: Outer Dark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roomsky Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Of the contenders, I have read: The Magos, Jagathai Khan, Lords of Silence, Slaves to Darkness, Incarnation, Wolfsbane, Titandeath, Imperator, Ferrus Manus, Sons of the Emperor, Heralds of the Siege, The Burden of Loyalty. 1: Lords of Silence I cannot tell you how irate it makes me that a Dark Imperium book is the best this year. Chris Wraight ticks all the boxes: brings new depth to an underused legion, focuses on character rather than bolter porn, is truly gross rather than benignly florid in his descriptions of Nurgle, fixes several thematic issues with Gathering Storm, and is just all around well written. A DG book hardly needed to be this exceptional to be the best they've ever received, but damn if Wraight didn't hit it out of the park. 2: Slaves to Darkness My personal favorite this year, and some nice character re-railment for many of the primarchs involved. It's very snappy but just oozes 40k, and French's attention to detail is always appreciated. An excellent lead in to the Siege, I'd say. 3: The Magos It's Abnett, what did you expect? The characters are very real, the pacing is brisk and the ideas big. I haven't gotten round to Pariah yet, but this only heightens my excitement for how his trilogy of trilogies comes to and end. The armada of great shorts was just a bonus. Honourable mention to all 3 anthologies, which I thought were excellent but not really in keeping with the spirit of the vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caladancid Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 1. Anarch 2. Lords of Silence 3. Carchardons: Outer Dark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sothalor Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Does Anarch and Spears of the Emperor really belong on this list? Those haven't hit general release yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelborn Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Does Anarch and Spears of the Emperor really belong on this list? Those haven't hit general release yet. I agree. Not everyone was able to get their hands on it. And the general release is for 2019. Same with Corax' Primarch novel. I'd bet that Spears of the Emperor might win 2019, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribe Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Lords of Silence Slaves to Darkness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishagu Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I'm guessing lots of people skipped Plague War? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Since I have only time for audiobooks these days I haven't had the chance to 'read' Emperor's Spears yet but the reactions indicate that it belongs up there as well. I also didn't get around to 'read' Slaves to Darkness' yet but it's on my list next. So ultimatley my vote goes to Lords of Silence. I really wasn't interested in 'reading' about Death Guard at all at the moment but the great reviews everywhere made me give it a try and wow it really is good. Definitely my number one 2018. I'm guessing lots of people skipped Plague War? Well from what I've heard it's on a similar level to the first book and if that's true then it can't really compete with books like Lords of Silence imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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