The Siege of Terra: Solar War

[Fire Golem]

Any idea when the ebook releases for this? Just getting a bad gateway on the webpage...

May, can’t remember the date (if it said).

[Fire Golem]

Just finished this now. A lot still to sink in, but I loved this book. Just an excellent start to the siege. I found it quite an emotional read, knowing that this is the beginning of the end of a series I’ve been heavily invested in for the last 9 or 10 years of my life, especially with how much it ties back to the beginning. I feel somewhat drained, but in the best way.

[1ncarnadine]

Many thanks Lets You Down. This is quite a lot to digest lol does it say what the Emperor is doing currently on Terra?

 

The book begins and ends with Emp scenes, along with a kind of intermission scene. They all take place in the Warp, with the Emperor represented by a man in fur and rags huddled over a dying fire.

[mc warhammer]

i'm just going to pluck at one piece of low hanging fruit:

 

the abaddon vs jubal moment. what makes the viper vs mountain work (for those experiencing the scene for the first time in either book or tv format) was that you could believe the viper would triumph. there's no room for that in this encounter, as we all know abaddon's fate. most readers go into this knowing that jubal is either dead or its a draw.

 

honestly, i would have preferred the latter only because we've already scene a similar throwdown between qin xa and eidolon.

 

but this is a teeny tiny nitpick of a summary of a book i've yet to read

[Fire Golem]

i'm just going to pluck at one piece of low hanging fruit:

 

the abaddon vs jubal moment. what makes the viper vs mountain work (for those experiencing the scene for the first time in either book or tv format) was that you could believe the viper would triumph. there's no room for that in this encounter, as we all know abaddon's fate. most readers go into this knowing that jubal is either dead or its a draw.

 

honestly, i would have preferred the latter only because we've already scene a similar throwdown between qin xa and eidolon.

 

but this is a teeny tiny nitpick of a summary of a book i've yet to read

There’s lots in the series that we know how it’s gonna turn out, because of who’s still around etc. Doesn’t mean there’s no impact or worth in reading how things happen.

[mc warhammer]

not quite what i’m saying, i agree with you...

 

i’ve consistently stated my opinion that knowing the ending of the hh and it’s characters doesn’t take away from the drama of it. just like knowing the titanic sinks, or caesar gets stabbed doesn’t take away from telling a worthy story on those topics

 

i’m not suggesting that abaddon not fight anyone at all, cos we know he’ll always live (though that would be kinda weird and funny)

 

but this particular ...i suppose it’s a “trope”... relies on the audience buying into a possible victory before having it snatched away at the last second. that’s what makes it powerful

 

otherwise, there are more interesting ways (imo) to play out a one sided or fated battle than the old “he’s crushing him! he’s crushing him! my god here is the killing blow—- oh oops.”

 

and i’d be more forgiving if i hadn’t already seen a white scars champion go through similar motions with another traitor first captain

 

but i’ll reserve final judgment till, y’know, reading it

[Blindhamster]

I imagine it explains his rules well though, he is good but not amazing

[Knockagh]

Got mine. The limited edition is fabulous. I really like that it’s not as tall as their other limited editions, they kept it the same height as the black dust cover heresy books. This height is much better than the taller ones. Fits far more shelves. Map is beautiful I would buy that in a large art print. Hopefully Warhammer Art do a version.

 

No reading yet so that’s my only comments so far, finishing anarch first and determined to read angron before sitting down with this.

[DarKnight]

i'm just going to pluck at one piece of low hanging fruit:

 

the abaddon vs jubal moment. what makes the viper vs mountain work (for those experiencing the scene for the first time in either book or tv format) was that you could believe the viper would triumph. there's no room for that in this encounter, as we all know abaddon's fate. most readers go into this knowing that jubal is either dead or its a draw.

 

honestly, i would have preferred the latter only because we've already scene a similar throwdown between qin xa and eidolon.

 

but this is a teeny tiny nitpick of a summary of a book i've yet to read

I know exactly what you mean, it reminds me of that HORRIBLE Wolverine Origins movie when he's being infused with adamantium, his heart flatlines, and the music stops as if to suggest he's not going to survive the procedure. We all know that's not happening so why even bother unless you're going to do something creative or original with the premise?

[Cerbero666]

Any info about who is leading the Night Lords? I guess Sevatar is still prisoner aboard the Invincible Reason and Curze is floating in the void somewhere. So I've been wondering about it for a long time. IIRC Skraivok took the leadership of the legion after Imperium Secundus, but It's weird that neither Sevatar nor Curze are present during the Siege. 

 

I have the feeling that there are plenty of plotlines set during dozens of novels that won't get a proper ending.  

[Scribe]

IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE This sounds amazing.

 

I'll take ALL spoilers if anyone cares to do so. 

[DarkChaplain]

Any info about who is leading the Night Lords? I guess Sevatar is still prisoner aboard the Invincible Reason and Curze is floating in the void somewhere. So I've been wondering about it for a long time. IIRC Skraivok took the leadership of the legion after Imperium Secundus, but It's weird that neither Sevatar nor Curze are present during the Siege. 

 

I have the feeling that there are plenty of plotlines set during dozens of novels that won't get a proper ending.  

 

Presumably Gendor Skraivok, the Painted Count. He was "voted" temporary leader in the rush to Terra, and it would make sense for him to get a shot at daemonhood during the Siege, seeing as that's where he'll end up at as per Thorpe's Azrael novel.

[Manchu warlord]

Since no one has said anything, I assume not many have seen it.  

 

A new interview of John French on the Solar War, today: March 27, 2019.

 

[Preliminary Bombardment]

Just finished it too, my oh my it's good.

[m_r_parker]

Just finished it last night as well, and by gosh is it magnificent. I’ll try to do more of a thorough review later this evening, as I’m out and about at the moment, the the scale of everything in this novel made me very happy. I may have to re-read it immediately to see if there’s anything extra I get out of it knowing how the rest of the novel pans out.

[m_r_parker]

I'm going to preface the below with my intentions of not doing any major spoils or plot reveals, but I may still put certain sections into spoiler tags for those who want to come into this book fresh - but honestly, if that's the case you probably shouldn't be in this thread to begin with...

 

The stand-out theme for me throughout this book is the sense of scale that comes with the opening stages of the Siege. It was one of the things I really wanted BL to get right as soon as this series was announced, and I think John French was the right man for the job. Even with just snapshots of void battles the narrative really hits home just how massive a conflict this was when it reached the Sol system. Even in terms of physical time the scale is enormous, with the novel spanning ~6 weeks of real-space time. Everything about it reinforced the notion that this was a conflict on a completely different level.

 

Another point that sat nicely with me was the fact that this novel wasn't really centred around any one particular person or group, but instead chooses to touch on a few people on both sides of the conflict from time-to-time whilst the main events of traitor incursion is happening. Normally I'm a big person for character development in novels and it feels odd to say that it felt right to avoid it here and now, but honestly we've sat with these characters for a while now and there's plenty of opportunity further down the line to provide a more in-depth look at specific characters. 

 

Having said that, the time that we do get with big / renowned characters is well used. Part of me actually thinks that with a novel so packed with details that have to be included, brevity on characters actually has a positive effect. I think back to some of the latter novels in the Heresy series, and I'm going to pick Wolfsbane here as my example and please don't judge me on it, and the amount of time that was spent on trying to eek out a dialogue between Horus and Russ resulted in (in my opinion) a very moustache-twirling representation of the traitors - falling into cliche. The reverse is very true in this book, and I will go into slightly spoiler territory here to provide a great example:

'Little' Horus Axiamand is leading part of the Traitor fleet around Pluto, and with the tide turning towards the Loyalists decides to make a strike against the head of the Imperial Fist forces defending the planet and the associated Mandeville point - he wants to take out Sigismund. Taking out the head of the Imperial Fist command structure throws the rest of the Loyalist fleet into a small amount of confusion, which the Traitors can take advantage of, whilst also demoralising the Loyalists by claiming the head of one of their most senior commanders. The Sons find Sigismunds ship, and teleport right onto the bridge to press the attack. The bulk of the human crew and some of the imperial Fist legionnaires are killed in the first few seconds of the engagement, but Sigismund throws himself into the heart of the Sons masses to fight back. Nowhere are any words said, no fiery rhetoric or chiding insults, it is pure battle. Sigismund takes on Son after Son, killing as he goes but also taking damage as he does it. He's getting wounded, some of his muscles have torn and has a couple of broken bones, and it's only after he starting to tire does Axiamand show himself at the heart of the Sons forces, and Sigismund realises what they've done. They've worn him down bit by bit, and now he's been weakened Axiamand is here to land the killing blow. Little Horus doesn't mock Sigismund, or chide him, he simply draws his blade and comes for Sigismund like an executioner. He doesn't try to draw out the fight to prove a point, it's simply doing what needs to be done.

There's plenty of examples like that throughout the novel, on both sides of the conflict. Spending less time on cheesey dialogue has a benefit, who would have thought it?!?!

 

Even minor details have me happy in this book, like the realisation that space is a 3D and not a 2D environment, so it's not purely a case of starting with the outer planets and working inwards towards Terra. Some of the Traitor forces come in perpendicular to the solar plane, and the Loyalists have ships in place to counter that. Planets have different orbit speeds and durations, and as such won't be in a perfect line. 

 

I won't say it's a perfect book, there is one thread that I don't like but understand why it's there. Again, I'm going to put this in spoiler tags, but there won't be any major spoilers in there:

I didn't like the Mersadie Oliton narrative as much as everything else. If anything, this is probably the character that we spend most time with in the novel, and it feels out of place to me at least. I can understand the pull of trying to tie up loose threads in the earlier novels, and the imminent "What happens to 'X' character?" questions that will plague the writers when this series ends, but it just felt a bit tacked on. 

 

Probably the single most minor detail that made me happy in this novel was that the novella 'The Purge' becomes a bit more of a fundamental read due to the inclusion of the comet shrine to unification. Also, if they're including the comet shrine in this novel, then maybe they'll use other plot points from the novella further into this series. But any reason to get more people to read 'The Purge' is good in my book.

[Marshal Loss]

Finished it. A wonderful book, and one which cements John French in the highest tier of Black Library authors. If the books that follow in the SoT series are as good as this one, as carefully planned and tastefully managed, this group of 8 is going to make the inconsistency of the Horus Heresy series a forgotten issue.

 

On a personal level, this was the 30k era Abaddon novel I'd been waiting for. The next time somebody makes an inane comment about Abaddon being a raging fool whose character is completely inconsistent with what you see in ADB's Talon of Horus/Black Legion, point them to Solar War. Just as with Slaves to Darkness, the Sons of Horus get a great showing in this book. Aximand is also a badass worthy of his reputation, and his fight with Sigismund & Boreas was incredibly well done. Fans of the FW SoH as opposed to their earlier BL depictions will recognise French's seal all over their brutal culture on full display here. Parker mentioned it above, but the quote about Aximand ignoring boasting or goading and just charging, because that was for lesser warriors,  was incredible.

 

While I'm generally a fan of the villains - and French does villains very well, his Word Bearers are particularly awesome - I feel like he's one of those rare authors that can make both sides look good, no matter who comes off second best. I've seen some apprehension about the demise of a certain loyalist on previous pages, and I can assure you all that such sentiment is misplaced. The Loyalists and Traitors in this book were both great and I don't think anybody is going to be displeased with how their particular favourites were handled.

 

Other bits I liked:

• The use of metaphor, with the Emperor in the warp, was very well done and helped to ram home the significance of the conflict
• French manages to convey the sheer scale of this conflict (read: ludicrously murderous) quite well, without resorting to the tropes of lesser authors
• It links back quite nicely right to the beginning of the series, which felt suitable to me given the gravitas of this series
• Zardu Layak fanboying over Abaddon is wonderful and I am now desperate to see him somehow survive to follow him around for 10,000 years
• Abaddon versus Jubal Khan, a duel that manages to showcase the best of both warriors
• The juxtaposition between the warrior-scholars of the Thousand Sons and the priestly fanatics of the Word Bearers
• Perturabo being a badass. I won't spoil it, because it's just that good, but the scene where he orders a full assault on Jupiter shows him full of fire and brimstone, in stark contrast with his usually cold and methodical demeanor. Really good stuff!

I do not have any serious criticism. French draws heavily upon both FW and BL material and you can tell that it is meticulously researched. Solar War is worth your money.

 

I would not want to be the author tasked with following this up. If French does not get another novel in the Siege of Terra series - and the afterword seems to imply that he doesn't, because it feels very final - I will be bitterly disappointed.

 

late edit: grammar

[1ncarnadine]

 

 

• Zardu Layak fanboying over Abaddon is wonderful and I am now desperate to see him somehow survive to follow him around for 10,000 years

 

It made me wonder about Sargon Eregesh and his inability to speak...  Seems like there might be some kind of connection, there.

[Karthak]

 

• Zardu Layak fanboying over Abaddon is wonderful and I am now desperate to see him somehow survive to follow him around for 10,000 years

No thank you. Way too many named traitors survive the Siege/Scouring as it is. 

[Fire Golem]

Completely agree with M_R_Parker and Marshal Loss. The Aximand/Sigismund scene in particular took my breath away, and was one of the standout scenes in the whole series for me, and the scale of the war is amazing. Loved it.

[bluntblade]

I'd prefer that wasn't the case, simply because Sargon is a cool character in his own right.

 

Now deeply nervous for Jubal, much as I want to see Abaddon shine.

[Izlude]

Finished it. A wonderful book, and one which cements John French in the highest tier of Black Library authors. If the books that follow in the SoT series are as good as this one, as carefully planned and tastefully managed, this group of 8 is going to make the inconsistency of the Horus Heresy series a forgotten issue.

 

On a personal level, this was the 30k era Abaddon novel I'd been waiting for. The next time somebody makes an inane comment about Abaddon being a raging fool whose character is completely inconsistent with what you see in ADB's Talon of Horus/Black Legion, point them to Solar War. Just as with Slaves to Darkness, the Sons of Horus get a great showing in this book. Aximand is also a badass worthy of his reputation, and his fight with Sigismund & Boreas was incredibly well done. Fans of the FW SoH as opposed to their earlier BL depictions will recognise French's seal all over their brutal culture on full display here. Parker mentioned it above, but the quote about Aximand ignoring boasting or goading and just charging, because that was for lesser warriors,  was incredible.

 

While I'm generally a fan of the villains - and French does villains very well, his Word Bearers are particularly awesome - I feel like he's one of those rare authors that can make both sides look good, no matter who comes off second best. I've seen some apprehension about the demise of a certain loyalist on previous pages, and I can assure such sentiment is misplaced. The Loyalists and Traitors in this book were both great and I don't think anybody is going to be displeased with how their particular favourites were handled.

 

Other bits I liked:

• The use of metaphor, with the Emperor in the warp, was very well done and helped to ram home the significance of the conflict
• French manages to convey the sheer scale of this conflict (read: ludicrously murderous) quite well, without resorting to the tropes of lesser authors
• It links back quite nicely right to the beginning of the series, which felt suitable to me given the gravitas of this series
• Zardu Layak fanboying over Abaddon is wonderful and I am now desperate to see him somehow survive to follow him around for 10,000 years
• Abaddon versus Jubal Khan, a duel that manages to showcase the best of both warriors
• The juxtaposition between the warrior-scholars of the Thousand Sons and the priestly fanatics of the Word Bearers
• Perturabo being a badass. I won't spoil it, because it's just that good, but the scene where he orders a full assault on Jupiter shows him full of fire and brimstone, in stark contrast with his usually cold and methodical demeanor. Really good stuff!

I do not have any serious criticism. French draws heavily upon both FW and BL material and you can tell that it is meticulously researched. Solar War is worth your money.

 

I would not want to be the author tasked with following this up. If French does not get another novel in the Siege of Terra series - and the afterword seems to imply that he doesn't, because it feels very final - I will be bitterly disappointed.

Really looking forward to reading! His recent interview was great. The LE book is sitting on my desk just waiting to be read (trying to read Titandeath before).

 

-Someone mentioned the tie in with The Purge. I agree it was a great book IMO and I do wonder not only the role of Haley's comet but that WB guy who suffered that painful fate...he seems like he would be some sort of sleeper

 

-French's only book? Yeah I totally feel like he should get a second one too! It was clear from the interview and what people have said, he has done his homework and it shows. I think there is hope he will. My guess Haley will get two due to his productivity, not sure who would get the second book. I doubt it with would be Abnett or ADB. I do feel it would make more sense to have one of the earlier authors get a second book since it gives them time unless they already wrote up both but based on Gav's comments, that isn't the case. Honestly with the author lineup as much as I do want French to get a second, I would have no problem at all if ADB, Wraight, or Abnett got a second.

 

Sort of related, in terms of who would do the Horus Primarch book, both Abnett and French's SoH (Horus) is IMO the best depiction of the legion and Horus himself. It would be awesome of either of those two got him. I stopped buying the LE Primarch books after Perturabo but may shell out for this one (And Dorn with hopefully French doing it). 

[Sandlemad]

Since no one has said anything, I assume not many have seen it.  

 

A new interview of John French on the Solar War, today: March 27, 2019.

 

 

Great interview, they're really doing a lot of this for the solar war. Very tough bit in the middle there about Alan Bligh though.

[1ncarnadine]

I'd prefer that wasn't the case, simply because Sargon is a cool character in his own right.

 

I'm not implying they're the same guy. I really doubt that. I'm just pointing out the coincidence that Sargon could be a member of the Chapter of the Unspeaking. It seems circumstantial that Abaddon forges a link with Zardu here, and then the only guy he's hanging out with at first in Talon of Horus is another WB who could be of the Unspeaking.

[bluntblade]

 

 

I'd prefer that wasn't the case, simply because Sargon is a cool character in his own right.

I'm not implying they're the same guy. I really doubt that. I'm just pointing out the coincidence that Sargon could be a member of the Chapter of the Unspeaking. It seems circumstantial that Abaddon forges a link with Zardu here, and then the only guy he's hanging out with at first in Talon of Horus is another WB who could be of the Unspeaking.

Ah, I apologise for my mistake. Yes, that would be a neat connection indeed and I'm appalled that I didn't make the Unspeaking - guy who doesn't speak connection.