Valdor: Birth of the Imperium

[Hasoroth]

Just finished reading Valdor.

 

The main character (whose name I can't remember but who I'll refer to as High Arbitrator) provided a great glimpse into the nascent Imperium, and her hopes and dreams (which get cruely dashed) serve to underline how vast the Emperor's plans are. She thinks that the Emperor is restoring the rule of law and civilization to Terra and attempts to have Valdor tried in front of a court for undermining that promise, accusing him of committing fratricide for the sake of political advancement. 

 

When the truth is revealed it's honestly kind of jaw dropping just how far out of her depth she is. The Thunder Warriors weren't killed by the Custodes because of banal political intrigue, they were wiped out because they were insufficient to the task at hand - conquering the galaxy. The High Arbitrator thinks that a fair society of laws was the end but it was really just the means and at the end of the novel she lives in self-imposed exile in the ruins of her family home, washing her hands of the entire Imperium to be.

 

It's sorta like finding how George Washington fought to form America purely for the purpose of fighting aliens in the future, and that he never cared for any of the other stuff like personal liberty or democracy. The sheer cynicism of such a plan is almost majestic in how little it cares for individual human beings and how big picture it is.

 

Do I have any criticisms? Not really no, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. There's been a mildly irritating trend in these Black Library character novellas where if a book is about "Primarch X" then you can be guaranteed that the titular character will play at best a secondary role but here I think Valdor was used an appropriate amount and I think Wraight did a great job showcasing the doubts of a character who literally cannot feel doubt. And I loved that of all the emotions the Emperor removed from the Custodes he made sure to leave regret in there which I think is a nice revelation into the Emperor's mindset - he may have a bloody plan but he doesn't enjoy it.

 

There's some stuff about the Thunder Warrior legions that I saw made some people mad but frankly I don't mind it, reusing rank titles for different military formations doesn't mean much to me. I did think it was a little too on the nose how similar the IV legions of Astartes and Thunder Warriors were but I understood that to be a consequence of the Thunder Warriors being prototypes for the Astartes to come.

 

Special shout out to the mercenary who takes a bit of self-satisfaction in teaching the new 1st Legionary a thing or two about combat before dying. There was something poignant about that scene. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Hasoroth

[aa.logan]

Odd question but would you guys recommend to read Valdor or Lion?

Pal of mine got the Lions LE and of course, he recommends the latter.

 

Given that I love Wraights Valdor and Custodes, I was thinking to start with Valdor and then jump into the Tales of Terra as I call them: Vaults of Terra and Emperor's Legion.

The Lion is great, but Valdor is greater. Seriously one of the best things that BL have published.

[b1soul]

@ bluntblade

 

"I think the Khan's flaws are relatively subtle - and his depiction is very much that his nature is vice-and-virtue - but they constitute a real driving force in his narrative and, with him and the wider Legion, create jeopardy."

 

Regarding the Khan's flaws, I think he is a lot prouder and concerned with what others think of him and his legion than he would like to let on. He is also one of the less psychologically adaptive primarchs in my view. He can't really empathize with any philosophy or way of thinking beyond that of Chogoris. When it comes to making alliances with other primarchs, he realizes the importance of doing so only after it's too late, and frankly even if he had tried earlier, the Khan's interpersonal skills among his peers leaves me in doubt of how successful he'd be.

[Hasoroth]

@ bluntblade

 

"I think the Khan's flaws are relatively subtle - and his depiction is very much that his nature is vice-and-virtue - but they constitute a real driving force in his narrative and, with him and the wider Legion, create jeopardy."

 

Regarding the Khan's flaws, I think he is a lot prouder and concerned with what others think of him and his legion than he would like to let on. He is also one of the less psychologically adaptive primarchs in my view. He can't really empathize with any philosophy or way of thinking beyond that of Chogoris. When it comes to making alliances with other primarchs, he realizes the importance of doing so only after it's too late, and frankly even if he had tried earlier, the Khan's interpersonal skills among his peers leaves me in doubt of how successful he'd be.

 

The Khan's flaw being pride ties in neatly with the theory that Fulgrim and he had their destinations swapped by an unknown power. 

[Kelborn]

*ahem* *points at topic*

 

About Valdor...

 

*Points to the door*

 

Off-topic...

[bluntblade]

Sorry.

[aa.logan]

 

Odd question but would you guys recommend to read Valdor or Lion?

Pal of mine got the Lions LE and of course, he recommends the latter.

Given that I love Wraights Valdor and Custodes, I was thinking to start with Valdor and then jump into the Tales of Terra as I call them: Vaults of Terra and Emperor's Legion.

The Lion is great, but Valdor is greater. Seriously one of the best things that BL have published.

To elaborate- Lord of the First shows us how the Dark Angels are; Valdor tries to explain why the Imperium *is*.

 

Both are nicely illuminating, but in terms of (met) ambition, Valdor is a really special venture.

[Kelborn]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

 

Valdor is currently in a brawl with Storm of Iron about who will be read first. But it'll be read for sure.

 

Gonna catch 'em all. ;)

[Roomsky]

Valdor: Birth of the Imperium

Alright, second time through this, and it’s still a damn good read.

 

Honestly, it might even be a better one.

 

The first time through, brilliant as it was, did leave me with several moments of “why are you doing this?” and “why am I reading about this person?” This is mostly alleviated with a re-read, and there’s a lot of wonderful subtleties to pick up once you know where everything is going.

 

Like so many 40k characters, Kandawire is most interesting for her relationship to the goings on at large. I don’t mean this as a slight, she’s well fleshed out and has plenty of subtlety for such a short work, but her most compelling feature is her ignorance as to the grand designs moving around her. Wraight uses dramatic irony very well and, considering the situation, it’s entirely reasonable Imperial staff would assume Valdor was making some kind of power play. While the books most gripping scenes are in the back half, I can’t help but love both her and Valdor’s attempts to give the other every chance to back down on their own. She does occasionally come across as a bit generic for my tastes, the everyman is a trope I often feel falls out of place in BL, even in early 30k.

 

Valdor himself is of course very well done, as is Wraight’s schtick at this point. It’s a unique perspective to see the paragon not rebel, and rather, deal with the consequences of being the best, and The Uncorruptable. He makes mistakes, and even goes a way towards jeopardizing Imperial stability through being good-natured. He struggles with jokes, because even minor treasons are difficult to him. He’s the icon of benevolence that nevertheless must act as the Emperor’s hitman, and it makes for a very cool dynamic.

 

I’d say the other standouts are Astarte and Ushotan, both of which rage against a dying era in their own ways. Each provides a nice glimpse into the time before, but always in a natural, non-encyclopaedic way.

 

What may impress me most about everything is that it slots neatly into a space that would be a minor background event in another 40k book. Yes, it’s the first engagement of the astartes and yes, it is the betrayal of a high lord, the death of Astarte, etc. But it’s not a major battle of unification. It’s not the Marine’s first act of compliance. It’s not Mount Ararat. A whole series could run from Unification through the Great Crusade and only offhandedly mention these events, if at all. It’s a tale as significant as you want to make it, but is no less poignant for being so.

 

All that said, it isn’t perfect. A few of the POV chapters don’t have the necessary pay off for the time investment, the book should either have been longer, or cut them entirely. Even on re-read, a handful of scenes came across as a break from the good stuff.

 

I also could have done with just a little more setup to the gene labs being backed up on Luna. It works fine here, but falls dangerously close to a writer pulling something out of their ass to get out of a difficult corner.

 

Overall though, a great read. It’s a very different book, plenty of action still but tempered by a small cold war of sorts. And of course, my previous comments stand: Valdor is here, he’s important, but it’s not really his story. The marketing team strikes again.

 

Must Read

8.5/10

Edited April 6, 2020 by Roomsky

[b1soul]

Two questions for brother Roomsky:

 

1. What do you mean by "Wraight's schtick"? Are you referring to story elements typical in his works? What are these in your view?

 

2. Just out of curiosity...in your opinion, what's the closest-to-perfect work in BL literature?

[Roomsky]

Two questions for brother Roomsky:

 

1. What do you mean by "Wraight's schtick"? Are you referring to story elements typical in his works? What are these in your view?

 

2. Just out of curiosity...in your opinion, what's the closest-to-perfect work in BL literature?

 

1. I mostly meant he's got Valdor's voice and actions down pat; he's the author I associate with the character. So while the book is great, it's really no surprise.

 

2. Damn that's hard. Going by "what do I have almost no issues with," (on reflection) probably Spear of the Emperor and Traitor General. But if you were to ask me what the best was, it might have to be Fire Caste. I have some issues with it, but it does so much with the material I'm hard pressed to put much else above it. It's just so wonderfully out there, and the premise is extremely setting appropriate.

 

Mt favourite book remains The First Heretic.

[Carach]

Pretty much echo Hasaroth's opinion on the book.

 

It's good. People should read it if they have any interest in the HH

[b1soul]

Just finished. One of the best things to come out of Black Library recently

 

I found all of the characters to be engaging 

 

Kandawire and her retinue

Valdor

Ushotan (this guy was scene-stealing) 

Samonas 

even the old wardog Achilla 

 

Wraight described the first batch of the First Legion beautifully and they felt like a collective character in the tale 

 

Astarte didn't quite resonate with me as much as I would've liked. Her logic of "SM can't be perfected without their primarchs, therefore SM are just like the flawed TW and must be destroyed" didn't make that much sense to me. Felt this sub-plot could've been removed from the book without losing too much thematically -- though this does conveniently remove Astarte from the picture and give us some more time with Wraight's Samonas character. (I'm trying hard to nitpick here, since this is a great novella by Chris.) 

 

The world-building of the early Imperium, right before the reconquest of the Sol system, is bang on the money and a joy to read. Wraight sets the tone/atmosphere perfectly. 

 

My score: 9.2 

 

[WolfLogic]

Just finished. One of the best things to come out of Black Library recently

 

I found all of the characters to be engaging 

 

Kandawire and her retinue

Valdor

Ushotan (this guy was scene-stealing) 

Samonas 

even the old wardog Achilla 

 

Wraight described the first batch of the First Legion beautifully and they felt like a collective character in the tale 

 

Astarte didn't quite resonate with me as much as I would've liked. Her logic of "SM can't be perfected without their primarchs, therefore SM are just like the flawed TW and must be destroyed" didn't make that much sense to me. Felt this sub-plot could've been removed from the book without losing too much thematically -- though this does conveniently remove Astarte from the picture and give us some more time with Wraight's Samonas character. (I'm trying hard to nitpick here, since this is a great novella by Chris.) 

 

The world-building of the early Imperium, right before the reconquest of the Sol system, is bang on the money and a joy to read. Wraight sets the tone/atmosphere perfectly. 

 

My score: 9.2 

 

My take is that since the Primarchs were taken, Astarte wanted to scrap the project and try to find a different solution. The Emperor wouldn’t allow that though since he was rushing. She believed that the geneseed would break down and basically make them as unstable as the Thunder Warriors since the Primarchs weren’t around to give a fresh supply

[b1soul]

Also... am I missing something here or do Astarte's insurrection and Kandawire's assault occur on the same night by pure coincidence? Seems a bit too coincidental but I can let it slide

[drooling blood]

I still dont know why they bothered wiping them out and not primarisused them.

Ship them out with the legions, teach them what they know, and let them die off.

They cant have been so short lived, they wouldnt have survived a trip to the nearest war zone.

[b1soul]

It still takes some time for them to die out via attrition or deterioration, with insanity worsening along the way. If they figure out that they're being discarded, you have a potential revolt on your hands.

 

I think the Emperor viewed the culling as carefully orchestrated preemptive clean up.

[Carach]

Also... am I missing something here or do Astarte's insurrection and Kandawire's assault occur on the same night by pure coincidence? Seems a bit too coincidental but I can let it slide

 

it is kind of implied vaguely through some conversations that this entire thing was in fact orchestrated/allowed to happen by the design of malcador/valdor/maybe the emps (or emps completely absent and just trusting his dudes to sort :cuss out in his absence)

 

Or at least, astartes was looking for an opportune time to hit things up, and those guys knew she was... so it literally became a 2 birds with one stone scenario.

[Scribe]

I still dont know why they bothered wiping them out and not primarisused them.

Ship them out with the legions, teach them what they know, and let them die off.

They cant have been so short lived, they wouldnt have survived a trip to the nearest war zone.

 

lol shoehorning the joke that is Primaris Fluff into the Heresy fully would be the final straw.

[Lord_Caerolion]

Also, do we know the creation process of the Thunder Warriors yet? Turning Firstborn into Primaris can work because the Primaris geneseed is an addition to the main organs. The Thunder Warriors, from what I understood, were a different thing altogether, not relating to the Primarch Project at all. Therefore, they can't be "Primarised", and presumably couldn't even have the standard organs implanted given they're no longer baseline human.

[mc warhammer]

there could be some relationship to astartes creation though, given that OD tw thought that marine geneseed would help him

[Lord_Caerolion]

People always seek desperate cures, it doesn't mean they're correct. Maybe his reasoning was just "I'm dying, Marines apparently live forever, therefore if I make myself a Marine I won't be dying anymore". It doesn't necessarily follow that he has an understanding of the science behind the various processes, and that it'd actually work.

[DarkChaplain]

I'm surprised we haven't seen anything from the bloke since. Especially with the Siege going on, he should be in there somewhere, considering he lives on Terra.

[mc warhammer]

People always seek desperate cures, it doesn't mean they're correct. Maybe his reasoning was just "I'm dying, Marines apparently live forever, therefore if I make myself a Marine I won't be dying anymore". It doesn't necessarily follow that he has an understanding of the science behind the various processes, and that it'd actually work.

yeah, that's entirely possible. and if his mind is degrading, fuzzy reasoning on his part would fit well with the desperation to lead him to the wrong conclusion

 

but

 

it also opens up the possibility (at the very least) that he's right

 

i wonder if TWs had their equivalents of an apothecary?

[Lord_Caerolion]

They'd definitely have some form of medic equivalent, whether or not they also fulfill the additional roles of the Apothecaries relating to geneseed or whatever the Thunder Warrior equivalent is, remains to be seen.