House of Night and Chain

[caladancid]

Read this book now, because it is easily one of the top ten BL novels released this year.

 

I just got done with the novel last night and wow, Annandale (as many probably suspected) was made for Warhammer Horror.  The characters stood out, the building horror was just excellently done.  I felt like I was watching a classic horror thriller on the television, which is the most connected I have ever felt reading a novel by Annandale.  In some ways it feels like the author is finally free to write how he wants (I don't actually know if this is true obviously) versus trying to combine his stories with a setting, like what happened with Damnation of Pythos. 

 

Interestingly, I think that the Warhammer Horror label may also be our best way to get 'slice of life' stories set in the 40k universe.  The setting (Valgaast) feels a lot like Queen Mab (from Pariah).  Though Annandale goes about the story and describing the setting in a twistier way than Dan Abnett ever would, the similarities remain.  

[DarkChaplain]

I made the "mistake" of starting Cixin Liu's Supernova Era this week, half forgot this was coming and Amazon hasn't delivered my paperback yet. Late as ever. Got the audiobook, but board game day has kept me from it so far.

 

Seeing this reaction is really exciting though, will have to try to get through things more quickly again. David's Gethsemane Hall is still one of those novels I look back to fondly, and I've been hoping for the sequel to that (as he had been considering writing, if a chance posed itself) for years. Getting him back into a haunted house scenario is damn cool, so I preordered this one way back when before he was even finished writing. High expectations!

[theSpirea]

Good to hear. I was a little bit worried when 3* reviews started popping up on Goodreads.com. 

[cheywood]

Good to hear. I was a little bit worried when 3* reviews started popping up on Goodreads.com.

Seems like those 3* reviews are because the book was up on Netgalley for a while and a few non-40k fans reviewed it and found it good but ‘hard to get into’. That’s probably a good enough summary for 40k fiction in general now that I think about it.

[theSpirea]

Yeah, checking the profile of the people who rated it fits that descriptions. Still, the purpose of this whole series is to attract new people to the setting. 

[DarkChaplain]

Recently I saw reviews from Netgalley users on Goodreads for a the fourth and final book in a series, all rating it 3 and below, because they couldn't be bothered actually reading the description of the books they request. As a result, they enjoyed the book, but missed about half the intrigue, character building, and references, leaving them disappointed.

 

I swear, it's nice that review copies can be easily requested these days, but the readers/reviewers rarely do their due diligence beforehand, reading the book(s) not as intended, and still feel the need to put their reads down despite the problem lying with them, not the actual book. It's like people rating The Return of the King badly because they just enjoyed it but missed out on why the Ring is so important and so couldn't suspend their disbelief.

[caladancid]

Yeah, checking the profile of the people who rated it fits that descriptions. Still, the purpose of this whole series is to attract new people to the setting. 

 

I did not know that.  I think to get max enjoyment out of this book, you definitely need to know what is going on in the setting. 

[cheywood]

 

 

Yeah, checking the profile of the people who rated it fits that descriptions. Still, the purpose of this whole series is to attract new people to the setting.

I did not know that. I think to get max enjoyment out of this book, you definitely need to know what is going on in the setting.

That’s the sense I got from The Wicked and The Damned as well. It’s readable without much knowledge, but I just can’t see it being as fulfilling an experience without some knowledge of Space Marines and Commissars. With so much horror out there I’m not sure why one would dive into a pre-existing and somewhat byzantine universe to get their fix. Not that I don’t wish BL every success in finding such readers. Edited October 28, 2019 by cheywood

[DarkChaplain]

Got my copy just now, and I have to say this: I'm absolutely delighted that BL is still sticking with painted edges for Warhammer Horror books. This one's a pretty nifty green, maybe comparable to Warboss Green. Yeah, it means that these books have sticky page edges on first read, but the visual appeal is great. Maledictions certainly got people looking at the book when I was reading it in a doc's waiting room reading it.

[theSpirea]

I'm curious to hear what you think about it once you read it, DarkChaplain. I enjoyed both his short stories; one in Maledictions and one in the Wicked and the Damned.

[KhorneFlakes]

Finished this last night. Very good book, best one of the Warhammer Horror series so far. Definitely got a Poe vibe from it, maybe with a dash of Lovecraft...

 

if you remove some of W40k jargon, it could be set almost any time period or series

[DarkChaplain]

I started it yesterday while doing some mass-farming and crafting in FFXIV - perfect thing to keep you occupied while listening to audiobooks - and am on chapter 4 now.

 

So far, most of it has been setup for things to come, introducing characters, the overall dilemma and so forth. I love the pace here, and the first person narrative is obviously a positive factor for me. It's a lot of neat, unsettling build up, some stuff that makes you question the protagonist's sound mind, both directly and indirectly, and there's even an opportunity set up to allow for different interpretations of whatever may be coming in the future. Again, I love it so far.

 

While adding the thing to Goodreads, I also made the mistake of scrolling to the reviews, and it's basically confirmed what I expected.

 

Most of the negative/lukewarm reviews come from people wholly ignorant on the setting, or sometimes even the genre. It's also strangely "overpopulated"* with female reviewers, basically NetGalley's biggest demographic, who traditionally haven't gotten along with 40k as much as their male counterparts. Guess the overall reviewer demographic on such hub sites for publishers doesn't overlap as well with this kind of thing as you'd expect (though I've made that observation before, even with completely original works - including some by BL authors).

 

If I had to pose a theory, it'd be that 40k, and rather original scifi/fantasy settings in general, require the reader to actually suspend their disbelief more than the often most popular, mainstream SFF. Urban Fantasy and the likes are more popular with the crowd than tricky SFF. That lighter fare tends to be more accessible due to liberal use of tropes and general concepts everybody is familiar with, or even real settings, and little specific terminology like Astartes, Astra Militarum, Ecclesiarchy and what have you. This book has that kind of terminology, and a general reader not used to taking a step back and taking stuff as it comes instead of getting hung up and confused by phrases like that, may get discouraged due to it. That being said, so far the book has been pretty light on actually difficult, 40k-ish concepts, so it's still disappointing to see all those "Did Not Finish" reviews at 2-3 stars...

 

* This is not meant in a negative sense, it's just always been odd to me how disproportionate the ratio between male and female reviewers has been in recent years.

[cheywood]

I started it yesterday while doing some mass-farming and crafting in FFXIV - perfect thing to keep you occupied while listening to audiobooks - and am on chapter 4 now.

 

So far, most of it has been setup for things to come, introducing characters, the overall dilemma and so forth. I love the pace here, and the first person narrative is obviously a positive factor for me. It's a lot of neat, unsettling build up, some stuff that makes you question the protagonist's sound mind, both directly and indirectly, and there's even an opportunity set up to allow for different interpretations of whatever may be coming in the future. Again, I love it so far.

 

While adding the thing to Goodreads, I also made the mistake of scrolling to the reviews, and it's basically confirmed what I expected.

 

Most of the negative/lukewarm reviews come from people wholly ignorant on the setting, or sometimes even the genre. It's also strangely "overpopulated"* with female reviewers, basically NetGalley's biggest demographic, who traditionally haven't gotten along with 40k as much as their male counterparts. Guess the overall reviewer demographic on such hub sites for publishers doesn't overlap as well with this kind of thing as you'd expect (though I've made that observation before, even with completely original works - including some by BL authors).

 

If I had to pose a theory, it'd be that 40k, and rather original scifi/fantasy settings in general, require the reader to actually suspend their disbelief more than the often most popular, mainstream SFF. Urban Fantasy and the likes are more popular with the crowd than tricky SFF. That lighter fare tends to be more accessible due to liberal use of tropes and general concepts everybody is familiar with, or even real settings, and little specific terminology like Astartes, Astra Militarum, Ecclesiarchy and what have you. This book has that kind of terminology, and a general reader not used to taking a step back and taking stuff as it comes instead of getting hung up and confused by phrases like that, may get discouraged due to it. That being said, so far the book has been pretty light on actually difficult, 40k-ish concepts, so it's still disappointing to see all those "Did Not Finish" reviews at 2-3 stars...

 

* This is not meant in a negative sense, it's just always been odd to me how disproportionate the ratio between male and female reviewers has been in recent years.

I’m excited to check this out. I’ve always wanted to like Annadale’s writing more than I have since his ideas seem inspired and visually unique even when I don’t often love how he executes them.

 

I’m not trying to turn this discussion into the misery that is identity politics but there is a possible explanation for this: in the US there’s a bit of a gender gap for reading that’s especially apparent with fiction. Men read less and when they do read they’re more likely to read nonfiction.

 

[caladancid]

I started it yesterday while doing some mass-farming and crafting in FFXIV - perfect thing to keep you occupied while listening to audiobooks - and am on chapter 4 now.

 

So far, most of it has been setup for things to come, introducing characters, the overall dilemma and so forth. I love the pace here, and the first person narrative is obviously a positive factor for me. It's a lot of neat, unsettling build up, some stuff that makes you question the protagonist's sound mind, both directly and indirectly, and there's even an opportunity set up to allow for different interpretations of whatever may be coming in the future. Again, I love it so far.

 

While adding the thing to Goodreads, I also made the mistake of scrolling to the reviews, and it's basically confirmed what I expected.

 

Most of the negative/lukewarm reviews come from people wholly ignorant on the setting, or sometimes even the genre. It's also strangely "overpopulated"* with female reviewers, basically NetGalley's biggest demographic, who traditionally haven't gotten along with 40k as much as their male counterparts. Guess the overall reviewer demographic on such hub sites for publishers doesn't overlap as well with this kind of thing as you'd expect (though I've made that observation before, even with completely original works - including some by BL authors).

 

If I had to pose a theory, it'd be that 40k, and rather original scifi/fantasy settings in general, require the reader to actually suspend their disbelief more than the often most popular, mainstream SFF. Urban Fantasy and the likes are more popular with the crowd than tricky SFF. That lighter fare tends to be more accessible due to liberal use of tropes and general concepts everybody is familiar with, or even real settings, and little specific terminology like Astartes, Astra Militarum, Ecclesiarchy and what have you. This book has that kind of terminology, and a general reader not used to taking a step back and taking stuff as it comes instead of getting hung up and confused by phrases like that, may get discouraged due to it. That being said, so far the book has been pretty light on actually difficult, 40k-ish concepts, so it's still disappointing to see all those "Did Not Finish" reviews at 2-3 stars...

 

* This is not meant in a negative sense, it's just always been odd to me how disproportionate the ratio between male and female reviewers has been in recent years.

 

Yeah the unreliable narrator part of this novel is so well done.

[KhorneFlakes]

it's very well thought out. a few false trails around the opposing family, so it leads the reader to think one thing then another. then the overall dread set by the tone of the writing...all very good. 

[DarkChaplain]

Finished and loved it. What a ride, what a spiral into the abyss. Warhammer Horror really is Annandale's ideal playground. Here's to more from him soon!

[Red_Shift]

Just finished it. A good read, but I didn't enjoy the end much. I don't expect the protagonist of a horror book to have a particularly happy ending but the reveal about the cause of the disturbance was fairly generic for a 40k book.

[Beren]

I'd actually agree with that. The beginning and middle of the book dragged me in entirely and were in general excellent., but by the last couple of chapters it felt as if there was nothing left to tell that you couldn't really predict. The actual 'original sin' is also fairly simple fair for 40k, though I'd admit I've been a bit spoiled in that regard by Fehvari's Dark Coil books.

 

Not to say it's a bad book though, I'd still recommend it to anyone who's interested in the genre.

 

Another thing is that the final reveal/revelation of the opposing house was kind of meh, and that they were more interesting when they tried to warn the main characters wife. I think it could've been interesting if the Councillor mentioned that they'd tried to interfere in the past, only for their house to be near wiped out and re-constituted under a new name (only then revealing a connection to House Strok's ancient and half-forgotten predecessor/opponents) as a result.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Beren

[Red_Shift]

I kind of wondered why the other house didn't try to intervene earlier on. For a long time nobody lived at Malveil and there could have been a more concerted effort to prevent the Strocks from returning there. I think I would have preferred it if it was left a little more ambiguous as to whether it was warp tainted, haunted by some more mundane means, or a result of combat psychosis. A good way of doing that imo would have been to have the protagonist overhear different conversations about him from different individuals, leaving the reader more room to decide which explanation was real. A lot of good work slightly undone by the last few chapters. That being said, its the kind of self contained book that might make a good basis for a low budget 40k movie.

[Shinros]

Just finished it. A good read, but I didn't enjoy the end much. I don't expect the protagonist of a horror book to have a particularly happy ending but the reveal about the cause of the disturbance was fairly generic for a 40k book.

Just read the book I agree it was a good read, but the cause was er...kinda generic to say the least. Requiem Infernal so far has been the best "horror" book in my opinion. Ironically the parts dealing with politics held my attention far more than the horror aspects. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Shinros

[theSpirea]

Finished the book as well. As others already pointed out, I like the politicking part a lot and was hoping there would be more of it. I think this is a great book to introduce people to the Warhammer universe, much better than the previous two installments in the series: The Wicked and the Damned and Malediction.

[aa.logan]

I bought the ebook of this upon release but it fell down my reading queue. I caved and bought an additional audio copy in the Audible sale, and have just finished listening to it over the course of a week’s dog walks in a cold, dark and deserted park. The listening context may well have helped enhance my enjoyment, but I loved this.

 

The sample nearly put me off the narrator, but I’m glad I persevered. He does a fantastic job of conveying unreliability of Strok his internal dilemmas and his flimsy self-justifications. Most of the characters are given distinctive voices, though I do wish that they used an additional actor for the female first-person passages for clarity if nothing else; I understand *why* the voice didn’t change, but I’d rather that it had.

 

As a reader, it was pretty apparent throughout what the threat in the story was, but Annandale should be commended for the way in which he portrayed the character’s ignorance of

Chaos

. The world-building is also top-notch; we get some nice slices of politics, the upper echelons of the Astra Militarum and ‘domestic’ life.

 

I found the story to be genuinely unsettling at times, and there is a consistent tension throughout, which I guess is what the Horror imprint is aiming for.

[aa.logan]

Sorry, can’t edit in mobile browser- we got another low-key lesbian too! Woo for representation!

[Chaeron]

Got my copy just now, and I have to say this: I'm absolutely delighted that BL is still sticking with painted edges for Warhammer Horror books. This one's a pretty nifty green, maybe comparable to Warboss Green.

Definitely love this too - it’s something about the whole aesthetic that just makes them wonderfully distinct.

 

I powered through the book and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read!

[DukeLeto69]

 

Got my copy just now, and I have to say this: I'm absolutely delighted that BL is still sticking with painted edges for Warhammer Horror books. This one's a pretty nifty green, maybe comparable to Warboss Green.

Definitely love this too - it’s something about the whole aesthetic that just makes them wonderfully distinct.

 

I powered through the book and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read!

I like the aesthetic too. Feels old school like the paperbacks that used to be on my grandad’s shelves.

 

This is my current read. Loving it so far. Might well be Annandale’s best book IMO