Bloodlines- Warhammer Crime

[DukeLeto69]

I must not click...

DO NOT DO IT SCRIBE - BUY AND READ THIS BOOK!

 

Seriously though - this is a detective story and part of the joy is the investigation revealing things as you go along. You really will spoil it for yourself.

Edited August 27, 2020 by DukeLeto69

[caladancid]

As I have been thinking more about the novel lately, and considering whether I am entirely sold on the alternate theories to the spoiler, it really just hit me how good a job Chris Wraight did on writing themes.  The theme of family is so well done here.  Every main character is struggling with family, but in different ways and with different scope.  I can't think of a BL novel that did quite the same job.  Gaunt's Ghosts explores family, but in an adoptive sense.  I suppose you could say that Space Marines/SoBs have their families, but nobody has done the straight up domestic variety my kid is going off to a dangerous job and I don't like it.  

[Scribe]

 

I must not click...

DO NOT DO IT SCRIBE - BUY AND READ THIS BOOK!

 

Seriously though - this is a detective story and part of the joy is the investigation revealing things as you go along. You really will spoil it for yourself.

5th trip in to the store did the trick. I start it tonight. :D

[DarkChaplain]

Amazon Germany now has it ready to go as well, thankfully. Yeah, I got the audiobook, but this is one for the shelf 100%

[Nineswords]

I must not click...

 

It will be worth your resistance now when you've read the book!

[Knockagh]

There’s not a human alive who can resist this amount of being told not to

[Scribe]

I have resisted! No spoilers so far, and the book is great. Didnt get to put too much time in, but its amazing the difference in tone, approach, and just...style Wraight has to some of the rest I've been reading between moves.

 

I really hope this becomes a regular thing.

[DukeLeto69]

There’s not a human alive who can resist this amount of being told not to

Our brotherhood must remain strong.

 

Fear the spoiler

[Scribe]

Ahhhhh this was perfection.

[aa.logan]

IT’S ALL A RED HERRING

[Scribe]

I have now read the spoilers and can see it going any number if ways.

 

I'm way less interested in that, than seeing just normal human life in the setting, and having it written so well.

 

I have zero complaints about this. So we'll done.

[Scribe]

the thing that really jumps at me as I now mull it over, is that Wraight has taken something mentioned over and over across any number of books, rejuv treatment, and not only turned it into a grimdark topic appropriate for the setting, but crafted an entire novel with that as a central thread.

Obviously way more is touched on in the book, but I'm just so impressed with his work.

[caladancid]

Discussion on Aberrant short story in the new anthology and its relation to spoiler--

 

  I am so confused.  We do have definite GSC monsters- which the aberrants with mauls FOR SURE are, but the same group has the female aberrant chained up for labor.  Are they GSC? A mix of GSC and just abhumans?  I love the mystery.  There is no telling where this story falls in the timeline of Agusto's joining the cult (whatever it might be), because he doesn't talk about it.  His daughter is gone off to training though.  So, we are where we were before.  Chris Wraight ensuring that I buy his next book so fast my wallet ignites.

[Beren]

Related to the Aberrant spoiler.

 

There really is nothing about the mutants in the Aberrant story that screams genestealer to me. Aside from the fact that they have none of the additional limbs, none of the odd carapace or usual colouration, they still lack any of the fanaticism that a genestealer cult usually possesses. In addition, if Agusto was a brood brother (something still not entirely out of the question) and the mutants were genestealer related, he ought to have felt affection for them rather than revulsion. I don't think there's much mystery here, at least not in the sense of "were they genestealers?". The galaxy is more than large enough a place for odd abhumans that aren't linked to genstealers to show up.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Beren

[Red_Shift]

Read this in a day yesterday. Great read. For me not clearly a 40k book; I felt like it could have been any dystopian sci fi setting. Makes me wish they would do inspector models for necromunda; I love making models inspired by characters in books like this.

[Knockagh]

Read this in a day yesterday. Great read. For me not clearly a 40k book; I felt like it could have been any dystopian sci fi setting. Makes me wish they would do inspector models for necromunda; I love making models inspired by characters in books like this.

Good call

[Sothalor]

I rather enjoyed the non-40k feeling personally. It definitely felt like it's own thing, first and foremost telling a story without regard to fitting in a quota of firefights or Roaring Bolters or Growling Chainswords (I am not claiming there IS a quota of such, merely stating that many 40k novels tend to focus on active war zones).

 

That detachment from the standard 40k trappings also helps to really emphasize some of the nuances in the setting. Stuff like how the Imperium operates on such a vast scale individual planets really have no conception of what it's doing, what is happening beyond their borders, etc.

 

Things like genestealers being considered fictional boogeyman, or nobody knowing that the galaxy was torn in half - just that shipping has fallen off, highlight just how small and necessarily ignorant any given local society is.

[DukeLeto69]

I think the non specific 40k ness really applies to roughly the first half. Thereafter we do get more references to aquillas, and so forth. I think it is a fine line and for me the 2nd half was spot on (first half did feel a little bit Blade Runner esque).

 

Be interesting how much of a 40k feel the other Crime stories have. The Guy Haley novel heavily features the Mechanicus so I suspect it will feel more 40k (as in references to known factions).

 

A further thought on THAT spoiler...

 

Another nice throwback/nod to genestealer cults is the big six wheeler limousines. Very 1st edition!

Edited September 1, 2020 by DukeLeto69

[DarkChaplain]

I definitely think that the book feels quite like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (as in, the book Blade Runner adapted). Thematically, you could point out a bunch of parallels too, I'd argue.

Makes me wonder if Wraight tried to deliberately pay homage to Dick, watched Blade Runner somewhat recently, or it's a real coincidence.

[DukeLeto69]

Well yes it evokes DADOES rather than Blade Runner although to quite an extent BR and BR2049 are their own thing too. Philip K Dick is a giant that stands astride this sci fi crime hybrid genre.

 

Really looking forward to the anthology now.

[Hasoroth]

Just finished Bloodlines earlier this morning and I have to say it was a thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable read. The easy comparison would be Eisenhorn (without the wealth, power, or knowledge) but there's more to the novel than that. It is a fully realized exploration of what it means to actually be a citizen of the Imperium - to live a grueling, claustrophobic and cruel existence that seamlessly melds with aspects of life that we would recognize from our own lives, marital infidelity, alcoholism, delicious street food, arguing with your daughter about her future. Bloodlines is fantastic, it underscores just how different human beings living under Imperial rule would be from us, but also illustrates how little changes.

 

I think all the talk about Zido being a cultist of either the Chaos or Tyranid variety are red herrings. With that being said all I've read from Warhammer Crime is Bloodlines so if there is more information out there I'm not privy to it. But my evidence is just that Warhammer Crime is supposed to be about a 'normal' Imperial world far from the drama of the frontlines, and I doubt they'd undermine that mission statement to turn the story into some high stakes cult purging tale, you have regular 40k novels for that.

If anything comes from Zido's scar I'd bet it came from a memory wipe. Maybe he partook in the purge of a minor Chaos cult earlier in his career (he certainly seems to be aware the Inquisition exists as more than just mythological spooks) where he wasn't exposed to anything serious enough to warrant being executed afterwards.

 

[Scribe]

I hope that's all it is, the story doesn't need it to be more than that at all.

[Red_Shift]

Yes I’ve been kind of hoping the scar theory threads here aren’t true. I would just prefer something more unique and mysterious as the cause for it rather than a more generic 40k outcome.

 

I’ve ordered the short story anthology so I will look forward to picking up the next story

[DukeLeto69]

Agreed (even though I have partaken in such spoiler discussions) it would work to continue the focus on “smaller” issues.

 

If it does turn out to be true then I hope any kind of reveal is played out very slowly over an extended number of novels.

 

A bit like the Peter James “Roy Grace” novels and the search for what happened to his wife (highly recommended BTW - I see a similar tone in Bloodlines, perhaps more so than American Crime Noir?)

[Petitioner's City]

Read this in a day yesterday. Great read. For me not clearly a 40k book; I felt like it could have been any dystopian sci fi setting. Makes me wish they would do inspector models for necromunda; I love making models inspired by characters in books like this.

Well actually we do!

 

 

 

Scrutinators are the pronators of Necromunda, and we have Scrutinator-Primus Servalen upcoming:

 

 

Hopefully one day we'll see other Scrutinators and Haunts and other specialist ranks.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Petitioner's City