Throne of Light (Dawn of Fire 4) review threads

[USNCenturion]

Well said Scribe.

 

For me, a point of frustration is how the plot is moving forward, with now 5 or 6 concurrent series of books with timeline issues. It’s like trying to grab onto a spaceship going into light speed. I’m behind on Bequin, the Wraight novels, the Dark Imperium trilogy, Indomitus, and the current Haley Throne of Light or whatever it’s called (it’s a problem too that I’m not even sure it’s name). It’s too much, too soon, with way too little organization. I only know the major beats thanks to you fraters here.

 

That, and as Scribe said so well, I don’t trust them (Haley especially) to pull this off satisfactorily.

[byrd9999]

Well said Scribe.

 

For me, a point of frustration is how the plot is moving forward, with now 5 or 6 concurrent series of books with timeline issues. It’s like trying to grab onto a spaceship going into light speed. I’m behind on Bequin, the Wraight novels, the Dark Imperium trilogy, Indomitus, and the current Haley Throne of Light or whatever it’s called (it’s a problem too that I’m not even sure it’s name). It’s too much, too soon, with way too little organization. I only know the major beats thanks to you fraters here.

 

That, and as Scribe said so well, I don’t trust them (Haley especially) to pull this off satisfactorily.

If you're struggling with multiple series, take a look at this article from Track of Words.

 

https://www.trackofwords.com/2021/01/10/black-library-new-40k-reading-list/

 

I found it very helpful to organise my reading list order.

[Karhedron]

Ultimately, I loathe that they turned the setting, into a story with a meta plot.

It is interesting. I remember back in 1st/2nd edition, there did feel like an ongoing storyline. The Starchild plot was limited to the Ian Watson novels but felt like it was significant. We had Yarrick and Ghazkull's grudge match on Armageddon followed by Ghazzy'z attempts to rebuild his power base. This then led to Armageddon 3. The storyline of the Gothic War and the Blackstone Fortresses then led into the 31th Black Crusade and the assault on Cadia. Parallel fluff on the history of the Eldar and Necrons then filled in the backstory of the Fortresses. There were also hints of the gestation of Ynnead, something which harked back to 1st edition fluff about Eldar souls mustering power in the Infinity Circuits. The 13th Black Crusade was played out as a massive interactive campaign with players contributing results to a global total that was really the culmination of 3rd edition. GW hinted that the results of the 13th Black Crusade would shape the fluff going forward.

 

And then everything stopped! for the next 4 editions, the fluff sat frozen at the pinnacle of the assault on Cadia. Eldrad was killed off cheaply in a WD story only to appear in the next Eldar codex with no mention of his death. As someone who had been waiting to see what happened, the next 12 years felt like a cop-out as it became increasingly clear GW had abandoned the storyline in favour of a frozen setting. Then finally, at the end of 7th edition, things began moving again! We learned that Cadia fell! Ynnead began to awaken. And the Primarchs began to return after being figures of legend for over 25 years. For me, the movements of the plotline felt like a return to form and the stasis of 4/5/6/7th editions felt like the aberration.

 

Maybe it depends on when you started playing as to which style you prefer. I would never seek to argue that someone is wrong for disliking the changes, I disliked the original change to freeze the setting. I must admit I lost interest in the fluff from 4th - 7th edition simply because nothing significant ever seemed to happen in it. For me, seeing these ancient meta-plotlines resurrected after assuming they were gone for ever is very exciting. I must admit, the Starchild always remained part of my personal head-canon.

 

For what it is worth, I think we all know the Imperium will never truly win or lose. GW had the chance to pull an end-times and instead opted for a much softer reboot than Warhammer/Age of Sigmar. The opening of the Great Rift and the arrival of Guilliman and the Primaris means that the grinding stalemate continues just with higher stakes and bigger battles than ever. Time is passing again in the 40K universe after being frozen in stasis for the best part of 15 years but really the central of humanity teetering on the brink in a grim dark universe remains the same. These little flickers of hope do not change the fundamental setting, they simply serve to highlight how dark things are.

[DukeLeto69]

@Scribe and @Karhedron really interesting thoughts. I fall more into the same space as Karhedron and am interested in it being a story that moves forward. The perpetual 2 minutes to midnight may work as a TT setting but is reductive for writing fiction because...nothing matters as nothing will change.

 

While I have been an advocate of BL fleshing out more of the 10,000 years between the HH and “now” and would LOVE a series of books set during the Apostasy period, ultimately the stakes are still lower on a macro scale as we know what happens/outcome. It is the perennial problem for “prequels”.

 

Execution aside, having several book series and one offs set in the current, moving forward, era is interesting and fairly exciting (to me) because for the first time we kinda don’t know what will happen (not strictly true I know because GW screwed up and chickened out originally jumping the timeline 100 years forward to a “new status quo” but are back peddling a bit now including retconning the Dark Imperium trilogy).

 

To me fiction works best as a journey of discovery.

 

Again IMHO (and not trying to argue against Scribe whose points are equally valid) even having the TT setting not moving forward makes no sense. All these games on the table using, in some cases the same character minis, are supposedly happening at the same moment in time and the outcome has zero affect on the setting!

 

It would be brave of GW to do it (and revive the original but abandoned attempt at doing this with the 13th Black Crusade campaign) but having the meta outcome of games somehow drive the lore going forward would be, IMHO, pretty cool. Obviously need some controls around this but the results of a campaign fought in the real world later reflected in the lore would be pretty neat!

 

Then again, I say this as someone who has not played since the early 2000s so like Karhedron my views are influenced by some of that early editions approach.

[Scribe]

Something I just thought of in the shower.

 

"Wait, if there is a meta plot, then it must be canon, right?"

 

Then I laughed, as we all know nothing is canon in GW IP, right? ;)

 

Anyway, I get the view you guys have as well, to me, starting in early 3rd, the point was it was a setting, for us to tell our stories.

 

The hour, was not just the 11th, it was 11:59, and someone was about to shut off the Imperiums lights.

 

GW isn't going to sunset 40K, they are never going to AoS us, so what scope is there REALLY for change?

 

Well, to me, there's only one possible direction, and it stands in direct opposition to the fundamental truth of the setting.

 

Progress, Improvement. Things which have no place in 40K, at all.

 

Otherwise? Why 'change' anything?

 

That's my thought process anyway. I'm not explicitly against an unfolding story, I took part in the Black Crusade event and it was very cool at the time, but I simply have no faith at all that it will go in a direction that holds to what 40K has been defined as, since '98, at least.

[Fedor]

I've stopped reading any of the books that are about driving forward big multi-faction macro plots during the present. HH series has been enough of that vibe for me and it's something that works better within that historical framework. I keep up with them through the forums, but i'm more likely to pick a series up in bulk once it is actually finished, rather than follow along book by book now. Well, assuming the payoff sounds interesting enough.

 

Give me the books where authors are allowed to work away in their own little corner for actual 40k. Ideally stand-alone.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Fedor

[Orange Knight]

OK, so I just finished the book.

 

 

...I really liked it!

 

The story serves in part as a vehicle to explore the changes and developments in the 40k universe, as do all the DoF books. I'm really happy that certain plots that have been abandoned for decades are once again a central part of what is happening. The books are also starting to feel more connected as the consequences from prior novels are being felt and addressed.

 

I'm starting to like the characters. It took me a long time to warm to some of them, but I enjoy to read about Fabian, Rostov, the recurring Astartes, and of course Guilliman. This book also had some much needed levity, humour, a bit of romance etc, that really worked well in my opinion.

 

The plots regarding the traitor Templars had a satisfying conclusion, but I personally hope they don't revisit this again.

 

Also, I think we could be on for some surprises. This Crusade is big enough, and scattered enough, that something of note may indeed happen and news of it might not reach the Primarch prior to the events of Dark Imperium, only for it to be addressed again much later.

 

The Wolftime novel is the weakest in this series, and my favourites are Throne of Light and Gate of Bones.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Orange Knight

[phandaal]

I've stopped reading any of the books that are about driving forward big multi-faction macro plots during the present. HH series has been enough of that vibe for me and it's something that works better within that historical framework. I keep up with them through the forums, but i'm more likely to pick a series up in bulk once it is actually finished, rather than follow along book by book now. Well, assuming the payoff sounds interesting enough.

 

Give me the books where authors are allowed to work away in their own little corner for actual 40k. Ideally stand-alone.

 

Something like the HH series also has a defined end state. There is less risk of overenthusiastic authors desecrating the game setting when they are constrained by that end state.

[Scribe]

 

I've stopped reading any of the books that are about driving forward big multi-faction macro plots during the present. HH series has been enough of that vibe for me and it's something that works better within that historical framework. I keep up with them through the forums, but i'm more likely to pick a series up in bulk once it is actually finished, rather than follow along book by book now. Well, assuming the payoff sounds interesting enough.

 

Give me the books where authors are allowed to work away in their own little corner for actual 40k. Ideally stand-alone.

 

Something like the HH series also has a defined end state. There is less risk of overenthusiastic authors desecrating the game setting when they are constrained by that end state.

 

 

Exactly why I can still maintain some kind of investment in the SoT series, and why anything 'modern 40K' I'm already distancing myself from.

[sitnam]

 

 

I've stopped reading any of the books that are about driving forward big multi-faction macro plots during the present. HH series has been enough of that vibe for me and it's something that works better within that historical framework. I keep up with them through the forums, but i'm more likely to pick a series up in bulk once it is actually finished, rather than follow along book by book now. Well, assuming the payoff sounds interesting enough.

 

Give me the books where authors are allowed to work away in their own little corner for actual 40k. Ideally stand-alone.

Something like the HH series also has a defined end state. There is less risk of overenthusiastic authors desecrating the game setting when they are constrained by that end state.

This series also has a defined end state though. This isn't the "present", it's the story of how we get to Dark Imperium. Stuff happens in between the Gathering Storm books and Dark Imperium, and this fills that in. Edited May 7, 2022 by sitnam

[Orange Knight]

@Scribe

 

There isn't really anything in this book, or series as a whole, that should cause a person to want to distance themselves from the lore.

 

A lot of the ideas and themes are pretty established, and none of the writing is as bad as what is often found in some of the more inconsistent Heresy books.

[Scribe]

@Scribe

 

There isn't really anything in this book, or series as a whole, that should cause a person to want to distance themselves from the lore.

 

A lot of the ideas and themes are pretty established, and none of the writing is as bad as what is often found in some of the more inconsistent Heresy books.

 

The key concept of the spoiler section's already provide me enough trepidation. I feel you may have not understood what I was trying to convey in my post on the 'why' around what I feel what I feel, but if the spoilers are at all accurate, there really is only one destination, and it stands in direct opposition to what 40K has been for the last (roughly) 24 years.

 

Thats not something I'll accept, and it wouldnt even be 'distancing' as I have already been doing that since some of the authors went completely off the rails during the heresy series for their pet legions.

 

If what is alluded to where to come to pass, I would simply never touch another GW product again. :D

[phandaal]

The key concept of the spoiler section's already provide me enough trepidation. I feel you may have not understood what I was trying to convey in my post on the 'why' around what I feel what I feel, but if the spoilers are at all accurate, there really is only one destination, and it stands in direct opposition to what 40K has been for the last (roughly) 24 years.

 

 

Bringo. Although if GW does "subvert expectations" and pull the rug out from under this AoS-level nonsense, I will give them major props.

[DarkChaplain]

Are we now simply calling potential timeline/storyline advancements over the coming years, which - if they even happen - had multiple years and various entries of foreshadowing and build-up "AoS-level nonsense" on principle? Otherwise I can't really explain it, especially not from a position of having read the actual AoS fiction of the first months and years of the big boom of bs that was launch AoS, long before they went back to start fixing the setting's fundamentals.

 

I get it, some of you don't enjoy the setting leaving its stasis field and progressing again - because it used to, way back when, and when it stopped, many of us complained about it. It was mentioned further up, how the fixed timeline caused problems even for new model releases that got introduced as if they'd always been there, despite never having been part of any publication before (see stuff like Centurion babysuits, which then even got retconned into The Beast Arises by Sanders, or new Tau toys), and that's not even a major problem with it, just an annoying discrepancy of the "why didn't they hyperdrive into the deah star"-level.

 

When these concepts we see explored and discussed by Dawn of Fire, Dark Imperium, Vaults of Terra, Horusian Wars and more had been brought up in the past, including the earliest days of pre-BL, they were cheered.... but now that they may actually lead to something instead of being mere doomsday prophecies, they're bad and break the setting or immersion or whatever.

 

Dawn of Fire gets compared to the Heresy series, which lost itself in myriad plotthreads, when it is anything but - it's got a defined endpoint, and is actively tying threads together that existed even before the first book launched, re-establishing a solid timeline from the previous 100 year span of "just write a book, it'll fit somewhere, nobody will double-check" lore. Is it an ambitious project? Yes. And so far, it's working better than the Siege of Terra, I'd argue. It's working with established continuity, established pieces of oft-forgotten lore, and respects the setting in ways that I often wish the Siege did. And it isn't even up its own bum about it, at least not at 4 out of a rumored 9-10 books.

 

And we know where this critiqued plotline will "end" - we've seen it already. We know where things stand, roughly, and we don't need Dawn of Fire to tell us. If anything, it is working to clarify and add further build-up to a reveal we had for a year already.  Heck, it's not even something that even if it fully happened, would be a clear victory for the Imperium in the first place - Guilliman himself poses the potential for rejection of it as-is. We already have an Imperium torn in two, with Guilliman's initial crossing into Nihilus happening only after said reveal, and not having received a clear escalation/realization in all the in-universe time he spends there and gets back from. And if it comes to pass, we can add an ideologic schism on top of the physical rift in the Imperium. Hardly a win-win for the "good" guys.

 

I fail to see where any of this would be in direct opposition to what 40k stands or stood for. It's a return to form in many ways. Maintaining the razor's edge status quo for soon to be two decades only served to diminish the stakes across the board, hampering character growth and deaths in the setting. Rremember Tycho? Back then stuff like him falling to the Rage and dying actually happened - not just inconsequential, never before heard of worlds falling to Nids for years while no time passes in-universe and everything happens simultaneously.

 

Most significant character development had to be retro-fed into the past, rather than looking ahead, unless you wanted your Uriel Ventris to both ascend to captaincy, fight in two major wars, one of which has galaxy-altering implications by freeing an ancient evil, then get exiled, traverse the Eye of Terror, flip off the Iron Warriors, then go on an odyssey with Grey Knights, return home, be cleared of charges and reobtain command of 4th Company, then fight two more wars ALL IN THE SAME CALENDAR YEAR. The eternally stuck clock needed fixing at some point - and I'm glad they did it at last.

 

Then, my problem with WHFB wasn't that they progressed the narrative with the End Times - in fact, book one of that was fantastic. The problem was that they decided to not keep rolling with the narrative, but instead brute-force a complete end and reset onto the setting, birthing AoS, despite having the keys to the kingdom with The End Times: Nagash already. That fluff was written without the intent of ending WHFB for good, I am certain of that. The following volumes? Not so much. But here, with Dawn of Fire and Dark Imperium, we don't have that problem. They're actively weaving the narrative, with no sign of wanting to abandon it for a complete overhaul.

[Scribe]

Its not about advancement, again thats not the issue.

 

Cadia falls, and the Imperium splits (but not really) ? Fine, nothing really changed.

 

The issue at hand isnt even the return of some plot points from previous editions going back 24+ years. Literally, almost a quarter century its been a SETTING, not a STORY.

 

 I fail to see where any of this would be in direct opposition to what 40k stands or stood for. It's a return to form in many ways. Maintaining the razor's edge status quo for soon to be two decades only served to diminish the stakes across the board, hampering character growth and deaths in the setting. Rremember Tycho? Back then stuff like him falling to the Rage and dying actually happened - not just inconsequential, never before heard of worlds falling to Nids for years while no time passes in-universe and everything happens simultaneously.

 

I do not understand how anyone can read the spoilers, and think its NOT in direct opposition to what 40K has been since 3rd edition.

 

There are no 'stakes' because it's not meant to shift. It isnt meant to change. Its meant to be a framework, a sandbox, where we tell our own stories through the game.

 

Its not meant to be a small universe, where a handful of characters direct the tide of the universe!

 

 But the universe is a big place and, whatever happens, you will not be missed...

 

Remember that? That is what it was. It wasnt about Rob going all over the place from world to world righting wrongs. It wasnt about named characters running the show.

 

And its certainly not about.

 

The Emperor waking up and risisng out of the Golden Throne bathed in Light like Sigmar. If that isnt in direct opposition to the last quarter century, I dont know what is.

 

[sitnam]

Cadia falls, and the Imperium splits (but not really) ? Fine, nothing really changed.

Things have definitely changed. Stories Like Shroud of Night, Emperors Spears, and Dante Darkness in the Blood all take place in Imperium Nihilus, and things are definitely not the same for the Imperium there.

 

The issue at hand isnt even the return of some plot points from previous editions going back 24+ years. Literally, almost a quarter century its been a SETTING, not a STORY.

It still is a setting, claims otherwise being extremely overblown. We have always had big characters leading big events in 40k. Ghazkull and Yarrick at Armageddon, Abbadon and Creed at Cadia, etc. The Dawn of Fire series isn't even moving the story forward: all these events have already happened. This is filling in the gap from Gathering Storm to Dark Imperium, and likely even beyond.

 

The story moving forward in certain areas doesn't make it not a setting. The excellent Assasnirum novel by Robert Rath takes place in the midst of Indomitus, but it doesn't have any greater ties to Dawn of Fire.

 

I can't say that <spoiler> will come to pass, but I'm really doubting we see anything like that anytime soon.

Edited May 8, 2022 by sitnam

[Scribe]

 

Cadia falls, and the Imperium splits (but not really) ? Fine, nothing really changed.

Things have definitely changed. Stories Like Shroud of Night, Emperors Spears, and Dante Darkness in the Blood all take place in Imperium Nihilus, and things are definitely not the same for the Imperium there.

 

 

I've only read Emperor's Spears (and it was fantastic of course because ADB has never failed me), and the point was (I had thought) that that side was cut off, but didnt Rob already show up there in the timeline that was then rolled back?

[Kelborn]

In that point, I have to agree with Scribe.

 

Yeah, half the Imperium is screwed. So?

The Necron rise again. So?

Primarchs are returning. So?

 

Compared to a different IP, which I shall not name here, we have twists and events, which repercussions stretch throughout the setting. Characters being killed, probably permanently. Things happening, which have huge impacts on all factions.

New factions rising up to leave their mark on the setting itself.

 

Compared to 40k, the former is fluid, in motion, developing, feeling alive, while the latter (even with the events of the past years) haven't changed that much, imho.

We're a minute closer to midnight but aside from that, everything is small scaled on war zones and that's it. The Imperium is mostly the same and the Ecclisiarchy is still going it's way of derailing the Imperial Truth. Abbadon is still winning by failing and being lucky.

 

But, what really changed? It's still the "crap, mankind is screwed" setting we all grew up with. Just even a bit more screwed than before but that's it.

 

That's just my two cents of course and I suggest to keep it focused on the novel except the entire 40k setting itself.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Kelborn

[sitnam]

 

 

 

Cadia falls, and the Imperium splits (but not really) ? Fine, nothing really changed.

Things have definitely changed. Stories Like Shroud of Night, Emperors Spears, and Dante Darkness in the Blood all take place in Imperium Nihilus, and things are definitely not the same for the Imperium there.

I've only read Emperor's Spears (and it was fantastic of course because ADB has never failed me), and the point was (I had thought) that that side was cut off, but didnt Rob already show up there in the timeline that was then rolled back?

Kinda, but not really. Guillimans relieved Baal and reinforced the Blood Angels, but he didn't lead further in iirc. It doesn't even matter if Guillimans leads forces in Nihilus, the problems there can't be solved by a Primarch. The astronomican is gone for them and any reinforcements from Sanctus must go through the rift

 

BL really need to explore Nihilus more, it's a very interesting setting

[Scribe]

 

Kinda, but not really. Guillimans relieved Baal and reinforced the Blood Angels, but he didn't lead further in iirc. It doesn't even matter if Guillimans leads forces in Nihilus, the problems there can't be solved by a Primarch. The astronomican is gone for them and any reinforcements from Sanctus must go through the rift

 

BL really need to explore Nihilus more, it's a very interesting setting

 

 

Right, that was it. Rob gets to Baal. So not only is the rift traversable, but the universe again pivots around a few select characters.

 

Its just...inferior to me, I'm sorry, to a setting, in which our stories are the focus.

 

I remember, fragments, long ago, the progressive story of Battletech, and when a whole faction was essentially removed. How is that great for the players of that faction?

 

I'll take a setting, 10 times out of 10, over a progressive story being told about other people's characters, and at the whims of biased author's questionable choices retconning lore.

[DarkChaplain]

Except it isn't. Roboute doesn't even lead the Indomitus Crusade into Nihilus until after Dark Imperium - at best, he sent a few Torchbearer fleets out to deliver Primaris if possible, or Rogue Traders to try and find a route.

 

There's one big known stable crossing, and that's been the setting for the whole Vigilus supplement arc in recent years, where Abaddon sends Calgar across the Rubicon. It's contested, and hotly so. Other crossings are temporary or hugely risky at best, and this does not change until (long) after Dawn of Fire, if at all. In Dawn of Fire, Guilliman barely has reliable news if anything still exists across the Rift in Nihilus - and what news there is proves unpretty.

 

Nihilus still exists in its own hellish bubble, constantly on the brink. Even with Dante being coined as sorta steward of Nihilus, due to his records and virtue of literally surviving a long time - long enough for Guilliman to catch enough of a break from Indomitus and the Plague Wars to be able to send reinforcements at the end of a campaign into the unknown - that doesn't change the state of Nihilus overmuch. It's still barely navigable. Stories like Spears of the Emperor still exist and happen. Things are bleak, and you can play out whatever many personal stories and Chapter histories you wish without ever stepping on the trails of Guilliman.

 

Likewise, Imperium Sanctus has numerous crusade fleets, split into smaller fleets and then again into smaller taskforces. The appendices to each Dawn of Fire entry make the scope very clear - yes, the novels focus on key characters, but that doesn't mean there's only these key characters doing things. They went so far as to highlight the average fleet sizes and in the grand scheme of the galaxy, it's still a drop in the bucket outside the main advances. It's not a fast process by any means, this Indomitus Crusade. Warzones, homeworlds and homebrew Chapters are still as beleagured by countless foes as ever, if not more so.

 

It's still a setting. It simply has a relevant "core" narrative again, which also allows other specific narratives to find a payoff that was previously denied by the "will they/won't they" status quo. Dawn of Fire doesn't prevent isolated stories being told - it actually enables them, by giving them a framework and re-establishing the status quo of Indomitus, since GW didn't exactly start on the right foot by pushing the timeline a century ahead, aging everybody - including mortals - up by +100 years, without addressing things that happened or were in the process of happening in the fluff.

 

And looking at the novels we've been getting in recent years, like the Twice-Dead King, Prophet of the Waaagh, Krieg, Steel Tread, Minka Lesk, new Soul Drinkers, Kingmaker, Space Marine Conquests, Mephiston, Spear of the Emperor and so forth - we're getting plenty of Indomitus-Era books that do their own thing, without being chained down by Dawn of Fire or Dark Imperium. These things aren't mutually exclusive.

[Scribe]

We are not going to see eye to eye on this one. I get it, plastic must be pushed, and novels are a marketing arm of that process, and big events sell, but I have no confidence in the majority of the authors or GW anymore, to not pull something like what the spoilers alluded to, and have it done any way but positive.

 

Thats the whole issue here, in this thread, and my tangent.

[sitnam]

Please delete Edited May 8, 2022 by sitnam

[Roomsky]

Went a few more lengthy transit-only trips, so I read this instead of listening. Definitely a pleasant surprise; I had as good a time reading this as I did listening to Avenging Son.

 

I don't have much new to say about it though, it's solid for most of the reasons Dawn of Fire has been solid across the board. Haley's a good series-runner; all the plates are spinning just so - which makes each entry both satisfying and well-structured. The characters are decent, but there are enough of them that you don't even get tired of the ones who you aren't huge on. And the amount of restraint being shown continues to be my favourite aspect: Dawn of Fire doesn't muddy it's quality with BIG EPIC EVENT overexposure or ill-conceived plot developments (cough cough Dark Imperium cough.) It's not model shilling and it isn't masturbatory - it's frankly everything the 42M fluff should be. Even things as apparently huge as the Black Templar subplot or the

starchild

are done with surprising taste. 

 

Though the running of things isn't 100% shunshine and rainbows: The mention of Kor Phaeron in the marketing, and the silent sister on the cover, are basically just clickbait considering how minimal their presence is. I'm also kind of sad to see the near standalone nature of each entry fall by the wayside with this entry - but I suppose it was inevitable. 

 

My other issues come from Haley's actual writing - I rate his works the least of the series so far. His prose is still bland, because I am a broken record. Some of his characters are stock as hell and really don't deserve the page time they get. I was pretty done partway through the climax here as I was in Avenging Son, too. You know, the usual. It's a good book because it's overseen by Guy Haley, it's a less good book because written by Guy Haley.

 

7/10

 

I hope I'm not the only one amused by a hairless evil wizard called Tenebrus taking on a hairless apprentice to develop their skills in the evil arts, with the full understanding that the apprentice will one day try to kill the master. Maybe Yheng will take up the "Plagueis" moniker, too.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Roomsky

[MegaVolt87]

With the lore heading this way, guess we got a stay of execution of going AoS with 40k for a time. Was a good run. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by MegaVolt87