Mortarion, the Pale King

[aa.logan]

This doesn’t seem to have a thread, somewhat surprisingly.

 

just finished this, it’s pretty good but not groundbreaking. 
 

It’s the story of his first compliance, framed by Horus and Sanguinius investigating if he was too heavy-handed.

A hundred or so pages more would perhaps have given Annandale chance to explore the conflicts between the Dusk Raiders and the recruits from Barbarus more, but it’s a great depiction of how Mortarion wanted his Legion to function. 

[Ubiquitous1984]

Blimey you received and read that quick!  My copy won’t arrive until Monday, I never get releases delivered on a Saturday (which is curious as my postal address is Denton, which as you’ll know is very close to where you live!)

I’m still struggling through Cthonia anthology, and due to the author of this one I’m in no great rush to get started.  

I often find that Primarch books would benefit from being full length novels instead of novella length.  I wonder why BL decided to commission the series in the shorter format?

[Taliesin]

I suspect its to make it easier on the authors. So that when they take on the assignment of doing a Primarch book, its not a full novel in their schedule.

I cant think of any other reason for it that remotely makes sense. The brevity of these books and that being to its detriment has been remarked upon quite a bit, a lot of them come in at around 200 pages. 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Taliesin

[cheywood]

BL seems to use ‘short novels’ for works focused on established characters. The HH and 40k Character series are similar to the Primarchs length-wise. While I still prefer longer books I think the authors have gotten a lot better at structuring short novels in recent years. 

[DarkChaplain]

 

1 hour ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

I often find that Primarch books would benefit from being full length novels instead of novella length.  I wonder why BL decided to commission the series in the shorter format?

 

Just a nitpick: They're not novella length. They're short novels. BL's typical novella would've clocked in at half the pagecount of the short novel format, if even that.

Edited July 2, 2022 by DarkChaplain

[theSpirea]

Primarch books are on average 53K words, that's still a novel and it was advertised as such from the beginning of the series. You can still check Mortation's LE on GW website and it's listed as "A Primarchs novel by David Annandale". It's not a novella length, not sure why people keep bringing it up. Because it doesn't match your usual HH novel length? It still doesn't make it a novella.  Your usual novellas (what BL advertise as such) are on average 32K words. HH novellas on average 36K words.

I'd rather read Reynolds 60K words Fulgrim novel than McNeill's Fulgrim (130+K words) overblown, unedited, filler mess. 

[Ubiquitous1984]

Sorry for the confusion, in my mind a novel is the traditional BL 400ish page effort and a novella around 150-220 pages. Thanks for clarifying my error and no offence was intended theSpirea.  

[KJB]

Just finished it as well, as @aa.logan says, it’s a good book, but nothing mind blowing 

[Taliesin]

19 hours ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

Sorry for the confusion, in my mind a novel is the traditional BL 400ish page effort and a novella around 150-220 pages. Thanks for clarifying my error and no offence was intended theSpirea.  

 

Well, this is why the Primarch books are called " short novels" because most fall between 190 and 230 pages.

The average novel these days is 300 pages, or upwards. Novellas would be up t0 170/180 pages max, depending on spacing.

[aa.logan]

I’ve been mulling this over, and, like Angron’s , this is a perfect summation of how the Emperor did Mortarion wrong- he’s shown to be humane and driven by noble motives- freeing a population from cruel indenture. No wonder the Imperium couldn’t find a place for him…

[lansalt]

7 minutes ago, aa.logan said:

I’ve been mulling this over, and, like Angron’s , this is a perfect summation of how the Emperor did Mortarion wrong- he’s shown to be humane and driven by noble motives- freeing a population from cruel indenture. No wonder the Imperium couldn’t find a place for him…

I've yet to read this book, but I though it was pretty well set that Mortarion's fall was due to his pettyness and eventual nihilism.

[Urauloth]

That's an aspect of the Death Guard I find really interesting, so if this novel digs into it I'm curious to read it. I generally find Annandale's work quite hit and miss, though - how does this stack up to the rest of his writing?

[aa.logan]

23 hours ago, lansalt said:

I've yet to read this book, but I though it was pretty well set that Mortarion's fall was due to his pettyness and eventual nihilism.

I’d say that the Emperor’s attitude to him had some part in it- like with Angron in fact, not allowing him to personally complete his homeworld revolution will have sown some of the seeds of rebellion. Corax is shown as being, and is permitted to be, every bit as brutal to his former masters; the Khan, Russ, Lion and Guilliman all took control of whole planets violently yet they escape Imperial scrutiny and censure. It’s not surprising why so many sided with Horus.

 

this book is framed as

a visit from Horus and Sanguinius on behalf of the Emperor to see if he was overly zealous in this, his first Compliance. Their opinions are split and you can probably guess how

.
 

 

[theSpirea]

I'm not Annandale's hater. His horror entries are pretty decent and so is his stuff outside of BL. But this one was quite disappointing. It doesn't bring anything new, it doesn't expand on Mortarion's character. There's no characterization of any of the characters. This could have easily been a short story and it would achieve the same. Pointless filler, 5/10

[Fedor]

I was worried when i saw that it was based on a forgeworld exemplary battle. This is a collection that could have been so much better with all original stories.

 

 

[Von Großschmitt]

To be honest, I thought the novel was much more solid than expected. Annandale for me has the worst output of the HH authors not named Gav Thorpe, so while Mortarion doesn't offer us a lot new (as is the standard for most of the Primarchs series), it could have been much worse.

[Tolmeus]

On 7/25/2022 at 3:12 PM, theSpirea said:

It doesn't bring anything new, it doesn't expand on Mortarion's character

 

On 7/31/2022 at 9:36 AM, Von Großschmitt said:

so while Mortarion doesn't offer us a lot new (as is the standard for most of the Primarchs series), it could have been much worse

I have to disagree. I have just read the novel and must say, that it is one of the better ones of the Primarch series. Why is that so?
Mortarion is one of the traitor Primarchs who got actually rather much spotlight in the Horus Heresy novels. This applies in particular to the HH book 54 'The Buried Dagger' which could already have been a Primarch novel in its own right. There, you get to know about Mortarions struggle on his home planet and why he disdains the Emperor. So this story line was no longer available. Also, we got the short story 'The Verdict of the Scythe', which explains why Mortarion uses these brutal tactics and the conviction behind them (and takes place right after this novel).
In my opinion, this plot connects these stories logically. Furthermore, it is all about himself and broadens the insight into his character. The other personas do not bother this process but rather more fit in.

 

[jaxom]

On 7/3/2022 at 4:43 PM, KJB said:

Just finished it as well, as @aa.logan says, it’s a good book, but nothing mind blowing 

For Mortarion, I think it's a really good synthesis of the previous Mortarion writings. So nothing mind-blowing, but a good one-stop shopping for Mortarion characterization.

I do think it adds a useful viewpoint in the form of Barrazin, Terran First Captain. We finally get insight into how Garro could end considered old-fashioned while most of the Terran veterans are absolutely fine with Mortarion and the Barbarans. 

On 7/18/2022 at 4:32 PM, aa.logan said:

I’ve been mulling this over, and, like Angron’s , this is a perfect summation of how the Emperor did Mortarion wrong- he’s shown to be humane and driven by noble motives- freeing a population from cruel indenture. No wonder the Imperium couldn’t find a place for him…

I think this is actually something Annandale did really well. This is a story that benefits from a second read through with an eye towards character comparisons. The Order, in their philosophy of "no correction," provides a mirror to Mortarion's initial concept of liberation and his post-Abysrtus confirmed attitude. Meanwhile, Cinis - the liberated mortal - offers a contrasting understanding to Mortarion's methods from his brother Primarchs. That contrast is important because (going along following up of Iansalt's comment):

On 7/18/2022 at 4:42 PM, lansalt said:

I've yet to read this book, but I though it was pretty well set that Mortarion's fall was due to his pettyness and eventual nihilism.

Mortarion is one of two Primarchs didn't conquer (in one way or another) their homeworld. While Mortarion was not as powerless as Digger, he had to be liberated, in the end, just like she did. This is important because it's what keeps him from making attachments to those of his brother Primarchs who think they should have more in common. Cinis, who should nothing in common with a Primarch, has better insight into Mortarion, than Sanguinius (even as Sanguinius stresses that he, too, was raised on a death world).

In my opinion, the round peg that Mortarion can never get to fit into the square hole, is reconciling the hypocrisy of his own experience with his view of freedom as an ultimate end justifying any means. Mortarion has a pattern of having a place in a tyrannical hierarchy, that he doesn't like, so he can gain enough power to finally end the tyranny. His blindness to the behavior, as he consciously rejects what he sees as unnecessary gifts, is Mortarion's great tragedy. It is his ultimate undoing because he doesn't understand the difference between accepting Legion command, the Barbaran Plate, and Lantern from the Emperor, and accepting a deal with Nurgle. 

I think this is part of why the Khan-Mortarion dualism is so compelling. At the root, they share a very similar ideal, but the Khan has always had to the power to achieve it without having to pursue truly monstrous means. Whether that was due to some other difference in character, or due to a difference in caliber of the foes each Primarch faced, that's where we get the two different perspectives of Khan and Mortarion. Going back to the Emperor doing the Mortarion wrong... the Emperor doesn't understand Mortarion. I think he was expecting someone like the Khan; the Emperor's hand-crafted gift for Mortarion was a scimitar. Lantern's Light is basically the Emperor trying to see hints of His intended design in Mortarion and hedging his bet that eventually nature will outshine nurture.

On 7/18/2022 at 4:45 PM, Urauloth said:

That's an aspect of the Death Guard I find really interesting, so if this novel digs into it I'm curious to read it. I generally find Annandale's work quite hit and miss, though - how does this stack up to the rest of his writing?

Much better than his Lion El'Jonson novella. I am, however, biased as I just don't like how BL and FW have approached the First Legion once they got around to them after the initial duology (which I really didn't like). Mortarion has a lot less bolter-porn and more focus on what character's are thinking and why they're doing what they do.

On 7/27/2022 at 7:00 PM, Fedor said:

I was worried when i saw that it was based on a forgeworld exemplary battle. This is a collection that could have been so much better with all original stories.

I disagree, but I also get where you are coming from. For me, Mortarion works using Galaspar in part because of the narrative framework. We're not really there for the battle. We're there for Mortarion re-visiting the battle (just as the novella does compared to the BB exemplary battle), and providing details to his brothers so they understand why the battle had to play out as it did. This goes back to why I think it's one of Annandale's works. The battle is a known factor so he can focus on character work (which I think he does better). The other reason I think Galaspar works is because it ties neatly with Verdict of the Scythe and The Buried Dagger.

Galaspar is/was the Death Guard exemplary battle. Yet, by forcing Mortarion to look at his actions from other perspectives, the novella surprisingly ends that portion of the story considering that the Emperor, Horus, and Sanguinius actually have a point. Mortarion understands that a Liberator does not have to be an Angel of Death (and vice-versa, as is the case with the VIIIth Legion). They may not have been correct in the particular case of Galaspar (again, Digger gets it), and so Mortarion walks away still believing a Liberator and an Angel of Death can be one and the same.

Verdict of the Scythe happens then we get the post-Abystrus portions of Mortarion. Mortarion acknowledges the place of his brothers in the Great Crusade, that there may be worlds where their personalities and approaches work. The Emperor made His sons, not as clones, but with distinct differences and roles. Yet, his is that of ultimate censure, regardless of what the Emperor had planned for him (which ties back to the theme of Lantern's Light, the Emperor lost his bet, and Mortarion's experiences on Barbarus cannot be overcome).

Then we get The Buried Dagger which starts on world extremely similar to Galaspar. The Mechanicum use cybernetics and drugs to control and direct a population of millions. Yet the battles of the Heresy have worn Mortarion down, there's nothing of the Liberator left and only being an Angel of Death isn't enough to sustain him.  He's weary of it, to the point where he get's irritated that their faces remind him of something, but he actively keeps the memory from rising. Galaspar was Mortarion defining his own roll in the Great Crusade, Abystrus confirmed to him that he would be drawn to continue that roll of Liberator and Angel of Death, but the Emperor and Horus effectively broke him by only using him as the latter. Mortarion even notes that Horus had no need to have the Death Guard cull Ynyx and wonders if there's a warp-reason behind it. Symbolically, the Death Guard murdering a world so similar to Galaspar, with no consideration of liberation, has some zing to it. Laughter of thirsting gods and all that. 

4 hours ago, Tolmeus said:

 

I have to disagree. I have just read the novel and must say, that it is one of the better ones of the Primarch series. Why is that so?
Mortarion is one of the traitor Primarchs who got actually rather much spotlight in the Horus Heresy novels. This applies in particular to the HH book 54 'The Buried Dagger' which could already have been a Primarch novel in its own right. There, you get to know about Mortarions struggle on his home planet and why he disdains the Emperor. So this story line was no longer available. Also, we got the short story 'The Verdict of the Scythe', which explains why Mortarion uses these brutal tactics and the conviction behind them (and takes place right after this novel).
In my opinion, this plot connects these stories logically. Furthermore, it is all about himself and broadens the insight into his character. The other personas do not bother this process but rather more fit in.

 

Absolute agreement from me.

[Taliesin]

20 hours ago, jaxom said:

 

Much better than his Lion El'Jonson novella. I am, however, biased as I just don't like how BL and FW have approached the First Legion once they got around to them after the initial duology (which I really didn't like). Mortarion has a lot less bolter-porn and more focus on what character's are thinking and why they're doing what they do.

 

The Lion El Jonson novella is by David Guymer ;)

[jaxom]

Well that’s egg on my face! At least I had the right first name correct 

4 hours ago, Taliesin said:

 

The Lion El Jonson novella is by David Guymer ;)

 

[cheywood]

A quality start squandered on banal scenes of war, kinda like the Primarch series in general. For the first 1/4th of the book I was quite satisfied. Yes the pacing was rushed and yes the death guard were bland as can be, but the Order were very fun in an over the top sense. Then it became a bunch of battle sequences and I lost interest.

Strengths:

The order: these guys are absurd and very intentionally comparable to the Imperium’s worst impulses in 40k, but I had fun with them

Phosphex: Annandale loves chemical weapons (in his fiction) and uses them pretty well here on a few occasions

Weaknesses

Length: As usual characters feel like sketches and there’s little atmosphere

Combat: some people might think the Death Guard scything up tanks over and over is fun. I’m not one of those people

Death Guard: I couldn’t care less about Morty and his sons. Annandale gives them no personality

Death: I get it, Mortarion’s the grim reaper, but it’s a little cringey that he’s just going around calling himself death

 

Overall: 5.5 out of 10. It’s not gonna ruin your day or anything, but there’s little to recommend here. 

[Taliesin]

Shame. Annandale has some good offerings sometimes.

[Roomsky]

I enjoyed this a lot, actually. It has everything I hope for in a Primarchs book: the primarch's effect on a legion, a look into their headspace, a story from the Great Crusade, and some reconciliation between the Forge World and Black library fluff.

I mean, it's not amazing, but it does it's job. If anything it speak to how much Swallow dropped the ball with the Death Guard; The Pale King is a story we really needed to see. The Primarchs is the chance to show what the traitors were really about before their turn, and I'm glad Annandale seized it for Mortarion because the mainline Heresy doesn't really give us full context on where his arc was supposed to be starting from:

We finally get a book of Mortarion messing up some tyrants.

I don't know why the authors thought that putting his hatred of psykers and his space-dad ahead of his for-the-common-man attitude was the right idea; he came across as a petulant teenager rather than a disenfranchised but somewhat noble warrior. (This could probably have been averted if Flight of the Eisenstein began with a campaign against humans instead of xenos, but again, Swallow dropped the ball.) Here he's exactly what he should be, IMO. 

This just does a great job of showing Morty as someone who values principles first and repercussions second. His debate with Sanguinius and Horus goes exactly how it should - both sides are reasonable in their convictions but miss the point the other is trying to make. His decisions throughout the brief campaign - take heavy losses now to avoid worse later, take to the main battlefield instead of stroking his ego by climbing the mountain again - show a brutal primarch acting like you'd expect one to act eg: being ruthlessly pragmatic rather than berating people for lateral thinking.

The characters outside of Mortarion are nothing special but service the story's subject matter well. This campaign is a bit of a gutting of the legion old guard, but the Terrans generally embrace Mortartion's way of war and it's refreshing to see. Neither Terran POV was exceptional but they did their job. Typhon is fairly subdued here but I appreciate he's not a scheming villain or Morty's best buddy. Garro is somehow not annoying. The Order is exactly the kind of human empire that makes you root for the Imperium, as with the Gardinaali they're just wonderfully vile.

Problems are the usual for Annandale: too much action (though it was fairly mundane which I appreciate.) The prose is fine but nothing special (and has too many periods.) He makes me want the whole story to be Mortarion butting heads with Horus and Sangy, but what can you do. I also could have done with more of Mort's thought process when establishing legion traditions - Annandale's good at reflective writing so it was easily within his ability.

It's just a nice encapsulation of what Mortarion is about (and in many cases, what Mortarion should have been about.) Wraight's work with the character is great but was built on poor foundations. This book makes those much stronger. As a bonus, it describes just enough of Mortarion's Barbarus backstory that I can now happily never read Buried Dagger again.

 

Solid 7/10. To Taste, as this thread proves. Miles ahead of Guilliman and Vulkan, IMO.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Roomsky

[Fedor]

I thought it was quite good for what it was. Too much action for my taste, but overall i'd lean more towards jaxom's take. It's tied in well with what we've already been given character-wise, and is a good pick up point for Crusade era Mortarion.

it could have been a lot worse, with it being yet another story built around showcasing a Forgeworld battle report that didn't need any expansion. I stand by wishing that there had been more room for entirely original character studies from the authors. The need to build so many books around a shooty shooty campaign/battle has been an anchor stopping the series from soaring.

I'd put it roughly on the same level as Russ or Corax, in that at least the war and some of the battle scenes are tied into developing character (good and bad), rather than being an entirely no stakes. tie-in showcase of legion organisation and pure awesomeness, like the Lion was.

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Fedor

[Ubiquitous1984]

I've just finished listening to this, it was decent but that is all.  The star of the book for me was the evil Order, alongside 'Digger' and her companion (whose name now escapes me).  Can somebody with better knowledge of the lore please let me know if 'Digger' (after the finale when she converses with Mortarion) is ever mentioned again?

I am not a fan of DA for his Primarchs work, but for me this was his best instalment in the series.  As ever with this series it would benefit from being 50-100 pages longer, so that characters could be explored in more detail.  But that's a moot point by now.

PS - Keeble's narration felt a little off for me, I'm a huge fan of his but I'm not a particular fan for how he voices Mortarion.  Where is the raspy voice that we know he is described as having?  I know he has a lot of haters but for me Martyn Ellis provided the best narration for Morty.