Dawn of Fire: The Iron Kingdom

[Urauloth]

So, I was pretty negative about the announcement of this one, because I really hadn't ever ready anything by Kyme that I liked. On the other hand, that was also true of McNeill until I caught up on some of his more recent writing, so I went for this after all. So far I'm happy with that decision. I'm about a quarter of the way through at the moment, and I don't have any complaints. Pleasantly surprised to have been wrong.

 

Anyway, I didn't see a thread about it. Anyone else reading this? Finished it? Thoughts on it?

 

As an aside, something went very wrong with the chapter names in the Audible version.

[Nagashsnee]

I started it but it failed to grip me and i wondered off. That not bashing Kyme, Throne of Light also did not tickle my pickle. But that more of a Dawn of fire issue overall.  For book X of a multi book series i don't have positive thrust to get to it.  I will get back to it at some point. 

[Blood Angel Scout]

Had a first read so not in depth review. Would say it's it's a decent enough addition to the series, following up with some characters from the Gate of Bones novel. A lot of different threads going on until the conclusion, few moments of "even in 40k, that's doesn't make sense"  but an ok read. 

 

Didn't feel as drawn in as I have been reading previous entries in the series but that's down to this having lighter connections to plots running through the others and more of a standalone feel. It was when reading the Crusade overview bit at the end and it points out the events in the novel were not uncommon when the Imperium was returning for the first time since the rift, that, in my opinion, gave a different perspective to view the story from. 

[Ubiquitous1984]

5 hours ago, Urauloth said:

So, I was pretty negative about the announcement of this one, because I really hadn't ever ready anything by Kyme that I liked. On the other hand, that was also true of McNeill until I caught up on some of his more recent writing, so I went for this after all. So far I'm happy with that decision. I'm about a quarter of the way through at the moment, and I don't have any complaints. Pleasantly surprised to have been wrong.

 

Anyway, I didn't see a thread about it. Anyone else reading this? Finished it? Thoughts on it?

 

As an aside, something went very wrong with the chapter names in the Audible version.

What’s the issue with the audible version?  I’ve not started it yet.  John Banks the narrator is very engaging on twitter so if it’s something we can make him aware of, he might be able to get it fixed via his contacts.  

[Urauloth]

There's no issue with the actual audio, but the chapter tiles listed on the player are hilariously wrong. "Oaths for the Dead" is "Oats for the End", and one of them is "Terrace Forboyamont The Trap" which is almost artisanal.

[wecanhaveallthree]

3 hours ago, Urauloth said:

There's no issue with the actual audio, but the chapter tiles listed on the player are hilariously wrong. "Oaths for the Dead" is "Oats for the End", and one of them is "Terrace Forboyamont The Trap" which is almost artisanal.

 

I see how it is. If Abnett had chapter names like that, the feedback would be 'stunning', 'intelligent', 'a beautiful complexity' but when Kyme does it...

 

I haven't picked this one up as yet, as I still have to muster the enormous amount of effort required to read Dawn of Fire, but glad to see the feedback looks pretty good. Kyme's been on a roll the last few years, and if even this ball-and-chain of a series can't take him down, it bodes well for the future.

[Moonreaper666]

How does this compare to Book 1 and Book 2?

 

I read book and enjoyed Gate of Bones

 

Is Torvann Lokk in this?

[Orange Knight]

I am currently reading this book, and I am enjoying it. I must state that I am only 1/5th of the way in however.

 

The book features a Knight world, and this is pretty fun to read about it.

[Ubiquitous1984]

On 3/1/2023 at 4:33 AM, Moonreaper666 said:

How does this compare to Book 1 and Book 2?

 

I read book and enjoyed Gate of Bones

 

Is Torvann Lokk in this?

I’ve not read this yet, however I’ve seen a few people comment that some of the characters from Gate of Bones are also in this book.  

[Urauloth]

2 hours ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

I’ve not read this yet, however I’ve seen a few people comment that some of the characters from Gate of Bones are also in this book.  

It's the Mordians, mostly. They have quite a big role in this one. It's also set on the homeworld of Knight House Kamidar, and the death of their crown princess in Gate of Bones is a very big deal.

[Orange Knight]

I'm now around 65-70% through the book.

 

I think it's great! There are some really well done scenes between the different Imperial Factions and interesting plots concerning their relationships and cultures. 

[Roomsky]

The Iron Kingdom - Nick Kyme

 

While the discussion thread as to the series' quality rages on, I am once again quite satisfied by the most recent offering. I don't think this is quite as good as Kyme's previous effort, Vulpone Glory, but it's yet another solid tale from the Era Indomitus.

 

 

 

 

I'll admit that, while it's enjoyable from page one, I thought the politicking was a little toothless towards the beginning. I LOVE politics in 40k stories, but I thought Kyme was skewing more towards the trappings of a political story without any of the actual consequences to back it up. You'll imagine my surprise, then, when Orlah Red Weddings half the cast, including Dvorgin. The man was only in one other book but I still caught a few genuine feels at his death scene. They also kill the Custodian Vychellan with a bunch of normies and a very big gun. I loved this for 2 reasons:

 

1. It established that plot armour would protect no one
2. It will remind all the fandom's teenagers that Custodians can be killed by mundane means

From there the plot kept me thoroughly gripped the whole way through, transforming from competent formula to something fresh for 40k (if derivative amongst the genre as a whole.) A newbie friend of mine, new to 40k fiction, once commented that he was surprised the setting's occupants would so quickly resort to murder if the thinnest attempt at diplomacy were rebuffed. This book carries that atmosphere forward well; despite the political impasse at Kamidar, both sides were prepping assassinations before discussions really even left the ground. Love it.
 

 

The character work is very solid. Again, Kyme resorts to familiar tropes, but I also think he recognizes why they're tropes to begin with. All the key players are compelling, Orlah for her struggle to balance shows of strength with reason, Kesh for everything she loses and for possessing a power she doesn't understand, Syreniel for just being a stone-cold killer, Ariadne for her career in 40k nightmare customer service, etc. No one carries much subtlety, but that also means they never lapse into the boring. Renyard of the Marines Malevolent is my favourite example of this, he verges on being a parody of the sociopathic soldier but remains compelling for all that.

 

The presentation of all this is good, but not amazing. As mentioned elsewhere, Kyme's prose is only getting better, but he still stumbles often when trying to evoke something poetic. He's got a good handle on beige prose but not much else (yet.) The Black Templars / Red Corsairs plot is enjoyable in that I liked all the characters, but it honestly felt tacked on to a Knight World story that could easily stand on its own (especially because there's already a Chaos element.)

 

I also have to say: while Kingmaker is without a doubt the better book, Kyme writes way stronger Knight Titan battle scenes than Rath did. They're much easier to follow and eat less unnecessary pagetime besides.

 

Overall, a really strong effort. I wouldn't say it's all killer, but there's certainly no filler. Mark that as another success in Dawn of Fire.

 

To Taste, 7.5/10.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Roomsky

[Nagashsnee]

@Roomsky your review has convinced me to pick it back up, sounds like it really picks up futher in the book. 

[Orange Knight]

1 hour ago, Nagashsnee said:

@Roomsky your review has convinced me to pick it back up, sounds like it really picks up futher in the book. 

 

I agree with his points. I think this is a very good 40k book that deals with some interesting factions within the setting.

 

It isn't centered around any of the big names of the setting, so if people are looking for Primarch drama and lack the patience for anything else it might disappoint them.

 

I've seen a bit of negativity about this Novel online, and even some bad reviews on amazon. Honestly I'm very surprised by this as it's a solid story that gets it's themes and plots across very well. It's not on par with something like the Devastation of Baal, for example, but it's better than a lot of the novels in the top 10 Black Library list of 2022 lol.

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

6 hours ago, Roomsky said:

The Iron Kingdom - Nick Kyme

 

While the discussion thread as to the series' quality rages on, I am once again quite satisfied by the most recent offering. I don't think this is quite as good as Kyme's previous effort, Vulpone Glory, but it's yet another solid tale from the Era Indomitus.

 

 

  Hide contents

 

I'll admit that, while it's enjoyable from page one, I thought the politicking was a little toothless towards the beginning. I LOVE politics in 40k stories, but I thought Kyme was skewing more towards the trappings of a political story without any of the actual consequences to back it up. You'll imagine my surprise, then, when Orlah Red Weddings half the cast, including Dvorgin. The man was only in one other book but I still caught a few genuine feels at his death scene. They also kill the Custodian Vychellan with a bunch of normies and a very big gun. I loved this for 2 reasons:

 

1. It established that plot armour would protect no one
2. It will remind all the fandom's teenagers that Custodians can be killed by mundane means

From there the plot kept me thoroughly gripped the whole way through, transforming from competent formula to something fresh for 40k (if derivative amongst the genre as a whole.) A newbie friend of mine, new to 40k fiction, once commented that he was surprised the setting's occupants would so quickly resort to murder if the thinnest attempt at diplomacy were rebuffed. This book carries that atmosphere forward well; despite the political impasse at Kamidar, both sides were prepping assassinations before discussions really even left the ground. Love it.
 

 

The character work is very solid. Again, Kyme resorts to familiar tropes, but I also think he recognizes why they're tropes to begin with. All the key players are compelling, Orlah for her struggle to balance shows of strength with reason, Kesh for everything she loses and for possessing a power she doesn't understand, Syreniel for just being a stone-cold killer, Ariadne for her career in 40k nightmare customer service, etc. No one carries much subtlety, but that also means they never lapse into the boring. Renyard of the Marines Malevolent is my favourite example of this, he verges on being a parody of the sociopathic soldier but remains compelling for all that.

 

The presentation of all this is good, but not amazing. As mentioned elsewhere, Kyme's prose is only getting better, but he still stumbles often when trying to evoke something poetic. He's got a good handle on beige prose but not much else (yet.) The Black Templars / Red Corsairs plot is enjoyable in that I liked all the characters, but it honestly felt tacked on to a Knight World story that could easily stand on its own (especially because there's already a Chaos element.)

 

I also have to say: while Kingmaker is without a doubt the better book, Kyme writes way stronger Knight Titan battle scenes than Rath did. They're much easier to follow and eat less unnecessary pagetime besides.

 

Overall, a really strong effort. I wouldn't say it's all killer, but there's certainly no filler. Mark that as another success in Dawn of Fire.

 

To Taste, 7.5/10.

 

Spoiler

I'm not sold on Kyme's depiction of Marines Malevolent. Not caring about collateral damage and being onboxious pricks in contacts with other chapters provoking blood feuds is one thing, but just going around killing people under any pretence or even without one is something else. I did not find MM compelling at all. And for someone so disinterested in honour Renyard sure goes to great lenghts to punish any slight (Kyme's word, mind you) against him. Also, when Kyme writes from R's prespective, he uses all the tropes and cringy takes on "gritty real war" as opposed to its "heroisation" by the people talking about honour and it's not completely clear to me whether we're supposed to take it as chaotic ramblings of a deranged sociopath or treat as a serious pacifist thought by Kyme. If its the latter, than Kyme is certainly not another Remarque, to put it euphemistically.

 

[Orange Knight]

I had a brief look into this chapter's lore following their introduction and I'm not really surprised by anything they do.

 

"The weak do not deserve to live" is a saying associated with them. They have been investigated by the Inquisition for their cruelty and have fallen out with multiple other chapters.

 

They probably operate in a way similar to the Night Lords, but without wearing the skin of their enemies. They target civilians as much as military assets to demoralise their adversaries. 

[Roomsky]

2 hours ago, Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm not sold on Kyme's depiction of Marines Malevolent. Not caring about collateral damage and being onboxious pricks in contacts with other chapters provoking blood feuds is one thing, but just going around killing people under any pretence or even without one is something else. I did not find MM compelling at all. And for someone so disinterested in honour Renyard sure goes to great lenghts to punish any slight (Kyme's word, mind you) against him. Also, when Kyme writes from R's prespective, he uses all the tropes and cringy takes on "gritty real war" as opposed to its "heroisation" by the people talking about honour and it's not completely clear to me whether we're supposed to take it as chaotic ramblings of a deranged sociopath or treat as a serious pacifist thought by Kyme. If its the latter, than Kyme is certainly not another Remarque, to put it euphemistically.

 

 

To an extent I agree - again, I don't think Kyme is doing TOO much to spice up the tropes he's using. Personally, I enjoy openly evil loyalists; by the end, Renyard is basically a Night Lord in all but name. I thought an Injured Ogin taking him out with zero effort was a good "take that" at the edgy grim soldier archetype Renyard was embodying, and it worked well with the book's running theme of the Imperium's "ends justify the means" way of operating being self-defeating as often as it is effective. For all Orlah was often temperamental and unreasonable, she was just trying to protect her people. The Imperium was undermining it's own diplomatic efforts by using creatures like Renyard from the start.

[DarkChaplain]

Besides, you don't need to build your values around a concept of "honour" to have an overblown ego that won't allow for critique or questioning.

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

3 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

I had a brief look into this chapter's lore following their introduction and I'm not really surprised by anything they do.

 

"The weak do not deserve to live" is a saying associated with them. They have been investigated by the Inquisition for their cruelty and have fallen out with multiple other chapters.

 

They probably operate in a way similar to the Night Lords, but without wearing the skin of their enemies. They target civilians as much as military assets to demoralise their adversaries. 

Spoiler

They did not use to target civillians to terrorize. They simply did not care and ignored their existance when planning their actions. You see two chaos cultists in front of a housing complex so you nuke the whole neighbourhood  and when the retards in green complain you say "Weaklings die, big deal" - that was supposed to be their kink. I have no problem with depiction of Renyard going for civillians in the heat of the battle during his last fight. To him they're traitors, so OK, that's expected from Imperial forces in such situations, especialli when the battle is raging around. 

But even for a World Eater Renyard would be pretty intense:

he sees a marine: "Man, that can be a Black Templar what could possibly be problematic, let's kill him"

Ogin is wounded: "Man, he won't make it and I don't have time for this, lets kill him after all"

Ogin trips: "Man, he's too weak, I have to kill him"

Ogin coughs: "That's it, I'm killing him"

Someone touches his knife: "Oh boy, it's rampage time"

And that duel thing. That's a bit overboard for my tastes and how i understand MM modus operandi.

 

1 hour ago, DarkChaplain said:

Besides, you don't need to build your values around a concept of "honour" to have an overblown ego that won't allow for critique or questioning.

 

Spoiler

Fair, but killing with cold blood a whole guard unit only to teach the others that you don't like when strangers touch your stuff is a bit much (and that's described as slight). Especially that he laughs at Storm Reapers and their honour, who are said to do the same, because their weapons are sacred. He also notes that someone is fightin gallantly, what does not sit well with his depiction as someone holding honour in contempt and stating that war is only mindless slaughter (completely minor issue for the book as a whole, I know).

 

[Noserenda]

Probably picking this up after i finish my current audio, one question though, is the Sister of Silence on the cover an actual character, or are they immediately shoved in a metaphorical fridge?
 

The Marines Malevolent are edgy, but they arent the Night Lords, they are at least vaguely competent :D 

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

Spoiler

She's active throughout the book.

 

[Moonreaper666]

Can someone list out the various factions involved?

 

So no Lokk and the Iron Warriors?

[System Sound]

15 hours ago, Moonreaper666 said:

Can someone list out the various factions involved?

 

So no Lokk and the Iron Warriors?

 

 

Spoiler

 

No, he is not.

Edited March 4, 2023 by System Sound

[Kelborn]

Sharing this info would've also worked without the sarcasm, eh.

 

Regarding the book: 

Kinda excited for it. Haven't read that much of Nick but never had an issue with his work. 

 

Knights, Black Templars imperial politics and stuff do intrigue me.

 

There seems to be an emphasis on Black Templar with Iron Kingdom be g the second book in a row to cover them.

 

Think we might see other chapters in future releases?

[System Sound]

1 hour ago, Kelborn said:

Sharing this info would've also worked without the sarcasm, eh.

Probably. But his wild fan theories and weird obsession with chaos and millions dying is a tad gratting.

 

Edited the previous post.

1 hour ago, Kelborn said:

Regarding the book: 

Kinda excited for it. Haven't read that much of Nick but never had an issue with his work.

I'm about 45% through and it's rather surprisingly good. Considering it's the same author that wrote those dreadfull HH books about Salamanders.