The Lion - Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks

[Ubiquitous1984]

On 12/27/2023 at 2:51 PM, Lord Nord said:

 

FTR, I don't even remember pronoun soup being a thing in Son of the Forest.

Same here.  

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

Doesn't Brooks always try to do this with at last some Tech-Priests? It's like one sentence (maybe two) in the Lion, so let the man have his fetishes.

[Roomsky]

9 hours ago, Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla said:

so let the man have his fetishes.

 

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

15 hours ago, Roomsky said:

 

 

I meant to say it's just his thing and he will do this, if an opportunity presents itself.

[Nagashsnee]

58 minutes ago, Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla said:

 

I meant to say it's just his thing and he will do this, if an opportunity presents itself.

I dont get it what is he doing? Does he assign weird mechanicus terminology like Imperator Wrath of the Omnishiah? It was a little distracting at first but i got use to it. 

[Noserenda]

Quite a few authors have done it with mechanicus characters, it makes a huge amount of sense given the whole "flesh is weak" angle a lot of the cult has, why would something as irrelevant as your birth genitals (now replaced by a waste synthesiser and redundant bionic heart!) define you? Such a bizarre "fleshy" way of thinking ;) 

[Karhedron]

Just finished the book and I enjoyed it. A solid B for Brooks for this. The plot is solid, even if the Authurian angle is laid on a bit thickly. The Lion's character development is well handled. It is nice to see him realise his own stubbornness and secrecy wad at least partially to blame for the Fall of Caliban and try to grow beyond it.

 

But there is one big thing missing. Why did the Lion sideline 30,000 troops on Caliban during the Heresy? Several Characters highlight this as the root of their resentment  but having drawn attention to this, no explanation is given, not even in the Lion's inner monologue. This is a bit of a letdown. After building up the big question, Brook's failure to answer it is frustrating. 

[jaxom]

On 1/28/2024 at 12:27 PM, Karhedron said:

Why did the Lion sideline 30,000 troops on Caliban during the Heresy? Several Characters highlight this as the root of their resentment  but having drawn attention to this, no explanation is given, not even in the Lion's inner monologue.

I think it's because the Lion didn't know there were that many Dark Angels on Caliban. The non-Lutherites assumed it was the Lion's order to create strategic reserve for the Legion, while it was really Luthor  pushing recruitment and initiation into overdrive to get more Astartes under his control once he predicted a confrontation with the Lion and the rest of the Legion.

[darkhorse0607]

On 1/28/2024 at 12:27 PM, Karhedron said:

But there is one big thing missing. Why did the Lion sideline 30,000 troops on Caliban during the Heresy? Several Characters highlight this as the root of their resentment  but having drawn attention to this, no explanation is given, not even in the Lion's inner monologue. This is a bit of a letdown. After building up the big question, Brook's failure to answer it is frustrating. 

 

It's heavily hinted at in Descent of Angels that it is fallout from the failed assassination attempt on the Lion/how the Lion separated the Dark Angels he didn't trust from the legion so they couldn't try to plot against him while Crusading. Before that incident he and Zahariel are ok but then it gives the impression that because Zahariel was involved in the plot against him (and he was close with Luthor) it got him a ticket back to Caliban versus Nemiel who was from the same group of Calibanites and Zahariels cousin. Obviously, it ends up blowing up in the Lion's face, but I believe that it was always left open to kind of show how bad the Lion was with people (and the underlying theme of a lot of the Primarchs and the Emperor himself). He never says why the real reason is, just that they're being sent back to Caliban to raise forces for the Crusade.

 

It's been a big overarching question for all of the Dark Angels heresy stuff, none of the authors that have written them have answered the question so maybe it's one thing BL wants left alone? It would make things a lot easier in reuniting them though and explaining to the Fallen why they were on Caliban versus with the legion ("it wasn't you guys, it was your bosses I didn't trust, and look how right I was"). It could've gone two ways during the Heresy as well, either A) it leads people to be more skeptical of what Luthor says when they get back to Caliban, maybe preventing what happens or B) it drives further resentment and puts the rebellion into overdrive with "I'm loyal, not supposed to be here, only here because of you people" etc

 

He also didn't sideline them entirely, if I recall correctly, once the Legion split and Lion went on his planet-exploding adventure, he did allow Corswain to go back to Caliban to get more marines for the war. This then leads into spoilers for the Siege so I'll leave that there

Edited February 9 by darkhorse0607
added the bit at the end

[Shadowshand]

Some context, I got into Warhammer 40K in 2020, first with Necrons and then with Dark Angels before Black Templars had their refresh in 2021, and I then switched to Horus Heresy with the Imperial Fists in 2022. I loved reading tidbits and basic lore for the Templars, Dark Angels, and Necrons back in that day, but when it came to painting my collection, I put the most work into my Dark Angels as they had different "wings" to paint from time to time, which kept it interesting for me.

 

I personally found the dynamic of the Dark Angels in 40K more appealing than their 30K counterparts as they had the arthurian-knightly theme and finding the Fallen who had originally betrayed the DA at the time of 30K. I didn't bother to read any novels on it, I simply got my tidbits of lore from numerous youtube videos. But even my love of knights didn't help me in liking the 30K Dark Angels, so I went with Imperial Fists and my love of the Black Templars and Sigismund thanks to other novels like Helsreach, or my love for Necrons from novels like the Infinite and the Divine.

 

With the release of many new Dark Angels in 40K recently, I figured I would simply look into it and have a nice read through with the Lion: Son of the Forrest. I started reading it on Sunday and just couldn't put the book down. I finished it last night and it became my personal favorite Warhammer novel. I felt like the dynamic of the Fallen was amazing, personal, and very relatable to veterans of wars past that are with us still today. The Lion going through so much character growth that I genuinely cried when he had to kill Baylor at the end. You can feel his pain, and what he was trying to do. It sort of rhymed with how The Emperor took out Horus in the End and the Death Part III. I wonder if that was intentional?

 

The novel made me want to follow the Lion onto ANY battlefield. Hell, even as a regular human, I would want to be a part of the Lion's Guard. The Lion is the kind of role model in the novel that makes me want to follow him through thick and thin. 

 

I feel as though I need to repent myself and collect the Dark Angels for 40K again. That book just changed me. I am a sucker for redemption arcs and character growth, and this novel was a homerun for me, even more so than Helsreach, the Infinite and the Divine, and other Warhammer novels I have read. I loved it that much. 

 

I have read many reviews before I started, some who hated it, some who loved it, some considering it lacking, but I definitely fall in the camp of LOVING this book. In the Grim Darkness of far future, and even in real life at times, sometimes people need hope, especially when everything around them feels hopeless. This novel filled that part for me personally, and made me feel like there was SOME hope, but even if I couldn't achieve it, I should at least try. 

[Karhedron]

I definitely enjoyed the book. The Lion does indeed go through considerable growth and seems to be a lot more likable than his 30k incarnation. And I guess that is a bit of a problem for me. 

 

The book is fairly short. Certainly considerably shorter than most of the HH novels which have been our main view of the Lion up to this point. After several HH novels which depicted him as cold and lacking in people skills, he suddenly learns empathy, charisma and trust in a very short space of time.

 

The Lion himself does acknowledge his shortcomings and works to try and overcome them. It just feels like it is all too quick and easy. Some of the events the Lion cites as reasons for his change of heart are old news. Handing the Siege engines to Perturabo happened at the start of the Heresy (7 years earlier from the Lion's POV). Why is that a spur to self-reflection now rather than then?

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the Lion's character development. It just feels too quick and easy after a fairly consistent portrayal during the HH.

[lansalt]

Well, the Lion was already trying to be less stuck up to his brothers by the end of the Imperium Secundus arc, and we see his grief after the Siege in The Great Wolf, so it doesn't come out of nowhere in my opinion.

[DarkChaplain]

I agree, and will add Dreadwing as well. The Lion is desperate after Ruinstorm. He can't reach Terra. The Astronomican is gone. All he can do is take out his frustration and fear on the traitors he can find, their homeworlds, all while believing Terra has already fallen and all he is capable of anymore is to burn their bases.

 

And then it turns out he was wrong. Terra stands, the Astronomican is relit, and he makes all haste - when he had already given up on reaching the throneworld at all, after believing it gone. He finds a world in ruins, takes out his anger on Russ, who he apparently also thought would be there no matter what; I'd argue that him stabbing Russ here in an attempt to get him to duel is a show of astonishing respect for his brother; it gives a very different spin on their traditional rivalry in hindsight.

 

But up until this point, up until the return to Caliban, the Lion has deliberately kept himself busy, I'd say. He didn't even sit still in Ultramar, instead opting to hunt down the remaining traitors, being incommunicado for ages, and trying to hunt Curze. Before that, it was Thramas (and I seem to recall the Perturabo deception being brought up at some point, too), hunting Night Lords, with an intermission with Typhon, and the realization that he needed to go against the edict of nikaea to win.

 

What I'm getting at: The Lion took action, over and over again. He kept his own council for most of this time, was caught up in a bit of a doom spiral, unable to truly confide in anyone anymore after Luther and Zahariel got exiled. He had the occasional visit from the Watchers, who also seem to have told him his Legion at home was at risk.

This man was ready to throw away his Legion in an attempt to do his job, in the Emperor's name.

 

Thinking back, questioning himself, his actions, wasn't in the cards. He tried to go forwards, until he hit a wall at Caliban. Luther, really, will have been the wake up call - ironically, since it put him in a ten millennia long coma.

 

His spiritual journey and the knowledge he gained then finally allow him to take a step back, mentally, to reassess and reflect. It's a moment where he is free from the pressure of leading his Legion, of the Heresy, of the schism. He has the necessary distance to look at himself and ask: Where have I gone wrong?

[Noserenda]

Exactly that, and its also worth mentioning, he has aged a lot between eras despite being mostly in stasis like Guilliman. He does not remember things sure, but for all we/he knows hes been in Watcher in the Dark timey wimey warp therapy for a hundred subjective years :P 

[Dornfist]

Aight, I finally checked this story out! I did the audiobook and I had quite a blast! (Lol, I am so late to the party).

 

The Lion is my favorite primarch, and the character development he goes through here is awesome. Unlike those who think the character progression was rushed or did not make sense, I think it made sense. This aged Lion slept for 10,000 years, and upon being woken and encountering Zabriel (who is an amazing Fallen character in my view), and learned from him that not everything was as it seemed on Caliban. That it forced him to do some serious self-reflection on where he went wrong as a leader.

 

Spoiler

This story for me was really Jonson giving his Fallen sons a second chance, as well as giving himself a second chance. I appreciated that some of the Fallen he encountered required proof of Jonson being different now, like Kai attacking his primarch to almost dare him to kill him, but of course, he doesn't. It was even more powerful when Baelor saw how the Lion was willing to get in harm's way when Seraphax used his magic to incapacitate his "Risen", which is why Baelor struck down Seraphax. I also liked how Jonson gave hope to the average humans from Kamath to Avalus and elsewhere in the protectorate area he carved in Imperium Nihilus: it was a nice feeling considering how tough things have been for those in Nihilus. I also liked Seraphax's plan: even though he already was on Chaos cool-aid, his plan to transport Jonson to the Emperor to kill him and help him ascend to godhood, through sorcery and puppeteering, to help the Imperium (ends justify the means mindset) was interesting.

 

The little meeting between Dante and Jonson was cool. I liked how Jonson felt relief learning Guilliman returned, as it shows how these fellas welcome having their brothers in this grim dark future as they are the only ones who can understand them fully.

 

The Lion and Luther reunion will be something!

 

For the Lion! And for the Emperor!!!