Successors eShorts Week

[The Scorpion]

On 4/11/2024 at 1:20 AM, Malkydel said:

I've given them all five so far.

 

They all tap into different angles of Space Marine writing and different looks at how each Chapter works. So for the Iron Lords its a very blunt, forceful application of their superiority. For the Angels Vermillion there's the constant threat of their lineage, bound up in the mystery of how they go about things and what they intend. Never quite knowing what side of righteous they fall on. For the Howling Griffons there's a good sense of the history of the Chapter, and of Badad, infringing upon the present and making things worse for them.

 

Both "The Guns of Enth" and "The Blooded" definitely feel like the setup for another story, as well. Which is nice.

Can't speak for The Blooded, but I just read The Guns of Enth, and I understand what you mean.
However, having also read R S Wilt's story Recriminant, I kinda feel like this is a prequel to that, given the plot twist of the first explains the plot twist of the latter.

Interestingly, what I loved most about this story was the Fire Angels cameo and how the Howling Griffons perceived them.

Edited April 13 by The Scorpion
typo

[sitnam]

I’ll work through the other stories as time allows, but the Red Talons and Iron Lords stories were both great. The former leans into that connection with Autek Mor without overdoing, and the vengeance found is satisfying. The latter gives a good glimpse into the chapters culture, and the ending lets you know that these are definitely Iron Hands successors 

[The Scorpion]

3 hours ago, sitnam said:

I’ll work through the other stories as time allows, but the Red Talons and Iron Lords stories were both great. The former leans into that connection with Autek Mor without overdoing, and the vengeance found is satisfying. The latter gives a good glimpse into the chapters culture, and the ending lets you know that these are definitely Iron Hands successors 

Plus there are subtle themes, I think. For instance, the Red Talons cruiser fell into the planet because of a carefully laid trap. Later, the Dred patiently plots a trap of his own...

 

Having read the others, I think that the Executionners get a better tale in terms of it being an Executionners story. The story was written by someone who loves the Chapter and it shows.References to the Badab setting are detailled and cover obscure topics.

 

The Howling Griffons get one of the better stories, but in my opinion it didn't quite feel like it was about them. R S Wilt is making clear a play to write something else, but that something else will be hard for him to get given the many authors that already write that faction.

 

The Iron Lords story is very similar to that of the Red Talons, which plays to its detriment because the Iron Lords tale is about the Chapter's callousness, whereas the Red Talons one is about the Chapter's callousness and other things besides.

 

I'm still not too sure about the Angels Vermillion one. It does everything right, but suffers from a wee bit of flanderization. It gives the guard justice, but has the punkiest CSM out of all the stories, and its depiction of Chaos is the more in-line to how the Imperium percieves it, and therefore lacking the spooky existencial nuance of other tales.

[sitnam]

9 hours ago, The Scorpion said:

The Iron Lords story is very similar to that of the Red Talons, which plays to its detriment because the Iron Lords tale is about the Chapter's callousness, whereas the Red Talons one is about the Chapter's callousness and other things besides.

I think the Red Talons story is better because it had the focus of a single character. The Iron Lords story, though I enjoyed it, had too many perspectives for a short story. With the Red Talons I grew attached to the protagonist and his background

 

I do hope to see both authors try their hand again at these Iron Hands successors.

[LemartestheLost]

9 hours ago, The Scorpion said:

I'm still not too sure about the Angels Vermillion one. It does everything right, but suffers from a wee bit of flanderization. It gives the guard justice, but has the punkiest CSM out of all the stories, and its depiction of Chaos is the more in-line to how the Imperium percieves it, and therefore lacking the spooky existencial nuance of other tales.

I really enjoyed this one, although I’m probably biased as Blood Angel & Co. lore scratches a certain itch in my brain.  However, I picked up on this as well when it came to fighting the CSM. As @Malkydel stated, the rhythm of the combat scenes was quite good,

 

Spoiler

BUT it seemed a little unreasonable that one sergeant solo’d an entire squad of plague marines without help/more serious injuries. Minor thing that’s easily fixable in the future though.

 

Otherwise, great story! The real star of the short is the Sanguinary Priest, as far as I’m concerned.  He was a very well written foil and has the potential to be excellent as a standalone character if the author ever gets to spend more pages on him.
 

[The Scorpion]

Ok, I got to finish The shot that kills You and Tears of Raphaela. I can confidently say that all of these stories were a W, at least for me.
They both do a good job of making it a Raptors and Lamenters tale respectively.

In hindsight, the Howling Griffons, Iron Lords, and maybe the Angels Vermillion didn't get that same focus, even if their stories were decent.

 

On 4/13/2024 at 9:41 AM, LemartestheLost said:

I really enjoyed this one, although I’m probably biased as Blood Angel & Co. lore scratches a certain itch in my brain.  However, I picked up on this as well when it came to fighting the CSM. As @Malkydel stated, the rhythm of the combat scenes was quite good,

 

  Reveal hidden contents

BUT it seemed a little unreasonable that one sergeant solo’d an entire squad of plague marines without help/more serious injuries. Minor thing that’s easily fixable in the future though.

 

Otherwise, great story! The real star of the short is the Sanguinary Priest, as far as I’m concerned.  He was a very well written foil and has the potential to be excellent as a standalone character if the author ever gets to spend more pages on him.
 

What did you think of the Lamenters story?

[LemartestheLost]

On 4/16/2024 at 10:28 AM, The Scorpion said:

What did you think of the Lamenters story?

I’m of the opinion that Tears of Raphaela was probably the weakest short out of the bunch, but it was still very good! There were several different avenues the author could have taken when portraying the Chapter’s melancholy and misfortune that I think would have resonated more with me. Additionally, I felt that the stakes weren’t high enough.  As can be said for the majority of shorts out there in the world, this work would have been benefited from more pages. I can see the spark there, I just need more!
 

While I’m critiquing the short we got, I was really hoping to see something different from the Lamenters in the Era Indomitus. Maybe a surge of really good luck for a bit before getting utterly trashed again, I don’t know.
 

On the whole, the complete short subscription was worth every cent in my view, I wouldn’t rate any of these stories below a 6.5 or 7/10.  I really hope they throw these shorts into a paperback anthology like Successors from a year or two back. Honestly, if anything, BL should make that a series with a new release every couple of years. GW, I implore you, commission more successor chapter and xenos stories. They give the setting a little something called flavor!

 

[The Scorpion]

On 4/18/2024 at 12:23 PM, LemartestheLost said:

I’m of the opinion that Tears of Raphaela was probably the weakest short out of the bunch, but it was still very good! There were several different avenues the author could have taken when portraying the Chapter’s melancholy and misfortune that I think would have resonated more with me. Additionally, I felt that the stakes weren’t high enough.  As can be said for the majority of shorts out there in the world, this work would have been benefited from more pages. I can see the spark there, I just need more!
 

While I’m critiquing the short we got, I was really hoping to see something different from the Lamenters in the Era Indomitus. Maybe a surge of really good luck for a bit before getting utterly trashed again, I don’t know.
 

On the whole, the complete short subscription was worth every cent in my view, I wouldn’t rate any of these stories below a 6.5 or 7/10.  I really hope they throw these shorts into a paperback anthology like Successors from a year or two back. Honestly, if anything, BL should make that a series with a new release every couple of years. GW, I implore you, commission more successor chapter and xenos stories. They give the setting a little something called flavor!

 

Speaking of The Successors, I realize that this batch was much better than what we got back then except for the stories about the Consecrators, and of course, the brutal mogging that Sins of My Brothers performs on everything else.

I can see this being bundled into another anthology, but the thing with anthologies is that they don't always get the theme right.
Take the latest Galaxy of Horrors for instance, which was more of a collection about the latest BL stories. With a title like that, I expected better. And it is a waste of a badass title that could've been used for so much more.

Edited April 19 by The Scorpion
typo

[LemartestheLost]

6 minutes ago, The Scorpion said:

Speaking of The Successors, I realize that this batch was much better than what we got back then except for the stories about the Consecrators, and of course, the brutal mogging that Sins of My Brothers performs on everything else.

I can see this being bundled into another anthology, but the thing with anthologies is that they don't always get the theme right.
Take the latest Galaxy of Horrors for instance, which was more of a collection about the latest BL stories. With a title like that, I expected better. And it is a waste of a titile because that could've been used for so much more.

 
Wholeheartedly agree that this collection of stories overtakes The Successors. They would print money if they just held on to these and released The Successors 2 once they acquire another 5-6 decent shorts. If the theme is just various Space Marine flavors it’s impossible to screw up in terms of advertising. I wouldn’t be surprised if we lose one of these shorts to the exclusivity of a follow up novel’s Limited Edition release, however. 

[The Scorpion]

On 4/18/2024 at 1:37 PM, LemartestheLost said:

 
Wholeheartedly agree that this collection of stories overtakes The Successors. They would print money if they just held on to these and released The Successors 2 once they acquire another 5-6 decent shorts. If the theme is just various Space Marine flavors it’s impossible to screw up in terms of advertising. I wouldn’t be surprised if we lose one of these shorts to the exclusivity of a follow up novel’s Limited Edition release, however. 

Given the Sororitas eShort week that happened a while ago, I'm wondering if these subscription weeks are how GeeDubs will handle more short stories going forwards. This successors collection generated a lot of buzz, but I have yet to see a thread for the sisters one.