Elemental Council by Noah Van Nguyen

[LemartesTheLost]

Hello fraters, I'm opening this subforum for the discussion surrounding Elemental Council by Noah Van Nguyen. I have not finished this one yet but have found it immensely enjoyable 1/3rd of the way through. I don't profess to being a connoisseur of Tau lore, but I have liked this novel (so far) more than any other Tau centric work that I have read to date. For those Tau-inclined fraters among us, how do you feel about Van Nguyen's showing here?

 

Thoughts? Opinions? Let the people know!

[grailkeeper]

Reading it atm. Itsa bit spoiled by the fact I was on 22hrs of flights. Not the authors fault. I'm enjoying it. Got a bit lost in the middle but I think that's jet lags fault.

 

I think the Air caste pilot is my favourite character.

 

I like most that we do get a rounded view of the T'Au. Its good getting insights beyond "He fired his Blasterfire™ rifle and fired off some pulsefire™ rounds at the enemy. They all fell dead". (Contrast this book with the High Kahl's Oath....)

Edited December 16, 2024 by grailkeeper

[darkhorse0607]

Can anyone speak as to how the Raptors are portrayed? As far as I can recall it's their first time in a novel, just curious if they're done well or are just Astartes placeholders

[TrillionSpiders]

8 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Can anyone speak as to how the Raptors are portrayed? As far as I can recall it's their first time in a novel, just curious if they're done well or are just Astartes placeholders

 

from what i've heard, well they aren't the memetic idea of the "super tatikool" marines, their portrayal overall is fairly solid and part of their rationale for wanting to target the t'au empire specifically is because they recognize the t'au as an empire on the rise with a great deal of potential even comparing them to humanities "golden age". hence a threat.

[grailkeeper]

Theres really only one that's portrayed in detail but he comes across as hyper efficient. He's treated kind of like a bogeyman- think Darth Vader in Rogue one. A scary opposing force that vastly improves the enemy amd sometimes turns up to wreck fools.

[System Sound]

On 12/17/2024 at 3:24 AM, grailkeeper said:

Theres really only one that's portrayed in detail but he comes across as hyper efficient. He's treated kind of like a bogeyman- think Darth Vader in Rogue one. A scary opposing force that vastly improves the enemy amd sometimes turns up to wreck fools.

I think you just sold me on this book!

[grailkeeper]

I'm only half way through (and I lost my kindle so I wont progress further any time soon) but there's a bit where a firewarrior patrol talk about him, that seems like it came directly out of Vietnam. 

[darkhorse0607]

3 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

I'm only half way through (and I lost my kindle so I wont progress further any time soon) but there's a bit where a firewarrior patrol talk about him, that seems like it came directly out of Vietnam. 

 

Excellent, thank you for the update

 

I was hoping for the "professional" aspect for them that they're known for, and their pragmatism

 

But I'll accept scary space Vietnam Darth Vader

[grailkeeper]

2 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

Excellent, thank you for the update

 

I was hoping for the "professional" aspect for them that they're known for, and their pragmatism

 

But I'll accept scary space Vietnam Darth Vader

 

To be fair, its more like Vietnam for the firewarriors.

[wecanhaveallthree]

THIS ONE'S A BIT OF ALRIGHT

 

I'm glad that the T'au remain the evil globalists of the setting. The bit at the end with the whole 'they're on our side, they just don't realise it yet' spiel from the Ethereal was wonderful. The T'au do the 'good people, evil empire' thing a lot better than the Imperium. Helps that a Space Marine conveniently stands around for a few pages monologuing about You Don't Think It Be Like It Is, But It Do, just in case you missed it.

[cheywood]

Only a fourth of the way through but this is probably going to be my non-Abnett book of the year. It’s an incredible exploration of the Tau, filled with the mix of philosophical and visceral prose that made Godeater’s Son so memorable. Van Nguyen does an excellent job granting each of the principal characters a distinct voice.

Edited December 20, 2024 by cheywood

[The Scorpion]

On 12/20/2024 at 12:22 PM, cheywood said:

Only a fourth of the way through but this is probably going to be my non-Abnett book of the year. It’s an incredible exploration of the Tau, filled with the mix of philosophical and visceral prose that made Godeater’s Son so memorable. Van Nguyen does an excellent job granting each of the principal characters a distinct voice.

It's also filled with so many little details showcasing love for the faction. This bit is what sold me on the book by chapter 5:

 

"In the outskirts of the dying operational base, older models of XV88 Broadside battlesuits lumbered into entrenchments hacked into the hard soil, their shoulder-mounted heavy rail rifles peering from the deep hull-down emplacements."

 

Absolute Kino by Van Nguyen. 100% worth the purchase.

[The Scorpion]

‘Do not sweeten your tone with me, Orr. I served on Fi’draah as a team leader. I remember the stench of that world’s cancer. You monsters of the Whispertide still pollute the water of your caste. Useful you may be, but I despise everything you represent. Serpent.’

 

OMG, it even has a Dark Coil reference!

I feel like Patrick Bateman holding that business card.

 

So Nobledawn had the misfortune to begin her career on Phaedra. This information isn't relevant to the plot, but it informs so much of her character and the way she acts.

Edited January 7 by The Scorpion

[DarkChaplain]

I thought my eyes were popping out of my skull when I saw that Fi'draah namedrop just now. Wow. That bit alone has actually really bumped the book up on my "want to read" list!

[grailkeeper]

I think thr author is ex marines. Thr only other GW authors who has served in the military that I can think of is Henry Zou, who now longer writes for GW. Are there others I've missed? I think I saw either John French or Justin Hill post about being in the TA or Cadets but I could be mistaken.

[Matcap86]

Just finished the book last night and it's allround great. One of the better Xenos books available atm. Loved the way they portrayed the T'au culture and it's idiosyncracies. Great work in showing humanity from the t'au p.o.v and using the marine as the main terrifying threat was also very well done. The only nitpick I have is: (kind of big spoilers)

 

Spoiler

The large amount of fakeout deaths. It really became overused at the end with several characters and antagonists being dead and springing back up for another scene or two as a deus ex machina or "surprise" and then dying again.

 

All in all an excellent book. 8.5/10 for me. 

[sitnam]

This is likely my favorite book of 2024. I'll have to go look back at the rest of the year, but I think only Renegades: Lord of Excess and Oaths of Danmation come close, but this book still comes out on top. My metric for if a Warhammer book is good or not is how much it makes me want to collect the associated army: I'm pretty sure I'll be doing a Pathfinder squad or converted Gue'vesa for the upcoming Kill team paint challenge.

 

I now have a burning desire to see Van Nguyen write a Kroot novel.

 

My only disapointment: 

 

Spoiler

Goad (the Kroot, I listened so I'm not sure if spelling is correct) didnt get his MEAT

 

Edited January 8 by sitnam

[darkhorse0607]

On 1/8/2025 at 4:48 AM, grailkeeper said:

I think thr author is ex marines.

 

Yeah so I had to go and do some digging to look this up

 

I got the book (audio) yesterday and am about 3 hours in so far (thanks insomnia)

 

The way he does the dialog between the

 

Spoiler

Water caste ground controller and the air caste pilot for the attack on the Baneblades

 

Made me extremely curious if he had a military background. Granted it was mostly free of actual terminology that is used, but the gist was close enough. It's the first time that I can recall in a 40k book, where I sat there after a battle scene and thought "oh, that's how it actually works, who are you author"

 

Really loving the book so far, I didn't read Godeaters Son so this is my first experience with the author and I'm really happy with it. Emma Gregory is working overtime changing her voice for the different characters every 5 seconds though

 

Edited January 10 by darkhorse0607