The Silent King Short Review

[wecanhaveallthree]

I mean, it's effectively Dark Imperium #5 (...#8?). Dawn of Fire was always a series where nothing of particular import was going to happen, and fizzling out on a go-nowhere say-nothing confrontation that we've seen minute variations on like eight times in a row - what is there to say? Dawn of Fire? More like Dead on Arrival lmao gottem.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

One thing completely unrelated to the actual story that struck me was that Haley, who's been probably the author making most frequent reference to the Overlord gunship since way back in Dark Imperium, has perhaps marked the official death of that ship design as well as the titular vessel.

 

We had Overlords in Dark Imperium, The Great Work, and Avenging Son, but here the same Primaris marines who were all about loading up on one of those instead wedged themselves into a Thunderhawk without comment. And the only use of the word "Overlord" that I remember was as a reference to the battlecruiser class.

 

If Haley of all people is walking away from using the Overlord as a Marine transport where he would have used it before, I have to wonder if behind the scenes they finally decided to kill any and all plans for a model and started telling everyone to delete references to them going forward.

[Arkhas Fell]

On 8/16/2025 at 10:24 PM, Lord Nord in Gravis Armour said:

One thing completely unrelated to the actual story that struck me was that Haley, who's been probably the author making most frequent reference to the Overlord gunship since way back in Dark Imperium, has perhaps marked the official death of that ship design as well as the titular vessel.

 

We had Overlords in Dark Imperium, The Great Work, and Avenging Son, but here the same Primaris marines who were all about loading up on one of those instead wedged themselves into a Thunderhawk without comment. And the only use of the word "Overlord" that I remember was as a reference to the battlecruiser class.

 

If Haley of all people is walking away from using the Overlord as a Marine transport where he would have used it before, I have to wonder if behind the scenes they finally decided to kill any and all plans for a model and started telling everyone to delete references to them going forward.

On my very first read of Dark Imperium in 2017 I remember frenetically searching for an image of the Overlord on the internet. I thought "surely we'll get an official model this year or perhaps next year". Funny to see how it turned out.

Edited August 20 by Arkhas Fell

[Orange Knight]

The Overlord is described as a twin hull bohemoth, several times the size of a Thunderhawk.

 

We were never getting a model, but it might have appeared in video games or artwork.

Also worth noting is that the Overlord isn't a replacament for the Thunderhawk - it's an addition to the Marine arsenal, alongside a new pattern of agile warship that Marines can deploy from.

Edited August 21 by Orange Knight

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

6 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

The Overlord is described as a twin hull bohemoth, several times the size of a Thunderhawk.

 

We were never getting a model, but it might have appeared in video games or artwork.

 

A lot of unearned certainty there given that the T'au Manta exists and the Overlord would simply be a comparably-sized model for a far more popular faction.

 

[Orange Knight]

58 minutes ago, Lord Nord in Gravis Armour said:

 

A lot of unearned certainty there given that the T'au Manta exists and the Overlord would simply be a comparably-sized model for a far more popular faction.

 

 

Maybe in a different timeline. GW have scaled Forgeworld back a lot in the last decade.

[roryokane]

On 8/13/2025 at 7:08 AM, Nagashsnee said:

Its funny how a random BL book can spawn a dozen page threadof discussion, any HH book can muster up a strong exchange of views and opinions, but here we are. The final novel in the latest flagship series, the finale of the 'Dawn of Fire Saga' and here, reddit and in my case IRL there is barely a whisper. It came and went like a ship in the night.  

 

Tho i suppose this is a step up from a thread full of complaints and disapointment, i am suprised just how little talk this is generating both online and off. Tho i guess dawn of fire kinda killed its own hype 4 books ago. 

It’s just gone on too long, was too disparate, and didn’t really advance the setting much.

 

and it doesn’t give us good inghts into the workings of a big character, unlike, say, The Great Work.

[cheywood]

Finished this last night. As someone who usually likes Haley this didn’t really hit the notes it needed to for me. There are some good moments and the prose is enjoyable enough, especially where Cawl and Athagey are involved, but it all felt disjointed and weightless. As a whole I think Dawn of Fire failed in large part because it wasn’t able to introduce recurring characters worth caring about. The Heresy, for all its failings, is filled with rich and memorable characters, both those preexisting in the lore and created for the novels. Dawn of Fire has resulted in a few characters I enjoyed, such as the cast of Sea of Souls, but there’s no where near the same degree of presence in most of the writing as I expected going into it. I would go on in my criticism, but I’d honestly rather forget the series and move on. I suspect that’s what BL is going to do. The Silent King feels like a relatively clean break, setting up Dark Imperium and introducing little in the way of new plot threads that would demand Dawn of Fire be read. Good riddance I have to say, hopefully whatever follows is more inventive, cohesive and overall enjoyable. 
 

[Kenzaburo]

What would you all say, does Dawn of Fire have any must-reads or at least highly recommended entries? As I've said before, I liked Avenging Son quite a bit, but without a proper conclusion to the story threads started there and the characters I would refrain to recommend it. But do some of the entries hold up for themselves?

[cheywood]

57 minutes ago, Kenzaburo said:

What would you all say, does Dawn of Fire have any must-reads or at least highly recommended entries? As I've said before, I liked Avenging Son quite a bit, but without a proper conclusion to the story threads started there and the characters I would refrain to recommend it. But do some of the entries hold up for themselves?

Sea of Souls is excellent and can be read standalone without missing much of anything. 

[Nagashsnee]

Another vote for Sea of Souls, great warhammer horror/navy book. And i dont you would miss anything even if you ignore all the other books in the 'series'. 

[theSpirea]

Finished it, but what a struggle. I can’t believe the last installment in this epic series reads like filler. This series is more disappointing than Beast Arises; at least that one started off meh. With Avenging Son, I had high hopes.

The only positive thing about DoF is Sea of Souls, which can be read as a standalone. I encourage everyone to pick that one up.

[Nagashsnee]

12 hours ago, theSpirea said:

This series is more disappointing than Beast Arises;

The Beast Arises walked and stumbled... so dawn of fire could run, trip, fail to grab the guard rail, and fall down the stairs. 

[Harmonee]

Just finished the book. I agree with the OP. This is probably my least favorite offering from Guy and I usually enjoy his books. I guess the futility of it all didn't help. This is a story that basically bridges into a trilogy of books that completed years ago but doesn't recontextualize anything we'd already know about Cawl or Guilliman's objectives. And, as pointed out, the shift in big bads seems to be kind of tacked on.

 

I get that they had to wrap up the Dawn of Fire series, but...IDK. I'm all for inconsequential adventures in the setting but when a story advertises a major character and the story doesn't resonate it increases the disappointment.

[ADarke]

So does anything happen with the athame from Sea of Souls? Was it really the athame that the Emperor used to kill Horus? Any more info on the pseudo Star-Child?

[NTaW]

I was disappointed that Silent King didn't continue or conclude the plot threads from the end of Hand of Abaddon. On the other hand, it was glorious seeing how absolutely crushing the Necron fleets were.

 

On 9/1/2025 at 10:41 PM, ADarke said:

So does anything happen with the athame from Sea of Souls? Was it really the athame that the Emperor used to kill Horus?

 

Have you read Hand of Abaddon? There's content there you may find of interest. Silent King is about Guilliman diverting to the Nephilim Anomaly and finding out that the Necrons are a full on real threat to the Imperium.