ARCHMAGOS GUY HALEY

[Nagashsnee]

Ok so unless i really failed i did not see a dedicated thread for this book. And i was lucky enought to get thru it over the weekend. I wont go into details unless requested (dont, read it) but just general impressions. Non spoiler version, the third book in the Belisarius Cawl series it carries on from the previous plot threads and indeed moves it all forward. It explores and advances both the general plot set up (Necrons, pylons) but also several character plots (Cawl, The Regent, Qvo) while introducing one or two new characters. 

 

I found it to be the weakest of the three without that meaning it was not a fun read. Just that it was not at the level the previous two were (especially the Great Work). For reasons see spoilers.

7/10. Solid and delivers what you expect, but doesnt knock any balls out of the park doing so.

 

The below spoilers dont actually spoil anything major, its mostly what i found did not work for the books, and contains only vague spoilers, did it just to be safe.

 

Spoiler

The book is split amongst 3 POVs, you have Cawl and gang, Felix and his marine friends, and Chaooooos which is up to some eviiiil let me tell you. Unfortunately for me this divide did not work, Cawl and gang are obviously the main draw, and indeed the main plot of the book, and while the chaos sections were fine and set up the main big bad, the Felix section did not serve much of a purpose. 

 

We go back to the Wolfspears, and Felixs wolf spear friend, we catch up on the chapter and what they have been doing at the pit of Racknoss (sp?), sure it sets up Cawls been building pylons there for latter in the book, but ultimatly they eat up allot of pages, failed to keep my attention and interest and felt like a weird segway into 'hey remember dark Imperium? I member!'. 

 

This divide killed narative flow as every time the Cawl plot was picking up i would be thrown into a felix or chaos chapter or three and and it just killed momentum. I just DONT CARE about the wolf spears, or Felix, or the COMICALLY silly numbers they have in fighting endless hordes of deamons every night (for real they act like 1 repulsor is some kind of major power up, but the wolf spears should have a full armory of tanks and gear, why is Felix bringing 1 fething tank treated with such awe).  Marines are what i buy Cawl books to get away from, the tetrachs and the primaris and the 500 worlds and Titus and Calgar.... and all that is why i was excited that a Cawl book dropped. 

 

Now some of you are already typing away, ''but book 1 had Felix and Marines you fool! you hypocrite!'.  So why are they are a issue here? Because in book 1 they are PART of the Cawl story from the get go and their story and Cawls story becomes 1 organic story. Here while they do eventually get to that point its too little too late. A huge chunck of the book is practially 2 mini books connected by a overall story. They do NOT form 1 cohesive organic story, but are instead two seperate stories running in pararel. And for me this left the book poorer for it. 

 

Indeed this book replaces book 1 Felix with  order Historitar Mechanicus character, and sets up a deeply Mechanicus focussed story....that FELIX just keeps interrupting. 

 

Anyhow i make it sound worse then it is, but it was ultimately a let down. The good was there, Qvo, Cawls Necron GF, mechanicus being mechanicus, Primus being the mopey teenage kid he truly is. But the format of the story held it back and left a bitter aftertaste that  holds the book back.

 

Very curious if this turns out to be just me or not. SO PLEASE SHARE YOUR VIEWS

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Nagashsnee
I cant spell LoL

[Karhedron]

Haley has turned Cawl from a McGuffin into one of the most entertaining characters in 40K. I am still looking forward to picking this up but I cannot seem to find it anywhere other than BL. Is it in Amazon or anything?

[Tolmeus]

14 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

Is it in Amazon or anything?

 

Kindle version on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.de/Archmagos-Warhammer-40-000-English-ebook/dp/B0FXH84D2Z/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=2A60E33WDE8H&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.wjK8LyQFjrjH98yze3O4QTFwQHxUlNGlpBsPT_WKHoPGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.b1SiFVT21A0sVxDxRhi4xhcwB1CbNMmwVvREMVevV9k&dib_tag=se&keywords=archmagos+guy+haley&qid=1763979064&s=audible&sprefix=archmagos+guy+haley%2Caudible%2C100&sr=1-1-catcorr

 

Audible on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.de/Belisarius-Cawl-Archmagos-Warhammer-000/dp/B0G162YVT4/ref=zg_bsnr_g_420058031_d_sccl_14/000-0000000-0000000?psc=1

 

Hardback on Warhammer:

https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-belisarius-cawl-archmagos-eng-2025?queryID=d926baaa066ba12bfcb732800441ee3a