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 Monday at 08:10 AM 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

[darkhorse0607]

4 hours ago, Nagashsnee said:

 

  Hide contents

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. 

 

 

 

Yeah, so only 5ish chapters in, I'll listen a bit when I'm on the treadmill later so I just hit the part where

 

Spoiler

where Felix arrives to Raukos(sp?) and it just kind of caught me off-guard. Granted early on and all that, but for a book that started with deep focus on the characters/establishing the historitor (also sp, sorry, audible, I spell like it sounds) to the point where she was thinking about having to go to the bathroom and a headache, it was kind of whiplash when it switched to Felix that, at least now, just seems unconnected to Cawls Adventure to the Temple of Doom or at least a weird spot to transition to might be a better way of putting it

 

I read The Successors anthology a few months back and there's a followup to the Wolfspears plot from Dark Imperium in there which I liked, so I'm actually up for more Felix/Wolfspear stuff but, I wonder how it's going to strike me when we're deep into Cawl removing the statue from the pillar and getting chased by a boulder dodging Necrons/Chaos with his time displacement thing

 

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

I haven't been shy about pointing out failures in BL product in the past, even Haley's (definitively killing off a character in The Silent King who was known to be healthy and active in the previously-published Ashes of Cadia, which took place a decade later, for instance).

 

However, I had a different take on a couple of the criticisms mentioned above:

 

 

I'm so used to the shift in PoV characters in Haley books at this point that it might have actually felt odd to have a string of Cawl chapters reach more than three or four before it was interrupted. And I'd argue it served a more vital function in this book as it reminded us of the difference in relative time during Cawl's operation. He'd have about four chapters all taking place over the course of a few hours and then we switch back to Felix and it's been several weeks since we last saw him. When we get back to Cawl, even though we left him on a cliffhanger, it's understood that the sidestep into Felix's story only lasted a few moments in Cawl's PoV. The early chapters don't work this way, but they're "building" chapters on all sides, not relating the middle of a battle.

 

Granted, it would have been better if Felix had been worked in to Genefather as well, but at this point he's been part of four previous (and chronologically recent) Haley novels, so he's hardly a stranger. Still, the... outcome... of the final conflict for several members of the Chosen of Vespator would have had more of an impact if they'd actually been introduced properly in this book. A couple of them were not even mentioned by name until their "outcome" was related.

 

As for the lack of heavy equipment possessed by the Wolfspear company on Ulvheim, that was actually explained early on:

 

‘Sorry about that,’ said Bjarni. ‘They’re bit a cramped, those old Rhinos, but we’re short on Impulsors.’ He pointed his thumb behind him at the tank. ‘We were given a lot of legacy equipment when we were founded. There wasn’t so much of the new machinery to spare. What we have we sent out with the hunting companies, and negotiations with the Adeptus Mechanicus take their time.’ Bjarni looked at Felix. ‘I know you, Decimus, you’ll be thinking we’ve been here five years, and in that time we should have got our forges operating at full capacity, and should be making our own as well. But the Varghalen is not a fortress-monastery – that honour goes to the Umbral Claw – and we do not have many Techmarines here. Fighting every night doesn’t leave a lot of time to get things accomplished, so we’ll be forced to make do with what we have until some forge world or other agrees to supply us.’

 

You may not accept that explanation, but at least it was there.

 

[Nagashsnee]

1 hour ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

Yeah, so only 5ish chapters in, I'll listen a bit when I'm on the treadmill later so I just hit the part where

 

  Reveal hidden contents

where Felix arrives to Raukos(sp?) and it just kind of caught me off-guard. Granted early on and all that, but for a book that started with deep focus on the characters/establishing the historitor (also sp, sorry, audible, I spell like it sounds) to the point where she was thinking about having to go to the bathroom and a headache, it was kind of whiplash when it switched to Felix that, at least now, just seems unconnected to Cawls Adventure to the Temple of Doom or at least a weird spot to transition to might be a better way of putting it

 

I read The Successors anthology a few months back and there's a followup to the Wolfspears plot from Dark Imperium in there which I liked, so I'm actually up for more Felix/Wolfspear stuff but, I wonder how it's going to strike me when we're deep into Cawl removing the statue from the pillar and getting chased by a boulder dodging Necrons/Chaos with his time displacement thing

 

I look forward to hearing from you when you are futher in.

47 minutes ago, Lord Nord in Gravis Armour said:

I haven't been shy about pointing out failures in BL product in the past, even Haley's (definitively killing off a character in The Silent King who was known to be healthy and active in the previously-published Ashes of Cadia, which took place a decade later, for instance).

 

However, I had a different take on a couple of the criticisms mentioned above:

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

I'm so used to the shift in PoV characters in Haley books at this point that it might have actually felt odd to have a string of Cawl chapters reach more than three or four before it was interrupted. And I'd argue it served a more vital function in this book as it reminded us of the difference in relative time during Cawl's operation. He'd have about four chapters all taking place over the course of a few hours and then we switch back to Felix and it's been several weeks since we last saw him. When we get back to Cawl, even though we left him on a cliffhanger, it's understood that the sidestep into Felix's story only lasted a few moments in Cawl's PoV. The early chapters don't work this way, but they're "building" chapters on all sides, not relating the middle of a battle.

 

Granted, it would have been better if Felix had been worked in to Genefather as well, but at this point he's been part of four previous (and chronologically recent) Haley novels, so he's hardly a stranger. Still, the... outcome... of the final conflict for several members of the Chosen of Vespator would have had more of an impact if they'd actually been introduced properly in this book. A couple of them were not even mentioned by name until their "outcome" was related.

 

As for the lack of heavy equipment possessed by the Wolfspear company on Ulvheim, that was actually explained early on:

 

‘Sorry about that,’ said Bjarni. ‘They’re bit a cramped, those old Rhinos, but we’re short on Impulsors.’ He pointed his thumb behind him at the tank. ‘We were given a lot of legacy equipment when we were founded. There wasn’t so much of the new machinery to spare. What we have we sent out with the hunting companies, and negotiations with the Adeptus Mechanicus take their time.’ Bjarni looked at Felix. ‘I know you, Decimus, you’ll be thinking we’ve been here five years, and in that time we should have got our forges operating at full capacity, and should be making our own as well. But the Varghalen is not a fortress-monastery – that honour goes to the Umbral Claw – and we do not have many Techmarines here. Fighting every night doesn’t leave a lot of time to get things accomplished, so we’ll be forced to make do with what we have until some forge world or other agrees to supply us.’

 

You may not accept that explanation, but at least it was there.

 
 

 

 

Spoiler

The explanation explain why the newer cawl era gear is in short supply. BUT. and this is a big (HAHA) BUT, this is a space marine homeworld which gets DAILY (well nightly) deamonic invasions. Even if they took ALL the new stuff, if the book is telling me they left NOTHING behind it would be nothing but gross incompotence at normal times. During the era indomitus, on a planet NEXT to a warp anomaly that gets INVADED every 24 hours, felix should have executed the chapter master on the spot when he returned.  A single soul grinder becomes a major issue they could hardly deal with.  The chapters actual job is to guard the pit and the pylons and they went off cause they got bored and stripped the garisson so bare that a single deamonic tank (again they get invaded by deamons every day) becomes a major major issue.   As i said in my original post its COMICALLY small force, and thats AFTER felix and co reinforced them.  The explanation given makes it WORSE not better. They are unprepared for their duty, they are lax in their guard, they are remit of their oaths, they are inept and none of this warms me to them. 

 

And before someone says it, no 'the ever happening  deamon invasions have not had armor or big dudes so far so we sent all our armor off world'  is not the defence they think it is.  I understand the need for a action set piece but it was set up in my view very poorly. 

 

As for the POV issue, i am not arguing for Cawl to have never ending chapters, just that they way it was done was to me detrimental to the flow.  Cut away sure, but have it a way that doesnt feel like we are cutting to a different story.  I have no issues with the chaos cuts (tho i found the Iron Warrior a bit boring). Have felix go the wolfspears, having him inspect the pylons, have them report to him that the invasion are getting worse and their numbers are tumbling. Suddenly cawls quest has a second timer, the actual trapped in the black whole timer, and the know to us the reader needs to get back to the pit before the pylons are overunn timer.

 

Cut to Felix trying to secure more forces since he doesnt hear from cawl but finding none available fast, give us the souldgrinder fight but have the chapter NOT HAVE enough armor and resources for the bigger and bigger waves (forcing felix into danger and having his 1 tank plug a gap). Tie the two story threads together so they feel united. Instead i have Felix catching up with mates and drinking space viking vodka while they chat about old times. THAT POV i have a issue with, cause it makes me want to go back to thea ACTUAL plot. 

 

Plus you have Cawl ship getting damaged, having them slowly being overrun and us knowing Vashtor is sending the soul grinder swarm while Cawl ship takes damage creates tension. Maybe the pylons will be damaged, it is close to the end of the book, maybe Felix goes down and they set up a cawl goes cray cray with the pylons as revenge,  maybe...maybe.

 

Instead the bored space vikings have failed in their one job...because they got bored and the imperial forces are in danger because of....incompotence? That is never adressed? Like they clearly could not afford to have 4  companies off word which was their actual obj to secure.  

 

I have no issues with split POV when they add to the book and it all flows together. These one did not. 

 

 

Edited Monday at 02:50 PM by Nagashsnee

[Roomsky]

Wait. Wait wait wait. You're all saying Felix is the least interesting part of a novel?

 

I'm shocked. Shocked!

[Orange Knight]

I just finished reading the book. It's the weakest novel in the Cawl series so far, but still more interesting, more exciting and overall better than most other Black Library novels released over the past 2 years.

 

Cawl continues to be an extremely interesting character, and Haley continues to write interesting sci-fi stories, leaning into interesting technologies over magics and mysticism - although there is plenty of that too.

**WARNING** Heavy Spoilers Ahead - Be Warned

 

Spoiler

The plot of this book is pretty wild. The Adeptus Mechanicus have devised a method of traveling to a planet locked on the very edge of the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, which was artificially created during the War in Heaven.

The Planet is a Necron War World that was being assaulted by the forces of Ancient Eldar, and due to the extreme gravitational forces from the Black Hole, is effectively frozen in time. The planet is as it was 67 million years ago. The fact that the planet was not outright destroyed by the artificial black hole is due to the fact that the Necron War Wold had active defenses that moved the planet away, trying to counter the black hole, but failed to escape fully, so the world is forever trapped in the Event Horizon.
On this planet the armies from the War in Heaven still exist, frozen in time, and an intact Necron data centre exists - uncorrupted and undamaged by the passege of time.

This was all absolutely fascinating, and it's one of the reasons why I always love the adventures of Cawl in the Haley novels. The whole plot and premise feels very different from the typical 40k adventure - there is a focus on incredible technological achievements and overcoming limitations.
There are many other elements in play that make this plan work, including using Necron technologies, mcguffins, etc but it all feels pretty good to read about. There are also some insights into the War in Heaven, including the ancient startship and weapons which is very interesting considering the mysticism surrounding this period.

The whole thing was a clever way of effectively having time travel in the 40k setting, and there are some fun plot development that work well without milking the concept too much.

I've seen complaints that the Felix portion of the book was slow - I think this was the point. Cawl and his party can't be fully shielded, despite their best efforts, from the gravitational effects the black hole has on time. Their brief stint on the Necron War World feels like minutes or hours to them, but months pass in the rest of the galaxy. Felix and the Wolf Spear chapter are defending a small, man-made Pylon network, awaiting Cawl's arrival.

There is another plot including Vashtor, who in this novel feels like a dark mirror to Belisarius Cawl. In fact, he is obsessed with the Archmagos, and his ultimate desire is to turn Cawl over to Chaos, and have him as a prized tech savant on his personal forge world inside the warp.

The biggest plot development in the novel is the fact that Cawl does succeed in his mission to plunder the Necron database, and is able to effectively re-create the Necron pylons. He closes the warp rift near the Attilan gap completely, and departs to do the same in other areas.
It is now effectively possible for the Imperium to close the Great Rift, although it would still be a grand and costly undertaking. Who knows what other technologies he'll be able to master with the Necron database in his possession.

There are also developments with Qvo-89 and some of the other characters which could be of interest to people who are familiar with them, and who have read the prior novels.

 

Overall this novel was great, and it does serve to progress the main 40k Narrative. It also sets up future conflicts between major players.

Edited 18 hours ago by Orange Knight

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

4 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

 

  Hide contents

The biggest plot development in the novel is the fact that Cawl does succeed in his mission to plunder the Necron database, and is able to effectively re-create the Necron pylons. He closes the warp rift near the Attilan gap completely, and departs to do the same in other areas.

 

 

To be clear...

 

 

 
It's just the Pit Cawl closes, and the Gap (not "other areas") he departs to work on closing, a process he expects to take about a year.

After that and assuming Cawl meets his own timetable, Guilliman will be able to return to Sanctus... still a couple of years before the Lion shows up in Nihilus. Perhaps by then someone will manage to explain the timeline (again) to Chapter Master Valrak, since he somehow thinks Archmagos is taking place during or after the Lion's return.

 

 

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Lord Nord in Gravis Armour

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

BTW, the limited edition of this book does include a new short story that I haven't seen mentioned. It's called "Five Questions" and involves Alpha Primus binding a (very) lesser daemon and engaging in the titular exercise.

 

Salient information from the responses:

 

 

 

 

 

Primus is Cawl's son "in flesh and effort both."
 

 
Cawl did not use any of the geneseed from the Primarchs to create Alpha Primus.

 

The daemon refers to the primarchs as "the darkness" and Primus himself as "the shadow."

 

That's about it.

 
 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Lord Nord in Gravis Armour

[wecanhaveallthree]

Spoiler

Cawl did not use any of the geneseed from the Primarchs to create Alpha Primus.

 

Heh heh heh:

 

Spoiler

"Bile’s bolt pistol came up preternaturally fast; for such a relic he could move. Primus waved his hand. A blow of telekinetic force sent it wide. A second wrenched it from the Primogenitor’s grasp, and it slammed into the gutted wreck of a lighter.
 

Bile rubbed his wrist. ‘I sense the seed of the cyclops in you. Cawl is rash. You should not be.’"

 

We all make mistakes. I'm sure Bile will bounce back.

 

 

[Scribe]

Sigh...