Warhammer 40,000 Novels

Friday

Lord Nagafen Raider
870
104
They could make a 20 Book series about the craftworlds & the fall, that would be cool too.

I just finished "WE ARE ONE" and it is the most fucking epic 25 pages you will ever read in your entire life.
I always found the Alpha Legion very interesting, but we never see anything about them...
Except the little story about that geneseed theft & the reasons they turned, but this... this... this was Legendary !
Where do you find "WE ARE ONE" ?

Is this a Warhammer sub novel or something?

edit

Found it i guess

The Black Library - Tales From The Archive: We Are One (eBook)
 
W

Wrathcaster

Just finished Unremembered Empire. Decent book, I suppose. Explains a lot, or rather sets up (or changes) lore to explain how the Dark Angels and Ultramarines don't show for the siege of Terra. Frontpage is a big misleading, if you were expecting the Angel. Guess that's a spoiler, but if you were fiending for Sanguinius, you deserve to know.

For those who can't be bothered reading it, and those that already have

A Deus Ex machina explaining how Guilliman manages to bring in Sanguinius, for whatever reason, since he ends up at Terra anyway. And for whatever reason, they bring the Lion into it, though I guess it was never truly explained why he wasn't at Terra? Never read any of the Dark Angels books that weren't in the HH series. And then asshole Curze, who they've been trying to interject for like 4 books now. It's okay until Abnett gets pulled into the Vulkan Lives bullshit. Yeah, Vulkan's immortal and Curze drove him crazy. He can't die and Curze is pissed that they keep fighting and he can't kill him. But it doesn't matter, because Curze gets away anyway. And ends up on Macragge just like he did in the beginning of the book, despite being warped away towards the end. Pointless, really. Another Deus Ex to make him conveniently go away for a bit.

The Lion and Guilliman make up and make out, and in the last ten pages or so Sanguinius shows up, they agree to make the second Imperium in the case that Terra has already fallen and make Sanguinius the new Regent (or Emperor, if the big E is dead), since none of them can find the Astronomicon.

What I can't get is that the Lion and Sanginius can't see the Astronomicon, although the Khan, Leman Russ, and Corax were able to find it, as well as the Imperial Fists. Lorewise, at least within the HH series, it makes sense that the Ultrasmurfs can't see it because of Lorgar's Ruinstorm, but the Lion and Sanguinius weren't in Ultramar when that happened. Why can't they see it, when every other loyalist legion can? I suppose they'll Deus Ex that too.

It's an okay if you're a Horus Heresy lore-whore like me, I guess. If you're looking to just consume Heresy content, then yeah Certainly not a Nemesis or Battle for the Abyss or their like, but the Vulkan Lives arc that made its way in pissed me off. There's some serious and ridiculous weird Mary Sue-ing going on with Vulkan in a, IMO, very very stupid way. The Horus Heresy series has never been any sort of literary work of art by any means, but a several of them were genuinely decent reads if you enjoy the 40k universe.

Lately though, jesus christ. Supposedly all the authors in the series meet up and convene on this shit, but if that's true they all need to get dick slapped. Or whoever's arranging and approving the meeting needs to. They were smoking some serious crack, or watching interracial gay snuff movies when they decided on the new Vulkan shit. Probably both.
 

Phayd

Golden Knight of the Realm
111
40
According to Kevin Slavin, it is the result of algorithms locked in loops with each other that cause that. According to his Ted Talk, it happens quite a bit on Amazon.
 

Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
42,370
50,408
not to mention that, unlike Failbaddon, when Angron gets to work, shit like 2 SM chapters obliterated happends
Neeeeeecro

As far as game stats go, Abaddon really is about as powerful as you would expect a primarch to be. He's an unstoppable wrecking ball of destruction. The depictions of Angron at the first battle for Armageddon are just retarded and make no sense, especially if Draigo was able to smoke Mortarion. Abaddon and Draigo are pretty close in power level, game stat wise, although I probably give the edge to Abaddon.
 

Beef Supreme_sl

shitlord
1,207
0
Neeeeeecro

As far as game stats go, Abaddon really is about as powerful as you would expect a primarch to be. He's an unstoppable wrecking ball of destruction. The depictions of Angron at the first battle for Armageddon are just retarded and make no sense, especially if Draigo was able to smoke Mortarion. Abaddon and Draigo are pretty close in power level, game stat wise, although I probably give the edge to Abaddon.
That's the thing, Draigo is simply a Grey Knight SM. He isn't at the "level" of a Primarch or a daemon prince, yet, he gets treated as if he's on par with a Primarch.
 
W

Wrathcaster

So I've finished up with the last few HH releases, just getting started on the fresh batch. Scars finally wrapped up, and in classic HH style, resolved with no resolution other than an ambiguous nod to canon adherence. The Khan seems a lot cooler in my mind, however, so I guess that's good. I'm not sure if this is spoiler material, but I doubt anyone reading this thread is really at risk- am I alone in biting on the Scars' novel tease that the Khan is actually a powerful psyker? SPOILER!

A bit of the new graphic novel. It's actually a really cool read, IMO, and a hell of a lot more entertaining than most of the $3.99 one-offs they try to pander on Black Library combined. It also comes with a rather cool short story that explains the episode which butthurts most Emprah fanbois (Horus saving the big E from the strangler Ork).

rrr_img_65549.jpg
 

Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
42,370
50,408
I haven't read Scars yet, but aside from that I'm caught up. Gotta say Vulkan as a perpetual just seems really dumb. Really really dumb. In fact, everything having to do with Vulkan in Vulkan Lives and Unremembered Empire fucking sucked. Unremembered Empire pretty much sucked. I love Dan Abnett when he writes his own books, but I really haven't cared for his entries into the Heresy series. I still hate that they're basically rewriting a key element in the Siege of Terra. The reason the Ultramarines weren't at Earth was because they were too far away to get there in time. But if Sanguinius is on Macragge with his entire legion, then obviously Guilliman could make it too. Hell, even El'Jonson could make it, although iirc he finally gets lured back to Caliban and that's why he doesn't show up at earth. Although some obscure Dark Angels stories have suggested that the real reason the Dark Angels weren't at Earth is because Jonson was waiting to see who the winner was, which I suppose could still happen.
 

Taloo_sl

shitlord
742
2
Empire takes place before Betrayer as far as I can tell. Pretty sure Gulliman would have mention Angron turning into a giant fucking demon. Assume they get bogged down defending Ultramar/"hold the gate" so that the Blood Angels can make it to terra via holding traitor forces at bay or deus ex machina way out of the ruin storm. Not sure whats up with the Dark Angels. 2nd edition era lore had them returning to Caliban after the siege of terra but without having participated in the fighting as they could not arrive in time to participate.

If I had to guess BAs take the "spotlight device" to terra/use it to navigate. Ultramarines garrison Ultramar and protect said device to prevent Lorgar from following(Angron makes it to terra but afaik Lorgar did not). World Eaters break through and head for terra. Johnson leaves Gulliman hanging to pursue them to terra or for some other agenda which becomes the basis for rumors he was waiting for a victor to emerge.

Stab in the dark on Johnson. Every book and story he has been in depicts him in a wildly different way. Sevatar is still aboard his flagship as of Empire. Curze is planetside. Johnson has possession of some form of entity I can't recall that can cause or abate intense warp storms in addition to the capacity to instantly transport men to ships in orbit and then force those same ships to instantly translate to the warp at will. A Watcher in the Dark is aboard his flagship and converses with him and he is aware that shits not great on Caliban(which contradicts prior lore where the first anyone knew of Luthers rebellion was when they were fired on after reaching Caliban post siege). He kills one of his senior chaplains in a fit of rage and shows no remorse nor does anyone question it. He gives incredibly powerful siege engine to Perturabo rather than sequester them like you would expect since he was well aware that loyalties were in question. Think Johnson has more loose ends than anyone else atm. No idea where they are trying to take him.
 

Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
42,370
50,408
Well they mention that he felt like a total retard for giving those siege engines to Perturabo, which is why he plays things so much closer to the chest now. I was pretty fucking shocked when he just punched Nemiel's head off.
 
W

Wrathcaster

Empire takes place after Betrayer. Can't find the exact passage, but Guilliman comments on the "horrors wrought upon Angron by Lorgar." Plus, the ruinstorm from Calth didn't eclipse all of Ultramar immediately, hence why Guilliman could navigate back to Maccrage before they actually figure out how to use the Pharos as a pseudo-Astronomicon.

I'm really getting tired of the mary sue they're making Curze into. Previously, the Lion single handedly cripples him in single combat. Now, he's somehow able to withstand combat from two primarchs at once, then continually take huge amounts of damage from an unkillable Vulkan, get trapped by a daemon in the warp, and still make it out to faff around on Maccrage. Bullshit.

As far as the siege of Terra lore goes, I think they'll hugely depart from canon just to keep the series from ending as long as possible. Were I to guess, however, I'd wager that either a.) Curze does something to majorly delay the Ultramarines from leaving to reinforce Terra with the Blood Angels and Dark Angels, b.) some issue with the Pharos allows only one of the three legions to make it home, c.) Guilliman decides to "bring up the rear" so to speak in order to destroy any reinforcements Horus might have coming, as well as fight off whatever forces that try to delay the Blood Angels, or d.) the Dark Angels go do their own thing elsewhere; maybe a retcon that sends them to Caliban instead of Terra first. Possibly all of the above.

I also thought Lorgar was at the Siege of Terra because of the massive daemon summoning that went on there; it was always the Word Bearers trademark. I know for a fact that Mortarion, Angron, Perturabo, Fulgrim, Horus, and Magnus were all there.

One weird thing they just did in canon with the new Vengeful Spirit is place Leman Russ on Terra after he got away from the Alpha Legion ambush. He's there talking to Malcador, and about why he's not staying for the siege. Canon always said the Wolves couldn't make it in time because of the Alpha Legion delaying them, but now he's supposedly running off to try and kill Horus. I find that to be complete and utter bullshit retcon that makes no sense whatsoever. It's purely intended to give them another twenty goddamn books about the Space Wolves running around in space doing shit that won't matter at all in the end.

GW is going to end up retconning everything after Calth at this rate. They can go fuck themselves, greedy little shits.
 

Taloo_sl

shitlord
742
2
Been a while.

Damnation of Pythos - Meh, not good but isn't bad. Just has absolutely fuck all to do with anything and doesn't advance a single thread of the storyline. It's entirely self contained and exclusively features no name characters. It brings nothing to the table whatsoever as far as the heresy is concerned and could have been a current timeline novel with only minor edits.

Death and Defiance - A collection of dog shit open ended stories with no resolution or purpose. On par with gamesday/weekend novellas but somehow managing to tell stories that matter less without actually advancing the plot or giving more depth to important but second string characters. With the exception of the story about Eristade every single story ends so abruptly it feels like 5-10 pages were simply cut off the end. Imagine Nemesis is a short story that begins with Spear on a speeder heading into the desert and ends with him eatting the Emperor's blood without explaining what/who he or anyone else is and you wouldn't be far off. Edit* Forgot about the first story which does end okay. If by okay you mean retcons kinda important shit and doesn't make any damn sense.

They need to step up their fucking game. Gods of Mars blows both of the most recent novels out of the water despite the kinda wonky way shit goes down. At least it was a satisfying read. I'm close to just not caring and that's fucking sad. GW seriously needs to get their shit together and suck off Abnet, McNeil, anyone worth a damn until they can get this shit back on the rails.

Still need to read Legacies of Betrayal and I think Sedition's Gate. Which are both Anthology's. Fucking excited about that... Still really hope everyone involved in pushing audio novels dies in the same car accident as well. I'm not going to listen to some jackass trying to sound like a space marine and gunning a chainsaw no matter how much I love the lore and setting.
 

Tabris_sl

shitlord
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0
I thought Damnation of Pythis was pretty good, just finished it. I think Annandale is a pretty darn good writer actually.
 

Taloo_sl

shitlord
742
2
I thought Damnation of Pythis was pretty good, just finished it. I think Annandale is a pretty darn good writer actually.
Yeah it's not bad by any means. I probably judge it a little more harshly than it deserves simply because it does fuck all to advance the HH story. Nothing new in the book matters and afaik it doesn't involve established lore. I don't want to get to detailed due to spoilers but the story of how X came to take part in the battle of terra doesn't matter. X has never been mentioned that I know of and I would rather have got a meaningful story about shit that matters or advanced the fucking story some.
 

Conefed

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,811
1,651
Just finished Vampire Genevieve. It was good. It was a collection of short stories that tied in together in sometimes unexpected ways. Not all were about Genevieve and Detlef Sierk, which is mentioned in other books has major parts.

Started Blood Angels and it is difficult to start; I've tried 4 times now.
 

OU Ariakas

Diet Dr. Pepper Enjoyer
<Silver Donator>
6,978
19,199
Just finished Scars and Spirit of Vengeance. They are really doing a good job making the less known primarchs into badasses. Also loved the return of Horus and the Mourinval but wasn't too keen on the direction of the first Death Watch mission. Don't get me wrong; the individual members were good but the 40k Death Watch missions all served mysterious and much greater purposes. This was their introduction and it seemed forced in to have them confront Horus. It just felt wrong.
 

Taloo_sl

shitlord
742
2
Just finished Scars and Spirit of Vengeance. They are really doing a good job making the less known primarchs into badasses. Also loved the return of Horus and the Mourinval but wasn't too keen on the direction of the first Death Watch mission. Don't get me wrong; the individual members were good but the 40k Death Watch missions all served mysterious and much greater purposes. This was their introduction and it seemed forced in to have them confront Horus. It just felt wrong.
Not to nitpick but the Deathwatch was formed to allow for Inquisitors to call on space marines when appropriate as it's a criminal misuse of resources to have Grey Knights serving a purpose for which standard astartes are qualified. Keep in mind it can be more mysterious and serve some great purpose the author came up with because they are set in or close to the current timeline. Whereas the HH novels while having room to create new lore, retconn old lore, and even create new events need to take place within a story line where we already have an outline of what happens, in what order, and how it all turns out in the end. They are also stories that take place in a setting where there is only war and the laughter of thirsting gods. HH novels take place during the downward spiral that begins with humanity all but ruling the stars and ready to put war behind them in the not so distant future. Ready to take their place as the undisputed rulers of all creation before Horus's corruption and treachery drives them towards the eventual death of that bright potential and the destruction of everything they have built. As well as the people who built it. But most importantly they are there to tell the story of what happened and anything that doesn't further that goal and either explain the situations and motivations of important players or get us closer to Terra is simply extraneous bullshit(Damnation of Pythos cough).

It's actually the birth of the Inquisition/Grey Knights. For example the hunter guy Nagasena and Amendera Kendel are just as much Malcador's agents as Garro or Loken they just have a different role to play. Their pilot in Spirit of Vengence is a clade assassin seconded to assist Malcador's agents and under their command. The over representation of Astartes is simply due the time period. Those who have both the capability to be useful and can be trusted to remain loyal and discrete are for the most part loyalist Astartes or those from the traitor legions who chose their oaths to Terrra, The Emperor, and the dream he represents of an ascendant and dominate human race over loyalty to their traitor fathers. The novels even go so far as to spell it out by saying(I'll have to paraphrase) "Malcador has need of those with an... inquisitive nature." It hasn't happened yet and I can't see it happening until after the Battle for Terra but I imagine splitting the agents up to form what we now know as the Inquisition and Grey Knights chapter will happen in the aftermath either as one of Malcador's final orders or at the behest of The Emperor during the short period of time after his internment in the golden throne where he is capable of actively participating in restructuring/consolidating the Imperium. The gaol on Titan of course being re-purposed as the Grey Knight chapter fortress and the decision to recruit strictly psykers as candidates being made to better suit their refined role as the counter to daemonic threats while the non-astartes go on to become the founding members of the Inquisition with the role of preventing those and other threats from occurring.

Knights-Errant - Lexicanum

Inquisition - Lexicanum

God damn that got long. Hate GW with a passion but the 40k setting and lore is awesome.