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AndyElusive posted:To anyone who's read the entire HH series thus far: How many of the books actually take place on Terra and of those books how many are worth reading? Nemesis also has a couple of chapters set on Terra, but nothing terribly interesting. I personally find Nemesis an enjoyable guilty pleasure, but it contributes nothing to the overall story and has some weird silliness involving a super-pariah.
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Aug 12, 2014 12:19
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Agreed, Nemesis isn't exactly good, or even decent, but has some Eversor goodness and at least it won't damage your mind like Battle of the Abyss.
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Aug 12, 2014 13:10
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The Outcast Dead does take place on Terra, and I actually enjoyed it for the astropath main character and his perspective of the astropathic houses, as well as the inclusion of some old Thunder Warriors who will probably end up doing something during the Siege of Terra. I also liked the setting of the outer Imperial Palace after the doors have been shut for a while and the millions of petitioners who have set up a giant shantytown outside. It's not the most important book about the Heresy, but I found it to be a fun read for the perspectives that aren't that well represented in most 40k books. It's one that at least wouldn't fall under the category of 'bolter porn.' One Legged Cat fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Aug 12, 2014 |
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Aug 12, 2014 21:20
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I actually liked the Outcast Dead. The cover made it look like some weird mashup from the rogue trader days (and not in a good way), but I actually found it pretty enjoyable. It's not Shakespeare, but it's W40k so what do we expect. It felt pretty well put together and I liked the interaction between the characters. The biggest problem is the retarded scene with an unarmoured World Eater ripping a fully kitted out Custode's spine out and the story SERIOUSLY screwing up the timeline by having the rebellion in full swing and common knowledge BEFORE Magnus breaks the throne trying to warn his father of the heresy . If you can look past those flaws, it doesn't belong in the same pit as Battle for the Abyss.
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Aug 12, 2014 22:35
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The other problem with all three, Battle for the Abyss, Nemesis and Outcast Dead, is that basically they're nothing to do with 30k, or the Horus Heresy, and don't add anything to the overall story either. They could quite literally just have transplanted the entire story into the 40k timeline, and setting aside the (somewhat awful to terrible, depending) writing standard, they'd be exactly the same books. Hell, I actually wondered that exact point when reading BftA (Don't. Just don't.) - Did someone, casting around for some HH content to push out the door, just pick up a rejected 40k novel, and say 'Yeah, we'll just run with this story about the Word Bearers building their lovely
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Aug 12, 2014 23:09
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Shockeh posted:The other problem with all three, Battle for the Abyss, Nemesis and Outcast Dead, is that basically they're nothing to do with 30k, or the Horus Heresy, and don't add anything to the overall story either. They could quite literally just have transplanted the entire story into the 40k timeline, and setting aside the (somewhat awful to terrible, depending) writing standard, they'd be exactly the same books. I believe they date from about the time they realized that people really like the Horus Heresy series and started turning it into the endless monstrosity it currently is, so this is very likely true.
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Aug 13, 2014 02:59
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Just finished the Night Lords trilogy. I take it Decimus is supposed to be Octavia's and Septimus' son? And what the hell is up with the second Epilogue?
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Aug 13, 2014 05:36
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The second epilogue is excerpts from news reports about the worlds that Talos hosed up with his Navigator-powered psychic scream, showing the devastation that it wrought. Millions upon millions of deaths, worlds wiped out and rendered inhabitable, warp storms it stirred up, etc. During that one chapter, Talos killed more people than died in the rest of the entire trilogy.
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Aug 13, 2014 06:14
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Khizan posted:The second epilogue is excerpts from news reports about the worlds that Talos hosed up with his Navigator-powered psychic scream, showing the devastation that it wrought. Millions upon millions of deaths, worlds wiped out and rendered inhabitable, warp storms it stirred up, etc. During that one chapter, Talos killed more people than died in the rest of the entire trilogy. Oooh, I see. I thought it was just one big log from a single ship, and I was wondering what the hell with the Nostraman at the end.
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Aug 13, 2014 06:30
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Nemesis is ultimately about the funding of the Officio Assassinorum, but it's not a story that needed to be told.
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Aug 13, 2014 07:34
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Azran posted:Just finished the Night Lords trilogy. I take it Decimus is supposed to be Octavia's and Septimus' son? Decimus is probably who you think he is, but ADB has repeatedly refused to say for certain one way or the other. Talos' sabotage of the Astropathic relays is, in truth, the only action he takes entirely of his own volition that actually furthers the cause he claims to believe in.
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Aug 13, 2014 07:41
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ElPedro posted:Would like to hear what you think, when you're done. Rushed, unsatisfying ending to Farseer confirmed. I guess that's why it has such mediocre reviews. Too bad, because the premice and first 3\4 of the book were pretty good.
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Aug 13, 2014 15:47
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VanSandman posted:Decimus is probably who you think he is, but ADB has repeatedly refused to say for certain one way or the other. And that cause would be?
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Aug 13, 2014 17:19
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vigorous sodomy posted:And that cause would be? Fighting the long war against the Imperium, reestablishing themsevles as a true legion to be feared, stop fighting amongst themselves, and do poo poo that matters instead of jerking each other off in/around the eye and wasting their resources against bullshit targets. He wants to bring back the glory days
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Aug 13, 2014 18:28
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BL has a link to the first chapter of Talon of Horus as well as some free wallpapers.
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Aug 13, 2014 20:59
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berzerkmonkey posted:BL has a link to the first chapter of Talon of Horus as well as some free wallpapers. $65.00 holy gently caress!
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Aug 13, 2014 21:16
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Yeah, it's some stupid BL limited edition crap, obviously produced to cash in on ADB and target the idiots who go out and spend atrocious amounts on the BS limited edition stuff BL keeps putting out. What gets me is that the regular edition will be out in November. I like ADB, but not that much... berzerkmonkey fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Aug 13, 2014 |
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Aug 13, 2014 21:19
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So people actually collect these books seriously? Could an enterprising goon buy first edition BL books and then resell them for profit a few years down the road?
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Aug 13, 2014 21:23
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Question: are the Night Lords books in an Omnibus yet?
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Aug 13, 2014 21:44
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Improbable Lobster posted:Question: are the Night Lords books in an Omnibus yet? Answer: Yes they are.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:49
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Hot Dog Day #82 posted:So people actually collect these books seriously? Could an enterprising goon buy first edition BL books and then resell them for profit a few years down the road? Improbable Lobster posted:Question: are the Night Lords books in an Omnibus yet?  I figure I'll get Talon of Horus when it costs a sane amount of money. I'd spend $65 on that book if ADB hand delivered it to me personally and only then.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:50
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Tiki Powers posted:Answer: Yes they are. Reply: Thanks
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Aug 13, 2014 22:18
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berzerkmonkey posted:BL has a link to the first chapter of Talon of Horus as well as some free wallpapers. So this limited edition will be released when, august? And the 'normal' edition is in loving November? I can't believe it. I won't believe it.
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Aug 13, 2014 23:52
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I thought that BL said that the normal edition comes out 2 weeks after the limited ed goes on sale?
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Aug 14, 2014 00:21
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Sweet, more black library limited edition crap.  $90AU for a book about angry space men, even if it is written by the shakespire of angry space men books is a little too much really. Guess I'll be waiting for the standard edition!  KramFoot posted:I thought that BL said that the normal edition comes out 2 weeks after the limited ed goes on sale? I seem to remember November being a set date but I have nothing beyond that really
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Aug 14, 2014 00:38
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So reading that first chapter, he's really channeling a big Neuropath/Peter Watts neurological singularity cosmic horror thing for Chaos and I am absolutely loving it.
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Aug 14, 2014 01:17
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Okay wow that first sample chapter nearly made me tempted to get the book for that ludicrous price. I do love how everything feels in that chapter
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Aug 14, 2014 02:50
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I've been sampling the short stories recently. There have been some good ones over the summer. Unbroken by Chris Wraight. A very solid story about one Space Wold and just how much impact even a single Astartes can have on the battlefield. Yarrick: Sarcophagus by David Annendale. The second most famous commissar in the Guard has a brush with death. Yes, again, but it's a good read with some excellent internal dialogue. Maledictus. Also by Annendale. A good story about Grey Knights and a conflict between Inquisitors. The radical causes all sorts of trouble. Only Blood by Guy Haley. A solid Black Templars story with an overwrought ending. Still good, if only the senior Sororitas sister sassing a sergeant. Malediction by CZ Dunn. A Dark Angels returns to honor an Imperial Hero and ends up proving why that chapter are all dicks. Yarrick: The Gallows Saint. Ok, this is really good. This one threatens to turn into a Cain story, then turns deep and tragic. David Annendale is turning into a real bright spot in the BL. I thought Overfiend dragged through the first two parts, but it finished strong. The short stories are getting very good. I'm putting him on the "expect a good read" list. Chris Wraight is also showing some promise. I read Stormcaller last week, and it was really exactly what you want from a Space Marine novel. Solid characterizations drawn from the chapter involved, lots of bolter porn, a few twists, and a big fight at the end with great power unleashed on both sides. Space Wolves, the Ecclesiarchy, and a whole lotta irks is a good combination, especially with a plague hulk thrown in. Annendale is a better writer, but Wraight has a solid outing with this one.
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Aug 14, 2014 03:48
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mllaneza posted:David Annendale is turning into a real bright spot in the BL. I thought Overfiend dragged through the first two parts, but it finished strong. The short stories are getting very good. I'm putting him on the "expect a good read" list. Really? I've only read Death of Antagonis by him and it was awful. Maybe it was just a bad first book. I've been hesitant to read anything else since.
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Aug 14, 2014 05:09
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Safety Factor posted:Really? I've only read Death of Antagonis by him and it was awful. Maybe it was just a bad first book. I've been hesitant to read anything else since. Damnation of Pythos wasn't half bad, and had a pretty  ending.
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Aug 14, 2014 05:39
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To all of you who had recommended the Night Lords trilogy by ADB, thank you. Easily the best 40k fiction I've read (and it's a toss up between that and the First Heretic/Lorgar short story/Betrayer novels for my favorite sequence of Black Library publications). I became quite angry to learn that Cyrion was such a dick, especially to poor Uzas, so I'm impressed they got an emotional response out of me. I'm running out of highly rated BL stuff to read, so I'm really looking forward to the Abaddon book.
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Aug 14, 2014 06:59
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Mr.48 posted:Rushed, unsatisfying ending to Farseer confirmed. I guess that's why it has such mediocre reviews. Too bad, because the premice and first 3\4 of the book were pretty good. Thanks for the heads up. I haven't read much 40K from after the Heresy and just saw Wolfblade - is it any good? I really liked the Space Wolves, when Abnett wrote them.
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Aug 14, 2014 08:14
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boredsatellite posted:Okay wow that first sample chapter nearly made me tempted to get the book for that ludicrous price. Its really good yeah, I really respect how ADB approaches WH40k and his more grisly, personal take on subjects like CSM is a mature angle that is doing wonders for the universe. After reading a lot of his books though, I get a tiny little bit exasperated at his main characters, who are usually a little too emo and petulant. His CSMss like Argel Tal, Talos and even this Thousands Son marine (who are all done really well don't get me wrong) are in danger of becoming the 'ADB' template and he might need to tone down on the humanized melancholy which is his signature. Also what the hell at Machine Spirits being weird organic bits given gestalt consciousnesses, is that new?
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Aug 14, 2014 09:30
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ElPedro posted:Thanks for the heads up. Jesus, $11.99 for an ebook version of a book that is over 10 years old? gently caress you, Black Library... It's an alright book. The Bill King SW books are older (10+ years) and have the lighter tone of the older books from that timeframe. Just bear in mind that Wolfblade is like fourth in the original SW series - you might want to track down the others just so you know the story to that point.
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Aug 14, 2014 13:44
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maev posted:Also what the hell at Machine Spirits being weird organic bits given gestalt consciousnesses, is that new?
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Aug 14, 2014 14:30
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Did I gently caress up by reading Know no Fear and Betrayer before The First Heretic or Aurelian?
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Aug 14, 2014 14:32
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Azran posted:Did I gently caress up by reading Know no Fear and Betrayer before The First Heretic or Aurelian? It goes First Heretic > Know No Fear > Betrayer (I don't now where Aurelian fits) but you can go back and read it and still enjoy it. First Heretic is pretty good.
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Aug 14, 2014 14:44
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Honestly, aside from the first few, and maybe one or two lynchpin books, reading order is pretty immaterial for most books in the Horus Heresy series, at this point. I mean, if you're jumping around the timeline it's no different than reading different excerpts in a codex or rulebook, and just gives the series more of a historical/documentary feel, even if the narration style isn't at all like that. And even if you do read the "right" reading order you'll still have a helluva time figuring out how the gently caress the pieces fit together.
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Aug 14, 2014 15:02
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9/10s of the HH books barely even tangentially mention events in other books (unless they're following the same storyline or it's something huge like a primarch dying or the Massacre) so you really don't need to know anything beyond like 'who is a loyalist' and 'what's the ruinstorm' or whatever
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Aug 14, 2014 15:57
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Safety Factor posted:Really? I've only read Death of Antagonis by him and it was awful. Maybe it was just a bad first book. I've been hesitant to read anything else since. Definitely give him another shot. Try the Stormseer, Shadow Captain, Forge Master novella trilogy.
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Aug 14, 2014 20:57
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