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HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:I've just finished Flight of the Eisenstein, and found it thoroughly entertaining after the beginning portion, before actually boarding the Eisenstein. I've also gotten my hands on Ian Watson's "Space Marine", after hearing it is quite the thing. Fulgrim sounds like it might be a good read, but it comes to my attention that Descent of Angels has listed under, "Other Non-Astartes Imperials" the Emperor of Mankind. Don't tell me they bloody screwed it up, because the Emperor himself being around is a pretty crazy concept. The Emperor is in Descent of Angels for like 3 pages, and it kind of does it justice as him being described as basically a god compared to everyone else.
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Feb 3, 2015 04:37
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Just finished up Horus Rising and was going to go to Ciaphas Cain for some lighter reading before I went on to False Gods. While reading through the first 20 pages I realized I had purchased the final book in the Ciaphas Cain series instead of the first. Now the strict "must go from first to last book" attitude in me is causing me to shelve that book and get through False Gods for now.
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Feb 3, 2015 17:11
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Abyss posted:Just finished up Horus Rising and was going to go to Ciaphas Cain for some lighter reading before I went on to False Gods. While reading through the first 20 pages I realized I had purchased the final book in the Ciaphas Cain series instead of the first. Now the strict "must go from first to last book" attitude in me is causing me to shelve that book and get through False Gods for now. Actually the Cain series jumps around quite a bit, though all the earlier stuffs been collected into Omnibus's so if you see a single Ciaphas Cain book for sale its recent.
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Feb 3, 2015 17:32
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Abyss posted:Just finished up Horus Rising and was going to go to Ciaphas Cain for some lighter reading before I went on to False Gods. While reading through the first 20 pages I realized I had purchased the final book in the Ciaphas Cain series instead of the first. Now the strict "must go from first to last book" attitude in me is causing me to shelve that book and get through False Gods for now. The most recent Ciaphas Cain book being The Greater Good correct? You can just go ahead and read it if you want you wouldn't be spoiling anything for yourself. But if you can hold on, I'd pick up the omnibus first as the first books have more of an introductory feel to them. The omnibus also contains the short story detailing the tyranid invasion that catapults Cain to fame in the first place. Edit: God drat the black library website is a mess, has there been any 40k releases since the vengeful spirit worth picking up? rocket_Magnet fucked around with this message at 14:20 on Feb 5, 2015 |
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Feb 5, 2015 13:23
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rocket_Magnet posted:The most recent Ciaphas Cain book being The Greater Good correct? You can just go ahead and read it if you want you wouldn't be spoiling anything for yourself. But if you can hold on, I'd pick up the omnibus first as the first books have more of an introductory feel to them. The omnibus also contains the short story detailing the tyranid invasion that catapults Cain to fame in the first place.
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Feb 5, 2015 16:10
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Yea, it is the Greater Good, so I'll try to find the first few and read them before. I'll have to wait until next month since I already spent my book budget on an omnibus shopping spree.
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Feb 5, 2015 19:52
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Everyone itt should purchase and read a book called "Grunts"
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Feb 5, 2015 21:31
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I have been reading First Heretic and i like it alot, I am surprised how empathetic logar turns out to be. In the end all he is looking for is for something, anything, to believe in. For a pulpy sci-fi book, he is a surprisingly well written religious character. then again this is from the same author who made me feel sorry for giant man named angron who popped a pulped a woman's head as she pissed herself then proceeded to murder a joffery and then an their entire planet because he had poo poo drilling into his brains.
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Feb 6, 2015 03:14
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Waroduce posted:Everyone itt should purchase and read a book called "Grunts" Is that Mary Gentle's book about orcs who end up with a cache of USMC gear and the enchantment makes them go all Semper Fi ? Yeah, if you're in this thread read that as a priority. It's $2.99 on Kindle. http://www.amazon.com/Grunts-Mary-Gentle-ebook/dp/B00GU2RSSE/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
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Feb 6, 2015 04:03
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Okay, after the slog of reading through this entire thread before posting, I'm finally here to talk. So I've been reading the Gaunt's Ghosts novels, and the word that Sabbat Crusade will have the old Sabbat Worlds Crusade handbook fluff in it has me excited. I'm currently reading Traitor General, and I'm loving it so far. First off, its a much meatier book than any of the ones before it, looks almost a hundred pages longer. I really hope that this spells good things for the later novels, because Abnett's earlier books end with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. He actually seems to be taking his time in this book to develop Gereon and make the character scenes more meaningful while still keeping up the action. This reads like a science fiction version of the movie Where Eagles Dare, and I love it. I'm not sure exactly what everyone sees in Necropolis. It's decent, mind you, but I still felt like it was middling Abnett at best. Then again, I also thought First and Only was the best book in The Founding arc, so what do I know. First and Only and Ghostmaker: I really enjoyed First and Only, and I thought the interspersing Gaunt's past with current events was a good way to weave all the setpieces together. Ghostmaker wasn't quite as good, I thought the individual stories were better than the Monthax campaign and its goofy ending. Best stories were probably Dorden's, Larkin's and Bragg's. Necropolis: Decent, but way overblown for my liking. I found myself counting every time Abnett used the word "sheer" to describe the battle, and some parts I just thought were laughable in how abrupt they happened. "We need to deal with the overseer of Vervunhive!" two pages later "MUAHAHAHA I'M A DEMON!" Still, some great action sequences, the fights at the railyard gate and the tank engagement being the best. Unfortunately this novel is also where Abnett's dropped subplots started popping up. Stuff like Curth and Dorden's investigation getting exactly one scene before it got wrapped up with a bolter round to the guilty man's head. I'd also have liked to see more stuff with the scratch companies fighting in the suburbs outside the curtain wall. Honour Guard: Another middling book, the fight in the Doctrinopolis went on too long, and the ending was probably one of the most abrupt I've ever read. I quite enjoyed the middle section involving the convoy, however. Bavnagher is I think my favorite battle in the entire series up to where I am now. The side story with the wounded Ghosts working their way up to the Shrinehold should have been more fleshed out, and the ending did peter out. Points for introducing Cuu. Guns of Tanith: Tied for worst book so far with Sabbat Martyr. Does almost nothing with any of the characters besides Gaunt and Kolea, Abnett's usual ability to paint a vivid battlefield is utterly wasted by throwing everything into featureless corridors and wildly inconsistent architecture. The trial felt tedious rather than tense, and that loving ending. I was upset that Bragg died, but the way it was handled was just so sloppy, and of course the book ended one page later. Also, Slaithe gets the award for dumbest villain death in the whole series. "NOOOOOOOO!" *Boom* Straight Silver: Yes, it's World War 1 in space, but I actually loved this book. It still has its problems, like Banda and Rawne's one page relationship, but I put that aside because it actually used loving pacing! It wasn't a nonstop grind that Guns of Tanith felt like, and it actually tied into the Saint storyline. The backroom fighting between the commanders was a great touch, and I appreciated the campaign not being finished up as soon as the book ended. Of all the Ghosts novels, this one, despite the smaller fights, captured the utter scale of 40K better than the rest. Necropolis told us the fight was huge, but Straight Silver made the world feel huge. Cuu was even better in this one. Poor Muril and Gutes. Good characters and nice, impactful deaths. Sabbat Martyr: gently caress this book is frustrating. Parts of it are drat good, but the action is almost unbearably bad. Stuff that should be huge gets resolved in single pages. The nine assassins are all taken out without so much as a whiff of tension. There is no downtime, but nothing is there to make things feel dire. The best part of the book was the space battle, but everything after that just went downhill so fast it ended underground and then tunneled its way up into the holy chamber to make the Chaos Dreadnought appear like the fuckign Kool Aid Man. The thing that pissed me off the most was how Corbec's death was handled. Or, how it wasn't handled, he just died, bloop. I'm not looking for melancholy or a blaze of glory, but just having him lie there and Larks tell us he's dead was a waste. His death should have been from his own POV, so we could appreciate what was going through his head before the moment happened. The Saint arc was really frustrating, because it had this potential to be so much more than what it turned out to be. It's about three or four hundred pages shorter than it should have been. I also read Sabbat Worlds Anthology. Some good stories, like Apostles Creed, and some ungodly terrible ones like the Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings. After I finish His Last Command (last Ghosts book I own), I'm going to take a break. On a whim, I picked up the ADB Night Lords Omnibus and I'll have a go at it next. Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Feb 6, 2015 |
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Feb 6, 2015 04:55
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You....... Like Cuu? Interesting.
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Feb 6, 2015 14:49
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Arcsquad12 posted:I also read Sabbat Worlds Anthology. Some good stories, like Apostles Creed, and some ungodly terrible ones like the Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings. 
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Feb 6, 2015 16:07
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Arquinsiel posted:Some of your complaints about certain books contradict complaints about other books, and then.... really? You don't like Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings? A bunch of mechanicus aides go wandering around a junkyard, one guy pokes his shoulder and gets caught on a wire, and then a bunch of cultists try to activate the Woe Machines and then die from poison before they can get them moving again. The plot wasn't bad but the writing was just impenetrable to me. As for contradictions, well, I like different things in different books, and Abnett does stuff better in some books than others. I just didnt like Guns or Martyr at all really. Mr.48 posted:You....... Like Cuu?
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Feb 6, 2015 17:47
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Arcsquad12 posted:A bunch of mechanicus aides go wandering around a junkyard, one guy pokes his shoulder and gets caught on a wire, and then a bunch of cultists try to activate the Woe Machines and then die from poison before they can get them moving again. The plot wasn't bad but the writing was just impenetrable to me.
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Feb 6, 2015 19:33
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Arcsquad12 posted:I also read Sabbat Worlds Anthology. Some good stories, like Apostles Creed, and some ungodly terrible ones like the Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings. And if you're not aware, the entire The Lost arc is available as an omnibus, just as the previous arcs are. Might still be worth it if you only have Traitor General and His Last Command, IE half of the books in the arc.
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Feb 6, 2015 19:34
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I rather prefer reading them individually. I have the founding omnibus, but I was able to score some really cheap deals for good condition single books off amazon.
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Feb 6, 2015 19:50
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berzerkmonkey posted:I've got to agree - I didn't like "Headstone" either. I finally finished the sequel in Sabbat Crusade and, while the premise was good and had a decent ending, I found the writing to be too much like a wall of words thrown up (it's similar to my feelings about Tolkien.) I'm not saying that Farrer is a bad writer, but I think a different writer could have conveyed the same tone and feeling without getting bogged down in details. I agree completely with this.
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Feb 6, 2015 21:21
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So apparently the Dark Hunters books and interviews with Paul Kearney got pulled from the BL site - anyone heard why?
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Feb 7, 2015 03:13
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Arquinsiel posted:That's how Tolkien orcs came to be. Jackson just added the weird spawning pits for the Uruk Hai that kind of implied they're grown in artificial wombs made of... mud? Jackson didn't add that, Tolkien describes them like that in The Silmarillion. Made in the image of the elves from subterranean heat and slime with hearts of granite and the strength of beasts, they were infused with the power of Morgoth and given reason. But he also says in other parts that evil cannot create ex nihilo and that orcs are made of the corruption of elves and men. Though some read it as he tortured men and elves until they became mindless orcs, then bred them to have true orcs, but that doesn't fit with the first bits about him making them. Since elves don't throw in with evil in his cosmology (and he was a language guy) the use of corruption there is probably in the classic sense, basically all forms of bodily waste associates with sickness - pus, bile, blood, poop, etc. Basically poo poo, blood, slime, and mud forged together in a volcanic underground cave by a fallen angel. All Jackson did is have Sauraman do it on screen to give leading bad guys that could die. Fried Chicken fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 06:32
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Tolkien also described the Orcs as having armored transports and tanks. But Jackson didn't quite get to put those in...
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Feb 7, 2015 06:36
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Just finished reading The World Engine. Goddamn that owns, talk about a deal with the devil, unleashing a good-sized C'tan shard? "The whole necron race is our enemy. Now I am free, and you will all be punished." They, uh, better watch their backs. Also the Astral Knights own bones and it's a drat shame that they all died to destroy the I really dig the new themes they introduced for the Necrons. It was boring when they lacked any semblance of personality, now they're a bunch of crazy undead noblemen, bickering and backstabbing their way towards power. lobotomy molo fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 06:49
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So how do I buy stuff from blacklibrary.com when I'm in the USA these days? Supposedly there's a dropdown to change currency so I can actually check out, but it doesn't appear in firefox/chrome/IE. Does everyone just put in a fake billing/shipping address?
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Feb 7, 2015 07:48
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berzerkmonkey posted:So apparently the Dark Hunters books and interviews with Paul Kearney got pulled from the BL site - anyone heard why? That's kinda hilarious considering how much they tried hyping it up last week with the banner of "your new favourite chapter!" and all that jazz. But kinda weird at the same time.
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Feb 7, 2015 09:24
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berzerkmonkey posted:So apparently the Dark Hunters books and interviews with Paul Kearney got pulled from the BL site - anyone heard why? Given how much obnoxious hype they were giving him and the new Chapter I'd like to imagine the silence is because BL discovered the authors dark secret. But it's probably just a dispute between the two over contractual obligations.
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Feb 7, 2015 12:04
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In a move I did not expect, it looks like Samus from the Horus Heresy books is going to be joining the tabletop game. Bottom post in the link.
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Feb 7, 2015 15:23
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The rumour going arounds is that it's a lawsuit over the name Dark Hunter, which predates the earliest 40k reference with this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-Hunter A fairly well established urban fantasy series that's been going since 2002. Note, I neither vouch for nor can confirm the plausiblity of the rumour. Would it be hilariously ironic Karma (with apologies to Mr Kearney as an innocent party) for this to happen to GW, yes.
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Feb 8, 2015 00:23
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Cythereal posted:In a move I did not expect, it looks like Samus from the Horus Heresy books is going to be joining the tabletop game. Bottom post in the link. Sooooo, what you're saying is 'Samus is Here'.
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Feb 8, 2015 00:25
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Even though I just reread Know No Fear a few days ago, I don't really recall what Samus looked like. How well does that model line up with its description?
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Feb 8, 2015 03:39
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PantsOptional posted:Even though I just reread Know No Fear a few days ago, I don't really recall what Samus looked like. How well does that model line up with its description? No Morph Ball or Varia Suit
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Feb 8, 2015 03:40
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PantsOptional posted:Even though I just reread Know No Fear a few days ago, I don't really recall what Samus looked like. How well does that model line up with its description? The model looks a lot like a Skaven to me, tbqh. I can re-read the encounter again but I was imagining something very different. edit: I guess the model is close enough and the inherent ambiguity about daemons large enough that it's just someone taking something totally different from the description; the biggest issue I see is that in the book Samus' horns are described as bull-like and those...kind of aren't. A 50S RAYGUN fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Feb 8, 2015 |
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Feb 8, 2015 07:00
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Fried Chicken posted:Jackson didn't add that, Tolkien describes them like that in The Silmarillion. Made in the image of the elves from subterranean heat and slime with hearts of granite and the strength of beasts, they were infused with the power of Morgoth and given reason. But he also says in other parts that evil cannot create ex nihilo and that orcs are made of the corruption of elves and men. Though some read it as he tortured men and elves until they became mindless orcs, then bred them to have true orcs, but that doesn't fit with the first bits about him making them. Since elves don't throw in with evil in his cosmology (and he was a language guy) the use of corruption there is probably in the classic sense, basically all forms of bodily waste associates with sickness - pus, bile, blood, poop, etc.  when you're operating in the "concrete here and now" rather than the "fuzzy mythic past". I mean, presumably Morgoth allowed Orcs to bone and make more Orcs, right? Manually making every single one seems tedious as hell.
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Feb 9, 2015 12:50
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Arquinsiel posted:The first bit reads like metaphor and is mentioned once, then there's the whole "torturin' elves" angle which gets a few mentions throughout. Given the nature of The Simlarillion neither is authoritative, but Jackson basically took the metaphoric style version and went all Alien on it which is kind of I think the appendix at the end of Return of the King says that Bolg is Azog's son, so presumably Orcs reproduce somehow.
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Feb 9, 2015 13:31
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I thought it was something like this.
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Feb 9, 2015 14:48
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I haven't read or heard Butcher's Nails or Aurelian. Any recommendations regarding whether to go with the print or audio versions of either/both?
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Feb 10, 2015 14:13
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Print Both are hella good
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Feb 10, 2015 14:48
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I'm about to finish up Galaxy in Flames so I have small questions for where I should go from here. If I go onward in the HH series are the storylines now all independent or do they continue on in threes? I also have a bevy of omnibuses that I've recently purchased, so I could get out of the 31k series and into the actual 40k stuff such as Ravenor/Pariah, Ultramarines/Salamander/Space Wolf/Grey Knights/NIght Lords omnibuses, Gaunts Ghosts, Let the Galaxy Burn/Hammer & Bolter v2, or even one offs like The Emperor's Gift/Storm of Iron/Rynn's World. Suggestions?
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Feb 12, 2015 02:06
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The HH stuff is a bit of a mix of single stories that develop the overall picture as well of very variable quality. If you're enjoyin HH then go with some of the better novels in that line I'd say like Betrayer, Scars, Prospero Burns, etc. (I think there's a full list in the OP). Most of the HH novels aren't that necessary to the story really, maybe Deliverance Lost and one or two of the others focused on the Dropsite Massacre. By and large I think BL managed to get competent authors to do the Big events, with a lot of dross to pad the series out. If you're not that hooked though the 40K stuff gives options for some much better works. Ravenor/Pariah is pretty good, the Night Lords are awesome.Gaunt's is definitely one of the top BL series. Space Wolves I've not read but it's meant to be ok? Grey Knights I believe begins reasonably and kind of falls off a cliff. Salamanders and Ultramarines Omnibuses I have read, I'd advise skipping them.
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Feb 12, 2015 03:51
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I have the Butcher's Nails audiobook and the sound effects are very, very silly. Lots of Flash-Gordon laser pew-pews and zoot!s And weeeoweeeoweeeoo during the ship battles. And in every fight, they just got a loud chainsaw revving near the mircophone to represent Gorefather and Gorechild. It's distracting as hell.
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Feb 12, 2015 15:13
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Well its less audiobook and more like a radio drama. So just think of this as being back in the 40's with your radio for entertainment, while you listen to some sci-fi violence.
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Feb 12, 2015 18:34
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Kharn_The_Betrayer posted:Well its less audiobook and more like a radio drama. So just think of this as being back in the 40's with your radio for entertainment, while you listen to some sci-fi violence. Exactly correct - there is a difference between audiobook and audio drama. If it isn't explicitly taken from an existing novel, assume it is going to be a radio play-like feature. I guess those are still popular in the UK, though we haven't had them in the US pretty much since TV caught on. An adventure in my mind? gently caress that - I've got an adventure in MY FACE! 
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Feb 12, 2015 21:38
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