|
UberJumper posted:The nearest galaxy is ~2.5 million light years away, so the tyranids would have had to leave a long long time ago. I am pretty sure even if the emperor didn't setup his lighthouse. I am assuming the tyranids would still be coming, regardless. The Large Magellanic Cloud is only like 160000 light years away. Some galaxies are even closer. Andromeda is around the 30th closest galaxy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_galaxies euphronius fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Oct 7, 2013 |
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 02:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 08:36 |
|
|
euphronius posted:The Large Magellanic Cloud is only like 160000 light years away. Some galaxies are even closer. The nearest galaxy that isn't orbiting the Milky Way, you pedant. (I'm kidding. I am also a space fact pedant)
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 02:43
|
|
|
UberJumper posted:If the warp exists throughout space why do the powers within the warp seem to be localized to the milky way? The chaos gods were born in the milky way, and everything seems to imply their fates are tied to the milky way. Yet if the warp exists everywhere, wouldn't their fate be tied to the other galaxies as well? Like if humanity dies, and all war and death ceases to exist, and everyone lives in peaceful harmony wouldn't that be barely a drop in the bucket, when there are millions of other galaxies Khorne could go get power from?
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 03:53
|
|
|
I can't seem to find a copy of the Eisenhorn omnibus either on Ebay or any local stores. Are there any other good Inquisition related books? Any Sisters of Battle ones?
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 06:28
|
|
|
radlum posted:I can't seem to find a copy of the Eisenhorn omnibus either on Ebay or any local stores. Are there any other good Inquisition related books? Any Sisters of Battle ones? Consider an electronic copy? You really should read Eisenhorn. The only good books concerned with the Inquisition are the aforementioned, Ravenor series which is a sequel, Pariah which is a sequel to the previous, and... The Emperor's Gift deals heavily with the Inquisition though in the context of its broader intrigues and place in the Imperium rather than as a "warband on the ground" focus. You should read it anyway if you haven't already because it's an awesome book. There's also the Inquisition War series by Ian Watson, but that's old, written in its own peculiar style, and deals with long-since rendered archaic fluff.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 06:54
|
|
|
Eisenhorn to Ravenor to Pariah is the way to go, but if you have to look elsewhere, then Ben Counter's Grey Knights is, of course, mostly about the Grey Knight protagonist but does include a very interesting Inquisitor in it and could be seen as an Inquisitor story from the Ordo Malleus point of view if you squint a little.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 07:09
|
|
|
Ben Counter's Grey Knights series (like everything he writes) is poo poo but I guess the first book is kinda sorta passable? The very different presentation from it to The Emperor's Gift will be jarring, however, and the latter is just a much better book in every single way.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 07:23
|
|
|
Oh definitely, the rest of the series goes straight down the toilet, but the Inquisitor in Grey Knights (that's the first book of the "Grey Knight" series of books) is an interesting character who is played somewhat cleverly. The bone standard perfect warrior GK who's the POV character is boring as poo poo, but I like Inquisitor Ligeia. She's the only reason to read that book, to be honest, but if you're looking for a non-Eisenhorn Inquistor story you haven't got many other choices...
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 07:59
|
|
|
True, true.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 08:17
|
|
|
Nephilm posted:Consider an electronic copy? You really should read Eisenhorn. I've been working my way through Inquisition War and I can't recommend it enough for the most unique take on the W40k lore and inquisitors I've ever seen. Watson wrote during a time where there was very little established fluff to follow and just read the Rogue Trader issues and various Codexes and set off in his own direction. His descriptions of the Warp and a planet in the Eye of Terror read like a man who dropped LSD, wrote reams of pages, and once sober read through everything exhaustively and constructed a coherent chapter that sane people could read and glimpse the madness slowly bubbling up.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 12:32
|
|
|
wait wait, which book has MLK getting shot by a Cabal assassin. That's loving fantastic i must see how it was written.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 16:01
|
|
|
Briefly alluded to in The Unremembered Empire.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 17:33
|
|
|
AcidRonin posted:wait wait, which book has MLK getting shot by a Cabal assassin. That's loving fantastic i must see how it was written. Unremembered Empire, but the scene isn't shown, it get mentioned in passing, and requires you to recognize "hey, who is the famous peacemaker killed in Memphis between Iwo Jima and 2000?"
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 17:39
|
|
|
Fried Chicken posted:Unremembered Empire, but the scene isn't shown, it get mentioned in passing, and requires you to recognize "hey, who is the famous peacemaker killed in Memphis between Iwo Jima and 2000?" I might have to actually read that there book.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 19:11
|
|
|
AcidRonin posted:I might have to actually read that there book. Alien-contracted civil rights leaders assassins aside, it is a pretty solid entry into the HH series, and follows up Know No Fear, Betrayer, and Mark of Calth pretty nicely. Oddly enough for an Ultramarines-centric book it gives a lot of insight as to how the Heresy-era legions worked together and operated under the commands of other legions.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 19:43
|
|
|
AcidRonin posted:I might have to actually read that there book. It's okay but not great. Definitely not one of Abnett's better works. The whole thing is kind of scattered and plot-centric, the language isn't as fun as Abnett's other books, and the characterization is pretty flat, even for previously well-done characters like Guilliman. Also there's lots of dumbness carried over from other HH authors. It really feels a little like an overproduced Hollywood sequel that's been through development hell and like 10 different screenwriters. It doesn't stand well on its own and almost requires you to have read a bunch of previous HH books to even understand the plot and even then there's a ton of characters and references from previous books all milling around doing mostly nothing. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Oct 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 21:22
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:It's okay but not great. Definitely not one of Abnett's better works. The whole thing is kind of scattered and plot-centric, the language isn't as fun as Abnett's other books, and the characterization is pretty flat, even for previously well-done characters like Guilliman. Also there's lots of dumbness carried over from other HH authors. It really feels a little like an overproduced Hollywood sequel that's been through development hell and like 10 different screenwriters. It doesn't stand well on its own and almost requires you to have read a bunch of previous HH books to even understand the plot and even then there's a ton of characters and references from previous books all milling around doing mostly nothing. well, it is a sequel to 3 or 4 HH books, so it's mired in existing plot.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 21:32
|
|
|
Hunting Curze and seeing what an utter bastard of a Batman he is was cool as hell though.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 21:32
|
|
|
mllaneza posted:well, it is a sequel to 3 or 4 HH books, so it's mired in existing plot. It tries to be a direct follow-up to too many books at once, though, especially since many of those books were really bad books.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 21:37
|
|
|
It felt like it was the setup to the next phase of novels more than anything. Definitely wouldn't recommend it on its own. Still have no idea where that loyalist Word Bearer sniper dude came from, and I've read most of the Heresy stuff. Just skipped the stuff that has a rep as being horrible, like Battle for the Abyss, Outcast Dead and Vulkan Lives.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 21:43
|
|
|
The Rat posted:It felt like it was the setup to the next phase of novels more than anything. Definitely wouldn't recommend it on its own. Still have no idea where that loyalist Word Bearer sniper dude came from, and I've read most of the Heresy stuff. Just skipped the stuff that has a rep as being horrible, like Battle for the Abyss, Outcast Dead and Vulkan Lives. I'm reading Vulkan Lives purely to see what the hell his deal is. It's a struggle.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 22:35
|
|
|
VanSandman posted:Hunting Curze and seeing what an utter bastard of a Batman he is was cool as hell though. That, and the recreation of Terminator 1 & 2. Cruze does the T-1000 helicopter deal, Vulkan smashing through the security wing to get to his target, duel between them resolving in a factory, person with knowledge of the future really sent there to change the course of history, Vulkan limping through the factory, smashing down doors and pursuing them among the machines, Cruze engulfed in the roiling red hot demon that gets rid of him being the stand in for T-1000 in the molten steel, and the guy with future knowledge beating down the unstopable red-eyed killing machine with a metal spar only to die yourself stopping it. The last 3rd of the book is basically tacked on action to his resolution/worldbuilding of the first 66%, but drat is it fun tacked on action. Seriously, Cruze piloting the gunship by selectively strangling the actual pilot to make him manipulate the controls was awesome as heck Fried Chicken fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Oct 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2013 23:03
|
|
|
There's a pile of things that make Unremembered Empire unsatisfying, and most of them are because Vulkan Lives was bad. There are a few moments where it's obvious Abnett lost track of who was supposed to know what when just because of the staggering amount of material he had to tie together. Having Grammaticus die because he tried to heal Vulkan with stab wounds was moronic. Eldrad is a dick. gently caress everything that has to do with the Cabal. Jesus. Why did the Alpha Legion assassins even bother to say they were Alpharius, other than the obvious dumb hamfisted reasons? This is the second time in as many books Guilliman survived because somebody stopped to gloat with a knife at his throat. Were Robute or the Lion at the siege of Terra? Not to my knowledge. But now they're hanging out with Sanguinus in an apparent Triumvirate. So what plot contrivance keeps two thirds of them from reaching Terra now that they can kinda almost maybe get through the Ruinstorm? It's probably going to be Alpha Legion bullshit, because they can totally be everywhere at once. There are so many threads at play that almost none of them get the attention they need to be worth including. Why the gently caress are those Space Wolves even there? Was it just to make sure we remember Russ is around? They eat up page after page only to get butchered by Curze after accomplishing nothing.  It's still worth reading, but it isn't Know no Fear by any stretch.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 04:54
|
|
|
Potooweet posted:There's a pile of things that make Unremembered Empire unsatisfying, and most of them are because Vulkan Lives was bad. There are a few moments where it's obvious Abnett lost track of who was supposed to know what when just because of the staggering amount of material he had to tie together. My favorite "Alpha Legion is so mysterious!" moment is in Legion, when an Alpha Legion marine introduces himself as Alpharius, and a character asks if he's really Alpharius or if he's just saying that. The Marine responds, "What do you think?"
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 05:39
|
|
|
Potooweet posted:There's a pile of things that make Unremembered Empire unsatisfying, and most of them are because Vulkan Lives was bad. There are a few moments where it's obvious Abnett lost track of who was supposed to know what when just because of the staggering amount of material he had to tie together. Reading the afterword of the book, it seems to be written for the sole purpose of tying everything together just so the next books won't be as confusing. While it was cool when Curze was running around, for a half second I thought they might actually retcon his death to happen there. Especially the way Roboute was talking about evening the score of dead loyalist to traitor primarchs. I thought this mainly because Curze is on the homeworld of the Ultramarines, and as Batman as he is, no way in hell he can get away. Then he does, thanks to a daemon... Only to end up just outside the city? That was just silly. I know that most of what happens is set in stone, but there are a few things, lore wise, that isn't. Vulkan is one of them, since before "Vulkan Lives", I gathered that no one knew what happened to him, and in current fluff, he was just missing. So you can kill him off, but then what's the point of "Vulkan Lives" if only to kill him right after. Lorgar just locks himself away, right? He's off writing the holy book of Chaos in his locked up temple? It'd be real cool to have Erebus and a few {a lot of) others just kill the guy off then pretend he locked himself away to keep the legion together. That'd be a neat plot twist. Just doing anything to break up the monotony that several of the HH books give off would be great. Call me crazy, but all I felt from this book was that the editors realized they can't milk the actual Horus Heresy forever, and want to go in another direction, this Imperium Secundus, before they kill their cash cow. Or maybe I'm cynical.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 05:41
|
|
|
I like the Alpha Legion since their whole thing is basically trolling Ultramarines forever. Which I can respect.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 05:43
|
|
|
VanSandman posted:I like the Alpha Legion since their whole thing is basically trolling Ultramarines forever. Which I can respect. Absolutely. Also, regarding ole Roboute, I love the fact that it's becoming a motif that when he's about to be finished off he engages in conversation with his murderer, who bizarrely indulges him. He then quips something like "HAHAHA YOU FELL FOR MY GLORIOUS SKILLS OF RHETORIC INSTEAD OF KILLING ME", and proceeds to make them eat poo poo. I'm sure this has happened at least twice now. edit: In fact, I'm quite sure the previous time was also in a book authored by Abnett; is he just trolling us?
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 06:19
|
|
|
Just finished it, and I feel that Unremembered Empire quality is dragged down due to having to contend with many plots from other books, like Nick Kyme Vulkan's inmortality, seriously, was that poo poo neccesary? it seemed way too forced and warped all the plot to deal with it. The good thing is we got to have fun with Curze being badass. Also, it made me smile when Sanguinius says how a sad fate is to be consigned in a casket for all eternity in a cellar of the fortress and Guilliman answers: "It is not a fate I would wish Oh, Roboute, you poor bastard 
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 08:46
|
|
|
William Bear posted:My favorite "Alpha Legion is so mysterious!" moment is in Legion, when an Alpha Legion marine introduces himself as Alpharius, and a character asks if he's really Alpharius or if he's just saying that. My favorite is from Deliverance Lost or all places, it had one shining moment. An Alpha legionnaire infiltrated into the Raven Guard gets the signal to bug out and rally but has two loyalists nearby to deal with. He kicks one in the back of the knee and slices his throat. He primes a grenade, tells the other below him, "Here, take this." and chucks it down where the other marine catches it and has just a moment to realize what just happened. Need more of that in any book with Alpha Legion in it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 13:47
|
|
|
Deliverance Lost cracked me up when the Alpha Legion infiltrators got together for the first time and one of them says "One of us is a commander?" Don't exactly know why, but it cracked me up.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 14:04
|
|
|
Potooweet posted:There's a pile of things that make Unremembered Empire unsatisfying, and most of them are because Vulkan Lives was bad. There are a few moments where it's obvious Abnett lost track of who was supposed to know what when just because of the staggering amount of material he had to tie together. I basically agree with everyone saying Unremembered Empire is a bit unsatisfying, basically because too many plot threads had to be woven together and pieces moved into place for the series to go forward... except I'm a bit okay with it all because holy poo poo am I impressed with what Abnett was actually able to do, considering what he had to work with and what he had to accomplish. I think of it like during a season of a television show when the third to last or second last episode is a bit meh.* I can't even imagine what this book would look like handed off to anyone other than Abnett or ADB. * except obviously GW will never let us get to the finale and finally experience catharsis, but whatever.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 14:28
|
|
|
That's the thing, if GW isn't looking ahead to stuff like the whole post-Heresy reclamation or to the Vandire madness, then they're dumb.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 17:30
|
|
|
There's a lot less that's been published on either of those so far though. Vandire is just a few pages in the assassin's codices and Sebastian Thor being mentioned in some core book one time almost 20 years ago. The post-Heresy stuff is just "I guess it happened, or else how did we get here?".
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 18:52
|
|
|
MariusLecter posted:My favorite is from Deliverance Lost or all places, it had one shining moment. I may well be a minority of one, but I pretty quickly got tired of the whole Alpha Legion plot arc. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it is that puts me off them but I am definitely not a fan. I also have to agree that Vulkan Lives was pretty poor and I think Abnett was genuinely drowning in material for Unremembered Empire.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 20:32
|
|
|
William Bear posted:My favorite "Alpha Legion is so mysterious!" moment is in Legion, when an Alpha Legion marine introduces himself as Alpharius, and a character asks if he's really Alpharius or if he's just saying that.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 20:36
|
|
|
Kurzon posted:Haha what a dick. Basically yeah. If an AL story doesn't make you say that at least three times it isn't a proper AL story.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 20:44
|
|
|
Eh, I understand the importance of the Cabal. While the Heresy is unfolding, there is the question of "so what are the other species doing for those 7 years?" and they need an answer for that Necrons - dormant Tyranids - inbound Tau - figuring out agriculture Orks - recovering from Ullanor Eldar - ? So they go with the Cabal to cover the issue of "what are the Eldar doing? Why aren't they involved?" They are involved. They are trying to take down Chaos like always, but here doing it by trying to get it to self immolate. Try to kill Angron before he becomes possessed, make sure Sanguinus is the one at the Gate and not Vulkan, etc. It is far from perfect. But it beats the empty question of "Why are the guys who hate chaos above all and can see the future sitting it out as chaos forms as a side?" or having the Eldar fight along side the Imperium or something.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 21:41
|
|
|
With all this Alpha Legion talk, I wonder how funny it might be to have a short story or something where their incredible planning and infiltration skills just...go awry. Nothing works. Maybe they failed to account for a crucial variable, maybe Tzeentch wakes up one day and decides that "just as planned" means "gently caress with an Alpha Legion warband today", but a comedy of errors ensues to make sure whatever they intended to do, fails utterly.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 22:26
|
|
|
Pyrolocutus posted:With all this Alpha Legion talk, I wonder how funny it might be to have a short story or something where their incredible planning and infiltration skills just...go awry. Nothing works. Maybe they failed to account for a crucial variable, maybe Tzeentch wakes up one day and decides that "just as planned" means "gently caress with an Alpha Legion warband today", but a comedy of errors ensues to make sure whatever they intended to do, fails utterly. Now that is an AL book I would buy.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 22:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 08:36 |
|
|
Honestly, me too.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2013 22:57
|
|