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#51
They don't embarass themselves in Angels of Darkness. In fact, they do not embarass themselves to the extent that the battles are incredibly boring. Five or six marines take on an entire army of Orks and come out of it dented, but otherwise good to go. I mean come on. So much for choppas which make the best armor save possible 4+.
Warning: Chronic Post Editor
In response to Mastamindkar-
IT'S A SPOILER!AHH!AHH!
Those knights weren';t armed with swords. They had blast lances. IE- Lance Tip hits target, Lance go BOOM. It's a focused boom too. And only one Grey Knight dies.
The Grey Knight SQUAD- ONE SQUAD- proceeds to sack an inteir city, defeating it's inteir resident army and carving their way through, defeating the gigantic mutated king, and then they killed a Chaos Sorcerer of tremendous power.
And the scene at the end of the book, most of the Sisters of Battle died outright, out of a small army. Only a few made it to the actual demon. And this was by the point the Grey Knights had cleared the road and were "distracting" the demon.
And then the Justicar OUTTHINKS a daemon of Tzeenitch.
Plus your forgetting the beginning of the book, where 3 or 4 Squads of Grey Knights take on an inteir Daemon world and win. Of course, they do this by killing their leader, but still...
If the knights had blast lances I wouldn't be complaining. Does it make sense for them to have swords, bows and... blast lances? The only thing seperating those guys from the frenchies at Agincourt was that some of them rode alien bird-things instead of horses. After that though, the three squads of knights proceed to launch an assault on a medieval city, watch the giant mutated king get spanked by the death cult assassins, and then kill the sorcerer.
Getting flattened by a falling spaceship is unfortunate, taking a left hook from a spacemarine on the chin is hardcore. The battle of wits was basically "you are my pawns, hahaha!" "No! You are just afraid of us! Suck true name!" (it was still cool, but if someone else had memerized the name wouldn't we be in the same boat?)
The introduction was easily the best part grey knight wise. But saying they took on the entire planet is like saying you can jungle twenty eggs by throwing them up in the air.
#54
Deus Encarmine!!! (for anyone that wants to know)
The language used is kinda...meh.
Some "big words" are used too often (sorry this bothers me...i love vivid vocabulary)
The story is pretty solid, but how it develops is kinda slow...
It goes in circles for a while...
But it has good action scenes and has stuff on Baal with Dante.
I'd rate it a 7.5/10
Best 40k book ever would have to be Eisenhorn Trilogy. Only ten bucks for the greatest stories ever.
Its hard to describe since its three stories wrapped into one epic tale of a pure inquisitor being lured into the path of a radical. Get it...NOW!!!!
10/10Trust ME.
Currently reading Inquisitor Trilogy...Don't like it as much as Eisenhorn (but only in the second book of it)...It has some pretty wild stories though...like going to TERRA!!!!
Other books i have read: Firewarrior...what a load of crap...TAU crap. Worse than the game. -1/10
Some really old ones that my library had...Dark Angels that were...native americans that fought genestealers...some other stuff...can't recall that much.
Last edited by Dante; 5th Feb 05 at 10:50 AM.
500 Days...
#55
Deus Encarmine is my next book. I read into it a little and it seems good so far.
I will admit that I'm liking Dead Sky, Black sun. I thought it was gonan suck but so far it's been pretty gruesome. only another 80 or so pages to go!
Right up front - I like most of the 40k books I've read. Straightforward, not too hard on the brain, fully into a Universe I find fascinating and all together massively violent.
What however, is the deal with swearing. Don't get me wrong, I completely get if they want to keep the books accessible to a target audience (mind you, if that is the concern maybe they should be more worried about the numbers of people dissolving/exploding/shattering into red spray/mist/gore than the odd obscenity) but for gods sake, if you're not going to swear then don't replace the good old fashioned obcenities I have come to know and love with words like 'feth' (apparently a Tanithian reference to some god of the 'trees'). As in (and I am quoting here) ...'you're a fething hero...', '....feth the armour....' and of course '....Feth them indeed....'.
These people are engaged in a fight for their lives, surrounded by psychopathic lunatics out for their blood and a Command structure that is borderline genocidal and more than a little homocidal - If they want to say the 'f' word then say the fucking 'f' word (and if they want to write kids books then they should do something with talking trains and dogs and a puppet that can dance and stuff.....jesus.)
i could have sworn the s*** and F*** words were used very rarely in some of the novels i read, but used nevertheless(cant be bothered to remember which) but the s-word is frequent and used by the less popular authors. it did get my attention while reading tho.
Mattnav - I think the point of using made up cuss words like "feth" has to do with the fact that language changes over time. Slang and cuss words were a little different a few hundred years ago. They were unrecognizably different a couple thousand years ago. It's not hard to believe that 40,000 years in the future that the slang and cuss words would be completely different than they are today.
Warhammer40k is not the first fictional world to introduce made up cuss words.
Problem with some of the books is that the game and fluff all go on about how certain weapons and vehicles cant be made anymore, lost dreadnought and titan technology etc, as well as having chaos troops and titans that have been around since the heresy.
Yet these things die or are destroyed with amazing regularity. If a marine chapter lost a dreadnought every other mission like they seem to in some books they would have run out of them 10,000 years before.
#60
Yeah, fluff like this I tend to ignore. Quite often the GW fluffies will throw logic out the window in their quest to make the universe as dark as possible.
Concerning cussing: true, language changes over time, and thus cuss words will change as well, but don't forget the first part of this sentence: "language changes over time". I don't think people 40,000 years in the future will be speaking good ol' Imperial English or Amazon Spanish. The books are thus "translated", shall we say, into our English so we can understand them. But if they are going to translate future speak into present speak, they may as well translate the "feths" of the future into the "fucks" of today while they're at it.
Three cheers for shit. Three boos for feth.
Last edited by FerociousBeast; 27th Feb 05 at 10:24 PM.
Actually, Dreadnoughts are pretty resilient creatures. Usually when they get destroyed, they can be repaired, just the pilot-corpse is killed.
9 times out of 10 when a Dreadnought is destroyed in a fight they just have to pop a new dead guy in and maybe a new arm or two and it's good as new.
But I personally think they CAN produce Dreadnoughts, just...at a very slow rate, because the resources required are tremendous.
Its hard to tell cos GW has lots of contradicting fluff. But then if they cant build nemore dreds then theyre bound to run out sooner or later....so i guess the technology to make them is still possible but as Brother lucius suggested, the process will be slow and resource-demanding. and perhaps, not as efficient anymore.
Did not read much books yet, but:
Fire Warrior - The weak book for a weak game..., sorry can't say it other way, the book is very boring, even though another culture, then the Imperials are involved. But its just unrealistic to see a single Firewarrior to hack 'n slay through armies of Imperial Troopers and Space Marines, finally finishing off Chaos Gods.
Dawn of War - The Book to our beloved Game..., it was nice to read, but really nothing special, some average new knowladge about the Blood Ravens is provided, rest of the story is known..., maybe on an equal level like 'Firewarrior'.
The Inquisition War - I really liked the beginning about the Genestealers and Assassin - Stuff, but after the first third the books get very annoying with logical errors, partly very strange decisions of the figures and a very hard-to-understand writing style (well I'm not native english). As interesting it is, as negative are most parts of this story. Don't wanna miss it all to have read this, it provided nice backround fluff about the Inquisition.
Grey Knights - Wow, I really love this book, my first of the BL that really was as good as I expected it to be, will look in more of Ben Counter
Space Wolves (Ragnar-Trilogy) - Hum, this was my first WH40K - Book and it was not bad, but not satisfying at all..., maybe this lies in the shitty translation of the german publisher, but the story was kinda predictable and reminded me somehow on the not so good novels of Shadowrun
@work: Eisenhorn & Deus Encarmine
If you are looking for 40k books to read be sure to put Dan Abnett's work on top priority (Eisenhorn, Ravenor, Gaunt's Ghosts esp.) His books, in my opinion, are perhaps the best written and most entertaining depictions of the 40k universe, though a minor gripe of mine is that for the most part the adversaries of the main characters of his books are almost always aligned with Chaos rather than some other well-known faction.
#65
True that!
Anyways a little thing about cursing in the 40k novels...
In Inquisition War, i am not sure if Draco means like a swear/curse or liek an...evil curse...But he screams out stuff abotu the Emperor in latin...or pseudo latin...
And in Deus Encarmine the blood angels have their sweat words that are like baalite this or baalite that...etc.
Dan Abnett's books are top notch. Finished The Eisenhorn trilogy a few weeks ago, and the first bunch of Gaunt novels shortly after. Ben Counter is pretty damn good, with Grey Knights (1 year to wait for the follow up), and the Soul Drinkers series (best character- Tellos...).
Graham McNeill isn't so hot though, just read Warriors of Ultramar. It was good in places but a lot of it was a hackfest.
Hi, my name's TT balance, how you doing?So much for choppas which make the best armor save possible 4+.
Stuff in the Tabletop and stuff in the stories is completely different. Tabletop is BASED off the fluff just like DoW is BASED off the fluff.
The point of Angels of Darkness isn't to answer questions or get any facts. It's two differing perceptions from different sides of the coin that asks more questions than it answers and thereby deepening the mystery. That is angels of darkess, it doesn't say anything is right or wrong, it merely gives multiple stories for the reader to believe or not.
Plus, Gav Thorpe is the guy in charge of making sure GW IP is used properly, ie, no space marines in skirts, so I'm sure he has a fair idea about what a space marine can and cannot do.
#69
Incorrect. One of Boreas's last lines in the book is a message to Astelan telling him that the Dark Angels are wrong, and that the Fallen are right. As for your "TT balance" point, that's just stupid.The point of Angels of Darkness isn't to answer questions or get any facts. It's two differing perceptions from different sides of the coin that asks more questions than it answers and thereby deepening the mystery. That is angels of darkess, it doesn't say anything is right or wrong, it merely gives multiple stories for the reader to believe or not.
Ok Angels of Darkness was awful and here is why.
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You have been warned!
First of all the Idea that only 5 marines are guarding a deposit of geen seed is astronomicly ludacris. In Storm Of Iron the Imperium
completely DEVESTATED a planet and made it uninhabitable and then created a massive multi tiered fortess complete with Imperial guard and Its Own Titan Legion. So what your telling me is a Veteran Medic Marine being the only one of 5 marines aware of a geen seed deposit in a remote base is a good idea?
Dont you think that this veteran charged with this info would have been a bit more forcefull in letting his companions know that this may be a bad idea?
And how bout the virus weapon INSIDE THE BASE? how stupid is this? Wouldnt it be smarter to have the weapon project the virus OUTSIDE to KILL THE OTHER PEOPLE?
And now that they release the Virus in the Base and decided to seal the base and contain the virus. They all die because they cant recharge their suits. Ok they are in the Base HOW THE HELL Did they recharge them before? Go out for some duracells? Your telling me they couldn't recharge their suits in their own base? moronic. And why blow themselves up? The Medic didnt have any type of sedatives or coma inducing drugs to put them into a hibernation until the virus disipates. At the very least the chapter would have been able to harvest their progenoid glands.
The interrogation scenes were just painful to read as they took on a "are not" "are so" 3rd grade argument flavor. The action was pedestrian at best. The rebel ship was built up to be a formidable and powerfull ship and it ends up getting taken out by 5 marines in a docking pod? What ever you say Gav.
The sad thing was the most interesting part of this novel was the the recruitment aspects, choosing and the training of the young prospective marines. This is the type of incite i expect form someone who oversees all the Lore of GW. Not some halfassed Keystone cop fiasco that really doesnt tell us anything except tell us that there was dicention in the Dark angels during the heresy. These are supposed to be the Emperors Finest Warriors. Im sorry but the "fluffmaster" of GW made these guys look like fools. All in a effort to probably spin off a "fallen" product line to gouge the TT community further.
This truely was a awful book.
Once again allow me to point out Dan Abnett has yet to receive such a tragically scathing but accurate review.
Absolutely, Dan is indeed the Man, and writes this stuff like no-one else. He has written below-par material though - Ravenor for one, Ghostmaker for another, but his 'below-par' equates to most other genre authors' 'good day at the office'.Once again allow me to point out Dan Abnett has yet to receive such a tragically scathing but accurate review.
The very worst I have read is The Inquisition Wars, mind you. I cannot understand why I am still reading that, but God help me, I am. Please, please tell me Chaos Child is a vast improvement on the first two books!
I will re-read Traitor General when I am done, remind myself how it should be
Flenser
Chaos Child is insane, moreso than Harlequin.
If you didn't like them then I suggest that dark fiction is not for you.
#74
Props, Zapp. Let me just point out, however, that Gav Thorpe wrote a pretty good story for the Deathwing compilation, which I just read recently. So he's not an inherently bad writer. Dan Abnett's story was pretty bad, if I remember correctly.
Maybe I will edit in a review of Deathwing a little later, but I'm not promising anything. I will say right now that I came out of that book with a new respect for William King. He also wrote some great fluff boxes for the second edition rulebooks and codices.
Not sure if we both mean the same thing by 'dark fiction' but I read a lot of what can or ought to be described as dark fiction or dark sci-fi and enjoy plenty of it. I have also read a couple of Ian Watson's other books - Deathhunter and Miracle Visitors - and they were pretty good. The twist at the end of Deathhunter was a new one on me at the time - I recommend that one. It is not the subject matter but the style of the Inquisition Wars books that puts me off, I just don't like it.If you didn't like them then I suggest that dark fiction is not for you
I tried Chaos Child but - meh - I will skip to the end and see how it finishes.
Thanks for the comments, though.
Flenser
The finish is supremely inconclusive. I agree that the style is not easy to get into (along with the semi-pointless side-quests) but I liked it.
I'll have to find some more Watson stuff and see.
Ben counters Grey knights was awesome, the way describes a whole secor of space and the details saturn is great. story line had a good few twists.
Angels of darkness is also extremely well written. for lots of reasons, the main one being the suggestion about lion el johnson not being as great as everyone thinks and that the fallen or lutherites may have been justified.
the bleeding chalice, good read but very involved (had to read certain chapters again
space wolf novels were entertaining (specialy with characters like sven and haegr - lol)
although Im not sure if they capture certain aspects of the wolves that I'd have thought about them. but very entertainint none the less
Storm of Iron rocks. Got it yesteray and finished it in one sitting.
All fans of 40k have to get it.
Heritics Bane,
Just because a book has an interesting bit of fluff in it doesnt make it well written.
In two sentences you more effectively told us what Angels Of Darkness couldnt in 300 pages. Its like I said before it was a poorly written, fluff contradicting bit of GW P.R.
And of course the Lutherites are going to be protrayed in a positive light. Why would anyone buy their Minitures if their portrayed as anything but outlaw badasses. Basicly what this story does is build up the Fallen at the expence of a product line that so many people past present and future use (space marines).
It is also the product line that has the least growth potential.
You would NEVER see a book where GW makes a new product line look moronic, incompitant or ineffective. This isnt so much Science Fiction as it is Marketing.
If I have a dark angels army and fully believe that the lutherites are heretics who betrayed their primarch and legion and the emperor, then that book wont make me decide to change my views.
There's always two sides to the story an of course they will be very contradictary.
But it adds a new angle to provoke debates about it. If I had a Dark Angels army and you a Fallen, we'd spend hours arguing about who was right.
ok, so the style of writing and story line might leave a sour taste in your mouth but I thought it was a good peace of writing. there are two strong points of view that allow the reader to make up their own mind. I enjoy stories that are thought provoking.
In fact the whole 40k universe has a sense of irony.
as far as a marketing tool....could be, but the game would be pretty boring if every one had the same race and army and thought the exact same thing about the 40k universe.
HeRiTiCs ]3@Ne
I think your reading too much into this. I honestly could care less who is right between the D.A.s and the Fallen. Its Science fiction so what ever is entertaining and interesting is welcome. I honestly think it was odd that more legions didnt have internal conflicts durring the Heresy. But it would seem that the influence of chaos is inherrent in the fallen. Just their longevity alludes to this. But None of these questions were answered. Nothing was resolved, or revealed.
It would be very cool to see how this played out and If it was true that El'Jonson waited to see who was going to win between the Emperor and Horus It makes it even more interesting. El'Jonson might have let his tactical sencesiblities override his affection for the Emporer, If that affection was even there to begin with. But all we get is the rantings of a condemed man. Its no more reliable than the way the Zealots of the Deathwing describe the events. Just more rumor. Nothing solid or concrete. I can find the same things in the forums here about any topic you pick. If im going to pay money for a book i want to be entertained and this book was no entertaining at all.
It was in all honesty really dissapointing dumb and contrived.
Lets figure out a way to let the fallen get some geen seed so we can justify a rise in numbers that would facilitate an armylist and new products. So lets have 5 moronic marines guard a stock of the most precious commodites in the Imperium. And lets not even let the Commander of the detachment know that there is gene seed there, even though he is a member of the Deathwing.
I could go on and on about how Gav Thorpe fails to tell a compelling story, and instead gives us nothing but speculation and Product placement, but by now it really should be evident to you as well.
So you wanted closure on those topics?
Was El' jonson a traitor?
why is the deathwing so secretive and defensive? (If not self-destructive)
Are the fallen just a bunch of chaos lackies or not?
I fully agree, those questions weren't answered and it does leave alot for speculation.
And yes it also leaves room for another story to come along and answer these questions. and yes, more products to be sold.
I just had a look at your previous post (I only spotted it now) I see your point on alot of things : the interrogations, suites not rechargeble etc. They are being described as idiots.
fine, so from that point, it could have been better. speacialy from Thorpe.
But I still hold to my earlier opinion that the 'fluff' was what compelled me to read through the 'other' bits. honsetly, I was very interested to find out what astellean had to say and what exactly this dark secret was (I didn't know any thing about it until I read the book)
To move on though, zapp, what are your opinions on the Grey knights novel?
Last edited by HeRiTiCs ]3@Ne; 8th Mar 05 at 3:12 AM.
SPOILERS AND SUCH I WARNED YOU DON'T LOOK DOWN THERE SEE I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK NOW YOU RUINED THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF
In Storm of Iron, that place didn't just hold gene seed, it made the stuff. That is why it was so heavily fortified/secret. The virus bomb was meant as a last resort. As in the enemy are about to take over the tower (this probably means that they are already inside the tower, and it releases the virus outside to kill everything else) and can't be allowed to take the place. Btw, just because a character in the book says something doesn't mean it's true. They are stating what they believe happened.
Raske
Oh I see, So if you have a Fortification that MAKES the gene seed it can be outfitted with every conciveable defense the Imperium has to offer.
Now if they only STORE the gene seed then i guess we can just put it in vending machines that require photo ID on random planets. And If the Virus Bomb was a weapon of last resort It was a poor choice considering the Marines were capable of surviving for weeks inside the fortress. It's actually pretty dumb unless your trying to write a second rate 40k novel. I wonder what these Tacticly Savvy Deathwing Base designers were thinking when they designed this?
Deathwing Genius #1 "OK we need a last resort weapon that will prevent the gene seed from falling into enemy hands. Any Ideas?"
Deathwing Realist "How 'bout we have a big melta bomb that will turn the base into slag so it will never be able to be used?"
Deathwing Genius #1 "Hmmm thats ok but it would be a shame to blow up such a swell base."
Deathwing Genius #2 "Maybe if we smother the gene seeds in Milk Chocolate any foes who invade the base will think their chocolate covered Apricots and eat them?"
Deathwing Genius #1 "Hmmm not bad, very devious, but it would never work. Now if we had some Dark Chocolate we'd be getting somewhere.
Deathwing Realist "Errr How bout we just put it in a heavily defended military instilation, with more than 5 of our battle brothers defending it, that is close to other military stongpoints so it could be quickly reinforced incase of attack?"
Deathwing Genius #1 "Naa that will never work too obvious."
Deathwing Genius #2 "Oh I got it! Lets put a Virus Bomb in the base that will wipe out the everyiving thing on the planet, everything except foes in power armor."
Deathwing Realist "Hmm considering every one of our foes that would want the gene seed uses power armor I don't think thats such a good idea. "
Deathwing Genius #1 "wipe out the everyiving thing on the planet, everything except foes in power armor.... Brilliant!!!"
Deathwing Genius #2 "Brilliant!!!"
Deathwing Realist "yeah I'm gonna go see if the Space Wolves are hiring.."
Seriously If you think about it for just over 30 seconds This book makes less sence than Caddyshack 2. I really can't Believe this tripe came from someone they call the Official "Lore Master" of GW. I think I should check their Help wanted section of their website. Im fairly certain that the position of Games Workshop "Common Sence Master" is still available.
Having just read Ravenor Returned I'm gonna put that in here, was nice to go back to Eustis Majoris and see how the team coped down there in less than ideal conditions.
I just finished the first part of the Daemonifuge graphic novel series. Loved it! I plan to order the other two parts tonight. Good story, good drawing. I give it a thumbs up!
The Eisenhorn Trilogy made me revise my long-held belief that a good story cannot be told purely from one character's perspective. In fact, Abnett goes on to tell a whole TRILOGY entirely from one character's perspective, charting an inquisitor's long life of service and how it changes him as a person over the decades.
Where Abnett scores, and I think people will mostly agree with me here - when it comes to anything he's done, be it Gaunt's Ghosts, Eisenhorn, Ravenor, his comic work, whatever - Abnett is skilled in creating and fleshing out a character's behaviour, looks and general personality with a minimum of gumpf. This results in stories with a strong central cast, but with plenty of action - that is made all the more engrossing because you like (or at least feel like you know) the characters.
EDIT: Is it just me, or did anyone else feel that Eisenhorn was obsessed with clothes?
The Uriel Ventris Ultramarines novels and Storm of Iron were fantastic, and Dead Sky Black Sun, where Uriel and Honsou meet face to face, is bloodily brilliant.
The Dawn of War novelisation was crap though, and Eye of Terror is bollocks. The Alpha Legion have never even BEEN to the Eye.
Last edited by Honsou; 30th Apr 05 at 12:22 PM.
Gotta say I'm not much impressed by any of the 40k fiction. Dire examples such as the Inquisition War make me dread opening a new GW book. Abnett's work is the exception: Sabbat Martyr is brilliant, and the Eisenhorn trilogy almost as good, with the Gaunt's Ghosts books providing a solid read.
P.S. I like Angels of Darkness. Even if the premise is a little bit ridiculous.
Last edited by Anaris; 30th Apr 05 at 2:26 PM. Reason: forgot some things
Why does no-one like Inquisition War (some of the best 40k fiction and perhaps the only one to catch the spirit of the universe) but can read Abnett's lesser works and praise them to the heavens? His best was the two FB books he wrote early on (Gilead's Blood and Hammers of Ulric) followed by the Eisenhorn books.
Get Crossfire, if it doesn't catch you nothing can.
I feel Eisenhorn is more Alchoholic, actually. Every time you turn around this guy is kicking back Amasec.
In the Grim darkness of the future, there is only AA.
I personally didn't like Gilead's Blood, at all. Some elf pwns an unnatural amount of guys while simultaneously developing no character, he was always just some elf you didn't care about.
I mean he wanders into a magic tower with a loada crazy stuff in it? Those aren't just lying around.
Best fantasy books I've read are from a while ago- the Konrad trilogy (Poor guy, nothing seems to go his way), the Orthio (I think- the one about the bard) trilogy and some of the later Gotrek & Felix's, from Dragonslayer onwards.
Konrad is good. Orfeo, I haven't gotten into yet.
I feel that Abnett hasn't done as good as that in a while, certainly not with GG.
Hmm, its a pain to get a hold of the eisenhorn trilogy.
I ordered the book through Akademibokhandeln (one of the biggest bookstores in Sweden) and they took contact with the publisher which said all three books (Xenos, Malleus, Hereticus) are no longer printed.
Seems like it'll be a hunt for used copies
Konrad isn't very good either. I'd like it more if the author could tell me something simple in simple words. I don't want to read eight pages of polysyllabics just to find out Konrad has brown hair. I did like Zaragoz, however.
To the poster who liked the Inquisition War: What was it exactly that captured the spirit of the 40k universe? The stupid conspiracy? The mediocre writing and character development? The Irish language used for the Eldar?
The Eisenhorn books are available as a collected omnibus that IS still in print.
The fact that it's dark, ugly and full of people who want you dead. Draco goes insane as he realises just how dark and horrible the galaxy really is, he loses his faith and his drive under the enormity of what he has to confront. That is the only sane option and he was too sane for his task. It doesn't break out in happy-clappy bits of high-tech isn't-this-a-wonderful-place like Eisenhorn did (which shoulld be available in trilogy form BTW). It never became a blastfest like GG or Storm of Iron.To the poster who liked the Inquisition War: What was it exactly that captured the spirit of the 40k universe? The stupid conspiracy? The mediocre writing and character development? The Irish language used for the Eldar?
The conspiracy was canon fluff back then, the last desperate gamble of an insane Emperor. The Emperor himself is part of the point of the story, he is the heart of humanity but he has lost faith in it. His loss of faith is the great threat to the Imperium right at it's heart. It's hopeless to fight on as your heart fails but humanity is still hoping for victory it can never have. Even if the Hydra succeeds humanity will lose because it will no longer be humanity.
It's better written than anything Abnett, King or Haines ever did. Face it, this is Sci-fi for young teens by and large, it's not going for the L. Ron. Hubbard prize.
I think what most put me off about the Inquisition War was the Myffic factor that completely destroyed any suggestion of the 40k universe. The 40k universe isn't about mysterious quests from the Emperor and discovering conspiracies that threaten mankind, in any other fluff. It's a dark future, not one where you can go chat to your god and get sent across the galaxy.
Further, compare the one-dimensional assassin to, say, Nessa or Sabbatine from Gaunt's. That's not better written. She's a much more bland character. Then we have the fact that Eisenhorn is constantly set back by his morals (see the intermission story about Sameter, for example), whereas Draco just storms ahead according to his own personal code, without ever a moment of temptation.
And look where it gets him, he can't bend when he has to question reality. When he can see a path 'the Golden Path' which led him to the Emperor (who, being a god can do that kind of thing) he is clear, he keeps going and will not give up but when there is no instant guide he becomes indecisive, unable to deal with the events. He became sidetracked into his personal quest because he could not see a way onto the true path without a fully apparent objective and route.
Asassins can't really get beyond one-d. They are dedicated ruthless killers, they have no compassion, just a borg-like drive. Callidus can cover that up well but their true character is all drive. Nessa and Sabbatine are people with different drives and purposes in the same head. They do not just fight because they have orders, they fight for loyalty, for humanity, for compassion, revenge and family.
An assassin can still be interesting. Meh'lindi was just a generic brainwashed rebel.
And no, the Emperor can't do that sort of thing. It's been stated numerous times that his entire might is focused on the Warp, he can't just neglect the Astronomican for a few seconds to give some upstart Inquisitor a vision.
But hey, agree to disagree.
EDIT: Not just on the Astronomican. On keeping the Warp from breaking through into the material universe as well. Might be the 2e rulebooks that state it explicitly; if the Emperor's attention wavers for a second, the galaxy ends in a torrent of fire and death and nasty gribbly things with too many teeth.
Last edited by Anaris; 1st May 05 at 4:46 PM.
May as well. Give someone else a chance to put something in.
Although no-one I have seen before has said that his full effort is on the Astronomican. After all, he has to get His message to the Saints somehow. He's more powerful than he seems.
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