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DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY SPOILERS!!!!!













Thanks for reading my rant. I was just really let down by this book. Let me know what you thought...

Damn, that sounds really stupid.

well, I haven't read it and I'm not planning to do in the near future, but it does sound stupid. but so does the concept of a novel about Grey Knights

I liked the 2nd book and the frist. but your are right CaptainLoken this one sucked the whole collar thing stops pskyer attacks some the daemon in the box thing wouldn't have worked

This book was great. The point of Alaric is he's a Grey Knight who thinks, in the same way that Ciaphas Cain is a cowardly commissar. An ordinary Grey Knight would be boring to read about. He'd have been eaten by Ghargantuloth in the first book, because he wouldn't have thought to listen to the rantings of the inquisitor, he'd have been killed by the STC in the second book, because he wouldn't have been able to persuade it that it was a daemon, and he'd have died in the third book because he'd have gone on a rampage until killed.

Alaric, by contrast, is a thoughtful sort. For whatever reason, he lacks unquestioning faith. As a consequence he's able to survive and prosper on the Khorne world, by using its nature against itself. An ordinary Grey Knight wouldn't have deigned to understand the enemy's weakness, and would have been killed off in short order. His strength, imagination, is turned against him when his psyker powers are shut down by the collar, and he's left vulnerable to possession by a Daemon. His struggle against that is what makes the book interesting.

I mean, seriously, how cool would a book about a typical grey knight be? He'd fight daemons...all the time. He'd obey the orders of his superiors and slay daemons. Period. There's only so many scenes that can occur for a character who cannot meaningfully interact with others. It's like writing a book about Kharne the Betrayer. There isn't really enough there.

it worked with Gortrek and Felix

Anung Un Rama wrote:This book was great. The point of Alaric is he's a Grey Knight who thinks, in the same way that Ciaphas Cain is a cowardly commissar. An ordinary Grey Knight would be boring to read about. He'd have been eaten by Ghargantuloth in the first book, because he wouldn't have thought to listen to the rantings of the inquisitor, he'd have been killed by the STC in the second book, because he wouldn't have been able to persuade it that it was a daemon, and he'd have died in the third book because he'd have gone on a rampage until killed.

Alaric, by contrast, is a thoughtful sort. For whatever reason, he lacks unquestioning faith. As a consequence he's able to survive and prosper on the Khorne world, by using its nature against itself. An ordinary Grey Knight wouldn't have deigned to understand the enemy's weakness, and would have been killed off in short order. His strength, imagination, is turned against him when his psyker powers are shut down by the collar, and he's left vulnerable to possession by a Daemon. His struggle against that is what makes the book interesting.

I mean, seriously, how cool would a book about a typical grey knight be? He'd fight daemons...all the time. He'd obey the orders of his superiors and slay daemons. Period. There's only so many scenes that can occur for a character who cannot meaningfully interact with others. It's like writing a book about Kharne the Betrayer. There isn't really enough there.

I agree with you about Alaric being able to think. That's what I liked about his character. He was not a robot. He was a strong, devoted, and complex character. He was not without doubt, but was able to fight through amazing odds with his flaws. Just like we all have to. This is what made him a great character to me. We need more examples like this in our world.

What ruined the whole thing for me was that he was unable to rely on his faith when the time came. His is a Grey Knight. A psyker that has been soul bound to the Emperor. He has been blessed and directly connected to his version of God. I can understand doubt in your own abilities. I can even understand doubt in your ideals. But, when you "see" your version of God, any doubt you have about your "lord" should be gone. The whole process of Grey Knight creation should have detected Alaric's weakness, or removed any doubt that he had in the Emperor. It's what makes a Grey Knight different from a normal Space Marine. The collar, even though it "blinded" Alaric, has nothing to do with faith.

If you want to do a book about a Grey Knight, it needs to include the ideals the Grey Knights are supposed to represent. They are the best of the best. They are trained to fight the impossible, where others would break or run. You could do numerous stories with characters like this, and not have any real problems. Just look at Superman. He has been in constant publication since the 1940's. He's a "paragon" type of character, and yet he has never "fallen".

When you let yourself get used by your enemies, rather than fight to the death for your ideals, you are not a hero. Alaric lost his mind on purpose, rather than fight a daemon. He would then have periods of awareness, caused by blood pouring down his face in the arena or some other horrid thing, and would instantly fall back into his insanity on purpose. That's not fighting. That's giving up.

I just felt like the writer had no idea how to write a story about heroes. Alaric shold have done something else to fight the daemon, such as rely on the Emperor, or the entire story element should have been removed from the book.

When you keep your head, while those around you fall, you will win. Alaric could have done all of the things in the book without going insane on purpose. He could have played the enemy against themselves without falling into a blood crazed "animalistic" state. He was weak. That's what I didn't like about the book. Replace Alaric with another character, and you could tell the same exact story with a heroic individual. That was my point.

I can see both sides of the argument, and each side has a slice of truth attached....heres some further ideas.

Take a look at the Dark Angels, none knows about the shame they bear, and look at what they do to enforce that ignorance....would the Grey Knights be any different? At the end of the novel it looks to me like the Inquisition, rather than putting Alaric to the sword, want to recruit him for an even "higher" purpose! Even so, do you think the rest of the Chapter will learn of his "fall"?

Coming back to reality, lets not be surprised that GW has trodden on its own feet, it does this all the time.

I think people have to understand somthing though, Space Marines are boring...they fight and die, I wouldn't say that Space Marines are stupid, stupid doesn't last long on the battle feild, and I also disagree with the statement that a "normal" Grey Knight would fail where Alarics mindset has allowed him to succeed! That doesn't follow the fluff of the Space Marines either.

Space Marines have heightend senses, faster cognitive powers and abilities that far outstrip a normal human! I belive a normal Space Marine would excell in any arena of battle, using those gifts obtained by the Emporer, would a Space Marine have outwitted Gargatuloth? well, ok probably not...but isn't that what Inquisitors are for? Isn't that the reason why GK are attached to the Inquisition? having said that, its also been stated that the GK undertake their own missions more often than not, so whose doing the thinking on those occassions?

The bottom line is this, we're human, Space Marines are supposed to be entirely something else....writers have a tough time developing you a character that you can identify with....so what do they do? they make the character more human, and hence...weaker!

IMHO Space Marines should only ever be side characters in stories, you should only ever get a taste for the presence of the Marines and nothing more! They should be a mystery...always.

In my opinion, every Space Marine book has failed, even the Horus Heresy series to truely capture the mind set of a Space Marine as I belive it should be. They either come across as being arrogant, stupid, or both....or even stupidly heroic...yawn, yawn.

That really sucks. I really liked books 1+2.

T_T

damn i did not know they were on a third book, did I get the second even? not sure, what were they called

My money is on a future series of books about Alaric as an inquisitor, just sayin, thats what they set up for at the end of this book.

the whole going insane deal, from a standpoint of pure logic probably was the only real way to not get corrupted without the mental sheild if you think about it, I mean Alaric was baresly enough of a psyker to become a grey knight in the first place, and demons as far as being psykers outstripe a human, even heavily augmented humans (space marines) so by sheer force of willpower, ALaric would loose, thus sullying his chapters purity. And in that case he would have fallen, that demon had been stuck in there for who knows HOW long and was only getting out in Alarics body and mind, therefore Alaric would not have died valliantly, but fallen like any other human.

great book imho tho.

You didn't really believe that bit about Grey Knights being incorruptable, did you?