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I'm looking for some more good WH40K reading and was wondering what the opinion on Graham McNeill's Uriel Ventris novels are. Also, I know that Deathwatch was written by C.S. Goto, but is it any good? Or is that just a silly question?

i like the uriel ventris novels,but then i'm a fan of graham's work...i don't really dig ultramarines, but the storyline is good, especially in the first two novels...

as much as i hate to say it, c.s. goto is one of my least favorite authors from black library...

cheers
jah

I am a big fan of the Uriel Ventris novels... the fourth one is so so but hopefully the next one will pick up the pace. I find it very funny that a lot of Smurf players totally HATE Uriel.

The DW novels are so so at best.

G

I thought Nightbringer was ok. But then again at that time I was a necron player and the fluff had more to offer DE player and necron players than SM players.

In fact, I would have to say that what little is in there about DE is the best stuff for them to date.

Green Blow Fly wrote:I am a big fan of the Uriel Ventris novels... the fourth one is so so but hopefully the next one will pick up the pace. I find it very funny that a lot of Smurf players totally HATE Uriel.

Why the hate for Uriel from the UM players? I mean, I understand that he went outside the Astartes in one of the novels, but is that the reason for the hate?

Green Blow Fly wrote:The DW novels are so so at best.

I've generally avoided C.S. Goto's stuff because of all the bad reviews I've seen of his stuff. This sounds about the same.

Nightbringer & Warriors of Ultramar are OK. Dead Sky, Black Sun, however, is awful.

Warrior Brood was a good short action read. Warrior Coven left me wishing I had 6 days of my life back.

Death By Monkeys wrote:

Green Blow Fly wrote:I am a big fan of the Uriel Ventris novels... the fourth one is so so but hopefully the next one will pick up the pace. I find it very funny that a lot of Smurf players totally HATE Uriel.

Why the hate for Uriel from the UM players? I mean, I understand that he went outside the Astartes in one of the novels, but is that the reason for the hate?

Nah, I liked him going "outside the codex" in Warriors of Ultramar. For myself, it's the heavy-handed action taken against Uriel which subsequently takes him down the ridiculous plotline in Dead Sky, Black Sun that kiled any interest I had in Uriel's further adventurers.

The UM novels suck, as with 90% of McNeil's work. Here's what the amazon UK reviewers think http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultramarines-Omnibus-Warhammer-40-000/dp/1844164039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218587787&sr=8-1 notice that there are quite a few negative reviews despite all the 13yr old chaps that probably love everything GW, including Graham McNeil.

Ben Counter wrote a great novel for BL called Daemon World (I really liked it anyway), nothing else he's ever written for them comes close. Hell, even the BL forum crew mostly dislike Grey Knights.

/oops, I see the second question was about Deathwatch. C.S Goto is famously the most ridiculed BL author ever. Enough said.

Jazz is for Losers wrote:Ben Counter wrote a great novel for BL called Daemon World (I really liked it anyway), nothing else he's ever written for them comes close. Hell, even the BL forum crew mostly dislike Grey Knights.

Ben Counter's books are another set that I'd be somewhat interested in as I've been a fan of the GK since the RT-era Realm of Chaos books, but similar to Goto, I haven't heard much good about his stuff. Daemonworld's okay, though?

Deamon world is pretty damned good actually. Surprising when you take into account the rest of his work. Its one of my fav 40K novels of all time, and thats saying something when I consider Eisenhorn to be really only some of the better work out there.

Here is an excerpt from blacklibrary


The only fluff I know of for the slaaneshy violators CSM chapter.

Finding deamonworld on the other hand...thats like pulling teeth out of a live alligator.

I finally found a copy at choasorc.com for $6. A paltry sum when compared to what everyone else is trying to charge. Typically I see it going on ebay for $50. Stupid.

[edit]

heh. Looks like BL finally reprinted deamon world judging by what the excerpt says, I just don't see it available anywhere yet. I guess those prices on ebay and amazon are going to be going down soon. Good thing too, a paperback for $80 is pretty fething ridiculous.

I did a search on Amazon for it and it came up blank - nice to hear that BL is going to be reprinting it. Comparing it to the Eisenhorn Trilogy is certainly high praise (at least in my eyes, though I know others have lower opinions of Abnett's stuff). I'll have to be on the lookout for it.

*EDIT* Huh. Okay, now I want to know more about Golgoth and the mysterious hermit. Interesting stuff. Thanks, HF.

There wee only a couple of scenes I didn't like in Dworld and the narrative was very good. I especially liked the beginnings of most of the chapters where it tells a little of the history and legends of one of the characters before jumping back to the present time.

Death By Monkeys wrote:I'm looking for some more good WH40K reading and was wondering what the opinion on Graham McNeill's Uriel Ventris novels are. Also, I know that Deathwatch was written by C.S. Goto, but is it any good? Or is that just a silly question?

The first two Ventris Novels were pretty good. Deathwatch.... not so good. I felt the writing was a bit on the heavy side for what it was about, and didn't have much in terms of a flow in the storyline.

The Ventris novels were a good read, but forgettable. Kind of like a bag of chips or a comic book. He was ok, but it was a selling tool when it came out at the time for necrons, it did a pretty good job of it for the plastics. Ventris did for GW what the GI Joe cartoon and comic book did for Hasbro.

Deathwatch came out too early to do anything of that sort, as we are still waiting for anything of the Xenos Ordos.

Borrow the books if you get a chance, or buy them second hand.

I just checked out the BL website and it appears that the deamonworld novel has been on sale since May apparently.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100181085&type=Book

I am certain many places should have it for sale by now.