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 Melissia wrote:
Well, technically he did, in both senses of the term.

I love how Amberley's footnotes become so cold icicles can sprout from the book whenever she talks about Cain's love life.

 Kain wrote:

 Melissia wrote:
Well, technically he did, in both senses of the term.

I love how Amberley's footnotes become so cold icicles can sprout from the book whenever she talks about Cain's love life.

Obviously you're reading far too much in to it, an Inquisitor would never act like that.


Ever.

*cocks bolt pistol*

Meh, just finished reading Guns of Tanith and was about 2/3rds of the way through when I realised there wasn't going to be any sort of resolution to the book... and lo and behold, Abnett style, they just feth off Aexe Cardinal in the middle of the war because the ending bits take two pages. Even Gaunt himself is shocked at Abnett's inability to finish a story ( i.e. keep to deadlines). On to the next installment of the soap....

Also, hasn't he milked the memory of World War One QUITE ENOUGH? For a setting in which there are space ships, there's a stupid amount of trench warfare.

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
Meh, just finished reading Guns of Tanith and was about 2/3rds of the way through when I realised there wasn't going to be any sort of resolution to the book... and lo and behold, Abnett style, they just feth off Aexe Cardinal in the middle of the war because the ending bits take two pages. Even Gaunt himself is shocked at Abnett's inability to finish a story ( i.e. keep to deadlines). On to the next installment of the soap....

Also, hasn't he milked the memory of World War One QUITE ENOUGH? For a setting in which there are space ships, there's a stupid amount of trench warfare.

There is only 2 books with trenches. The 2nd one and the 5th (6th?) book.

But yes, the endings always come from fething no where last few pages. I enjoy the books overall so I dont mind. Exception is "His Last Command" and "Only in Death" which both literally made me feel "what the feth is going on?" even after I understood what the feth was going on.

Pretty sure the first GG book had trenches as well.

JWhex wrote:
Yeah he totally failed to wrap up the otherwise decent Titanicus, it was like the ending presented was his outline notes or something.

I would agree with that - I loved almost the whole of that novel but the ending was not really a proper ending IMO

Having just finished the The Saint, I can concur that it's the same - although even worse, I'd say - with Sabbat Martyr. When comparing the battle for Civitas Beati vs. Vervunhive, they should have been at least equal in their epicness and sense of scale, particularly considering the latter was a bunch of hypnotized cultists and the former are the elite of the enemy forces led by some of the big boys themselves.

The whole side plot concerning feels like it's going to be nicely built up and integrated into the story, yet after the prologue it completely disappears and doesn't come back into it until that part of a novel where you can sense/feel/see that the amount of pages left can't possibly deliver a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't. Apparently Straight Silver is the most disliked in the omnibus, but it's much better than Sabbat Martyr, in my opinion.

Yeah, he's bad at endings, but he's also a champ at introducing new characters with a specific purpose of giving them a little arc only for them to die, because why else would we need new characters?

There's also that Imperial Navy aide Gaunt got in the second novel, who went unmentioned for most of the novels, only to get a cameo late in the series and what happens to him? Eyup, that's the only reason he's brought up again..

The only Abnett books I was genuinely disappointed with was the Ravenor series; the whole thing miffed me, not just the endings.

I suppose each writer has got their own strengths and weaknesses. I always find Abnett's books to be compulsive page turners, perhaps partly because of his snappy writing style (which doesn't get bogged down in literary extravagances, as can be the case with some BL authors) but also because he is so good at coming up with exciting new ideas for things. Personally, I think it's remarkable considering that we have now had dozens of writers commenting on the same static universe for 20 years or more; it can't be easy coming up with a fresh slant on things. That Abnett managed it with the Space Wolves for instance (in their re-working for Prospero Burns), without doing a 'Matt Ward' and knocking out the fundamentals of that faction's previous background, I think is testament to his writing ability and imagination.

Abnett and ADB are the only writers whose books I will pick up regardless of the topic or review, I think they both stand apart from the rest of the BL stable.

 Pacific wrote:
I suppose each writer has got their own strengths and weaknesses. I always find Abnett's books to be compulsive page turners, perhaps partly because of his snappy writing style (which doesn't get bogged down in literary extravagances, as can be the case with some BL authors) but also because he is so good at coming up with exciting new ideas for things. Personally, I think it's remarkable considering that we have now had dozens of writers commenting on the same static universe for 20 years or more; it can't be easy coming up with a fresh slant on things. That Abnett managed it with the Space Wolves for instance (in their re-working for Prospero Burns), without doing a 'Matt Ward' and knocking out the fundamentals of that faction's previous background, I think is testament to his writing ability and imagination.

Abnett and ADB are the only writers whose books I will pick up regardless of the topic or review, I think they both stand apart from the rest of the BL stable.

It's true that Abnett's strengths are his creativity and his ability to find fresh angles on tired subjects, but these come at the price of structure in his stories where he crams the info dump in the first 170 pages and resolves the plot in the last two.

I guess it's because he likes to leave things open for future novels. I will agree that the endings to his works aren't exactly great, but I still consider him one of the best writers for 40k.

Agun Soric, grizzled veteran of Vervunhive and countless battles since, felt the weight shift a little in his pouch and out-tumbled a little munitorium message-case with the now-familiar blue paper in it.

He took it out and held it up to the light. Bizarrely, for the first time it wasn't in his handwriting; it was an unrecognisable script from an old form of gothic used on Terra millennia ago. 'Deadline approaching tomorrow; better wrap up the novel in two pages time.' Agun sighed; so much for this adventure! Another dreary couple of months on a troopship.

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
Agun Soric, grizzled veteran of Vervunhive and countless battles since, felt the weight shift a little in his pouch and out-tumbled a little munitorium message-case with the now-familiar blue paper in it.

He took it out and held it up to the light. Bizarrely, for the first time it wasn't in his handwriting; it was an unrecognisable script from an old form of gothic used on Terra millennia ago. 'Deadline approaching tomorrow; better wrap up the novel in two pages time.' Agun sighed; so much for this adventure! Another dreary couple of months on a troopship.

+1 for Hilarious Reference.

I never expect an "ending" to any of his individual stories, especially considering it's an enormous series. I don't mind his endings as they're essentially just a reason to have an opening for another story. Until I receive the book that is the "end" of the series as a whole, I won't expect any grand ending that wraps everything up. Then again, I use 40k novels as guilty pleasure reading. If I want good endings i'll go read a classic or something of that nature.

I was quite pleased with how he wrapped up the Eisenhorn and Ravenor stories contained in the Omnibus. They gave a true sense of how a massive accomplishment, one that could take one's entire lifetime and leave them in ruin, is another drop in the bucket for the Imperium. But if that drop had fallen, so too would the Imperium. Good perspective. Still need to pick up the Eisenhorn vs Ravenor / Benquin books.

I enjoy Abnett's work. I've never read any of his "Space Marine" novels though.

Would definitely recommend his Heresy-era marine books; Horus Rising, Legion and Prospero Burns I think are some of the finest books to come out of BL, and stand up as great reads in their own right.

Only disappointing one I have read was Brotherhood of the Snake; it ends up 'and he shot another ork, and he shot another ork', throughout the entire middle section.

 gpfunk wrote:

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
Agun Soric, grizzled veteran of Vervunhive and countless battles since, felt the weight shift a little in his pouch and out-tumbled a little munitorium message-case with the now-familiar blue paper in it.

He took it out and held it up to the light. Bizarrely, for the first time it wasn't in his handwriting; it was an unrecognisable script from an old form of gothic used on Terra millennia ago. 'Deadline approaching tomorrow; better wrap up the novel in two pages time.' Agun sighed; so much for this adventure! Another dreary couple of months on a troopship.

+1 for Hilarious Reference.

I never expect an "ending" to any of his individual stories, especially considering it's an enormous series. I don't mind his endings as they're essentially just a reason to have an opening for another story. Until I receive the book that is the "end" of the series as a whole, I won't expect any grand ending that wraps everything up. Then again, I use 40k novels as guilty pleasure reading. If I want good endings i'll go read a classic or something of that nature.

I was quite pleased with how he wrapped up the Eisenhorn and Ravenor stories contained in the Omnibus. They gave a true sense of how a massive accomplishment, one that could take one's entire lifetime and leave them in ruin, is another drop in the bucket for the Imperium. But if that drop had fallen, so too would the Imperium. Good perspective. Still need to pick up the Eisenhorn vs Ravenor / Benquin books.

I enjoy Abnett's work. I've never read any of his "Space Marine" novels though.

It's not that there can't be continuity between stories- it's just that his pacing is damned poor and he resolves 170+ pages of setup in just a couple of paragraphs. That's just lazy plotting.

In any case, the ending to Sabbat Martyr was awesome. Prove me wrong Dan Abnett!!!

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
It's not that there can't be continuity between stories- it's just that his pacing is damned poor and he resolves 170+ pages of setup in just a couple of paragraphs. That's just lazy plotting.

In any case, the ending to Sabbat Martyr was awesome. Prove me wrong Dan Abnett!!!

Maybe it's just me, but I honestly have no problems with a good majority of his endings in the GG series. Anything that didn't really get a wrap up I thought was unimportant or I wasn't really invested in it. Then again, it's probably how I approach the books. They're casual reading for me.

 Void__Dragon wrote:
Pretty sure the first GG book had trenches as well.

Actually I think you are right.

If so that means that the 2nd book did not have trenches.

Lol whatever

The first one definitely had trenches as did the 6th, there may have been some in the second but it was a book of short stories effectively

Galdos wrote:But yes, the endings always come from fething no where last few pages. I enjoy the books overall so I dont mind. Exception is "His Last Command" and "Only in Death" which both literally made me feel "what the feth is going on?" even after I understood what the feth was going on.

This. Though the main meat of both (especially only in death) were tasty as feth

Arcsquad12 wrote:The biggest offender I felt was Necropolis. Turning point for the Ghosts series, but that ending suuuuucked. I was hoping for a neat subplot with Curth and Dorden investigating the corrupt merchant's murders, but then boop, it's all wrapped up with a bullet.

yeah, I was kinda disappointed with that.

As much as I love his writing, I have to agree. I'm just hoping to god that the final book of gaunt's ghosts won't suffer that fate, because I've thought of an absolutely epic ending which I hope won't be let down by the actual one.

Thatguyhsagun wrote:
Because Abnett feels that he needs to have a feth-tonne of action and conversation, then realizes he used up his page allowance from BL and deletes the real ending to replace it with a 2 second ending

Pretty much what I thought had happened. Definitely feels like the ending was chopped and something hashed out quickly to wind it up on most occasions.

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:
The first one definitely had trenches as did the 6th, there may have been some in the second but it was a book of short stories effectively

The prelude on Monthax (before the suicidal charge against 50000 cult troops) was all about Gaunt wandering the Ghosts Trench line.

 Pacific wrote:
Would definitely recommend his Heresy-era marine books; Horus Rising, Legion and Prospero Burns I think are some of the finest books to come out of BL, and stand up as great reads in their own right.

Only disappointing one I have read was Brotherhood of the Snake; it ends up 'and he shot another ork, and he shot another ork', throughout the entire middle section.

To be fair, Prospero Burns doesn't have an ending at all. It just stops, and might as well say 'the ending is in A Thousand Sons'. It's a good book, but definitely his best example of 'unable to finish'.

It's easy to get away with not having a real ending with Horus Rising, considering he was starting an entire series of books as well as a contained trilogy. Legion, though, I'll give you. Utterly awesome.

Gaunts Ghosts tends to be a mixed bag with endings. Some are more blatant than others. For example - I really liked the way Traitor General ended. It was only ever going to end that way, and you knew that going in. Endings like First and Only and Straight Silver I didn't mind - the character stories wrap up, even if the overall story is still going. The Guns of Tanith was just odd - as someone said, it's like Gaunt himself felt surprised Abnett ended it like that. Endings like Honour Guard and Ghostmaker? Lazy, lazy, lazy.

He's still their best writer, and the ride his books take you on are good enough that I mostly just accept the rushed endings.

It might be because nothing ends in 40k...
There's no peace treaty. No ceasefire.
Every time a book ends they move on to another fight, another war.
There is no end to 40k and no end for the characters.

Or he might be bad at finishing a story arc...

 purplefood wrote:
It might be because nothing ends in 40k...
There's no peace treaty. No ceasefire.
Every time a book ends they move on to another fight, another war.
There is no end to 40k and no end for the characters.

Or he might be bad at finishing a story arc...

But yes, I think most of us can agree his bad endings are overshadowed by the rest of the books being excellent

Well I come to expect it now so I just enjoy the ride until the next book.

Although I realise Gaunt's Ghosts is less a hard-boiled military sci-fi novel series than a dramedy with a recurring cast of likeable rogues and ne'erdowells. It's the 40k equivalent of G.I. Joe, just with more casualties.

Does anyone else feel his sudden injections of military historiography are fething odd? Strikes me as a rather ham-handed way of adding breadth to his stories. I enjoy them, of course, being a military historian, but nevertheless...

I've only read the Eisenhorn trilogy, but I do see what other people mean. Especially with Hereticus, the final novel in the series. It ends as soon as the crisis is over, then we get a few short 'Where are they now' bios. Other stories don't just end as soon as the crisis/conflict is finished. That would be like having the credits come up once the Death Star has blown up.

Dunno, I felt that Eisenhorn wasn't really all that good, myself. Just kind of felt like they dragged on and rambled a bit.

 -Loki- wrote:
He's still their best writer, and the ride his books take you on are good enough that I mostly just accept the rushed endings.

Arguable, IMHO.

McNeill, ADB, even Swallow based on the one book I've read of him, can compete. And all are certainly better at writing an ending.

Eisenhorn was fantastic, but even that had the most unsatisfying ending. The final battle with Robo Pontius Glaw was friggin' whack as hell, lol.

Horus Rising was also really good, there are very few complaints I would be able to have on it, and it is actually better than the book by McNeill following (Granted, that is mostly because said book contained McNeill's biggest blunder in writing for 40k).

But then you have books like Know No Fear... Which is not terrible, but the book still contains some serious problems. Like some of the worst plot armour I have seen, even by Abnett standards (Word Bearers being relegated to Imperial Guardsmen when fighting Ultramarines, a fething captain jumping on top of a Daemon Prince's head and killing it off-panel after said Daemon tossed a friggin' Baneblade so hard it exploded, etc.), for example.

Granted, maybe this is because I have not read much of the GG series. Which to be fair, I blame on the first book, which is basically ass.