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So I read vengeful spirit, and though disjointed, I did enjoy it overall.
Specific things I thought of note which kind of, I dunno, settled some things. All in spoilers.
Spoiler:
1. Empy is full well aware of the sanction on prospero, and seems ok with it.
2. He's fighting a war against that portal Magnus broke, and losing men.
3. Somehow Russ made it to Terra, and he's leaving. It really does seem Russ kinda does what he wants.
4. Empy doubts loyalty of the Khan.
5. Horus gets possessed marines. Seems like Malogurst is taking the Dark Apostle role, but, more like reading from the book of lorgar/erebus(not sure which one) like an instruction manual. No faith. Also; they seem like a cross of legion of the damned and a space wolf, anyone else get that too?
6. Blood Angels and Ultramarines can be used simply as plot fodder. Hadn't seen the latter thrown away so easily before.
7. Abbadon started thinking poorly of the warmaster before his death.
Now, these all ignore the possible biggest part of the series, which left me, annoyed :
Spoiler:
Horus states he conquered, where the emperor stole power from the warp. Do we run with the "well he just still doesn't get it", or has Horus accomplished something real? He visibly aged, so I'm wondering if Horus might have a shred of truth.
Anyone else get the impression Horus really doesn't care about the war/imperium, this is just him and the emperor and that's all that matters?
Book also has your obligatory 30+ uses of "mass reactive" to fit your bolter porn needs
Parts of this book were good but I felt it left so many plot holes it ruined most of the book. Perhaps they will get filled in at later dates but you never know with Black Library's convoluted release schedule.
The black rage is within us all. Lies offer no shield against the inevitable. You speak of donning the black of duty for the red of brotherhood; but it is the black of rage you shall wear when the darkness comes for you.
Anyone else get the impression Horus really doesn't care about the war/imperium, this is just him and the emperor and that's all that matters?
That's always been a thing. The other, larger explanations/justifications are just... fluff, really. Cover-stories. It's always been about Lucifer vs God.
It is best to be a pessimist. You are usually right and, when you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised.
Generalstoner wrote: Parts of this book were good but I felt it left so many plot holes it ruined most of the book. Perhaps they will get filled in at later dates but you never know with Black Library's convoluted release schedule.
This is McNeil in a nutshell. He writes in a way that implies far more than he intends, then other authors have to come in and play the clean up crew.
For me I could've done without reading the entire battle for Molech. It's getting to the point in the series where you've read about so many huge battles it isn't quite as exciting anymore, especially when it's about new characters and factions that frankly I couldn't have given less of a feth about.
I have been waiting since Galaxy in Flames to see what would happen when Loken would encounter Horus and Abbadon and Little Horus again. That's all that stood out for me in this book. But I will admit that bit was grand. But the rest of the book seemed like filler..
never in the field of human conflict, has so much been fired at so many, by so few.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions. Loyal servant to the true emperor Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
Please leave your message after the tone...
Generalstoner wrote: Parts of this book were good but I felt it left so many plot holes it ruined most of the book. Perhaps they will get filled in at later dates but you never know with Black Library's convoluted release schedule.
I read through it and didn't notice any plot holes. I thought it was a fine piece of McNeill work. I agree with several other reviews of the book.
Vulgar wrote: So I read vengeful spirit, and though disjointed, I did enjoy it overall.
Specific things I thought of note which kind of, I dunno, settled some things. All in spoilers.
Spoiler:
3. Somehow Russ made it to Terra, and he's leaving. It really does seem Russ kinda does what he wants.
It's called Primarch Pinball. They just bounce across the galaxy so they can be wherever the current author needs them to be as a plot device.
6. Blood Angels and Ultramarines can be used simply as plot fodder. Hadn't seen the latter thrown away so easily before.
Betrayer. They Ultramarines shouldn't have even been in that novel. THey were there only to fill page count so the author would get paid for a full novel, rather than a novella, which is what Betrayer should have been. Not that I blame him, but if you hadn't ever seen Ultramarines get used as plot fodder before, you hadn't read Betrayer, lol.
That answered, I thought the book was extremely poor. The battle scenes were disjointed and all occurred in a vacuum (meaning nothing that happened in one scene affected anything that happened in the next. The battles progressed as McNeill wrote them, rather than progressing because of what was written occurring in them). The charatcers were pretty flat and uninteresting. The Traitor legions sustained ridiculous casualties, to the point where one wonders how they even make it to Terra. The Knight house characters were so flimsy I started skipping their chapter sections. I missed the allusions to Fulgrim simply because I skipped all the sections where he was appearing as a daemon, that's how bad the book was.
Marneus Calgar is referred to as "one of the Imperium's greatest tacticians" and he treats the Codex like it's the War Bible. If the Codex is garbage, then how bad is everyone else?
Vulgar wrote: So I read vengeful spirit, and though disjointed, I did enjoy it overall.
Specific things I thought of note which kind of, I dunno, settled some things. All in spoilers.
Spoiler:
3. Somehow Russ made it to Terra, and he's leaving. It really does seem Russ kinda does what he wants.
It's called Primarch Pinball. They just bounce across the galaxy so they can be wherever the current author needs them to be as a plot device.
6. Blood Angels and Ultramarines can be used simply as plot fodder. Hadn't seen the latter thrown away so easily before.
Betrayer. They Ultramarines shouldn't have even been in that novel. THey were there only to fill page count so the author would get paid for a full novel, rather than a novella, which is what Betrayer should have been. Not that I blame him, but if you hadn't ever seen Ultramarines get used as plot fodder before, you hadn't read Betrayer, lol.
That answered, I thought the book was extremely poor. The battle scenes were disjointed and all occurred in a vacuum (meaning nothing that happened in one scene affected anything that happened in the next. The battles progressed as McNeill wrote them, rather than progressing because of what was written occurring in them). The charatcers were pretty flat and uninteresting. The Traitor legions sustained ridiculous casualties, to the point where one wonders how they even make it to Terra. The Knight house characters were so flimsy I started skipping their chapter sections. I missed the allusions to Fulgrim simply because I skipped all the sections where he was appearing as a daemon, that's how bad the book was.
Fulgrim was cool, he smashed that gunship Dr. Manhattan style. So were Horus and Mortarion. Mortarion holding the gunship down with his chain, and Horus jumping on top of it and swinging it around like a cowboy. Yeehaw! How cool is that?
"The shattered remains fell away as Horus dropped into the dome with both Silence and Worldbreaker held out at his sides.
An explosion mushroomed behind him." This line is just too epic.
Also, what do you think of the part where Loken wants to cuddle Horus, but later realizes Horus is evil beyond all redemption when he rips Sevatar a new one?
And when he rebutts Horus by saying the Great Crusade is better than the civil war?
Sevatar? I assume you mean Qruze, as Sevatar isn't in the book at all...
And actually I liked that part, Horus was essentially Loken's father and that scene was as good as I'd hoped it would be.
never in the field of human conflict, has so much been fired at so many, by so few.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions. Loyal servant to the true emperor Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
Please leave your message after the tone...
sierra 1247 wrote: Sevatar? I assume you mean Qruze, as Sevatar isn't in the book at all...
And actually I liked that part, Horus was essentially Loken's father and that scene was as good as I'd hoped it would be.
Oh yes, I meant Qruze. Got jumbled up between Sevatar and Severian and Qruze.
Vulgar wrote: So I read vengeful spirit, and though disjointed, I did enjoy it overall.
Specific things I thought of note which kind of, I dunno, settled some things. All in spoilers.
Spoiler:
3. Somehow Russ made it to Terra, and he's leaving. It really does seem Russ kinda does what he wants.
It's called Primarch Pinball. They just bounce across the galaxy so they can be wherever the current author needs them to be as a plot device.
6. Blood Angels and Ultramarines can be used simply as plot fodder. Hadn't seen the latter thrown away so easily before.
Betrayer. They Ultramarines shouldn't have even been in that novel. THey were there only to fill page count so the author would get paid for a full novel, rather than a novella, which is what Betrayer should have been. Not that I blame him, but if you hadn't ever seen Ultramarines get used as plot fodder before, you hadn't read Betrayer, lol.
That answered, I thought the book was extremely poor. The battle scenes were disjointed and all occurred in a vacuum (meaning nothing that happened in one scene affected anything that happened in the next. The battles progressed as McNeill wrote them, rather than progressing because of what was written occurring in them). The charatcers were pretty flat and uninteresting. The Traitor legions sustained ridiculous casualties, to the point where one wonders how they even make it to Terra. The Knight house characters were so flimsy I started skipping their chapter sections. I missed the allusions to Fulgrim simply because I skipped all the sections where he was appearing as a daemon, that's how bad the book was.
Fulgrim was cool, he smashed that gunship Dr. Manhattan style. So were Horus and Mortarion. Mortarion holding the gunship down with his chain, and Horus jumping on top of it and swinging it around like a cowboy. Yeehaw! How cool is that?
"The shattered remains fell away as Horus dropped into the dome with both Silence and Worldbreaker held out at his sides.
An explosion mushroomed behind him." This line is just too epic.
Also, what do you think of the part where Loken wants to cuddle Horus, but later realizes Horus is evil beyond all redemption when he rips Sevatar a new one?
And when he rebutts Horus by saying the Great Crusade is better than the civil war?
It wasn't totally without merit. Just as a whole, the book bored me to death.
I really didn't like the whole Loken thread though. The way it ended was ridiculous. If you send characters on a suicide mission, they should probably die. Otherwise it kinda detracts from the impact of that plot thread. The way they killed off a few of the expendables, but then half of them get blasted out into space to be conveniently rescued to Fight Another Day™
Marneus Calgar is referred to as "one of the Imperium's greatest tacticians" and he treats the Codex like it's the War Bible. If the Codex is garbage, then how bad is everyone else?
So were Horus and Mortarion. Mortarion holding the gunship down with his chain, and Horus jumping on top of it and swinging it around like a cowboy. Yeehaw! How cool is that?
