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Made in fr
Inquisitorial Keeper of the Xenobanks





France

Hi there,
Today I finished reading a Thousand Sons and have just started to Prospero Burns. I've to admit A Thousand Sons is now one of my favorite HH book but Prospero Burns starts very "well":
It's very violent, crude and adult in it's description of war and people. Ofc it's Dan Abnett but I wasn't expecting that from a HH novel.
I read Nemesis a few weeks ago and, if it's not a bad book in itself, wasn't as interesting or convincing.
The last time I was that involved in a HH book was with Fulgrim I think.
What about you ?

   
Made in gb
Walking Dead Wraithlord






Im at Book 33 So far. Caveat - I only do audio books.

For me its hands down:
Mechanicum.

God I love Mechanicum!! Maybe because its the last book that was narrated by Toby Longworth as far as I can tell thusfar.

Honorable mentions: Legion & Nemesis.
And of course Horus Rising/ Galaxy in flames.


https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/772746.page#10378083 - My progress/failblog painting blog thingy

Eldar- 4436 pts


AngryAngel80 wrote:
I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "


 Eonfuzz wrote:


I would much rather everyone have a half ass than no ass.


"A warrior does not seek fame and honour. They come to him as he humbly follows his path"  
   
Made in gb
Slaanesh Chosen Marine Riding a Fiend





Port Carmine

If I had to pick one.....maybe First Heretic.


VAIROSEAN LIVES! 
   
Made in ca
Secretive Dark Angels Veteran



Canada

Horus Rising.

Honourable mentions/ones that I didn't expect to like as much as I did - First Heretic and A Thousand Sons

All you have to do is fire three rounds a minute, and stand 
   
Made in ca
Enigmatic Chaos Sorcerer





British Columbia

Definitely First Heretic. That whole arc is just fantastic.

 BlaxicanX wrote:
A young business man named Tom Kirby, who was a pupil of mine until he turned greedy, helped the capitalists hunt down and destroy the wargamers. He betrayed and murdered Games Workshop.


 
   
Made in fr
Inquisitorial Keeper of the Xenobanks





France

First heretic is next on my list, I won't have to wait for long !
Mechanicum was indeed a good read too, even though I never even tried audio books

   
Made in ca
Gargantuan Gargant






Chris Wraight is one of my top writers atm, given how he breathed life into one of the pretty much unexplored legions of the HH with the White Scars and really made them compelling and interesting for both their Primarch and Legion dynamics. Even their situation regarding their side of the traitors was quite unique where they weren't simply executed en masse.

So in terms of books, The Path of Heaven or Master of Mankind.
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






First Heretic and Betrayer are brilliant together.
   
Made in ca
Secretive Dark Angels Veteran



Canada

 Gert wrote:
First Heretic and Betrayer are brilliant together.


Can confirm. While I play and follow Loyalists in 40k, the narrative strength of the HH series for me is the traitor legions.

All you have to do is fire three rounds a minute, and stand 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Grot Snipa





Atlanta, GA

I really enjoyed Betrayer, and for favorite authors Chris Wraight has probably taken that spot. Abnett is great, but I find that he has trouble putting together decent endings to his novels, so you get a novel that's 90% amazing and then a final 10% of let down.
   
Made in au
Road-Raging Blood Angel Biker







Saturnine, I know it's very new and has the advantage of tying up many loose ends, but I really had some superlative pieces of writing in it. Bouncing between battlefields, giving a sense of scale and some great personal views of the primarchs, it hit every beat.

The crescendo it builds to at the end, despite being part of a series, is amazing, possibly the best Warhamer passage I've read. It's so very, very satisfying, seeing Abbadon written at the best he always deserved.

my guys: 40k
7000 4000 3000 5000 Daemonkin rar 3500 Daemons grr 5000 Pick 'n mix warband yaay 7000 Hostile environment tank army ooooh 4000 Imp. night :O 
   
Made in pl
Horrific Hive Tyrant





I am torn between A Thousand Sons and Horus Rising.
   
Made in us
Slaanesh Chosen Marine Riding a Fiend




Australia

Slaves to Darkness by John French is my favourite. Honourable mentions go to Master of Mankind/Betrayer by ADB and Path of Heaven by Wraight.

The Circle of Iniquity
The Fourth Seal
 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






HATE Club, East London

My favourite HH author is Chris Wraight, for the reasons given by others above, plus I met him in real life and he is a nice bloke! Close second is Aaron Dembski-Bowden and a close third is Dan Abnett. I would say those three are the premier Black Library authors.

In a pursuing pack are a few others who have good books, but not quite as gripping. I would say Guy Haley leads this group and it also includes Graham McNeill and John French.

Of the rest, David Annandale is fine. James Swallow's writing has issues, but I can normally plow on through. Gav Thorpe, despite being as a lovely a chap as you could hope to meet, bores me with his writing. Nick Kyme has nothing wrong with his writing, but almost nothing good about it either. It just kinda exists in a pointless vacuum. Ben Counter hasn't written anything since the early books in the series, but I would rather gouge out my own eyes and use them to block up my own ears than read or listen to any of his stuff ever again.

Though guards may sleep and ships may lay at anchor, our foes know full well that big guns never tire.

Posting as Fifty_Painting on Instagram.

My blog - almost 40 pages of Badab War, Eldar, undead and other assorted projects 
   
Made in ca
Dour Wolf Priest with Iron Wolf Amulet






Canada

I liked Prospero Burns a lot, it's far away from the usual "bolter porn" you associate with Black Library, and especially for a Space Wolves novel, it's more interested in culture and storytelling. It's a legitimately great book on its own merits. I thought A Thousand Sons was a bit of a letdown in comparison, the portrayal of the Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves was almost cartoonish in how it made one side the innocent "good guys" and the other side hypocritical "bad guys". Just my take on it, but it's also been nearly a decade since I read them so maybe my opinion would change.

   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut





+1 to First Heretic and Betrayer, for making me interested (and even sympathetic) to a Legion I previously knew very little/cared very little about.

Honourable mention to anything by ADB and Chris Wraight
   
Made in gb
Bryan Ansell





Birmingham, UK

Recently Saturnine, It was nice to see the 'good guys' get a victory. Perturabo gets fleshed out some more. Dorn does more than pace round the strategium.

I also just finished the Fury of Magnus, brought because I was bored. I really enjoyed it and the dénouement was worth it. Magnus is almost sympathetic.

False Gods, First Heretic are probably my favourites of the bunch.


   
Made in gb
Esteemed Veteran Space Marine




UK

Mechanicum really stands out for me. The first few HH books were all great though. They start to really lose focus though, and I’ve all but given up trying to read them now. There’s just too many of them.

 
   
Made in us
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator






I recall how intense the tragedy of the first trilogy was. So probably galaxy in flames. The massacre of Istvaan V and the betrayal leading up to it was simply amazing. I have to play devils advocate for a little bit though. I wouldn't say it's the best book in the series. It just covers one of the most notable moments, and it covers it well. I kind of just wanted to read about the betrayal/massacre (Istvaan V), the burning of Prospero, the dark angels civil war and the siege of terra. Now I'm just waiting for the siege.

Honorable mention to the last church.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2021/05/13 10:29:52


His pattern of returning alive after being declared dead occurred often enough during Cain's career that the Munitorum made a special ruling that Ciaphas Cain is to never be considered dead, despite evidence to the contrary. 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Grot Snipa





Atlanta, GA

 General Kroll wrote:
Mechanicum really stands out for me. The first few HH books were all great though. They start to really lose focus though, and I’ve all but given up trying to read them now. There’s just too many of them.


I certainly don't. I read the authors that I know write well, and even then I mostly read the ones that focus on the legions that I like.
   
Made in gb
Bryan Ansell





Birmingham, UK

 Mr. Grey wrote:
 General Kroll wrote:
Mechanicum really stands out for me. The first few HH books were all great though. They start to really lose focus though, and I’ve all but given up trying to read them now. There’s just too many of them.


I certainly don't. I read the authors that I know write well, and even then I mostly read the ones that focus on the legions that I like.


This is the way.

Some books I wish I hadn't picked up.

I wish there was a way to pick up ebook versions without some of the sub plot stuff. I'm nearing the end of Mortis and my god I am sick and tired of Only A Perrson and John Grammarly.

Spoliers: I'm pretty sure my skim reading is correct but the DA are fighting to get into Fulgrims butthole?

Mortis: Not as much Titan on Titan action as you expected.
   
Made in us
Banelord Titan Princeps of Khorne




Noctis Labyrinthus

 Andilus Greatsword wrote:
I liked Prospero Burns a lot, it's far away from the usual "bolter porn" you associate with Black Library, and especially for a Space Wolves novel, it's more interested in culture and storytelling. It's a legitimately great book on its own merits. I thought A Thousand Sons was a bit of a letdown in comparison, the portrayal of the Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves was almost cartoonish in how it made one side the innocent "good guys" and the other side hypocritical "bad guys". Just my take on it, but it's also been nearly a decade since I read them so maybe my opinion would change.


I think you have it backwards my friend. Neither book portrays the opposition as having any sympathetic characters (which is kind of the point, they are a double feature, one is meant to complement the other), but whereas A Thousand Sons takes pains to show within its own narrative that despite their good intentions the Thousand Sons legion were so duped that they were literally using daemons as familiars and Magnus' mistakes ultimately damned his Legion, Propsero Burns goes out of its way to whitewash everything the Space Wolves did and Kasper Hawser's narrtion literally saying that the Space Wolves were fully justified in attempting to purge the Thousand Sons legion.

Propsero Burns is also one of the more unintentionally hilarious HH novels, what with the Space Wolves constantly being described as being possessed of a "wet-leopard growl (or in one case a purr)", or making it canon that the wolves the Space Wolves ride are just giant naked former Space Wolves.

As far as the topic, I'm pretty out of the loop. My favorites were always Horus Rising, A Thousand Sons, and The First Heretic. Also shout out to Betrayer, which was gak but is erroneously considered one of the best in the series.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/05/13 23:24:55


 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Grot Snipa





Atlanta, GA

Propsero Burns is also one of the more unintentionally hilarious HH novels, what with the Space Wolves constantly being described as being possessed of a "wet-leopard growl (or in one case a purr)", or making it canon that the wolves the Space Wolves ride are just giant naked former Space Wolves.


The constant and unending repetition of this phrase also makes the book practically unreadable a second or a third time. I dearly wish an editor had spoken up and told Abnett to cut about a dozen of those. It's like the author came up with "wet leopard growl" and then had a block about any and all other threatening animal noises he could have used instead.
   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

Betrayer and buried dagger are 2 of my favourites.

Heresy World Eaters/Emperors Children

Instagram: nagrakali_love_songs 
   
Made in fr
Inquisitorial Keeper of the Xenobanks





France

I will soon finish my Emperor's Children arc with Fulgrim, and start my Scars and Path of Heaven coming in the mail. However would you say that I need to start by the Primarch book (Jagathai Khan) ?

   
Made in ca
Troubled By Non-Compliant Worlds






I liked Horus Rising and Flight of the Eisenstein. Haven't read a whole lot of the HH series yet.
   
Made in ca
Poisonous Kroot Headhunter





Mechanicum would be #1 for me, no question.

Runner up would be The First Heretic for being the only story where I've ever sympathized with a Chaos character.

Honorable Mentions:

A Thousand Sons: When a story makes you hate a loyalist Legion like the Space Wolves more than any of the Chaos Legions, it's done something right.

Scars: I never knew or cared much about the White Scars before this book, they were just "the biker chapter". Now they are one of my favorite legions. I love how they were portrayed, both emotionally and aesthetically.

Betrayer: For being a great sequel that built well of The First Heretic.

The Last Chuch: The only short story that I really remember from the HH. Was a great premise that hit hard and didn't overstay its welcome.

17210 4965 3235 5350 2936 2273 1176 2675
1614 1342 1010 2000 960 1330 1040  
   
Made in nl
[MOD]
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Cozy cockpit of an Imperial Knight

+1 for the White Scars books, I was not interested in them as a legion before reading the books. So, the White Scars arc as a whole for me, it's short, sweet and to the point, unlike some legions who get a lot of filler, padding and whatnot to draw things out in excruciatingly bad detail.

Scars and Path to Heaven were the perfect arc for me, introducing us to the Legion, what makes them tick and how they got to Terra. Perfect. But then Chris capped it off perfectly by also penning Warhawk. The Primarch book and novella are not required reading, but nicely add to the overall story, sowing some seeds for future stuff.

I also really like the novella Prince of Crows, which nicely delves into just how dysfunctional the Night Lords truly are and how awesome Jago is, one of the few ballsy enough to call out their primarch on how messed up he truly is. Tacking onto this, the audio drama the Long Night, which is a sequel of sorts to the novella and deals with the twisted sense of justice the Night Lords hold.



Fatum Iustum Stultorum



Fiat justitia ruat caelum

 
   
Made in se
Stubborn Hammerer




Sweden

I have only read a few books so far, but I was deeply surprised with the quality of Angel Exterminatus. Easily the best work of Graham McNeill I've ever come across. The descriptions of the world rise above and beyond anything one normally finds in Black Library.

It's not the story as such that I'm impressed with (it's good enough), but the handling of language.

I rarely expect much in the way of flowing, beautiful writing with Black Library, of words making simple events elevate to a higher level, but Angel Exterminatus was clearly an inspired piece of work much of the time.

Never have I had to stop reading Warhammer novels in order to take notes and copy down fine turns of phrase as often as when I read that book.

It was almost as enjoyable and recommendable as reading 40k novels by Matthew Farrer and Ian Watson's Space Marine (1993), and damn me if the writing in Angel Exterminatus didn't flow better and was imbued with more inspired vision than those stellar works much of the time.

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2022/03/19 14:07:24


   
Made in fr
Inquisitorial Keeper of the Xenobanks





France

 Karak Norn Clansman wrote:
I have only read a few books so far, but I was deeply surprised with the quality of Angel Exterminatus. Easily the best work of Graham McNeill I've ever come across. The descriptions of the world rise above and beyond anything one normally finds in Black Library.

It's not the story as such that I'm impressed with (it's good enough), but the handling of language.

I rarely expect much in the way of flowing, beautiful writing with Black Library, of words making simple events elevate to a higher level, but Angel Exterminatus was clearly an inspired piece of work much of the time.

Never have I had to stop reading Warhammer novels in order to take notes and copy down fine turns of phrase as often as when I read that book.

It was almost as enjoyable and recommendable as reading 40k novels by Matthew Farrer and Ian Watson's Space Marine (1993), and damn me if the writing in Angel Exterminatus didn't flow better and was imbued with more inspired vision than those stellar works much of the time.


Reading that, I'm actually a bit sad that some may be lost in translation
Translating is betraying. Maybe one day I'll read it in English ...
I particularly enjoyed the beginning of Prospero Burns, the Fenris part, with the crude and grim description of the battle, it sounded so real, so realistic. Then...there was the rest of the novel.

   
 
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