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well I picked up my copy a few days ago (available now but only on Oxford Street in London, Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury Avenue will get it March 15th and Abnett will be signing there).
I am only a third of the way through but already feel the need to post to say .... woah, there are some pretty significant plot elements in this book and they change some of the underlying foundations of the way we think about the 40k universe - stuff I really didnt see coming. As with all big changes I am not sure if I like them, but I am still not too far into the book so dont want to think about it in too much detail until I have read it all. So far it is shaping up to be a decent book, and I think most people will want to read it just for the new 'secrets' that have been revealed (as were discussed in Abnett's White Dwarf interview a while back).
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A third of the way through? Yeah, read the whole thing. You haven't seen ANYTHING yet.
(in fact, I didn't really consider there to be hardly any juicy bits in the whole first half of the book, with the exception of MAYBE John. But that isn't too major)
Iorek on Zombie Dong wrote:I know you'll all keep thinking about it. Admit it. Some of you may even make it your avatar
he he that is what I thought. John was what I was thinking about and if you dont think that is too significant then wow. I am a bit nervous about discussing any plot elements until more people have read the book though as it seems that a big part of the book's 'quality' is relying on people being shocked by these plot elements, so knowing them in advance would probably make the book quite a bit more mediocre.
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Hey man, throw a spoiler warning on the Subject Line and wail away!
Man, I wish there was a real Black Library where I could get a Black Library Card and take out Black Library Books without having to buy them. Of course, late fees would be your soul. But it would be worth it. - InquisitorMack
Well I am 2/3rds of the way through it now but can offer the following. Note, if you are going to read the book then DO NOT READ THESE SPOILERS. The book uses some shock value for entertainment and it will lessen your enjoyment. Look away now and stop reading this thread!
Spoiler:
The main character (John) is one of 'The Cabal' whose inner circle is 'The Old Kinds' who 'regard all the upstart species of the galaxy as inferior ephemera'. There is some vagueness as to whether this implies the Old Ones or simply Eldar, but Eldar are specifically mentioned as being part of the cabal later, so it seems likely to cover either the old ones or other eldar-like races.
John is over a thousand years old, human and has 'died once already'. He met the emperor on terra back when the emperor was a feudal warlord, leading thunder armoured troops in the age of strife. John was a line officer in the caucasian levvies, in a pact to support the emperor's assault on the territorial holdings of the panpacific tyrant, Dume. John is a powerful psyker but describes the emperor's presence as a psyker of unimaginable strength - like a drone insect in the presence of the hive king. The cabal wish to see the emperor stay alive and try to influence the alpha legion to help this aim.
When meeting the emperor, it states that John 'shook his hand, tasted the power, and saw behind the glamour, just for a nanosecond, saw...' and that is where it has left off at that point in the book.
The primary weapon of the enemy (chaos) is a 'Black Cube' which seems to destroy a planet when enough blood has been spilled. The black cubes are ancient and unstoppable.
I'll add more as I read more, but others please feel free to do the same.
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I would've expected something like that to at least jive with the Sensei and the Illuminati, but it doesn't really.
That seems like something completely different.
Man, I wish there was a real Black Library where I could get a Black Library Card and take out Black Library Books without having to buy them. Of course, late fees would be your soul. But it would be worth it. - InquisitorMack
ok, I have finished reading it now, and there are some crazy things towards the end...
Spoiler:
Alpharius has an identical twin brother - Omegon. Together they are the joint primarchs of the Alpha Legion, making at least 21 primarchs or giving us the identity of one of the two missing primarchs.
The Cabal show two futures to the primarchs at the end of the novel. If the emperor wins the heresy, he will be enshrined on a golden throne and chaos will slowly seep back in to the universe until it destroys it. If horus wins, the slither of honour left in him will drive him furious, make him self-loathing and he will destroy all of mankind. The traitor legions will rise against him and mankind will be wiped out in the second civil war over 2-3 generations. This will make chaos burn brighter than ever before, but then it will be extinguished. The cabal ask the primarchs to help Horus beat the Emperor so that the universe can be saved from Chaos at the cost of humanity's existence. The primarchs state that they will never go against the Emperor but we call them a traitor legion now, so hmmm...
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Ah but see, the Cabal kind of infer (or outright state, depending on how you interpret their cryptic way of speaking) that to help Horus, and thereby expedite the end of Chaos in all the Galaxy, they are doing the Emperor's work, to achieve his ultimate goal. So by seemingly betraying the Emperor now, they are ultimately helping him. Then it becomes a question of do the ends justify the means?
Some people seem to believe that we don't necessarily know if they've gone traitor, and if they even picked the side of the traitors. They are all about misinformation, after all! (And wasn't there a rule in the old Codex saying you couldn't bring demons with Alpha Legion? I don't recall). Maybe they've just made it SEEM like they've broken off, and are actually helping the loyalists? This seems like a stretch to me, as they were in open conflict with loyalist forces at the battle of Terra, if I recall correctly.
Personally I believe they've gone traitor and failed in their mission to help the Heresy to it's ultimate destriction, being fraught with uncertainty of their goals and a general inability to infiltrate either side as well as they previously could (at least during the height of the heresy). Furthermore, I label them as Traitorous Extremis, the WORST form of Traitor, as they've willingly chosen to betray humanity, knowing what end it will lead to, the destruction of all. At least Horus believes he's leading humanity on to bigger better things, as with all his lackies and dupes. Alpharius and Omegon are willingly working toward the end of the Imperium in all its forms.
What's more, they are trusting the word and vision of Xenos scum and archaeotech! Do they really believe these are the only two outcomes?! Can they not decide to alter fate, knowing the POSSIBLE outcomes that MAY come to pass if they do not intervene?! They should have made every effort possible to destroy the Cabal once they received this 'prophecy'. That they did not is proof positive of their trechery.
The twin primarchs fell prey to their own favored trick, misinformation. Why fight a war yourself when there are patsies and dupes willing to do it for you?
Traitors of the worst kind, congress with Xenos, betraying their fellow man and more importantly, the wishes of the God-Emperor, and serving the ruinous powers, one way or another. Heretics!
The Emperor Protects.
Iorek on Zombie Dong wrote:I know you'll all keep thinking about it. Admit it. Some of you may even make it your avatar
Good analysis AlexCage, that is pretty much how I feel too now that I have had some time to digest the ending.
And to anyone reading but skipping the spoilers, it is a decent book and my HH series ranking is now as follows:
1. Fulgrim
2. Horus Rising
3. Flight of the Eisenstein
4. Legion
5. False Gods
6. Galaxy in Flames
7. Descent of Angels
I have really enjoyed all of them except descent of angels so far.
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How many more books are planned in the series? I mean, there's some stuff from what you've said that are some serious loose ends that need to be tied up fluff-wise to get to where we are in the current 40k canon.
Man, I wish there was a real Black Library where I could get a Black Library Card and take out Black Library Books without having to buy them. Of course, late fees would be your soul. But it would be worth it. - InquisitorMack
Last time I spoke to Graham McNeil (fulgrim release) he said that there would be as many as they can possibly get away with doing, there is no set limit except there will be a closing trilogy for the final part of the heresy. So we know of 2 more plus the closing trilogy = 5 at the very very least. I think it is safe to say that each legion is going to be covered in a specific book too.
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I hope people don't mind if i start another thread on this with spoiler clearly written in the title as
I don't know how to grey out the text and the issues the book throws up are awesome..
ah well I'm going to do it anyway...
Vompire, welcome to Dakka. Please use punctuation in the future. You’re arguments will be sign with greater merit and you’ll avoid people calling you on it.
Jfraz (MOD)
Jfraz thinks this phrase is 'more gooder'.
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