# Nemesis



## Logaan (May 10, 2012)

So, I mentioned in the 'what are you reading' thread that I was reading Nemesis. Well I'm about 60% through and would like to say that it has been a struggle to get this far. 

I won't mention the plot/spoilers etc...but the actual way it is written, the characters, the pacing is so one dimensional and dull it is really quite untrue. The last time I struggled like this was Battle for the Abyss (that offering transcended to a new level of crap on all fronts)

On the character front, the Garantine has to be the worst character from any HH book I have read so far. Seriously. Any scene involving him is instantly laughable. The rest of the squad are again, one dimensional, instantly forgettable by-the-number creations.

I will plough on as I generally don't give up on a book when I have started it (The Soul Drinkers was an exception to this rule as it would have been hazardous to my health to actually read any more of it)


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## Magpie_Oz (Jan 16, 2012)

I quite enjoyed it.


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## Khyzer (Dec 22, 2012)

I quite enjoyed it, I don't really see where all the hate comes from. 
Granted the first half of the novel, by the end, seems to be utterly pointless to the narrative of the whole novel. But I still felt it was a fun read, and a good look at the assassin's that I have personally never seen in any other novel.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Eeh, it was ok 

My rage is reserved for Battle for the Abysmal :laugh:


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

I generally agree with Logaan. What kept me going was the hope of an interesting climax, unfortunately though that was just as bad as the rest of the novel. In my opinion Swallow hasn't made a strong addition to the series apart from _Liar's Due_ and to a lesser extent _Flight_, which was okay.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I found it to be lacking as well. The legendary assassins were some of the most annoying and clichéd characters ever. Unlike _Battle for the Abyss_ where I can at least express some enjoyment from Mhoteps scenes and some of Skraals, there just isn't any highlight for me of this novel. 

Still, it wasn't utterly shit. But if you don't like _Nemesis_ because of dull characters and poor pacing, you better brace yourself for Swallows grand master piece of fail, _Fear to Tread_.


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## Logaan (May 10, 2012)

Angel of Blood said:


> Still, it wasn't utterly shit. But if you don't like _Nemesis_ because of dull characters and poor pacing, you better brace yourself for Swallows grand master piece of fail, _Fear to Tread_.


Having seen several less than complimentary reviews on here, I shall be avoiding this like a kick to the nuts.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Logaan said:


> Having seen several less than complimentary reviews on here, I shall be avoiding this like a kick to the nuts.


*takes a run up!* :laugh:


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## Paceyjg (May 12, 2011)

I enjoyed it also :grin:

For me the two Dark Angels novels in the HH series are the worst by a long chalk.

I have enjoyed aspects of all the others to varying degrees.


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## Logaan (May 10, 2012)

Tawa said:


> *takes a run up!* :laugh:


You forget my feline like reflexes!

Unfortunately you also have a photo of me on my arse outside a fine kebab establishment.....:shok:


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Logaan said:


> You forget my feline like reflexes!
> 
> Unfortunately you also have a photo of me on my arse outside a fine kebab establishment.....:shok:


The reflexes of a cat! That's been heavily sedated.....

Ah yes, fond memories. How was that kebab strewn flagstone by the way? :laugh:


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Logaan said:


> So, I mentioned in the 'what are you reading' thread that I was reading Nemesis. Well I'm about 60% through and would like to say that it has been a struggle to get this far.
> 
> I won't mention the plot/spoilers etc...but the actual way it is written, the characters, the pacing is so one dimensional and dull it is really quite untrue. The last time I struggled like this was Battle for the Abyss (that offering transcended to a new level of crap on all fronts)
> 
> ...


I felt the exact same way. I got through about 50 to 60 percent of the book and couldn't keep going. The juvenile, one-dimensional, cliched, boring characters, the bland prose...the only compliment I can offer Swallow is that he's not the worst BL authour but he's definitely in the bottom half. 

He should be kept far away from the HH (especially the Blood Angels, whom he butchered)


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## jasonpittman (May 17, 2010)

It was about the 60-70% mark I gave up as well


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## Logaan (May 10, 2012)

So I battled on and finished this today. I'll be honest, part 2 was infinitely better than part 1 by a loooooong way. It was kept at a good pace and brought the various plot lines together. Felt a little forced at times and had some lamentable characters. 

In an earlier post I mentioned the Garantine as being a really poorly constructed character and, having finished the book, my opinion remains the same. Awful, by-the-numbers, one dimensional, terrible lines and probably fraps to the 30k version of guns and ammo. I had hoped he would eventually become more than a drug filled John Rambo but he didn't.

The other members of the Execution Force were fleshed out more as the book went on. I think if Swallow had spent more time expanding their backgrounds (as he did in essence with Kell and Soalm) I may have cared a bit more about them. 

Somewhat enjoyable.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Logaan said:


> So I battled on and finished this today. I'll be honest, part 2 was infinitely better than part 1 by a loooooong way. It was kept at a good pace and brought the various plot lines together. Felt a little forced at times and had some lamentable characters.
> 
> In an earlier post I mentioned the Garantine as being a really poorly constructed character and, having finished the book, my opinion remains the same. Awful, by-the-numbers, one dimensional, terrible lines and probably fraps to the 30k version of guns and ammo. I had hoped he would eventually become more than a drug filled John Rambo but he didn't.
> 
> ...


I actually quite liked the Garantine for that very reason. If you look at the fact he was just a man once, and take what has been done to him with drugs/training it's a different slant on him


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## Logaan (May 10, 2012)

Tawa said:


> I actually quite liked the Garantine for that very reason. If you look at the fact he was just a man once, and take what has been done to him with drugs/training it's a different slant on him


I agree. The Garantine _could _have been a really interesting character. A mind and body that has been induced and moulded to kill and kill is a blank page that could have been used to produce a complex and multi faceted character.

Unfortunately Swallow chose to portray him as a one dimensional gun nut with the intellectual capacity of a parsnip.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Logaan said:


> Unfortunately Swallow chose to portray him as a one dimensional gun nut with the intellectual capacity of a parsnip.


Sounds like one or twos Sgts I know :laugh:


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## Captain_Daerys_Arrun (Jan 9, 2012)

Paceyjg said:


> I enjoyed it also :grin:
> 
> For me the two Dark Angels novels in the HH series are the worst by a long chalk.
> 
> I have enjoyed aspects of all the others to varying degrees.


Nailed it. I have or plan to reread every novel in the series but the two dark angel ones. They are the only ones that had no redeaming value what so ever for me.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I dunno, I think the inevitable Nemeil/Zacharial confrontation has a lot of potential. Oh wait.......


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## Stephen_Newman (Jul 14, 2009)

Angel of Blood said:


> I dunno, I think the inevitable Nemeil/Zacharial confrontation has a lot of potential. Oh wait.......


I thought that was a good twist by Gav Thorpe. Shakes it up a bit like when we found out Loken was alive.

The Dark Angels books in the series I find to be the worst as Heresy books. I reckon if they took away the Horus Heresy covering and they were released seperate from the series they would be better. They are decent Dark Angels ooks but VERY poor Heresy books.

Back on topic. I found Nemesis to be very Mehhish. I think it was because I was looking for more of a sciency influence. If it was done CSI style where a load of compounds and elements you have never heard of were mentioned as to how they make the poisons etc could have made it very cool. Although the idea of Spear I found to be very cool.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Kell is a good character... just not worthy of being the lead. I had serious troubles with confusing the cullexus and callidus with each other as I read this one. They were so similar in almost every aspect and the level of crap I didn't give about either one meant I had to keep checking which I was reading about (or figure it out a few pages further in).
Generally I though Soalm, Kell and Spear were decent characters and if they had been in the periphery they would have been supurb... but they really couldn't keep they story going by themselves.

Overall I think its an incredibly hard task to set someone to write a story about a bunch of loners and to make it interesting... and this book certainly didn't succeed in that aim. but having said that there were interesting sections and the descriptions of the assassins when they were operating alone was pretty cool. A long way from the best best HH book... but also a hell of a long way from the likes of Fallen Angels (and they were better then the few books I've binned before getting more then a chapter into).


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Even now after all this time, I still don't understand the rationality behind Kells final decision. Just seems so absurdly pointless.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

I can't even remember the ending... which is rare for a HH book. I can remember them firing the laser and a few bits and bobs but generally its a complete blank. It was THAT good


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## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Two things. I think sometimes that we can get a little overly critical of the HH books. They are generally written by second string writers, they are not usually the best that is avaialble in the literary world. There are some that rate very highly, ADB and abnett among others, but personally i am just happy that there is extensive fluff material being written for the game we all enjoy. Secondly, it is a bit much to complain about the garantine being one dimensional. He is meant to be. He kills, in practise he has the same function as a food processor. Press a button, and everything within a certain distance is rendered down to paste. My food processor doesnt say much.....


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## Logaan (May 10, 2012)

shaantitus said:


> . Secondly, it is a bit much to complain about the garantine being one dimensional. He is meant to be. He kills, in practise he has the same function as a food processor. Press a button, and everything within a certain distance is rendered down to paste. My food processor doesnt say much.....


I totally understand what you're saying.

He could have been a brilliant creation, it was just the childish purile manner in which Swallow went about it that was the galling part. The Spear element was, in my opinion, fantastically written and so how he managed to cram two completely different styles into one book is quite baffling.


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