# Opinions on the following



## warsmith7752 (Sep 12, 2009)

I'm looking to get my next batch of black library books to get through over the next 6 or so months, the following is my list for what I think I'm going to get and I'd like to hear your opinions on the books before I buy them.

40k power armour stories (sm battles):
The Gildar Rift
The Death of Antagonis
The seige of Castellax
Architect of Fate
Flesh of Cretacia

Horus heresy:
Fear to Tread
Angel Exterminatus
Legion

I have read Horus rising and prospero burns from the Horus Heresy sieries already. Although i have to admit that i have not read nearly as much as i would like from the series.


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## dickie bell (Jul 8, 2012)

i would recommend all the heresy books, i have read some space marine battle books and i have just finished death of antagonis and really enjoyed it , can't see you going wrong with any on that list. happy reading


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

I can't help you with the 40k books you've listed as I havn't read any of them - largely because I know I wouldn't enjoy them - but:



warsmith7752 said:


> Fear to Tread


Was probably the book (or one of a small number) with the greatest potential, unfortunately Swallow did what many of us expected him to and squandered that potential. The characters were shallow and forgettable, some areas of the plot cringeworthy and pointless, and many of the 'action scenes' boring and skippable. 



warsmith7752 said:


> Angel Exterminatus


Still in the process of reading it myself (I am about half way through) so I cannot comment properly, but I'm struggling to push myself through it if I'm honest. The loyalist parts/chapters are particually uninspiring, and I don't like the way Mcneill has made extensive links (in terms of settings and characters) between this novel and some of his 40k work. I loved the groundwork John French laid for Perturabo and his Legion in _Crimson Fist_, but so far I feel that hasn't been carried on with great effect.

Mcneill has been very hit & miss throughout the series, and unless it picks up in the second-half, I feel this will turn out to be another miss.



warsmith7752 said:


> Legion


To this day remains my favourite novel of the series, despite the works of AD-B.


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## warsmith7752 (Sep 12, 2009)

dickie bell said:


> i have just finished death of antagonis and really enjoyed it


Does it go much into the black dragons as a chapter? Firedrake had a black dragon charachter in it which piqued my interest in the book.



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> I loved the groundwork John French laid for Perturabo and his Legion in Crimson Fist


I mainly put AE on the list because perturabo is my favourite primarch. Would you say that crimson fist would be a more interesting read to an Iron Warriors fan? Also, i intend to get 3 horus heresy books. so what should I replace fear to tread with? First heretic and deliverance lost would have been my 4th and 5th choices.


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## dickie bell (Jul 8, 2012)

warsmith7752 said:


> Does it go much into the black dragons as a chapter? Firedrake had a black dragon charachter in it which piqued my interest in the book.
> 
> 
> 
> I mainly put AE on the list because perturabo is my favourite primarch. Would you say that crimson fist would be a more interesting read to an Iron Warriors fan? Also, i intend to get 3 horus heresy books. so what should I replace fear to tread with? First heretic and deliverance lost would have been my 4th and 5th choices.


you get plenty info on the workings of the black dragon chapter leaves a bit of mystery regarding the flaw and explains how there gene seed always tests pure , i don't think you would be disappointed .


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

warsmith7752 said:


> I'm looking to get my next batch of black library books to get through over the next 6 or so months, the following is my list for what I think I'm going to get and I'd like to hear your opinions on the books before I buy them.
> 
> 40k power armour stories (sm battles):
> The Gildar Rift - Good, Very Entertaining.
> ...


Haven't read _The Death of Antagonis_ or _Flesh of Cretacia_ but have listed my thoughts on the ones that I have read in yellow.


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## piemelke (Oct 13, 2010)

Indeed pretty ok would grade it 6.5, although some things were a tiny bit over the top (the grinder ?). The chaos chapter had a nice background, the style reminds me of Rob Sanders his style.
Way better than ravenwing (4). Above the median and the average of the SMB books, about the same level as legion of the damned and wrath of Iron, below battle of the fang and hellsreach


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

The Gildar Rift. Terrible. Glad I remember almost nothing of it.

The Death of Antagonis. I became a fan of David Annandale with his Commissar book but then I read this and I was puzzled. Like with John French, it felt like it wasn't written by the same author. His depiction of the Dragons made them seem like your generic Codex-chapter with their deformed mutant brothers caged somewhere for emergency use. They read like Blood Angles with wolverine claws and the villain was extremely cookie-cutter. "Haha chaos rules the emperor is a false idol herp derp'. I hated how he made the Sister of Battle as tall as a Space Marine and capable of making men piss their pants just by looking at them and especially how she did not take orders from an Inqusitor and apparently one of the Space Marines suggests that even he could not order her around. 

The Siege of Castellax. I did not like the Iron Warriors here. They were very forgettable and to be honest I read it and it was like a blur. Barely remember anything but it was not impressive.

Fear to Tread. Comical. The moment sign posts and iron poles came to life and started killing Space Marines, I closed the book and shook my head in embarrassment.

Angel Exterminatus. I liked Peturabo's peaceful side. Graham added much needed personality to him but the plot was very boring and just silly. Peturabo joins Fulgrim on a treasure hunt simply and literally because he had nothing to do as Horus did not give him new orders yet. And despite knowing it was a trap, he decided to join him anyways. When they arrive, instead of fighting Eldar, they fight their graveyard caretakers. I mean if you're going to make a debut novel about a Primarch, you'd better make him fight some exciting enemies. The part with Fulgrim grabbing Peturabo and flying upwards in a halo of light made me cringe.

Legion. Easily one of the best HH novels so far. It could have used more AL perspective and less operatives but some have argued it would demystify the AL but I disagree. Still top notch.



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> I loved the groundwork John French laid for Perturabo and his Legion in _Crimson Fist_, but so far I feel that hasn't been carried on with great effect.


My thoughts exactly. Coupled with The Last Remembrancer and Legion of One (the AL story, I think that's the name), JF was becoming one of my top authors. His Ahriman book however made me think it was written by someone else.


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## warsmith7752 (Sep 12, 2009)

Ok, after that the books on my Definite list are as follows, new additions are marked in green.

Death of antagonis
Flesh of cretacia (read a couple reviews and the book is right up my alley)
Legion (HH)

Maybe list:
Angel exterminatus
Gildar Rift
seige of castellax
Helsreach
Crimson fist (worming its way up into the yes pile more so than the others)
Deliverance lost

no: 
Architect of fate
Fear to tread

Thanks again for all the advice.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Helsreach is the best SMB( and one of the best WH40k books) to date. I found the characters very charismatic and everything about it was just amazing.

DL. Gav Thorpe. I can't read his work anymore. I could not finish the book.

Crimson Fist was a short story in the Age of Darkness anthology I believe.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

warsmith7752 said:


> I'm looking to get my next batch of black library books to get through over the next 6 or so months, the following is my list for what I think I'm going to get and I'd like to hear your opinions on the books before I buy them.
> 
> 40k power armour stories (sm battles):
> The Gildar Rift
> ...


I'd miss Fear to Tead out. Potentially one of the worst books I've ever read and a colossal disappointment on every single level.


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## dickie bell (Jul 8, 2012)

fear to tread improves a lot with a second read imo , just because other people don't like it doesn't mean you won't like it.


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## CosmicVoid (Mar 4, 2013)

*!*



Malus Darkblade said:


> Crimson Fist was a short story in the Age of Darkness anthology I believe.


It was in Shadows of Treachery although I think you can still buy it stand alone as an ebook.

Anyways, Flesh of Cretacia is a really good Novella especially if you like The Flesh Tearers and I'd give Fear To Tread a chance, it's not the best Horus Heresy book but it's enjoyable enough!


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## Khyzer (Dec 22, 2012)

I agree, the first part of Fear to Tread was pretty silly, I like and support the idea of


A planet infused with chaos and coming to life as a single entity to attack invaders, but I believe the execution of it was done poorly. It all came off a little to silly and not dark enough. 


but I believed the second half more then made up for itself. By far not the best HH novel I have read to date, but I don't believe it warrants quite the amount of hate it receives on these forums. It is a fun read, and there are quite some badass moments for Sanguinius, especially against Ka'Bandha.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

dickie bell said:


> fear to tread improves a lot with a second read imo , just because other people don't like it doesn't mean you won't like it.





Khyzer said:


> I agree, the first part of Fear to Tread was pretty silly, I like and support the idea of
> 
> 
> A planet infused with chaos and coming to life as a single entity to attack invaders, but I believe the execution of it was done poorly. It all came off a little to silly and not dark enough.
> ...


In fact I thought it was even worse the second time round. The chaos planet seemed even worse and more cheesy and generally shit. Sanguinius seemed even more underwhelming in every scene he appeared, quite how Swallow could make Sanguinius of all Primarchs underwhelming is beyond me. Horus, likeable good Horus at that, also seems boring and flat. All of the main characters, Raldaron, Meros, Azkaellon etc after a second reading are even more clearly lacking in any sense of character. On Raldaron, I still can't believe how a First Captain of any Legion, especially the Blood Angels good be so uninspiring, diminished, lacking in ferocity(espcially after in another novel Argel Tal bigs him up in passing. Azkaellon seems like an even bigger dick than before. And finally on the Wolves


Knowing how pointless they are in general and how utterly misused they were as a plot point makes me wish they weren't there at all.


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## Khyzer (Dec 22, 2012)

hahaha, it is beyond sad that I forgot about the wolves even being in the novel until you just mentioned them.

It is a shame how right you are, now that I actually reflect back on the novel lol.


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

warsmith7752 said:


> Ok, after that the books on my Definite list are as follows, new additions are marked in green.
> 
> Death of antagonis
> Flesh of cretacia (read a couple reviews and the book is right up my alley)
> ...


Added my thoughts in yellow to the new titles.


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## Lupe (Jan 3, 2011)

warsmith7752 said:


> 40k power armour stories (sm battles):
> Architect of Fate - solid collection of short stories. 3 out of the four were quitte good, and one was simply okay.
> Flesh of Cretacia - Pretty good, too. Better than Fear to Tread, if only because Amit is by far the most compelling character of FTT, and his portrayal is fairly consistent with what Swallow does.
> Helsreach - Awesome book, that offers a surprisingly deep and layered perspective on a lot of aspects the 40K universe. (Astartes in relation to humans, Titan legions, the overall grim darkness of the setting, etc)
> ...


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## gridge (Feb 11, 2012)

I haven't read all of the titles on your list but I will comment on a few of them...

Helsreach- Simply put, one of my all time favorite loyalist SM books. I am a huge fan of ADB's writing style and I think he does a great job of delivering the grimness one should expect from Warhammer with a twist of humor here and there. His characters are rarely dull.
Deliverance Lost- Horrible. Gav Thorpe is one of the worst writers BL has. He focuses on pointless minutia to draw out already dull scenes in an effort to pump life into writing. His characters are flat and uninteresting and many of his ideas border on the ridiculous. I have sworn off buying another book of his.
Fear to Tread- I have to agree that this is not a great book. I wanted to like it since the Blood Angels are my favorite chapter but it just isn't well written. The characters are uninteresting and then there is the whole marines fighting inanimate objects thing that is just silly in my opinion. Swallow has been a stain on my beloved chapter and although this book is better than his previous BA efforts it still falls very short.
Angel Exterminatus- I liked the book quite a bit. As many have stated the portrayal of Perturabo is very good. The story is also interesting and well written.
Legion- This is also another of my favorites in the HH series. Some aspects may be sort of a leap of logic but that is the way it has been in many of the HH books. In my opinion the primarchs are far too easily swayed to heresy.
Gildar Rift- It was okay, not great but not bad either. I wouldn't put it as a high priority but if at some point down it may be worth a read. You may enjoy it more than I did.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

warsmith7752 said:


> I'm looking to get my next batch of black library books to get through over the next 6 or so months, the following is my list for what I think I'm going to get and I'd like to hear your opinions on the books before I buy them.
> 
> 40k power armour stories (sm battles):
> The Gildar Rift - A rather enjoyable SMB novel, Cawkwell's Silver Skulls are very good but her Red Corsairs are better.
> ...


Added my thoughts into the quote.


LotN


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## warsmith7752 (Sep 12, 2009)

Well thanks for all the advice, final list is as follows;

Death on Antagonis
Flesh of cretacia
Seige of castelax
Helsreach
Legion
Shadows of treachery
Legion


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## dickie bell (Jul 8, 2012)

that's a decent list all i would say though is keep an open mind regarding other books try them out and make up your own mind , happy reading


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Legion twice, I like where your heads at.


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## Captain_Daerys_Arrun (Jan 9, 2012)

The Gildar Rift-I must have enjoyed it judging by the name. I thought it was a fun read.
The Death of Antagonis-One of the middle level SMB books, it is worth your time.
The seige of Castellax-Score one for the "bad guys." Liked this one alot, it would be my first choice amoung the SMB books you listed.
Architect of Fate-Bad. I had to force myself to finish it.
Flesh of Cretacia-Haven't got it yet.

Fear to Tread-Indefferent. Not a good book by any stretch, but atleast it wasn't one of the dark angel books.
Angel Exterminatus-Lots of potential that it didn't live up to in my opinion.
Legion-One of my favorite heresy books, recomended head and shoulders above the other two.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

The Gildar Rift/ Haven't read it
The Death of Antagonis/ Haven't read it
The seige of Castellax.Awesome, my favorite Chaos book so far in 40k
Architect of Fate/Liked it. Lacks development, but a nice read on a train or when your bored. Really enjoyable
Flesh of Cretacia/Haven't read it

Horus heresy:
Fear to Tread You'll either like or dislike this novel based of critism or favor I've witnessed about the novel. Personally... I think the biggest dissapointment in the series. It should have been so much more.
Angel Exterminatus If Graham McNeill were trying to be a cook, I would relate this to his food. He tried to do too much with the novel. I was quite dissapointed with this book. It broke my heart and really failed to focus on the strengths of the Iron Warriors.
Legion Enjoyable if you like Dan's writing style. A lot of people have trouble with his novels. But I think every single one of them has not failed to meet expectations. You will either hate or love.

You got some real interesting novels of the Heresy. I personally think you'll enjoy the other books. But who knows?


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

warsmith7752 said:


> 40k power armour stories (sm battles):
> The Gildar Rift
> The Death of Antagonis
> The seige of Castellax
> ...


I will say though that just jumping into the Heresy with the odd book like this means you're losing out on the whole experience in my opinion. Reading _Angel Exterminatus_ without reading _Fulgrim _or the short story _The Mirror Cracked_ IIRC, means you're missing the whole back story.


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## Ferrous_Ironclaw (Apr 24, 2013)

i've read all those space marine battle books except Flesh of Cretacia and i gotta say i was pretty underwhelmed with those. just finished Death of Antagonis and thought it was kinda dumb, with a predictable but forced plot.
Helsreach, Rynn's World, Purging of Kadillus...those were great SMB books. of the 3 HH books, Fear to Tread-rocked. Angel Exterminatus-rocked. Legion-meh. it was ok i guess, kinda expected better from Dan Abbnet. if you haven't read Betrayer or The First Heretic, you need to


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Ferrus. I don't think I've ever seen someone's taste in WH40k books be so against the norm.

Legion sucked but Fear to Tread rocked? 

Nothing makes sense anymore lol.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

My head almost imploded when I read that as well.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Ferrous_Ironclaw said:


> i've read all those space marine battle books except Flesh of Cretacia and i gotta say i was pretty underwhelmed with those. just finished Death of Antagonis and thought it was kinda dumb, with a predictable but forced plot.
> Helsreach, Rynn's World, Purging of Kadillus...those were great SMB books. of the 3 HH books,* Fear to Tread-rocked.* Angel Exterminatus-rocked. *Legion-meh*. it was ok i guess, kinda expected better from Dan Abbnet. if you haven't read Betrayer or The First Heretic, you need to


I agree with pretty much everything you've said, except for the bit about _Fear to Thread_. It was a serious let down I thought. The first time I read _Legion _I'd have agreed with you, but after the second and third time of reading it I realised just how good it was.


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## Ferrous_Ironclaw (Apr 24, 2013)

maybe rocked was too strong. i just read it for the second time a couple weeks ago, still enjoyed it better than legion and all the SMB books the original poster listed.


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## DeathJester921 (Feb 15, 2009)

warsmith7752 said:


> I'm looking to get my next batch of black library books to get through over the next 6 or so months, the following is my list for what I think I'm going to get and I'd like to hear your opinions on the books before I buy them.
> 
> 40k power armour stories (sm battles):
> The Gildar Rift *-Still reading through it. I'm about half way through it. Its alright so far. Picking up a bit.*
> ...


Thoughts are in the quote.


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Angel of Blood said:


> I'd miss Fear to Tead out. Potentially one of the worst books I've ever read and a colossal disappointment on every single level.


What?! How could you impeach the brilliance of daemonic traffic signs? Heresy!


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

So, are any of the Spess Muhreen Battuls novels worth picking up?

I rather enjoyed _Helsreach_, while _Rynn's World_ and _Hunt for Voldorius_ were dime-a-dozen Astartes fiction more than anything.

Had hoped the more obscure Chapters and Chaos Legions would yield something.


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

bobss said:


> So, are any of the Spess Muhreen Battuls novels worth picking up?
> 
> I rather enjoyed _Helsreach_, while _Rynn's World_ and _Hunt for Voldorius_ were dime-a-dozen Astartes fiction more than anything.


_Battle of the Fang_ is good, _Siege of Castellax_ is also sort of cool. _The Gildar Rift_ I liked, but that one people seem to either love or hate, so its a mixed bag. 

_Architect of Fate_ and _Flesh of Cretacia_ were both crap imo, and the others I have not bothered to read. 

The audio dramas were all sort of good. They are all bolterporn, but the voice acting and the sound effects are easily the best of any BL audio series, which sort of makes them worth listening to if you are into those things.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

bobss said:


> So, are any of the Spess Muhreen Battuls novels worth picking up?
> 
> I rather enjoyed _Helsreach_, while _Rynn's World_ and _Hunt for Voldorius_ were dime-a-dozen Astartes fiction more than anything.
> 
> Had hoped the more obscure Chapters and Chaos Legions would yield something.


I would recommend _Legion of the Damned_, _Siege of Castellax_, _Battle of the Fang_, _The Gildar Rift_ and _Wrath of Iron_. Those are the excellent ones, while the rest are ranged from good, like _Architect of Fate_, to a good deal below average, _Death of Antagonis_ and _Purging of Kadillus_.

Though the series really needs some new enemies. So far we've only had three. Orks, Chaos (One Daemon, the rest are CSM) and one Necron book. No Tyranids, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Tau or minor xenos enemies yet.


LotN


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## warsmith7752 (Sep 12, 2009)

What? People are still posting in this thread? I made my purchases about a month and a half ago. I suppose i'll share my opinions.

Flesh of cretacia- Litterally had no idea what the authour was trying to do. Not worth anything apart for the cover art which i really like.

Death of Antagonis- Started strong and slowly got worse until the end which was just.... meh

Siege of Castellax- Finished reading this last night. I really liked this one, how Werner made me sympathise with the most evil bastards in the galaxy i have no idea. Also I liked Brother Merihim enough to actaully go out and buy some obliterators for the tabletop.

Angel Exterminatus- Quite liked this one, I have a feeling i only liked it because i like Iron warriors however. I did think that fulgrim was portrayed pretty well into his descent to full on slanesh worship.

I haven't finished reading the other books yet, i might post my opinions here when im finihsed.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Cheers for the feedback, gaiz.

I'll be picking up _Battle of the Fang_, _Wrath of Iron_, _Legion of the Damned_ and possibly _Siege of Castellax_ whenever.

Need to find other authors to love outside of the Power Trio.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

bobss said:


> _Legion of the Damned_ and possibly _Siege of Castellax_ whenever.
> 
> Need to find other authors to love outside of the Power Trio.


Two things. One, you should remove that possibly from the sentence.

And two, do not go into LotD expecting to read a book from the Legion's POV or to see them on every page. I find it baffling that so many people expected just that when it's clear from knowing anything about the Legion that having a story from their POV would kill the mystery behind them and that the Legion's very nature as a Deus Ex Machina means that the idea of them being in a prolonged battle is just foolish so they could not fight a battle from start to finish and a leading role in a novel would require them to do so. _Legion of the Damned_ is a story about a battle the Legion takes part in but in the way they always take part in a battle, by showing up to save the Imperium's hide when all seems lost. That is the theme of the Legion, the Deus Ex Machina, and I think that LotD accurately depicts them, awesomely as well, and is true to their theme and already-present lore.

Well Rob Sanders is a good choice. My own Power Trio is ADB, C.L Werner and Rob Sanders, but the other authors whose works I keep an eye out for are John French, Peter Fehervari (after the smashing read that was _Fire Caste_), Chris Wraight, Josh Reynolds and Anthony Reynolds. (Steve Parker likely as well once he's written more, and depending on how _Headtaker_ goes David Guymer may make the list.)


LotN


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