# The Outcast Dead Cover Art.



## Child-of-the-Emperor

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Blog/outcast-dead-final-cover.html

Just been posted up.

I very much like the the Astropath, not sure about the rest or overall image though.


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## Whitehorn




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## TheSpore

Intresting a lil diffrent than what i normally see coming from the BL but then again it seems they have been changing there art style a lil here and there


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## Stella Cadente

shit title and shit artwork compared to previous BL books


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## Phoebus

Ah, geez. I hope those guys are members of a hive-gang and not Astartes trying to disguise themselves. PLEASE tell me they're not Astartes trying to disguise themselves! :biggrin:


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## Whitehorn

Phoebus said:


> Ah, geez. I hope those guys are members of a hive-gang and not Astartes trying to disguise themselves. PLEASE tell me they're not Astartes trying to disguise themselves! :biggrin:


Disguise themselves.. as themselves?


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## Sacred Feth

Stella Cadente said:


> shit title and shit artwork compared to previous BL books


Have to say I agree.


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## X FiftY 1ne

Wow I'm super pumped. That cover has me excited mostly because who the hell are those guys following the Astropath? BL keeps pumping out new artwork for upcoming books every day now. Can't wait to see was _Deliverance Lost_ will look like.


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## Insurance

is the guy standing behind the astropath wearing purple mark 1 thunder power armour? also, were the emperor's children already established during the unification wars?


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## Child-of-the-Emperor

Definitley looks like they are Astartes, the one's helmet bears the mark of the III Legion, and the one on the right bears the mark of the XII Legion. Not sure what to think of that.


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## Whitehorn

Insurance said:


> is the guy standing behind the astropath wearing purple mark 1 thunder power armour? also, were the emperor's children already established during the unification wars?


Yes. They were originally one of the 20 regiments who may or may not have had a different name back then before becoming legions.

For instance, the guy on the right would be a War hound and the guy at the back a Dusk Raider.


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## Bane_of_Kings

Looks pretty sweet, can't wait for this .


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## Whitehorn

I have been corrected, this book is based post-Isstvan, so is far beyond the Unification.

Woops


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## Bane_of_Kings

According to the Waterstones website, here's what the plot will be along the lines of:

_When an Astropath has a vision about the end of the heresy, it falls to a group of renegade traitors to get him off Terra._

Bane of Kings Out


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## X FiftY 1ne

Bane_of_Kings said:


> According to the Waterstones website, here's what the plot will be along the lines of:
> 
> _When an Astropath has a vision about the end of the heresy, it falls to a group of renegade traitors to get him off Terra._
> 
> Bane of Kings Out


I'm having a thought overload trying to figure out what this book might be about. Wish is what out sooner.


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## Whitehorn

Worth listening to this for a few more hints


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## Angel of Blood

Not a fan of the cover at all. The styles just completely changed and i dont know, there seems to be quite alot going on, i'm just not a fan


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## Insurance

Whitehorn said:


> I have been corrected, this book is based post-Isstvan, so is far beyond the Unification.
> 
> Woops


sorry if my questions were confusing. i figured this story was set well beyond the unification. i was just curious if i was right about the armor type and if the emperor's children had been around in that previous time period.


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## Roninman

Like it cause its different to these action scenes we see on almost every HH novel so far. Not work of art, quite cartoony but nevertheless its different.


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## Midge913

hmmmmmm..... I can say that I am not a fan. The image is too cartoony..


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## Khorne's Fist

Worst cover yet. More _Dr. Who_ than HH. The astropath looks like Nosferatu.


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## Lord of the Night

Thought Astropaths didn't have eyes. But other then that I like it, bit more low-tech and hive gangerish then we are used too but I do like the Astartes efforts to arm themselves with whatever they can get.

Lord of the Night


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## forkmaster

Even though I love McNeills job so far, I have pretty low expectations on this one. It leans too much towards a Nemesis type of HH-story, but I hope he will pull it out. HH-changing with a foresight will be interesting.


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## Doelago

Looks... Interesting... And different...


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## HorusReborn

meh, it's all I can say. The cover art looks comical, so I wonder if it'll be funny?


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## Sacred Feth

The guys on the cover look like they were designed using Eve Online's crappy old character creator...


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## Uncle Nurgle

Sorry perhaps I'm being blind, but where on the guys do you see the icons for the legions they belong to?


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## Angel of Blood

Shoulder pad of the World Eater, can just make out the jaws of the World Eaters on his right pad and the Emperors Children symbol in the middle of the one with a purple helmet


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## CursedUNTILLDEATH

When i have to think about a books title for a second till i make since of it, its a bad title...the cover art is...i am skeptical...very much so.


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## mal310

What on earth is that? Its hopeless! I mean the Astartes look like a bunch bums, a cartoon collection of drunks and drug addicts! Compared to the very good cover art for Blood Reaver and the excellent one for The Gildar Rift I personally think its total crap. However what’s that old saying about a books cover. Exactly.

Oh and whats Davros got to do with it? Are the Daleks making an apperance?


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## Unknown Primarch

wheres the detail of the previous novels. dont think we've had such a crappy cover since the first 3 HH novels. like others said very cartoony. but what we are seeing is quite intriguing and seems like it could be a good book. i have faith in mcniell to give us something juicy. just hope TS hasnt used up all his HH creativity


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## Angel of Blood

Anyone else think the Astartes at the back looks like hes holding a guardian spear? I doubt it is, but does look very similar all the same


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## Diatribe1974

Man, that cover is borderline awful and I'm pretty forgiving.


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## Imperators Warden

*Looks quite interesting.*

I think it has potential, could be a fresh take. As for the cover art, I like it. I think it foreshadows major coming character conflicts. I wonder what legion the Astartes on the far left is. Possibly an Iron Warrior, hiding behind a pointy shield. 



Lord of the Night said:


> Thought Astropaths didn't have eyes. But other then that I like it, bit more low-tech and hive gangerish then we are used too but I do like the Astartes efforts to arm themselves with whatever they can get.
> 
> Lord of the Night


His eye's wouldn't be blown out; no soul binding back then. I agree that the ad-hoc appearance is cool. Reminds me of old Rogue Trader models. 




Insurance said:


> is the guy standing behind the astropath wearing purple mark 1 thunder power armour? also, were the emperor's children already established during the unification wars?


The Emperor's Children Astarte's is wearing a MK I helmet. Although, he doesn't seem to be wearing power armour.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor

forkmaster said:


> Even though I love McNeills job so far, I have pretty low expectations on this one. It leans too much towards a Nemesis type of HH-story, but I hope he will pull it out. HH-changing with a foresight will be interesting.


Personally my expectations are no different from any other HH novel by Mcneill. You are right in the sense that it's a similar sort of plot to Swallow's _Nemesis_ (not covering a mainstream event or an Astartes Legion), which was a bit of a flop in my opinion. But that was Swallow. 

I think this has the potential to be a great addition to the Heresy series. An astropath has seen some terrible truth or realisation, he is hunted by the agents of the enemy and protected by those who themselves have dubious loyalites. Hell of a lot of potential for character development right there. 



Imperators Warden said:


> His eye's wouldn't be blown out; no soul binding back then.


According to the _Collected Visions_ the soul binding process occured even during the Great Crusade/Heresy, not just post-Heresy.


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## raider1987

Not as good as the SM batte art... but am still looking forward to this.


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## Smokes

I want those glasses....


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## bobss

This is like fucking YMCA 31st Millenium style.


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## Serpion5

I`m not sure what to make of this. 

I think I`ll just adopt my usual policy and reserve judgement until after I`ve read it. 

There`s a lot of negativity here. :no:


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## Angel of Blood

Don't get me wrong, i'm looking forward to the book, i just think the covers wank.


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## HorusReborn

I don't see how this has anything to do with astartes. I haven't read anything about it, and just looked at the cover art but one guy looks like an Adeptus Arbites, another looks like a second edition Cadian. I don't see any reference to Astartes at all.. just a bunch of gangers and an astropath.


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## Angel of Blood

Well they really do dwarf the astropath like astartes would, they aren't just taller, they are physically larger in every way, carrying boltguns like standard rifles. Then theres the World Eater and Emperors Children icons two of them have. And the synopsis says astartes


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## HorusReborn

I must be looking at a different pic because, there is a guy with an old school plasma, something that looks like a triple barreled stubber, a laspistol... I see a guy in purple, is that who they think is an Emperor's child? He is in arbites armour for sure! Also, where can I see a synopsis since there is NOTHING on the BL site that says anything about the book except, 
"This is the story’s hero, an astropath on the run in the bowels of Terra, and his unlikely protectors. You’ll have to wait until later in the year to find out more. For now, have the whole cover to sate your appetites. And don’t say we never give you anything".

His unlikely protectors could be any ganger or hive worker that would be bigger than this wimp freak of nature depicted on the cover art. I've also magnified this pic to see any World Eater reference, and can't find it for sure.


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## Shag

The background looks ok, but the fellow on the right makes me think of cheesy 80's cartoons... and they are big like astartes, it's just they don't look noble. I for some reason always have in my head a picture of astartes with noble features even though the books sometimes show me otherwise.


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## Angel of Blood

HorusReborn said:


> I must be looking at a different pic because, there is a guy with an old school plasma, something that looks like a triple barreled stubber, a laspistol... I see a guy in purple, is that who they think is an Emperor's child? He is in arbites armour for sure! Also, where can I see a synopsis since there is NOTHING on the BL site that says anything about the book except,
> "This is the story’s hero, an astropath on the run in the bowels of Terra, and his unlikely protectors. You’ll have to wait until later in the year to find out more. For now, have the whole cover to sate your appetites. And don’t say we never give you anything".
> 
> His unlikely protectors could be any ganger or hive worker that would be bigger than this wimp freak of nature depicted on the cover art. I've also magnified this pic to see any World Eater reference, and can't find it for sure.












The guy in purple has the Emperors Children icon slap bang in the middle of his helmet. Along with the fact that hes wearing purple and the icon is in gold, just like the EC. Then the guy on the right clearly had the World Eaters jaws on his left shoulder pad, he's again wearing the legion colours and looks to have cerebral implants.

The Waterstones synopsis says:
"_When an Astropath has a vision about the end of the heresy, it falls to a group of renegade traitors to get him off Terra."_

Renegade traitors sounds like astartes to me. But if all this wasn't enough, Mcneill himself says in this interview that the astropath will be accompanied by astartes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQHkuevG34g&feature=player_embedded#at=363


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## Sacred Feth

If they are Astartes, I can't help but wonder why they're dressed like Bebop and Rocksteady from the TMNT...


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## Good Minton

Sacred Feth said:


> If they are Astartes, I can't help but wonder why they're dressed like Bebop and Rocksteady from the TMNT...


They do indeed! Very good lol.


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## Good Minton

Angel of Blood said:


> Don't get me wrong, i'm looking forward to the book, i just think the covers wank.


Quite succinctly summed up I feel.


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## Worldkiller

Don't know if this has been said before but the EC could be wearing Mark 1 power armor, or the remnants of one.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Power_Armour

This could imply he's been there for a while, and so might not be connected with his traitor brothers in the 3rd legion.


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## pb100

I think I'm on the fence about this one. On one hand the cover art has a very Rouge Trader-ish feel to it. The on the other hand it does look really silly. The plot, however, seems really cool. Any novel set on Terra during the Heresy(?) sounds good to me.


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## World Eater XII

Looks pretty pump tbh, just looks like something out of 5th element... indeed "worst cover ever"


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## Cowlicker16

I like how it says they are going to escort him but it makes it look like all 6 of them are about to murder him, he even looks like he sees that comin


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## mal310

I agree with what other are saying here. I really like the sound of the book and am looking forward to it. I don’t like the cover though, especially the way the Astartes are portrayed.


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## forkmaster

Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Personally my expectations are no different from any other HH novel by Mcneill. You are right in the sense that it's a similar sort of plot to Swallow's _Nemesis_ (not covering a mainstream event or an Astartes Legion), which was a bit of a flop in my opinion. But that was Swallow.
> 
> I think this has the potential to be a great addition to the Heresy series. An astropath has seen some terrible truth or realisation, he is hunted by the agents of the enemy and protected by those who themselves have dubious loyalites. Hell of a lot of potential for character development right there.


Well you are right about that, character-development sure would be interesting! I wonder too what secret he might have obtained there. One thing to look forward to surely.


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## X FiftY 1ne

This novel has garnered a lot of popularity. I have a hunch this might just be one of the best novels for the HH series. Don't quote me on that but, it's a feeling I have. I'm intrigued (cover art aside) at what knowledge this Astropath actually has and who these Astartes are. Good stuff.


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## AK74Bob

Not a fan of the cover...


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## Sanguine Rain

To be honest, i kinda like it, except the Emperor's Child with that stupid helmet, but thats prolly just me . I hope this isnt a trend though, a break in the usually epic covers for something a little oldschool and cartoony is fine and well, but Age of Darkness (imo) has that similar cartoony feel, as horus looks kinda ridiculous...ah, well.


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## Diatribe1974

It's like....bad fan art that's being slapped to the cover of a BL book.


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## Shag

Diatribe1974 said:


> It's like....bad fan art that's being slapped to the cover of a BL book.


well said sir well said.:so_happy:


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## ckcrawford

Looks like they are going to rape the guy. Gease, I really dislike this cover.


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## World Eater XII

Sad thing is it's probably gonna be an awesome book.

So i will say "dont judge a book by its cover"


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## Diatribe1974

World Eater XII said:


> Sad thing is it's probably gonna be an awesome book.
> 
> So i will say "dont judge a book by its cover"



Oh, I'm sure it's going to be a great book. But it's like one of those "Butter Face Girls" in that she's freakin' hot as hell, Butter Face.


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## Liege of the Darkness

My expectations of this book are low - and rightly so. The prelude to _Nemsis_ genuinly exited me, something books rarely do, and I found it to be dissapointing. Not so much in terms of its idea, themes and overall purpose within the Horus Heresy as a whole. More it's execution by the author. 

On the contrary, one of the few gems within the bent, burned and hideously mangled crown that was _Nemesis_, was the parts set upon Terra. Specifially the former-Atlantic, now a nomad-ridden dustboll. This overall setting, combined with a hopefully enthralling plot, strong characters linked by key themes of trust, betrayel and so forth - as well as the fan-goodies such as Thunder-Armour (Especially upon the Emperor's Children Astartes) should make for an exiting read. Plus, this is penned by Graham McNeill, who despite his abominations such as _Courage and Honour _and _The Chapter's Due_, always produces superb novels for the Horus Heresy series. 

From an artistic view, the cover-art is hardly the worst of the series. I believe that honour should be bestowed upon _Descent of Angels_.


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## MontytheMighty

The cover reminds me of a prison shower

why would an Emperor's Child wear thunder armour, I thought only thunder warriors wore thunder armour, the earliest armour worn by Astartes was mark II right?

also did the Astartes legions share symbology with the earlier thunder warrior legions?


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## Alsojames

Whitehorn said:


> Disguise themselves.. as themselves?


Noone'll see it coming XD


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## NIKT208

Graham Mcneill read a short passage of what he'd written at Black Library Live back in March. While it wasnt enough to get a feel for the book, it certainly sounded very promising. 

From my experience, Graham really steps up to the plate when it comes to the Horus Heresy. Despite Chapter's Due being sub-par at best, I believe he'll write a cracker, as he has done with False Gods, Fulgrim, and A Thousand Sons.


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## TheReverend

man, yeah, the more i look at that cover the more i dislike it. I realise those guys are astartes, but are they scouts? they have no back-packs?


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## gen.ahab

The title is a bit clique and the cover art is very 90s/80s scifi to me.


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## Lord Mephiston

TheReverend said:


> man, yeah, the more i look at that cover the more i dislike it. I realise those guys are astartes, but are they scouts? they have no back-packs?


Cmon, whats not there to like in a bunch of Mad Max/Power Rangers hybrids, eh ? :biggrin:


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## Roninman

Story of this novel almost interest me more than other upcoming HH novels. There seems to be intrigue and mystery involved alot. I suspect these astartes on cover are acting in someway undercover, if their size dont reveal them. 

I mean how many normal civilians in whole world have actually seen astartes? 
Think that Astartes are more like mystery to many humans and maybe even to some a legend. 

Cover dont mean nothing for me, its only if you start looking at it closely its something. Cover is made to attract attention if you walk closeby to it in bookshop for example. These HH and many other BL published covers wont draw attention to them if you dont look them closely. They look very comic book like.

Most striking cover has to be this: http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Dwarfs.html

Simplicity and colors are really striking and makes good contrast.


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## Mob

So...care to speculate as to what legions the Astartes come from?

We've got Emperor's Children and World Eaters. Possibly one of the guys in the back is a Dusk Raider/Death Guard (my eyesight is not good enough to see why) and a suggestion that the guy with the shield is an Iron Warrior.

The guy on the left has facial tats and a pelt of some kind. I'd say Space Wolf, but the hype so far suggests the Astartes are all from traitor legions, so...Luna Wolf?

Graham's excerpt read at BLL involved a Thousand Son...could one of them be on the cover?

As to the cover; I happen to like it, although it is confusing as hell, not only in what it shows (Thunder Armour/ganger-gear/odd weapons), but in how it does indeed look a bit like they're menacing the astropath rather than just being menacing. But it's a fairly arresting image and I like the colour palette.

As to the book; sounds interesting, Graham is fairly adroit at handling the 'world-building' elements of the HH (Mechanicum for example) so his view of Terra should be good, could be an exciting chase/adventure story and throwing mixed legion guys together is (almost) always a 'press button for DRAMA' situation. Danger of being somewhat inconsequential in feel, I suppose, but way too early to moan about that.

The only thing that's put me off is perhaps the most important; in the excerpt there was a (non-Astartes) character that was pretty much a Gemmell version of a asian dude transplanted into 40 (well, 30) K. My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall he eschewed a power/chain sword in favour of his ancient special mundane katana and was all stoic and honourable and stuff. It was an interesting excerpt for what happened, but this character was so cliche and simplistic I was a bit uncomfortable. 
But take that with a pinch of salt, I can't really remember and it was probably a minor character.


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