# Nemesis



## brianizbrewtal (Jan 26, 2011)

Did anyone get along with the book? I got around to page 250-ish and I fell asleep. I seriously couldn't read anymore I was so bored. So many characters and what the hell is a Reeve? This is what confuses me about 40k is that I don't get the lingo all the time causing me lots o' confusion; like Legion and some of Mechanicum. 
Is _Nemesis_ going to get better? I'm on page 335 and I really hope I don't pass out again. 

Side note~ I don't hate it, it's just very frustrating to read. _First Heretic_, here I come.


----------



## Esca (Feb 1, 2011)

I enjoyed it and found Spear to be a great character.


----------



## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

I think that it was lackluster compared to the rest of the Heresy series, yes. That said, it was certainly nice to get more information on the Vanus and Venevum clades.



And to see the backside of Luc Seridae, of course.


----------



## Giant Fossil Penguin (Apr 11, 2009)

A Reeve is an old term with a couple of meanings, although in each case it is someone who is in charge of others. In one meaning it is an elected title, being re-elected each year by those who will be in their charge.
I thought the book was interesting, a look into dark places that told us as much about the past as the future. Not every story can be about the Primarchs and their Legions, the God-machines and their Mechanicum fabricators. Too much of that will just leave the reader fatigued and, in the end, bored by the sameness of it all. We need these 'breaks' in the inter-Legionary war, to show us the rest of the Imperium, its politics, its leaders, their thoughts and motivations.
The HH series is a long-haul with stuff we are told now folding in to what is to come. If only for this (and the tantalising glimpses of the Emperor we get) I'd stick with the book. The end is interesting, engrossing even.
Expectation is the enemy of enjoyment, for me at least!

GFP


----------



## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

I too disliked it.




The Spear character was silly, a time-bomb destined for the Emperor himself? Yeah sorry, the Emperor is too great to even be bothered with something as petty as an assassin whose power is basically reflecting your own energy against you. Lame.

The brother/sister rivalry between the two assassins from different schools? Annoying and it made them seem too ordinary.

The poison chick? She got an alien weapon near the end that... shoots poison. 

The drug-morphing chick? Meh, she got a katana I think near the end?

The only somewhat interesting assassin was the one constantly pumped full of drugs, I forget the name and what school he belongs to but then it got ruined by his 'I don't like you but I'll still sacrifice myself for you' bit.

The nerd 'assassin'? No comment.

The worst one of them all was the pariah, she was so bland and just got owned by Spear in a very dull fashion. 

All of them had potential but overall it didn't deliver.


Spoiler tags for those spoilers would have been a nice thought. - darkreever


----------



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

I wasn't a massive fan. The plot and characters had a lot of potential, but fell short overall in my opinion.


----------



## brianizbrewtal (Jan 26, 2011)

I know the Heresy can't be all the same so when I read about this book's plot I was intrigued. It just had so much more potential. 

Yeah, the whole Spear destined for the Emperor...well yes, kind of silly indeed. Guess I'll just have to power through until the end. Thank you all for the input, glad to see I'm not alone here.

And thank you Penguin for the nice definition =]


----------



## Ferrus Manus (Apr 28, 2008)

One of the biggest reasons for why I disliked it is because the story line had no real significant contribution to the Heresy plot, for instance "Legion" had a massive twist at the end (dont want to spoil it for others  ) which revealed a massive secret, gave us a new perspective on the heresy and brought loads of debates about it. Nemesis introduced this big point in the story line, a possible assassination on the Emperor (using Spear) but then at the end it fails, so basically they nullified, cancelled out the big aspect of the plot, resulting in the Heresy continuing as if nothing happened.


----------



## JaqTaar (Apr 9, 2011)

I too was disappointed, not so much because the outcome was clear or the writing was lacking, but because in my eyes it would have been much better if the assassins had fought against their respective target's bodyguards instead of 

conveniently ending up on the same planet and killing each other off.

That would also have had the nice side effect of giving the author the chance to explore both the Custodes as well as Horus' entourage.


----------



## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Well I think it served as a push in for AoD as when those two Astartes in Nicks story are trying to get their side of the thing, the assassination was used against them, and it created some twists in Dans story.  But overall, a meeh.


----------



## Gaius Marius (May 15, 2011)

I liked it, the Sniper and the polymorph assassin were cool. the way that one planet slowly fell into, well, chaos as Horus' fleet approached was a neat section.


----------



## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

I really enjoyed _nemesis_, thought the characters were well done and the plot showed the loyalist and traitors is a slightly different light with all the "shadow play"


----------



## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

I thought it was an alright book, not the best in the HH series (still _Legion_ imo) but definitely an enjoyable read.

I do agree that the sibling relationship was a bit distracting and too neat in regards to the storyline, but I vehemently disagree with these complaints that the more obscure titles, ranks etc being used is distracting. If you can't get your head around them then you're just slow, simple as that.


----------



## brianizbrewtal (Jan 26, 2011)

Baron Spikey said:


> I thought it was an alright book, not the best in the HH series (still _Legion_ imo) but definitely an enjoyable read.
> 
> I do agree that the sibling relationship was a bit distracting and too neat in regards to the storyline, but I vehemently disagree with these complaints that the more obscure titles, ranks etc being used is distracting. If you can't get your head around them then you're just slow, simple as that.


They're not distracting, I've just never heard of a Reeve, Moderati, Princeps, Uxor, Hetman, Genewhip before reading 40K books. But hey, I guess you're just too fast for me PLAYA


----------



## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

brianizbrewtal said:


> They're not distracting, I've just never heard of a Reeve, Moderati, Princeps, Uxor, Hetman, Genewhip before reading 40K books. But hey, I guess you're just too fast for me PLAYA


It doesn't matter if you hadn't heard of them before, they're explained in the novels as to what they mean (it explicitly says in _Legion_ that Hetman is equivalent to a senior Captain and that Genewhips are Political Officers for example) or it's extremely easy to guess in what manner they're being used.

If I wrote a story with some people called Goobadoo's and they acted like cops, sounded like cops, and investigated crimes like cops then it would be pretty fucking obvious that they were cops with a different name. I shouldn't have to include a glossary informing you that those Goobadoo's are a type of Law Enforcement when throughout the tale they're been enforcing the law...


----------



## brianizbrewtal (Jan 26, 2011)

^Maybe they should bc I sure as hell whipped past the explanation. Gene whipped that is. Then again, I wasn't too keen on Legion either. 
Sorry to bother you about the books bro. Playa.


----------



## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

brianizbrewtal said:


> ^Maybe they should bc I sure as hell whipped past the explanation. Gene whipped that is. Then again, I wasn't too keen on Legion either.
> Sorry to bother you about the books bro. Playa.


My mini-rant wasn't specifically aimed at you, it's just a complaint I've heard before- at least you didn't ask why they the authors didn't just use the terms we use in this day and age in the American/British military to avoid confusion...now that is an example of true stupidity at work. :laugh:


----------



## brianizbrewtal (Jan 26, 2011)

To be honest, if I had to listen to someone, obey someone, with the title of Genewhip I would tell them to fuck off seeing how I would not be able to hold the laughter in. Also, even the terms for military now throw me off. I don't know anything about ranks and the sort.
Back to Nemesis. Almost done with it. The last 100 pages are proving to be the best. Thank the Emperor.


----------



## TooNu (May 4, 2011)

The only good I could salvage from this book was...The Garrantine. He was badass and one of the 2 REAL assassins in the whole bunch.


----------



## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

brianizbrewtal said:


> To be honest, if I had to listen to someone, obey someone, with the title of Genewhip I would tell them to fuck off seeing how I would not be able to hold the laughter in. Also, even the terms for military now throw me off. I don't know anything about ranks and the sort.
> Back to Nemesis. Almost done with it. The last 100 pages are proving to be the best. Thank the Emperor.


This is not aimed at you, but what does get on my tits, is when non army people start claiming they know all the army lingo and retardese that gets spoken, fuck ive been in 3 years and im still learning words i didnt know existed.


----------



## raider1987 (Dec 3, 2010)

I realise I am a minority here but I really enjoyed it, I loved the two story lines. One with the investigator tracking Spears murders, the other with the assassin kill squad assembling and then organising the rebellion. I really enjoyed it, no not the best, and its wedged between A Thousand Sons and The first Heretic which in my opinion are the two best books, but it was still very enjoyable.


----------



## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

@Raider: the investigator bit was weird because the author developed him so much only for him to die in a very unspectacular fashion from a nobody in the book. 

Why bother taking us through all that only for him to contribute to nothing in the end?


----------



## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

Well thats the whole point sometimes isnt it.

You start to like a character, get to know him a bit, then boom *squinch* hes fucked.

Game over man....Game over.


----------



## brianizbrewtal (Jan 26, 2011)

I hope that shit doesn't happen in The First Heretic. I'm really really hoping it doesn't.


----------



## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

@WE: There's a world of difference between let's say what Abnett does with his characters who eventually fall under the guillotine and what we saw in Nemesis and it has nothing to do with the former's writing ability.


----------



## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

Aye but the writer in nemesis wasnt given a whole 10+ book series to do his story over. He had to do it all in one.


----------



## Roninman (Jul 23, 2010)

Malus Darkblade said:


> @Raider: the investigator bit was weird because the author developed him so much only for him to die in a very unspectacular fashion from a nobody in the book.
> 
> Why bother taking us through all that only for him to contribute to nothing in the end?


Thats one of fine moments in book. Everything dont have to be cliche you know. Develop character and you sure if he survives, its until the end of book. Thats one of strongest points in novel, he could develop character and then kill him. Makes you read it few times that did he really die, because on BL standards its quite rare. His main point was to develop and show us character of Spear.


----------

