# Pharos - Horus Heresy 33



## Brother Lucian

http://www.blacklibrary.com/the-hor...il&utm_term=0_781f7c7929-b57a762405-110887141

The next numbered instalment in the epic series is fast approaching. This novel is a major step on the road to Terra. Legions clash, night falls across the Imperium, and a battle rages whose consequences for the entire galaxy will echo 10.000 years into the future.

--------

I thought initially it might be the War in the Webway, that it was just a teaser title to obscure The Master of Mankind. But it clearly looks like both Ultramarines and the Imperial Fists is involved. So how did the Ultras get to join with the Fists with the Ruinstorm in the way? Though if its somewhere truly closer to the Battle for Terra, then the Age of Darkness may be comming to an end soon.










An Imperial Fist. Literally. Who does it belong to? 










Death from above! But what Legion are they? 










Unexpected allies. What's brought them together?


Edit: According to blabber im picking up, it appears to be on Sotha, where the Night Lords is striking at what the Ultramarines is hiding there. Their empathic beacon. - And that the big fister is Alexis Pollux. So we might see Sevatar and perhaps Curze involved as well. So clearly a followup to that Night Lords short that saw their ragtag fleet arriving at Sotha. 
http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/safe-and-shadowed-place-ebook.html

I do wonder how this 'sidebattle' is going to be that important for the overall heresy fight. Or even getting any closer to Terra as claimed by the teaser.


Edit 2: With a bit of thinking, it strikes me that this novel's true name might be the long rumored Nightfall.


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## Lord of the Night

Brother Lucian said:


> Edit 2: With a bit of thinking, it strikes me that this novel's true name might be the long rumored Nightfall.


Oh god I hope so. MOAR NIGHT LORDS!!


LotN


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## Brother Lucian

Lord of the Night said:


> Oh god I hope so. MOAR NIGHT LORDS!!
> 
> 
> LotN


Somhow your answer doesnt suprise me. :grin:

Say, did you notice the pm I sent you the other day?


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## Lord of the Night

Brother Lucian said:


> Somehow your answer doesnt suprise me. :grin:
> 
> Say, did you notice the pm I sent you the other day?
> 
> 
> Edit: Say, wasn't ADB orginally supposed to write Nightfall? Perhaps it was handed off to someone else so that he could focus on MoM and Black Legion. I do remember the chatter about the Heresy stalling because of books getting late.


My love of the Night Lords is well known sir.

And yeah, I forgot to reply. The answer yeah I have read Ahriman: Unchanged and as for reviewing it; i'll get around to it, probably this weekend.

Hm, interesting point. Perhaps Guy Haley has taken the reigns of this book, considering he penned A Safe and Shadowed Place, it might be that the short serves as a prequel to this book.


LotN


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## MontytheMighty

Please don't let this be by Nick Kyme, Gav Thorpe, James Swallow (unlikely), McNeill...


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## Brother Lucian

https://www.facebook.com/TheHorusHeresy/posts/3740407582735218:0

BL: Before you go, we're always looking forward to seeing your next cover. Without giving too much away, could you give us a hint at what we might see from you in the near future?
NR: I've literally just finished a piece where two of the main players in the series are seen fighting back to back. As allies? Maybe even as friends? It's something I've certainly never seen on a Horus Heresy cover before. That was such good fun to paint. I always love experiencing those moments…


Its speculated that this tidbit is refering to Alexis Pollux and Barabas Dantioch, since they are the two big names involved with the Sotha project. The 3 teaser images for the Dying of the Light is present in this interview with Neil Roberts.

I wonder if the Sotha project might be how the Blood Angels returns to Terra. Sanguinius and his sons showing up to save the day as Sotha is getting almost overrun by the Night Lords, then making use of the Pharos to whisk himself and his entire legion to Terra. Wouldn't suprise me that his decision to abandon Imperium Secundus hinges on recieving a message that the Emperor is still alive. 

So this might be what BL claims that is pushing the plot towards the Battle for Terra.


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## forkmaster

My worst expectations is that this is an antholgoy (like _Legacies of Betrayal_) to tie up all digital shorts regarding Imperium Secundus with a couple "new" stories that won't prograss the story at all considering no author has expressed a new novel with Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. My best expectations is an entirely new written novel.


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## Brother Lucian

forkmaster said:


> My worst expectations is that this is an antholgoy (like _Legacies of Betrayal_) to tie up all digital shorts regarding Imperium Secundus with a couple "new" stories that won't prograss the story at all considering no author has expressed a new novel with Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. My best expectations is an entirely new written novel.


Well they did they bill it as a plot progresser, which they've not done with past novels. So I'm cautiously optimistic that this is a truly new novel to push the story. Likely to be Guy Haley, since he haven't yet had a full Heresy novel, plus the fact that he wrote A safe and shadowed place, which seems to be setup as a prequel for this story.


Edit: Hrm......I wonder..... If Sanguinius shows up we might see a cameo of Szarekh, the Silent King. He did claim that he met Sanguinius, when Dante encountered him ten thousand years later, and wore a death mask molded in Sanguinius' likeness as a sign of respect. Szarekh would be telling Sanguinius about the approaching menace in the galactic void, which is severely attracted to warp beacons like the Pharos and the Astronomican. It being exactly where the Angel realizes that the Emperor is still alive.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/word-of-the-silent-king-ebook.html


Edit 2: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-JP/A...7C95437F3E5F0?mobile=false&_requestid=5226671
The model of Alexis Polux. Turning it around, you can see his giant powerfist with the underslung combi melta as teased by BL


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## Brother Lucian

Spotted a newsbit at Bolter and Chainsword:
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/...brary-the-horus-heresy-book-xxxiii/?p=4197842


Ok fellas to clear things out - as was said in closed circles at the last BL Weekender: 

Author Guy Haley
Plot: continuation of a story with Night Lords small fleet arrival to Ultramar - more specific to Sotha.
Dramatis: Ultramarines; Imperial Fists; Night Lords; Curze; Guilliman

Anyone at the Warhammer Open Day this saturday/sunday would have a shot on it




Looks like our guesses was pretty much spot-on!


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## Angel of Blood

I hope Curze isn't as stupidly OP as he was in Unremembered Empire.


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## forkmaster

The book is called _Phoros_ also. There will be an anthology called _War without end_ which is a Imperium Secundus-anthology.


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## Brother Lucian

You sure of that name? The device is called the Pharos.


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## Lord of the Night

Argh! But when does it become available is what I MUST know.


LotN


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## MontytheMighty

Angel of Blood said:


> I hope Curze isn't as stupidly OP as he was in Unremembered Empire.


Seconded


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## March of Time

Two new Horus Heresy covers!


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## Brother Lucian

Eye of Terra looks interesting. Seems like a Pre-heresy Horus on the image beside the Emperor. Might be Ullanor due to the presence of Orks, so possibly a followup to Wolf of Ash and Fire.


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## forkmaster

Brother Lucian said:


> You sure of that name? The device is called the Pharos.


You did see the included pictures right?



March of Time said:


> Two new Horus Heresy covers!


Seems like James Swallow is getting back into the game again. Besides Garro he haven't released anything HH-related since FTT almost 3 years ago.


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## Brother Lucian

forkmaster said:


> You did see the included pictures right?


You added them later. But I can see it does say Pharos as I thought.


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## Mellow_

Strangely the reminder page has disappeared. Does anyone know the link so I can sign up for the email reminder?


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## Brother Lucian

Mellow_ said:


> Strangely the reminder page has disappeared. Does anyone know the link so I can sign up for the email reminder?


http://www.blacklibrary.com/Home/the-horus-heresy-teaser.html


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## Mellow_

Much appreciated!


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## Brother Lucian

Wonder what happened to Pharos, been about 3 weeks since the 'Soon' announcement.


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## March of Time

Brother Lucian said:


> Wonder what happened to Pharos, been about 3 weeks since the 'Soon' announcement.


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## Brother Lucian

Huh, makes me wonder if they are going to make Pharos the xmas gift this year, early ebook only release.


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## Gabriel Chase

I spoke to Guy Haley over the weekend (book signing at a new store opening), and he said it's all done and ready to go, but he doesn't know specifically when it will be released. He assured me he hasn't depicted the Night Lords as moustache-twirling villains.


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## MontytheMighty

Gabriel Chase said:


> He assured me he hasn't depicted the Night Lords as moustache-twirling villains.


Only beard-stroking baddies


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## Gabriel Chase

MontytheMighty said:


> Only beard-stroking baddies


Which do you prefer in your psychotic hordes of killer Batmen: moustaches or beards? :laugh:


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## forkmaster

Gabriel Chase said:


> I spoke to Guy Haley over the weekend (book signing at a new store opening), and he said it's all done and ready to go, but he doesn't know specifically when it will be released. He assured me he hasn't depicted the Night Lords as moustache-twirling villains.





MontytheMighty said:


> Only beard-stroking baddies


I like his potrayal of them in the short _A Safe and Shadowed Place_. Recommend that you read it before _Pharos_!


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## Brother Lucian

Don't worry: you won't be waiting very long at all for new Horus Heresy. On the 25th of December, we have a very special release, so be sure to find time between the presents and turkey to check


I knew it, Pharos will surely be the xmas present this year. Guy Haley is a gifted author, so thats a definite pickup.


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## Gabriel Chase

forkmaster said:


> I like his potrayal of them in the short _A Safe and Shadowed Place_. Recommend that you read it before _Pharos_!


So did I. They were interesting characters, as well as nasty. And yes, the story does seem like the prelude to what will happen in *Pharos*.


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## Lord of the Night

http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/hh-novs/pharos-ebook.html

Taglined as both "A Light in the Darkness" and "Experience The Dying of the Light". I think this will be a very interesting one indeed.

Also I was afraid that BL had stopped making actual novels.


LotN


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## Brother Lucian

Pharos seems to be about 356 pages.

Edit: Downloaded and installed on my kindle. Will read it later when my kindle have recharged, noticed it was almost out of power.


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## Lord of the Night

Brother Lucian said:


> Pharos seems to be about 356 pages.
> 
> Edit: Downloaded and installed on my kindle. Will read it later when my kindle have recharged, noticed it was almost out of power.


Hm, could that just be the kindle format, or is the novel actually smaller than average. The latter wouldn't surprise me, disappoint me a little yes, but not surprise me. Looking forward to reading your opinion BL.

Edit: Krukesh the Pale is the antagonist! Hell yeah, he was my favourite of the Kyroptera alongside Tovac Tor and Naraka. (Sevatar transcends the Kyroptera and is just awesome regardless)


LotN


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## Brother Lucian

1/3 through Pharos so far and hoping it will pick up soon. Most of the ultras feels flat and samey, hard to care for them, a certain scout being the only notable exception so far. The other ultras lacking flavor compared to the wonderfully wisceral and characterful Night Lord. Havent seen much to the Pale beside name dropping, its mainly the Night Lords crew from a Safe and Shadowed place that runs the traitor side.
Edit: The pale features heavilly in the second half of the book.

Edit: Takes a while to get going, but now, 3/4 through, the action and epicosity is rising. And a -very- interesting encounter is happening.


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## Kalamoj

The site says 'digital-exlusive HH novel', so no physical release this time?


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## Brother Lucian

Finished Pharos, a decent read even if it took a while to get going. Sure it had its higlights, but only fleeting. I give it a round 7.0, not one of Guy Haley's better works. Baneblade and Skarsnik was far better works by his hand.

A couple notable highlights..

The special encounter.



Sanguinius and Conrad Curze have an encounter and a duel. They are quite evenly matched. The dialogue and the perspective of the opposing primarchs is the some of the best in the book. And poor Azkaellon is used as a rag-doll by Curze.



The dying of the light.


The Pharos survives somewhat intact, workable but is diminished. But its final flare is of such an intensity that it draws the attention of the Great Devourer to the milky way galaxy. It was never the Astronomican.




Progressing towards Terra?


Guiliman is still entrenched in Ultramar. The flare of the Pharos have weakened the Ruinstorm. But they still think that Terra have fallen. However the Night Lords have become aware of the fact and is eager to inform Horus that there will be no second front from Ultramar. This is pretty much the only overall plot effect from the book.


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## Angel of Blood

Hmmmmmm. Looking forward to Sangunius vs Curze. Sangunius is quoted a lot of the time as being the best fighter, hoping we don't get another fight light between Curze, the Lion and Guilliman. 

Sadly with Xmas it will be a while before I can buy this one.


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## Brother Lucian

Hearing some blabber that Pharos will remain an ebook exclusive for several -months-.


Xmas ebook releases have traditionally been several months before the paper version as an early treat for the readers. But I think they will stick with it in this case to hype their new Librarium ebook subscription, which features Pharos as the first book.


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## forkmaster

I imagine 6 months considering that previous 25th has hold up this tradition. The weird is that _Khârn Eater of Worlds_ has yet a proper soft-back release yet, together with _Talon of Horus_.


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## MontytheMighty

Angel of Blood said:


> Hmmmmmm. Looking forward to Sangunius vs Curze. Sangunius is quoted a lot of the time as being the best fighter




Seems they r evenly matched. Seems like the only primarch who ever lays the hurt on Curze is the Lion, he who judo chops off the heads of his own men


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## piemelke

yeah would assume that in full rage mode Sanguinus would be able to give curze a run for his money


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## Brother Lucian

Why they are evenly matched.



Thing is that they are both precogs. Sanguinius is nearly shocked over how intensely strong his battle precognition becomes as he fights Curze, a trait shared by Curze.


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## Angel of Blood

I still don't see how the Lion seems any more secretive than the other Primarchs. So many of them are hiding things and keeping information from others or even there own men. Hell, that's the whole ethos of the Alpha Legion. Yet the Lion consistently gets tagged as being secretive to the point of paranoia. But I just don't see it.


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## MontytheMighty

Brother Lucian said:


> Why they are evenly matched.
> 
> 
> 
> Thing is that they are both precogs. Sanguinius is nearly shocked over how intensely strong his battle precognition becomes as he fights Curze, a trait shared by Curze.
> 
> Speculation, the lion laid the kibbosh on Curze because his mania with secrets is so strong that it cloaks him to warp perception even.


Thanks for the spoiler...I think the justificatio. Is really dumb, but I guess it feeds into the whole "all the primarchs are evenly matched (except for Lorgar when he was lost and unmotivated)" concept

I like Abnett...but I honestly don't like how he gives Curze combat precog in addition to Curze's original prophetic/Tyresias-like precog. Now Haley is doing


the same with Sanguinius...and to justify a stalemate between Sanguinius and Curze...UGH


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## Brother Lucian

Granted..


Sanguinus always was pegged as having a gift of the prophetic foresight, just like Curze. Some Blood angels have inherited the gift, like Corbulo. 

And Sangy does have some rather strong visions, he have seen his death at the hands of Horus, a future that looks increasing unavoidable and immutable, other potential demises fading away.


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## piemelke

MontytheMighty said:


> Thanks for the spoiler...I think the justificatio. Is really dumb, but I guess it feeds into the whole "all the primarchs are evenly matched (except for Lorgar when he was lost and unmotivated)" concept


, except that it is not, at least that is the impression I had after the unremembered empire, well I do not want to get into a fanboy discussion here but I would have really enjoyed Sanguinus kicking some (curze) arse,


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## MontytheMighty

Brother Lucian said:


> Granted..
> 
> 
> Sanguinus always was pegged as having a gift of the prophetic foresight, just like Curze. Some Blood angels have inherited the gift, like Corbulo.
> 
> And Sangy does have some rather strong visions, he have seen his death at the hands of Horus, a future that looks increasing unavoidable and immutable, other potential demises fading away.


Neither Curze nor Sanguinius have combat precog in the original fluff. 

Sanguinius doesn't even have combat precog in Fear to Tread. Everyone was pretty surprised by UE's Jedi-like portrayal of Curze. Frankly, I think primarch battles involving Curze are getting increasingly meaningless and stupid


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## Lord of the Night

Brother Lucian said:


> Finished Pharos, a decent read even if it took a while to get going. Sure it had its higlights, but only fleeting. I give it a round 7.0, not one of Guy Haley's better works.


My thoughts are much the same. It's never taken me three days to read an ebook before and I suspect as a physical book it would have taken longer. Pharos was a good outing but it's definitely not going to reach the Top 10 Heresy Novels any time soon.

I did really enjoy the depiction of the Night Lords both as characters and as a Legion in mundane combat and their own terror warfare. I especially liked that this is one of the few stories featuring them that doesn't shy away from the horror they unleash wherever they go; skinning pits, crucifixions, throwing women and infants into the fires, and all sorts of other tortures are if not directly depicted (except for the skinning which is front and centre) then very clearly conveyed as happening pretty much a few paces away while other characters are shooting the breeze or having moments of character growth. I particularly liked Kellendvar and Kellenkir, their strange relationship as blood brothers but also Nostramans and Night Lords was a real page-turner, especially the flashbacks scenes to Nostramo that were equally heartwarming and heartbreaking, and the resolution to their story was a moment that really made me pause and take a moment to really absorb. Krukesh was alright, but I think he fell prey to the cartoony villain potential that every Night Lord has, in Prince of Crows he came across as a cadaverous monster and he is (though no mention is made of his corpse-like appearance) but he didn't really have anything that distinguished him from the other madmen among the Traitor Legions apart from some moments of dry humour.

The Ultramarines were depicted well in battle, their organizational warfare giving them the same advantage over the Night Lords as it did the World Eaters in Betrayal. When the Night Lords use their sneaky and dirty methods of war they are a force to be reckoned with, but when they try and match the Ultramarines head on like real soldiers, it quickly shows that despite being Astartes the VIIIth Legion aren't soldiers, they are killers. The best example was a moment where it shows that 190 Night Lords were killed in a full on assault, no tricks or sneak attacks, and all they managed to get for that was 10 Ultramarines dead. However as characters only Lucretius Corvo and Oberdeii really had any character beyond the generic Ultramarine mould, Corvo's monodominant views clearly being something he's always carried and Oberdeii's struggle to reconcile himself to still having fear in his half-state between human and Astartes were great aspects that made them interesting to read about. Sadly no other Ultramarine, not including Guilliman, captured my attention that way.

I did enjoy;



That it was the events of Pharos that resulted in the Tyranids catching a glimpse of the Milky Way and waking in the void between galaxies from a frozen slumber that has lasted for god only knows how many millions/billions/hell maybe even trillions of years. If Sotha had never happened, the Great Devourer wouldn't be in 40k now, they'd still be sleeping in the dark.

Solve one problem, create an even bigger one.


Overall I agree with Lucian that Pharos is a 7/10, to be specific i'd say a 7.3/10. It's Good, but definitely not Very Good or Great. Still though it was enjoyable and as Haley has said it's sort of the end of Part II of the Horus Heresy, and now we can move onto Part III. And everyone knows what's coming in Part III. Terra.


LotN


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## MontytheMighty

Lord of the Night said:


> The best example was a moment where it shows that 190 Night Lords were killed in a full on assault, no tricks or sneak attacks, and all they managed to get for that was 10 Ultramarines dead.


LOL wot?

Did they all slip on banana peels and stab themselves with their combat blades?


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## Lord of the Night

MontytheMighty said:


> Did they all slip on banana peels and stab themselves with their combat blades?


No. They full out assaulted a fortified siege line that was held and designed by Alexis Polix, aka The Guy Who Nearly Killed The Iron Warriors Legion, and filled with Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. Basically the Night Lords tried to act like a real Legion, not playing to their strengths, and failed miserably.



Pharos said:


> Polux surveyed the scene. He calculated one hundred and ninety dead Night Lords, three downed Dreadnoughts. His defence force had lost ten. An acceptable trade were he facing an equal force, but he had far less coin of that nature to spend than the enemy.


That said however immediately after this paragraph the Night Lords crest the wall and start inflicting real casualties by unleashing Raptor squads and ambushes upon the retreating loyalists. Really this novel shows that the Night Lords are very very good at killing the enemy when they play to their strengths and stick to what they actually know how to do well, but when they try to go at things in a straight up way like the Ultramarines or Emperor's Children (Pre-Heresy) would, they fail.


LotN


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## MontytheMighty

What was the justification for frontally assaulting a fortified position? No other option?


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## piemelke

MontytheMighty said:


> What was the justification for frontally assaulting a fortified position? No other option?


the banana's


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## Lord of the Night

MontytheMighty said:


> What was the justification for frontally assaulting a fortified position? No other option?


Pretty much. The Night Lords wanted the Pharos and to access the mountain where it is they would have to bypass that position. And leaving it active would just be idiocy.


LotN


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## Brother Lucian

Hum. Makes me think. The Silent King was in selfimposed exile in the void, until he discovered the Great Devourer and came back to the galaxy to set up a defense against it. He claims he met Sanguinius and tried to warn him about the threat, and had a death mask forged in his likeness. Taken from the short story The Last Word of the Silent King.

I daresay that the Pharos event might have woken up Szarekh as well and having an encounter with the devourer, before fleeing home. And comming to where he sensed the Pharos event.


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## Demious

Enjoyed the book. Really liked the story of the two brothers and the human sergeant.



Was wondering if he would end up being a perpetual based on the way he acted around the marines.


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## MontytheMighty

piemelke said:


> yeah would assume that in full rage mode Sanguinus would be able to give curze a run for his money


I believe in Pharos, non-rage mode Sanguinius without power armour evenly matches Curze with power armour


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## piemelke

MontytheMighty said:


> I believe in Pharos, non-rage mode Sanguinius without power armour evenly matches Curze with power armour


have you read it, if so please elaborate ? From the spoilers I get a different impression, it is not that I really mind the stand off between the two (although I do feel that Curze his martial prowess is a little over the top after reading UE), it is just that I would have liked to read about Sanguinus brushing the red thirst,


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## Lord of the Night

piemelke said:


> have you read it, if so please elaborate ? From the spoilers I get a different impression, it is not that I really mind the stand off between the two (although I do feel that Curze his martial prowess is a little over the top after reading UE), it is just that I would have liked to read about Sanguinus brushing the red thirst.


Well,



He does. When Curze cuts off Azkaellon's arm, Sanguinius's mouth waters at the sight of the blood, to his great shame. So Sanguinius DOES have vampiric urges. But it doesn't seem to be as all-consuming as the Red Thirst will be one day.


As to Curze;



Pharos reveals that Curze has battle-foresight. He can see what his opponents are going to do before they do, hence why he seemed so unbeatable in The Unremembered Empire. He knew every move that Faffnr Bludbroder, Vulkan, The Lion and Guilliman were going to do before they did it, and his Primarch reflexes and speed allowed him to react to that at such a fast pace that any of his opponents would barely be able to get a move in.

Sanguinius has the same talent, which is why he is really the only Primarch that can take Curze. Curze's foresight combined with his strength, speed and utter disregard for his own life makes him an extremely dangerous opponent. Sanguinius is stronger, and possibly faster, but it's the foresight that really allows him to go head to head with Curze because Sanguinius can see the reactions Curze makes from his own foresight through his foresight ability and thus react accordingly.



LotN


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## piemelke

Cheers LOTN for the answers, however they raise new questions 



, if that indeed is the case, Curze would be near impossible to beat although the Lion and also Vulkan in Vulkan lives definitely stand their ground ? I guess also Magnus would have a fair chance given the Corvidae stuff. The salivating thing is quite interesting, what happens to Azkaellon's, it seems he gets mangled pretty bad and what is Sanguinus his reaction besides getting wet ?


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## Lord of the Night

piemelke said:


> Cheers LOTN for the answers, however they raise new questions
> 
> 
> 
> If that indeed is the case, Curze would be near impossible to beat although the Lion and also Vulkan in _Vulkan Lives_ definitely stand their ground? I guess also Magnus would have a fair chance given the Corvidae stuff. The salivating thing is quite interesting.
> 
> What happens to Azkaellon, it seems he gets mangled pretty bad and what is Sanguinus's reaction besides getting wet?


Well,




I suspect that, like his visions, Curze's foresight comes and goes at unpredictable intervals. When he fought Vulkan in, wherever the hell he imprisoned him, and the Lion at Thramas I think his ability to see the future simply ceased working. His gift is erratic and unpredictable, much like him, and I think luck plays a role in it.



And,




Curze tosses Azkaellon out of a window, so that Sanguinius will leap to his rescue and he can escape without pursuit. Sanguinius does, and then Curze does. Sanguinius's reaction to his favoured son's mutilation, aside from bloodthirst, is rage and concern. Rage at Curze for doing it, and concern for Azkaellon's life as Curze defenestrates him.




LotN


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## piemelke

thanks again,


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## Scrad

Lord of the Night said:


> Krukesh was alright, but I think he fell prey to the cartoony villain potential that every Night Lord has, in Prince of Crows he came across as a cadaverous monster and he is (though no mention is made of his corpse-like appearance) but he didn't really have anything that distinguished him from the other madmen among the Traitor Legions apart from some moments of dry humour.


Found this to be very much the case as well. He was too overblown - striving for power without relying on any intelligence that he would have had to get to his position in the first place. 

There's almost too much scheming and internal rebellion in some of the non ABD-NL's appearances in the HH. Sometimes I read through and just think 'this wouldn't work" logically. Would like to glimpse more of the rank and file following officers that they had since the Great Crusade i guess. There has to be others bar Jago that those of the legion are OK with.

Also seemed like the Pharos was created by the ancients with the purpose of drawing in The Great Devourer as a last resort against chaos. Halo-esque (but not limited to that) if you will.


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## Dark Apostle Marduk

Isn't this an ebook exclusive?

Will there ever be a physical copy? Sorry, I have trouble reading some of the news on these books.


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## Brother Lucian

Pharos is no longer ebook exclusive and have a hardback version.
http://www.blacklibrary.com/prod-home/prod-home-bl/pharos-ebook.html

Black Library also put up Battle for the Abyss in hardback.


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## Kharn The Complainer

I have to say that I really enjoyed the book. It's probably one of the most enjoyable HH novels I've read in a while.


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## Squire

I enjoyed this book, a solid addition to the series with plenty of good characters. 

A question;



What was Sanguinius so abrupt with Guilliman at the end of the book for? Is he just getting fed up on being stuck on Macragge? Anybody think a building rift with Guilliman is just a plot device to justify him taking his legion off to Terra? It seemed a bit out of place to me, that's all


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## Brother Lucian

Sanguinus never liked the role he was put up to, but only accepted out of nessecity. Remember, both of the primarchs are not aware that Terra still stands. The whole reason for Imperium Secundus and Sangy getting crowned Emperor.


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## Scrad

Feels like they haven't been trying that hard to actually confirm if Terra still stands (aside from the very obvious of trying to get messages through/receive, and lack of Astronomicon). 

Ultras at the very least have run into a few legions around Ultramar. No prisoners whatsoever? Come on. Take one. Ask him. Go on.


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## Kharn The Complainer

Squire said:


> I enjoyed this book, a solid addition to the series with plenty of good characters.
> 
> A question;
> 
> 
> 
> What was Sanguinius so abrupt with Guilliman at the end of the book for? Is he just getting fed up on being stuck on Macragge? Anybody think a building rift with Guilliman is just a plot device to justify him taking his legion off to Terra? It seemed a bit out of place to me, that's all


I assume that it's a plot mechanism being set up for the next novel. Not all novels need to be completely self contained. It's designed to get you to ask the very question you're asking.

Clearly Sanguinius has become aware of something and now it's all gone 'serious business'.
I suspect that he's decided that he needs to get his ass to Terra. His discussion with Tom Curze coupled with his visions have confirmed in his mind that he needs to go to Terra and get killed by Horus.

So the Blood Angels will say ByeBye to Imperium Secondus and he will order the Ultrasmurfs and the SecretAngels to follow him. Robert Gullyman will say that he needs to put his makeup on and clean the house first, so he'll come a little later. Liono will say that he has to go do some secret shit first. But they'll promise to arrive just after all the shit has gone down.

A bit like someone who offers to help you clean up after you've already cleaned 90% of the house.


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## Stephen74

Well after the really dull rubbish thats been coming out lately this was a welcome change. I much prefer character orientated stories to the boring descriptive nonsense that a lot of the HH books have been and the Night Lords had great interaction, along with the established relationships from previous books. Some of the newer ultramarine and guards characters were a little flat but not dull and they all had potential so kept it interesting.

We need more of this type of writting in the series. Excluding the 1st four books as they are uniquely special to the series, this was the 2nd best book after Know No fear.


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## Knockagh

Just finished this. Very happy reader! Last few heresy books have been a bit of a struggle, hearty slap on the back to Mr Haley. His night long lords would easily give ADB's a run for their money. Nasty little gits they are. Loved Haley since baneblade, hope to see more of him.


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## Dark Apostle Marduk

Knockagh said:


> Just finished this. Very happy reader! Last few heresy books have been a bit of a struggle, hearty slap on the back to Mr Haley. His night long lords would easily give ADB's a run for their money. Nasty little gits they are. Loved Haley since baneblade, hope to see more of him.



Easily is an understatement. ADB did a terrible job describing Night Lords. This book did VERY WELL describing them!

Either way, this was quite a good book. I finished it a few weeks ago. I really liked it!


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## Angel of Blood

Guess I'm in the minority. I found it very meh. It wasn't unenjoyable but neither was it anything special. I did find the Night Lords to be overly cartoon villain like. I'd rather ADB stuck with them.


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## Squire

Yea I thought the Night Lords were over the top. I enjoyed the book but I don't want the villains to be bad guys, doing bad things because they want to achieve some bad end. It's not interesting. Antagonists who use brutal means to achieve some kind of positive outcome (even if misguided) is relatable, but most Night Lord stuff I've read (only HH) is just them being evil for the sake of it. The World Eaters, Emperor's Children, Sons of Horus, Thousand Sons etc. are more nuanced

Kurze is somewhat more nuanced at times (even if I'm sick of reading about him) but overall I think the Night Lords are one of the most poorly handled legions in the HH series so far, which is a shame because I like some aspects of their background


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## Kreuger

Squire said:


> ...The World Eaters... are more nuanced.


Well, that's a problem! If the story of the frothing madmen is more nuanced there's a pretty serious issue.


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## MontytheMighty

Found it so-so

Haley's Sanguinus and Guilliman were bland

His NL were tolerable

Haley is no ADB (not as good)

...but he is no Kyme/Swallow/Thorpe either. He is much more bearable than these three


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## Angel of Blood

MontytheMighty said:


> Found it so-so
> 
> Haley's Sanguinus and Guilliman were bland
> 
> His NL were tolerable
> 
> Haley is no ADB (not as good)
> 
> ...but he is no Kyme/Swallow/Thorpe either. He is much more bearable than these three


Yeah I'd agree on all those points.


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