# HH Deathfire comming Sat 27th june



## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/deathfire-hardback.html

Kinda mystified why theyve swapped to a saturday release day for bigger titles, when theyve had fridays for so many years.


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## theurge33 (Apr 4, 2012)

Since when did the hardbacks become $40? Just for the heck of it now? UGH


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

theurge33 said:


> Since when did the hardbacks become $40? Just for the heck of it now? UGH


The page says 30euro for me, which is about 33dollars.


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

Brother Lucian said:


> The page says 30euro for me, which is about 33dollars.


Only if BL used anything close to realistic and current exchange rates. But they never have and never will.


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## March of Time (Dec 4, 2009)

theurge33 said:


> Since when did the hardbacks become $40? Just for the heck of it now? UGH


It's because Deathfire is 500+ pages long!


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

500 pages of fire fire anvils fire drakes branding burning flaming fire fire fire fire FIRE FIREYFIRE FLAMERSFIRINGFIREYFIRETHATSETSSTUFFONFIREANDBURNS oh, lets break into the current largest most well defended location that holds the body of our dead primarch in stasis against the most organised and well drilled legion that was able to fight back against having a fucking spaceship catapulted into their planet and their sun turned into a warp-plague star and their planet otherwise burned and scalded into death by the vaporising of its southern seas a decimated titan legion and supported knights all but wiped out and their entire with their high command outside of their primarch missing or dead (their primarch out of action for 10 hours as well), no C2 network or effective ISTAR.

when we've done that, lets go through a fucking warpstorm that is able to block out the light of astronomicon and has some as yet unknown link with those cults of word bearers and their mortal followers with ramshackle ships.

And then when we get to our locations because of plot armour, lets throw a fucking primarch into an eternally erupting supervolcano

Who the fuck writes this shit?

Oh. Nick Kyme.


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## March of Time (Dec 4, 2009)

Vaz said:


> 500 pages of fire fire anvils fire drakes branding burning flaming fire fire fire fire FIRE FIREYFIRE FLAMERSFIRINGFIREYFIRETHATSETSSTUFFONFIREANDBURNS oh, lets break into the current largest most well defended location that holds the body of our dead primarch in stasis against the most organised and well drilled legion that was able to fight back against having a fucking spaceship catapulted into their planet and their sun turned into a warp-plague star and their planet otherwise burned and scalded into death by the vaporising of its southern seas a decimated titan legion and supported knights all but wiped out and their entire with their high command outside of their primarch missing or dead (their primarch out of action for 10 hours as well), no C2 network or effective ISTAR.
> 
> when we've done that, lets go through a fucking warpstorm that is able to block out the light of astronomicon and has some as yet unknown link with those cults of word bearers and their mortal followers with ramshackle ships.
> 
> ...


I've like Nick's Horus Heresy story's.


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

March of Time said:


> I've like Nick's Horus Heresy story's.


So do I. His Heresy Salamanders are in one of the most interesting positions of any of the Loyalist Legions, and Kyme has done a very good job of exploring that.


LotN


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## theurge33 (Apr 4, 2012)

March of Time said:


> It's because Deathfire is 500+ pages long!


 Ahh, I was looking for the page count but didn't see it. That makes more sense.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Deathfire is now available for purchase. Its unbeliveably large. Over 600 pages.


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

Brother Lucian said:


> Deathfire is now available for purchase. Its unbeliveably large. Over 600 pages.


Frak me, this is going to be GOOD. :grin:


LotN


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Have you read the extract LoTN?


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

Malus Darkblade said:


> Have you read the extract LoTN?


Yes, what of it?



Salamanders and Ultramarines fighting Word Bearers on their own ships, Aeonid Thiel returning for real, and an ominous prophecy from Magnus the Red. What's not to like.



LotN


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I'm with Vaz. I'll wait out but the plot just sounds ludicrous. 

Also I would say Kymes Salamanders are the worst portrayed legion thus far, along with the Blood Angels, courtesy of Swallow the prick.


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## theurge33 (Apr 4, 2012)

Ordered. Along with Blades of the Traitor, to save on shipping. How was that btw?

I am actually pretty excited for Deathfire now.


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Angel of Blood said:


> I'm with Vaz. I'll wait out but the plot just sounds ludicrous.
> 
> Also I would say Kymes Salamanders are the worst portrayed legion thus far, along with the Blood Angels, courtesy of Swallow the prick.


Fully agree with Vaz and Angel...Kyme might be a swell bloke and all that, but he is a terrible writer, just as bland and unimpressive as Swallow


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

Vaz said:


> 500 pages of fire fire anvils fire drakes branding burning flaming fire fire fire fire FIRE FIREYFIRE FLAMERSFIRINGFIREYFIRETHATSETSSTUFFONFIREANDBURNS oh, lets break into the current largest most well defended location that holds the body of our dead primarch in stasis against the most organised and well drilled legion that was able to fight back against having a fucking spaceship catapulted into their planet and their sun turned into a warp-plague star and their planet otherwise burned and scalded into death by the vaporising of its southern seas a decimated titan legion and supported knights all but wiped out and their entire with their high command outside of their primarch missing or dead (their primarch out of action for 10 hours as well), no C2 network or effective ISTAR.
> 
> when we've done that, lets go through a fucking warpstorm that is able to block out the light of astronomicon and has some as yet unknown link with those cults of word bearers and their mortal followers with ramshackle ships.
> 
> ...


Gollum: Yes.. Yes

Smegal: No! No! Its to risky! Its too risky!!!


Yeah I think I'm going to wait. I have said it before. I think its a bad sign to have one author completely represent one legion throughout the series.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Think you folks are badly overreacting. Ive just finished Deathfire and I found it a rather enjoyable read. Infact I would rate it a good bit higher than Kyme's most recent book, Rebirth which I found to be fairly bland and uninspired.

Deathfire introduces some rather vile word bearers and showing just what the legion is devolving into. And what the sallies encounter inside the Ruinstorm is not your typical daemons, giving a really nice horror vibe as the daemons toy with their victims instead of the usual killmaim type daemons in more bolterporn books.

A couple teasers. The Death Guard, pre Nurgle, features heavilly. and we get a good look at Imperium Secundus.

If I have to give a single niggle to the book. I felt..


That the minor plotline for the grey angel wasn't fully resolved to satisfaction, leaving more questions than answers.


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

whats the page count even?


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

629 pages, not including the afterword.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> I'm with Vaz. I'll wait out but the plot just sounds ludicrous.
> 
> Also I would say Kymes Salamanders are the worst portrayed legion thus far, along with the Blood Angels, courtesy of Swallow the prick.





MontytheMighty said:


> Fully agree with Vaz and Angel...Kyme might be a swell bloke and all that, but he is a terrible writer, just as bland and unimpressive as Swallow


This! Nick Kyme has only managed to write some good EC-shorts and Censure in the HH-series so far. Swallow haven't done anything interestingly good since his short in AoD.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

forkmaster said:


> This! Nick Kyme has only managed to write some good EC-shorts and Censure in the HH-series so far. Swallow haven't done anything interestingly good since his short in AoD.


Perhaps it might interest you then. Aeonid Thiel returns and plays a prominent role in the early parts of the book.


We see him and the Red Marked cleansing ships around Ultramar and dealing with the Unburdened. Some pretty good interior spaceship battle scenes.


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

I'm struggling to keep reading this. I'll finish it, obv. It's just so pedestrianly written that my mind wanders away from the words and then when I focus again still nothing interesting or well-crafted is happening. Though admittedly I'm only a third of the way through it. 
I guess I'm interested in what happens with Narek, to be fair.


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## Thyr (Oct 25, 2010)

I am very much looking forward to "Deathfire". But considering I have to wait for the mass paperback my patience will be stretched to its limits. I like Mr. Kyme's writing a lot.


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

Ordered _Deathfire_ tonight, after Lucian's praise and hearing the actual page count, I am really looking forward to reading it.


LotN


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## Anakwanar (Sep 26, 2011)

Deathfire HH novel - review:

- We are the Fire - repeated 100 times
- Vulkan Lives! - repeated 500 times
- SM in green shooting SM in Crimson, who is helping another SM in white, who is shooting SM in green - repeated 1000 times
- Marie Sue Black SM - repeated 100 times

The end. 
Bye Bye Horus Heresy - you are dead for me


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## Sevatar (Aug 21, 2013)

March of Time said:


> It's because Deathfire is 500+ pages long!


The eBook is 408 pages on my iPad, but I might have reduced the font size in the past. Fucking iBooks of course doesn't give you the font size as a number.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Anakwanar said:


> - We are the Fire - repeated 100 times
> - Vulkan Lives! - repeated 500 times


Naaaaaah fuck off! Kyme has never used such cliched and overused lines like that in his other novels!


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## Brobaddon (Jul 14, 2012)

I'll reserve my judgement until I manage to grab a hold of the book, although I do like Salamanders and am looking forward to it. While some of the phrases used by Kyme can get repetitive, what do you exactly expect from a chapter that's entirely based on fire and earth lol. They certainly won't scream " Waaaagh or Blood for the Blood God or crackle stupid jokes like Sons of Horus. Compared to cheesyness I've read in Bowden's Helsreach ( EMhagwad im black templar and will smite you filthy xeno with my holy sword sdjasdjasjda ) and other black templar related novels, Salamanders are softcore. 



> Bye Bye Horus Heresy - you are dead for me


Pretty sure " Master of Mankind " will drag you back, if anything


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Brobaddon said:


> Pretty sure " Master of Mankind " will drag you back, if anything


Don't forget Nightfall! #IStillBelieveItWillHappen


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

Anakwanar said:


> - We are the Fire - repeated 100 times
> - Vulkan Lives! - repeated 500 times


Somehow, I doubt this.



Brobaddon said:


> While some of the phrases used by Kyme can get repetitive, what do you exactly expect from a chapter that's entirely based on fire and earth, lol.


Exactly. I personally like the "Vulkan Lives" mantra because it is a window into how damaged the Salamander psyche is at the moment in the Heresy. The mantra is an attempt to deny a reality that their pragmatism demands they accept and deal with, but like all the other Legions they simply cannot process the fact that their Primarch is dead. The Night Lords broke down weeping and begging when they thought Curze was dying (_Prince of Crows_) and the Iron Hands went berserk (_Fulgrim_), the Salamanders have chosen Denial rather than Anger or Depression.


LotN


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

For those still on the fence about Deathfire, I came across this indepth review. But which is still light on spoilers.
http://www.corehammer.com/horus-heresy-book-review-deathfire-by-nick-kyme/


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

Lord of the Night said:


> Exactly. I personally like the "Vulkan Lives" mantra because it is a window into how damaged the Salamander psyche is at the moment in the Heresy. The mantra is an attempt to deny a reality that their pragmatism demands they accept and deal with, but like all the other Legions they simply cannot process the fact that their Primarch is dead.


You're going to like this then, as this is pretty much what the novel is actually about. Mostly.

They do say "Vulkan Lives" a lot. An awful lot. It's well into double figures, I wouldn't be surprised if we're over twenty, and I'm 3/4 of the way through the book. Puts "wet leopard growls" to shame. But he has dialled down on his other empty imagery a lot and tried to make what is there have meaning for a change. There's really only stuff about ash and 'staring into the fire' if his usual window-dressing gumpf about ouch burny words bothers people, and there is actually a point to both.
Though if anyone here is in the 'I hate his obvious naming habits' group you're going to love that the ship they take their Odyssey upon is called the Charybdis and the Navigator is called Circe. Oh, and that the Really Angry Smashy Shouty Sallie is called Wrecker. Sorry, I mean, Rek'or.

So far, I think it might be the least objectionable Kyme book I've read, though.


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## piemelke (Oct 13, 2010)

actually I did not dislike Rebirth, the sallies came across as the ultimate naive and hammer-anvil strategy chapter, no deus ex-machina da' kir persons this time, 
actually i was wondering if da' kir was a similar psyker as the sudden space wolf psyker in the stormcaller book ?


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Brother Lucian said:


> For those still on the fence about Deathfire, I came across this indepth review. But which is still light on spoilers.
> http://www.corehammer.com/horus-heresy-book-review-deathfire-by-nick-kyme/


"Which I believe include Rob Sanders continuing the story on Mars, Graham McNeill tackling The Crimson King, *ADB taking up the mantle of the webway project on Terra*, Gav Thorpe handling the Dark Angels and events Caliban,* Chris Wraight with a sequel to the excellent Scars* and *Dan Abnett carrying Imperium Secundus* forward."

I'm having my doubts about whether the above projects are ever going to bear fruit


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## gamingharry (Feb 27, 2014)

As far as we know ADB's Master of Mankind is just on hold while he works on the Black Legion stuff so that should still come out eventually.

Chris has been all quiet on the Black library front for a while but seeing as the Age of Sigmar novella has been written by him I assume he is still writing something 40k related and a Scars sequel would make sense.

The only one you highlighted that seems unlikely is Dan's as he has been working on so many other projects everywhere else him finding time to write HH, Warmaster, Penitent and the mysterious I am Slaughter alongside his comic, game, film and other novel work. but from what I heard he was pretty passionate about the Dreadwing project so it may see the light of day... eventually. With Angels of Caliban setting up the events with Corswain and Caliban's fall just on the horizon, having Dreadwing explain how the Lion got out of Ultramar and to Caliban after Angels of Caliban makes sense. So Dreadwing could just have been pushed back for that reason. 

The one I'm most curious about is Rob Saunders Martian stuff. Wasn't cybernetica announced years ago then... poof! Nothing. Sounds like the most likely one to have been cancelled/ not happening. 

And on a similar point, what happened to James Swallow? Do we know if he’s doing anything Heresy related since the last Garro story? I know Death Guard was floating around a while back but has there been any news on that front?


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

gamingharry said:


> Chris has been all quiet on the Black library front for a while but seeing as the Age of Sigmar novella has been written by him I assume he is still writing something 40k related and a Scars sequel would make sense.
> 
> The one I'm most curious about is Rob Saunders Martian stuff. Wasn't cybernetica announced years ago then... poof! Nothing. Sounds like the most likely one to have been cancelled/ not happening.
> 
> And on a similar point, what happened to James Swallow? Do we know if he’s doing anything Heresy related since the last Garro story? I know Death Guard was floating around a while back but has there been any news on that front?


I tweeted Chris and it could be hinted at that he is working on more SW and Scars, but he wouldn't say exactly what. Rob Saunders only writes part-time, and works at a school which takes a lot of time (if I got it correctly). He pops up, writes something aweome (most of the time) then goes under the radar. Rumors are that after FTT, Swallow was demoted from writing anything other than Garro-audios. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if Chris got to write the Death Guard-story since he did a good job in _Daemonology_.


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## gamingharry (Feb 27, 2014)

forkmaster said:


> Rumors are that after FTT, Swallow was demoted from writing anything other than Garro-audios. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if Chris got to write the Death Guard-story since he did a good job in _Daemonology_.


Did people really think Fear to Tread was that bad? I only recently read it and thought it was great! Plus wasn't it the best selling book in the series so far? If that is the case that's a real shame, really enjoyed James' stuff and was hoping for something from him beyond knights errant.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Andy Smilie would probably do a better job of Blood Angels, given how good he is with the Flesh Tearers. FTT wasnt bad, but most blood angels came off as rather flat. But som epic scenes for sure.


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## csw (Apr 22, 2011)

So Swallow gets "demoted" but Kyme gets a trilogy after _Vulkan Lives_?

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

:suicide:


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## gamingharry (Feb 27, 2014)

Andy Smilie would be a good choice! But has he actually written a full BL novel yet, everything I've seen is shorts and novellas?

Anyway is there any evidence behind the idea that JS wont be coming back? I know writers like Gav have taken very long breaks between Horus Heresy books. Hes still writing shorts and dramas so maybe hes just waiting for the right time? If he is writing a fall of the Death Guard book that would happen right before Terra, so holding the book back for the rest of the series to catch up make sense. Especially as the DG's earlier exploits have appeared a lot in Scars/ Vengeful spirit and Death Fire recently. Plus hes working on the new Deus Ex game, which I Imagine would eat up a lot of time.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

csw said:


> So Swallow gets "demoted" but Kyme gets a trilogy after _Vulkan Lives_?
> 
> Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
> 
> :suicide:


Just to correct you, his trillogy is Vulkan Lives, Deathfire and one more upcomming book.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

gamingharry said:


> Did people really think Fear to Tread was that bad? I only recently read it and thought it was great! Plus wasn't it the best selling book in the series so far? If that is the case that's a real shame, really enjoyed James' stuff and was hoping for something from him beyond knights errant.


Hated it. Bland, unengaging characters and zero feel or appearance that they were in one of the most hideous battles of the Heresy.


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

csw said:


> So Swallow gets "demoted" but Kyme gets a trilogy after _Vulkan Lives_?
> 
> Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
> 
> :suicide:


I hope this is not the case. I know Nick's day-job may make him a preferable choice to commission for novels as someone reliable to deliver a 'company-approved product', but come on. Swallow actually has some talent. Nick writes battle reports interspersed with soap opera arguments, all with the aid of a thesaurus and a high school understanding of literary references. 

FtT's biggest flaw, for me, is that things just happen one after the other and everyone reacts and is described accordingly. Swallow seems to do this whenever the warp is involved in the plot (see: the back half of FotE) and I don't think it creates the effect I figure he intends it to. It makes things seem a bit flat rather than exciting. I kind of liked the Apothecary though.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

csw said:


> So Swallow gets "demoted" but Kyme gets a trilogy after _Vulkan Lives_?
> 
> Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
> 
> :suicide:


As said, just rumors which I can't support. Nick Kyme I believe has a rather huge following which really likes his books, which I believe justifies his continued support to write more books in the series. I for one is alright with him writing about the Salamanders, just as long as he stays away from other bigger characters.


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

Finished this last night. What a fucking turkey. I was rooting for the bad guys by the end of it. As for a trilogy, VL and this are the first two of the three as confirmed by Kyme in his afterword. So yes, sadly we'll be seeing at least one more book from him in the series. 

Some gripes. 


I was delighted to see Numeon die in the end. His emotional turmoil and angst were really pissing me off by the end. 

The Hecht arc was handled very badly, with him just being parachuted into the story for no apparent reason. 

The final battle scene was one of the most ridiculous yet. Badly out numbered by the DG, the last remaining Salamnders await their fate, only for the drakes that live in the lava flows to rise up and crush the DG armoured horde. Fuck right off with that. Then a still out numbered and largely neophyte Sally force crushes the remaing DG with almost no losses. Stupider and stupider. 

Never mind the fact that an enemy ship was allowed to get close enough to a Legion home planet without being challenged. Not a single system defence ship or orbital defence weapon in sight? Not a fucking chance. 

Before the battle the DG bombard the Sally position from orbit, but the void shields hold it out no problem. Then a few tanks land and all of a sudden they are worried the tanks might overload the shields? Come on, that's just plain dumb. 

Once again the traitors, both WB and DG, are made out to be moronic comic villains the whole way through the book. I'm sick of it at this stage. 



I'm sure more will come to me as I think about.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Finished this last night. What a fucking turkey. I was rooting for the bad guys by the end of it. As for a trilogy, VL and this are the first two of the three as confirmed by Kyme in his afterword. So yes, sadly we'll be seeing at least one more book from him in the series.
> 
> Some gripes.
> 
> ...


Please don't tell me he fugged up Magnus and the Thousand Sons just as they were supposed to be in the book as well? Which POWs do we get?


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

Magnus appears for about a page and a half. No sign of a single TS. No POWs either.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Magnus appears for about a page and a half. No sign of a single TS. No POWs either.


Oh I meant like 3rd person-interaction between any of the traitor Legions, like we saw the interaction between a couple of Word Bearers in _Vulkan Lives_, or are they all unnamed unknown faceless protagonists?


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

forkmaster said:


> Oh I meant like 3rd person-interaction between any of the traitor Legions, like we saw the interaction between a couple of Word Bearers in _Vulkan Lives_, or are they all unnamed unknown faceless protagonists?


There's a Word Bearers end-of-level boss, a Word Bearers mid-level boss, and a Death Guard final boss. They variously talk to each at certain points. Don't get your hopes up if you like traitor/traitor interaction beyond 'baha i will betray you' 'not if I betray you first'.

I don't know if we're doing spoilers, so I'll just say there is another marine from a traitor legion in the book, and his plot is at least interesting, if kind of dumb and seemingly pointless.


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

Mob said:


> I don't know if we're doing spoilers, so I'll just say there is another marine from a traitor legion in the book, and his plot is at least interesting, if kind of dumb and seemingly pointless.




That bit felt kind of forced and shoe-horned in. It never explained why he was where he was when they met him, how he got there beyond a brief flashback, and who it was he was supposed to be meeting. Considering his true identity, and where he had been previous to his change in status, there seemed to be a lot left out of that particular arc. In his afterword Kyme does say there was a subplot left out as he thought it might take the focus from the Sallies grief. This may prove to be what was left out of Hecht's story.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Mob said:


> There's a Word Bearers end-of-level boss, a Word Bearers mid-level boss, and a Death Guard final boss. They variously talk to each at certain points. Don't get your hopes up if you like traitor/traitor interaction beyond 'baha i will betray you' 'not if I betray you first'.
> 
> I don't know if we're doing spoilers, so I'll just say there is another marine from a traitor legion in the book, and his plot is at least interesting, if kind of dumb and seemingly pointless.




Might I guess it's a certain loyalist Word Bearer from _Vulkan Lives_?


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

forkmaster said:


> Might I guess it's a certain loyalist Word Bearer from _Vulkan Lives_?




He's in it, but it takes a strange twist. I wouldn't say he was a loyalist either. He just seems to have reverted to the WBs original belief in the Emperor's divinity, without actually switching sides. He seems to have gone rogue.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

You know... I wanted the book to be good... some authors just don't develop...


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

Khorne's Fist said:


> The final battle scene was one of the most ridiculous yet. Badly out numbered by the DG, the last remaining Salamnders await their fate, only for the drakes that live in the lava flows to rise up and crush the DG armoured horde. Fuck right off with that. Then a still out numbered and largely neophyte Sally force crushes the remaing DG with almost no losses. Stupider and stupider.
> 
> Never mind the fact that an enemy ship was allowed to get close enough to a Legion home planet without being challenged. Not a single system defence ship or orbital defence weapon in sight? Not a fucking chance.
> 
> Before the battle the DG bombard the Sally position from orbit, but the void shields hold it out no problem. Then a few tanks land and all of a sudden they are worried the tanks might overload the shields? Come on, that's just plain dumb.


I disagree;




I very much liked the fact that the Death Guard took casualties just from landing on a notoriously unstable Death World. Nocturne, and other worlds like it, are constantly touted as places where it is a struggle for humanity to survive. In Battle of the Fang the Thousand Sons land on Fenris, one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy, and no mention is made of the planet's myriad dangers effects on them. Here we see it plain as day; chasms opening up and swallowing Astartes, lava flows engulfing them, steam vents welding Drop Pods permanently closed. And the underground wildlife attacking something that the novel notes was giving off "lots of seismic activity". Death Worlds are supposed to be hellholes, and I felt this was the first real instance of such a world showing just how deadly they can be to an army that is unprepared to fight on them, as the Death Guard were because they arrogantly assumed that because they survived Barbarus, Nocturne would be a trifle to them.

Because the entire fleet had gone to Istvaan. Poor planning on the Legion's part? Yes. Poor writing on Kyme's part? No. I have debated this elsewhere but just because a character makes a bad or foolish decision does not mean the author's writing is poor, it just means that his characters have made a bad choice and must deal with what that entails. The Salamanders sent their entire fleet to Istvaan and because of that they had nothing to protect their homeworld with.

I would assume they were worried because the shields were strained from just surviving an orbital bombardment. The tanks would have been able to finish the job and allow the Death Guard inside.




LotN


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

Lord of the Night said:


> I disagree;
> 
> 
> 
> ...




They didn't actually send everything, as the _Vulkan's Wrath_ and _Drakelord _magically appeared and killed the _Reaper's Shroud_, a supposedly massive battleship. Where were they until then? The journey from Prometheus should have taken no time at all. If they had enough time to muster all the remaining Salamanders in the one spot, surely there was more than enough time to get the ships in a position to stop the landing taking place in the first place.

As for the shields, I just read it again, and they lowered the shields so they could sallie forth and attack the DG, so we both misremembered that bit.


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## Scrad (Apr 4, 2014)

I didn't hate the novel. I was entertained, if confused at only a few turns. I think the finale battle could have been handled better if it wasn't so condensed, instead of happening in just a few pages with a "oh well and good then" mentality. Make it _hard and back it up. _(that's what she sa...)

'Shit was looking tough, neophytes were sweating and dying, but the X Chaplin knew the DG were tempting fate if the Sallies could just hold on.. because.. Salamanders weren't allowed to have x amount of armour on the x continent. They had to draw it out and wait a bit, more noise and reaction or _something_, not instant.

Yeah the ship thing was a bit odd. No reasoning was given for the time it took for a proper space response let alone why there were no surface to space defences on a Legion world. I guess this means the Chalice of Fire and Eyes of Vulcan were created after the HH. Maybe because they realised how easy to attack they were compared to others :grin:


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Well nocturne is a death world. They probably were feeling a little too secure in its status to be suitable defense on its own.


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

Scrad said:


> I think the finale battle could have been handled better if it wasn't so condensed, instead of happening in just a few pages with a "oh well and good then" mentality.


Yeah, this. I wasn't bothered so much by what happened, more that reading it wasn't very entertaining or satisfying, and it just kind of seemed unnecessary.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

What a truly fucking awful abortion of a novel that was. I 'acquired' it to finally read as a break between real novels and holy shit, I'm about as glad I read it, as I was watching the latest Fantastic Four film. Sometimes you just need to experience how awful something is, but not in a good way like Sharknado. There is not one redeeming feature in the entire novel for me I'm afraid. At least in say, Vulkan Lives (and holy shit, didn't they just abuse the fuck out of that line), I sort of liked Curze torturing Vulkan over and over. That is until it was revealed he's a perpetual, then I kind of lost interest. But god, that was painful to read.

Other have nailed most of the bad points already, maybe when I regain my motivation for life, I'll come back and list more, but for now...

Kaspian Hecht...


So regarding 'Kaspian Hect'. Please tell me that we weren't at all meant to be surprised that he was actually Narek, albeit with a bit of completely unexplained psyker bullshit applied to him lovingly. I sincerely hope that nobody that read it didn't immediately call that. Because yeah......shock!


A rather large, and to me, glaring error


But here's a big one for me. Their second dive into the ruinstorm.....why did they have to do that? Or more accurately, how could they do that? When Magnus launched them out of the ruinstorm, they ended up mere weeks from Terra, in the Segmentum Solar. Which to those unaware, is situated in the galactic west-south west (despite being the 'centre' of the Imperium). Ultramar, and the ruinstorm, are situated in the Ultima Segmentum, in the galactic south east, Ultramar itself being in the south east of the Ultima Segmentum. So yeah, Magnus threw them to the other side of the galaxy. Cheers fella. They then decide to go to Nocturne instead. Which is also situated in the Ultima Segmentum, but in the south west of the sector. The ruinstorm in all other material thus far, had been described as only surrounding Ultramar, not the entire Segmentum. Yet somehow, despite coming from a different direction, they had to enter it again. Also, that close to Terra, they should have easily been able to see the Astronomicum, which is still active. 

Also, did Magnus throw the Death Guard and Word Bearers to Terra with them? It didn't seem to suggest as much in their brief chapters. You would have though they would mention suddenly being right next to Terra. If not, how the fuck did they find them again. Even with the sliver of the fulgurite, it seems a little absurd.


The Reapers Shroud


It seemed to almost have been described as the same class as the Furious Abyss and it's sister ships no? Colossal and trident shaped. On that note, was it meant to be the Furious Abyss that they sailed through earlier on in the story? It seemed as if they were well out of Macragge by that point, and from what I remember the Furious Abyss was destroyed on the other side of Macragges moon. It was described as being larger than a Gloriana class vessel, which are what they Primarchs flagships are built from. 

Though from the previous error and others, it wouldn't surprise me if Kyme had either just described it poorly like everything else and they were in fact still within Macragges orbit, or just as likely, he himself failed to remember or didn't check where the Furious Abyss had been destroyed and just though anywhere in the Ultramar system would suffice.


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## Roninman (Jul 23, 2010)

I had zero interest on this novel and even less now. Majority of persons here on this thread whos opinions i value have told me enough to not buy this book.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Finished this last night. What a fucking turkey. I was rooting for the bad guys by the end of it. As for a trilogy, VL and this are the first two of the three as confirmed by Kyme in his afterword. So yes, sadly we'll be seeing at least one more book from him in the series.
> 
> Some gripes.
> 
> ...


Not to discredit your point, but this sort of author's fiat-driven action has featured in the series since, oh, _Fulgrim._ There have been exceptions, to be sure, but I've almost grown numb to it. Some novels, I just go through the motions and absorb them so that I have a grasp on the timeline.


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