Recommendations?

[SteelPaladin]

Heinrich,

If you are looking for BL novels that are decidedly not bolter porn, do give the Enforcer omnibus a shot. It very much reminds me of Eisenhorn and Ravenor. Detective work in 40k. Fun stuff.

Its such an overlooked trilogy, so I tend to recommend it at every opportunity

[Stormborn]

Was Legion of the Damned based off a previously defined event?  I don't recall reading anything about it.  Though that might be the one exception.

 

Not that I know of, which might explain why I liked it a lot more than fang, kadmila or damos.  Then again I thought rynns world and helsreach were good.  I just think BL authors should be given a bit more leeway as to what they write rather than churning out books with a setting that GW intend to sell as a supplement (although ADB's Night Lords series should have a supplement).  GW  should be using BL to expand the universe rather than confine it, but that would take a lot of courage on GWs part.

 

I second the recommendation for enforcer, must read that again once I finished off Aubrey & Maturin and reread Dan Abnett's inquistor books.  

 

Note to self make a reading list!

[Frosco Toppings]

 

Was Legion of the Damned based off a previously defined event?  I don't recall reading anything about it.  Though that might be the one exception.

 

  GW  should be using BL to expand the universe rather than confine it, but that would take a lot of courage on GWs part.

I think they're trying to do that with the HH series, only to be met with cries of "Nooo! That wasn't part of the original fluff".

[Plague Angel]

Black Library in general expands the universe, but the Space Marine Battles line is pretty specifically about giving novel treatment to all of those paragraph-long stories already found in codices or White Dwarfs. (Dwarves?)

[Kol Saresk]

 

Black Library in general expands the universe, but the Space Marine Battles line is pretty specifically about giving novel treatment to all of those paragraph-long stories already found in codices or White Dwarfs. (Dwarves?)

And then one or two others nobody had heard of before. Like Legion of the Damned or Siege of Castellax.

[Plague Angel]

Siege of Castellax is in Stronghold Assault though, so it retroactively shares the theme, right?

 

I'm sure that a few of the Space Marine Battles novels are new but get put in the line because they fit (I'm not familiar with Gildar Rift's story from beforehand, as another example), but I want to say at least half of them are based on pre-existing scant mentions, like Bloodspire or Death of Integrity. How much those authors should or shouldn't stay within the bounds of the meager pre-existing fluff is probably subjective, I just think it's neat that they do them at all. It rewards people who like minutiae or have nostalgia for individual clippings.

 

I hope they do the World Engine some day.

[Kol Saresk]

If Siege of Castellax was written before Stronghold Assaults then how could it retroactively be based on a paragraph bit written about the novel in a book describing that type of battle? Wibbley wobbley timey wimey?

[Captain Nameless]

The siege of Castellax was mentioned in the ork's section of the 5th edition rulebook.

[Plague Angel]

If Siege of Castellax was written before Stronghold Assaults then how could it retroactively be based on a paragraph bit written about the novel in a book describing that type of battle? Wibbley wobbley timey wimey?

 

Not based on, exactly, but it's still a novel-length treatment of a short fluff section in a rulebook, even if the rulebook comes out later. Rulebooks will reach players who aren't necessarily avid Black Library readers, after all. Basically if a story entry in a rulebook catches your eye, and you want to hear more about it, that's what the Space Marine Battles are there for.

[TDF]

As far as I know, Gildar Rift is based off a single paragraph on page 30 of the 5th Edition C:SM.

[Artein]

As far as I know, Gildar Rift is based off a single paragraph on page 30 of the 5th Edition C:SM.

Most (or at least many) of SMB novels are based off a single paragraph from this one or that one codex.

[TDF]

I was responding to this post, should have made that clearer.

I'm sure that a few of the Space Marine Battles novels are new but get put in the line because they fit (I'm not familiar with Gildar Rift's story from beforehand, as another example), but I want to say at least half of them are based on pre-existing scant mentions, like Bloodspire or Death of Integrity. How much those authors should or shouldn't stay within the bounds of the meager pre-existing fluff is probably subjective, I just think it's neat that they do them at all. It rewards people who like minutiae or have nostalgia for individual clippings.

[Veteran Sergeant]

 

 

Was Legion of the Damned based off a previously defined event?  I don't recall reading anything about it.  Though that might be the one exception.

 

  GW  should be using BL to expand the universe rather than confine it, but that would take a lot of courage on GWs part.

I think they're trying to do that with the HH series, only to be met with cries of "Nooo! That wasn't part of the original fluff".

To be fair, I only complain that the new Heresy fluff doesn't make any sense or is poorly done, not just that it's new.

 

 

It's kinda like watching HBO's Game of Thrones, having read the books years ago, when they change certain stuff. I don't get all fan-boy raeg. I just kinda cock an eyebrow and wonder "What exactly did this add to the story, and what was wrong with the way it was originally written?" The change in medium for the Heresy (condensed short-form to full-length novels) means there's always going to have to be a ton of "new" stuff. That doesn't mean it should exempt from quality control or critique.

[sitnam]

I'm interested in reading Death fo Antagonis and Wrath of Iron, are they worth a swing in your opinions?

 

As for my recommendations, I really liked Lord of the Night. It was my introduction to the Night Lords, and i think it made for an interesting story in the 40k setting. I also liked the frist two books of the Blood Angel series by James Swallow, though I know many have a love-hate relationship with him

[Jareddm]

I'm interested in reading Death fo Antagonis and Wrath of Iron, are they worth a swing in your opinions?

 

As for my recommendations, I really liked Lord of the Night. It was my introduction to the Night Lords, and i think it made for an interesting story in the 40k setting. I also liked the frist two books of the Blood Angel series by James Swallow, though I know many have a love-hate relationship with him

Haven't read Death of Antagonis but Wrath of Iron was...alright.  I wasn't blown away by it but it wasn't terrible either.

[Sothalor]

I cannot recommend Death of Antagonis.

 

It started with decent potential and the Black Dragons had some nifty inter-chapter tension with the whole mutation angle, but then it quickly descends into full-blown silliness and shallow, unconvincing character actions and motivations before climaxing with one of the most out-of-place, golly gee-ery Star Wars Expanded Universe superweapon stupidity I've ever seen in 40k.

[Wade Garrett]

I'll second the de-recommendation of DoA.

 

Not because of the...Necrontyr? Eldar? superweapon, after all, Dan Abnett threw in a galaxy killer at the end of the Eisenhorn trilogy, but I found Sister of Battle Sethanoo's inane ramblings on the nature of faith to be, quite frankly, insulting.

 

And what kind of Sister of Battle tries to push an Astartes Chapter into becoming mutated Night Lords, anyway?

[sitnam]

Ah disapointing, it looked like an interesting read and an interesting chapter to choose from. i tend to like stories about non-major chapters, as I feel it fills out the universe better then using the major chapters again and again.

[Sothalor]

I'll second the de-recommendation of DoA.

Not because of the...Necrontyr? Eldar? superweapon, after all, Dan Abnett threw in a galaxy killer at the end of the Eisenhorn trilogy, but I found Sister of Battle Sethanoo's inane ramblings on the nature of faith to be, quite frankly, insulting.

And what kind of Sister of Battle tries to push an Astartes Chapter into becoming mutated Night Lords, anyway?

For me, the difference was that the doomsday barque in Eisenhorn was never described in detail in terms of its function. It worked through a combination of mystery and unnatural dread, like the way everything was perfectly angular and carved, beyond the precision of anything known. The only things we know for certain are that it's horribly unnatural and it'd be very very bad if Glaw got his claws on it.

Then DoA comes along and has moon-sized anal beads grinding planets to dust.

Also there was a disconnect for me the way these immense, ridiculous scaled threats keep getting dealt with by Volos shivving it in the face with his claws.

Continent-sized daemon worm that feeds on people's doubt? Shiv it in the face.

Apostate cardinal wielding the power of Tzeentch who's able to corrupt people from sectors away and controls said planet grinder? Shiv it in the face.

Transcendent daemon prince the size of a building? Shiv it in the face.

The threats kept building and building to these over-the-top, apocalyptic events that the resolutions just fell flat for me.

[Veteran Sergeant]

Kinda glad I bailed out on that one then, lol. I got a couple chapters in and realized the idea behind the Black Dragons was a little too silly for me. Sounds like the rest of the story didn't make them any better.

[Visitor13]

Wrath of Iron splits opinions, but it seems most people liked it, including me.

[Quixus]

His first book in Dawn of War was really good action packed then the rest were Meh!

He couldn't do much wrong there. That book was a basically a novelization of the story of the original Dawn of War game.

 

Gabriel Angelos is such a cool guy in the Games but by the end of the 3rd DoW Book, all I can think of is "Kill the Mutant! Burn the Heretic!."

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Yeah, there's not much more about Death of Antagonis that I can add that hasn't already been said.  Except that the title makes no sense, seeing as how the planet Antagonis dies in the first, like, two chapters.  If anything, it should have been named after the "giant planet-grinding anal beads."  (Thanks for that visual, by the way).

 

As for Wrath of Iron, I highly recommend it.  Unlike the novel Iron Hands, Wrath does an excellent job of showing the mindset of the Iron Hands, how they view the universe, and just what a group of giant :cusss they really are.  Quite frankly, it reinvigorated my love of the Chapter. . . . before the new C:SM and Raukaan supplement :cuss all over it.  But that's a tale for another time.

[Chaeron]

If Siege of Castellax was written before Stronghold Assaults then how could it retroactively be based on a paragraph bit written about the novel in a book describing that type of battle? Wibbley wobbley timey wimey?

 

Time is never linear in the warp...

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

Atlas Infernal and Ahriman exile are good