Emperor's Spears covered by A D B

[KJB]

I’m up to chapter 12

 

Controversial question I know, but does the book get any better? I’ve been reading it for a week now and I’m really struggling with it...

[Marshal Rohr]

The whole thing is good.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I’m up to chapter 12

 

Controversial question I know, but does the book get any better? I’ve been reading it for a week now and I’m really struggling with it...

Did you like the action scenes? Because there's more action coming up. If not, and you haven't enjoyed the other aspects of the story, then it won't "get any better" for you.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I’m up to chapter 12

 

Controversial question I know, but does the book get any better? I’ve been reading it for a week now and I’m really struggling with it...

 

For me it did, I struggled a lot in the early parts of the book because I didn't find Amadeus interesting (which is impressive because I like how the Mentors fight lol). I think Amadeus as a character was designed to contrast as much as possible with Spears first, then was fleshed out. IMO the story gets better as more characters are introduced and he becomes less of the focal point and grows a bit as a character.

 

The other part of the story that it took me awhile to figure out was who the villain is. The real challenge that the characters face in this story is isolation. In most 40k books there tends to be rival that a character needs to overcome whether by fighting them or in some cases figuring out how to work together with them. Spears does have those rivalries but being Isolated from the imperium and how they try to handle it is the real conflict. 

[Shadowseer]

 

 

I’m up to chapter 12

 

Controversial question I know, but does the book get any better? I’ve been reading it for a week now and I’m really struggling with it...

For me it did, I struggled a lot in the early parts of the book because I didn't find Amadeus interesting (which is impressive because I like how the Mentors fight lol). I think Amadeus as a character was designed to contrast as much as possible with Spears first, then was fleshed out. IMO the story gets better as more characters are introduced and he becomes less of the focal point and grows a bit as a character.

 

The other part of the story that it took me awhile to figure out was who the villain is. The real challenge that the characters face in this story is isolation. In most 40k books there tends to be rival that a character needs to overcome whether by fighting them or in some cases figuring out how to work together with them. Spears does have those rivalries but being Isolated from the imperium and how they try to handle it is the real conflict.

Very good observation. This story is quite atypical for BL as there is no one who needs their face smashed in for the protagonists to prevail.

 

Instead they have to deal with their own sense of isolation, trauma, betrayal and search of purpose.

 

May not be everyone's cup of tea.

 

On a personal note, I was recovering from a minor surgery while reading the book, and certain parts resonated really deeply with what I felt at the time.

[Marshal Rohr]

It’s not traditional for Black Library, which usually has explicit antagonists, but Spear of the Emperor is very distinctly a Man vs. Environment narrative, like a Jack London novel about the Yukon or the Martian. The ‘enemy’ is the Imperium Nihilus and it’s isolating effects of civilization. The Pure are a symptom, not the cause. That’s probably why people looking for them to be the big bad are missing the mark here.

[Ascanius]

I enjoyed this book very, very much.

 

One of my favourite elements:

 

Anuradha's point of view clearly lays out how utterly terrible life is in the Imperium for a lot of people . . . and then her time on board the Pure's ship lays out how falling into the clutches of Chaos is worse even than that.

[Ganders]

I very much enjoyed it and it was the first black library book in a while that was a page turner for me.

My only failing was not realising the gender of the narrator for about a quarter of the book then struggling to adjust the image I had of them in my mind for the rest of the book.

[Kelborn]

A D-B just shared a picture of Anuradha via Facebook, done by Craig Morrison. I had something different in mind, while reading it but it's decent nonetheless.

Cannot share it as of now, maybe someone else could be so kind. :)

[Ascanius]

https://twitter.com/Silirrion/status/1149568509543759872

[Preliminary Bombardment]

A D-B just shared a picture of Anuradha via Facebook, done by Craig Morrison. I had something different in mind, while reading it but it's decent nonetheless.

Cannot share it as of now, maybe someone else could be so kind. :)

Yeah I had an image of someone from India / south east Asia in my head!

[Son of Sacrifice]

I just finished and I want more. I love the dark imperium as a setting and I'm desperate to know more. Elaria's Veil could become a playground for ADB to write his own Aaronverse, much like Dan Abnett has done with the Sabbatt Worlds. Whatever I'm all in.

 

I wanted to see more from the Spears though. When the overlord swooped in and dropped two repulsors I got very excited, but that battle seemed to fizzle out quickly.

 

It felt short, but that's not a criticism, it just means I'm ready for more. BL novels usually feel painfully long to me recently.

[Blindhamster]

Great read. Really enjoyed it and cant wait for more!

[Lord Fancy Pants]

This may be my favorite BL book ever. Amazing read.

[mc warhammer]

and you may have my favorite B&C name ever. amazing read

[Son of Sacrifice]

Do we gather that the Spears have no more firstborn marines at all? Is the high king a primaris? So many questions.

[DarKnight]

This novel perfectly explains why I love Aaron's writing so much. It just makes sense within the context of 40K. The whos and whys along with the richness of detail make this inherently ridiculous setting feel very real and realistic. No matter how fantastical the setting, people are still people & even Chaos tainted humans are still human and have human motivations and frailties. I'm really looking forward to the sequel and hope the Lions can somehow recover as a fleet-based chapter if indeed that is to be their fate.

[Roomsky]

This was really brilliant.

 

Does it reach First Heretic or Talon of Horus levels for me? Maybe not in a vacuum, but the sheer amount of legwork it does for the new setting is extremely impressive. Despite all the controversial new developments, Spear of the Emperor shows the spirit of 40k is still very much alive and well. Communication remains abysmal, right hand vs left hand politics remain prevalent, ignorance and pointless ritual remain at the forefront, and Primaris barely function as a band-aid to all the fresh hell the galaxy is subjected to. I don't want to go into too much detail for this review because the book is just such a treat; it's structure is not at all what I expected, and it's probably one of the more mature stories I've seen come out of modern BL. If you need to convince a Dark Imperium naysayer of some of the recent lore developments, direct them to this book.

 

I've noticed some percentage of the 40k fandom claims this book is another example of ADB's "bias" for Chaos / against the Imperium, and I really have to disagree. This is probably one of the more hopeful books he's put out, and some of his most likable Imperial characters to date. People continually mistake their own pro-Imperium bias for the norm, and I always get frustrated when people say ADB is a chaos-slur-I-won't-repeat-here for showing the forces of chaos as anything more than a horde of cannon fodder. This book is no exception, but boy if you thought ADB had a too-sympathetic view of Chaos, well, I won't spoil how brutally the book debunks that.

 

ANR: 9/10

Must Read

[Apothecary Vaddon]

This is probably one of the more hopeful books he's put out

I uh...don't know how hopeful any of it was, nor do I think hope had anything to do with where the novel was going. I'd say that it was certainly grimdark, but hopeful? I'm curious to read what you considered to be even remotely hopeful in it...

[Roomsky]

 

This is probably one of the more hopeful books he's put out

I uh...don't know how hopeful any of it was, nor do I think hope had anything to do with where the novel was going. I'd say that it was certainly grimdark, but hopeful? I'm curious to read what you considered to be even remotely hopeful in it...

 

 

 

Hopeful in that humanity remains unflappable in the face of galactic Armageddon. For a setting that Aaron describes as "after the bombs dropped," and a book that some have described as overbearingly defeatist, the book's attitude is fairly optimistic given the horrific situation. There are still fights to be had and won, not out of a sense of blind duty, but because legitimate gains can be made. Imperial forces are at a third of the strength they should have, and are still  fighting back effectively against the pure. 

 

The situation of the book is exceedingly grimdark, I agree. But I didn't get a sense of nihilism, inevitability, etc, rather one of meaningful defiance, and it repeatedly demonstrates that actual, positive change is still possible for an individual, even in the nightmare future that is 40k.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

 

 

This is probably one of the more hopeful books he's put out

I uh...don't know how hopeful any of it was, nor do I think hope had anything to do with where the novel was going. I'd say that it was certainly grimdark, but hopeful? I'm curious to read what you considered to be even remotely hopeful in it...

 

 

 

Hopeful in that humanity remains unflappable in the face of galactic Armageddon. For a setting that Aaron describes as "after the bombs dropped," and a book that some have described as overbearingly defeatist, the book's attitude is fairly optimistic given the horrific situation. There are still fights to be had and won, not out of a sense of blind duty, but because legitimate gains can be made. Imperial forces are at a third of the strength they should have, and are still  fighting back effectively against the pure. 

 

The situation of the book is exceedingly grimdark, I agree. But I didn't get a sense of nihilism, inevitability, etc, rather one of meaningful defiance, and it repeatedly demonstrates that actual, positive change is still possible for an individual, even in the nightmare future that is 40k.

 

I don't know that I'd classify that as hopeful, personally. It's defiant, sure - and I'd characterize the book's attitude as excessively defiant, even. The Spears largely did continue the fight, even after the Astronomican went out and the Rift screwed them over royally, but to fulfill their duty. I didn't think it was blind duty, necessarily, and a large portion of the reason(s) they continue to fight might even come from who the Pure are, but that doesn't really involve any gains they could make. 

 

I think the interludes make the situation crystal clear - the Spears will fall, as will Elara's Veil. There is no meaningful defiance to be had, in the grand scheme of that region of space; it's all mostly 'raging against the dying of the light', as ADB and many others have put it over and over again. Until essentially where the novel picks up, you could consider the situation to be tenuous, and gains indeed to be had. But as the novel proceeds, we read  of the Pure's reinforcements, and then the Great Yeeting happens as part of twist 2, and it seems excessively clear at that point what the overarching theme is.

 

I'll agree that on a personal level, change is possible for individuals, even Astartes. Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse (certainly, Amadeus' relationship with Anuradha could be seen as being significantly better by the end of the novel, and as a result that can be seen as a positive change), and there can be a message of individual hope within those aspects of the story, but I don't know that hasn't been present for characters in ADB's other works. Certainly Septimus and Octavia, whatever might have happened to their son, had a nice run, and Cyrene Valantion came back to life (though where that ends, no one knows, so could go either way), and there are probably other examples too - I think that the Terminus Est got a giant ass chunk blown out of it by some random Navy scrub in Cadian Blood, that was nice too - that I'm forgetting. 

 

IMO if someone did have the opinion that ADB is pro-Chaos/Anti-Imperium, this novel wouldn't really help in proving otherwise, because despite whatever personal interactions or growth someone might have, the scenario as painted is incredibly grimdark.

[Kelborn]

Imo it's a great example of how Aaron views 40K: grim, desperate, the good guys are pretty screwed, "evil" is overwhelming but still they endure, still they fight against the odds.

 

One can argue about that but for me personally, this is what Warhammer 40K is all about. It was when I joined the franchise via Dawn of War and it still is with the current Dark Imperium setting.

 

An incredible book itself and a desperately needed addition and chance to dive into the Dark Imperium era / the Imperium Nihilus itself.

[Roomsky]

 

 

 

the Great Yeeting 

 

Thanks for the giggle.

 

Also good points all around. Perhaps my view of 40k is so cynical that any instances of "the fight goes on, our heroes yet live, and there are still victories to be won" in a post-rift galaxy strike me as more hopeful than I might have expected.

[b1soul]

Would be pretty ballsy if the Spears and Lions

are entirely wiped out by the end of the trilogy (with the Inquisition contributing to to their demise)...that would be suitably grimdark.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

Yeah, don't see it often in BL fiction at all, though I feel like even with the Lions healthy up top, they wouldn't have been enough to make a difference - the Inquisition business was just icing on the cake. Just a simple matter of who's receiving reinforcements and who isn't and (presumably) won't. End with Anuradha or someone getting shot into the Rift in a little stasis capsule with some solemn tombstone and records for a random junker to find on the illuminated half of the Imperium.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Apothecary Vaddon