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Ordo Sinister - John French

Jareddm

By Jareddm
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Jareddm Veteran

Jareddm

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Just finished this short story and for those who have read the Ahriman series, you should pick up on a bunch of similarities in style.

 

The story is of an Ordo Sinister Warlord psi-titan known as Borealis Thoon and its prefect Hydragyrum being used within the human Webway to pull a huge force of daemons away from the more stable regions so they can have time to make them secure.

 

French does a great job showing how the psi-titan operates both similarly and differently from a normal titan, with one Pariah at the helm, standing inside a strange rotating orb known as the Crucible, and a set high level psykers permanently synched to the titan to operate its sub-systems, but unlike the Moderatii of a titan, they are described as each sharing one-third of the same consciousness.  The Crucible's control system is based around strange esoteric and alchemical symbolism that are constantly shifting and described as representing the state of the universe around the titan.

 

Overall, a good short with some solid action that gives a glimpse at this extremely mysterious organization.

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Master Ciaphas Veteran

Master Ciaphas

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Yeah, it certainly grabbed my attention as well. However, I will only be getting it, when it is available in a mass market paperback (some 2-3 years from now, given BL´s release rate of the original format). Naturally, if a mate buys it, I will be reading over his shoulder...

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DarkChaplain Veteran

DarkChaplain

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That's actually my question too. Does it add anything beyond fluffing out a (most likely upcoming ForgeWorld) Titan, all as a sideshow to what was already depicted in Master of Mankind? I'm really not feeling the urge to read it. Doesn't sound like it'll contribute much after the fact and since it doesn't have any sort of setup as far as I can tell, it appears like a take-it-or-leave-it short, unlike a lot of the ones we got in recent years which bridge things more.
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1ncarnadine Battle-Brother

1ncarnadine

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That's actually my question too. Does it add anything beyond fluffing out a (most likely upcoming ForgeWorld) Titan, all as a sideshow to what was already depicted in Master of Mankind? I'm really not feeling the urge to read it. Doesn't sound like it'll contribute much after the fact and since it doesn't have any sort of setup as far as I can tell, it appears like a take-it-or-leave-it short, unlike a lot of the ones we got in recent years which bridge things more.

 

Yeah, just finished it. It's very much just about how the Ordo Sinister Titans work, and some insight into the personality of their princeps (called prefects, actually). It was very interesting because I wanted to hear more about the Ordo, but if you're not into that it's skippable. 

 

There's some hinting that maybe the Sinister prefects are taught directly by the Emperor, though. Kind of neat. I think there are only 25 of them at any given time so that doesn't seem unrealistic.

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Noserenda Venerable Brother

Noserenda

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Exactly that, afaik the battle depicted is just part of the larger webway war some time prior to Master of Mankind. It provides some excellent details on the Ordo and their interactions with the rest of the Imperium though which is some welcome detail on a previously unexplored faction.

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Sandlemad Veteran

Sandlemad

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Nicely written, I thought. It doesn't reveal a huge amount beyond what we see in Inferno but it's a good portrayal of someone who's fairly emotionless by their pariah nature, not due to modifications or bionic whatsits. Fairly poignant one too with the stargazing scene at the end.

 

I liked the bit where the prefect meets the gaze of the silent sister and idly thinks that the others probably perceive some sort of kinship or recognition in that.

Edited by Sandlemad
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DarkChaplain Veteran

DarkChaplain

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Ended up starting it after all. I like the way it is written so far. Not sure the topic really hits home with me (I've always been more in the Kaiju camp rather than the giant robots kicking butts), and I'd like some stronger ties to what's going on at this point, but at least it is well-done from what I can judge halfway through.
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HeritorA

HeritorA

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Just read it through, very interesting read and some nice info on the Ordo.

 

Though the Deployment of the Titan did seem a bit pointless assuming it died at the end?

Absolutely pointless. It was made it seems only to show the level of sacrifice.

 

Ended up starting it after all. I like the way it is written so far. Not sure the topic really hits home with me (I've always been more in the Kaiju camp rather than the giant robots kicking butts), and I'd like some stronger ties to what's going on at this point, but at least it is well-done from what I can judge halfway through.

The prose is good, the characters and how they 'tick' amazing as always with John French. But the place and point of that story is absolutely POINTLESS. Instead of moving forward (and let be honest - now on 42nd book and with Horus at Beta-Garmont it should be a road forward, not backwards) we have a time before MoM... And what actually it shows us  - nothing except how an Ordo Sinister Titan works.

 

In general - it should have been a chapter in MoM

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Taliesin Veteran

Taliesin

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New Titans short story by Rob Sanders, The Ember Wolves.

 

Looks cool

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/hh-at-the-ember-wolves-eboo.html

 

 

On the hive world of Absalom, god-machines go to war: loyalist Titans under the banner of the Fabricator General of Terra clash against the forces of Horus Lupercal, Warmaster and arch-traitor. By the time the Emperor-class Titans of the Legio Castigatra arrive, the Legio Audax, also known as the Ember Wolves, have long been lying in wait for their prey. When a traitor Warhound pack spots the loyalist Titan Tantorus Magnificat striding through the ruins, they know they have found a target worthy of their battle-pack, and eagerly launch their attack. Though their hunt is successful, when the Warhound princeps gather round their downed prey, they discover that their fight is not yet over.

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HeritorA

HeritorA

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New Titans short story by Rob Sanders, The Ember Wolves.

 

Looks cool

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/hh-at-the-ember-wolves-eboo.html

 

 

On the hive world of Absalom, god-machines go to war: loyalist Titans under the banner of the Fabricator General of Terra clash against the forces of Horus Lupercal, Warmaster and arch-traitor. By the time the Emperor-class Titans of the Legio Castigatra arrive, the Legio Audax, also known as the Ember Wolves, have long been lying in wait for their prey. When a traitor Warhound pack spots the loyalist Titan Tantorus Magnificat striding through the ruins, they know they have found a target worthy of their battle-pack, and eagerly launch their attack. Though their hunt is successful, when the Warhound princeps gather round their downed prey, they discover that their fight is not yet over.

 

If it's like the last week Gav Thorpe short, that started something and then drops flat before providing anything in the end - I will simply be abyssmally disappointed

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  • 1 month later...
HeritorA

HeritorA

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Well French has released two e-shorts involving characters from Covenant's band: The Purity of Ignorance and The Maiden of the Dream.

I really enjoyed the first one, the second one was good but will need to re-read as to me it was a bit like "Inception".

Which are not mandatory read and will not give anything to the main story of the novel. Maiden was 'almost' a copy of 'Inception' indeed.

 

As for the Ordo Sinister  - it's a prequel to MoM in Horus Heresy veterannoob

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veterannoob Veteran

veterannoob

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What are your expectations for Horusian Wars: Resurrection? It's good so far, should have started reading it a month ago.

Horusian Wars will be the 100th interview with a BL author special for me on Combat Phase podcast and John's interview will be released with this book, so obviously no spoilers and to tempt folks into reading it who are on the fence. But I'll take any questions you have and pass them along to John.

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HeritorA

HeritorA

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This is the full novel?  No fair!!!!  It isn't out for another 3 weeks!

 

I like the shorts that have been released.  A prequel short has been released today I see.

:wink: :whistling:  I'm picking up today's short for sure. IN  fact....done!

 

The problem - they are :cussed up the release schedule. Instead of releasing Horusian wars on 15th and 'Shroud of Night' on the 22-nd, they did not released anything in book form on 15th - but release both Horusian wars and 'Shroud of Night' on 22-nd.

 

Illogical - cause some fans will simply choose one of the 2 to read. And if they would have been released separately > they would have saled better

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