BL Primarchs series: The Lion is coming

[Master Sheol]

As title says in February 2020 at BL weekender this book will be presented too

Let's hope this will be better than the usual ugly fluff GW and BL wrote on the first legion during the last 20 years

[Brother_Darius]

Looking forward to it.

I have not read any of the other books from the Primarc series. Have people generally been happy with how their Primarcs have been dealt with?

 

Will this overwrite/redact the Descent of Angel's series?

[Indefragable]

Looking forward to it.

I have not read any of the other books from the Primarc series. Have people generally been happy with how their Primarcs have been dealt with?

 

Will this overwrite/redact the Descent of Angel's series?

Like everything from GW/BL, they’ve varied in quality though overall people have been pleased. Done right they can provide some worthwhile insights. Done poorly they are a simply worth passing over. Done very well they are jaw dropping and make you feel things.

 

I’ll leave the good and bad ones for other threads (there are plenty in the BL sub forum), but to get your interest piqued:

 

Khan: seeing how he integrated with the Imperium, why he’s underrated, and the origins of the Librareus project

 

Perturabo: without ruining too much, there’s a Bridge Over the River Kwai moment

 

Curze: could be a one man show on Broadway...completely different in presentation than others and the best showing Curze (will ever?) get(s). It makes you both more revolted by him and sympathetic to him at the same time, which kinda makes you even more revolted

 

Fulgrim: the best of the bunch (IMO) because it makes you yearn for what could have been...if only Fulgrim had stayed loyal! And to me that is the kinda thing the series should be about

[ValourousHeart]

I hope they will have the folio version, that they have done for the other primarch books.  Leather bound with a hard leather bound sleeve, one of those.  It would be a nice anniversary gift.

[bevulf]

Oh there will be a limited edition just as with the previous primarchs books, they havent just showed it yet

[Lostrael]

I'm quite happy with the artwork. No glowing eyes like some of the other primarchs covers, which I always found weird. 

His armor is closer in look to the Dark Angel FW armor that came out recently. I wonder if the artist got a sneak preview on the Lion.   

[Hantheman]

Good to see we have the hottest of the Primarchs

[The_son_of_Dorn]

Like a cross between chris hemsworth thor and jesus.

[MegaVolt87]

I was hoping he would have big crazy hair. He looks too refined like that dandy Fulgrim.

[Berzul]

He looks pretty good, imho.

 

It's not like we should have expected him to be covered in gore. Or full of twigs in his hair and beard. Or with a face like a crazy wild cat.

 

"Lion" is just a name, after all. Jonson is an archeotypical knight... With stunted social skills.

[jbaeza94]

Hope this Lion was based on the model

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Lion is looking 10/10! Would pledge my allegiance!

[HandsWithLegs]

I saw on Reddit somebody pointed out that the sword he has in the cover art looks remarkably similar to the sword on Cypher's model. Really cool detail!

[bevulf]

I saw on Reddit somebody pointed out that the sword he has in the cover art looks remarkably similar to the sword on Cypher's model. Really cool detail!

 

Lion has been pictured with that sword since Angels of caliban HH book which was released earlier than the new cypher.

Edited November 11, 2019 by bevulf

[Interrogator Stobz]

Lion is looking 10/10! Would pledge my allegiance!

 

+++HAVE YOU NOT BROTHER CHAPLAIN?...REPORT IMMEDIATELY, THERE WILL BE A FULL INVESTIGATION, and cookies+++

Also, any opinions on David Guymer?

[bevulf]

Think he wrote some gotrek&felix books and afaik the one of ferrus manus book from primarch series. Gotrek adventures are quite cool dont know anything about the ferrus book. But definietely will buy lion limied edition book

[Lostrael]

He also wrote Dreadwing. 

[Interrogator Stobz]

I will totally buy as well, never a second of doubt there, I just cannot recall the author. Thanks for the insight :)

[Indefragable]

Guymer has handled the oft-neglected Iron Hands quite well, according to fraters here, though I have not read too much of his stuff on that subject. His Ferrus Manus Primarchs novel is at the bottom of the pile, however, b/c he made Ferrus and the IH come off as complete morons...in the very book who’s entire point was to give them a moment in the limelight. It was so bad that I can’t help but wonder if GW HQ ordered him to do so...the writing was solid and there were some intriguing things over all,  it the IH were so inept it’s almost like he had a grudge or something. 
 

...but before you fret too much, he also wrote the novellette Dreadwing where the Lion gets a good showing: pulling some neat tricks and being intriguing enough that his own sons can’t really keep up with him, yet that makes him all the more inspiring. I think we have a fair shot of this being a good portrayal of the Lion.

[jaxom]

Looking forward to it.

I have not read any of the other books from the Primarc series. Have people generally been happy with how their Primarcs have been dealt with?

 

Will this overwrite/redact the Descent of Angel's series?

 

I've read about half (haven't read Gorgon, Khan, Kurze, Corax, or Vulkan) and they range from okay to exceptional; I've been happy with how all the Primarchs have been presented in them and some include some really interesting new tidbits that help snap a few things into place. However, the best ones build on pre-existing characterization.

Either presenting a different POV from a particular bias (i.e. Lorgar with Kor Pharon as the reader's close third person narrator and the open question of whether Lorgar really learned everything from him), expanding upon it (i.e. Guilliman and the earlier days of the Ultramarines foreshadowing later problems), inverting it (i.e. Perturabo and the real reason he joined Horus), or adding a new puzzle pice (i.e. Angron and his original Primarch-role).

 

The original HH characterization of the Dark Angels (from the Descent of/Fallen duology) was poorly received (for a variety of reasons). The problem, from my perspective, is that the few attempts to salvage the characterization came in short stories which were contrary to other short stories and the portrayal of the Dark Angels in the longer books; a case of one step forward and two steps back. It reflected a trend in the Dark Angels codex to focus too much on paranoia, reclusive behavior, and "foreshadowing" infighting by having characters bicker. For example, Angels of Caliban was a good start and then Dreadwing reverted to stereotype. I could literally write an essay on the topic of how the Dark Angels have received drastically different treatment in terms of narrative structure and characterization opportunities compared to the other legions. What a Primarch novella offers is a chance to fix that. That's what I'm hopeful for regarding it; but until there's something other than a cover to look at... well, you all probably know the phrase.

 

EDIT: Speaking of covers; Lion's got the crossed keys and the hexagrammaton while the marine has Ravenwing.

Edited November 13, 2019 by jaxom

[Stormxlr]

@jaxom

Hey I wouldn't mind reading your analysis of DA books. I definitely agree with you in both 40k and 30k our chapter probably has the worst and weirdest books.

[Deadman Wade]

It's been a long time since I've read any HH novels, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I honestly can't remember anything about Lion's character. As I understand, he's supposed to be supreme strategist, but novels didn't show that. I actually liked Astellan's view on him (IIRC, he was lying, but still).

[Murdicus]

Was he?

[jaxom]

It's been a long time since I've read any HH novels, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I honestly can't remember anything about Lion's character. As I understand, he's supposed to be supreme strategist, but novels didn't show that. I actually liked Astellan's view on him (IIRC, he was lying, but still).

 

That's in part because the Lion has had very few character defining moments. Let me clarify, these are moments where either another character provides a definition for the character in question, the character defines themself (usually through a speech or address to a second person, sometimes to the reader or as an internal monologue), or a set of actions (causal responses) define the character. The best characterizations use juxtaposition of all these methods to give a reader a complete view of the character. Mortarion is a great example as we have Garro and the Khan characterize him, we have his characterization of himself, and we have a wide variety of actions to see how he reacts to different situations. 

 

I don't have ton of time to sort out the supporting evidence from sources, but the short version is that the HH books have a few parts that do an excellent job of providing character for the Lion, but it falls flat because anytime the Lion is actually in the spotlight the emphasis seems to be on "taciturn" and "he's a mystery" (I know the B&C is not a place for memes, but google "Spongebob meme it's a mystery" and that captures the tone I want to parody in the HH text when I write that). I'll go more in-depth later.

[Skorp]

Excited to see this, I've only read a couple of the Primarch books thus far (Guilliman and Magnus), but I enjoyed them.