Siege of Terra - Fury of Magnus

[mc warhammer]

prosperous burns sounds like a character from the chinese adaptation of the simpsons

[Karhedron]

It's a rich vein, that idea of the Space Wolves identity as ultimately a constructed one, and a vein that Wraight and Reynolds pick up in their SW books. It was only Guy Haley's work (and others, I think) that literalised the idea that Fenris really is magical and resonant, and the wolves really are in touch with their pure world spirit and have found a way to use the warp safely. That cuts out a lot of tension and makes them pretty unambiguously right and correct about the warp. It's not something you see in PB and it's why Haley's work on the wolves falls flat for me; he gets the surface ideas developed by Abnett and Wraight but then pushes it in the least interesting direction.

 

I disagree. While Wolfsbane, shows there is something in the SWs beliefs, I wouldn't say there is anything pure or safe about it. When Russ went on his little jaunt into the Underverse, it cost the life of every Rune Priest involved in the ritual. Also, when Russ went in, something came out that nearly ate Bjorn.

 

I rather like the notion that the Warp grows to reflect the beliefs of those who use it. The Wolves are able to tap into the Warp in a somewhat controllable way because they believe they can. They believe they are drawing on the the World Spirit of Fenris and that belief makes it real. Ditto the White Scars. Both systems practice self-restraint and caution that there is a price for power. It is that self-restraint that is at the core about accessing the Warp in a semi-safe fashion. It is the meta-physical equivalent of putting on a hazmat suit before entering a dangerous environment.

 

The Thousand Sons by contrast recognize no such restraint. They believe that with enough training and knowledge, you can handle any amount of power. Their problem was that they did not acknowledge there was a price to pay so they wracked up massive amounts of metaphysical debt until they were forced to literally sell their souls to Chaos.

[Brother Lunkhead]

It's an interesting notion that the Rune Priests of Fenris had that they drew their psychic power from their homeworld. For those who are interested, Rune Priest Ohthere Wyrdmake explains this in good detail to Ahriman in Graham McNeill's A Thousand Sons. 

 

Ahriman eventually dissuades Wyrdmake of this notion during their out of body confrontation on Prospero. Unfortunately, Wyrdmake doesn't live long enough to make use of his new found knowledge as Ahriman casts him into the warp where his soul is devoured....... poor Wyrdmake

 

As I've not read past Saturnine, I'm curious if the rest of the Rune Priests of the Rout were eventually enlightened to this reality during the Heresy or as a result of it

[StrangerOrders]

While I increasingly despise A Thousand Sons for what it did to the Wolves, I think this subject has potentially fascinating implications.

Except if you demand the Warp be one thing and black and white, in which case you will likely revile this.

One particular vibe I have picked up is that the Warp is both an actor in and of itself but still very much acted UPON. This is sort of my tying a few things together, including the Black Books, but the thing about the Warp and Chaos that I notice is that they try to force their viewers to view them in a particular light.

I like ADB's idea in MoM that most base Daemons are more or less perpetually screaming out their name, trying to claw an anchor of identity into place.

Consider the contemplations of Noise Marines in the Fabius books, their fixation with the song of Slaanesh, the Song of Birth and Death. It plays into the nonlinear nature of the Warp, Slaanesh was born at a fixed time but it is also always working to engineer its birth.

The Word Bearers, across the First Heretic, give alot of definition to what Chaos is. They are dogmatic and fixated on espousing a particular narative.

Now consider Daemons in the HH as opposed to the 40k variety, especially with the BB idea of the Ruinstorm. These Daemons are much more incoherent in form and function from what we see in 40k. Consider how uniform their names are across peoples and cultures in 30k as opposed to their monotomy in 40k. One particular thing I notice in interactions between Eldar and Chaos Marines is how often the latter get annoyed at the name the former use for the 'Dark Prince'.

Most of all consider the Gun Daemon in Slaves to Darkness and its use of binding to escape being consumed by Khorne's narrative.

Now look at the Truth, for all the sham that it is, look at how much Chaos worshippers worked to destroy it. Look at the way lesser Daemons utterly hate Fabius for refusing to aspouse them not just sentience but particular names and characteristics. Chaos works and bleeds to prevent a counternarrative, and in a way some fans become lesser Daemons this way, 'It HAS to be Chaos', 'Chaos MUST be the Warp', 'The Gods automatically GET your souls'. They say this because Chaos PoVs repeat them relentlessly.

Its a lie pressed until it becomes truth in a dimension where the only requirement for the latter is belief and power.

So... why are they truthful when the Wolves and to a lesser extent the Scars are liars? The gods as described by the Yasugei are too reasonable to work in the Chaos Narrative, the spirits of Fenris are too square in their dealings to work as Chaos Worshippers claim. Their cultures have beliefs that have been song for millennia by ever more-powerful psykers, why are they less legitimate?

Chaos are actors, but they are also acted on in a way only rational for all of their utterly ridiculous meta-power. Its the cost as much as that they extract from those that deal with them. They try and do act but they are curtailed by other actors when engaged with correctly. The Wolves and the Scars are very much good at their business but I do think their power comes from the nature of the Warp in a way that Chaos has less sway over than some like to claim.

Granted, this is a shower-thought based on some minor stuff.

No idea how the Emp Pokeball'd them though, was the GC's actual purpose to Catch Them All?

Edited November 23, 2020 by StrangerOrders

[Moonreaper666]

While I increasingly despise A Thousand Sons for what it did to the Wolves, I think this subject has potentially fascinating implications.

 

Except if you demand the Warp be one thing and black and white, in which case you will likely revile this.

 

One particular vibe I have picked up is that the Warp is both an actor in and of itself but still very much acted UPON. This is sort of my tying a few things together, including the Black Books, but the thing about the Warp and Chaos that I notice is that they try to force their viewers to view them in a particular light.

 

I like ADB's idea in MoM that most base Daemons are more or less perpetually screaming out their name, trying to claw an anchor of identity into place.

 

Consider the contemplations of Noise Marines in the Fabius books, their fixation with the song of Slaanesh, the Song of Birth and Death. It plays into the nonlinear nature of the Warp, Slaanesh was born at a fixed time but it is also always working to engineer its birth.

 

The Word Bearers, across the First Heretic, give alot of definition to what Chaos is. They are dogmatic and fixated on espousing a particular narative.

 

Now consider Daemons in the HH as opposed to the 40k variety, especially with the BB idea of the Ruinstorm. These Daemons are much more incoherent in form and function from what we see in 40k. Consider how uniform their names are across peoples and cultures in 30k as opposed to their monotomy in 40k. One particular thing I notice in interactions between Eldar and Chaos Marines is how often the latter get annoyed at the name the former use for the 'Dark Prince'.

 

Most of all consider the Gun Daemon in Slaves to Darkness and its use of binding to escape being consumed by Khorne's narrative.

 

Now look at the Truth, for all the sham that it is, look at how much Chaos worshippers worked to destroy it. Look at the way lesser Daemons utterly hate Fabius for refusing to aspouse them not just sentience but particular names and characteristics. Chaos works and bleeds to prevent a counternarrative, and in a way some fans become lesser Daemons this way, 'It HAS to be Chaos', 'Chaos MUST be the Warp', 'The Gods automatically GET your souls'. They say this because Chaos PoVs repeat them relentlessly.

 

Its a lie pressed until it becomes truth in a dimension where the only requirement for the latter is belief and power.

 

So... why are they truthful when the Wolves and to a lesser extent the Scars are liars? The gods as described by the Yasugei are too reasonable to work in the Chaos Narrative, the spirits of Fenris are too square in their dealings to work as Chaos Worshippers claim. Their cultures have beliefs that have been song for millennia by ever more-powerful psykers, why are they less legitimate?

 

Chaos are actors, but they are also acted on in a way only rational for all of their utterly ridiculous meta-power. Its the cost as much as that they extract from those that deal with them. They try and do act but they are curtailed by other actors when engaged with correctly. The Wolves and the Scars are very much good at their business but I do think their power comes from the nature of the Warp in a way that Chaos has less sway over than some like to claim.

 

Granted, this is a shower-thought based on some minor stuff.

 

No idea how the Emp Pokeball'd them though, was the GC's actual purpose to Catch Them All?

Recent lore has stated that Chaos, at least the Daemons of the 4 Gods, were not only active during the War in Heaven(s) but they were such a threat that the Eldar Empire and some Necrons fought together to stop them

 

So Chaos Sorcery or just powerful psyker magic can permanently kill Perpetuals (Anval Thawn should retire from the Grey Knights and pick a new occupation. Not Death Watch since Tyranid Psykers can perma-kill him. Maybe Raven Guard)

 

This is the second time that a sacrifice had to be made to revive a Dead Perpetual (Numelon's sacrifice brough Vulkan back from True Death) without Vulkan's revival Magnus would have perma-kill Emperor and destroy the Golden Throne without blowing up Terra giving Horus the win

 

Malcador is going to die for real at the Golden Throne he only get's one story-wise revive. Valdor might offer to sacrifice his life to revive Malcador but the old man would refuse because he actually wants to die like a human. After all the one of the main themes of the Heresy is keeping your hope and humanity (at least what little you can save) against all odds

 

That is very bad for Oll/Ollanius and the Emperor because this confirms that Horus has the power to permanently kill both of them or at least strip them of their immortality. Olly is definitely going to have a True Death at the hands of Horus to become the First Saint of the Imperium. The Emperor needs the Golden Throne and the Psyker sacrifices to not have his True Death which means that Abby, Drach'nyen, Changeling, Alpha Legion and other grouos can kill him and doom the Imperium necessitating the Custodes guarding the Palace with most of their Legion

 

Though Amon might also die at the Vengeful Spirit and a named Imperial Fist as well as Keeler and that Gene-scientist (Then the myth would later claim that a Custodes and Imperial Fist would be killed by Horus)

[DarkChaplain]

....oh. He's back.

[MarineRaider]

 

While I increasingly despise A Thousand Sons for what it did to the Wolves, I think this subject has potentially fascinating implications.

 

Except if you demand the Warp be one thing and black and white, in which case you will likely revile this.

 

One particular vibe I have picked up is that the Warp is both an actor in and of itself but still very much acted UPON. This is sort of my tying a few things together, including the Black Books, but the thing about the Warp and Chaos that I notice is that they try to force their viewers to view them in a particular light.

 

I like ADB's idea in MoM that most base Daemons are more or less perpetually screaming out their name, trying to claw an anchor of identity into place.

 

Consider the contemplations of Noise Marines in the Fabius books, their fixation with the song of Slaanesh, the Song of Birth and Death. It plays into the nonlinear nature of the Warp, Slaanesh was born at a fixed time but it is also always working to engineer its birth.

 

The Word Bearers, across the First Heretic, give alot of definition to what Chaos is. They are dogmatic and fixated on espousing a particular narative.

 

Now consider Daemons in the HH as opposed to the 40k variety, especially with the BB idea of the Ruinstorm. These Daemons are much more incoherent in form and function from what we see in 40k. Consider how uniform their names are across peoples and cultures in 30k as opposed to their monotomy in 40k. One particular thing I notice in interactions between Eldar and Chaos Marines is how often the latter get annoyed at the name the former use for the 'Dark Prince'.

 

Most of all consider the Gun Daemon in Slaves to Darkness and its use of binding to escape being consumed by Khorne's narrative.

 

Now look at the Truth, for all the sham that it is, look at how much Chaos worshippers worked to destroy it. Look at the way lesser Daemons utterly hate Fabius for refusing to aspouse them not just sentience but particular names and characteristics. Chaos works and bleeds to prevent a counternarrative, and in a way some fans become lesser Daemons this way, 'It HAS to be Chaos', 'Chaos MUST be the Warp', 'The Gods automatically GET your souls'. They say this because Chaos PoVs repeat them relentlessly.

 

Its a lie pressed until it becomes truth in a dimension where the only requirement for the latter is belief and power.

 

So... why are they truthful when the Wolves and to a lesser extent the Scars are liars? The gods as described by the Yasugei are too reasonable to work in the Chaos Narrative, the spirits of Fenris are too square in their dealings to work as Chaos Worshippers claim. Their cultures have beliefs that have been song for millennia by ever more-powerful psykers, why are they less legitimate?

 

Chaos are actors, but they are also acted on in a way only rational for all of their utterly ridiculous meta-power. Its the cost as much as that they extract from those that deal with them. They try and do act but they are curtailed by other actors when engaged with correctly. The Wolves and the Scars are very much good at their business but I do think their power comes from the nature of the Warp in a way that Chaos has less sway over than some like to claim.

 

Granted, this is a shower-thought based on some minor stuff.

 

No idea how the Emp Pokeball'd them though, was the GC's actual purpose to Catch Them All?

Recent lore has stated that Chaos, at least the Daemons of the 4 Gods, were not only active during the War in Heaven(s) but they were such a threat that the Eldar Empire and some Necrons fought together to stop them

 

So Chaos Sorcery or just powerful psyker magic can permanently kill Perpetuals (Anval Thawn should retire from the Grey Knights and pick a new occupation. Not Death Watch since Tyranid Psykers can perma-kill him. Maybe Raven Guard)

 

This is the second time that a sacrifice had to be made to revive a Dead Perpetual (Numelon's sacrifice brough Vulkan back from True Death) without Vulkan's revival Magnus would have perma-kill Emperor and destroy the Golden Throne without blowing up Terra giving Horus the win

 

Malcador is going to die for real at the Golden Throne he only get's one story-wise revive. Valdor might offer to sacrifice his life to revive Malcador but the old man would refuse because he actually wants to die like a human. After all the one of the main themes of the Heresy is keeping your hope and humanity (at least what little you can save) against all odds

 

That is very bad for Oll/Ollanius and the Emperor because this confirms that Horus has the power to permanently kill both of them or at least strip them of their immortality. Olly is definitely going to have a True Death at the hands of Horus to become the First Saint of the Imperium. The Emperor needs the Golden Throne and the Psyker sacrifices to not have his True Death which means that Abby, Drach'nyen, Changeling, Alpha Legion and other grouos can kill him and doom the Imperium necessitating the Custodes guarding the Palace with most of their Legion

 

Though Amon might also die at the Vengeful Spirit and a named Imperial Fist as well as Keeler and that Gene-scientist (Then the myth would later claim that a Custodes and Imperial Fist would be killed by Horus)

 

Where do you get all that from? I've not read a lot of what you just posted, please cite the source book. Thanks

[Apothecary Vaddon]

Just read it, pretty decent. I do find it funny that so many people thought that one bit was referring to primaris marines, going into it without any context around the spoilers from the book I instantly gravitated to the GK because of how they've been set up (both outside of this novella and within) and who's leading them. AFAIK Primaris marines weren't at all a conception of the Emperor, only a conception of Guilliman/Cawl, and literally along the lines of what DarkChaplain was talking about. The only thing the Emperor had done at this point was sanction the GK with Ianius at their head, which makes the most logical sense for the story.

 

Malcador's regen ability specification was interesting, as was the whole 'what if' bit.

[Karhedron]

AFAIK Primaris marines weren't at all a conception of the Emperor, only a conception of Guilliman/Cawl

"The Great Work" shows that the Emperor had a hand in setting up Cawl for the Primaris project. He spoke to one of the people who's memories Cawl would eventually acquire, knowing that Cawl would eventually remember the conversation.

 

Having said that, I tend to agree that FOM is referring to the GKs.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

 

AFAIK Primaris marines weren't at all a conception of the Emperor, only a conception of Guilliman/Cawl

"The Great Work" shows that the Emperor had a hand in setting up Cawl for the Primaris project. He spoke to one of the people who's memories Cawl would eventually acquire, knowing that Cawl would eventually remember the conversation.

 

Having said that, I tend to agree that FOM is referring to the GKs.

Oh, he definitely interacted with Cawl (but tbh that's more of a function of just how many specialists Cawl gobbled up and how those were the same people the Emperor had worked with) , but the entire project was never his brainchild, as it were. Even when he spoke to Cawl, he was very non-specific in the discussion.

 

The Emperor had already made his move in response to chaos already in the GK.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Apothecary Vaddon

[Matcap86]

Just finished it. Very mixed feelings on it. Liked some parts, really disliked others. 

 

The world spirit stuff doesn't bother me as much due to the warp being what everyone wants it to be, however the sheer power that was on display by two marines pretty much nuking Magnus felt a bit off to me.

 

The Malcador death and resurrection felt very cheap. I understand it's probably meant to instil some profound sadness in him that's not achieved by regular sacrifice (as he sends people to their deaths every day of the week and this was explicitly for his benefit). But it still felt like almost an afterthought and didn't get the gravitas it deserved.

 

The book for me suffered from a need to connect all sorts of characters and plotpoints. As if it needed to be the capstone to explain why all these characters exist and are on Terra and that every single one of them was very important at one point or other in the Siege. Sometimes it feels the book is just retroactively assigning meaning to plotlines just to cap them off. The whole Vulkan travels to Terra and is hidden in the imperial dungeon over several books? Yeah he just stood there waiting until Magnus showed up. 

 

These kinds of stories feel to me like there isn't a world going on with characters moving in it, but stories (and thus that part of the world) that only move forward when it is convenient to do so plotwise. Vulkan spent half the HH books travelling to Terra, then sat on his ass for a while and then was suddenly relevant because there needed to be a Primarch level contender to Magnus in the Throneroom. 

 

I find it hard to put into words, but it's the same problem I have with some of the Star Wars stories. Everyone knows everyone and is involved in the same handful of pivotal moments. This shrinks the scope of the story and I really dislike that when the idea is that it's a galaxy spanning conflict. Same thing with Loken and Garro meeting up with the Wolf and Salamanders at the end. It's a continent spanning conflict, no need to bunch these guys together to condense the stories. (I also think Loken should've stayed dead, but that's a whole 'nother ballgame) 

 

Though I'll admit that's my own preference in stories. I'm more of a worldbuilding guy than a plotline guy. (The reason why I enjoy the FW Black Books so much).  

 

On the other hand the whole possible redemption arc for Magnus I really enjoyed. It really fits his character and I loved the part where he struggles with his perception of who he is and whether he's responsible for his actions or whether it is because his "good persona" is still missing from him. I understand some people think it's hypocritical of him to blast apart one of his sons and then renege on the opportunity for forgiveness from the Emperor because of them, but that's the point! I think it's great that these are monumental beings of power who still struggle and are governed by emotions which makes them act irrationally and hypocritical.

 

It's why humanity is in this mess in the first place and it gets alluded to in the timelapse watching by the Emperor and Magnus in the warp. He comments on all the kings and queens in history laughing at preceding civilizations for their silly mistakes, while making the same mistakes themselves, with Magnus wondering if he isn't doing the same. Spoiler: he is.

 

I also like the fact that the Emperors willingness to do whatever it takes, including forgiving Magnus is the thing that pushes Magnus over the brink. That and the anger at his own almost accepting the offer. As someone who struggles with anger issues at times, the loop of feeling like you did something wrong, and externalising the frustration and anger felt at yourself was very relatable. 

 

So all in all a very mixed bag. I felt the book suffered from a need to bring all sorts of side characters in position and make their story "meaningful" and would've been better if it focussed more on just the interaction between Magnus and the Emperor. 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by matcap86

[Mellow]

I’m a little confused what kills

 

Alivia? She is perpetual, heals from being shot and then just dies. That makes no sense to me unless I missed something obvious.

 

It also didn’t seem The Emperor was too bothered when he sensed Malcador dying as presumably he knew he would resurrect?

[Karhedron]

I’m a little confused what kills

 

Alivia? She is perpetual, heals from being shot and then just dies. That makes no sense to me unless I missed something obvious.

Going back to Vengeful Spirit

 

Perpetuals seem to have individual rules for resurrection. Alivia's seems to function more like a respawn. When Horus killed her on Molech, she reappeared on the ship that her family were on evacuating the planet. This is despite the fact that the ship had already left the planet when she was killed. So it is possible that despite dying here, she may respawn later.

 

Or she could be truly dead, some sufficiently powerful psychic attacks can perma-kill even a perpetual.

[Matcap86]

 

I’m a little confused what kills

 

Alivia? She is perpetual, heals from being shot and then just dies. That makes no sense to me unless I missed something obvious.

Going back to Vengeful Spirit

 

Perpetuals seem to have individual rules for resurrection. Alivia's seems to function more like a respawn. When Horus killed her on Molech, she reappeared on the ship that her family were on evacuating the planet. This is despite the fact that the ship had already left the planet when she was killed. So it is possible that despite dying here, she may respawn later.

 

Or she could be truly dead, some sufficiently powerful psychic attacks can perma-kill even a perpetual.

 

 

Alivia sacrifices herself to allow Malcador to resurrect. It's implied in the talk her "soul" has with the Emperor before she respawns, that this is the final request he has of her before she's rid of him forever. How it exactly works? Warpshenaningans with the Emperor (a wizard did it)

 

[Tymell]

I just finished the e-book, and overall I really quite enjoyed this one.

 

Above all, I liked the pacing and sense of focus here. The big problem the Siege books have had so far is a lack of focus, many of them feel like they're trying to look at too much at once, and consequently lack a true "main character" or even characters, plural. Fury of Magnus had no such issues, it was a solid, coherent narrative. It had a few different focal groups, but they all came together by the end, it all felt like it was contributing to one single story.

 

As a continuation of Magnus' story, it felt solid to me.

It gives the proper reasoning for throwing in his lot with Horus that we've been waiting for. He still has humanity left in him, at least early on (as seen when he protects civilians from phosphex), and I can empathise with him even as he makes the "wrong" choice. It's the essence of tragedy: I know what choice he's going to make, but I'm willing him not to, and I can understand why he's angry and why he refuses the Emperor's offer.

 

I also really enjoyed the Salamanders in this, and the camaraderie they had with the Wolves. The summoning of the world spirits in particular was just a great scene, and one among a bunch of suitably 40K larger-than-life moments.

 

My only issue is that the whole thing with Malcador and Alivia felt superfluous. The whole way through I was wondering about Alivia's role, why Malcador wanted her there, and I was waiting for the revelation about it. Then it turns out she's basically just there as an extra life for him. "Oh...okay." was my response. It wasn't awful, it just felt like it didn't really add anything. Her end was actually really nicely done I thought, but it was a character death to undo another character death which didn't really need to happen in the first place.

 

Say, for example, Magnus had been about to accept the Emperor's offer, then learned that the Emperor deliberately set Malcador up to be killed in order to influence that decision. I'm not suggesting that's a great way to do it, just that in that scenario, Malcador's death (and resurrection via Alivia) would've felt integral to the story.

 

Still, to be clear, it's far from the worst offender in the HH in this regard. There are plenty of other plot points, even whole stories, that feel like they don't really add much. It's also a side-point to the main focus here, which is on Magnus' progression, and I feel that was well done as a whole. So it's not atrocious or book-ruining to me by any stretch, just something I felt didn't bring much to the table.

 

All told, this gets a 7.5, maybe 8, from me, with only that one point above holding it back.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Tymell

[Felix Antipodes]

As someone who has not been terribly impressed with McNeills work since he returned to BL I have to say that was a good read. Welcome back Graham. Now I'm actually looking forward to his upcoming Ventris novel.

[Roomsky]

Fury of Magnus – Graham Mcneill

 

This is the follow-up to A Thousand Sons I’ve been waiting for since A Thousand Sons. All we had to do was wade through an overlong novel, a pointless novella, and several short stories of fluff to get here. It pays off Magnus’ Heresy arc very well, and is generally a fun and intriguing ride otherwise. Once again, Mcneill really works when you make him focus. These novellas are thus far much better than I expect his mainline contribution to the Siege would have been.

 

The balance of subject matter is good and the page count means Mcneill can’t have any elements over-stay their welcome. It also does an impressive job of making the Emperor convincingly a concerned individual and a calculating despot in a way other authors fumble. It’s hardly perfect, Mcneill’s characterization still occasionally slips into what he needs to happen over what feels natural, and the Draksward remain pretty forgettable. It’s a good wrap-up for Sureka, but nevertheless I wish she’d had more to do.

 

Between this and Sons of the Selenar, I really wish Thorpe and Haley had been given novellas instead of their entries as well. A novella about Amon and Keeler and a novella about Zenobi would each have been far better than The First Wall. Ditto for the Haley equivalents.

 

A solid 8/10

To Taste? Mcneill has big ideas here and some may not appreciate them.

[Taliesin]

As someone who has not been terribly impressed with McNeills work since he returned to BL I have to say that was a good read. Welcome back Graham. Now I'm actually looking forward to his upcoming Ventris novel.

 

I'm also cautiously interested in that book. I was not a fan of his earlier Ventris stories though but if he has improved as a writer with the years, I might give it a shot.

 

Fury of Magnus – Graham Mcneill

 

This is the follow-up to A Thousand Sons I’ve been waiting for since A Thousand Sons. All we had to do was wade through an overlong novel, a pointless novella, and several short stories of fluff to get here. It pays off Magnus’ Heresy arc very well, and is generally a fun and intriguing ride otherwise. Once again, Mcneill really works when you make him focus. These novellas are thus far much better than I expect his mainline contribution to the Siege would have been.

 

The balance of subject matter is good and the page count means Mcneill can’t have any elements over-stay their welcome. It also does an impressive job of making the Emperor convincingly a concerned individual and a calculating despot in a way other authors fumble. It’s hardly perfect, Mcneill’s characterization still occasionally slips into what he needs to happen over what feels natural, and the Draksward remain pretty forgettable. It’s a good wrap-up for Sureka, but nevertheless I wish she’d had more to do.

 

Between this and Sons of the Selenar, I really wish Thorpe and Haley had been given novellas instead of their entries as well. A novella about Amon and Keeler and a novella about Zenobi would each have been far better than The First Wall. Ditto for the Haley equivalents.

 

A solid 8/10

To Taste? Mcneill has big ideas here and some may not appreciate them.

 

Out of interest, what is the pointless novella you are referring to about the Thousand Sons? Short stories...we had Thief of Revelations...anything else?

[Roomsky]

 

Out of interest, what is the pointless novella you are referring to about the Thousand Sons? Short stories...we had Thief of Revelations...anything else?

 

 

Master of Prospero, which succeeded in establishing Magnus has no pattern recognition ability, but nothing else. It's one of my least favourite Primarchs novels because it adds nothing to his character. We also have Morningstar and Lucius: The Eternal Blade by way of shorts.

[Moonreaper666]

Once again a Loyalist character was saved because of another's sacrifice. Had that Salamander not acted as a meatshield, Magnus would have permanently killed Vulkan and the Emperor giving Horus his victory then and there. The Imperium is built upon the countless matrys like Numellon, Alivia, that Guardsman that stabbed Kor Megron, that Black Templar shiedling Guilliman from Skarbrand, etc


Something tells me that this Novella hints as to how the Novels are going to Ret-con the duel

Magnus just perma-killed Malcador with his Sorcery. Horus doesn't have Fulgurite but he does have more Sorcery than Magnus

Ollianius Pius is going to transfer his life force to the Emperor. This is what permanently kills him

Someone else takes Olly's role in becoming the Emperor's meatshield. Either John or Keeler (and say the Harbinger quote)

Despite Sanginius and Basilio Fo's genevirus weakening Horus the Warmaster still defeated/overpowered the Emperor

[Triszin]

I just finished the e-book, and overall I really quite enjoyed this one.

 

Above all, I liked the pacing and sense of focus here. The big problem the Siege books have had so far is a lack of focus, many of them feel like they're trying to look at too much at once, and consequently lack a true "main character" or even characters, plural. Fury of Magnus had no such issues, it was a solid, coherent narrative. It had a few different focal groups, but they all came together by the end, it all felt like it was contributing to one single story.

 

As a continuation of Magnus' story, it felt solid to me.

It gives the proper reasoning for throwing in his lot with Horus that we've been waiting for. He still has humanity left in him, at least early on (as seen when he protects civilians from phosphex), and I can empathise with him even as he makes the "wrong" choice. It's the essence of tragedy: I know what choice he's going to make, but I'm willing him not to, and I can understand why he's angry and why he refuses the Emperor's offer.

 

I also really enjoyed the Salamanders in this, and the camaraderie they had with the Wolves. The summoning of the world spirits in particular was just a great scene, and one among a bunch of suitably 40K larger-than-life moments.

 

My only issue is that the whole thing with Malcador and Alivia felt superfluous. The whole way through I was wondering about Alivia's role, why Malcador wanted her there, and I was waiting for the revelation about it. Then it turns out she's basically just there as an extra life for him. "Oh...okay." was my response. It wasn't awful, it just felt like it didn't really add anything. Her end was actually really nicely done I thought, but it was a character death to undo another character death which didn't really need to happen in the first place.

 

Say, for example, Magnus had been about to accept the Emperor's offer, then learned that the Emperor deliberately set Malcador up to be killed in order to influence that decision. I'm not suggesting that's a great way to do it, just that in that scenario, Malcador's death (and resurrection via Alivia) would've felt integral to the story.

 

Still, to be clear, it's far from the worst offender in the HH in this regard. There are plenty of other plot points, even whole stories, that feel like they don't really add much. It's also a side-point to the main focus here, which is on Magnus' progression, and I feel that was well done as a whole. So it's not atrocious or book-ruining to me by any stretch, just something I felt didn't bring much to the table.

 

All told, this gets a 7.5, maybe 8, from me, with only that one point above holding it back.

can you expand on the world spirits? and the wolves and salamander moments?

[Tymell]

Basically:

 

Both the Draaksward and the remnants of the Space Wolf pack from Crimson King are on Terra. When Magnus creates a breach in the defences, both groups rush to help defend it. The rune priest Bödvar Bjarki, feeling how much power there is on Terra, joins hands with Atok Abidemi and uses that power to summon embodiments of both Fenris and Nocturne: a great wolf of ice and a dragon of ash and smoke, respectively. Bjarki uses these spirits to drive Magnus back, but gets so immersed in their power that Abidemi is forced to cut off Bjarki's arm to break them out of it before it kills them both.

 

More generally, they have a good rapport throughout, and it was refreshing to see members of different legions getting along and not being needlessly suspicious of one another. The Wolves' first response on meeting the Salamanders isn't mistrust, just "Draaksward, good name. We're all brothers here, let's go kill some sorcerers!" After the above events, Bjarki isn't raging at Abidemi for cutting off his arm, but acknowledges that he was drunk on the power and the urge to finish Magnus, and later carves a draconic head into his own armour, saying:

 

"You spilled the blood of Fenris to save my life, and that makes us brothers."

 

He wants to carve a matching wolf symbol into Abidemi's armour, but Abidemi insists that only artificers of the Promethean Cult may modify their armour. The rest of the events of the book take place, with both groups taking part in the big fight at the end and losing brothers in the process. By the end, Abidemi and Gargo allow Bjarki to carve the wolf symbol into their armour, to mark what they all went through and honour the brothers they lost. After this, they are approached by Loken and Garro.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Tymell

[Triszin]

Basically:

 

Both the Draaksward and the remnants of the Space Wolf pack from Crimson King are on Terra. When Magnus creates a breach in the defences, both groups rush to help defend it. The rune priest Bödvar Bjarki, feeling how much power there is on Terra, joins hands with Atok Abidemi and uses that power to summon embodiments of both Fenris and Nocturne: a great wolf of ice and a dragon of ash and smoke, respectively. Bjarki uses these spirits to drive Magnus back, but gets so immersed in their power that Abidemi is forced to cut off Bjarki's arm to break them out of it before it kills them both.

 

More generally, they have a good rapport throughout, and it was refreshing to see members of different legions getting along and not being needlessly suspicious of one another. The Wolves' first response on meeting the Salamanders isn't mistrust, just "Draaksward, good name. We're all brothers here, let's go kill some sorcerers!" After the above events, Bjarki isn't raging at Abidemi for cutting off his arm, but acknowledges that he was drunk on the power and the urge to finish Magnus, and later carves a draconic head into his own armour, saying:

 

"You spilled the blood of Fenris to save my life, and that makes us brothers."

 

He wants to carve a matching wolf symbol into Abidemi's armour, but Abidemi insists that only artificers of the Promethean Cult may modify their armour. The rest of the events of the book take place, with both groups taking part in the big fight at the end and losing brothers in the process. By the end, Abidemi and Gargo allow Bjarki to carve the wolf symbol into their armour, to mark what they all went through and honour the brothers they lost. After this, they are approached by Loken and Garro.

Downloads book, listens to it

[Scammel]

Having finished it in the past few days, I very much liked the fact that the core premise is a fairly simple and relatable moral choice for Magnus, after the ineffable cosmic goose chase for his soul. I was disappointed by the contrived bombing scene, the apparently overwhelming power of the Wolves (the most egregious instance being the Wolf who is too fast for Ahriman's precognition and comes off the better in a mutual headbutt where Ahriman is helmeted and he is not) and the quality of the prose, which suffered in comparison to French's recent work (I definitely recall at least one overwrought metaphor). Better than Crimson King, weaker than ATS.

 

Did anyone else experience second-hand embarrassment at reading the afterword? Perhaps I'm being uncharitable but it reads like McNeil's self-insert Thousand Son fanfiction, where Magnus is his best buddy and intellectual equal. Quite odd.

[DarkChaplain]

Precognition is all well and good, but if you're not fast enough to act on it, it really doesn't matter if you're seeing the next blow coming.

 

 

A monstrous axe with a crackling, rune-etched blade swung down and slammed into the ground, splitting the rock floor where Ahriman had stood a fraction of a second before. So swift was the assault that Ahriman’s foresight was all but useless.

Another blow came at him, too fast to avoid.

He lowered his shoulder into the blow, forced to take the impact on his pauldron.

[...]

He had no time to think. The berserk axeman was upon him again.

 

etc.

 

It doesn't appear as if his psychic precognition is the problem - he is. Ahriman is not used to this kind of battle, the ceaseless onslaught.

 

It was not his way. Ahzek Ahriman did not trade blows like a common pit-fighter.

Except now he was. Now he was forced to.

[...]

His prowess in such brawls was no match for the lusty killing power of the Space Wolf.

 

So it's his martial ability and reaction time that make him fail against Bjarki. He overestimated himself when it comes to the down and dirty brawling that the Wolves excell at.

 

As for the afterword, I can see where you're coming from, but also McNeill's angle. Funnily enough, I kind of agree with him that "Dinner with Magnus" would actually pretty workable.

 

Magnus would probably have no issue sitting down with you and just discuss life, the universe and everything with you while having a meal. Among all his brothers, I'd pick him to be the most genuine to have this kind of talk with, and not keeping unnecessary secrets from you. He's more.... topically diverse than his brothers, I'd argue. Magnus soaks up all knowledge he can, whereas the others tend to have a clear focus for their interests. You could maybe have a chat with Perturabo about building miniatures, and have a good feast with Russ - but then also have to clean up a few broken dishes and scrub the floor, I'd wager - and Guilliman holds celebratory feasts in Ultramar as well, it's part of his diplomatic activities anyway. But Magnus? Magnus is the great mind to bounce ideas with even without a clear application of them. He loves teaching others.

 

I didn't actually see McNeill posing as Magnus' intellectual equal at all - but that Magnus wouldn't lord it over the other guests just because he's infinitely smarter and more knowledgeable. Instead, Magnus would be more open to sharing what he knows and appreciating their own arguments, rather than looking down on them for their ignorance.... so long as they are willing to think and learn. If anything, his "And at the end of that imaginary night"-line makes me believe that McNeill looks up to Magnus as a character, rather than thinking himself his equal.