Gate of Bones/ Dawn of Fire

[Fedor]

Don't get it. Take that bold step and become an exclusive reader of only the most extremely well reviewed lit-fic..

 

I did it for a few years and the sheer levels of connoisseureryness surging through me was getting to the point i was becoming more god than man. Eventually i had to tether myself by reading nothing but sci-fi and fantasy, so as not to truly ascend and leave my Iron Hands half finished. However, perhaps you are braver than i was...

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

Still haven't received my copy.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

I mean, Brexit for sure but it's getting ridiculous now...

 

I finally got my shipping notification last week for the DoF special edition. Supposed to be here next week. I didn't really mind springing for the eBook in the meantime as it was priced at the paperback level of $9.99. Contrast that with the $16.99 it cost to buy the eBook for Swords of Calth, since only a hardback option was offfered alongside the special edition. Meanwhile, the story was about half as long.

[Vanger]

Still haven't received my copy.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

I mean, Brexit for sure but it's getting ridiculous now...

Ebook. STill haven't received stuff I ordered in December...Sorry, that's incorrect, I received the last 2 White dwarves and the Uriel Ventriss stuff so far. Anything else between December and February is said to arrive this week.

[Kenzaburo]

Mine finally arrived yesterday. Oh boy, that's my first leatherbound special edition and it's a beauty! I was literally stunned how pretty the book is. But yup, it took forever to arrive - funny enough, the special edition ork that came out some time around Gate of Bones arrived at the same time. But with the ork my order had been pending until some time last week while Gate of Bones had been shipped in late January, I think. 

 

Anyways, now I need to get the ebook to give the book a read while marvelling the tome on my shelf at the same time. :D I just wish I had gotten the first book as special edition, too.

[Taliesin]

Still haven't received my copy.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

I mean, Brexit for sure but it's getting ridiculous now...

 

Same issues here, its still stuck in the UPS warehouse in Germany, where its been gathering dust for 2 weeks plus now.

 

I have asked for a new copy since it seems like this will never be delivered.

[Kelborn]

 

 

Still haven't received my copy.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

I mean, Brexit for sure but it's getting ridiculous now...

Same issues here, its still stuck in the UPS warehouse in Germany, where its been gathering dust for 2 weeks plus now.

 

I have asked for a new copy since it seems like this will never be delivered.

Friend of mine is still waiting for his Helwinter box...

Gonna write them, tomorrow. -.-

[Triszin]

 

 

 

Still haven't received my copy.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

I mean, Brexit for sure but it's getting ridiculous now...

Same issues here, its still stuck in the UPS warehouse in Germany, where its been gathering dust for 2 weeks plus now.

 

I have asked for a new copy since it seems like this will never be delivered.

Friend of mine is still waiting for his Helwinter box...

Gonna write them, tomorrow. -.-

If I recall correctly, I ordered my helwinter box the day it went up, and got it like Jan 16?

[RikuEru]

 

 

 

 

Still haven't received my copy.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

I mean, Brexit for sure but it's getting ridiculous now...

Same issues here, its still stuck in the UPS warehouse in Germany, where its been gathering dust for 2 weeks plus now.

 

I have asked for a new copy since it seems like this will never be delivered.

Friend of mine is still waiting for his Helwinter box...

Gonna write them, tomorrow. -.-

If I recall correctly, I ordered my helwinter box the day it went up, and got it like Jan 16?

As Kelborn meant me:

I had e-mailed them two weeks ago or so.

Mine apparently was shipped on February 4th.

Still not here (in Germany) and they haven't given me a Tracking Number yet.

 

So, everyone take a deep breath. Our books are all just going on an Adventure!

[Dried]

I'm still waiting my Limited Edition (and Mortis' one too).
It was shipped February 5th and I have the tracking number since.
It is in a german warehouse for weeks... (I'm in France)

[Roomsky]

The Gate of Bones – Andy Clark (audiobook)

 

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Despite my last Clark experience being Crusade (terrible,) this was not only good, but in my opinion, better than Avenging Son. Who would have thought?

 

The book mostly features a wholly new cast, and outdoes Avenging Son in both focus and character work for its protagonists. The stars of the book, from the Custodians to the Mordians to the Sororitas to the Word Bearers, cultists, Iron Warriors, etc are all very well drawn. Much like Reynolds’ Apocalypse, this book takes the time to let its characters chat, and contrast their views on the value of faith, sacrifice, and resolve. What results is the focus of a plot-driven story without any hits to character.

 

The plot itself is straightforward but benefits from its simplicity. The stakes are apparent, the desperation is clear, and any who haven’t read the (apparently now outdated) codex entry on this battle should find it as thrilling as I did. And, uncommonly for 40k books, the denouement is longer than a couple pages. The after-the-battle reflection here was probably my favourite part, and is quite meaty.

 

Tonally this book continues Avenging Son’s injection of pure grimdark into the Indomitus Crusade’s veins. If anything I’m most impressed that Clark managed to make the Custodians somewhat pleasant without shying away from the Imperium’s penchant for atrocity. The scene where Achillor grants “mercy” to a captive cultist is especially chilling.

 

It’s not perfect – there are occasions where a group of the protagonists disappear for an inordinate amount of time, and I can’t comment on Clark’s prose considering the audio format. Despite his excellent character work for most of the cast, the Knight Pilots seemed an odd exception and lacked the depth of everyone else. The book has no shortage of meaningful action, most of it leans on it’s characters to keep the scenes engaging rather than the spectacle, but there are still a few grand-scale battles the get a little dry (mostly because they’re between battles that aren’t.)

 

So yeah, surprisingly good. I’d be surprised if Dawn of Fire produces individual works as good as the Heresy’s best, I am an author-first kind of reader, but if this keeps up it’s going to work far better as a series. Let’s see if Thorpe can keep it up.

 

To Taste – Purely because Indomitus-era battle books won’t be for everyone.

8.5/10

[Preliminary Bombardment]

Iron warrior and Word Bearer bromance makes this an immediate 8/10

[Prot]

Honestly the book is moving very slowly to me and in part I think it’s because there is this large feeling like I’ve read it before. The mustering and mobilization of large forces is time consuming and repetitive at this point. 
 

it’s okay but I’m about three quarters through it and it just doesn’t feel new or focused enough for my liking. Hopefully the last third of it changes my mind. Again though I feel like I’ve read this book. 

[Taliesin]

After weeks of issues , I've ended up with 2 copies, if anyone is interested in acquiring a limited edition, PM me.

[Knockagh]

Feels like a traditional 40k book here. Nice background build up and a big battle book at the end. Probably more build up than usual, which I really liked. Custodes have kind of taken the place of space marines, their arrival now causing the shock and awe that used to be reserved for a marines arrival. I think this takes away from the value of marines but I suppose with the sheer numbers of marines that now exist that was always going to diminish their uniqueness.

I wasn’t overly looking forward to this as it’s Andy Clark and I’ve still got a bad taste in my mouth from Celestine but I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this. Certainly the first 2/3rds of it anyway.

The dawn of fire series looks like it’s going to be a long one. Good enough book which moves the crusade forward but I’m not sure how Guy hopes to cover the entirety of the crusade at this pace and level of detail.

 

I should add that the excellent short, appendix: notes on the crusade. Does an superb job in stepping back from the story and showing the big picture of the crusade history. Great idea for a long running series to summarise the books main events and bring you back as a reader to the big picture.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Knockagh

[Ishagu]

@Knockagh

 

You make some good points. I actually really enjoyed both books in the series so far, but they do seem to be moving slowly and have focused on details which has slowed the pace, especially in the 1st book. From what I understand it was supposed to be a 10/12 book series, and I'm not sure how far it will go into the Crusade.

[DarkChaplain]

Wasn't Dawn of Fire in particular supposed to only go til about where Dark Imperium starts? As in, the first ~12 years of the Crusade, with the first big successes that'd allow Guilliman to retire from an active driving role while the Indomitus Crusade turns into a self-runner?

We already got Space Marine Conquests and a bunch of other novels to deal with other later Indomitus stories anyway.

 

In that case, the pace seems fine. It won't span 120 years, likely only the 12 important years that had to happen to allow the rapid expansion and establishment of Amazon Primaris.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

Wasn't Dawn of Fire in particular supposed to only go til about where Dark Imperium starts? As in, the first ~12 years of the Crusade, with the first big successes that'd allow Guilliman to retire from an active driving role while the Indomitus Crusade turns into a self-runner?

We already got Space Marine Conquests and a bunch of other novels to deal with other later Indomitus stories anyway.

 

In that case, the pace seems fine. It won't span 120 years, likely only the 12 important years that had to happen to allow the rapid expansion and establishment of Amazon Primaris.

 

Yep, it was confirmed in the White Dwarf gang interview a couple months back that Dawn of Fire will only run up to just before the Dark Imperium novels. It always made sense that it wouldn't go beyond that just by the name of the series - Dawn of Fire was only Guilliman's flagship because the Red Corsairs had hijacked Macragge's Honour. But we knew he had Macragge's Honour back by the events of the DI trilogy.

 

We might get some additional clues as to the events that will wrap up DoF in the new version of the Dark Imperium novels, though I don't expect a whole lot of spoilers. Haley did promise that he has an ending in mind for the DoF series and it will be pretty epic.

[DarkChaplain]

The Macragge's Honour's state is also commented on in one of the pre-Dark Imperium shorts. I believe it was the Armour of Fate one, before Guilliman meets Eldrad to chat and before he decides to take off his plate. It is also the setting for the His Will prequel short story, which attests to at least a year and a half having passed since the ship's capture, subjective passenger time.

 

Chances are, we'll see the retrieval in the Dawn of Fire series as a result. The whole Macragge's Honour shenanigans need ironing out.

 

There's still a Heresy-era snag about the ship, too. Last we saw the thing in the MH-graphic novel, it was lost in the warp along with Marius Gage. Gage is supposed to become the first Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, but still is MIA by the time of Guilliman's quest to reach Terra.

Meanwhile, during that push, the Macragge's Honour is supposed to be part of the fleet - despite Guilliman having the Samothrace as his current flagship, due to the MH being lost, yet the MH is carrying his surrogate mother Euten, who dies aboard the ship in a short story/audio drama, as part of the (post-)Ruinstorm/Spear of Ultramar events.

 

So SOMEBODY at GW/BL really is taking even less care of the canonical state and whereabouts of the Macragge's Honour than the Ultramarines. On one hand it's in the warp, on the other it is able to ferry a woman about that has last been seen safely on Macragge after the ship was lost. Then the ship gets lost in the Maelstrom, but randomly pops back up during the early Indomitus Crusade... and then they lose Sicarius and the Emperor's Will instead, with one of the first contigents of Primaris Ultramarines...

[DukeLeto69]

The Macragge's Honour's state is also commented on in one of the pre-Dark Imperium shorts. I believe it was the Armour of Fate one, before Guilliman meets Eldrad to chat and before he decides to take off his plate. It is also the setting for the His Will prequel short story, which attests to at least a year and a half having passed since the ship's capture, subjective passenger time.

 

Chances are, we'll see the retrieval in the Dawn of Fire series as a result. The whole Macragge's Honour shenanigans need ironing out.

 

There's still a Heresy-era snag about the ship, too. Last we saw the thing in the MH-graphic novel, it was lost in the warp along with Marius Gage. Gage is supposed to become the first Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, but still is MIA by the time of Guilliman's quest to reach Terra.

Meanwhile, during that push, the Macragge's Honour is supposed to be part of the fleet - despite Guilliman having the Samothrace as his current flagship, due to the MH being lost, yet the MH is carrying his surrogate mother Euten, who dies aboard the ship in a short story/audio drama, as part of the (post-)Ruinstorm/Spear of Ultramar events.

 

So SOMEBODY at GW/BL really is taking even less care of the canonical state and whereabouts of the Macragge's Honour than the Ultramarines. On one hand it's in the warp, on the other it is able to ferry a woman about that has last been seen safely on Macragge after the ship was lost. Then the ship gets lost in the Maelstrom, but randomly pops back up during the early Indomitus Crusade... and then they lose Sicarius and the Emperor's Will instead, with one of the first contigents of Primaris Ultramarines...

The warp did it!

 

And yep the Dawn of Fire is defo only covering first 12 yrs of Indomitus.

 

I am actually really pleased Haley has updated the Dark Imperium trilogy to happen at the end if the DoF series. Makes sense.

[RedFurioso]

Guilliman used Macragge's Honour during the Scouring in the Of Honour and Iron book.

[Ishagu]

Guilliman used Macragge's Honour during the Scouring in the Of Honour and Iron book.

Bad book, and I think this is just an inconsistency error.

[nagashnee]

Lets be honest here people, half the posters on this forum care more about keeping any semblance of consistency in the lore.

[Medjugorje]

How is the Marine called who want to be a Black Templar?