Jareddm

The only part of that WD article I liked was the Imperial Fists origin and that it is maintained as a 1st Company and above secret. Because on a practical level, the geneseed shouldn't matter for the chapter practice. But on an emotional level, you just know other Fist successors would absolutely not stand for a chapter of their bloodline doing the things the Exorcists do, thus chapter secret. I find it telling that the actual term 'Chamber Militant' has not been seen in print in over a decade. Sure, the codexes say they, "work closely" and are "foremost allies" with the Inquisition but you NEVER see Chamber Militant anymore. The feeling I get is as far as GW is concerned, the DW and GK are fully independent entities that just happen to have overlapping goals with the Inquisition. I thought Ultima SW successors could still have their own organization, it just meant the Space Wolves wouldn't acknowledge them in return as true Sons of Fenris. Like they weren't required to accept the Kin-Pack Declaration. As for my own retcon suggestion, a small one. The Dark Angels legion never agreed to the Treaty of Olympus Mons and thus never had true techmarines. Instead they only had Terran-trained Tech-wrights. In current lore, they have both techmarines and tech-wrights. I find this would be a nice extension to similar lore like the Space Wolves "Not Librarians" and the Salamanders "Not Destroyers." Plus after the Heresy, it would require the DA to come crawling back to the AdMech for assistance in getting the remains of Caliban converted into the Rock.

The Inductii really throws a wrench in the plans of all the people trying to suss out the number of successors based on the old legion numbers. I consider this a good thing. I personally would've gone even further with the presentation during the Siege. Even if the loyalist legions mass recruited, the traitor legions had even fewer restrictions. I could easily see the World Eaters or SoH or Death Guard coming into the Siege with 500k each. If we think about just how many casualties were taken on all side and yet for their still to have been so many traitor forces left to flee even after Horus's death, the old legion numbers just don't work if you want to account for Inductii.

As a concept, I do like that this would be an order the Emperor would give to the Grey Knights. "I'm about to do something crazy and it's going to mess me up. Whatever I say, whatever I do, do not let me leave this chair. And if I do leave this chair, get me back in it ASAP, got it!?" It makes for a fine point of conflict between the Custodes and Grey Knights, which is really all this seems to be. Rationale for a particular TT matchup. It being the Terminus Decree is the real letdown.

My theory for a third book (and good lord does this series deserve a third book) is

MacNiven posted awhile back that the Carcharodons would've either stolen the gene tech from elsewhere or just been given the gene tech to convert their own stores with none of the extra bells and whistles to go along with it. That would explain the presence of Primaris but the lack of Era Indomitus equipment.

Above & Beyond I've got a hot take for this one. This is the Fire Caste of Aeronautica stories. In that fighter pilots are present but boy is that not the point! Instead we get deep dives into the uses of propaganda and misinformation, the strengths and weaknesses of faith presented across a range of beliefs, and an awesome cast of developed and competent characters. This improves on its predecessor, Outgunned, in every way, but especially in regards to the antagonist. As a bonus, Philip Sacramento is the audiobook narrator and does a phenomenal job all around. I'm super excited for a third book and I genuinely can't think of a critique that wouldn't just directly tie into the third book 10/10 Read more Denny Flowers!

Despite how the series meandered, I loved how they did the DoF LE covers.

I was disappointed by Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives but I also think Brooks was probably more stymied in what he could do in that one. Willing to give Voidscarred a shot.

The capstone story to Reverie is called, "The Sins of my Brothers" and can be found in the Successors anthology. It should shed a bit more light on the Resplendent-Penitent connection

Lelith was...fine. But third on the list seems crazy to me. 7th or 8th perhaps. And Deathworlder in tenth!? Unbelievable. Lazarus is about where I expected it to be.

From some past interviews, I don't believe a lot of BL would be given permission to make up new terminology like that. They have to stick to terminology presented in codexes. Abnett is often the exception to the rule.

I nearly spit out my coffee and had to recheck the DoF order to make sure I read that right. The Iron Kingdom I found to be an interesting, if bloated, and at times awkward story that still ties into the narrative of both the Indomitus Fleets and several key characters. Whereas The Martyr's Tomb is simply one of the most boring and meaningless 40k books I've ever read. I understand why you decided to stop, not questioning that. But I do recommend giving Sea of Souls a try. Despite it's extremely weak connection to the broader narrative, it is still a phenomenally well written Imperial Navy book with some great horror and mind-:cuss:ery elements. I would even recommend it to people who haven't read any other DoF books!

Vanguard immediately after Fire Caste, for sure. Are there others that should be locked together for a randomization?

Very happy to see more Denny Flowers. He has gone from strength to strength and while I thought his novella was the weakest of the three Gobbo stories I've read, it was still a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to Da Mad Dok.

Might be fun for newcomers to just randomize their table of contents and read the omnibus in that order instead!