b1soul

Most primarchs will return eventually to make money Can't see Horus returning ...but can see Sanguinius kinda return via some sort of Sanguinor shenanigans with Dante or Mephiston so something like the shard of Magnus merging with Arvida Ferrus as a LotD-like wraith maybe Curze if somehow Mshen didn’t kill him...as the original lore had the pict recording end before showing him being slain but don't think GW will go there. He will probably stay dead like Horus

The Scouring era is full of potential for novels focusing more on politicking and less on battles. Restructuring of the Imperium and related intrigue as the main course with a few Scouring battles as seasoning.

As I recall, ADB has stealthy NL in the NL trilogy and Abnett has stealthy SW in PB. In my view, a wraith-slip ability a la Sharrowkyn makes it somewhat more plausible for a power armoured Astartes to operate stealthily. If Sharrowkyn is annoying for being a special snowflake...frankly, his wraith-slip ability isn't any more silly or overpowered than, say, spaceship-surfer Sevatar's "repressed psyker" ability, which seems to give him some sort of precog/speed bonus, allowing him to duel the setting's top Astartes champion for hours on end, until Sevatar arguably wins by cheating.

Treat 30K from late Unification Wars to Scouring as a sandbox setting It's easier for disinterested people not to buy or read novels in that sandbox...and keep whatever mystery they want in their heads It's harder for interested people to write their own novels

I would've just liked to spend more time with Horus and his legion as his faith is shaken and Chaos (and just personal ego and rebellion) worm its way into him. Less Battle of the Abyss and Nemesis...more character study of Horus and his legion, a longer opening arc for Horus and his legion please. But this probably came down to BL at the outset intending the HH series to be much shorter than what it ballooned into. The Interex are a great concept and they should def be a psychological shake-up for Horus imo, but would've liked the slide into Chaos to have started with Davin and then progress insidiously over the course of maybe an extra book or two (all by Abnett and with Horus as the main character), rather than culminate with Davin and we move on to Isstvan. Def some retro wish-listing on my part, but really do think this would need one authour to slam-dunk this, like Wraight with his Scars.

It seems the primary motivation boiled down to... Horus was resentful that the Emperor kept him in the dark about His Great Work The false Sejanus showed him visions of the Emperor as a tyrant pursuing godhood who would later discard the primarchs like obsolete tools...and as a hypocrite who exploited the innocent, peaceful Warp Gods and hobbled mankind’s understanding of the Warp in His megalomania BUT Horus had enough wits about him to suspect that this was a Chaos mouthpiece, not actually Sejanus or the soul of Sejanus trying to help him out of pure motivations So a good chunk of readers felt Horus’ fall was not that...believable, as portrayed in the book How would you try to strengthen the motivations, or do you think it is fine as it is? Personally, I feel Chaos could have dialed back the overtly manipulative tactics with false Sejanus and his smear campaign against Big E as it is just...a bit too on the nose. It could have started with the Interex (and stretched across multiple novels to set up the star legion and primarch properly)...

Let's hope for that 10ed buff, otherwise that is a bit silly

Thank you. I added that and Templar and Lost and Damned for relevant scenes

Quite possible that between SotF and AoO, the Lion is rejuvenated somehow, perhaps through self-belief Warp mojo or the Emperor’s Shield. Still looks older but has the Emp’s power coursing through him.

Totally speculative theory... After Sanguinius’ death, that proto-Sanguinor may have served as an anchor or beacon for the primarch’s soul in the Warp, and they could have fused, with Sanguinius becoming the dominant aspect and the BA legionary willingly receding. If Dante or Mephiston fuse with the Sanguinor, the resulting entity could be a more equal fusion, due to the former’s strength of will or Sanguinius’ recognition of his extraordinary abilities.

Scopes grant plus five ranged accuracy

I would like to see how he draws members of a more beautiful legion, like BA or pre-Heresy EC.

As far as I’m aware, they are all by a human artist or maybe artists and sprinkled throughout the SoT series Not sure of his or her name though

We're all aware of the "minute from midnight" atmosphere the 40K setting is supposed to evoke. The diabolic laughter of thirsting gods and all that. This is grim and dark. This isn't Star Trek where the future is hopeful and bright. But Grimdark tone-setting is different from GW just outright stating that the Imperium is guaranteed to die within a few centuries (maybe millennia) and there is zero probability of any other outcome. Why? Oh...just the will of the Dark Gods in Nottingham. I'm not aware of a GW corporate decree or a declaration by omniscient narrator to that effect. Even a statement like "there is no hope for mankind" in the setting intro could be understood as hyperbolic tone-setting or a description of prevailing attitudes. Yes, you could also read it more aggressively against the Imperium, i.e. imminent and guaranteed collapse. But I'd argue that GW has been careful to leave some room for debate...hence why people continue to debate. To be clear, if I were a betting man, I'd bet against the Imperium surviving for another 10K years. Maybe the chances of that are like my chances of winning the lottery. But the setting works better imo as a setting where hope is shown to be very sparse, not a setting where hope is proclaimed to be nil.

One man's grimdark is another man's grimderp