DarkChaplain

Cypher gets illustrations, huh. An annotations. Will those actually say anything new or relevant beyond the scope of the writing process? Because the novel itself says *very* little, imo. One of the biggest disappointments of its time, that audio box set turned short novel...

Generally, Fehervari can be read standalone across the board. It is, however, a puzzle that you won't have all the pieces to. Neither will those who have read everything else prior, however. Your perspective and focus will also differ a bit depending on which work you read when, and what you take into it. It's why re-reading Fehervari is so rewarding - you always come away with new connections and hooks. So... you will be fine. You'll likely have an excellent piece of fiction in your hands or ears. I'd still suggest grabbing the two omnibus volumes sooner rather than later to dig into more, because it's going to be extra rewarding. Fehervari's works elevate one another. That being said: If you want to push yourself, you might want to consider reading the Fire & Ice novella as well as The Thirteenth Psalm, since they're set on the same planet, it looks like, and reasonable to finish in the meantime.

So it's actually Oblazt after all? Huh. Might this actually be going back to what set things off there, before Fire & Ice and The Thirteenth Psalm? Interesting

There it is. I'm excited.

I'm just not even sure what could've been done to Raldoron to make him interesting in-between Beta-Garmon and the Siege. You always needed to return to the boring bloke, I mean, calm, stoic swordsman from what little attention he got during the Siege and in the Scouring, and this is too close to that. Raldoron is, in my opinion, the most boring character the Blood Angels had at this point in the Heresy. He's always been just... there. We've always been told that he's a calm, stoic swordsman, but no showing has really given us more than that, more than the "legend". He's always been bland at best. It really doesn't help that we have both Amit and Azkaellon (if BL remembers him, that is) who did the actually interesting things in the BA narrative. There's a reason why Azkaellon was involved in Imperium Secundus, why the Sanguinor was picked by his blokes and not Raldoron. Raldoron always seemed like Space McMarine in Red, as the core of his character, imo. I wouldn't even know what to do with him at this point to make him interesting or likeable and memorable to the reader.

I would not trade Andrew James Spooner in Luther: First of the Fallen for Keeble even if you were to offer me a free Brawlers of Behemat box

I think he's actually got a point. When we had Space Marine Battles, there was an actual place for all the bolterporn, action set pieces and Chapter XYZ doing one-liner from Codex. That could draw pressure away from other novels, allowing them not to cater to that formula all the time. If they know they got a flagship Space Marines Doing Space Marine Things series with regular releases already, they can allow for more leeway elsewhere and let authors write, like, books about Inquisition, or dare I say, Eldar. I think it's quite hilarious that they canned Space Marine Conquests right alongside Master of Shadows(?), the novel by that author they cut ties with over supposed leaks. Like they had ONE book in the SMC-lineup they couldn't release anymore, and then threw their hands up in the air and said "screw it, I got a bad taste in my mouth now, we're not going to commission another after this". And that dropped the axe onto their own foot.

I won't forgive them for axing the oh-so-fully-planned Murghast Quadrilogy. Book three barely even connects to book two, and book four never even got officially cancelled or mentioned again. Just dead silence. Yes, and they were generally excellent. Both even had audio dramas before they axed those!

Voice of Command being so soon after the initial reveal mere days ago makes me hopeful for Fehervari's Cold Covenant dropping in September, too. Makes a full re-read of the novels difficult, though.

That business on Cato Neimoidia was turned into a canon novel by Mike Chen, titled Brotherhood, btw. It also served as the canonical, chronological first appearance of Asajj Ventress and was a very early Clone Wars adventure where both Obi-wan and Anakin struggled with their close bond, now that Anakin was actually freshly knighted. Was a pretty good read!

I'd suggest just picking up either omnibus until then. Big chunky brick full of words that should come cheaper than the new book, I'd wager. Thankfully the community seems good with spoilers for Fehervari works, but I expect discussion about the new book to blow up a bit, if preliminary interpretations of what we're told and see on the cover are anything to go by.

Some small content-speculation, looking at the cover, description and previous Coil works.

Pick up either (nah, both!) of the two Dark Coil omnibuses, Damnation/Ascension, and go to town on content that'll tickle your brain instead of mindless bolter action and model kit namedropping. Fehervari is a TREAT

I shouted in delight the moment I read the name on the cover, and then B&C :cuss: the bed again with it not loading the reply box, or basically half the page. Go figure. I'm also VERY happy that Blindsight will be put in print here, since it was skipped in the omnibuses. The cover is also very Fehervari, putting the planet - which is ALWAYS a significant member of the cast, even if it doesn't appear directly in the Dramatis Personae - in scene, while keeping the characters as ill-defined silhouettes. They're swallowed by the landscape, and the horror in the distance, in a way. It's wonderful! Still a shame Warcom didn't have the guts to put it as the header image for the article, instead of Cadia cover #934...

I actually think I prefer this cover over the original Flight of the Eisenstein, actually. That one really was wrong, with how it features a Legion of Imperial Fists (only one of which is clearly visible on the novel cover, the rest is on the back / the full art) and... they're up against a Great Unclean One, also on the backside. Where's the flight? Where's the Fly Guy? I'm not sure what Garro is looking at, might be the Choral City or the Somnum Citadel on Luna, but either way, it evokes him as a bystander, not in an action scene but as a witness. The Aquila on his chest is framed to be looking slightly towards the scene in the backdrop, implying that the Imperium sees it now. The clenched fist shows resolve while his expression shows regret and conflict without him having to hold a Boltgun. It's also more focused on the character Garro, who has been absent from the old cover while being very prominent on later covers. The back of the art has the other Death Guard and a navy bloke look at a star map projection, and half at Garro, who has turned his back on them and towards the massacre. So he's actually aboard the Eisenstein here. They feel out of sorts, in shock, even just from their stances. One MAJOR criticism I have of the new covers is that they DROPPED THE SUBTITLES. Horus Rising: The seeds of heresy are sown False Gods: The heresy takes root Galaxy in Flames: The heresy revealed The Flight of the Eisenstein: The heresy unfolds Fulgrim: Visions of Treachery The First Heretic: Fall to Chaos Prospero Burns: The Wolves unleashed Know No Fear: The battle of Calth Betrayer: Blood for the Blood God Praetorian of Dorn: Alpha to omega The Master of Mankind: War in the webway Slaves to Darkness: Chaos undivided Those bylines actually got better as the series progressed, and they generally give you a decent idea of what it's going to be about. Dropping them for the 12 book redux is lazy.