Roomsky

Zardu Layak: The Crimson Apostle - Rich McCormick Another strange pick for the Heresy Character Series. Oddly enough, I've found that the less a character's needed one, the more enjoyable (if not necessarily higher quality) their book has been for me. This continues that trend, Layak needed this treatment the least after Sigismund, and it's also my favourite after Sigismund. By this pattern, if Typhus ever gets an entry into this series, it will be unreadable. McCormick returns after an extremely ambitious but messy debut novel, and in some ways this continues the trend. This is a story designed to tell you about the title character, conventional structure be damned. To his credit, he does make Layak his own character after one book of personifying "Lorgar's habits finally bite him in the ass" and three books of being "Generic Chaos Preacher Man." We get snippets of his past, we get several other characters' unique perceptions of him, ultimately making him a sort of anti-Erebus. Layak too came from nothing, but instead of using Chaos as an excuse to gain power, Layak wants nothing but to serve the gods. He is not the hand of destiny, he is its tool, and is the embodiment of the legion's acceptance of the universe's "truth." With that in mind, I think McCormick does justify the choice of Layak for this series - the Heresy doesn't really have another Word Bearers POV that displays this degree of zealousness. Talgron and Argel Tal struggle to retain some decency despite serving the dark gods, and Erebus and Kor Phaeron are ultimately only in it for themselves. Layak is truly, unironically, in it for the Gods and has no pretensions about this fact. The supporting characters are well chosen also. Our human POV, Barnhart, provides both a mortal view of Layak's inscrutable nature, and is a much needed reminder that even during the Great Crusade, astartes actions had plenty of well-trained Guardsmen support (I just wish we actually found out what became of her.) Our antagonists Hebek, Saucan, and Kulnar all embody the less "pure" Word Bearers templates: Hebek is only in it for himself, Kulnar believes himself uniquely enlightened, and Saucan thinks his is the vision that will rule the galaxy. This is quite effective in both highlighting why Layak ends up Chaos' mouthpiece for a time, and by contrasting against him they each become fairly memorable. This book is both a well done character study of its title character, and a very dignifying account of the Word Bearers that breaks away from the "bad fighters surrounded by cannon fodder cultists" stereotype. I think if each Character Series and Primarchs book were written in this way, they'd all be beloved by the fandom. But I did say it was messy. It's a book that knows exactly what it wants to do at the expense of structure. The first half is great - it establishes the conflict and the characters, we take a journey to the place of conflict, and see a confrontation with the first guy he came to kill. Then the second half is basically two instances of: "Layak immediately finds the next Anakatis Blade holder, their philosophies clash, Layak wins." Layak's victories don't feel terribly earned, and much like Lord of Excess, the back half takes "all killer, no filler" to the extreme by compacting necessary connective tissue to the absolute bare minimum (or less.) It makes for an easy read - it's hard not to enjoy a version of a story that's just the most interesting parts - but also transparently an excuse plot to show what McCormick wants to show. But can I really complain about that when it's both easy to read and fulfills the purpose of the book perfectly? Not with much gusto. Waiter! Waiter! My steak is too tender. My lobster is too buttery! McCormick continues to impress, and his love for the setting is apparent in both his books so far. Very much looking forward to the next one, messy or not. Arbitrary numerical rating is a 7.5/10

Dawn of Fire either fizzled out or was never good in the first place, depending on who you ask. Avenging Son is, at least, a decent snapshot at the state of the Imperium in the current setting. Here are some highlights from what I've read since 2020: Ashes of the Imperium is a great start to the post-Heresy era. Twice-Dead King duology - The best Necron book(s) yet published. Dropsite Massacre - A good fill-in-the-gaps book for Heresy fans Interceptor City - Fantastic sequel to Double Eagle Elemental Council - The best-ever Tau novel Outgunned and Above and Beyond - Excellent aeronautica novels, with Above and Beyond especially being absolutely fantastic. All things Warhammer Crime - A consistently great range of books that was taken too soon. Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! - Probably the best-ever Ork novel Sea of Souls - A dawn of Fire novel, but it can be read on its own. Great Navy story. Assassinorum: Kingmaker - Imperial Knights, politics, and assassins, oh my! There's plenty more, but those are top of mind. I haven't read Voidscarred yet, but those who enjoy Brooks' writing seem to find it's a very good eldar novel.

How nice of them, giving us 1 week a year where they're up to their old standard of reporting on Black Library. It's just like old times! Who's gonna tell him?

Maybe if enough of us vote Eye of Medusa, they'll let Guymer write a third book... Not one but TWO trilogies they haven't bothered to finish is WILD though. "Which of these fan favourites that failed to sell enough to commission a third do YOU think should get a reprint?" Bloodborn sweep for fantasy, please.

Fulgrim: The Perfect Son - Jude Reid If this was a Space Marine Battles book called The Fires of Crucible or something, I think it would have been widely liked. It's a fine fightan' book if you're into that sort of thing; as always Reid's medical experience means we get some gnarly injuries throughout. For me, it only really gets interesting in the last third or so, when Tamaris and Berengar both need to keep going after the worst thing either could imagine happens to them. It's exactly the sort of thing you should do when writing astartes, in my opinion: find a crutch the character leans on and knock it out from under them. "Will they survive!? Will they be victorious!?" is just not enough when writing about war machines. You gotta hit their pride, their sense of self-worth. But before that lovely last third (isn't that ironic), it's pretty dull. It reminded me a lot of the worst Annandale books in some parts, being an intriguing story smothered by obligatory fighting. I think everyone would have been happier if one of those early action set pieces was replaced by Fulgrim discussing his thoughts on Guilliman's return. As-is, it could honestly have taken place pre-Gathering Storm by changing a line or two. Fulgrim does appear more than Angron does in The Red Angel, but Angron's not a character who does much pondering or chatting. Fulgrim loves to hear himself talk, yet this doesn't offer anything new regarding his character. He's neurotic and evil, what else is new? It honours McNeill's version of the character to a fault. Honestly, it wasn't long before my only desire to actually see this version of the character was when Tamaris was struggling for recognition. Sort of like Of Honour and Iron, I think this does a good job at representing the mood of 40k while struggling to actually be a good read. The Imperium is murderously harsh on its people, needlessly so, and thus forces people into the arms of Slaanesh. The Slaaneshi cultists, meanwhile, don't realize that they're essentially cannon fodder and fuel for rituals until its too late. Idealism is met with a punch in the gut; expected for malitiawoman Sekundur, a surprise but a welcome one for Tamaris. Tamaris being a genuine believer in the pursuit of perfection, and thus (barely) clinging to dead ideas of honour and mercy that Fulgrim himself has long since strangled out of the legion, is a good premise for a protagonist. Unfortunately for this book, the elements I like still only add up to worse versions of other Emperor's Children books. I prefer Eidolon for an action-heavy work about a characters relationship with Fulgrim. I prefer Lord of Excess as an exploration of the legion's delusions of grandeur. I prefer the Heresy for books for when Fulgrim is an irredeemable bastard. Don't even get me started on how excellent the Bile trilogy is. I think a 6/10 is fair. I give it a pass and a little extra, mostly thanks to a final act most Black Library books should be taking notes from. I see the author who wrote Ashes of Cadia trapped in there, but her prison cell is barred with bolter porn. Let the woman write books without obligatory fighting, please.

@wecanhaveallthree But what is your pick of 12, sir?

But if we keep Flight of the Eisenstein we don't skip Isstvan III at all. Loken's fate becomes a question mark instead of a death that feels like a retcon when it's undone. If we're compressing the Heresy into 12 books, we don't have time to kill and resurrect the man. Plus, the characterization in Vengeful Spirit carries on far more organically from False Gods than it does Galaxy in Flames. Galaxy in Flames frankly does a ton of stuff that needs to be walked back as the series goes on.

I will slander Galaxy in Flames at every opportunity. Having a set limit on how many books to list just makes it easier to sell!

It seems to me the goal is to make a loose narrative that sets up the Siege of Terra (people on Reddit certainly like to ask for this instead of using the search function.) As such, I'll take a crack at it from that lens. To be clear, these are not what I'd consider my personal dozen essential Heresy reads, I'm not basing this list on quality. It's just what I think best fits the above purpose. Horus Rising - Intended to be an introduction, obviously works well for this purpose. False Gods - Horus' fall, the Heresy "begins" Flight of the Eisenstein - Isstvan III. Skipping Galaxy in Flames means we don't need to explain resurrecting Loken Fulgrim - Dropsite Massacre, very public primarch death, a more straightforward account than The First Heretic A Thousand Sons - A more straightforward account than Prospero Burns Scars - Establishes Jaghatai, deals with the fallout of Prospero Legion - Establishes John Grammaticus and why the Alpha Legion are the way they are Know no Fear - Establishes Ollanius Fear to Tread - Introduces Sanguinius and his relationship with Horus. Erebus is kicked to the curb Master of Mankind - Establishes where the Emperor was during all this. Establishes Terra as a setting Vengeful Spirit - Following up with the "core" cast, major development for Horus and Loken Wolfsbane - Paying off Vengeful Spirit. Establishing Horus' doubts during the Siege I guess, having made this, I'd call 12 fairly insufficient for this purpose, I would have preferred 15. (For the record, my personal 12 essential reads are: Horus Rising, Legion, Prospero Burns, Know no Fear, The First Heretic, Betrayer, Master of Mankind, Shadows of Treachery, Scars, The Path of Heaven, Praetorian of Dorn, Slaves to Darkness.)

I would say I won't stand for Rachel Harrison erasure, but clearly Black Library itself does since she wrote 2 fantastic books and then turned into sand or something.

The Aestred cover looks rad as hell, at least. No idea who she is, either, though. Ghost Legion cover still looks better than Harrowmaster's, don't @ me.

There was also that AoS multi-author quadrilogy in the Horror imprint, which got cut off at the third book because they canned Horror/nobody bought them. One could argue no one's done a (lengthy) multi-author series that's good all the way through. AFAIK, it's always a decision made for practical reasons rather than the preferred outcome. Star Wars Legends had a few, and they all suffered from the same inconsistencies 40k series have (much as I personally enjoyed New Jedi Order) The Heresy has the best books, by virtue of having most of the best authors contribute to it. The Beast Arises is probably the best as a series, as for all its issues it doesn't fly off on random tangents and (for a Black Library series) stays relatively focussed. Considering Dawn of Fire didn't really lead to anything coherent, I'd argue it's the worst of both worlds (despite a few stand out entries.)

I mean I don't have much to add to your post; though I was tickled that Ashes of the Imperium confirmed most of what we agreed on. I think it speaks in The Beast Arises' favor that a well-liked, organic, immediate continuation of the Heresy series has no trouble setting up the troubles that would come to a head in TBA. Once again, if you want Imperial politicking that is both enlightening and entertaining, go read The Beast Arises if you haven't already. Can't wait for people to drool all over the politicking in The Scouring that directly leads to it but still treat it like the worst thing ever. Me, I'm just waiting to see whether or not Oriax Dantalion still exists.

Re: Harrowmaster sequel, I actually like that cover better. It has a lot more depth, I thought Harrowmaster's looked quite flat.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/dgunipgk/pages-from-the-black-books-the-night-lords/ Well, this is surprisingly pro-consumer.