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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Dark Imperium is a tentpole book, pushing the Warhammer 40K universe forward and reintroducing major characters, either from semi-death (Guilliman) or slothfulness (Mortarion).
Our Doubtful Aryan
Roboute Guilliman is a half-goose step away from being a Nazi superman so it is fortunate that Dark Imperium manages to make him vulnerable in some clever ways. Well, as clever as having your throat opened can be.
A universe suffering 10,000 years of consequences from your overconfidence is going to weigh on you.
'Things are not what they were. I am not who I was.'
Perhaps even worse, he’s still everyone’s hero, or at least a version of him is:
They valued their preconceptions of him over the living evidence.
There’s an interesting twist at the end as to how Guilliman views his relationship with his father and he remains perhaps the most complex of the Primarchs, particularly as he doesn’t have the crutch of a tragic fall that a number of them do.
As for Mortarion, I am sure there's a story, somewhere, that serves him but this ain't it. It feels like he's auditioning for a high school stage play.
I Love the Smell of Base Paint in the Morning
Anyway, Guilliman’s back and he’s kicking ass with some new toys that have been magicked up according to the demands of the plot and figurine sales. It’s a book that reminds you that Warhammer 40K is a symbiosis of tales and tabletop. The 12-sided die rollers need more settings, scenarios and ways to fight.
In principle, this is fine, I think it’s cool how they do appear to feed off each other. However, Dark Imperium could have benefited from more crafting in respect of the secondary characters rather than onwardly rushing to the next set piece. I’m not privy to the inner workings of Games Workshop, but I find it interesting they put a pause on this trilogy to go back and focus on characters outside of Guilliman. Some of the ones here get a bit corny for the setting:
It humbled him that he would spend his life in service to this species.
Otherwise it is the standard fare of grimdark action (Even they suffered from a point-blank lasgun shot to the face.) and horror, with maggots bursting from shrivelling eyes. It’s all good, even the ongoing internal war within the Ordo Chronos over the Imperium's dating system.
Our Doubtful Aryan
Roboute Guilliman is a half-goose step away from being a Nazi superman so it is fortunate that Dark Imperium manages to make him vulnerable in some clever ways. Well, as clever as having your throat opened can be.
A universe suffering 10,000 years of consequences from your overconfidence is going to weigh on you.
'Things are not what they were. I am not who I was.'
Perhaps even worse, he’s still everyone’s hero, or at least a version of him is:
They valued their preconceptions of him over the living evidence.
There’s an interesting twist at the end as to how Guilliman views his relationship with his father and he remains perhaps the most complex of the Primarchs, particularly as he doesn’t have the crutch of a tragic fall that a number of them do.
As for Mortarion, I am sure there's a story, somewhere, that serves him but this ain't it. It feels like he's auditioning for a high school stage play.
I Love the Smell of Base Paint in the Morning
Anyway, Guilliman’s back and he’s kicking ass with some new toys that have been magicked up according to the demands of the plot and figurine sales. It’s a book that reminds you that Warhammer 40K is a symbiosis of tales and tabletop. The 12-sided die rollers need more settings, scenarios and ways to fight.
In principle, this is fine, I think it’s cool how they do appear to feed off each other. However, Dark Imperium could have benefited from more crafting in respect of the secondary characters rather than onwardly rushing to the next set piece. I’m not privy to the inner workings of Games Workshop, but I find it interesting they put a pause on this trilogy to go back and focus on characters outside of Guilliman. Some of the ones here get a bit corny for the setting:
It humbled him that he would spend his life in service to this species.
Otherwise it is the standard fare of grimdark action (Even they suffered from a point-blank lasgun shot to the face.) and horror, with maggots bursting from shrivelling eyes. It’s all good, even the ongoing internal war within the Ordo Chronos over the Imperium's dating system.
This book has the most sane character in the Warhammer 40k universe. Roboute Guilliman is a resurrected primarch who is trying to bring enlightenment to what is essential a dark age future world. There is still plenty of grim dark in this book, but we get some nice world building. I was skeptical about how Games Workshop was going to try to change the narrative of the 40k universe. This book does a good job of breathing some new life into the property while keeping things interesting. The reader on this audiobook did a good job.
This book was written to coincide with the release of the board game box set by the same name, and is bound by the same narrative found in the game, Ultramarines vs Death Guard. The plot is meh, as the universe of the 40K game is vast and this book has such a narrow scope, but Roboute Guilliman does have a great character arc, and reveals some major insight into the Emperor of Man. On the flip side, the characters of the Death Guard are your run of the mill "bad guys" and don't have the same breadth of cause that they do in the Horus Heresy novels.
All in all a good book, but nothing in the realm of the Heresy series.
All in all a good book, but nothing in the realm of the Heresy series.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Pretty firmly okay book, it gives pretty good insight into the era of the Great Rift, and every Nurgle scene is a delight, unfortunately though I found the constant switches between groups and characters to really detract from the pacing, and I'm also disappointed that a book that's supposed to centre on Space Marines fighting Death Guard, there's one chapter of it. Still definitely going to give Plague War a shot, because I've heard it addresses some of my low points in this one.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As a returning fan to the 40k universe this book was recommended to me by Warhammer store staff as a solid starting point to basic concepts in the lore and a book that would get me up to speed on the current situation in the timeline.
This book paired with my own research has thoroughly achieved that and has helped me on my way to diving into deeper areas of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
I really enjoyed learning more about Guilliman and the way he thinks - especially what he thinks on the state of the Imperium and how he comes to terms with that through his deductions and world view - he’s a deeply flawed but very interesting character and has quickly become my favourite of the Primarchs.
Thoroughly recommend this to fans old and new as it provides a great starting point for you to lean into other areas of the 40k universe.
This book paired with my own research has thoroughly achieved that and has helped me on my way to diving into deeper areas of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
I really enjoyed learning more about Guilliman and the way he thinks - especially what he thinks on the state of the Imperium and how he comes to terms with that through his deductions and world view - he’s a deeply flawed but very interesting character and has quickly become my favourite of the Primarchs.
Thoroughly recommend this to fans old and new as it provides a great starting point for you to lean into other areas of the 40k universe.
Heard a lot about this advance of the 40k storyline. As a fan and serious reader of the Horus Heresy I was intrigued. This is a great book for both people familiar with the universe and also explanatory enough for newbies. Intrigued to read more in this story arc.