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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
That’s the one W40k book I truly want to read again. An amazing story. Thank you Katie!
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was very excited about this one. ADB writing about Abadon and the Black Crusades? Seemed right up my alley. Sadly it was a slow plodding story full of confusing names that sounded a lot a like and always arguing amongst themselves. To be fair I consumed the audio book, maybe the written version is better? The audio book was, sadly, not for me tho
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another great novel by Aaron Dembski-Bowden with a great cast of characters. Feels like a worthwhile sequel to the Horus Heresy.
The only issue I had was with the ending which wraps up pretty quickly and there were some size discrepancies that go unexplained.
The only issue I had was with the ending which wraps up pretty quickly and there were some size discrepancies that go unexplained.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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:
No
Works about chaos Space Marines were never my forte. They would almost always be presented as total maniac wizards or blood soaked butchers.
This book portrays the Chaos Space Marines in a way that gives them more depth - they are portrayed as warriors disappointed in their Primarchs (now foul Chaos Daemon Princes using their genetic sons as cannon fodder in internal squabbles) and forces of Chaos in general.
United by hatred towards Emperor and Human Empire, small party of Chaos Marine warbands will become a crucial element in creation of Black Legion, Chaos Legion to be led by Abaddon, unique force that will raise from the ashes and destruction of Legion Wars and present unique danger to the Imperium because they will march with a single goal in mind - destruction of Imperium.
Entire story is told by Iskandar Khayon, Thousand Son's warrior who surrendered to Inquisition in order to tell them that Black Legion is coming, force that might have more things in common with human warriors of old than with suspected half crazed, demonically possessed Space Marines, drooling and mindlessly hurtling themselves against the enemy. He comes to tell the story of his own involvement with the Black Legion, as a herald o horrors to come, as a herald of Imperium's doom.
Khayon is a warrior with unique skills recognized by Abaddon. What Abaddon offers is purpose, start of formation that will unite all Chaos Marines and remade them into weapon with a single goal - finishing what Horus started. To achieve this he needs command cadre and Khayon is identified as one of them, warrior, soldier, able to lead and inspire his troops.
Portrayal of this selected few, Warp beasts, nightmarish aliens and cyberpunk settings of the Dark Mechanicum and dark AI used to control fantastic space battleships in battle, together with image of Chaos Marines as self destructing warriors left roaming the region of utter madness, without any goal, killing each other in name of this or that Chaos force and serving as mercenaries, while looking for what they are all missing - feeling of belonging, of warrior brotherhood as provided by Legions of old, and most importantly full scale warfare they crave against worthy opponent ...... all of this and more is shown so vividly in this book. Even what might be considered civilian governors in the madness of the Eye, various fixers, all of this breaths life into the setting and shows that, no matter how far they have fallen, heretics still need some structure in their life, and, although mental stability is not something they can be associated with, they do try to keep some degree of order to be able to live and prosper (if someone sees anything prosperous in binding with Warp entities). And when this focus is used for war, Imperium truly has reasons to be afraid of what might come its way.
Wont go into any more details but .... let me just say Fabius Bile also shows up here, and what a cameo.
Highly recommended, excellent W40K novel, I am now on lookout for the sequel.
This book portrays the Chaos Space Marines in a way that gives them more depth - they are portrayed as warriors disappointed in their Primarchs (now foul Chaos Daemon Princes using their genetic sons as cannon fodder in internal squabbles) and forces of Chaos in general.
United by hatred towards Emperor and Human Empire, small party of Chaos Marine warbands will become a crucial element in creation of Black Legion, Chaos Legion to be led by Abaddon, unique force that will raise from the ashes and destruction of Legion Wars and present unique danger to the Imperium because they will march with a single goal in mind - destruction of Imperium.
Entire story is told by Iskandar Khayon, Thousand Son's warrior who surrendered to Inquisition in order to tell them that Black Legion is coming, force that might have more things in common with human warriors of old than with suspected half crazed, demonically possessed Space Marines, drooling and mindlessly hurtling themselves against the enemy. He comes to tell the story of his own involvement with the Black Legion, as a herald o horrors to come, as a herald of Imperium's doom.
Khayon is a warrior with unique skills recognized by Abaddon. What Abaddon offers is purpose, start of formation that will unite all Chaos Marines and remade them into weapon with a single goal - finishing what Horus started. To achieve this he needs command cadre and Khayon is identified as one of them, warrior, soldier, able to lead and inspire his troops.
Portrayal of this selected few, Warp beasts, nightmarish aliens and cyberpunk settings of the Dark Mechanicum and dark AI used to control fantastic space battleships in battle, together with image of Chaos Marines as self destructing warriors left roaming the region of utter madness, without any goal, killing each other in name of this or that Chaos force and serving as mercenaries, while looking for what they are all missing - feeling of belonging, of warrior brotherhood as provided by Legions of old, and most importantly full scale warfare they crave against worthy opponent ...... all of this and more is shown so vividly in this book. Even what might be considered civilian governors in the madness of the Eye, various fixers, all of this breaths life into the setting and shows that, no matter how far they have fallen, heretics still need some structure in their life, and, although mental stability is not something they can be associated with, they do try to keep some degree of order to be able to live and prosper (if someone sees anything prosperous in binding with Warp entities). And when this focus is used for war, Imperium truly has reasons to be afraid of what might come its way.
Wont go into any more details but .... let me just say Fabius Bile also shows up here, and what a cameo.
Highly recommended, excellent W40K novel, I am now on lookout for the sequel.
Fascinating. Like a lot of these 40k books I'm reading I'm always more into the slow points and world building than the action (which is still sick). ADB seems to be a master at this so will deffo be reading more. Khayon as the protagonist is troubled but likeable. More human than Talos of the Night Lord's series IMO. Having not read the Horus Heresy yet, I feel some things have gone over my head but I have a general understanding of what happened so it did not seem impossible to grasp. The book benefitted by googling different legions and their respective gods though. Highpoints were the discovery of the Vengeful Spirit and when Khayon yeeted a ship into a planet.
A cut above the typical warhammer fare. Told from a unique perspective and in a distinct style.
Do you love everything Warhammer? Do you devour any bits of lore available? Do you care about the world and its characters? If not, then you won't like this. This book is for people who eat and breathe Warhammer 40k.
The book tells the origin story of the Black Legion and of how Abaddon became Warmaster of Chaos. The main character is one Iskandar Khayon, sorcerer of the Thousand Sons legion. He gathers a ragtag group of allies and spends most of the book trying to find the legendary Vengeful Spirit intending to claim it as his own. His plans change when he actually finds the vessel and meets Abaddon but this only happens later in the story.
What really surprised me here is that The Talon of Horus is a very risky and atypical 40k book. Generally, 40k novels thrive on explosive action and adrenaline fueled battle scenes with some character moments thrown in between them. The best books in the series manage to blend these two elements and thus making you actually care about what happens in those battles. Here, ADB takes a huge chance by almost exclusively focusing on world building and character development. There are precious few battle scenes and even those that exist are short and nowhere near the scope and scale of the grand engagements found elsewhere. This could have easily derailed the entire thing but for me it managed to make the whole experience all the more special.
ADB has a very unique style of writing Chaos. In most books, the Traitor Legions and just generally anyone even remotely aligned to Chaos are portrayed as one dimensional evil fanatics devoid of any character. He on the other hand tries to give them sentience and personalities beyond being just fodder for the "good guys". For all I know he could be a Chaos God himself, sent to Earth to try and fool us all into embracing the Pantheon. But in the off chance that he isn't, he remains probably the best Chaos writer that Black Library has.
The book tells the origin story of the Black Legion and of how Abaddon became Warmaster of Chaos. The main character is one Iskandar Khayon, sorcerer of the Thousand Sons legion. He gathers a ragtag group of allies and spends most of the book trying to find the legendary Vengeful Spirit intending to claim it as his own. His plans change when he actually finds the vessel and meets Abaddon but this only happens later in the story.
What really surprised me here is that The Talon of Horus is a very risky and atypical 40k book. Generally, 40k novels thrive on explosive action and adrenaline fueled battle scenes with some character moments thrown in between them. The best books in the series manage to blend these two elements and thus making you actually care about what happens in those battles. Here, ADB takes a huge chance by almost exclusively focusing on world building and character development. There are precious few battle scenes and even those that exist are short and nowhere near the scope and scale of the grand engagements found elsewhere. This could have easily derailed the entire thing but for me it managed to make the whole experience all the more special.
ADB has a very unique style of writing Chaos. In most books, the Traitor Legions and just generally anyone even remotely aligned to Chaos are portrayed as one dimensional evil fanatics devoid of any character. He on the other hand tries to give them sentience and personalities beyond being just fodder for the "good guys". For all I know he could be a Chaos God himself, sent to Earth to try and fool us all into embracing the Pantheon. But in the off chance that he isn't, he remains probably the best Chaos writer that Black Library has.
I'll try to review for an outside reader, but to be honest, Talon of Horus rewards readers who already know the basics of Warhammer 40,000 lore.
This novel is a fun and very well written tale of how the renegade space marines from the 9 traitor legions eventually came together to form the Black Legion. Those who know basic 40k lore, know that this legion is responsible for the 13 different Black Crusades that have ravaged not only the Imperium of Man, but also the galaxy as a whole with the creation of the Great Rift. There has been infighting for years since the end of the Horus Heresy and the disappearance of Ezekyle Abaddon. You learn at the very start of the novel that the over indulgent Emperor's Children legion (one of the 9 renegade legions) has stolen Horus' corpse and plans on cloning him to effectively resurrect him. Incensed by this act, the Sons of Horus legion (with the help of other renegade legions) travel through the deadly and distorted Eye of Terror in search of a way to stop this.
This book is interesting in that it is told by one of the main characters in the year 999.M41 (which just means the year is 40,999) but the events he's describing happen roughly halfway through the 31st millennium, or thereabouts. So you hear about events in great detail in some parts of the novel, and then the main character will say something a kin to "and I would remind him of this decades later" if the story needed to skip ahead or allude to something that would one day happen.
Definitely a book worth reading, but I would actually recommend you read Horus Rising (or even the full opening trilogy to the Horus Heresy) before you dive into this one. It'll be a lot more rewarding if you do.
This novel is a fun and very well written tale of how the renegade space marines from the 9 traitor legions eventually came together to form the Black Legion. Those who know basic 40k lore, know that this legion is responsible for the 13 different Black Crusades that have ravaged not only the Imperium of Man, but also the galaxy as a whole with the creation of the Great Rift. There has been infighting for years since the end of the Horus Heresy and the disappearance of Ezekyle Abaddon. You learn at the very start of the novel that the over indulgent Emperor's Children legion (one of the 9 renegade legions) has stolen Horus' corpse and plans on cloning him to effectively resurrect him. Incensed by this act, the Sons of Horus legion (with the help of other renegade legions) travel through the deadly and distorted Eye of Terror in search of a way to stop this.
This book is interesting in that it is told by one of the main characters in the year 999.M41 (which just means the year is 40,999) but the events he's describing happen roughly halfway through the 31st millennium, or thereabouts. So you hear about events in great detail in some parts of the novel, and then the main character will say something a kin to "and I would remind him of this decades later" if the story needed to skip ahead or allude to something that would one day happen.
Definitely a book worth reading, but I would actually recommend you read Horus Rising (or even the full opening trilogy to the Horus Heresy) before you dive into this one. It'll be a lot more rewarding if you do.
Since the release in 2009 of his debut Black Library novel Cadian Blood, Aaron Dembski-Bowden has become both a fan favourite and a New York Times bestseller, and is now acknowledged as one of Black Library's most accomplished authors. His latest book, The Talon of Horus, demonstrates just how much of a key player he is within Black Library by virtue of being the very first of their new First Editions – limited edition, premium hardbacks released to satisfy the die-hard collectors before the 'standard' hardback release. With a beautifully tactile embossed cover, internal artwork, author foreword and three additional short stories (including one you won't find anywhere else) the dedicated (and deep-pocketed) reader is certainly rewarded, not least with the sheer size and weight of this mighty tome.
Read the rest of the review at http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/talon-of-horus-aaron-dembski-bowden/
Read the rest of the review at http://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/talon-of-horus-aaron-dembski-bowden/