Richard Burgener

Approach the novel with an open mind

Revisado: 04-21-24

I became excited when I saw there was a new Emperor's Children book. I love the dark-aligned characters, especially of the Warhammer franchise. I was hoping this would be a killer, bad boy adventure story. But unfortunately this book is not like Storm of Iron or Slaves to Darkness. It has its moments of rebellious charm, but it's also a major bummer. You have to put aside your wishes that the Emperor's Children will be shown in a flattering light because a lot of it is about how horrible they are. It's not so much sex, drugs and rock n roll. It's mostly about narcissism, tyrannical rule and corruption. The book is quite picturesque, and as I said, it can be charming. But it's also harrowing for everybody involved. Put aside your expectations and let it do its thing. Just know that it's probably not as fun as you'd hoped.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Mediocre, not BL's usual quality.

Revisado: 04-04-24

This is not a good book. The most I think you will find it is decent (3 stars). I am a big fan of the Iron Warriors and I want to read all their lore, even the lesser stories. There's too much action, too much to keep in your mind's eye. There's not enough character, just flat ones stereotypical of their original Legion. Even the narrator seems like he's trying to speed his way through it. He reads so fast at times that I considered slowing down playback, but he's also inarticulate during these passages. Thankfully that's only 25% or so of the book, often during static description. I think everyone involved did their best, they probably didn't have enough time, not enough compensation and were the second or third string staff without as much experience as others.

If you've read Ben Counter's Battle For the Abyss, you'll understand the type of novel this is. I would compare thos book to that one, the B-Movies of Warhammer.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Perhaps the finest Warhammer novel ever written.

Revisado: 12-30-23

This is a book about regret, learning from your mistakes and second chances. It is absolutely excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone, even if you've barely heard of Warhammer.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

THIS IS NOT A HORUS HERESY BOOK!! It's DA history.

Revisado: 05-10-23

I fondly recall reading about The Order and The Knights of Caliban in the original Angels of Death Codex. It was only a few paragraphs, framed by amazing classic illustrations by John Blanche. I appreciated that this book expands upon what I read in that treasured tome in the mid-90's. The author has my gratitude for that. I think he mostly did a good job. I enjoyed many of the scenes, especially the ones involving brotherhood amongst the knights. I thought those were quite convincing. You get a really good idea what Caliban was like before the coming of the Emperor. If you take it as a slower-paced tour through old Caliban, it's actually pretty good. It accomplishes that end.

Most of the problems come in towards the end. The story seems to forget what it's supposed to be about and meanders into a dead end. The ending is abrupt. Saying it's open to interpretation is putting it nicely. Most people would say it's confusing and frustrating. This book would have been much better placed outside the Horus Heresy series. Pretty much the entire book takes place loooooong before the Heresy. You're setting this book up to fail calling it a Heresy novel and I'm certain that's why people don't rate it higher. It's also just not a tight story in the least. It's a great atmospheric piece, though. If you let it wash over you and don't expect too much from it--like that it's a Horus Heresy book-- there's a decent chance you'll like it, especially if you have some connection to the Dark Angels.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Not bad, not riveting

Revisado: 01-16-23

I think this is a decent book. It's just not spectacular. Sometimes these 6 hour audiobooks end up feeling very short and inconsequential, and this one felt fairly small. You may end up liking it a lot, or you may be like me and feeling like not all that much happened. I don't regret listening to it, I'd just hoped it would've been amazing. Perhaps I'll find more to appreciate if I listen to it again.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

FINALLY! THIS IS LONG OVERDUE

Revisado: 10-05-22

Storm of Iron is a 40k classic! It rises to the top of the list of novels of this franchise, definitely in the top 10. It's a great depiction of not only the Iron Warriors, but also the Chaos Space Marines faction as a whole. The author himself is aware of how beloved this novel is, and has been told by many of his fans that this began their love of collecting and playing the Iron Warriors faction in Warhammer 40k. If you enjoy it, the story continues with an AMAZING novel in the Horus Heresy series called Angel Exterminatus, which is the direct prequel to this novel.

The Warband depicted in this novel is perhaps not the absolute representation of an Iron Warriors fighting force, definitely among the most corrupted by the Warp and an extreme example, but it's very enjoyable nonetheless. The villains, heroes and antiheroes of this novel are all extremely likeable, and no matter your allegiance, you'll find your sympathies in conflict. It's just that well-written. The only downside is that Black Library did not include the extra chapters that the author penned for the limited edition printing. Even still, we'll take it! Some of us have been waiting years for this story to become an audiobook!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Interesting, but not excellent

Revisado: 09-25-22

It took me some time to appreciate John French's writing. He has some of the driest prose of any of the Warhammer authors, but he can write some wicked and killer stuff. This book is a bit tedious, and you can play a drinking game with all the times he describes Warp phenomenon as tasting of burnt sugar. Jonathan Keeble is excellent as always, but the way he says the word "boom" may get to you after a while. The Ol and John Grammaticus storyline is grinding and plodding, seems to take forever to get where it's going. And "shuffle tap" may absolutely get to you before it gets there.

All in all, it's a good book. And consequential things do occur in it. I hope you like Knights and Titans, because you're gonna get a LOT of them here, and they're gonna talk about "hunting" ad nauseum.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Magnus AND Perturabo, brotherhood and horror

Revisado: 07-22-22

This is a great book, if only it were a bit longer. If you are a fan of Angel Exterminatus, this novel stands as a bit of a prequel. Not a literal one, but a prequel in spirit. If you wish there were more books like AE, look no further, I'd say this is it. You get Perturabo, Forrix and what I refer to as the true main character of the IVth Legion, The Iron; that unique philosophy of strength that lifts off of the pages and into your being if you are a true fan.

But of course, duh, this story truly belongs to Magnus. But this is a Magnus I've never seen before. It takes place before the fall of either Primarch, and it's poignant to glimpse the humanity they had, as well as the seeds of darkness already present.

The story is extremely compelling. Just as you start loving it, you realize just how little of it is left. McNeill packed a lot of concepts and ideas into a 5 something hour audiobook. I think it easily could've been 8 and would've been even better than it is. As you listen, you'll find yourself rewinding to hear parts of it again. The book does suffer from moving a bit too fast. I'd say 90% of the fans that purchase this truncated story will listen multiple times. There's no way you can catch every nuance in one listening. It is unfortunate how short it is. It's also unfortunate that there's some inconsistencies in the character's voices. Keeble is a true master, but the way the HH series jumps around in time probably didn't allow him to nail down his characters' voices so that they're consistent across multiple books. It's a small matter, but you'll notice it if you've been following the franchise.

This is essential reading for both Iron Warriors and Thousand Sons fans. It's titled for Magnus and it is his story, but it's nearly just a much Perturabo's. McNeill is the master of literary heavy metal and this is one of his best.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Entertaining, but manage your expectations

Revisado: 05-18-22

We've had so many great Warhammer novels in the recent past, ones with original concepts, complex characters and unexpected plot lines. So it's disappointing to read one that isn't. Huron Blackheart is every bit of a cliche villain and his warband is a group of bumbling cads. The Horus Heresy has brought us the gritty realism of Game of Thrones. But this novel reads more like a violent episode of Thundercats. It's fairly predictable, overwritten and the voice acting is overdone. I feel like someone described Warhammer to the author as "a game". Most of us know that Warhammer can be so much more, but like a game, this novel can be viewed as fairly fun. I would've preferred it to be something more. Whatever this is, it's something most of us have outgrown and have been taught by the franchise itself to demand more from.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

the best of the series so far

Revisado: 05-01-22

This is a truly excellent novel. You'll need some foreknowledge of the setting, but I would think anyone could relate to what's going on in this story. It's a war novel, where great heroes and ordinary people perform acts of extreme courage in the face of overwhelming odds. The villains are great and if you wanna root for the bad guy, you sort of still can. But if you like rooting for the underdog, this is exactly that kind of story. It doesn't get bogged down in details and tangled threads the way other 40k novels tend to do. The narrator does a really excellent job. He gives a different voice to characters he's performed previously (Perturabo gets a bit nasally compared to the way he was in previous books, for example) but that's the only criticism I can think of. It's really not a big deal because he's awesome at this.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña