Caporegime
I disagree, we don't really know enough about him to say that.
I'm reading the second Salamanders novel at the moment, it's very good.
Warhammer 40k book recommendations
- Thread starter bakes0310
- Start date
I disagree, we don't really know enough about him to say that.
I'm reading the second Salamanders novel at the moment, it's very good.
I think we do.
1. The Great Crusade's attitude of "join us or die". If a human settlement of billions which is happy, enlightened and advanced will not accept the Emperor and Empire, it is either conquered by force with it's history and society obliterated and replaced by Imperial Truth, or it is wiped from the face of the Galaxy.
2. The Astropathic Choir. Millions of lives of innocents sacrificed to maintain the Astronomicon.
3. The Inquisition. Hereticus and Xenos are created as SS/Gestapo/Stasi/FSB analogues. Malleus can be seen as slightly more understandable I guess as it deals with beings that are (in the lore of the 40k universe) pure evil.
I believe his intentions are to some degree 'good' in that he seeks to unite and preserve the human race. But the cost he is prepared to exact on the galaxy is so tremendously high that I believe this pushes him into the realms of the fanatic totalitarian.
Soldato
I see what you mean now. And yes, I wanted him to be whiter than white and he isn't.
It does look like he makes mistakes though. Leaving the crusade, his actions at the start of The First Heretic. All fueled the problems.
It does look like he makes mistakes though. Leaving the crusade, his actions at the start of The First Heretic. All fueled the problems.
But to be fair, he left the crusade to work on re-opening the web way which would have solved the problem of having to use the warp for interstellar travel and sacrificing the millions of psykers to preserve the astronomicron.
The sad thing is, it was magnus that destroyed the emperor's work when he tried to warn the emperor of horus' betrayal. That one action doomed humanity to be slaves of the warp which I think was why the emperor unleashes the wolves on prospero (an event that Dan Abnett decided would be too boring a tale for propero burns... :/)
Soldato
I just got hold of Age Of Darkness, another set of short stories, much like Tales Of Heresy.
****** POSSIBLE SPOLIER******
I've read the first story written by Graham McNeill, ive got to say i didnt think too highly of it. His work has been nothing short of brilliant so far, but i wasn't so keen on this one. It may grow on me on a re-read.
Anyway, time to read the second story.....
****** POSSIBLE SPOLIER******
I've read the first story written by Graham McNeill, ive got to say i didnt think too highly of it. His work has been nothing short of brilliant so far, but i wasn't so keen on this one. It may grow on me on a re-read.
Anyway, time to read the second story.....
Associate
Reading through First Heretic also. So far I'm finding it a very good and informative read. Some good backstory and some very interesting revelations (if they are true considering who/where/what they are coming from)..
Nemesis was very good I found. Iota had to be my favourite assasin
With regards to the emperor, you got to remember he's been around for something akin to 30,000 years. He's conquered the whole of Earth and shed lots of blood in that process. I think he might be a tiny bit detached from regular human emotion in more recent times.
Don't get me wrong I'm not defending him because I think he's a complete tool for the most part and he has made many mistakes especially with his own sons. Angron being the best example in this instance.
**SPOILER**
Magnus' arrogance could have been tethered if only the emperor had taken more time to teach him the dangers of the warp.
Russ and his wolves should also be chastised the way Lorgar and Magnus were. For crying out loud they have rune priests who read bones! Double standards on the emperors part!
**SPOILER END**
Nemesis was very good I found. Iota had to be my favourite assasin
With regards to the emperor, you got to remember he's been around for something akin to 30,000 years. He's conquered the whole of Earth and shed lots of blood in that process. I think he might be a tiny bit detached from regular human emotion in more recent times.
Don't get me wrong I'm not defending him because I think he's a complete tool for the most part and he has made many mistakes especially with his own sons. Angron being the best example in this instance.
**SPOILER**
Magnus' arrogance could have been tethered if only the emperor had taken more time to teach him the dangers of the warp.
Russ and his wolves should also be chastised the way Lorgar and Magnus were. For crying out loud they have rune priests who read bones! Double standards on the emperors part!
**SPOILER END**
Soldato
The Emperor's parenting skills are certainly lacking. 
Well I've finished Age of Darkness and apart from the Dorn and Lion stories it was all rather uninspiring filler. I certainly like to read a book about Dorn/Imperial Fists after the events of that short story. He seems rather more interesting now.
With that done and Blood Pact long completed I'm all out of my warhammer fix.
Well I've finished Age of Darkness and apart from the Dorn and Lion stories it was all rather uninspiring filler. I certainly like to read a book about Dorn/Imperial Fists after the events of that short story. He seems rather more interesting now.
With that done and Blood Pact long completed I'm all out of my warhammer fix.
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Caporegime
Just read the first short story and why were the Ultrmarines attacking Salamanders, they were both loyal 
Caporegime
******AGE OF DARKNESS SPOILER*****
Ah was that meant to be true for all of them? I thought it was just the last one. How do you simulate firing barrages of rockets
Ah was that meant to be true for all of them? I thought it was just the last one. How do you simulate firing barrages of rockets
******AGE OF DARKNESS SPOILER*****
Ah was that meant to be true for all of them? I thought it was just the last one. How do you simulate firing barrages of rockets
But yes to answer your question, i think it was true for all of them
Soldato
*SPOILER*
RE: The Emperor I think there's a good analogy in the Descent of Angels book, where Luther (I think?) tries to explain how Lion'El Jonson is just on a different level and so doesn't laugh or makes jokes - in a similar way the Emperor is a unique individual without comparison, when he goes back to Earth to work on the great project his fatal mistake was to not contemplate the effect of 'abandoning' the primarchs - he is so 'perfect' he is blinded to the imperfections of his creations, and also perhaps being so concerned about the long view he loses sight of things unravelling before him, though the Chaos gods probably have a part to play in blinding him from events occurring.
/Spoiler.
RE: The Emperor I think there's a good analogy in the Descent of Angels book, where Luther (I think?) tries to explain how Lion'El Jonson is just on a different level and so doesn't laugh or makes jokes - in a similar way the Emperor is a unique individual without comparison, when he goes back to Earth to work on the great project his fatal mistake was to not contemplate the effect of 'abandoning' the primarchs - he is so 'perfect' he is blinded to the imperfections of his creations, and also perhaps being so concerned about the long view he loses sight of things unravelling before him, though the Chaos gods probably have a part to play in blinding him from events occurring.
/Spoiler.
Associate
Speaking as a die-hard fan who has loved Games Workshop's games and settings since he was 13, my only honest advice is not to read any of them - there's MUCH better sci-fi and fantasy fiction you could be reading!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a snob, I like pulpy fiction as much as the next nerd, and as I said I love their worlds, but the books are just churned out to appeal to their diehard 11-year-old audience, and very few of them tend to be good. Most of the writers who work for them are hacks, although there are some brilliant exceptions, like William King and Jack Yeovil (a pseudonym for Kim Newman).
If you must read more 40k novels, I'd start with anything by William King. His "Farseer" is one of the few 40k novels I really enjoyed, and I'm kinda bummed he never wrote a sequel, even though it was supposed to be the first in a series. I also kinda liked Ian Watson's "Inquisitor" and "Harlequin" books, though I'm not sure you'd be able to find them in print nowadays as they drew heavily on lore that's no longer official canon (stuff like the Emperor's Star Child etc.).
Bill King is genuinely a good writer, the words just jump off the page and stab you in the eye. Ian Watson's books weren't as well-written, but I like arcane mystical conspiracy nonsense so I enjoyed them. A couple of friends have been trying to convince me to read the Horus Heresy books, but I notice that a lot of them were written by Abnett and I'm a bit wary of him - recently read a Warhammer book of his, Gilead's Blood, and it's didn't really leave me hungry for more.
If you really love wh40k, you should read some of the writers that inspired GW's designers, people like Frank Herbert (the original "mystical religions in space" guy!), Asimov, Stanislaw Lem, H P Lovecraft, even P K Dick (not as much as Herbert, certainly, but Games Workshop love themselves a bit of Dick!). 40k is a pretty unique and awesome setting, but it's basically 40% Herbert, 40% Tolkien and 20% Lovecraft tbh!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a snob, I like pulpy fiction as much as the next nerd, and as I said I love their worlds, but the books are just churned out to appeal to their diehard 11-year-old audience, and very few of them tend to be good. Most of the writers who work for them are hacks, although there are some brilliant exceptions, like William King and Jack Yeovil (a pseudonym for Kim Newman).
If you must read more 40k novels, I'd start with anything by William King. His "Farseer" is one of the few 40k novels I really enjoyed, and I'm kinda bummed he never wrote a sequel, even though it was supposed to be the first in a series. I also kinda liked Ian Watson's "Inquisitor" and "Harlequin" books, though I'm not sure you'd be able to find them in print nowadays as they drew heavily on lore that's no longer official canon (stuff like the Emperor's Star Child etc.).
Bill King is genuinely a good writer, the words just jump off the page and stab you in the eye. Ian Watson's books weren't as well-written, but I like arcane mystical conspiracy nonsense so I enjoyed them. A couple of friends have been trying to convince me to read the Horus Heresy books, but I notice that a lot of them were written by Abnett and I'm a bit wary of him - recently read a Warhammer book of his, Gilead's Blood, and it's didn't really leave me hungry for more.
If you really love wh40k, you should read some of the writers that inspired GW's designers, people like Frank Herbert (the original "mystical religions in space" guy!), Asimov, Stanislaw Lem, H P Lovecraft, even P K Dick (not as much as Herbert, certainly, but Games Workshop love themselves a bit of Dick!). 40k is a pretty unique and awesome setting, but it's basically 40% Herbert, 40% Tolkien and 20% Lovecraft tbh!